It's a beautiful evening in Pucon, Chile. I'm sitting on the deck of our little cabana, overlooking Lake Villarica, the largest lake in Chile. The days are long and warm here now. The sun will set at about 8pm. Trees are new green and things are blooming everywhere. Mountains ring the north east side of the lake and behind us is the snow covered volcano Villarica. We all went swimming in the lake today. I'm guessing the temperature was in the mid ot high 50's. It was knumbing but not painful and when we got out we all felt like we were living in another dimension. It was a great way to the day. Yesterday we hiked about 8 miles in one of the national parks that is nearby. The first 4 miles were mostly straight up to a series of lakes above the snow line. Liza struggled but she made it and we ate a picnic lunch next to one of the lakes before heading back. Today, everyone but Liz went on a canopy adventure. It's a series of ziplines through a forest and over a couple of rivers. It was a riot, scary at first but once we felt comfortable that our equipment was reliable, it was shear enjoyment. This was our second canopy adventure. We went on one two days ago and had such a good time, we decided to try another. There are several different courses in the area. This is certainly my favorite place in Chile so far but we are fortunate to be here off season. Pucon is one of Chile's most popular summer vacation spots and I gather things get pretty crowded in December.
Well, I've got to head in to help make some dinner so I don't have time to catch up on Peru and Argentina. After dinner, I'm teaching Chilean history. It will be a short course. Maybe tomorrow I'll have time to catch up a bit further. I will try to post new pictures tomorrow as well.
Saturday, October 21, 2006
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Getting to Machu Picchu
From Quito, we headed south by plane to Lima and then on to Cusco. We only spent two nights in Lima, one on the way to Cusco and one on the way back. We spent our first night in a stark little hotel on the edge of Miraflores, one of the nicer areas of Lima. However, the street in front of our hotel had been torn up and the immediate vicinity looked like a war zone. We arrived at night and I had serious concerns about getting out of the car. It wasn't until the next morning that we realized that the area 3 blocks away was really quite nice. Nonetheless, we didn't stay another night. That decision was reinforced by the banker I met at the airport who lives in Lima and suggested that there really wasn't much worth seeing in Lima.
Cusco is another story. It's a wonderful Andean city at about 11,000 feet with well preserved spainish colonial and incan roots. It's also the staging point for any trip to Machu Picchu. We could have gotten there by car or bus but if would have taken 12 hours from Lima so we took a plane. We stayed a wonderful 3 star hotel called Arqueologo, locate about 4 blocks from the historic center of town. The whole city seemed to be filled with tourists and I could only presume that they were all headed to Machu Picchu. We had seen so few tourists in Ecuador that it was actually a welcome sight. There were lots of good restaurants with more variety than we had in most of Ecuador. Prices in the touristy areas were comparable to those in Quito but we found this place on the edge of the historic district that specialized in roasted chicken and had a wonderful and safe salad bar. All of us ate for about $15 and the chicken was some of the best I have ever had. Needless to say, this became a regular lunch hangout. I think we went 3 times in the 4 days we were there.
From Cusco, we travelled by car to the Sacred Valley and stayed in a small town called Urubamba. The whole valley is littered with Incan ruins and beautiful scenery. There's not much in Urubamba but we found a place called Kuytchi Rumi that had a two bedroom adobe cottage several miles outside of town. We all loved the place. It was like a little wonderland and had two dogs that quickly made themselves at home in our cottage. The kids and I played hide and go seek every evening and there was a sort of tree house structure in the rear that enchanted the kids . Our host Claudia told us about this restaurant in Urubamba that was located in a sort of dark alley. We would never have found the place on our own and the meal was one of the best I have ever had in North or South America. For $15 per person we got a meal that would have cost us $45 per person in Charlottesville. Our second day in Urubamba, we went whitewater rafting. It was the first time the kids had ever gone and there was lots of knashing of teeth by the girls who were concerned about how dangerous it would be. All that stopped after the first rapid. They were hooked and I'm sure we'll have to do it again before the trip is over. For a detailed account, you can go to Anne Nelson's blog.
From Urubamba, we took a train to Aguas Calientes, the town at the base of Machu Picchu that is only served by train. It's a real racket. The train is very expensive (as I recall, it was about $72 per person). Then when we got to Aguas Calientes, we had to get on a $14 bus for 20 minutes to take us up to Machu Picchu and then pay about $40 to get into the actual site. The buses arrived every 10 minutes all day starting at 5:30am and every bus was full of tourists so you can imagine by about 12pm, the place is completely overrun with tourists. Nonetheless, it is a stunning sight to behold. In retrospect, I'd like to hike into the site from the Incan trail which comes in at a higher elevation. Some people claimed that the sight had brought them to tears when they crested the peak and caught the first glimpse of the ancient city below. I can't imagine what it must have been like to live there. We spent several hours with a guide and then walked around on our own. We really wanted to climb another 1000 feet to the top of Wayna Picchu but it closed before we could get there. I got up at 5am the next morning with the intention of going up again but my stomach wasn't feeling up to par and got worse as the day went on so I was happy I had opted out.
