John & Sun-Ling Wander the Earth

Chinese New Year

2012-01-24T05:17:00.002-05:00

After a smooth trip back from Taipei to Shanghai, a good night's rest, and a vegetarian hot pot New Year's Eve dinner with Sun-Ling's parents, we hopped on the metro and headed over to Sun-Ling's sister's 25th floor apartment in Pudong to watch the fireworks. We were not disappointed.

As we arrived at the complex entrance around 9:30PM, we paused for several minutes to watch some fireworks being shot off the gate - no fireworks allowed inside the complex. From the 25th floor we had great views both north and south. Although we could not see the official display in People's Park, we could see hundreds of "personal pyrotechnics" which increased in number and volume as midnight approached.

The show at midnight was awesome. One neighbor, just outside our window, to the south set off a 25 minute long display that easily equaled what most cities in the US do for July 4th. Wow!

The next morning we caught the metro back to Sun-Ling's parent's apartment, arriving just in time for a family lunch - two big tables - at a local restaurant. Everyone was in a good mood with a sunny although cold day for the holiday. After lunch we had Sun-Ling-made tiramisu for her mother's birthday, and took the remainder next door to her Great Aunt's place for more visiting. It was great to visit with relatives we had not seen in the lat four years.

Happy Year of the Dragon to all our families, friends, and readers!!

A short unedited video of the fireworks looking to the northeast.

Rainy Keelung (Updated w/more pics)

2012-01-20T23:09:00.001-05:00

Encouraged by the good weather in Taroko, we decided to brave Keelung, the rainiest city on the island, since the weather forecast looked more favorable than it had been all month. However as soon as we arrived in town, the weather on the ground and in the forecast declined steadily. To be fair, it was never more than a light rain the whole time we were there.

Keelung is an old port city. It is grubby looking and very dense. The market area was very lively to start with, with Chinese New Year coming up, it was particularly festive. There was a cruise ship in the port. I wondered how the passengers liked Keelung.

The second day we had a quick tour of the nearby sites.

1. Yehliu Geological Park, unusual rock formations on a cape
2. Jinguashi, an old Japanese mining site, now a park
3. Jiufen, an old hilly mining town, now a shopping arcade

This old Art Deco building, Harbor Mansion, across from Keeling Station looks a bit worn out, but still grand.

The night market gets going.

New Year treats at the night market.

Yehliu.

Yehliu.

Very cool formations at Yehliu.

The so-called Prince's Chalet in Jinguashi; built for a visit by Crown Prince Hirohito which never happened.

Back of the Prince's Chalet, complete with miniature golf course.

View from Jinguashi.

Famous taro soup stall on the Jinshan shopping street in Juifen.

View back to Keelung from Juifen.

Wonderful Taroko

2012-01-20T08:41:00.000-05:00

Taroko being a top destination for Taiwan, I could not help but have certain expectations. It delivered. We put off coming a day because of an unfavorable weather forecast. However, the first day was completely clear, our only clear day in Taiwan. The second was only a little bit cloudy.

Due to landslides a few of the trails were closed. Considering the park charges no admission, I really could not fault them for not fixing their trails faster. Given the special geological formation of the hills and unstable earth they are perched on, the park has an uphill battle. In fact, John and I each felt an earthquake while in Taroko (John: 3.6 same county, me: 3.7 same township). Since it is only 3.6, John cannot not really cross earthquake off his bucket list.

The first day we wanted to do a long hike. Since the Baiyang Waterfall Trail was completely closed, we picked the Wenshan-Lushui trail which required a permit. We started our day at the park police getting a permit which is a first for us. The trail turned out to be very technical. For the first three hours we were scrambling up and down rocky paths and rocks. We averaged one kilometer an hour, another first for us. After about one kilometer of relative flat, the last kilometer was straight down with a many steps. We wanted to hike, we had it. Our trail connected with the Lushui-Heliu trail which was very scenic along the rock face by the river.

The second day we took buses to see some of the highlights of the park. We found the new services by Taiwan Tourist Shuttle Bus really allowed us to be based inside the park and visit the different sites effectively. The park has some sites!

Sun-Ling on the Wenshan-Lushui Trail.

Taroko Gorge from Wenshan-Lushui Trail. That's our hotel at very bottom of the shot.

Resting on the 3rd suspension bridge of the day.

John on the Lushui Trail.

View of gorge from Eternal Spring Pavilion.

The clear blue waters of Shakadang Creek.

The road through Swallow Grotto.

Swallow Grotto.

Two lifts in one day

2012-01-18T19:37:00.001-05:00

Today we were offered and accepted two lifts. Last night our nice Guanshan homestay offered to give us a lift to the train station. I declined, a trifle 15-minute walk with our backpacks, our normal routine. As it was still raining this morning, when they offered again at breakfast, we accepted.

After a slow three-hour train ride we arrived at Xincheng, the station for Taroko Gorge National Park, a top destination for Taiwan. From my research online I knew we had over two hours to kill before a bus can take us to Tiensiang inside the gorge, where we will be based. We had lunch, bought some provisions, and caught a bus for the 5km to the park headquarters. At the headquarters we got a map, inquired about various trails, and sat down to wait for our bus. A young woman walked up to us saying that they are going to Tiensiang -- would we like a lift in their car? We immediately accepted. The young couple is from Kaohsiung. They are on their honeymoon. Their English was so good that we were surprised that neither uses English for work. Since we learned that the turnout rate for last Saturday's election was expected to be 80%, John asked what they did about the election -- they waited for the polls to open at 8AM and then started driving on their honeymoon. What exemplary citizens! Along the drive, the three passenger were uh-wowing over the passing scenery, the poor driver had to really concentrate on all the twists and turns. In Tiensiang, we bid farewell to our benefactors at the visitor center and got a cozy room at our chosen hotel -- we did not choose to squander our money at the five-star hotel.

We travel simply and independently, refrain from paying for obsequiousness. Just so, we are always braced for the kindness of strangers.

View from our balcony at the Tianxiang Youth Activity Center in Taroko Gorge National Park.

We are finally cycling

2012-01-15T08:18:00.001-05:00

From Kaohsiung, we took the train south and came around on the east side of the island to Taitung. There were so many tunnels, at some point it seemed that we were spending more time inside tunnels than out. Some engineering!

After our Meinong fiasco we checked in at the Taitung Tourist Office at the station. They assured us that they are plenty lodging options at our destination, Guanshan in the East Rift Valley. No worries. We got back on the train for another 30 minutes to Guanshan. First we tried to stay in town. We were getting virtually the same results as Meinong except we did not have as far to walk. We then walked out of town where there are at least half a dozen homestays. We started to have better luck, and ended up staying at only the second place we looked, "Nature Village," super clean, good bikes, nice view, breakfast, wifi, and run by a very genial family.

We picked to come to the East Rift Valley because this time of the year there are supposed to be thousands of acres of flowering rapeseed, cosmos, etc. We failed to find many flower fields, granted East Rift Valley is about 100 miles long. Instead we fell into bicycling heaven. There are bicycle paths all over the place, connected by lightly traveled or restricted roads. Under the tutelage our landlord, we made three excursions (we extended our stay by a day), each more invigorating than the previous.

Day 1: Guanshan -> Chishang
Day 2: Guanshan -> Luye
Day 3: Guanshan -> Wulu

Even though we end up riding some in the rain each day, We had such a good time bicycling John is threatening to come back here so we can ride up and down each road.

Day 1: Guanshan -> Chishang:

Locals picking rapeseed shoots (greens)in Guanshan.

Planting rice with machinery (at far right).

Safety signage on the Chishang bike route.

Sun-Ling beside Taitung Bike Route 2-2 info.

Studying maps before digging into our vegetarian lunch boxes in Chishang.

Sun-Ling on a "boardwalk" portion of the Chishang Bike Path.

Typical East Rift Valley scenery between Chishang and Guanshan.

The two of us on the Beinan River Bridge in Guanshan.

Day 2: Guanshan -> Luye:

Celebrating cresting the first major hill of the day.

Small banana plantation in Luye.

Route marker and pineapple field.

Enjoyed stopping at this Bike Service Station in Luye for a water bottle fill-up, a map, and some route advice from the woman on duty....Lots of bikes for rent but no business today, Saturday January 14, as it is Election Day in Taiwan.

Day 3: Guanshan -> Wulu:

View from just outside our room at Nature Village homestay.

Ascending the Southern Cross-Island Highway Route 20 from Guanshan at about 250 meters above sea level to Wulu at about 800 meters. Sun-Ling never had so much fun going uphill even though this section was continuously uphill for 10km.

John at the Wulu suspension bridge, the turn-around point, about 30km from Guanshan.

Descending from Wulu.

The final photo of the day, which I forgot to take would be our hotel room strewn with wet, semi-wet and drying clothes and gear. It poured the last 10K of the ride, luckily after the steepest downhills.

Kaohsiung

2012-01-14T07:49:00.000-05:00

Kaohsiung is the second largest city in Taiwan. It seems more modern, less traditional than Taipei. Between the bay, harbor, and the Love River canal, Kaohsiung has a lot of attractive waterfront. Kaohsiung also has a metro, Kaohsiung Mass Rapid Transit System or KMRT, with some architecturally interesting stations, some with self-service bike rentals. There has been a concerted effort to include bike lanes around town. We had no trouble filling a day walking around the city and feeling the energy of an up-and-coming city.

Formosa Boulevard Metro Station.

Self-Service Bike Rentals outside Central Park Station. Use your credit card. First hour free!

