Week 10: The End - Machu Picchu

My final week in South America was nothing short of incredible.  Machu Picchu is absolutely amazing - way more so than I expected - and I think everyone in our group would highly recommend it to anyone looking for breathtaking historic sites surrounded by gorgeous scenery mixed in with some pretty serious hiking (although, I think most would agree that there is probably a more suitable time to visit than the rainy season)...

We went with a tour company called Aventours (they were great!) - the six in our group traveled with a guide, a chef, and TEN porters, carrying our tents and all the food and supplies necessary for the trip (including a portable bathroom).  We arrived to a completely set up camp site each day, afternoon tea and cookies, and 3 course gourmet meals (think pancakes and french toast for breakfast, avocados stuffed with tuna salad, all sorts of soups, chicken, spaghetti, beef, sweet potatoes, vegetables, and even chocolate pudding, jello, and cookies for dessert) - additionally, we were awoken each morning with a cup of warm tea or coffee IN our tents - I've decided this is the way I would like to camp for the rest of my life (although 5 days without showers was stretching it for me).

Day 1: quick stop to visit/feed alpacas, two Inca ruin tours on the way to the trail, and a 45 minute hike to our base camp to start the trip

 [I think I would like a baby alpaca for Christmas]

 [Traditional Peruvian women weaving alpaca yarn]

 [Incredible views]

[The journey begins....]

Day 2: 7.5 mile hike, 1,600 feet elevation gain, no rain (!) - passed a lot of cows, horses, donkeys, llamas, and tiny little houses

 [These guys were all over - just wandering the trail]

[Pupper, goat, AND chickens - quite the farm]

Day 3: 5.5 miles, 3,600 feet elevation gain, and lots and lots of rain - this day was a bit miserable thanks to the steep incline mixed with freezing cold rain.  I almost hit my breaking point after making it to the tent, changing into warm clothes, and waking up from my nap to a sopping wet sleeping bag due to the dripping clothes hung up inside our tent to dry.  Thankfully a bit of hot chocolate mixed with rum helped... 

Day 4: 10 miles, 1,500 feet elevation gain, and MUCH better weather - long day of hiking but only rain sprinkles and incredible views through the rain forest - plus we saw a rainbow AND a cluster of four leaf clovers... 

 [There are over 9,000 steps on the Inca trail....]

Day 5: 3:30AM wake up, 3 mile hike, and 950 feet elevation drop into Machu Picchu (!!) before lots of time for exploring and a 4 hour train ride back to Cusco. 

 [Made it!]

 [Breathtaking.]

All in all, pretty incredible end to a pretty incredible 10 weeks.  I head back home tomorrow and could not be more excited! :)

Week 9: Buenos Aires

Before planning my trip to Buenos Aires, multiple people told me I’d absolutely love the city.  However, I must admit that after our taxi ride from the airport and arrival at our hostel, I couldn’t imagine what everyone saw in this run-down, decrepit city – graffiti was painted on every wall I could see, dog poop and trash on every sidewalk, and buildings all around us were falling apart – it seemed as though either all of those people must be sorely mistaken or I was in the wrong city…

It only took one night in the city for my opinion to do a complete 180.  We spent the first night of our trip at ‘La Bomba del Tiempo’, a Monday night tradition that we heard is an absolute must if you find yourself in BA on a Monday.  I think we all expected some hippie-ish drum circle where guys in dreads danced around in an outdoor park while everyone watched/danced along with them – we were quite wrong.  In reality, we waited in a long line, paid $10, and entered a huge warehouse type building with a giant stage, filled with a band pumping out beats on their drums, while stomping their feet to brightly flashing lights.  Beautiful people surrounded us and everyone was having the time of their lives -- sucking down humungous plastic cups of cheap beer, stuffing their faces with empanadas, and dancing until they were covered in sweat.  It was a blast.

