Saturday, April 28, 2012

3, 2, 1 Bungy....

I was standing at the edge of a tower 83 meters (272 feet) in the air. The guy holding me told me not to look down. When do you do what you are told? I could see my friends standing below, they looked like ants from where I was standing.

In an instant the guy holding me counted 3, 2, 1 bungy. I leaned forward, like they told me. "Fall forward like a falling tree." I saw the ground come in to view and in a split second my feet were off the platform and the ground was hurtling towards me. I could feel the rubber cord pull at my feet. I was thrown up into the air once again. This repeated until I came to a stop dangling meters above the ground.

"Perfect jump!" said the guy who pulled me to the ground. "Best jump all day." I was still shaking as I headed over to my group of friends. I looked once more up at the tower. I did it!!!!!


Thursday, April 26, 2012

On the road to Rishikesh

I am heading to Rishikesh for rafting tomorrow. Its an overnight journey. I am setting off at midnight and I should arrive at 6am.

We hired a driver and AC cab to take us to Rishikesh and back to Delhi. It costs 8.5 Rs per Kilometer. I will be back on Saturday night. Stay tuned for my trip north.  
Midnight City by M83

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

I want an Indian wedding...


Today has been very productive. I woke up early and took a cab with my friend Mudit to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. The drive it 4 hours in crazy traffic.

Taj Mahal was beautiful. We hired a guide for $5 for two hours. We walked around the entire place taking fun photos. Taj Mahal is amazing. It was amazing to think about the amount of work that went into building it. 


After the Taj Mudit and I headed to a local bazaar. It was a local Indian market. I was the only foreigner in the whole place. The market was filled with flies and cows walking around right down the middle of the street. I bought some gold sandals for 100 Rupees ($2) and some bellies flats for 200 Rupees ($4). It was nice to see all the shops. I am looking forward to purchasing my sari for my next Indian wedding. 

After leaving Agra, we headed to a wedding to meet up with some friends. I was so excited to attend my first Indian wedding. I have seen so many Bollywood videos so I knew how important they are in Indian tradition. 


At first the groom heads to the wedding area on a horse with a huge truck full of speakers and a band playing music. People dance all around and set off fireworks as they get closer. When they get to the wedding hall the groom is asked to get off his horse and dance but only his brother-in-law can convince him to get off. 

He enters the wedding area dancing and heads to the stage where all his friends begin to bug and tease him. Food is free and unlimited. You can go around and try all the dishes. The wedding area is covered with colored lights. It looks like Christmas. 


The bride then enters. Drums are played as she walks up the stage to meet her husband. They stand on a platform that spins as they are showered with petals. They exchange flower necklaces. Fireworks are set off in the background. Then a photo session is started. After this we left the wedding. The ceremony lasts all night and all the next day. 

In June I will be attending a full ceremony so I will get back to writing about what else happens in the night. Stay tuned. 


Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Horn OK Please

Humayun's Tomb
India is definitely an adventure. Its much different from anywhere I have been, and I absolutely love it. I am even learning Hindi. I can haggle with the sales men at the Bazaars all in Hindi.
In India I feel like a movie star. Usually a couple times a day people will ask to take a photo with me. Probably to post on facebook with the caption "my white girlfriend." Other times people will pretend to take a picture of something then suddenly turn the camera towards me  to snap a photo. Other times someone will come up a couple feet from where I am standing and then take a picture making sure that I am in it. I have gotten use to it now. I know now how movie stars feel.

Qutub Minar Complex
I arrived in Delhi on Sunday on a train from Mumbai. India has an amazing train system, you can get almost anywhere on the train. The trains are very comfortable, with fold down beds for sleeping in overnight journeys. The trains are always packed and tickets need to be bought in advance, but for tourists, like me a small number are reserved. These can be purchased only a couple days before your journey.
Shia Jama Masjid
In Delhi I met up with my friend Mudit. We have been sight seeing around Delhi. Delhi has an amazing metro (subway) system. The first car in every train is reserved for women only so its very safe for solo women to travel. Over all I feel much safer in Delhi than I did in Mumbai.

