September 13th, 2012 The Best Cities of South America 2012

The border between Chile and Bolivia wins it all!

September 13th, 2012 Financials

So the total comes out to be $1334.71. I venture to guess that I spent around that much because while I spent around 300 on the Panama hats, they were also offset by the gain in foreign exchange somewhat.  However, I am still left with 2,000 ARSs that I cannot spend.

	Daily Expenditure (USD)
31-Jul	Miami	-0.242693967
1-Aug	Montevideo, Colonia	-57.27754749
2-Aug	Buenos Aires	-21.27622339
3-Aug	Buenos Aires	-98.16567918
4-Aug	Mendoza	198.7126056
5-Aug	Santiago	-26.77546778
6-Aug	Valparaiso	-46.83783784
7-Aug	La Serena	-12.95715778
8-Aug	Calama, San Pedro de Atacama	-132.6321406
9-Aug	Chile Bolivia Border	-31.91764002
10-Aug	Uyuni	-20.85351577
11-Aug	Salar de Uyuni	-5.118755119
12-Aug	La Paz, Coroico	-16.76985774
13-Aug	Puno	-28.98356897
14-Aug	Cusco	-266.5032989
15-Aug	Cusco	-27.54659477
16-Aug	Arequipa	-37.53918495
17-Aug	Ica, Lima	-58.23608188
18-Aug	Trujillo	-38.6676876
19-Aug	Tumbes, Guayaquil, Tulcan	-25.14763712
20-Aug	Ipiales, Cali	-41.20683079
21-Aug	Cali	-29.20792079
22-Aug	Bogota	-59.54565457
23-Aug	Bogota	-55.64738292
24-Aug	Ipiales, Quito	-35.35
25-Aug	Cuenca	-333.6
26-Aug	Quito	-25.41331738

August 27th, 2012 Quito to Miami

12AM  I said goodbye to Jorge and went to sleep.

3AM  His parent woke me up as my alarm failed me.  I was ready within 5 minutes and Jorge's parents drove me to the airport.

3:45AM  They dropped me off.  Due to the weather in Miami, the check-in was extremely slow around 2 hours.  I got to the gate about 5 minutes 6:35 before it was supposed to depart.  They then loaded my plane with people who had yesterday's flight cancelled, which delayed us about 40 minutes.

1:30PM  We have arrived at Fort Myer as we couldn't land in Miami due to thunderstorm warnings.  We stopped for a little over and hour and flew back to Miami

4PM  We arrived.

August 26th, 2012 Quito

7AM  I woke and discovered I am still 2 hours away from Quito.

8AM  I met two kind girls at the bus station, who lent me their phone.  Jorge was busy today.  So I paid 0.25 USD to use the bus to get to the middle earth.  It took a couple of transfers and help from a young man, who walked me between the transfers.  I met a family of Jevovah's witnesses.  The man, whose name is Joss, told me a little of what he knew about hats.  Apparently, it was most expensive in Cuenca.  He said it has the greatest value per dollar a Jipajapa, followed by Montecristi, Guayaquil, Quito and Cuenca.  I was determined to find the truth.  The middle earth was somewhat boring.  However, because the ticket is 2 USDs and I only had a little over 1 USD, Joss reluctantly helped me change 100 ARS into 20 USD.  I left on a bus (0.40 USD) back into town.

4PM  When I got to Basilica del voto nacional, the view was spectacular.  I ran into the young man who helped me with the transfer earlier in the day.  However, my battery ran out and I could not even take one picture.




5PM  I got to La Mariscal just by walking, which took about half an hour with some help.  I got to a market on Juan Leon Mera Street.  Indeed, the price of the hats are better here than Cuenca.  Those priced at 200 USDs were finer than mine at 225.  There is nothing I can do about it but planning a trip to Jipajapa.  I had a coconut milkshake for 1.75 USDs and had another look before I left.

6PM  I ate seco de chivo and inka cola (12.87 USDs) at Mama Calinda.  It was pretty good.