We woke up Tuesday craving a big gringo breakfast.  We consulted our list of compiled recommendations and only found one “breakfast/brunch” listed (people in BA sleep realllly late since the clubs are open to all hours of the morning) – so opted to go there.  I was left in charge of directions… big mistake.  After two hours and 45 minutes (yes, we really trudged around BA for that long without eating – think 3 different metro trips and a LOT of walking), we finally realized that we were STILL 21 blocks from our final destination and hopped in a cab.  Lesson learned (for about the millionth time) – NEVER trust Meghan with directions.  Thankfully, the lunch (we were obviously too late for brunch, arriving at 3pm) was delicious and (in my opinion, although probably not the boys’), totally worth the wait.

 [The boys at Olsen - after our long trek]

We spent Tuesday afternoon wandering through Palermo Soho which is my absolute favorite part of BA – think cobblestone, tree-lined streets, swanky restaurants with outdoor and rooftop patios, adorable, brightly painted boutiques, and really really pretty people – amazing.

 [Ice cream at Chungo - absolutely fantastic]

Unfortunately, we woke up to rain on Wednesday and after a quick, very wet, run opted for shopping on Florida Ave – a pedestrian street filled with shops, street vendors, and great malls.  Although we made very few purchases, we DID get to take our picture with Santa (and his helper).

Wednesday night we splurged… sort of.  We went to this super swanky, incredibly delicious steak restaurant in Palermo – however, during happy hour (between 7-8:30pm) everything is 50% off (wine, steaks, appetizers, you name it) which was absolutely fantastic (and saved us over $200).  We all agreed it was the best steak we had ever eaten – complete with multiple dipping sauces (garlic & onions, sweet potato puree, apple sauce, mashed potato puree, sun dried tomatoes, pesto, etc.) – man, so so good.

We spent Thursday morning in Boca – a great little, very colorful neighborhood on the west side of BA – wandering streets, shopping, and Matt and Addiel even jumped in a soccer game (unfortunately, I was wearing a dress plus I’m pretty sure the kids were at the ‘girls have cooties’ stage of life so I opted to watch from the sidelines).

Unfortunately, the rain picked up in the afternoon but we did manage to squeeze in a trip to the Recoleta Cemetary, which is where Evita is buried (!) before being total Americans and spending the rest of the afternoon at the movies – between a big bucket of popcorn, a fountain soda (which are QUITE rare in SA), and ‘New Year’s Eve’ (which was shown in English with Spanish subtitles), I felt like we were back in the U.S.

In hindsight, although my first impression of BA wasn’t exactly favorable, I think the run down parts of the city are all part of it’s appeal – what a crazy juxtaposition from the swanky pockets of Palermo and Recoleta – I suppose the bad really does make you appreciate the good, right?

I’m off to Machu Picchu for my last week in SA before heading home for the holidays…

Week 8: Dunzo.

Hard to believe our time in Santiago has come to an end - it went by so quickly but when I think back over our two months in this city, it's amazing we packed in as much as we did.  As Thursday was a religious holiday in Chile (Immaculate Conception), everything was closed so our last day of classes was actually Wednesday.  After 12 hours of classes (we had a make-up ethics class on Wednesday due to the holiday), we were all beat but went out for a big group dinner together on Thursday evening at a restaurant we'd had on our list to try - Giratorio is in Providencia on the 16th floor of an office building - the entire thing is surrounded in glass and rotates while you eat to provide panoramic views of the city.  Although the food wasn't stellar, it was a great way to cap off our trip.

 [The whole crew with the singer who serenaded us all evening long.]

While our classes were finished, we still had a finance paper and econ paper to finish so we spent most of Friday working on those but John, Matt, and I did find time for an ice cream break.  Everyone in Santiago eats ice cream - in fact, I've never seen more people with ice cream cones in one city in my life - as you can imagine, I was in heaven.  There are two ice cream joints in Bellas Artes that are touted as the best in the city and only two blocks apart.  Obviously, we HAD to try both... 

 [Emporio la Rosa -- chocolate and cookies and cream]

[Cafe del Opera -- chocolate -- the clear winner]

As Friday was the last night our entire house would be together (Fred left on Saturday morning for his hike), we opted for dinner and drinks at Cantina - our local watering hole - followed by a night of dancing next door.

 [Suecia 100 - such a great time with this crew]

 [New friends!]