Qutb Minar Complex
So I am sure, if you have never been to India, you are wondering about the title. Trucks here in India all have this phrase tattooed across its back side. What does it mean? At first I was a little confused. Why would you be telling people to honk, please? Well the reason is; trucks are slow and can sometimes take over multiple lanes (because in India you don't drive in a designated lane) and block cars from passing. So truck drivers like when cars honk to warn them if they are going to try to pass.

Honking in India (which is done almost every 30seconds when driving) is not to anger another driver, like how we use the horn in America. The horn is used to warn other drivers that you are approaching, turning, or passing. 


Humayun's Tomb
So far in Delhi I have visited the Red Fort, Humayun's Tomb, Qutb Minar Complex, and  Shia Jama Masjid, Delhi. The architecture is amazing here thanks to the Mughal Empire.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Running Red Lights

Mumbai, with a population of over 13 million, will definitely give you culture shock. We hired a car for a day to explore the city and get our bearing. It turns out that I am still as confused of this fast paced, red light running city as when I landed at the airport.


I was prepared for crazy driving but still on multiple occasions I wanted to tell the driver to watch out for the person, cat, or dog that was walking in front of the car. It was almost impossible to cross the streets. You would have to wait for a large mob or jump between cars as they slow down. The drivers, although a bit crazy, are very good. They are so fantastic at judging distance that they come within inches of pedestrians, which they did on multiple occasions. This promoted the pedestrians to run faster across the street. Here in Mumbai lane dividers and signal lights are just decorations.

Other than having a great time riding around in our hired car we were able to visit the Gateway of India which people called the "Gate." When the locals say it, it sounded more like "Get", so for a while that's what I was calling it.  From the Gate Tanya (my travel buddy) and I took a harbor cruise that costed 60Rs. So the conversion is 51Rs per dollar just in case you want to know.


We also visited the train station to buy our tickets to Delhi. It was absolutely crazy. There are so many people and no signs to tell you where to find the Tourist Office. We leave Saturday for Dehli, the capital of India. Its a 21hour train journey.

We met up for dinner with a friend at a very famous traveller restaurant. Why is it famous? Well last year it was attacked during the terrorist attacks in Mumbai. Its much safer now.

Mumbai is very hot and humid. Its about 35C but you still need to cover up and be modest. I don't mind the heat yet, but ask me in a couple weeks.Wish us luck, Tanya and I are heading to Gandhi National Park for a safari, then we head off to a Slum tour before some shopping.





Saturday, April 7, 2012

Happy Endings

South America has been an amazing journey. Getting sick in Ica, visiting family in Vina, white water rafting in Pucon and horseback riding in Puerto Natales are just a few parts of my journey in South America. I will never forget the adventures I had and the people I met along the way. I am sad to head back to  the states but I am excited to continue my travels to India and Nepal. 

My trip to Peru and Chile has come to happy end with the Jungle Trek to Machu Picchu. I arrived in Cuzco on April 1st. At the bus station I met Rob a tall funny guy from Whales. I accompanied Rob to the hostel and we set out to find a good deal on a trek to Machu Picchu. We booked a trek with his friends for the following day. I was a bit weary of the altitude but I was feeling fine.

Hiking to Santa Theresa
We prepared for a journey with a bit of partying at our hostel. We began the tour from Cuzco, heading through the Sacred Valley before arriving at Abra Malaga at 14,271ft. We put on helmets and reflective vests and headed down the mountain on mountain bikes. It was thrilling to zoom down the twisty roads on bike. The ride down into the valley had amazing views of the mountains. We flew through rivers, past honking cars, angry bulls that ran at us in the road and small mountain towns. We all it down in one piece and loaded back up into the mini-buses and headed to Santa Maria for the night.