7PM  I took a bus to La Marin and another bus to El Triángulo.  Someone helped with a call to Jorge again.  He picked me up in 15 minutes.  The whole family was there.  His parents, brother, sister and her boyfriend were kind to chat with me for a couple of hours.  Due to the hurricane in Miami, I called Ameican Airlines to make sure it was on, and it was.

August 25th, 2012 To Cuenca and Back

3AM  I arrived and slept around then.  I will decide whether I will go to Cuenca or Montecristi in the morning.

7AM  I woke first and in his boxers, Jorge sent me to not one but two bus stations, which took an hour of driving.  I insisted on going and there was a bus to Cuenca at 8.

2PM  I had thought we would be there by 4 but it looks like I am not going to be there until 6:30.  I had an ice cream on board again with a soda at the rest area where most people had lunch.

6:30PM  Jorge informed me in the afternoon that all shops would be closed at 4 or whenever I arrive.  He had talked to an owner Tania Valdez, who said she would wait for me.  I hitched a bus and walked about 10 small blocks to get to it.

7PM  She was a hard bargain.  The ones on the first floor were not even 300 stitches per square inch.  She took me upstairs and we agreed on a 300 USD for one good one (marked at 250 USDs) and five lower quality ones at 15 USDs each, until I had found that those that were 15 were in awful colors.  I demanded other ones and she showed me some with small damages for 10 USD.  I think.she got really tired of me and my visa.  We finally agreed on 300 for the one for me and 7 lower end ones.  I think she gave me an extra one.  I will check back later.

9PM  I had dinner, which is traditional Cuenca pork and potato and cheese soup, a cantaloupe fruit juice for 12.1 USDs.  The exact names are locro de papas, plato tipico, and jugo de frutas.

10:30PM  I took a cab for 2 USDs and bought a 8 USDs ticket for 23:15 for Quito.

August 24th, 2012 Ipiales to Quito

9AM  I arrived at Ipiales and took a shared taxi to  Las Lajas Cathedral  (2,000 COPs) and back.  I then spent 1,500 COPs to the border and 1,500 to the bus terminal at Tulcan.
 
12PM  I met Chris from Frankfurt, who went on the bus with me to Quito for 4 USD.  He also changed 20 EURs for 20 USDs just because that is all he could get from the exchange people.

6PM  I had a couple of coconut ice creams on the bus.  Hopefully my stomach holds up.  What was supposed to take 4 hours to Quito took 6 hours.  Chris offered to pay for the taxi (2 USDs) to the center.  We settled on his hostel first, which was very expensive at 30 USDs per night.  I used the phone to call Jorge, who said he would meet me at Hasta la Vuelta, Senor.

8PM  I had humita, corvina en salsa de camaron and rosero for 53.24 USDs. I paid by visa for both of us and received 26.90 USDs from Chris.

11PM  Jorge and his friends came to show me the old town as well as La Ronda.  We had some delicious meat platters and I used my visa to get 32 USDs back in cash.  I had a coke and a blackberry smoothie for a little over 4 USDs.  We then went to have this warm alcoholic drink mixed with fruit juice.

August 23rd, 2012 Bogota to Ipales

6AM  Andrea's parents drove me again, this time to her work.  I took a cab which ended up much more than Andrea said it would cost at 7,000 (13,600 COPs).

7:45AM  I couldn't get the 84,000  COPs and paid 98,000  COPs instead to Ipales.  The bus had some problems and did not leave until around 9:30.

12PM  I had no food the whole day.  Because of the big meal last night, I had to go to the bathroom twice on the bus.  In fact, I didn't drink anything either.

August 22nd, 2012 Bogota

2AM  Our bus was more or less 4 hours late to Bogota.  Andrea received me and paid 10,000 COPs for the cab.  I am guessing it was going to around 20,000 COPs total because Natalie and I shared the cab.

8AM  Andrea's parents cooked some eggs for me for breakfast.  I got to the Cerro de Monserrate and paid for 7 tickets, just a one way for myself (7,700 COPs), receiving 46,200 in cash.  The view for Bogota was decent, expansive.  I had lunch with a couple from Venezuela and a lady from Colombia.  We shared lunch (10,000 COPs), which was cow tripe, some sausage and corn.