A mall near Central Park Station.

Bike lane in the downtown.

The harbor as seen from the former British Consulate building.

Four scoops of ice cream as seem from the cafe at the former British Consulate.

The Old City Hall is now the Kaohsiung History Museum.

Meinong fiasco

2012-01-13T07:57:00.000-05:00

Meinong is a Hakka village in Kaohsiung County that has a pretty setting and good bicycling. It is 1.5 hours from Tainan and 1.5 hours from Kaohsiung. It is a little far for a day trip. At my insistence, we decided to spend a couple of nights there to fully enjoy bicycling, even though the village seemed a little spread out.

From Tainan, we got the bus at 9 o'clock and transferred at Qishan. By 11 we were in Meinong. We walked to a nearby guesthouse. The rooms were barely acceptable for one night. John suggested that we leave the backpacks at the station and then walk around. In three hours of walking under a hot sun we were able to locate just three out of the six homestays, but no was home. The kind people at the village folk museum called them all for us. No one answered except for one that was 2 km outside and named an outrageous price. Meinong is in a pretty enough valley but did not give off good enough vibe for me to stay in a cell or be fleeced. After a quick lunch, we got on the 2:20 bus to Kaohsiung, which had been in and out of our itinerary many times. It is now in by default.

I pride myself at sniffing out tourist traps like Meinong. Never ever have we showed up somewhere planning on staying the night and ended up leaving for the next town. I re-read guidebooks, online info, but still could not figure how I misjudged Meinong.

A field of cosmos in Meinong.

Our tasty lunch; the local noodle specialty prepared vegetarian.

Anping

2012-01-12T08:07:00.002-05:00

Anping, a few miles west of downtown Tainan near the coast has a couple of reconstructed forts, a few old temples, and the supposedly oldest street on the island, built by the Dutch and chock full of vendors and people. In my book, it is a fully-fledged tourist trap. However, the day we were there, there was an exciting procession which I have never seen in China. I am still unclear of the exact occasion. I do not know the nouns or verbs in Chinese describing the happenings. I am not even sure whether I can pick them out in a multiple choice test.

What I am sure is that the Catholics have been here. Coming from Carnival in South America last year, this procession might as be Carnival, though the fireworks and firecrackers make it distinctly Chinese. Several years ago, at the Kunchi Festival in Nagasaki, Japan, we learned that the Japanese tradition of carrying idols was borrowed from the Dutch. [And by the way, Tibetan Buddhism also appropriated rituals from the Catholics.] The Portuguese, Spaniards, and Dutch had all been on the island of Taiwan to leave their indelible marks.

The processioners were young and old, man and woman, from far and near, and organized by their temples. I did not discern any governmental or commercial patronage. Though they started at six in the morning, as hot and tired they must have been by the afternoon, everyone still looked engaged. On the other hand, the atheist in me cannot help wondering whether the young people are being brain washed. After a couple of weeks here, I am beginning to think that their religion is not sacred, but matter of fact. It is like eating food. One grows up eating Taiwanese/Chinese food, does Taiwanese/Chinese religion. One can try other food, eat other food occasionally, or switch to prefer another food completely. No big deal. For those young people, the procession might as well be soccer. They have to practice, learn about teamwork, travel out of town....

Yongping Street, the oldest street in Taiwan, reminded us of St George Street in St. Augustine, Florida; in fact, the two cities are very similar in their tourist appeal: old street with food and souvenirs, waterfront, early European settlement, old fort; and are in John's opinion "touristy in a fun way".

Entrance to one of the historic forts; the so-called Eternal Golden Castle.

Anping waterfront.

Traditional Chinese Lion Dance.

Traditional Temple Guardian whirls around.

Hip-Hop dance stylings from this guardian.

Some idols/gods are carried in sedan chairs with flexible bamboo poles so they an be continually bounced up and down.

The drums help keep up the energy level and drive away evil spirits.

Firecrackers!! make this group flinch.

Anping is developing a network of bike paths and one can rent bikes there, including electric tandems.

Tainan

2012-01-11T07:57:00.000-05:00

For the longest time Tainan was the largest population center of the island. And as expected, with its has many many historic temples and forts, Tainan attracts tourists as Kyoto and Florence do. Initially we had the same feeling for Tainan as we did for Kyoto and Florence; that is, ho-hum. But it grew on us. We liked taking the tourist bus outside the city for some variety, ~~attending~~ seeing a presidential election rally in person, eating vegetarian hotpots, and chasing down historic architecture.

Sun-Ling spotting the endangered Black-faced Spoonbill (BFSB) in Cigu.

Cigu salt pans.

Oyster farming.

Temple in the An-nan District.

The Water Fairy Temple is surrounded by a market.

A fortune teller at the City God temple.

Huge outdoor election rally preceding the Jan 14th elections; complete with rock bands, flags, giant video screens, rousing speeches, and bus loads of senior citizens.

One veggie hot pot for John and another for Sun-Ling.

The historic Fire Brigade building.

Dadongshan Moutain

2012-01-10T08:37:00.000-05:00

When we got up in the morning, the weather looked ominous, dense fog and drizzle. Our destination for today was Dadongshan Mountain (at 1976m, only the 60th highest peak on the island); 4km on the road to trail head, 5km loop up and down the moutain, elavation gain 600m. We decided to press ahead with our full foul weather gear packed.

After a hearty Chinese breakfast, we purchased our lunch at the 7-Eleven. Ten yards later we spotted a dog looking like as if he was coming with us. Could it be?!

As soon as we got above the village, we got a glimpse of the "sea of clouds" that is pervasive in Alishan. It was easy enough to follow the paths and roads to the trail head; and from there, the trail is very well signed. Thirty minutes later we arrived at the turnoff to the "moon cove," a highlight, to find the trail closed, probably due to a landslide. At this point, the rain also seemed to have picked up. With our dog faithfully at our side, we started to ascend steadily in the cloud.

As expected our summit was in the same cloud, but there was a huge covered pavilion and platform. We decided to wait a while and put on all our gear to keep warm. After about half an hour, the rain started again after almost subsiding. I was cold and despondent. We gave up waiting and started to descend, with our dog in tow.

Twenty minutes later, through a clearing, as if a mirage, we had a glimpse of "sea of clouds" complete with islands! Feeling delirious, we started up run back up to summit. A minute later, reality hit -- it is a lot of work going uphill, besides, the higher elavations still looked to be in the clouds. We returned to the clearing to stare at the view some more. At this point we noticed that our dog was gone. He must have thought that our senses had left us when we went back uphill and abandoned us. We descended the rest of the way in mostly clouds, mists and rain.

When we got back to the village, I spotted our dog chained up and passed out. I asked the man splitting bamboo nearby. Yes, it is his dog. The dog's name is Fencihu, and he routinely guides visitors on walks. How did he know we were going for a walk? Or was he simply following our 7-Eleven purchases. I will never figure out those dogs.

Our hearty "included" Chinese breakfast at the Fenqihu Hotel.

Our dog for the day.

First view of the "sea of clouds" from just above Fenqihu. Railway station at right.

A despondent Sun-Ling as we start the rainy descent from Dadongshan summit.

Sea of clouds with islands.

And one of the many poinsettias growing wild around Fenqihu.

The map with Fenqihu at left and Dadongshan at right.

Fencihu-Ruili Old Trail

2012-01-09T03:27:00.001-05:00

First full day in Alishan, we hiked the much hyped Fencihu-Ruili Old Trail, which had been used by villagers to get around for hundred of years. The trail goes 7.5km through lush bamboo and cedar forests; first quarter up, 2nd quarter flat, 2nd half down. Ruili being 300m lower than Fencihu, coming back was much more work. The trail is lovingly tended. It was a beautiful day. Being a Wednesday we did not come across any other hikers. We had views to some of the highest peaks (2000-3000m) on the island. My expectations were high to begin with and it turned out to be an even more wonderful hike.

The view West as we ascend out of Fenqihu.

View to the higher peaks of Alishan and Yushan.

Tashan.

Sun-Ling descends through the bamboo plantation.

Tea plantations near Ruili.

At the Ruili Trailhead - halfway done.

John in the bamboo on the steep ascent out of Ruili.

The sun came out as we hit Sunset Point and a long comfy bench inspired this upward view.

Sun-Ling descends the so-called Thief Trail into Fenqihu.

This map, with Ruili at top and Fencihu at bottom, was signposted at many spots on the trail.

To Alishan

2012-01-06T07:35:00.002-05:00

Alishan is easily a top destination for Taiwan. Alishan National Scenic Area is a huge place. Most of the time Alishan means taking the historical scenic railway to the Alishan Forest Recreational Area (a fraction of the whole). As luck would have it, the railway is still under major repairs after six tourists were killed in a derailment last spring.

Balancing tourist traffic and transportation links, we decided to stay at the village of Fencihu (aka Fenqihu)in the Alishan National Area for three nights which gives us two whole days of hiking. Thus from Changhua, we took a one-hour train ride to arrive in Chiayi at 10:30. At the Chiayi Tourist Office, we confirmed that we would have to wait until 3pm for a bus that goes all the way to Fencihu. Hourly buses to Alishan Forest Recreational Area would only get us as far as Shizhou. We could walk the rest of way, 6km (google maps said 5.1km). There are no taxis at Shizhou, but we decided to charge ahead on the 11:10 bus to Shizhou, and hitch or walk to Fencihu.