Aguas Calientes is a developer's dream. Lots of unrealized potential. More on that later. We've got to check out and head north to Pucon today on our way to Santiago.
Cusco is another story. It's a wonderful Andean city at about 11,000 feet with well preserved spainish colonial and incan roots. It's also the staging point for any trip to Machu Picchu. We could have gotten there by car or bus but if would have taken 12 hours from Lima so we took a plane. We stayed a wonderful 3 star hotel called Arqueologo, locate about 4 blocks from the historic center of town. The whole city seemed to be filled with tourists and I could only presume that they were all headed to Machu Picchu. We had seen so few tourists in Ecuador that it was actually a welcome sight. There were lots of good restaurants with more variety than we had in most of Ecuador. Prices in the touristy areas were comparable to those in Quito but we found this place on the edge of the historic district that specialized in roasted chicken and had a wonderful and safe salad bar. All of us ate for about $15 and the chicken was some of the best I have ever had. Needless to say, this became a regular lunch hangout. I think we went 3 times in the 4 days we were there.
From Cusco, we travelled by car to the Sacred Valley and stayed in a small town called Urubamba. The whole valley is littered with Incan ruins and beautiful scenery. There's not much in Urubamba but we found a place called Kuytchi Rumi that had a two bedroom adobe cottage several miles outside of town. We all loved the place. It was like a little wonderland and had two dogs that quickly made themselves at home in our cottage. The kids and I played hide and go seek every evening and there was a sort of tree house structure in the rear that enchanted the kids . Our host Claudia told us about this restaurant in Urubamba that was located in a sort of dark alley. We would never have found the place on our own and the meal was one of the best I have ever had in North or South America. For $15 per person we got a meal that would have cost us $45 per person in Charlottesville. Our second day in Urubamba, we went whitewater rafting. It was the first time the kids had ever gone and there was lots of knashing of teeth by the girls who were concerned about how dangerous it would be. All that stopped after the first rapid. They were hooked and I'm sure we'll have to do it again before the trip is over. For a detailed account, you can go to Anne Nelson's blog.
From Urubamba, we took a train to Aguas Calientes, the town at the base of Machu Picchu that is only served by train. It's a real racket. The train is very expensive (as I recall, it was about $72 per person). Then when we got to Aguas Calientes, we had to get on a $14 bus for 20 minutes to take us up to Machu Picchu and then pay about $40 to get into the actual site. The buses arrived every 10 minutes all day starting at 5:30am and every bus was full of tourists so you can imagine by about 12pm, the place is completely overrun with tourists. Nonetheless, it is a stunning sight to behold. In retrospect, I'd like to hike into the site from the Incan trail which comes in at a higher elevation. Some people claimed that the sight had brought them to tears when they crested the peak and caught the first glimpse of the ancient city below. I can't imagine what it must have been like to live there. We spent several hours with a guide and then walked around on our own. We really wanted to climb another 1000 feet to the top of Wayna Picchu but it closed before we could get there. I got up at 5am the next morning with the intention of going up again but my stomach wasn't feeling up to par and got worse as the day went on so I was happy I had opted out.
Aguas Calientes is a developer's dream. Lots of unrealized potential. More on that later. We've got to check out and head north to Pucon today on our way to Santiago.
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Fast Forward
We uploaded Bariloche photos today and I was reminded of how far behind we are on our blog. It's raining an cold today in Puero Varas, Chile. We arrived in Puerto Montt on October 12th after abandoning plans to fly back to Buenos Aires and then on to Santiago. We opted to spend an extra day in Bariloche and then drive across the Andes into Chile and work our way north by land to Santiago. From there, we are scheduled to fly to New Zealand on October 27th. Our decision to stay in Bariloche triggered a series of events that day that culminated with a scary accident. We all escaped with minor injuries but I had to spend a long night in the hospital under observation because of a head injury. All is well but it reminded us all of how precious and fragile life is and how important it is for all of us to live each day to the fullest because you never know when your time will come. More on that later. In an effort to keep the blog chronological, we are going to try to get through Ecuador, Peru and Argentina in the next few entries. Sorry to rehash old news but we use the blog entries to help us keep the sequence clear in our own minds.
