Panama

1^st Tues March (cont.):

So, finally onward to Panama City and looking forward to it.  However, that anticipation soon flew out the door once I arrived.  So the taxis from the airport cost around USD20 which I thought was insane compared to 25c for the bus so I decided to take the bus which I was informed would take me all the way into the centre of the city.  It did not.  What ensued was not the best thing to serve up to an already weary traveller carrying approximately 25kgs with her.  So, the first bus dropped us at some random main road enroute to the city and so here I am, on the side of the road, realising that I can’t understand a word Panamanian people say and no idea which bus I’m meant to get on from here.  Then I try to hail a cab for about 10-15mins without success, after which I meet a gentleman who speaks a little English who informs me it is very difficult to get a cab in Panama.  He was right.  He was already running 10mins late for a business meeting and every cab that we did manage to get to stop refused to take us the way we wanted to go.  Crazy, do they not want the business?!!!

Eventually, after about another ½hr or so, and some extreme pleading from the gentleman with the taxi driver, we were both on our way to our relative destinations, his first.  Now you might think that is the end, oh contraire, we’re just warming up.  So, after dropping off the gentleman, and agreeing a cost of USD3 for me to get from there to where I needed to go, off we went.  We got to the street where it said the hostel was located but neither of us could see it anywhere.  We drove the block a few times and then decided to call it quits on that hostel and asked him to take me another one I’d noted as a backup.  Now he was asking USD10! to which I said (in a polite way) that it wasn’t my problem the hostel didn’t have a sign and we couldn’t find it.  In the end we agreed 8 as by this stage I was just glad to get somewhere for the night.

Once I’d reached the hostel I found out they were fully booked – noooo!!!!!!  I couldn’t believe it.  The lady tried to call another hostel but there was no answer and I told her I really couldn’t face another taxi after what I’d just been through.  They very kindly offered a mattress on the floor in a dorm room at a reduced cost so I grabbed the chance.  By this stage I didn’t care and just wanted somewhere to sleep, wash up and get out of there in the morning.

Happened to meet an English lady called Simone in the stairwell just before all this ordeal and so, once sorted with the front desk, her and I went out to a local eatery for some dinner.  It was great chatting to her.  She’d been in San Jose, Costa Rica for the past few months working with a human rights organisation there.

By the time we got back to the hostel I found out they’d found a bed for me, praise the Lord, so that was even better than before and by now my spirits had perked up a little.  Still not really my sort of city.  I didn’t really feel very safe out and it has this weird kind of vibe.  Think I’ll be glad to keep moving on tomorrow.

2^nd Wed March:

Ended up with a whole day in Panama as, when I reached the bus terminal to book my ticket this morning, I found out there’s only one bus and it leaves at 2300hrs.

It gave me a good chance to catch up on the mundane such as washing, fixing my shoe etc.  I even successfully found some nugget in the local store and what’s even better is that it was all the way from good ol’ NZ – Kiwi nugget – yuss!

Once I had these tasks out of the way it was off to find some kai.  Got a giant plate of Arroz con Carne (rice with meat and a couple of token peas and pieces of capsicum (they're not big on the vegetables over here)).  Tasty but far too much so I got the rest put in a box to possibly eat later.  On way back to hostel found a man on the street so gave it to him instead.  I was full enough and definitely didn’t need to eat much later anyway.  It’s amazing the opportunities that this vacation has afforded me to give a little help to random people in need.  And it’s amazing to see how much more appreciative they are to receive food and the like rather than coin.  The man today reminded me of the empanada lady in La Paz or the two kiddies on the Subte (subway) in BA, Argentina.  All just so appreciative of any help given.

I am reminded every day of just how blessed we are to live in New Zealand.  Yes there are people struggling there too but it’s nothing compared to what is over here.

