Huaca Pucllana is a pre Incan archeological site that sits in the center of Lima's Miraflores district. The Lima people constructed the ancient pyramid as an urban center for their seaside community. It served as both a community meeting place and sacred site, in which the Lima would sacrifice young women as gifts to thier ocean gods. The site is incredibly durable, the walls made with a many layered brick construction to withstand earthquakes and storms. Also, it's like three blocks away from my hostel, and smack dab in the middle of a completely urban area. I don't think I've ever seen anything that old in the middle of a city. Fucking rad.
Lima (or atleast, the part I'm in Miraflores) is great. It has the sort of climate San Franciscians love, with a thick ocean fog that rolls over the city around mid morning and sits there all day. Miraflores is chock full of wide tree lined avenues, city parks, touristy waterfront walkways, cloudy beaches, hip young people, ceviche, and lots of people selling alpaca (not to mention pre-Incan ruins).
I got in last night and after some drama with cabs and international banking, I checked into Inca Lodge, made friends with some Aussies (of course), went to this happening litte strip called San Ramon, ate some Aji de Pollo, drank some free Pisco Sour, went to bed woke up this morning, stopped by the Lan Peru office to change my flight to Cusco, walked around Miraflores, checked out the parks, checked out the surf, went to el Parque del Amor (complete with a huge plaster statue of people making out, and Gaudi style benchs with cheesy quotes about love), had some lunch, went to Incan Ruins, now I'm here checking email and blogging in the hostel! All in a days work por Turista Suprema (my new super hero alter ego)! I think I might try to do some laundry before heading off to Cusco tomorrow.
Hope you all are well. Let me know about your own adventures large and small.
All the best,
Turista Suprema (Danny)
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Friday, September 7, 2007
Pisco Sour Gratis!? Holy shit I'm in Peru.
Things are great! (except for this shitty hostel keypad,which will prevent me from writing much more). I'm here and good. Had my first Pisco Sour of many. Era muy deliciosa. More later when at bettter computer.
-Danny
-Danny
Thursday, September 6, 2007
I had envisioned coming to the summit of Volcano Arenal after a a gruesome hike over sharp boulders and oozing lava flows, the sulfur fumes wafting over me like Satan´s very own hot breath. Instead, I watched from a mile away through the window of a van crowded with Germans as little dots of red speckled the dark mountain about a mile away. I was on a guided tour, but because of the rain it was cut a little short. Even for being a disappointment, it was still cool to see the lava flows at night. And I had a good laugh with myself about the tourist trade.
It's 6.52 am right now, and my flight leaves for Peru around 3pm. So I figured since I'm awake, it might as well be blog time.
Costa Rica is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited. I have spent a lot of time on buses this week traveling up and over the country's lush, tropical hills. I've seen roadside waterfalls emerging from the thick jungles and cascading down cliffs into the river valley below. Everywhere you look things are green and blossoming.
Despite being long, hot, and bumpy. I'm really glad I spent all that time in buses. Not only because I feel like I have seen a good deal of the country, but because they felt like a window into the real lives of Ticos. Often, I was the only tourists on these buses jam packed with families, and working men and women. I drove through rural towns not mentioned in my guidebook.
So many of the Ticos I've met have been incredibly warm and friendly. The family who ran the Sleepers' Sleep Cheaper Hostel made my time in Santa Elena worthwhile. Ronny and his pregnant wife Yoselin and their two small children Jasmine (5) and Daniel (2) always seemed happy when I joined them to watch TV at night or have a cup of coffee in the rainy afternoons. But as friendly as they seemed, I couldn't help but remember that episode of The Simpsons where the Simpson family, by some whacky turn of events, open their house up to backpackers. Of course, the smelly Germans track mud over the carpet and complain about the internet being too slow, ya.
Costa Rica is a wonderful place, but from what I've seen the tourism trade is quite dominant and I'm not sure every one wants all the tourists. Everywhere I went in the country I saw graffiti that said "NO TLC." The TLC is a free trade agreement with the United States, that has sparked a huge protest in Costa Rica. Many fear it will severely hurt the agricultural sector. In one piece of graffiti near my hostel I saw: "Gringos van a fuera!"(Gringos go away).