The bus ride took 90 minutes. We got off, put on our backpacks, crossed the street and got on Rt 169 going north. The road is going uphill, but not steep. There were kilometer marks along the way every 500 meters. I had no problem walking with my pack. There were cars with ample capacity going by us, but decided not to hitch since walking with our packs did not seem like a chore. John did make us take two breaks. Soon after four kilometers we reached the lower part of the village. We looked at a couple of rooms at the Catholic Youth Center. The nice Swiss nun who showed us the rooms is almost more fluent in Mandarin than I. John could hardly hold back grinning watching the two us conversing in Chinese. Since they had no wi-fi, we decided to keep looking, so we ended up with a cozy room at the Fencihu Hotel, breakfast included.

All is well. We still had some daylight for a stroll around the village. Our map showed a Cedar Trail that loops around the village, much of it turned out to be boardwalks. I adore boardwalks. This may just be the nicest and most impressive of all boardwalks for me. We picked so well to come to Fencihu and I walked here with my pack!

Taking a break on the walk in to Fenqihu.

The Cedar Trail.

Sun-Ling enjoying the boardwalk (Cedar Trail).

Fenqihu at sunset looking much more picturesque than it actually is.

Touring around Changhua: Lukang

2012-01-05T06:24:00.003-05:00

For the island, Lukang is high on the list of historical significance, second only to Tainan. This means many temples. After one day of traipsing around Lukang, I got temple-ed out, which I never thought could happen! As a rule, we religiously go around gawking at superstition and spiritual centers around the world. At one time I even had ambitions of mastering all the Mahayana iconographies, but after seeing myriad of statues in various temples I lost heart.

Fortuitously later in that evening I looked at the cultural background section of Rough Guide Taiwan. I began to get a handle on the mess. Most of the temples and statues have nothing to do Mahayana Buddhism. Instead, they are conglomerations of localized Buddhism and Chinese indigenous religions (Taoism, Buddhism, etc.), based on historical and legendary figures. Feeling enlightened, I am back on my scholastic pursuit, only the scope is bigger now.

The Mazu (Goddess of the Sea) Temple in Lukang.

The image of Mazu in the Mazu Temple.

One of Mazu's two guardian generals.

And the other guardian general (from another temple).

The domed ceiling of the Opera Stage at Longshan Temple.

Sun-Ling in the narrowest lane of Lukang.

And of course there was some cool architecture in Lukang dating from the period of Japanese Occupation. First a building on the main street, now the Folk Art Musuem...

...And a rice barn (rice grainary; also now a museum.

Touring around Changhua: Taichung

2012-01-03T07:22:00.002-05:00

Taichung is a usual tourist destination and as we found out by walking around it is pretty spread out. Our tour of Taichung unexpectedly turned out to be an art tour. Near Taichung Train Station, some of the old warehouses have been turn into art studios and such like Stock 20. Not far from there the old Taichung Brewery has been converted to the Taichung Creative and Cultural Park. And we ended up spending all our time at the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts. It is short on the permanent collection, but long on special exhibits like Medi(t)ation – 2011 Asian Art Biennial, Scenery and Vistas of Taiwan through the Eyes of Artists:A Century of Taiwanese Landscape and Scenic Art, and Dajia Mazu, The Goddess of the Sea: A Photography Exhibition by Kinnie Lee. All are very well curated.

The Old Brewery.

One of the pieces from Dinh Q. Lê's Signs and Signals from the Periphery in the Biennial.

Taichung Station, built during the period of Japanese rule

And the old City Hall. Also built during the period of Japanese rule

Touring around Changhua: Changhua

2012-01-03T06:46:00.005-05:00

Staying near the Changhua train station turned out to be a real good base. One day we walked around Changhua, one day we day-tripped to Taichung, and one day we did Lugang.

Changhua is known for its giant concrete Buddha. While it lacks the history and serenity of the Kamakura Buddha, it makes up in its festival atmosphere during our visit on New Years Day. Families, friends, people young and old were enjoying an outing to the surrounding hills and temple. Not to mention the busking saxophone duo.

However the true gem of the city is the Changhua Roundhouse, officially known as the Changhua Fan-Shaped Depot. Visitors are allowed to inspect the cool mechanism of this working garage. John noted that all the visiting boys as all ages were significantly more excited than the accompanying girls.

The festive atmosphere around the Giant Buddha.

Sun-Ling approaches Dafo the Giant Buddha who sits on a lotus flower.

The Giant Buddha looks out over Changhua to the sea beyond.

The Fan-Shaped Depot.

As an added bonus, Changhua has an old cinema, built in the 1930's and currently under renovation.

And finally, another photo of the Changhua Vegetarian Restaurant. Great food! Nice folks!

First Travel Day in Taiwan

2012-01-02T05:39:00.001-05:00

A month after we departing our home, we finally left the comforting shelters of our family and friends, and are now traveling on our own.

Our first day of travel consisted several segments to take us from Taipei to Changhua. At 9:30 in the morning we left Wayne and Annie's apartment, popped down to the subway, one stop on the orange line, two stops on the blue line, we were at Taipei Train Station. The transfers were short and easy.

The station has several ways of dispensing tickets, two different types of machines and two different types of windows. Since none of the windows were more than five deep, we stepped up to a window for the next train to Hsinchu. We got to use our credit card for the ~$12 transaction, had 30 minutes to wait, the trip will be 1 hour and 9 minutes, and we had assigned seats.

Seeing it's Friday 12/30, a travel day before the New Year weekend, we thought we would use our wait time to investigate onward travel. We went to the machines to investigate schedules from Hsinchu to Changhua. We soon discovered that one of trains in the afternoon had only two seats free, and in different cars. Immediately we decided buy the tickets right away on a later train with two free seats together, and returned to the window for our transaction.

Our Taipei-Hsinchu train was a few minutes late. The cars are showing age, but clean. The passengers were quiet. By comparison riding trains in China is like the circus. Upon arriving at Hsinchu station around 11:45, we found the lockers to be too small for our backpacks, therefore dropped the bags at left luggage for ~$1.20. We were off to hunt down Art Deco buildings in Hsinchu.

After a successful hunt, plus a vegetarian lunch, plus a bubble tea, we returned to the station to get our bags for our 3:30pm train to Changhua. As we suspected the train was full, there were a few people standing in our car, but we did not have to boot anyone off our seats. Our seats were unoccupied. Another good train ride.

Arriving at Changhua station, I was surprised to encounter a few taxi touts, nothing aggressive or anything. We took our time and looked at rooms at four different hotels, ended up at the top pick from both Lonely Planet and Rough Guide, the Rich Royal Hotel, just a block from the train staion. Times like this I wonder why we bother walking around at all :( We had dinner two doors down at the Changhua Vegetarian restaurant, recommended by all the guidebooks, our hotel, and every travelog of Changhua. It was delicious.

A typical car on a TRA (Taiwan Railway Administration) train.

A "fast" train passes by our regular train.

Hsinchu Station. Built by the Japanese in 1913, not Art Deco but still a beauty.

First Savings and Loan - beautiful Art Deco building built during the Japanese occupation.

The Fire Station. Now a museum

Food stalls outside the City God Temple. The dark green sign with white letters in the middle is for a vegetarian restaurant. We did not eat there, but at a similar stall around the corner. This area also houses the Main Market.

The former Yule Theater, once a cinema, now a museum.

Waiting at the Hsingchu Station for our train to Chunghua.

Ended the day with 3 bowls of veggie noodle soup from the Chunghua Vegetarian Restaurant.

Taipei is our kind of city

2012-01-01T04:04:00.000-05:00

We had our eyes on Taiwan ever since we lived in Shanghai. Its temperate climate always seemed particularly attractive to us when we huddled through the frigid Shanghai winters. Unfortunately because of the political situation it was about as difficult to fly to Taipei from Shanghai as it is to fly to Havana from Raleigh. However, direct flights have just started between Shanghai and Taiwan so spending part of this winter Taiwan was an obvious choice.

I had high expectations for Taiwan from both my precious business trip in 1997 and everything I read during trip research. I am not disappointed.

1. Taipei is the perfect size for a tourist city. It is walkable, yet well served by public transportation. It has a major museum, a huge national park, numerous atmospheric temples, and countless traditional shops.
2. Taipei is not a small city, 3-5 million people, but very orderly. It makes Shanghai seem like a city of 150 million people.
3. Outside of India, we have not come across anywhere that is more vegetarian friendly, from mom and pop places to haute cuisine, and everything in between, not to mention the millions street stalls and drink shops.
4. Being in the middle of the rainy season, we have used our umbrellas for less than a total of five minutes and overcast skies make no hotter that 70 degrees F. One day the sun broke out at midday, I thought 80+ was too hot.

We are liking it very much so far.

The Presdential Office Building was built during the period of Japanese rule.

Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall Gate.

View from Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall.

The two of us at the top of Mt Cising in Yangmingshan National Park just outside Taipei.

Sun-Ling making her way up through the fumaroles on Mt Cising.

This bus stop outside the Shilin MRT station is well signed with route and minutes-til-arrival info.

A volunteer at the Confucius temple was very helpful.

Rode the MRT about 30 minutes to Danshui to feel the sea breeze and see the sites. This is Fort San Domingo with the former British Consulate at back.

At least once a day we enjoyed a milk tea like this one from Coco's in Danshui.

We happened to stop by Longshan Temple during 5PM prayers; a very busy time.

Dihua Market Street is one of the places to shop.

Ate a tasty lunch at a vegetarian food stall near the City God Temple.

Shopping at RT-Mart with our Taipei hosts Wayne and Annie.