Ecuador to Panama

1^st Tues March:

Okay, so the breakfast is everything they said and more.  Included in your 12USD is not only a lovely bed for the night but also the following:  the normal tea, coffee, juice, etc, but also yoghurt, fruit, bread roll with ham, and if you want pancakes or eggs they’ll cook them too at no extra charge – crazy!  (unfortunately I had to race to the airport so could only enjoy the yoghurt and fruit but the thought was there...)  And the people who run the place are lovely, friendly and helpful too.  They even personally took me to the airport rather than calling a cab.  Sure I still had to pay but it was a lot more trustworthy than a taxi :)  Definitely the best place I’ve stayed thus far!

Flew from Quito, Ecuador to Panama City, Panama via Bogota, Colombia today.  What a mission!

Got to the airport and on to Bogota okay.  Funny, they even let me through customs with yoghurts and a half-full water bottle in tow without even blinking an eyelid – crazy!  Of course by this stage I’d drunk most of the water thinking I would have to throw it out, doh!  That’s about as insane as my pocket knife making it through from Peru to Colombia a couple of days ago…

Flying into Bogota reminded me a lot of Dunedin.  Rolling green hills, paddocks, farmland, cows, etc.  Lovely.

Ecuador

28^th Mon Feb:

Arrived into Quito around 1400 and set about taking in the sights and sounds of the city with the limited time available.  Even managed to find a hardware store to buy some glue to repair my dance shoes with (much to the surprise of the owners when I walked in lol)

The Traveller’s Inn where we’re staying is a beautiful hostel.  Only 12USD a night and we felt like we were in luxury.  Lovely beds, the dorms are more like a 4 bed hotel apartment, the bathroom’s beautiful and clean, the living area is well decked out and well-kept, and apparently a good breakfast (will let you know tomorrow).

So, I must be getting used to the warm weather.  After it rained and the sun went down I felt rather cold.  So here I was bundled up in 3 layers, including 2 wool, and trackies and still only just warm enough and then I found out it was 15deg.  LOL – crazy!  It really doesn’t give me any urge to go back home right now that’s for sure lol.  I’m becoming used to nights in the early twenties, although depending on the humidity of where you are depends on how pleasant that really is.

Colombia

26^th Sat Feb:

Off to the airport early this morning bound for Cali, Colombia.

So, wasn’t til I was about to board the plane that I realised my pocket knife was still in my small backpack and that it had somehow been overlooked when my back went through the scanner.  What’s even crazier is that the lady was trying to get me to throw out my empty drink bottle.  Crazy!  Sorry, you’re not allowed to take a couple of drops of water on to the plane but a set of knives – yeah no worries mate!...

So we had to fly via Quito where I got a lesson in how sometimes when something is translated into another language the meaning gets a little messed up.  So in Quito they told us to disembark and if we had a transit to ask the ground staff where to go.  So off the plane I got and then I find myself standing in an immigration queue for Ecuador.  Ahh sorry what??...  Finally discovered I wasn’t meant to get off the plane at all and had to escorted back on…sigh…

Beware the envy.  Cali nightlife is incredible!

So I arrived at the hostel just as the salsa teacher (Paulo) they have was leaving and he invited us to a fiesta with him at night.  So as it ended up it was actually his grandmother’s birthday party at her house and the whole whanau was there, along with some of her friends and some of Paulo’s salsa students.  It was sooo great just having the opportunity to experience the ‘real’ Colombia in someone’s house and to get to meet the people and have fun and dance the night away in their house with people of all ages from young to old – fantastic!

From there Paulo took us to the street where all the best nightlife is in the city.  Sounds of Salsa, Bachata and Merengue rang out from everywhere and I couldn’t hear western music anywhere – fantastic!

Some history for those interested – Cali has won the world salsa champs for the last 5 years and when you see the dancing here and how it just permeates their whole culture it’s not difficult to see why.

It was incredible.  Just a whole mass of people all dancing either on the dance floor or between the tables but the good thing was they didn’t pack the place out.  If people saw the dancefloor was full they’d either find a space elsewhere or just wait til the next song.  It was so good because it meant you could actually have room to dance without worrying about whether you were going to hit the person next to you.