We woke up early the next day to set off on a 7hour hike that would take us to Santa Theresa and along the Inca Trail. We set off on our hike after a heavy rain storm the previous night. We had to cross many puddles and landslides on our way to the Monkey House. We climbed up through the jungle, visiting coca, and coffee plantations, and snacking on bananas, oranges, and maracuyas from the trees. 

At lunch we were given some bad news. During the previous nights storms the bridge across the river was washed out and we would have to hike much longer to get to Santa Teresa. We decided since we were on the "Jungle Trek" and we had no fear that we would build a bridge over the river. We walked a mile to the washed out bridge. The river was swollen with water from the previous nights down pour. We worked hard cutting down trees to make a bridge for us to cross. 


Local Native Americans
To make matters worse two local Native Americans came to attack our group. Actually two of the guys in our group Rob and Greg decided to strip down to their boxers and make leaf and grass skirts and masks. They wielded sticks and approached the group, making everyone laugh. A couple members of the group actually thought they were natives. (Not sure why because they are the whites boys on the trip and I don't think that the natives would be wearing fancy boxers.)



Everyone crossed the river safely and we headed on to our next river crossing. The next crossing involved 3-4 people getting into a metal basket hanging from a rope across the river and being pulled across the river by hand. It was great to load into the basket and be pulled across the raging river. Due to having to build a bridge, it began to get dark before we arrived at our next stop. We turned on our torches and headlamps and headed off to our next stop the Santa Teresa thermal baths.

We soaked under the stars in the warm baths near the river. It was amazing after a long strenuous and adventurous hike. We loaded back into the mini-bus to Santa Teresa town. We settled into our hostels, ate some dinner and headed off to the discotek for some dancing. We danced the night away in a small club knowing that we had to again wake up early for zip-lining across the jungle valleys.


The next day we headed to the canopy tour, which consisted of 6 of the highest zip-lines in South America. On this two hour tour we glided at almost 60km/hr over jungle rivers, canyons and trees. We then headed off on another three hour hike to Aguas Calientes. Here I explored the town with Sol before meeting the group for dinner. We all went to bed early after some quick drinks to wake up at 4am to head up the mountain to Machu Picchu.

The alarm went off at 4:30am. We hurriedly put on our cloths and headlamps and set off up the Inca stairs to Machu Picchu. After a total of 2800 steps we arrived at the entrance to the park. It was full of people getting off buses. Even though we were exhausted by the climb we were proud of ourselves for  hiking to Machu Picchu. It was amazing to see Machu Picchu with my own eyes. After hearing so many stories and seeing so many pictures I was very excited to be standing in the sanctuary and walking in and around the ancient city.

Sacred Valley
We enjoyed the view exploring every part of the city for over 5 hours. Sol and I hiked up to the top and ate lunch admiring the size of the stone town. Thousands of people poured into the park to learn about the Incas. We headed back down to Aguas Calientes for dinner and drinks before boarding a train back to Cuzco. It was an amazing trip mainly due to our funny and exciting group. I am definitly going to visit Machu Picchu again. and I would definitly recommend the Jungle Trek.

The following day I explored a handful of other Inca ruins in the Sacred Valley including Pisac, Ollantaytambo, and Chinchero. It was great to learn so much about Inca history and culture. I am now back in Lima, Peru waiting for my flight tomorrow.

I would like to thank everyone who made my South American journey amazing and full of love. Thanks again to my family in Chile who made me feel like Vina del Mar was my second home and all the friends who I have made along the way.



Sunday, April 1, 2012

"W" Stands for Wonderful




Wind and rain pelted my face and pools of water sloshed in my shoes as I hiked up the French Valley. The dirt trails turned into streams and the rivers became dangerous to cross. It was my third day into the "W" hike.

The "W" hike is one of the most popular hikes in Torres del Paine National Park in Patagonia Chile. It is a total of 75 km (46.5 miles).