Rockin in the Free World

2011-12-27T09:23:00.000-05:00

Back in Shanghai I had threatened that the first of our post in Taiwan was going to be titled "Rockin in the Free World," as I would finally be outside the "Great Firewall."

I had no idea that I had become clairvoyant in my old age. Here in Taipei, we are visiting with one of John's friends from Intel, watching Sheryl Crow and Chris Botti DVDs and John giving guitar lessons to our hosts. We are literally rocking. The internet is fast and steady and we can get EVERYWHERE. Life is good. Desperate people are easily contented.

Shanghai the Big City

2011-12-26T10:25:00.002-05:00

While our provincial life in Raleigh NC has its merits, big cities do hold certain attractions for us. The past week we have been reacquainting ourselves with our favorite Art Deco buildings and art venues, and discovering new ones. We were very glad to find that M50, our old favorite art district, is more vibrant than ever. We went to Red Town which came into existence after we left. While it is more mainstream, less avant-garde and experimental than M50, it is still funky. In a sea of commercialism, oasis is a rarity. Also enjoyed meeting "old friends" at the Rockbund Art Museum ad seeing some "old friends" on the streets.

The Saloon Car at Shanghai Sculpture Space in Red Town.

Good to see the Graffiti Wall at M50 is still going strong.

Zhang Huan's Q Confucius at the Rockbund Art Museum.

And finally couple of old friends, the Royal Asiatic Society building with a renovated facade...

... and the Land Bank of China still impressively perched at the corner of Beijing Road and Jiangxi Road.

Chinese Weddings

2011-12-23T04:13:00.001-05:00

The premise of this trip to China was to attend a cousin's wedding, the first since when we lived in China. In the two years we lived in Shanghai, we attended a total of four weddings.

Chinese weddings have always been about the wedding banquet. John had always joked about weddings being a bad deal for us vegetarians, since it is customary to shell out enough cash as wedding presents to cover the cost of the meal. This means for $100+ we get some beer or wine that's barely drinkable, scraps of vegetable cooked along with meat or seafood, some noodles or rice if we are lucky so we do not go home hungry, all in a loud and smoke-filled room.

To be serious, these were all young people (relatives and colleagues) we cared about and wished well for. Why would we gripe about the food and expense? What really disturbs me is the lack of meaning and tradition for wedding rituals. Weddings are run by an MC who may be a friend or hired. The MC directs the couple through a series of acts lifted from the west, such as lighting of candles, cutting of the cake, punctuated by speeches by a witness, a parent.... It is a poorly produced pageant show.

Four years of absence later, Chinese weddings have gone from pageant shows to game shows. The pageant part has been significantly shortened. Instead, there was much audience participation in Name That Tune, Price Is Right, and Lottery. Between the heavy cigarette smoke and the love-to-hear-myself-holler MC, John was compelled to take a brief retreat outside, leaving me to contemplate the decline of Chinese civilization, wondering why China is supposed to take over the world?!

An Unplanned Visit to the Dentist

2011-12-22T07:43:00.001-05:00

Just back from an unplanned visit to the dentist. Last week a piece of a molar that surrounded a filling came off while I was eating a bing (chinese pancake). Luckily, there was no pain or discomfort so the visit can be categorized unplanned instead of emergency.

Short version: I now have my first ever temporary crown and we are off to Taiwan as planned the day after tomorrow.

Longer version: I've been to the dentist in China several times as noted here (http://meckleychina.blogspot.com/2007/11/going-to-dentist.html), but only for cleanings. In fact it's been over 30 years since I've tasted the Novocaine and smelled the drill. So I was a bit apprehensive when I walked into Dr Shen's office even though he had cleaned my teeth twice before, speaks English well, and is my mother-in-law's regular dentist.

I arrived at 3PM. An exam, an x-ray, a shot of Novacaine, an impression of the lower molars, lots of drilling, more impressions, a bit of waiting with Dr Shen's finger in my mouth, the fitting of the temporary crown ,the touch-up of the bite, a down payment on the actual crown, an appointment made for Jan 27, and we are out the door a 4:10. Whew!

On the way home we bought for a bottle of Oro Del Mundo Cabernet Sauvignon at Carrefour and all is well.

Random thoughts: I think Dr. Shen gave me a tremendous shot of Novacaine - not complaining - as I couldn't feel anything on that side for 4 hours....The "flavors" of the impression materials and bite paper were very Chinese.

Welcome to China Part 3

2011-12-21T09:09:00.001-05:00

Our China Departure Card - the paper, attached to the Arrival Card, on which is printed: "Retain this card in your possession, failure to do so may delay your departure from China" - clearly states that "Aliens who do not lodge at hotels, guesthouses or inns, shall within 24 hours of entry, go through accommodation registration at local police station. I merely took it a suggestion, but between two prodigious rule followers in the family, my mom and John, it was decided that we would pay a visit to the local precinct, to be on the safe side.

Upon presenting our passports, we were informed that we needed to show our host's property deed. How else could she believe our address?! I was dumbstruck. Who is their right mind would bother to make a pointless registration with a fake address? Property deed?! One has to surrender their property deed to all their houseguests?!

Not knowing where to begin, I stammered something about distant relative, just renting, privacy, etc. The young policewoman relented slightly - try to get the property deed, otherwise, an affidavit from the neighborhood association would do - by the way, there is plenty of time, we have 72 hours, not 24. On the way out of the precinct, I started to explain the whole exchange to John, almost got my head chewed off by John for lying to the police about staying with distant relatives....

When we got home, I was all ready to work on getting the affidavit from the neighborhood association, but my mom and John decided to go the property deed route. Another trip to the precinct, hardly having to utter any words, we came away with slips of paper of registration that may save us some bigger hassle later???

Tomb Sweeping

2011-12-20T21:39:00.001-05:00

In China, the period around the winter solstice is a traditional time for interment and tomb sweeping, so last week we hopped in a rented bus with 10 other relatives and headed off in the Shanghai AM rush hour towards Suzhou to visit the graves of Sun-Ling's grandfather and her grandmother's nephew. The nephew was buried during last year's solstice period and his grave was easy to find and well maintained. Offerings were made, respects were paid by bowing three times, paper money was burned by Sun-Ling's nephews, and then we were off to Grandfather's grave.

We first visited Grandfather's grave 20 years ago in a hired car. The cemetery was located "off the map" on a dirt road and we had to stop several times and ask directions. Today the cemetery is in a busy suburb with an expressway cutting it in half. Our bus driver had to stop and ask directions once, and on arriving, the new parking lot was disorienting and we had to look up the plot number and location at the cemetery office. Located on the other side of the new expressway, and up the hill, Grandfather's grave needed some small trees removed and the inscription needed fresh paint. That done, we made offerings of flowers and fruit, bowed three times, Sun-Ling's nephews burned paper money, and we headed back down the hill, over the expressway, back to the bus and on to a late lunch.

After lunch we visited an uncle and aunt in Suzhou then returned to Shanghai during the PM rush hour - a long but rewarding day.

On the expressway to Suzhou.

Grandmother's nephew's tomb.

Grandfather's grave all cleaned up.

Sun-Ling's parents bowing.

Ian and Ethan burn paper money to be used by their great-grandfather in the afterlife.

Back in Shanghai.

A Week in Pudong

2011-12-17T21:29:00.000-05:00

We are back in Minhang after spending a week in Pudong (the east bank of the Huangpu River) with friends and relatives. Pudong, formerly an agricultural backwater, has been transformed into the financial center of Shanghai with magnificent bridges and glittering towers; however, our stay was a purely pleasure visit with friends and family.

We borrowed bikes from Sun-Ling's sister and rode along the canals where we encountered both old ways and construction of new office buildings.

Another day we walked down to the Huangpu River and enjoyed the view of the Yangpu Bridge and the waterfront.

But the highlight was spending time with Sun-Ling's nephews.

Photo of the Day

2011-12-14T23:28:00.000-05:00

Woohoo! My photo of the Longyang Road Maglev Station is Photo of the Day at Shanghaiist.com:http://shanghaiist.com/2011/12/15/photo_of_the_day_longyang_road_magl.php

Welcome to China Part 2

2011-12-11T02:33:00.000-05:00

Banking

We still have some RMB leftover at ICBC (Industrial and Commercial Bank of China) that needs to be used up; that is, withdrawn at an ATM and spent. But first we had to move the money from the fixed term to the regular account. Unfortunately I cannot remember our password to do so online. Armed with our passports, we made a visit the local branch. We were immediately told that the ID on file is under John's old passport number and since the old and new passports have different numbers, they cannot be sure that they are dealing with the same person. No, a photocopy of the old passport is not acceptable.

Upon learning we are not in the habit of cruising around the world with our stack of old passports, the young bank clerk suggested that we visit the branch where we originally opened the account where they may be able to recall the old records from the archive; by the way, the branch now has a new location.

Fortified by lunch and armed with the addition of a photocopy of the old passport, we found the second branch. The nice branch manager conceded that the photocopy and new passport are the same person. However, when all the scanned papers showed up at a remote authority, the remote authority discerned that the account name JOHNMECKLEY is different from the passports, though all parties understood that when the account was opened in 2005, the bank software only allowed 11 characters for names. So the recall from archive was necessary after all. Our contact info was noted. When the recall is completed in about three business days, we will be notified, upon when we can make yet another visit.

Luckily we were allowed to move the funds from fixed to regular, so at least we came away with some spending money.