27^th Sun Feb:

I discovered this morning that it takes at least 17 hours to get to Quito from Cali and there aren’t many buses that run to the border so unfortunately my plans of going tomorrow and going out for another night in Cali have been quashed and my journey now begins tonight at 2030 bound for the border.  Pity, last night was so great I would’ve loved to go out again :(  Oh well, guess I’ll just have to come back here ;P lol…

Had a salsa lesson with Paulo in the morning and tucked into a delicious BBQ at night at the hostel (oh how I miss BBQs!!!).

Saw budgies at the hostel.  No they’re not pets.  They live wild here and are called pajaheros – crazy.

Peru

Sorry for the delay in the updates people.  Just met so many interesting people along the way that I haven't really had time to sit down and put it all together.  But here is Peru at least.  More updates to follow from Colombia, Ecuador, Panama and Costa Rica...

La Paz to Arequipa (14^th Feb)

Spent the day on the bus to Arequipa via the border at Desaguadero.  It was great to see the countryside with the crazy table-top striated mountains and the lakeside fishing villages.  Missed our bus at the border and had to wait another hour for the next one to come along.  Our bus from the border to Arequipa was interesting.  We ended up with 4 seasons in one day.  Clouds, rain, a little sunshine and then snow (yes that’s right – snow!).  And not just a little.  I’m talking blizzard.  It was about then that we discovered the window didn’t close properly so the bus was freezing! and the toilet didn’t work either, so for 10 hours we sat there holding on in the freezing cold waiting for the end to come.  We also had a delay due to a landslide that had reduced the road to one lane at one point.  When we finally arrived we waited a good 20mins or so in the pouring rain for a taxi (there were so many people and just not enough taxis to go round everyone).

On the upside, I discovered I can eat M&M’s over here!!!!  YUM!!!!  Here they’re made with corn syrup rather than wheat, yuss!

Arequipa (15^th Feb)

Had a chat in Spanish with a lovely lady taxi driver today (first in South America – in fact, it’s the first lady taxi driver I think I’ve ever had lol) and I actually understood the majority of the conversation with her – yey!!!

Visited the main plaza and then the Museo Santury.  Had lunch at a local joint and then spent the afternoon looking through the Monasterio de Santa Catalina.  It was incredible.  It really is like a town within the city.  Had a local dish for dinner called Rocoto Rolleno which is a pepper stuffed with meat, cheese and olives (and it had a kind of tomatoey sauce with onions and grapes) – yum!

Arequipa to Nazca (16^th Feb)

Spent today on the bus.  Beautiful views of El Misti and Chanchani in the morning.  The mountain ranges were really surreal, especially as we got closer to the beach and into the desert.  Was soooo great to see the Pacific Ocean again.

Arrived in Nazca about ¼ to 5 in the afternoon and was greeted by a lovely smiling 60 year old gentleman called Juan from the Nazca Trails hostel which was great as it meant I didn’t get haggled by hostellers and taxi drivers and didn’t have to pay for a taxi to the hostel.  Rather uneventful night.  It’s now 2230 and it’s still 32deg here!

Nazca (17^th Feb)

So on arrival at the hostel yesterday I checked my email to find a response from the people I booked with saying I couldn’t fly as there wasn’t any space on any flights til the 26^th Feb.  Thankfully Juan’s daughter works at the airport and managed to pull a few strings for me so I got on a flight today.  As we had to be weighed before the flight I also found out I’ve lost 7kg since I started travelling.  I guess several rounds of food poisoning does produce some benefits after all LOL… It was good though as there is an overall weight limit for each plane so I managed to squeeze onto one that would otherwise have been full so that’s good.

In respect of booking tickets for things, if there’s one thing I’ve learnt on this trip it’s to book things when you get to your destination direct from the locals.  Usually cheaper and avoids so many hassles and unfortunate situations such as this one.