So all in all, I've really enjoyed my time in Costa Rica, but not without complications. But I think that's probably the point of travel abroad. So this afternoon, I'm off to Peru with a whole new set of adventures and complications.
Hope you all are well.
Pura Vida.
Danny
It's 6.52 am right now, and my flight leaves for Peru around 3pm. So I figured since I'm awake, it might as well be blog time.
Costa Rica is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited. I have spent a lot of time on buses this week traveling up and over the country's lush, tropical hills. I've seen roadside waterfalls emerging from the thick jungles and cascading down cliffs into the river valley below. Everywhere you look things are green and blossoming.
Despite being long, hot, and bumpy. I'm really glad I spent all that time in buses. Not only because I feel like I have seen a good deal of the country, but because they felt like a window into the real lives of Ticos. Often, I was the only tourists on these buses jam packed with families, and working men and women. I drove through rural towns not mentioned in my guidebook.
So many of the Ticos I've met have been incredibly warm and friendly. The family who ran the Sleepers' Sleep Cheaper Hostel made my time in Santa Elena worthwhile. Ronny and his pregnant wife Yoselin and their two small children Jasmine (5) and Daniel (2) always seemed happy when I joined them to watch TV at night or have a cup of coffee in the rainy afternoons. But as friendly as they seemed, I couldn't help but remember that episode of The Simpsons where the Simpson family, by some whacky turn of events, open their house up to backpackers. Of course, the smelly Germans track mud over the carpet and complain about the internet being too slow, ya.
Costa Rica is a wonderful place, but from what I've seen the tourism trade is quite dominant and I'm not sure every one wants all the tourists. Everywhere I went in the country I saw graffiti that said "NO TLC." The TLC is a free trade agreement with the United States, that has sparked a huge protest in Costa Rica. Many fear it will severely hurt the agricultural sector. In one piece of graffiti near my hostel I saw: "Gringos van a fuera!"(Gringos go away).
So all in all, I've really enjoyed my time in Costa Rica, but not without complications. But I think that's probably the point of travel abroad. So this afternoon, I'm off to Peru with a whole new set of adventures and complications.
Hope you all are well.
Pura Vida.
Danny
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Putting the Verde in Monteverde.
So I'm sitting on top of the observation tower in Santa Elena Cloud Forrest Reserve in Monteverde, Costa Rica watching the clouds roll into said forrest. I can see Volcano Arenal looming in the distance. I haven't encountered another human being the entire morning as I hiked through the dense forrest with vines and epiphytes hanging over the path and cicadas and strange birds chirping through the thick undergrowth. Me and the tower are the only sign of human life as far as the eye could. And I thought: Well, fuck. How did this happen?
Let me tell you. Mmmhmmm, nothing like en medias re. (spelling?)
MONDAY, It wasn't easy.
To get to Monteverde from San Jose involves getting to a bus at 6:30 in the morning in a rather unsavory part of the city. I got there early to ensure that I could get a seat for the 5 hour bus ride through windy and poorly preserved mountain roads. But unfortunately, the early con artist bird catchs the gringo worm. Waiting for the bus, I got scamed. Got scamed bad. I won't go into it now, because it's a little too embarrasing to broadcast over the internet (that says a lot) and I'm trying to put it out of my head to preserve the illusion that I'm a semi-competent person... Long story short, I got on the bus I needed (at a different terminal then I expected) and ended up paying a lot more for it than I had planned. Loyal readers (namely, Eddie and Rachel) will have to tune in for more juicy details later on. Basically, I'm an ediot, but a little bit wiser after this experience.
After the long bus ride, I arrived in Santa Elena in Monteverde Province. It's bizarre that Santa Elena even exists given how remote its location. But in the heart of the mountains (situated between two National Parks) is this tiny village bustling with travel agencies, restaurants, hotels, and lots and lots of gringos. It kind of feels like a tacky ski village in Vermont, just replace skiing with nature and snobby people from Connecticut and niosy people from New York with snobby from Germany and noisy people from the United States. Being here has made me feel all sorts of complex feelings and thoughts about the ethics of ecotourism. I'm saving that for next entry, so get ready. Who likes white, liberal guilt!? I sure do.
