Machu Picchu Trek, Peru - Day 4

So today we woke up at 3:45 in the morning to be one of the first three groups at the gate which opens at 5:30 in the morning. While we grumbled a bit at the early morning rise in the pitch black, we were very grateful in hindsight. Matt and I ran the last part of the trek in 45 minutes which normally takes 1 – 1.5 hours to walk to get to the Sun Gate. From there we had to wait for the rest of the group to catch up so we could go to Wayna Picchu to get tickets. Only 400 people are allowed access per day to the soaring mountain which rises over Machu Picchu and gives stunning panoramic views of the ruins and valley below. This would be the one of the highlights of the trip!

We were racing against the masses of people who would be taking a slightly easier route and catching an early bus from Aquas Calientes, a neighboring town, up to Machu Picchu. They would be getting there around 7am so we were trying to get there in that timeframe so we could get one of those magical tickets. We must have looked like quite a circus show running into Machu Picchu; all harried, unshowered and unkempt with exhausted gaunt, sunken eyes bestowing the pain of waking up before the sun and carrying our bags for the last 4 days. Some of the other tourists who took the bus appeared rather refreshed and springy in their dapper sweaters resting over their shoulders and crossed in front, and glanced at us with a mixture of awe and interest. Perhaps it was more shock and disbelief. I prefer to believe that they were inspired.

So after all that running we got to the WP ticket counter and got the 392 to 400th ticket. I got the LAST ONE! It was crazy, I actually felt bad because a couple of the guys had walked through Machu Picchu and they missed out on tickets to Waynu Picchu. Wow the euphoria of getting the last ticket was like winning the lottery. Despite my calm demeanor and even keeled personality, I don’t think I would have stood up well to being number 401 in line.

Half way up Waynu Picchu, I was starting to wonder if it would have been better to be number 401. My legs were burning like I had just run a marathon with a 50lb bag on. The effects of the three day trek and waking up early were getting the best of me. I was getting light headed and had to lean heavily on the steel cables that lined the steep mountain walls. This mountain was steep, at some points only had space for one person to cross, and did not have cables in some sections. At the top, we had to crawl under a huge rock for about 20 feet on our hands and knees through some water which was only big enough for barely me to fit. I have no idea how a large unathletic person managed this natural obstacle course. We emerged on the other side of the fallen rock where after climbing up another flight of steps we arrived at the top of the mountain, which was a huge pile of enormous boulders. It was really cool to run around on top of huge rocks overlooking the valley and Machu Picchu, until you realize that there are no cables up here. That it’s raining and the rocks are slippery. And that this is probably where that tourist fell of the mountain about 9 months ago. Then it gets realistically scary rather quickly. After slowing edging our way around the precipitous boulders, we edged our way down and properly explored Machu Picchu.

Machu Picchu is as amazing as everybody says it is. I’m not going to bore you with superlatives which you can read by googling Machu Picchu. Just know that if you haven’t been already you should go. I would rank it on par with the Great Wall, Ankor Wat and the Forbidden City in terms of awesome man-made beauty and engineering. It should be on everybody’s bucket list.

Machu Picchu Trek, Peru - Day 4

Salta, Argentina - Day 1

I arrived to Salta early in the morning on an overnight bus from Mendoza so I took a nap and then hit the town to explore. I went to a couple museums, and a lookout point on top of a hill. I think of all the Argentinean cities that I’ve visited so far, Salta has the most indigenous culture and charisma to the city, both the architecture and its people.

The fun part of the day was taking an empanada class at the hostel in the evening. We made both fried and baked empanadas. One of the telltale characteristics of empanadas from Salta is that the meat and other ingredients are chopped into very fine cubes and not ground. They also add a decent dose of cumin which adds a lovely flavor and a ton of lard – wahoo! Pork fat can make cardboard taste good. Lard may be the best condiment ever after ketchup. Just like ketchup it works on pretty much everything! OK everything savory. I can’t wait to reproduce those tasty suckers back home.

Salta, Argentina - Day 1

Valparaiso, Chile - Day 1

Valparaiso, a Unesco Site, is an artsy bohemian town about an hour and a half northwest of Santiago along the Pacific coast. A cluster of winding streets, massive hills, and cable cars permeate the city. They have artists galore and homeless people aplenty.