The hike started with amazing weather. A group of us decided to start at Lago Grey and hike from West to East. After a two hour ride by bus from Puerto Natales we arrived at the catamaran that would take us across lake Pehoe to the trail. From the trail head we hiked 7 miles toward Glacier Grey. We camped above the glacier at Las Guardas camp. We watched the sun set over the massive glacier that seamed to extend infinitely.

The following day we headed toward the French Valley along Lago Grey and Lago Pehoe. The second day we hiked a total of 14 miles to arrive at Camp Italiano. Camp Italiano was busier which attracted hungry mice into the camp who were notorious for eating holes into tents. The camp is located by a beautiful rocky river which was convenient water source. Since Torres del Paine is so remote the water is drinkable right from the streams.


On the third day it began to rain. Not wanting to lose any time, I headed up the French Valley with my trekking partner Bea. It was a steep climb to the mirador (lookout). The trails turned into muddy streams which soaked our boots. As we approached the mirador the trees began to thin out and the wind began to pick up. At the top it was so windy that it was hard to stand up without holding onto something. The clouds were low in the valley, obscuring the views of the massive mountains that surrounded the valley. Soaking wet, we headed back to camp to set off to the next camping site.

The weather did not dampen our spirits as we walked another 3.4 miles to Refugio Cuernos. Here we set everything out in front of the fire to dry and joined everyone inside the refugio dinning room. Cuernos camp site was the windiest of all the camping locations. While eating dinner in the warm refugio we watched the tents fly through the air, hoping that we would not see ours fly past the window. The wind was so strong that it was hard to sleep it sounded like a train as it passed through the trees and bushes around us. We could hear the gusts as the neared our camp getting louder as the approached.


We woke the next day and set off on our next camp with all our gear completely dry. The rain had stopped but the wind was still strong. The wind was so strong when climbing the pass, everyone looked like they were drunk, scrambling on hands and knees and swaggering from side to side along the trail. The hike was uphill for 11km until we reached Campamiento Torres, only 45 mins from the base of the famous Torres mountains.

It was recommended to hike to the Torres at either sunset or sunrise to see the rock outcroppings change colors with the sun. We decided to hike both at sunset and sunrise. The Torres was absolutely beautiful. The three peaks surrounded a beautiful alpine lake. We scrambled up huge boulders to get a view of the sun setting behind the peaks. The clouds flowed wispy around the pointy rock mountains. The steep and windy hike up the cliff to the mirrador was worth it for the view.


The next morning the alarm woke us up at 6am so we could once again climb the steep mountain to the mirador. I just felt like staying in my warm sleeping bag, but Bea encouraged me to wake up. We strapped on our head lamps and headed up the mountain in the dark. We again enjoyed the views of the valley below and the looming torres above.

After enjoying the sunrise we packed and headed out to catch the bus at the entrance of the park. The last day was one of the easiest. All downhill and the wind at our backs we sailed back to the main lodge to meet up with the bus.


At the main lodge we indulged on cheesy fries, beer, and sandwiches. It tasted like one of the most amazing meals of my life, after powdered mashed potatoes, coup-o-noodle soup and plain pasta while trekking. We enjoyed the views from the lodge feeling accomplished and exhausted.

I decided that I did not want to waste a day in Patagonia so I set off the next day on a three hour horse riding expedition to get a areal view of Puerto Natalas and the surrounding mountains. I was paired with the largest of the horses who always wanted to be ahead of the other two in our group. It was nice to rest my legs and not have to hike up a mountain. It was great to gallop with my horse, he was very perceptive to my directions and always listened to my commands. Along the ride we were able to spot a handful of condors circling above us. The view was amazing at the top of the mountain. Soon after the horse riding tour I jumped on a plane back to northern Chile.


Its only two days later and I am now in Cuzco, Peru, leaving tomorrow for Machu Pichhu, on a 4 day trek called the Jungle Tour. It consists of Mountain biking and hiking as well as an optional white water rafting and ziplinging segment for an additional price. I am excited to head off on another adventure tomorrow, wish me luck.