The Nazca lines were ok.  Not sure they were worth all the money but at least it’s good to say I’ve seen them.

Nazca to Lima (18^th Feb)

On to the bus again, this time bound for Lima.  Arrived at the hostel early evening.  Not the cleanest hostel but both the staff and people staying here are great (not to mention Chevere the dog, he’s so cool, like his name ;P) so that more than makes up for it.  Spent most of the night and into the wee hours of the morning chatting with one of the staff about all sorts, from Peru and NZ to jazz, dance and other random things and learnt some crazy local slang, most of which I can’t remember and some of which I don’t think is all that polite to say.  Hmm…the joys of another language aye.

Lima (19^th-25^th Feb)

Saturday 19^th

Despite being up so late the sun streaming into our dorm, and subsequent heat emitted, drove me out of bed by 9.

Went for a walk down to Costa Verde to see the lovely parks and the Pacific Ocean.  Wee tinge of wanting to be home but it is nice here in Miraflores and lovely to just stroll around and hear the sound of the ocean again.  Beautiful sunny day.

Went out to a buffet place with Josua (Austrian guy motorcycling his way from Alaska all the way down to Peru) which has typical Peruvian food including Ceviche (raw fish/seafood marinated in lemon and with Spanish red onions and a little black pepper) – tasty! 

Went out in search of salsa tonight.  Couldn’t find anyone to go with so just went by myself.  Love Miraflores even if just for the simple fact that as a lone white woman I can walk around by myself at night in relative safety (well as much safety as at home anyway).  Not much salsa to be had, mostly reggaeton and merengue.  But it was ok.  I found a couple of locals and we danced til dawn (literally.  I was walking back to the hostel around 0730 and getting some rather strange looks from the folk on the street.  No it was not a ‘walk of shame’ people!).

Sunday 20^th

When I was in Nazca I met a couple of people who live in Lima, so organised to go out with them tonight.  It was during this that I soon discovered not every latin guy can dance, even if he thinks he can.  Interesting night.  Rather average really.  Average music, average atmosphere, average people.  Oh well, you’ve got to take the bad with the good I guess.

Monday 21^st

Rather uneventful day.  Was meant to go visit some ruins today but by the time the people I was going with were ready and we finally got there it was closed.  Will try again Wednesday as it’s closed tomorrow also.

Tonight is free entry to La Noche De Barranco (a jazz bar in Barranco neighbourhood) so the Brazilians, an American guy and myself all headed down there for the night.

Just before we left to go to the club I happened to be checking Facebook and found out that back in Christchurch they’ve had a massive earthquake (6.3 and only 5km deep) and that there’s 400 people missing!  Unbelievable!  Everything’s a bit sketchy at the moment as there’s not much on the internet as yet but man, crazy!  Hurriedly sent an email home to make sure everyone’s ok.  It struck at 1250hrs so right in the middle of the day, everyone at work and walking round the city etc.  The spire of the cathedral is now gone, the CTV and PGG buildings completely flattened, landslides round Sumner, major liquefaction everywhere – just so difficult to comprehend.  Still went out anyway as it was a good distraction to take my mind off it all.

Tuesday 22^nd

Due to the earthquake that hit yesterday I spent most of the day on the computer emailing folk back home to see how they are.  Thankfully I’ve heard back from most people I know there and they’re all okay.  Really glad I decided to stay here in Lima for a week now rather than just a couple of days.  And especially glad that I’m in one of the best hostels I’ve been so far in terms of internet connection.  It’s great here and I can actually watch the vids from the 3News website without the computer crashing which is extremely helpful.

There’s still not too much on the web but what I have seen is just crazy.  It’s the sort of thing you think only happens in other countries you know, not in little ol' NZ.  Really sad and really wishing I could be there for everyone right now – I feel so far away.  But then I know if I was there there’s nothing I could do anyway.