 [Lovin' life]

[With Jamie - our fave manager]

With Fred gone, Saturday was super lazy, although we did manage to make it out of the house for a quick stop at La Piojera - known for it's terremotos (a famous Chilean drink made with sweet fermented wine and pineapple ice cream).  Words can't really do this place justice -- think a big dirty warehouse type room, concrete floors, filled with Chileans (mostly grimy men) sitting at picnic tables drinking terremotos out of plastic cups.  Understandably, John, Matt, and I stuck out like a sore thumb.  In fact, I'm pretty sure that people were staring at us the entire time we were in that place (just as long as it took us to down one terremoto before high-tailing it out of there).  However, we did get to speak to some very drunk locals which was pretty entertaining (drunk, slurring Spanish is MUCH harder to understand than normal Spanish.. and let me tell ya, we aren't very good at understanding normal Spanish)... 

 [The infamous "terremoto']

[Gringos - standing out like sore thumbs]

We spent Sunday finishing up our final econ paper, packing, and managed to fit in a final run up San Cristobal.  John left this evening to fly home to the States and Matt and I meet up with Drew and Addiel tomorrow to head to Buenos Aires for the week.  

Hasta luego Santiago - ¡Volveremos!

Week 7: Pucon - Hydrospeed & Volcano Hiking

I could not think of a better weekend getaway to end our time in Santiago - our trip to Pucon was hands-down my favorite weekend of our trip.  We took an overnight bus Friday night (10 hours south) and woke up in Pucon early Saturday morning.  The town is adorable and I think we all mentioned at different times that we could totally live there.  It's a quaint little ski-ish town (think log cabin/stone buildings), surrounded by mountains and sitting right on a lake - an adventure lovers paradise.

 [This guy set up shop every day right outside of our hostel] 

After a delicious gringo breakfast and a walk around the town, we decided to try out "hydrospeeding" on Saturday afternoon.  We were outfitted in wet suits, helmets, booties, and flippers and given these boogie board-esque flotation devices.  We jumped in the water, grabbed our boards, and floated down the river towards the rapids (class III) - although it was freeeeeeeezing (being only 60 degrees out of the water, you can imagine our hands and feet went numb pretty quickly), the thrill of going through the rapids made the whole thing totally worthwhile.  Everyone had their fair share of flips, 360 spins, duck dives, and I definitely swallowed a LOT of that river.

 [The whole crew - waiting to hit the rapids]

 [Lovin' life]

Our white water rafting tour guide from our first weekend in Santiago is actually from Pucon and coincidentally was in town Saturday night.  After dinner at a local restaurant, we met up with him and his wife for lots of drinks and ended up at a discoteca filled with teenagers - pretty sure we were all at least 10 years older and a foot taller than everyone there - which made for some interesting stories...

 [Danilo and his wife - at Mamas y Tapas]

[La Playa - teenager central]

As a result of Saturday evening, Sunday was a very lazy day.  We slept late, had a big breakfast, napped, and then spent most of the afternoon laying on the beach at the lake.

 [Obsessed.]

 [The whole crew - notice the huge mountain the background...]

[The boys at the lake with our new friend - Nia - who worked at our hostel]

We spent Sunday night unwinding at natural hot springs which were an hour or so outside of Pucon. 

Woke up supa early (6AM) on Monday to get ready for our big climb up Villarrica - a 9,341ft active, snow-covered volcano that rises above Pucon.  (It's actually one of only five volcanoes in the world known to have an active lava lake within it's center.)  Regardless, the hike was a BIT more intense than we all bargained for - somehow we joined the fast group and instead of the 5.5-6hrs it was supposed to take to get to the top, we got there in 3.5hrs (I felt like we were sprinting up never-ending snowy steps with our ice picks.)  The views from the top were absolutely incredible.  The way back down was WAY more fun as they equipped us all with sleds that locked onto the front of our jackets, and we just slid the whole way down the mountain (apparently called glissading - who knew).  It was a blast.

 [There she is - from the bottom]

 [Halfway up - and still smiling!]

 [Looking into the crater]

 [DONE!]

 [The whole gang - pumped/relieved to be done]

[Love love sledding - so happy]