Welcome to China Part 1

2011-12-10T01:23:00.000-05:00

It has been four years since we lived in Shanghai and two and half years since our last visit. While our escape from the Pudong Airport was ultra smooth (efficient immigration lines and no waiting for a taxi), we have since had a thorough review of the '1984 + Catch 22'-esque China.

The Great Firewall of China

Wikipedia and Flickr are unblocked compared to when we last lived here. Yeah! Blogspot.com, home of this blog, continues to be blocked. Before, we could easily enter our blog entries at blogger.com, publish, and then use a backdoor in "settings" to view the blog post. Now, blogger.com is completely blocked. We have exhausted our geeky gymnastics just to publish this entry. I must have tried 30 or 40 proxy servers before John figured out how to use blogger's publish-by-email feature.

Our custom maps (My Places) on Google Maps and our spreadsheets and documents on Google Docs are also inaccessible. There goes all our trip research. No google+. No youtube, not to mention Facebook. John cannot read many of the blogs he regularly follows, including our good friend Kathy's blog on workpress. No twitter either. But imdb?! Just about all my regular visited sites are blocked.

So, unable to make progress on blogging and trip research, we headed out to do some errands. We had no idea that the time we saved by not surfing would be so valuable later. Stay tuned...

China 2011-2012 Trip Begins

2011-12-09T06:21:00.002-05:00

We started our trip with a quick home-stay with my brother in Saratoga CA. Hiking around the Santa Cruz Mountains made California seem like a continuation of our South America trip. Intro to Asia came in the form of delicious Thai restaurants and visiting with my brother and family. The highlights were an ice cream cake creation for niece Nicole's birthday and niece Cameron's school musical.

John headed uphill in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Nicole puts the finishing touches on her ice cream cake.

Mount Mitchell

2011-10-07T20:50:00.000-04:00

After easy summers at home, I fear the danger of rotting away. Our favorite time to go camping is fall. Two years ago we came upon this campground - Black Mountain Campground near Busick, NC - located by a stream, with clean single-stalled, heat-lamped hot showers, and it's the starting point of a 5.2-mile trail, with 3684 feet of vertical gain up to the top of Mount Mitchell. At 6684 feet above sea level, Mt Mitchell is the highest peak east of Mississippi. In the Andes such meager height can only be found in some crevice at the bottom of a canyon. But Mt Mitchell will have to do for now.

We watched the weather for a couple weeks and set out for the Black Mountain campground (3000') on a crisp Monday. To better gauge the degree of rot, the plan was for ascents on consecutive days.

Once we set up camp, we gathered enough firewood for the next three days. Two years ago we took the expedition too lightly. We wanted to be better prepared.

Well, we did it, be it at my tortoise pace. The first day may have been slightly faster than two years ago. The second day was slightly slower. All were well within 10% of each other. The ascent took ~4.25 hours and descent ~3.25 hours. While we fared better than two years ago, we suspect our fitness has declined from our South American peak. Still, we found the expedition so satisfying that we decided to make "consecutive ascents" of Mt Mitchell our biannual fitness test.

Sun-Ling keeps herself warm on our first evening at Black Mountain Campground.

Taking on fuel on the way up. ;-)

A gentle, covered uphill section of the trail which is part of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail.

Some snow and ice on a north slope near the summit.

The two of us at the top on the first day.

Looking back to Black Mountain Campground (near the golf course in the near middle) and to Linville Gorge (see the two bumps middle-left-back).

Lots of wild flowers along the trail. Also saw one deer, a ruffed grouse, and many, many chipmunks.

Back on the road again

2011-09-13T19:09:00.002-04:00

Back when we were still in South America, we talked about going to
China next. Since a number of my young cousins are of marriageable
age, we thought we would pick a wedding to make our next trip.

A couple of weeks ago when we were given a wedding date of 12/18, John
declared, "our easy days are over." For a second, I took him to mean
that we needed to be go back to work :( This summer we have been
indulging in reading, bicycling, gorging on home cooked food, and being

hermits in general, while there is much reading, studying Spanish,

and more blog writing leftover from our South America travels. I
shrink from the prospects of piling on more. Bagging countries may
have been some kind of objective before. It is no longer a concern,
though we do love covering new territories. So, we decided to only go
to China and Taiwan, putting off the staggering research and

sweltering heat of Mainland and Maritime Southeast Asia for another time.

We are flying to San Fransisco 11/29, then to Shanghai 12/5. After
the wedding, we will fly to Taiwan 12/24 and be back in Shanghai 1/21 for Chinese
New Year. After Chinese New Year, we will fly to Kunming. We plan to
travel around in western Yunnan and then into Sichuan. We will fly
back from Shanghai to San Fransisco 4/12. After that, our plans are
still open.

Typical Day

2011-07-16T21:51:00.001-04:00

A friend asked me the other day "So, what's a typical day like when you are traveling?" I had to think about it for a few seconds. Actually, there are three types of typical days for us.

First, travel days. On the last trip of 230+ days we had about 100 travel days. A typical travel day means getting up early, but not too early, eating breakfast, packing, checking out of the hotel, walking if at all possible to the bus station, getting on the bus and riding 4 to 6 hours to our next destination. We like to travel during the day; somewhat for safety, but mostly to enjoy the scenery. On arriving in the new town (sometimes in a new country) we check out onward connections at the bus station, find the local tourist office, search for the perfect hotel (Wi-Fi, private bath, and hot showers required), then locate places to to get food: vegetarian restaurants, traditional markets, and supermarkets.

Second, day trips. The point is to get out of of the town preferably by walking, taking a local bus or train, or some mix of each. The day trips we like the best are either all day hikes that start from the hotel, or short bus rides to a nearby small, walkable town with a lively local market - arriving on market day is the best.

Third, urban wandering in which we set out from the hotel with a walking tour and/or map in hand and precede to see all the local sites with a break at noon for the set lunch menu in a vegetarian restaurant. On the best day we also eat street food, see an unexpected awesome Art Deco building or two, encounter some real religion, visit the best museum in town for free, and ride public transportation.

It's a rare day that we just cool our heels in our hotel but it did happen on election day in Ecuador.

Dinner party May 21st - UPDATED with photo

2011-05-05T20:17:00.002-04:00

Back in Argentina we realized what we really needed is to do some drinking and eating with friends and family when we get back home. So,we are planning a dinner party on Saturday May 21 at our home in Raleigh. I will try out some new foods and drinks we learned from this trip. I want to get started on menu planning. If we do not already know you are coming, please let us know. All future communications on this will be moved to email.

We are looking forward to lots of catching up!

At the airport pickup in Roanoke, Virgina.

The Dinner Table - May 21, 2011

Accidental South Florida

2011-05-05T20:08:00.001-04:00

Because the accursed Spirit Airlines canceled our original flight, we find ourselves with extra days to kill in dull-ville Fort Lauderdale instead of atmospheric Peru. We had resigned ourselves to dedicate this time to rest and reentry. However, as we are not used to low gear, a day was planned for South Beach, Miami for a revisit to the art deco buildings.

Getting from Fort Lauderdale to South Beach on public transportation turned out to be an interesting research project that intrigued both of us. We eventually settled on taking the express bus e95 (just a 10 minute walk from our hotel) to downtown Miami and then transferring to one of several regular beach bound buses.

South Beach was a success, since John took 500+ photos in a 6-hour span, which in my estimation, was not only a trip record, but a personal record for him. That was not a surprise. What really impressed us was the e95 bus! We first became enamored with Bus Rapid Transit in Bogota, Columbia. Since then we came across it in several cities. But in South Florida?! We chose the BRT over the train because of the frequency, speed, and cost. The bus went 26 miles on I95 in the express lane without a single stop, came every 15 minutes, and cost $2.35. Both ways the bus was about 90-95% full, of mostly commuters. In Fort Lauderdale, people mostly drove to the bus stop; in Miami they walked and transferred to other public transportation.

This trip has opened up new ideas for public transportation for us. There seem to be so much physical, social, and cultural barriers to public transportation in this country. The e95 has given me much hope.

E95 Bus at the Broward BLVD stop.

Couple of Miami Beach Art Deco buildings. More to come!

Savoring Lima Centro

2011-05-05T17:09:00.001-04:00

Downtown Lima is supposed to be an unsavory place. When we came through in December, we based ourselves in the fashionable Miraflores district, but found Centro to be more of our liking, so we are staying in Centro this time, which turned out to be an excellent idea.

Downtown Lima is humming with activities and people. Being at the end of our travels, we are taking it easy, popping into churches whenever their doors are open, a bit of shopping here and there, sampling the numerous vegetarian restaurants. Friday night there was a free outdoor concert by the National Youth Symphony orchestra. Saturday the city sponsors a series of events at one of the parks; the Literature Museum shows a free art-house movie. All week there was a book fair in front of the Government Palace.

Peru has exceeded our expectations. For a developing country, Peru feels very sophisticated. In spite of the high tourist volume, we found the people very genial. They are polite, helpful, and hardworking, more so than their neighbors. Not to mention that every bus ride is amazingly scenic. We are already plotting the route for our next visit to Peru.

Symphony Rehearsal in front of the Cathedral on Plaza de Armas.

Lunch at Marvalous affinity Vegetarin Restaurant - Carabaya 715 - Lima, Peru

The old downtown train station is now a Library and Museum. This is the indoor reading room.

Concert - Parque de La Muralla.

Iglesia de San Francisco - Lima Centro.

A book fair in front of the Government Palace in Lima.

Finally, Machu Picchu

2011-05-04T21:07:00.000-04:00

Machu Picchu is arguably the top destination for the whole of South America. We have always felt lukewarm about it because of the monopolistic practice of the train and bus to the site, and the astronomic admission that is disproportional to the rest of the country.