Quito was cosmopolitan by Ecuadorian standards and we enjoyed our first creative international cuisine. By that, I mean food other than pollo and rice prepared and presented in a creative way. We walked to 12 blocks to and from the restaurant district every night. One night, we strayed a bit off course and ended up with a bunch of hookers. Then it was on to the gay restaurant. Always seeking new educational opportunities for the kids! We took a day trip to the equator and conducted lots of cool experiments. We spend 4 hours shopping for new shoes to fit Anne Nelson. Our driver Patricio suggested we go to the open market downtown for the best selection. I've never seen so many shoes in my life and I think Anne Nelson tried most of them on. We stayed at a delightful small hotel called Los Alpes. It was located right next to the American Consulate between the historic heart of downtown and Mirador, the newer section of the city where most of the nightlife can be found. While in Quito, we adopted a new system in which the responsibility for choosing a restaurant rotated each day to another member of the family. The kids were given a strict daily budget for food and they could spend it however they wanted but if they went over one day, they had to make it up the next. It worked really well for everyone except Jacob who had a hard time staying within budget. Anne Nelson would take it to the other extreme, avoiding food altogether so she could save up money. Anyway, we've kept the system going, modifying the budget as we change countries and adjust to new economic realities. We all enjoyed Quito but were ready to leave Ecuador when the time came.
Quito was cosmopolitan by Ecuadorian standards and we enjoyed our first creative international cuisine. By that, I mean food other than pollo and rice prepared and presented in a creative way. We walked to 12 blocks to and from the restaurant district every night. One night, we strayed a bit off course and ended up with a bunch of hookers. Then it was on to the gay restaurant. Always seeking new educational opportunities for the kids! We took a day trip to the equator and conducted lots of cool experiments. We spend 4 hours shopping for new shoes to fit Anne Nelson. Our driver Patricio suggested we go to the open market downtown for the best selection. I've never seen so many shoes in my life and I think Anne Nelson tried most of them on. We stayed at a delightful small hotel called Los Alpes. It was located right next to the American Consulate between the historic heart of downtown and Mirador, the newer section of the city where most of the nightlife can be found. While in Quito, we adopted a new system in which the responsibility for choosing a restaurant rotated each day to another member of the family. The kids were given a strict daily budget for food and they could spend it however they wanted but if they went over one day, they had to make it up the next. It worked really well for everyone except Jacob who had a hard time staying within budget. Anne Nelson would take it to the other extreme, avoiding food altogether so she could save up money. Anyway, we've kept the system going, modifying the budget as we change countries and adjust to new economic realities. We all enjoyed Quito but were ready to leave Ecuador when the time came.
Sunday, October 01, 2006
Catching up
Sorry we haven't updated in a while. You would think that we'd have the time given our lack of gainful employment but the competition for the laptop is fierce and the days have been full so we're way behind. Anne Nelson's site is much more up to date so I would encourage you to check there if you want to know what's going on now. I am happy to report that we got new photos uploaded today from Aguas Calientes and Buenos Aires.
Banyos and Puyo were highlights of our Ecuadorian experience. Our first morning there, we got back in the van with Pablos for a one hour drive to Puyo. I was a bit like riding with a car full of kittens, you jsut know some bad shit is going to happen. The terror de jour was driving through long unlit tunnels without our headlights. That was met with a chorus of screams, some in excitement, others in horror. Then we rode a terravita (translated: small cage of death on very high cable going very fast) across the Rio Verde. The kids loved it so much they did it twice. At $1 per ride, it was best adventure value I've ever seen. From there, we followed the river out of the mountains and into the jungle at Puyo. We visited two zoo's and a botanical jungle preserve. There we learned about the many uses for tropical plants and the lifestyles of two indigenous tribes, the Huarani and the Shwaar. You would recognize the Shwaars, they are the head shrinkers. Our guide was a hippy biologist from California who married a Shwaar woman and opened the preserve with donations from the US back in the 80's. Subsequently, it was confiscated by the government who neglected it for years during legal battle. The park was returned to it's rightful owners in the late 90's and has since been restored. The town of Puyo wasn't particularly noteworthy and I'm glad we decided not to spend the night there. Instead, we headed back to Banos for a second night and from there on to Quito.
Banyos and Puyo were highlights of our Ecuadorian experience. Our first morning there, we got back in the van with Pablos for a one hour drive to Puyo. I was a bit like riding with a car full of kittens, you jsut know some bad shit is going to happen. The terror de jour was driving through long unlit tunnels without our headlights. That was met with a chorus of screams, some in excitement, others in horror. Then we rode a terravita (translated: small cage of death on very high cable going very fast) across the Rio Verde. The kids loved it so much they did it twice. At $1 per ride, it was best adventure value I've ever seen. From there, we followed the river out of the mountains and into the jungle at Puyo. We visited two zoo's and a botanical jungle preserve. There we learned about the many uses for tropical plants and the lifestyles of two indigenous tribes, the Huarani and the Shwaar. You would recognize the Shwaars, they are the head shrinkers. Our guide was a hippy biologist from California who married a Shwaar woman and opened the preserve with donations from the US back in the 80's. Subsequently, it was confiscated by the government who neglected it for years during legal battle. The park was returned to it's rightful owners in the late 90's and has since been restored. The town of Puyo wasn't particularly noteworthy and I'm glad we decided not to spend the night there. Instead, we headed back to Banos for a second night and from there on to Quito.
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