Went for a walk at some point up town just to clear my head and get some space.  It’s just crazy.  All that devastation.  NZ’s just so small that even though I don’t personally know someone who’s missing, I know people who do.

On a very different note, Josua knows a great place in Central Lima for Pisco Sours so he, Katie, Florein and I went in search of these so called ‘amazing’ piscos and to take photos of the lovely buildings in the Plaza de Armas all lit up at night.  They lived up to their reputation.  Muy muy rico!!  (really really tasty!!)

Interesting bus ride home though…

So the guy sitting next to me was a 50 something year old guy and Josua/Florein were in the seat in front of us.  So we started a conversation with this guy and were having a few laughs and whatnot and thought we were having a purely innocent and jovial conversation, but then it soon dawned on us that he was unfortunately taking a little bit of a shine to me (I think he’d had a little to drink too but that’s no excuse).  So we got off the bus at Parque Kennedy and began the walk back to the hostel and what do you know he decided to come along with us, even though his house was in a completely different direction.   No matter what we said we couldn’t get rid of him. Thankfully Josua was there.  Could’ve been a completely different situation otherwise.  Also thankfully, I was really busting for the loo so I high-tailed off at a brisk pace to get back to the hostel and left him with the others.  Found out when they got back that he’d followed them right to the gate of the hostel.  So glad there’s great security here, you can’t see through the fence, there’s a lock on the gate, and you have to ring the bell to be let in.

Wednesday 23^rd

Visited the excavated pyramid ruins of Huanca Pullaca with Katie today.  Interesting.  The site is still in the process of being excavated so would be interesting to see what it looks like in 10 or so years.

At night we went to the Parque de las Aguas.  Amazing!  It’s this park in the middle of the city that’s got all these different types of fountains of water all lit up with lights.  And they have a multimedia show as well.  Also one of the cheapest things I’ve done here in Peru.  I think it was only 4Soles if I remember rightly.  That’s only about 2NZD.  There’s even one set of fountains that’s a tunnel of water and you walk through the middle of it.  Worth seeing if you’re ever in Lima.

Thursday 24^th

Went out to a fiesta (party) with Alvaro tonight.  One of his friends was playing at the concert so we got VIP entry through – great!  The music was kind of a chill, reggae, reggaeton kind of mix; reminded me of The Black Seeds.  And just as good live as they were too.  Totally awesome night!!  Hundreds of people and they even have some of it posted on YouTube now.  Fantastic!  Had a blast!  We were going to look for some salsa afterward but most places had closed and those that were open were full so instead we went for a walk down to the beach.  Great to hear the sound of the ocean again.  It’s incredible, I really didn’t realise how much I missed hearing the sound of the ocean every night whilst living in St. Kilda til now.  So good.  Of course, I had it in my mind that with it being the Pacific we could wait around and see the sun rise over the ocean.  But it eventually dawned on me that here the Pacific is on the other side and therefore it’s a sunset not sunrise.  Blonde moment for the night lol…

Friday 25^th

Last day in Lima.  Spent majority of the morning chatting with Josua, Maria and Claudia (from Chile).  The four of us went out to a cheap local eatery for some Ceviche for lunch.  Service was insanely slow but the Ceviche was great!  Came complete with seaweed - interesting!  Afterward we headed to an Helanderia (icecream parlour) where we devoured some helado (ice-cream) before heading back to the hostel.  The hostel staff thought we were crazy to be eating icecream after ceviche.  Apparently not terribly good for the stomach…

By this stage it was about 1800.  Crazy!  Where did the day go?!!!  Sat and had a conversation with Maria via google translate.  Hilarious!  At times I understood the gist of what she was saying more by the Spanish she wrote than by the translation LOL…

Another insanely late night chatting with people, attempting to watch a movie and attempting to update my blog (both of which failed lol).  Oh well, I can sleep on the plane tomorrow :)