Fortuitously Machu Picchu happened to be our last stop before going to Lima to catch our international flight back home. With everything we have seen in the last 7+ months, the surrounding hills and valleys for Machu Picchu are very beautiful. If it were not for the archeological site, the area itself would have deserved a visit as a national park. As much as I am impressed with the Inkas, the ruins themselves were only so-so impressive.

Here is the rest of the details.

Monday after Easter, we boarded the train in Ollantaytambo for Aguas Calientes. The 40km ride cost $34US (the cheapest train). To put this in perspective, the 19km bus ride we took the other direction from Ollantaytambo cost $0.46US. We could have trekked in on the Inka trail. The multi-day trek would have cost several hundreds dollars each, with permit and guide being mandatory.

Aguas Calientes has nothing but tourist services, but the setting is magical, steep green hills and a roaring river. While there were plenty of reasonably priced guesthouses, food was mostly overpriced. From Aguas Calientes, it is 8km bus ride up a steep hill to Machu Picchu. The roundtrip bus fare was $15.5US. Again, we opted to ride instead of walking. We wanted to maximize our time at the site. The site admission is $45US.

Once we set aside the extortionary prices, we still needed to decide whether to climb the hill right beside the ruins, Huayna Picchu. Everyday 200 (7-8am) + 200 (10-11am) permits are given to climb the hill. In order to get one of those 400 permits, one has to queue in Aguas Calientes way before the first 5:30am bus. We were not sure whether we wanted to be a part of this insane business, so we decided to set our alarm for 5am. The next morning, John woke up at 4am and got us going. We were in line for the bus at 4:35am. By the time we took the bus and got in line for Huayna Picchu, there were permits only for 7-8am and we were well within the last 50 people to get in. It was madness.

Luckily we did not suffer any illness from the efforts of getting up at such ungodly hours, we took our time and went up and down the site. After 10 hours, we were pretty worn out. We wanted to make sure that we do a thorough job this time, since we have no plans to return to Machu Picchu, even as we have been talking about revisiting Cusco and the Sacred Valley. After we took the bus back to town and grabbed some dinner, we caught the 6:45pm train back to Ollantaytambo, $37US this time.

The scenic town of Aguas Calientes.

Sunrise over Machu Picchu.

Proof we were there.

Various other "classic shots" of Machu Picchu.

And a few not-so-classic shots.

Temple of the Moon.

Sun-Ling descending Huanya Picchu.

Wild Orchid on Huanya Picchu.

For the rest of the Machu Picchu photos click here.

Scenic Ollantaytambo

2011-05-02T18:37:00.000-04:00

We are slowing approaching Machu Picchu. Through April, the train only operates from Ollantaytambo, while the tracks between Cusco and Ollantaytambo are under maintenance. This was okay with us since our original plan was to spend a couple of days in Ollantaytambo. Never mind it took us forever to learn to pronounce the name.

Unlike Cusco, Ollantaytambo is a continuous Inca town, undisturbed by colonial structures. It is set in a beautiful valley by a river; the surrounding hills littered with ruins. Since millions of tourists come through town, we were surprised to find the townspeople warm, helpful, and truthful; and little of the price gouging that we associate with Machu Picchu.

The Inca Fortress at Ollantaytambo.

Several photos of the Salt Pans at Salinas; just 15 kilometers from Ollantaytambo and still in operation today.

The original grid of Inca streets survives in Ollantaytambo.

The same day we visited the Salt Pans, we also took a walk across the river from Ollantaytambo. Great views of the Rio Urubabamba, the railroad tracks, and back to town.

Semana Santa in Cusco

2011-04-29T10:07:00.001-04:00

Semana Santa kept us two atheists real busy. The elaborate rituals fascinated us. Their deep faith confounded us. Nevertheless, there were various processions to gawk at, church open houses to circulate through, a market to wander about, and special foods to try.

Sunday: we did not arrive early enough to catch enough action.

Monday highlight of the entire week: 2pm procession of Senor de Los Temblores (Lord of the Earthquakes) from the Cathedral, 7pm return.

Tuesday rest day

Wednesday
7pm procession of Virgin Dolorosa and Señor de la Justicia from Santo Domingo
7:30pm procession of Señor de la Justicia from Santa Catalina

Thursday
Around 5pm procession of Santísimo Sacramento inside the Cathedral
From 7-8pm on, open house at all major churches.

Friday
All day: special herb market around San Pedro Market
5pm procession of Señor del Santo Sepulcro from La Merced.
From 7-8pm on, procession of Señor del Santo Sepulcro from various churches.

Saturday
We left for Cusco for Ollantaytambo right after lunch. In Cuzco there was supposed to be a 6pm process of Virgen Dolorosa from San Fransisco.
In Ollantaytambo, there was a procession in the evening.

Sunday
In Ollantaytambo there was a 8am procession of the resurrected Jesus.

Surprising Cusco

2011-04-26T22:43:00.000-04:00

Cusco should not be a surprise, except I had very low expectations. I imagined the city brimming with tourists with every local plying the tourist trade. Here we are in Cusco during Semena Santa (Holy Week), an obvious busy time, and I am liking it every much. Granted, there are many roaming souvenir/services peddlers, but by no means aggressive. I find the city very atmospheric. The many churches, orange tiled roofs, colonial buildings, and surrounding hills are reminiscent of Florence, Italy, except Florence had a lot more tourists and paintings, but none of the Incan walls.

The Incan walls are some engineering feat. Stones big and small were cut to fit tightly without mortar. The interlocking mechanism allowed the walls to withstand earthquakes over the centuries. The Incas did not have wheels and the largest domestic animal was the llama! Today all over the city the walls are seen supporting colonial buildings. We have toured through all over the empire, and finally arrived at the capital. All the best stuff is here!!

The old, smooth stone walls of the Inca's Temple of the Sun, support the Spaniard's Templo Santo Domingo in these two photos.

More Inca walls.

Undecided on Isla del Sol

2011-04-21T23:01:00.000-04:00

From Copacabana we made the obligatory trip to Isla del Sol. We agonized over our itinerary and finally decided to stay over one night on the north (less touristic) end of the end and walk to the south end of the island the second day before catching the boat back.

The north end of the island was very scenic, where the island is shaped like an amoeba. The views from hilltops are amazing. But the tourist infrastructure is very limited in the north. We were lucky to find a clean, and cozy room, probably the nicest in the the village, but not much a view, while a 2-liter bottle of water cost 10% of the room. Not all the restaurants were open; only two were ready to serve gringo-priced food, one of which was not always open. There were several overpriced sandwich stands. The south had a lot more options.

While we enjoyed hiking around the island, we were turned off by the road tolls. It was complicated too, 10-5-5 north to south, but 10-15 from south to north. On our walk we even ran into a guy trying to overcharge us on the road toll, as well as two kids who asked for candy.

Would we come back to spend more time on the island? While the landscape is very alluring, I am unsure about the Aymara people on the island. They seem to be only interested in making easy money on tolls, water, and sandwiches, instead of providing real hospitality. The south is more developed and seemed different. But the core of the people should be the same? or should they change? how much?

South End of Isla del Sol with a view up Lake Titicaca .

Challapampa Village on the North End of Isla del Sol. We spent a night here.

Sun-Ling walking south on the ridge trail of Isla del Sol at almost 14000 ft above sea level.

One of the many beaches on the North End of Isla del Sol.

Just after sunset on Isla del Sol.

Mixed Copacabana

2011-04-19T22:42:00.000-04:00

Copacabana is a tourist town on the shore of Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world at 3821 meters.

There are lots of hotels, none that friendly. There are lots of restaurants, none that tasty. We could not quite decide whether tourists outnumber locals or the other ways around. As scenic as the lake was, what made Copacabana authentic for us was the activities generated by the Cathedral.

The Cathedral itself is a very impressive Moorish complex. What makes it special is the fact that it houses the powerful and popular patron saint of Bolivia, Our Lady of Copacabana. We read that on weekends that cars line up to be blessed. Nevertheless I was surprised to see, on a Wednesday afternoon, a family came all the way from Cochabamba, a whole day's drive away, to have their truck blessed. Such faith never fails to amaze me!

Then on the Friday evening before Palm Sunday, we noticed a man carrying a cross going by outside of our restaurant. By the time we finished dinner, the streets were being transformed into mosaics of flower petals. We were told there was to be a procession. When the procession started, we realized that it was a reenactment of the 14 Stations of the Cross. What I had failed to report earlier was that many a time when we walked to a mirador, it was following the path of 14 stations of the cross. Now a live version!

Looking back at Copacabana from across the bay.

Sunset on Lake Titicaca as seen from our hotel room balcony.

The family from Cochabamba and their truck just after the Blessing of the Vehicles ceremony.

The Cathedral with another vehicle-to-be-blessed in front.

A mosaic of flowers is created for each of the 14 Stations of the Cross.

The procession is lead by the parish priest.

The 3rd Station of the Cross - Jesus falls for the first time.

Curious Sorata

2011-04-15T16:54:00.002-04:00

From Chulumani we returned to La Paz to spend my birthday in luxury (internet), comfort (gas-heated hot water) and access to restaurant food (vegetarian). The next day we left for Sorata, another village set in green hills, this time to the northwest of La Paz.

Sorata is a curious place. While most places we have been in Bolivia seem to be prospering, Sorata seems to have declined from various peaks. The small village has many fine late 19th/early 20th century buildings that are in various stages in decay. The over half dozen expat-owned/run business have all disappeared. Yet the for-the-gringo restaurants around the square consistently produce very tasty veggie burgers and Mexican food?!