I checked in to this absolute shithole called Sleepers Sleep Cheaper Hostel, that costs $6 for the night. The sheets (under the thin fleece Pooh Bear blankets) were a little less than clean in my tiny hole of a room. But it turned out to be a really great place for less tangible reasons, mostly having to do with the proprietor Ronny and his family... More on them next entry too.
On Ronny's urging, that night I went on a guided night tour of one of the private reserves near Santa Elena. It was terrific. Because it was raining, I was the only loser to show. So it turned out to be a private tour. Me and my guide Maurice, tromped through the forrest in the dark and the rain searching for nocturnal animals. Maurice was incredibly friendly and knowlegeable and with his keen eye we saw (among other things): a praying mantis, shoulder spotted rain frogs, two rainbow beak toucans, and a side striped pit viper (one of the most venomous in Costa Rica). My day had vastly improved since the mystery incident at the San Jose bus terminal.
TUESDAY
I woke up early to go to the Santa Elena reserve. After yet another bumpy ride. I got to the reserve around 9:00 and spent until 1:00 hiking through the forrest and hanging out on the observation tower. The forrest is so thick with so many plants growing on other plants and hanging down over the trail, I could imagine that if I stood still for long enough the forrest would colonize me and suck me into the undergrowth.
At one point in the walk I saw an agouti, basically a big jungle rodent. Pretty exciting.
I had basically walked all the trails by 1pm, and my ride back to the hostel wasn't coming until 4. So I spent 3 hours on the porch of the Reserve cafe reading about Pinochet and watching the rain fall in the jungle. I've become a big fan of watching the rain fall, I do it basically every day.
WEDNESDAY (today)
I'm writing this email from an internet place in the town of Fortuna. It's to the north of Snta Elena and the base of Arenal. This morning involved taking a van through the rolling cow dotted green hills of Monteverde region to Laguna Arenal. I boarded a boat to cross the the lake. As the boat approched the other shore, Volcano Arenal shot smoke into the air above us. I got in another van that took me to Fortuna where I'm staying in Cabinas Arsol, and I think I'm paying too much for the wrong room. Later today, I'm hiking up to Arenal. Should be exciting.
So for next time, I promise thoughts on:
- Ethics of ecotourism
- La Familia Sleepers Sleep Cheaper
- Updates on Arenal
- The Gingo Blues
All the best, hope you all are well, keep the comments coming, they're fun to read,
Danny
Let me tell you. Mmmhmmm, nothing like en medias re. (spelling?)
MONDAY, It wasn't easy.
To get to Monteverde from San Jose involves getting to a bus at 6:30 in the morning in a rather unsavory part of the city. I got there early to ensure that I could get a seat for the 5 hour bus ride through windy and poorly preserved mountain roads. But unfortunately, the early con artist bird catchs the gringo worm. Waiting for the bus, I got scamed. Got scamed bad. I won't go into it now, because it's a little too embarrasing to broadcast over the internet (that says a lot) and I'm trying to put it out of my head to preserve the illusion that I'm a semi-competent person... Long story short, I got on the bus I needed (at a different terminal then I expected) and ended up paying a lot more for it than I had planned. Loyal readers (namely, Eddie and Rachel) will have to tune in for more juicy details later on. Basically, I'm an ediot, but a little bit wiser after this experience.
After the long bus ride, I arrived in Santa Elena in Monteverde Province. It's bizarre that Santa Elena even exists given how remote its location. But in the heart of the mountains (situated between two National Parks) is this tiny village bustling with travel agencies, restaurants, hotels, and lots and lots of gringos. It kind of feels like a tacky ski village in Vermont, just replace skiing with nature and snobby people from Connecticut and niosy people from New York with snobby from Germany and noisy people from the United States. Being here has made me feel all sorts of complex feelings and thoughts about the ethics of ecotourism. I'm saving that for next entry, so get ready. Who likes white, liberal guilt!? I sure do.
I checked in to this absolute shithole called Sleepers Sleep Cheaper Hostel, that costs $6 for the night. The sheets (under the thin fleece Pooh Bear blankets) were a little less than clean in my tiny hole of a room. But it turned out to be a really great place for less tangible reasons, mostly having to do with the proprietor Ronny and his family... More on them next entry too.