Valparaiso is definitely not for everybody. It’s a very overcrowded city; the streets are narrow and people are everywhere. There are rough edges not just at the city edges but throughout the city. Of all the cities that I’ve ever visited, it’s one easiest cities to get lost in as the streets names change a couple times for the same street on one stretch of road, most of the streets are extremely windy, there are few main streets to walk along, and the city is built around multiple hills and along a bay which adds to the confusion. Certainly, the flock of homeless people laying around the entire city also makes it somewhat difficult to ascertain the “safe” areas from the somewhat “shady” areas.

For the shutterbug, wanderlust takes over and exploring the numerous side streets on each hill can become a multiple day activity. The artistic graffiti, colorful houses, and small art galleries on the hills are a joy to discover with each street providing a glimpse into the local art work and often crescendoing into the next find.

Valparasio, Chile - Day 1

Punta del Este, Uruguay - Day 1

Punta del Este is an international beach resort in Uruguay about 1.5 hours from Montevideo. I was planning on spending 3 days there but a couple people mentioned that it's the slow season and that it would be dead there so I decided to take a tour and check out the town.

Some general observations from Punta del Este and Uruguay in general.

There is a flat fee for eating in a restaurant to cover the silverware, service, etc and it goes to house in addition to the tip

There is a typical Uruguayan dish which is a layered meat dish with steak, ham, sunny side up egg on top of French fries. Interesting but I do that at home with leftover food. The French fries in Uruguay are often not crispy…and slightly soggy and barely warm…like they put the fries in the fryer and took them out 3 minutes too soon as soon as they started to defrost.

The houses in Punta del Este are amazing. Like the coolest modern compilation of unique houses that I’ve ever seen. I wish I could have captured more of them but it was hard on the moving bus. I didn’t even get the best ones on top of the mountain.

Punta del Esta, Uruguay - Day 1

Montevideo, Uruguay - Day 2

I rented a bike and rode around the city and along the bike path next to the ocean. I was so sore from riding the bike that I was waddling by the end of the day.

Montevideo, Uruguay - Day 2

Montevideo, Uruguay - Day 1

The weather can be rather fickle here. Up to this point in the trip it has been around 85 degrees and extremely hot, sunny. So the next morning I have an 8 am boat to catch to Montevideo and I step outside and it feels like about 60 and extremely windy. By the time I get to Montevideo which is a 3 hour boat ride away – I’m in long pants, short and long sleeve shirts, and winter jacket. The weather remains cool and windy for the rest of the week in the 70’s but the sun is soo hot that people are still laying on the beach. I got two shades darker in about 15 minutes after laying out.

So I got to the ferry station an hour ahead of time and had some breakfast while waiting. The boat was supposed to leave at 8 am and get to Montevideo at 11am but for some reason the departure time got pushed back 2 hours. Shouldn’t boats leaving at 8 am already be there? It’s not like our boat was coming in from another port at 7 am. Well perhaps the delay was weather related. The boat was a large one; and it had space for cars and about 300-400 passengers, but as we started our journey the wind and waves were rocking the boat rather viscously. I decided to pick an aisle seat on a corner so that there were no seats in front of me or on the side for some extra leg room. Boy was that a mistake. Old people were falling all over the place, and one lady thought it would be a good idea to use my laptop screen as a rail.

I managed to fall asleep and when I woke up people were getting off the boat. Sweet we’re here! So I’m waiting for my bag at the carousel and noticed that there is an English tour guide. I know that the ferry is close to Plaza Independencia which is close to where I’m staying.

ME: “So how far away are we from the Plaza Independencia”?

HER: “Ummmm the Plaza Independencia is in Montevideo we’re in Colonia”.

ME: “WHAT?!? Did I get on the wrong boat in the chaos back in Buenos Aires? How am I going to get my bag in Montevideo? How do I get to Montevideo from here”?

HER: “Just get your bag and then you can catch the bus outside…just show them your ticket and they’ll put you on the right bus”.

So another 2.5 hour bus ride later, I finally make it to Montevideo and didn’t get settled down until about 4pm. That’s a long 3 hour boat ride.

Montevideo, Uraguay - Day 1

Colonia de Santiago, Uruguay - Day 1

I went on a tour of Colonia de Santiago today. This UNESCO site is an old town which has been well preserved to show the old Portuguese and Spanish architecture. This town traded hands multiple times as this city was passed back and forth to settle disputes between the two countries.