Since we had bad luck finding a satisfactory room, we spent only one day walking around, 26km round-trip with very awesome views.

A crumbling back street in Sorata.

The Sorata Church.

Veggie Burger at Ristoronte Italiano on the plaza in Sorata.

Near Sorata.

Looking back to Sorata in color and ala Ansel Adams.

Chulumani

2011-04-09T20:10:00.000-04:00

Chulumani is a village just over 100kms southeast of La Paz in the heart of the Yungas region which produces most of Bolivia's coca leaf crop. We spent 3 days there (without internet), enjoying the lower altitude of the Amazon Basin, the small town atmosphere and relaxing country rambles, but lamenting the loss of jungle habitat to coca farming. An added attraction is the bus ride in to Chulumani on nearly The World's Most Dangerous Road.

The landscape is very lush. It rained 50% of the short time we spent there, so we ended up not hiking as much as we had planned. At 6000ft, it has a very pleasant climate. No wonder the jungle flourished. However, on the hills, the jungle is giving way to sculpted coca terraces. Coca must be be very profitable; in fact, the area seem to grow hardly any fruits and vegetables. Being a small village we had trouble finding vegetarian food, so we ended up enjoying a tomato and avocado salad everyday. We could tell the cost of groceries is more than La Paz.

View down to Chulumani from above The Cross Mirador.

Another view back to Chulumani.

The sculpted terraces of a newly planted coca field. You can just see the small green plants.

And another view of some coca fields from across the valley.

Taking a break from a hike high up the mountain in a coca field.

A finally, a shot from out the bus window on the Chulumani Road. I have to admit that on the most dangerous spots, my sweating hands were clutching the back of the seat in front of me, not the camera.

Carnival continues

2011-04-04T08:15:00.000-04:00

South America is known for Carnival, the highlight of many itineraries. We, on the other hand, had planned to avoid the crowds all along. Yet we keep running into Carnival celebrations. Here we are, April 2nd, in La Paz -- it is Carnival?!

What happened was that a section of "the bowl" fell away earlier last month during the raining season. Several thousand people lost their homes. The Carnival celebration, Jisk’a Anata, was pushed out by four weeks until Saturday April 02.

We could not help ourselves but take in the festivities, gape at the awesome costumes, and marvel at the energy levels of dancers and musicians.

Musicians!

Costumes!

Exhausted dancers!

Acclimatizing in La Paz

2011-04-03T10:16:00.000-04:00

La Paz is a very special place. It is the highest capital in the world. The city is like a gravy bowl that has overflowed the rim. Nowadays half of the city is at 4000m on the plane. We are staying at an older part of the city on the side of the bowl. Our room measures in at 3734m(12250ft). Every outing is an adventure in ascending and descending. The good thing is that there is MUCH street life to look at. John's conclusion is that whole city is one big market; at least in the atmospheric indigenous squares that we mostly move around in.

This is our third day in La Paz. I can just see myself going through the acclimatization process. Each day I breath easier and my head hurts less; each night sleep is less restless. My hypochondriac self no longer wonders that I may not wake up from my sleep on night.

La Paz - the downtown - from Killi Killi Mirador.

La Paz - the stadium - from Killi Killi Mirador.

Looking down the Graneros Street Mercado.

Calle Zolilo Flores becomes a market on Saturday with temporary shops as far as the eye can see.

Setting up the shoe shop.

Sun-Ling bargaining at a market stall.

And a tasty lunch at Namaste vegetarian restaurant.

Relaxing in Cochabamba

2011-04-01T20:04:00.000-04:00

After two days above 3700m/12000ft, we decided to go down to Cochabamba (2600m/8500ft) to decompress before approaching La Paz. The first three hours out of Oruro were above the tree line, mostly above 4000m, with a high pass at 4500m. I did not feel so hot when we arrived in Cochabamba.

Other than the bigger-than-Rio Cristo, Cochabamba is not known for its tourist attractions. Instead, because of its climate, it is known as the bread basket of the country. We spent much time wondering through the markets and eating. For $2.15US, the vegetarian lunches come with all-you-can-eat salad bar. We switched to the $1.50US fixed meal at the market, which I could barely finish. However what we ate the most was ice-cream. Everyday we got at least one 1/4Kg (~1 pint) bowl of four flavors; something we would never dream of doing at home!

The segundo at Tulasi Vegetarian Restaurant (Av. Heroinas E-262).

Salad at Gopal Vegetarian Restaurant.

Comdia Vegetariana in Mercado La Pampa in Cochabamba, Bolivia.

The segundo at Comida Vegetariana.

The ensalada at Comida Vegetariana.

Crystal's ice cream (on Av. Heriones).

More food from Crystal:

Stopover in Oruro

2011-03-28T21:12:00.002-04:00

In order to avoid the overnight buses out of Sucre, we decided to go north from Potosi to Oruro. At 3700m/12000ft, tourists seem to ascend solely for the Carnival celebration which is supposed be second only to Rio.

Like Potosi, Oruro was founded as a mining town and is still a mining town. Walking around, it is evident that Oruro's fortune is only a fraction of Potosi. At the central plaza we came across a very big march of the miners, followed by their womenfolk at the rear. It made John nervous. Marches can lead to blockades which means no buses and no travel. We walked away from the march. By the time we circled back to the plaza, there was yet another march. This time kids of various ages were marching for vitamin awareness. That made us relax, especially seeing toddlers dressed in fruit costumes. By the time we walked back to our hotel to catch our bus, there was a third group staging and heading to the plaza. This was a small pro-life march with mostly elderly folks.

By now we did not know what to think. We could see how this town can turn up a Carnival second only to Rio. Considering it was a regular Friday, we started to wonder what happens other days. Bolivia is supposed to be the poorest country in South America. Shouldn't they be engaged in more productive time? We also noticed that there are a lot of person-hours minding market stalls selling Chinese-made (75%), Brazilian-made (15%), and US-charity (10%) goods. We also seemed to come across disproportionally large number of lawyer's offices. Development issues fascinate me.

Miners and families march.

Toddler's march for Vitamin Awareness.

Pro-Life march.

Witches brew for sale in the Fermin Lopez Mercado.

Memorial Faro de Conchupata where Bolivia's red, gold and green flag was first raised.

Dizzying Potosi

2011-03-28T14:14:00.000-04:00

At 4090m/13400ft Potosi is the highest city in the world. The altitude is unmistakable. It is cold everywhere unless the sun is shining directly. The air is thin, but not enough for our hard drive to give out (new geeky knowledge for us). We went around at about 80% of our normal pace, sucking air. It would not have been so bad, except the air was full of vehicle exhaust from retired Japanese minibuses that clog the narrow downtown streets. They were probably retired because they could not pass emission controls in Japan.

Potosi was never an indigenous town, but founded on silver mining. It was the largest town in the Americas in the 17th century with all the working miners. The wealth of the town, however diminished, is still evident in the numerous churches and colonial houses in a fairly small downtown area. We decided to skip the popular tour of the mines that are still operating today, mostly tin, because of potential safety issues. I was worried enough about altitude, John, blockades; we could do without the poisonous gas and dynamites in the mines.

Potosi sits in the shadow of Cerro Rico, the site of one of the richest silver mines in the world; now kaput.

For over 300 years, the Casa de Moneda, was the site of a mint. It's now a museum.

We toured the Potosi Cathedral which was under renovation and had some good views from the bell tower.

The elaborate carved stone doorways on decaying buildings are a sign of better days in the past.

The more quiet back streets were not full of exhaust fumes.

The miners and their families march in protest in downtown Potosi.

We were only in Potosi for one day but managed to find the Manzana Magica Vegetarian Restaurant (Oruro 239) for a very tasty dinner.

Busy Sucre

2011-03-26T22:18:00.002-04:00

Since we had quite a few traveling/touring days in a row, we decided to take it easy for a couple of days in Sucre. Sucre is actually the political capital of Bolivia and has a couple of hundred thousand people. It may just be the most relaxed city of its size in the whole continent. The downtown does not have so many stores, but a lot of schools. So when schools let out in the evening, the tranquil atmosphere takes on an amazing transformation. The squares and sidewalks swarm with kids of all ages, their hubbub floating in the air. Not to mention the parades.

Even though we were not deliberate with our sightseeing in Sucre. We came upon awesome views of the city with its orange tiled roofs. Why have we not seen a movie chase scene upon those roofs?!

The Sucre cemetery may yet be the most atmospheric of our grand tour. There were two funerals going on and lots of people were visiting even though it was a regular weekday afternoon; in fact, we had to think hard to make sure that we were not missing some major holiday.

Some rooftop views from the Church of San Felipe Neri in Sucre, Bolivia.

Day of the Sea parade near our hotel. Solemn and poignant as Bolivia has been a landlocked country for 120 years.

The garden-like Sucre Cementerio.

And not to forget the stuffed potatoes at Snack Vegetariano Dona Franca.

Tarabuco festival: Pujllay

2011-03-23T20:00:00.002-04:00

Tarabuco is known for its Sunday indigenous market. Since we really liked the markets in Ecuador, we decided to push onto Sucre from Uyuni, even though it means backtracking to Potosi. A closer look showed that this Sunday was to be the annual Pujllay festival. We had to think for a second. Festival means probably no large animal market. While we did not expect this one to be a drunken party, we were not sure whether it would feel authentic.