On Ronny's urging, that night I went on a guided night tour of one of the private reserves near Santa Elena. It was terrific. Because it was raining, I was the only loser to show. So it turned out to be a private tour. Me and my guide Maurice, tromped through the forrest in the dark and the rain searching for nocturnal animals. Maurice was incredibly friendly and knowlegeable and with his keen eye we saw (among other things): a praying mantis, shoulder spotted rain frogs, two rainbow beak toucans, and a side striped pit viper (one of the most venomous in Costa Rica). My day had vastly improved since the mystery incident at the San Jose bus terminal.
TUESDAY
I woke up early to go to the Santa Elena reserve. After yet another bumpy ride. I got to the reserve around 9:00 and spent until 1:00 hiking through the forrest and hanging out on the observation tower. The forrest is so thick with so many plants growing on other plants and hanging down over the trail, I could imagine that if I stood still for long enough the forrest would colonize me and suck me into the undergrowth.
At one point in the walk I saw an agouti, basically a big jungle rodent. Pretty exciting.
I had basically walked all the trails by 1pm, and my ride back to the hostel wasn't coming until 4. So I spent 3 hours on the porch of the Reserve cafe reading about Pinochet and watching the rain fall in the jungle. I've become a big fan of watching the rain fall, I do it basically every day.
WEDNESDAY (today)
I'm writing this email from an internet place in the town of Fortuna. It's to the north of Snta Elena and the base of Arenal. This morning involved taking a van through the rolling cow dotted green hills of Monteverde region to Laguna Arenal. I boarded a boat to cross the the lake. As the boat approched the other shore, Volcano Arenal shot smoke into the air above us. I got in another van that took me to Fortuna where I'm staying in Cabinas Arsol, and I think I'm paying too much for the wrong room. Later today, I'm hiking up to Arenal. Should be exciting.
So for next time, I promise thoughts on:
- Ethics of ecotourism
- La Familia Sleepers Sleep Cheaper
- Updates on Arenal
- The Gingo Blues
All the best, hope you all are well, keep the comments coming, they're fun to read,
Danny
Sunday, September 2, 2007
High points and Low Points
Today was the kind of day that reveals all that's great about travel and a lot that totally sucks. Here are some things that suck and were pretty cool>
1) I woke up early to remember that the night before I lost my journal, and probably left it at a shoddy internet cafe. This journal included lots of information that could lead to identity theft! I am a total idiot SUCK... But to my amazement it was there where I left it... FUN TIMES!
2) I went to this great small town outside of San Jose called Orosi. It nestled in this beautiful valley with Irazu Volcano towering above. I watched un partido de futbol in the town sqaure while sipping un Imperial (Costa Rica's national beer)... FUN TIMES! But oh man the public transportation...SUCK.
In truth, there were more "fun times" then "suck." But I'm learning how humbling travel can be. I'm learning to accept my role as big fat gringo nerd in beefy hiking boots, swishy nylon pants, and butchered Spanish. Orosi was truly beautiful, worth visiting even though there's very little there.
I don't know what I'm doing tomorrow! I'm leaving San Jose, but not sure where to. Either jungle or beach. Got an opinion? LEAVE A COMMENT=FUN TIMES.
I might not have easy internet access for a few days, so all the best.
Danny at Bekuo Hostel, San Jose
1) I woke up early to remember that the night before I lost my journal, and probably left it at a shoddy internet cafe. This journal included lots of information that could lead to identity theft! I am a total idiot SUCK... But to my amazement it was there where I left it... FUN TIMES!
2) I went to this great small town outside of San Jose called Orosi. It nestled in this beautiful valley with Irazu Volcano towering above. I watched un partido de futbol in the town sqaure while sipping un Imperial (Costa Rica's national beer)... FUN TIMES! But oh man the public transportation...SUCK.
In truth, there were more "fun times" then "suck." But I'm learning how humbling travel can be. I'm learning to accept my role as big fat gringo nerd in beefy hiking boots, swishy nylon pants, and butchered Spanish. Orosi was truly beautiful, worth visiting even though there's very little there.
I don't know what I'm doing tomorrow! I'm leaving San Jose, but not sure where to. Either jungle or beach. Got an opinion? LEAVE A COMMENT=FUN TIMES.
I might not have easy internet access for a few days, so all the best.
Danny at Bekuo Hostel, San Jose
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