Land, Air & Water

Lately it seems that I have been very mobile and by diverse means of transport! NOw all I need is a rocket to the moon ;)

Nasca Lines or the Zoo
Visiting Peru it is kinda on everyone´s mind, to fly over the mysterious Nasca lines. I must admit it was hell: organization, services and in general all... it is indeed a huge hassle and a VERY expensive one and after doing it, even though in my head I kept saying "Once in a life time, once in a life time!", I sincerely think that it is cooler to relax in your chair and watch a documentary or two about them on TV.

Between the continous feeling of vomiting, the dizziness and the fear that your tiny plane will plunge head front into the desert, the round and round movement allows you to catch glimpses of the strange lines... a parrot, humming bird, spider, a cute astronaute, my favourite the monkey :) and many others. It does seem out of this world especially with the setting.... a desert of nothingness just brownish-redish dust and some peaks... However one thing that I liked and will remember out of the documentaries that we watched before getting on the plane was one of the scientists saying "Why acknowledge these mysterious lines to extra terrestrial beings, considering them superiour to our pre-decesors and not actually think that us as human beings, even if it was some time ago, were able to build such lines and have an inteligent reason for them?".

Y-HA! or Please please, do NOT kill me!
Decided to go visit the small town of Vilcabamba in the South of Ecuador. It is close to the Podocarpus National Park, which houses the pine tree with the same name, specific for this region. A horse ride seemed the most adventurous so I decided to take it... a full day nonetheless. As I have never rode a horse in my life before, I had no idea what was expected of me for the whole day, however after the first 10 minutes I started to regret I did not take the 2 hour beginners` tour.

The ride was amazing, and it was much more amazing to see how the horses climbed up on the sinous tiny muddy road! RESPECT! In their place I would have thrown my butt on the ground and leave. I thought that climbing is hard, but decending was even harder; really dangerous, but I made it... I mean I managed not to fall and slightly control the horse, and the horse managed to stand me and get me home unharmed :)

Ingapirca or the Ecuadorian Macchu Picchu
In case you are wondering what I am talking about... well it is real and does exist, it is just not as popular as the one in Peru! Ingapirca is a blend between two cultures: the Cañari and the Inka. The Cañari, who were venerating the Moon, were first to start leaving in the area and then the Inka, who´s main God figure was the Sun, came and convinced the Cañari to allow them to live there as well. For me it had this feeling of a hidden treasure, a secret that not the whole world is on and for that it is much more incredible. The sad part is that it is not very well maintained or guarded and the visitors really take advantage by climbing the walls and doing whatever they feel like...

Chu Chu Train in Alausi
The guide book says it is a must see in Ecuador... so, me as a good tourist I listen and go try it :) The famous train ride between Alausi and Sibambe through the Nariz del Diablo!
After waking up at an ungodly hour just to manage to get a ticket for the last ride of the day (all the rest of the tickets were sold mysteriously before the ticket booth opened) you need to wait for about 4-5 hours more for the ride. There is not much to do in Alausi as the town is as big as its front street; however one sight that it is worth all your attention are the locals. They all dress in traditional clothes and it is a rainbow of pleasure and excitement! I looked like a freakin´ stocker with my camera and huge smile! :)

To be totally honest the train ride had nothing of spectacular except the fact that: 1. I rode on top of the train with the wind and rain in my face! BoooooYA! 2. Hmmmm... what was the second thing?? :P

Tunnel of Death or "Most Stupid Things I Did" List
Baños is a very touristic spot but a good place to just chillax and enjoy being surrounded by people who have more travel stories than you do. It is famous for its crunchy toffee and amazing surroundings, which I both tested :)

I decided to do a bike ride throuth the Falls Route (Baños to Puyo) to see the breath taking Paivlon del Diablo Fall and just move some of the unused muscles. The scenery was indeed incredible and seeing the Paivlon del Diablo was a true experience... I got soaking wet climbing down the stairs to take a closer peak at the huge water fall, mud up to my years paasing through a natural tunnel to get underneath the fall and out of breath climbing back up to dry land!

Now the real story of this ride is the fact that as a biker you need to pass through 2 paralel tunnels; one on your way to the falls and one on your way back, and there is no way around them. Nothing interesting there except the fact that there is NO light in the tunnel... natural or artificial, so you are virtually riding into peach dark for about 2 minutes, re-converting to whatever your initial religion believes were and feeling your heart beating in your throwth so hard that you cannot concentrate to pedal. Meanwhile you hear a dumb sound behind you and a slight light approaching and you can just think of one thing: "I am too young to die!"