1PM  I walked my way down and met some incoming GSB students.  We walked to the  La Candelaria, a historic neighborhood.  I had a coke for 1,300 COPs and a luna mousse cake for 2,500  COPs .  At 3, I spent 200 COPs to call Andrea to meet me.



 
4PM  I rendezvous with Andrea and walked to the main square.  We went on walking around the city and took a bus for about an hour.  I had to use the bathroom just before getting there for 500 COPs.  We walked around the park at 93rd Street.

8PM  We went to Andres Carne de Restaurant, a 4 floor restaurant.  The food was expensive (83,854 COPs) and just alright.



9PM  Andrea paid for the cab back.  The system for Continental Bus was down and it did not seem I could pay for the ticket to Ipales at 84,000 COPs.

August 21st, 2012 Cali to Bogota

7AM  I took my first shower since Trujillo.  It was worse than before because it has been hotter.  The room was steaming and I took a cab and asked for the tourist center.  The driver took me to the San Antonio district.  I liked it.  It was a good hour during the day.  There weren't many people walking at 8AM.  I went up to the church, which was not difficult even dragging a luggage.  I came down and found a couple of guys, one of whom bought me breakfast and then drew me the way to Zaguan de San Antonio.  I spent around half an hour trying getting there but they did not take visa.  I found another restaurant that only charged me 7,500 COPs for a full meal.  It was the cheapest I had.  I'd say it is alright.  I have to give it a 6 for having corvina.

1PM  I took a cab but only paid 4,100 out of 6,900 COPs.  I then bought a yogurt drink that was decent for 1,500  COPs and left for Bogota at 1:30 (40,000 COPs).  It was the most expensive bus but it had internet and air conditioning.  The girl next to me called Andrea and told me it was going to take 10 hours instead of 5.

August 20th, 2012 Cali

6AM  I waited for a local minibus to the border for nearly an hour.  I found that there is no station here on the Ecuadorian side.  The ticket was 0.75 USD and I got to the border some time before 8 and took another minibus (0.75 USD) to the terminal.  The ticket to Cali is 35,000 COPs but I paid 38,000 in order to use my visa.  The bus left at 9AM and will get there at 9PM.  If that is true and since I left Trujillo at 7, it will be my longest bus ride- 50 hours with may be a 5 hour break total.

2PM  A nice lady offered me soup and coke and I gave her 1,000 pesos and 1 PEN as they are the only cash I had left.

9PM  I got to Cali as expected.  The bus station was far from the center.  A nice girl from the same bus tried to help but no taxi was going to take me there with just the dollar I had left.  A family helped me to a Chinese restaurant.  I was forced to stay because the owner convinced them that the center was dangerous.  She gave me 10,000 COPs.  Downtown was empty like she said and we ended up finding something recommended by a hotel manager for 30,000 COPs.  She messed up by charging me for 12 instead of 8 hours.  I got 10,000 COPs back.  I should have looked up hostels.

August 19th, 2012 Tumbes, Guayaquil and Tulcan

6AM  I arrived at Tumbes and a taxi took me to Cifa bus company for 2 PENs.  I paid the ticket to Guayaquil in 22 PENs instead of 8 USDs that they asked because I just had to use them.  They said the cost to get into Colombia is 10 USDs.  I have 23.5 PENs on me.  We'll see how this goes.
So the nice lady and her daughter changed 9 USDs with me for the 23.5 PENs.  I left for Guayaquil at 

8AM  The bus got there at around 2.  I bought a coconut juice and ice cream sorbet for 1 USD.  That turned out to be a mistake.  I did not eat anything the whole day.

2PM  The bus for Tulcan (14 USDs) left.  My stomach was sick. I had to stop the bus and use the back wall of a locked restroom in the gas station.  I was okay after I got to the Santa Domingo stop.  I just had two cokes.  While there was a KFC there, I did not want to risk upsetting my stomach again.  Most people left around Quito and the bus became really cold around midnight and after.  I didn't expect this type of weather so close to the equator.  Even with the down jacket it was still cold.  I tried to fall asleep a few times.  The cold woke me each time.  We finally got to Tulcan at 6.