One thing that I learned on this tour is that the cobble stones roads were designed in the Portuguese style of a slight “U” concave shape to allow the water to drain off in the middle. While it was efficient at draining the water, it can be somewhat difficult to traverse. Conversely, the Romans built their cobble stone streets in an upside down “U” shape to allow the water to drain off to the sides which is equally efficient and allows for easier transport.

Colonia de Santiago, Uruguay - Day 1

Buenos Aires, Argentina - Day 2

I took a city tour today which was disappointing since the "bilingual" tour guide gave a ton of info in Spanish speaking for like 5 minutes. Then in English, he would name the building that we passed a block ago and then switched back to his native tongue. So I was constantly trying to crane my neck to view the structures that the tour guide mentioned after we had already passed them. The highlight of the tour was the colorful La Boca area which had diverse multi colored houses.

Buenos Aires, Argentina - Day 2

Rio de Janiero, Brazil - Day 3

So today, I walked around the downtown area, rode the subway, rode a local bus, talk to locals, viewed a couple street performances, hung out on the colorful tiled steps where Snoop Dogg filmed the music video “Beautiful Girl” and got robbed. Oh and ate every version of empanada possible – boy those things are tasty…I don’t know where they get all the different combinations of dough (corn, wheat, and stuffing combinations but they are amazing.

Oh so the robbing story…well I’m ok thanks for wondering. It actually was a blessing in disguise as I got a good lesson. I was waiting for the bus and had my money out and some guy just grabbed it and ran. By the time I realized it, he was half way down the block and I wasn’t about to chase him over cobble stone for $15 dollars. So it was very opportunistic, nobody got hurt, and I had more money in other pockets. That being said, I’ll just be more aware of my surroundings and careful while traveling. No worries mom :)

Rio de Janerio, Brazil - Day 3

Rio de Janerio, Brazil - Day 2

Today I took a city tour with some of the highlights being Christ the Redeemer, Sugar Loaf Mountain, and a huge cathedral. The views from the top of CtR and SLM were quite impressive. I also saw my first Asian in South America but unfortunately they happened to be Korean tourists so I don’t think they count as locals. I guess they don't have too many Asians here because two different groups of people stopped me at Sugar Loaf and CtR and asked to take a picture with me. Kind of funny.

The amount of diversity in Brazil is amazing with every shade of white, black and in between. Everyone seems unique but no one is really exotic in this melting pot. It seems like as long as you can speak Portuguese that people welcome you as Brazilian. Unlike in other countries, Brazilians don’t seem to view race as a factor in discriminating which is good; however, social class and background do appear to be a factor here.

I took a nap after getting back from the tour and I guess someone left the window open and it was raining so the mosquitoes were out in full force. For some reason mosquitoes like me. I go camping with my friends and I'll spray on a bottle of OFF, sit in a middle of a circle of Citronelle candles, and spray some Raid on for good measure and I still get the most bites out of all my friends. I think I got about 40 (no joke I counted them) bites in about 1 hours. Luckily on my last trip to South East Asia my aunt in HK too pity on me when I came over for dinner with a ton of bites and gave me this ointment from Japan that does wonders on mosquito bites and I brought it along. Thanks Aunt Evelyn!

Rio de Janerio, Brazil - Day 2

Penang, Malaysia - Day 2

UNESCO World Heritage Site

Penang, Malaysia - Day 2

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Day 3

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Day 3

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Day 2

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Day 2

Singapore, Singapore - Day 3

Singapore has a fantastic blend of three main cultures from China, India, and native Malay. The food is amazing – spicy, flavorful, and diverse. I could live here just for the food.

I ran into a Japanese FOOOD COURT…there were 15 upscale stalls differ styles of Japanese cooking – the usual sushi / sashimi, ramen, teriyaki, yakitori, and curries stalls, but then they also had more interesting things like Japanese pizzas, Italian takes, stews, bakery goods, and stuff that I’ve never seen before…I wanted to take pictures of all the stalls but at the time I thought that would be a bit odd…in hindsight I really wish I would have taken the pictures or at least ordered something from every stall…wow it was heavenly

Singapore, Singapore - Day 3

Vientiane, Laos - Day 2

Vientiane, Laos - Day 2

Hue, Vietnam - Day 2

UNESCO World Heritage Site

Hue, Vietnam - Day 2

Philipines - Day 3

Philipines Day 3