Here fishy, fishy, fishy... HERE fishy!
Whale watching and snorkeling is a must in Puerto Lopez and who am I to say no! Although I went whale watching in Canada before, I thought to give it one more try and the magic goal was to take a shot of a whale tale! And I did! There were soo many whales all in the same place, I was amazed... and soo close and big! It is a feeling that is hard to describe as it is almost like they are extraterrestrial just because they seem so out of this world, so untouchable so different from everythintg that you regularly see or experience! The sad part is that although they seem untouchable.... they are very fragile and even my whale watching trip contributed, I think, to some extent to their discomfort. I felt like we were harassing them... as soon as we spotted a whale every single boat (and I guess there were about 5) would put all their engines on and go meet the whales... It did not feel right but hopefully they did not mind it that much... or maybe they did as they did not jump for us :(

At the end we went snorkeling, another though try for me as I could not concentrate breathing only through my mouth... big and unknown body of water + me with fear of imaginary man-eating creatures in the water = this does not tell my brain: "Relax! Take it easy and just breath through the tube... it´s ok!" After a few tries I did manage and I am proud to say that the marine biologies in me observed: little fish and big fish with tones of colors and moves :)

Quito by Night at HIGH Speed
Ever since I got into Quito I have been pampered and taken care of just like a princess. I have been staying with an Ecuadorian family, Stefanie´s family and it really gave me a more indepth view of how Ecuadorians are, what they value and what they do day to day.
One of the highlights of the stay here was a crazy motorbike ride through Quito at night with Juan, Stefanie´s brother.

I sincerely (AGAIN) thought that I will die! From the adrenaline and the scare I was trembeling like a leaf but it was SWEEEEEET! High speed and just an amazingly quiet Quito in the night light. Besides the fact that it is a huge city, it looks even bigger during the night due to the thousands and thousands of lights all around. I got home with my hair looking like a fire bush, blue lips and a huge grin saying: WOW! CHEVERISSIMO! :)))

Over and still not out,
Miruna :o)

Those Incas Were Fit!

As the original Inka trail was booked until October, by those carefully planned travellers who know where they will be in 6 months... we took an alternative route which included bits and pieces of the original Inka trail, a day of hardcore mountain biking and 3 days of going up and down on narrow paths to reach Macchu Picchu.

The Ride of a Life Time

When I said "yes" to a one day bike downhill I had NO idea that it will like it was... We drove up until lunch on a very wavy road that played sadistic tricks on my stomach; after lunch we geared up and off we went... 5 hours of biking. First portion was OK, good road, just a tiny bit dangerous due to the speed that you would take no matter which part of the road you were on. And all of a sudden we got to this bumpy rocky dirt road and the FUN started... I thought I will swallow the handle bar; my butt has never felt so many rocks and bumps in its life! It was a rocky road concealed by dust and edged by banana plantations.
So let´s see if I can make you imagine for a second what it felt like: imagine that you are in a seated position and someone is hitting you over your lovely butt as hard as they can with a peace of wood that has random bumps; while this is happening you are trying desperately to hold onto the handle bar and someone is trying to take it away from you by jiggling it so that your upper part of the arm feels like its will loose the muscles because of serious moving. As this is not enough dust is everywhere when the killer trucks ride like mad next to you, monstrous little flies serve lunch on your legs and you try to figure out how to tell your fingers that they still need to squeeze down the breaks as otherwise all 10 of them are gone together with the rest of you!

The crazy part is that after a while I was on a mission... one of not falling off... not dying that day as there are plenty I want to do... I started grinning like an animal and full of adrenaline I was BETTER than the road... the dirt road was my enemy and my friend... it was a battle and I was going to win it! And I did 5 hours later when I promised myself NEVER AGAIN!

Merci pour allumer mon chemain...
We started walking on the 2nd day and we did not stop (except nights) until the tour was finished. I am telling you those Inca people were fit and healthy and they had this obsession of building small narrow wavy roads with a TONE of steps... I went up and up and up and then down and down again and then we went up again and it did not stop. The surroundings were breath taking though... despite the sun burning down on you and the little killer flies biting with zest! Tall mountains on all sides... and just one wish... to get to Macchu Picchu!

On the last day we woke up at 4:00am so to start the climb to Macchu Picchu; to be there among the first so to have the right to climb Waynapicchu, the tall mountain that you see in all posters next to Macchu Picchu; only 200 lucky tourists get to climb it each day...
So we were on a mission again. We climbed continuously for 1 hour; it was the most painfully stair climb of my life and sincerely I was screaming "Para!" in my head but in reality I did not want to give up... I had to climb one more and another one. Our guide was not human on those stairs, it seemed that he was strolling along... I do not know how he does it... practice I guess...
We got there in time and after wating to enter at Macchu Picchu, we waited again to enter for Waynapicchu.

Waynapicchu Mountain is this intense summit covered in plants and stairs; I climbed the stairs on 2 legs... 4 paws... just the last "100 meters" of the tour... this was it, I was about to see the place where Gods stood. We were the 1st two on the summit and it was quiet... only clouds around us nothing more. I felt exhausted and in a few minutes amazed as I saw Macchu Picchu from above. The city looked as if all its inhabitans were taking a 30 minute extra sleep before they get up for their daily duties... only the missing roof tops were giving the truth away...

We walked around Macchu Picchu like any tourist; took a tour with a certified guide and admired some of the "hidden" beauties. The only time that it actually hit me that I am at Macchu Pichhu... THE Inka City was when up on a small hill I managed to catch on camera the standard photo that you get for Macchu Picchu posters... I felt happy! :)

Miruna :o)