August 18th, 2012 Trujillo

7AM  I made a phone call and took a cab to Fernando's home.  He asked me to buy some bread and cheese (3 PENs) while he got coffee.  I then met Abraham, who took me to Chan Chan.  I got in for student's discount for 5 PENs.  We then took the cab to the center and got ceviche.  It was pretty good, slightly better than the one I had in Miami for 11 PENs.  We then met his Spanish couchsurfer and shared a cab to Huaca de la Luna.  It is one of the most in tact temples, with each level erected every a hundred years.  The tour was around an hour and we took the minibus back.  I asked we see the Plaza de Armas and I had the goat for 15 PENs at Rincon Vallejo.  It was pretty good mostly because they made it spicy.

Lamb

6PM  I took the cab back to Fernando's home.  The Spanish couchsurfer is taking my room and I took the same cab to the bus station.

7PM  Abraham sent me to the bus station.  It left on time.

August 17th, 2012 Ica, Lima

7AM  I arrived at Ica and took a cab to Huacachina for 6 PENs.  I then walked up and around the oasis.  The sight was not as pretty as imagined.  I had two sodas for 1.5 PENs each before doing the 2 hour boggie car and sand boarding for 35 PENs.

12PM  I took a 5 PENs cab back to Ica for the bus to Lima (23 PENs).

Mixed Seafood at Lima

 
6PM  I finally got here to Lima.  A nice woman sitting across from me let me use her phone three times to call the couchsurfing hosts.  One was too far and the other one said he won't be back from work until midnight.  I took a cab for 5 PENs to the bus station and bought the ticket to Trujillo (40 PENs).  The mixed seafood I had was just passing.

Sometimes I wonder if Carla has already forgotten about me.  I mean, she probably would still recognize me by face and name.  But they probably wouldn't come up unless someone mentions it.  I wonder if she actually considered it for just a second.  Isn't it a leap of faith anyway?  She is probably in Cusco now, preparing her way up the 4 day Inca trail.  Either way our steps will cross again on Machu Picchu.  It has been a week but seems so much longer.  I am almost out of Peru and she just beginning her trail.  O if I had just caught her fall, that would have been something.  That was great, though.  That was.

August 16th, 2012 Arequipa

7:15AM  I think I got away with one.  I slept deeply for a long time.  It has been so warm I was dreaming instead of waking up from the cold.

7:30AM  I chose Fernando's home because the driver said it was closer.  I took his taxi for 8 PENs.  He wanted 10 but it said on the board 8 PENs for Cayma Square.  Later I found it was further compared to David's home.  I almost didn't find Fernando's because the numbers got bigger and smaller again.  I took a shower at his home and left for the city.

8AM The town is quite pleasant.  I took the taxi for 2 PENs to A Carmen Alto.  I had a fill up Sprite for just 0.5 PENs.  I noticed a lot of restaurants that had adobo or rocoto relleno at Yanahuara.  Soon I realized my camera is showing spots on pictures.  In addition, I think my charger is done.  I had 2 ice cream scoops for 5 PENs at Ice Palace.  Later, I had a cake that wasn't too good for 4 PENs.  The camera battery was being charged at a camera service shop until it was full so we can look at the sensor.

5PM  I returned to Fernando's but found that they closed the restaurants in the afternoon.  I took a cab (2 PENs) to Sol de Mayo.  The stuffed pepper was decent for 18 PENs.

7PM  I retrieved my battery from the old camera service man and left him a card.  I took a cab (5 PENs) to the bus station and bought a ticket that left at 7:30PM for 40 PENs.

I was fortunate to be in this moment of the 472th founding anniversary of the city.  The name Arequipa derives from a quechua phrase, “Arequipai” which means, “Yes, stay here”.  I snapped this shot of a dancer.  Undoubtedly, their welcoming smile will convince another traveler to pay visit.