Considering the crowd situation of a festival, we took the easy route via a tourist bus. There was much security on the road. When we arrived in town, we found out that the President and Vice President of Bolivia were going to be there. A viewing stand was set up in the town square -- clues of a parade. Many of the indigenous people were dressed in traditional costumes, men and women. There were several distinct styles of headgear, ponchos, and skirts, indicative of different groups.

After some browsing various souvenir stalls and sampling tasty street food, the parade started. Some of the costumes were very impressive. The most unusual were the ones with special footwear with cymbals. After the parade, we continued to wander through town, not bothering to follow the parade to the grandstand. Much later we remembered that we were missing the main symbol of the celebration, the Pukara (altar with offerings to Pachamama, Mother Earth). We started to make our way to it. The VIPs were leaving just as we arrived. More dancing ensued around the Pukara and all over, with gusto.

As magnificent as Pujllay was, it took me a while to warm to it. The presence of the politicians was a turnoff for me. Parading in front of the grandstand made it seem like a pageantry. But in the end I was convinced at heart it was a true festival.

Here are some shots from the festival in Tarabuco.

Locals in their traditional festive clothes. Check out the head gear.

A hard boiled egg, "wrapped" in mashed potatoes, coated with egg then deep fried and served with a spicy onion salsa. Yummy!

Heel cymbals!

Various shots of the local groups in the parade. All groups consisted of marchers/dancers plus muscians.

The Pukara surrounded by dancers and musicians.

And a few more shots.

Surreal Uyuni salt flats

2011-03-21T21:06:00.000-04:00

Uyuni is a top destination in Bolivia. The huge salt flats, Salar de Uyuni, extend thousands of square miles. In dry season it is solid white; in raining season, a layer of water sits on top. I thought I would like the salt flats in raining season. I was NOT disappointed. The photos will have to speak for me.

Our original plan was to take a 4-day tour which seemed the thing everyone does. When we were in Tupiza, John and I independently realized that 4 days in a jeep, frigid nights, and no washing is too high a cost when all we wanted to see is the salt flats. The 1-day tour worked well for us. We got to wade in the water and feel immersed by the amazing landscape, and picked up a few salt crystals along the way.

At the edge of the Uyuni Salt Flats.

The locals harvest salt by hand, first raking it into mounds, then shoveling the salt into trucks.

Sun-Ling picked up these newly formed NaCl crystals from the surface of the flats, just under the water.

These next photos were all taken near the Salt Hotel, which is in the midst of the Salar de Uyuni.

Butch, Sundance, and the Devil's Door

2011-03-20T21:04:00.000-04:00

Spent our first two days in Bolivia in Tupiza, the biggest town in the region where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid supposedly met their end. Did a day hike to the Devil's Door, a cool rock formation, and Inca Canyon where we climbed a couple of waterfalls before turning around.

Devil's Door with Sun-Ling at the bottom.

View from Devil's Door back towards Tupiza.

Walking towards Inca Canyon.

In Inca Canyon after scaling the first waterfall.

Turn around point.

Sun-Ling descending Inca Canyon.

A good travel day

2011-03-16T21:46:00.000-04:00

The Monday after Pachamama festivities, we headed north into Bolivia. The plan is to take a two-hour bus to the La Quiaca/Villazon boarder, get our Bolivia visas, and catch the 15:30 train to Tupiza, Bolivia. A little ambitious, but doable.

A lot of people were still trying to leave Humahuaca, so the earliest bus we could get that had assigned seats was at 10:10AM. Since we gain an hour into Bolivia, the 15:30 train was not yet out of question. Since the bus originated four hours south, it showed up at 10:35, just within our margin of tolerance. We had our favorite seats at the front on the second flour. It turned out to be the best bus and bus ride in Northern Argentina; great views and comfortable. We arrived in La Quiaca around 1PM Argentina/12Noon Bolivia.

La Quiaca/Villazon is at 3500m/11600ft. We had no trouble walking from the bus terminal to the border under the hot midday sun, which had been a concern for me. There was a line of about twenty people leaving Argentina. It moved unusually slow for a border exit. I tried really hard holding back all my worries about getting the Bolivian visa "on arrival" at the other side of the International Bridge. As Americans, a $135 visa is required to entering Bolivia. We have seen the list of visa requirements, some we have down hard, others we had doubts.... After almost an hour on the Argentine border, it took less than a minute for the two of us to get our exit stamps. The officer did look at our passports a little extra hard, maybe because we already had 4 entrance and 3 exit stamps from Argentina all within the last two months!

Walking across a 50-meter the bridge we were right at the Bolivian border control. This is our moment of truth that we have been fretting over since last summer. Along our travels we even met a young Chinese woman who was declined a Bolivian visa, but we think she held a Chinese passport. Inside the office, there was no line. John held up our passports to make evident that we are American. The officer came out of his booth and said to us, almost apologetically, "you know you have to pay for a $135-visa as Americans?" We wanted to laugh, but held back and replied positively. Then he asked, "do you have a photo?" In Quito, we had special passport photos made with red background. I realized then we had wasted our money as our existing stash of passport photos would have been more than sufficient. When we produced our photos, the officer was most relieved and gave us two forms to fill out. Apparently some people are completely opposite of us, not even aware visas are required for Americans. We had our yellow fever shots for nothing, no need for hotel reservations, transportation ticket out of Bolivia, proof of financial ability...or all our worries.

When it came time to actually pasting the visa stamps in our passports, the officer could not find any in the stash of stickers in his drawer and told us to wait. In Buenos Aires, we had gone to the Bolivian Consulate. The visa officer there explained that he had run out of visa stamps at the moment, but he was expecting some the following week and assured us getting the visas at the border will be easy. We started to get anxious again -- what if we have to wait at the border for a week for the stamps -- we had been worried about catching the train. An eternity later, probably 5-10 minute in real time, our names were called. John handed over the 270 US dollars we had been hording for the past six months. Our passports were handed back with the stamp. We were in!

We started making our way to the train station. We took our time changing our Argentinian pesos into Bolivian bolivianos, but it turned out that all the money changers offered the same rate. We drew some more money from the ATM, since there is no ATM in Tupiza. By the time we got to the train station, only the 1st class (executive) and 3rd class (popular) were available. That was not a problem, since everything we read said the train is VERY CROWDED, we can go 1st class. However, when we got to the front of the line, there was only 3rd class. For a three-hour ride, the cost is $2US. I was not about to ride cattle style for three hours! I'll take the bus. We got out of line and headed out of the train station towards the bus terminal. I could tell that John was really disappointed. We started arguing. I didn't like the fact that my inhibitions were holding us back either. Three steps out of the train station, we agreed that we would buy the tickets and if the conditions turned out to be unacceptable to me, we would take the bus. We showed our passports and got back a handwritten ticket with car number and seat numbers, which was a good sign, but there had been plenty of times that did not mean anything.

We went to the platform and found our car. There was an orderly line at the door. The shades were down, but there were definitely regular, facing bench seats in there. When we were finally let on the train, all the Bolivians ended up in one end of the car, and foreigners the other. Our seats were at the end of the car, farthest away from the bathroom. When the train pulled out of the station ten minutes later, our end of the car was less than half full and we were all comfortably spread out. We made friends with the two young Uruguayans across the aisle, and a young Argentinian woman came to visit as well. They were the best of train companions. We were offered mate and John got to try chewing coca leaves.

The supposedly chronically late train arrived in Tupiza on time. We made a beeline for the Hotel Mitru where we had a reservation only because of the visa requirement. The hotel turned out to be fine and we got the only room in town that has a decent wi-fi signal. We went to went bed knowing there was a breakfast buffet waiting for us in the morning which turned out even better than we had expected, although admittedly our standards have been reset in Chile and Argentina.

View from bus window as we head north to the border.

The Popular(3rd)Class car is not so popular today.

Enjoying the journey.

John sips from the mate gourd offered by our new Uruguayan amigos.

Our first view of the rock formations near Tupiza is from the train.

Another view from the train.

Carnival is still not over

2011-03-15T20:41:00.000-04:00

Our very first day in Argentina, we received a sharp lesson in the extent that Argentinians travel for their summer holidays. We started to look forward to the start of school on Feb 28, only to find out that Carnival is a four-day weekend which falls on March 5-8 - unusually late this year - our typical luck. But the national tourist office in BsAs assured us that most carnival traffic is to the northeast towards Brazil, since we were headed northwest, it should be no big deal.

We edged by the four-day weekend with only one night in a dump though private ensuite. When Ash Wednesday finally came, I felt like celebrating -- all the good Catholics should be retreating for Lent. Was I wrong! Here in the Quebrada de Humahuaca (unremarkable for a UNESCO WHS), this is the time they celebrate their indigenous tradition of Pachamama (Mother Earth).

The first town we visited, Tilcara, was full of tourists and overpriced lodging, yet the town is dusty and the streets are mostly unpaved. On our second day electricity was out for a large part of the day. The Pachamama celebration seemed erratic; random costumes, spraying of foam, throwing of flour, and general drunkenness. Instead of being drawn to it, we avoided. We made the obligatory visit to the reconstructed Pre-Columbian ruin of Pucara and had a hot walk in the canyon.

When we arrived in Humahuaca, 40 minutes north of Tilcara by bus, on Sunday 3/13, the final day of Pachamama, the streets were full of costumed and masked kids, small and big, each carrying around a wire ring about a foot in diameter threaded with fruits and vegetables, going from door to door, occasionally making scary sounds. We immediately related to it -- this is like Halloween.

Later in the afternoon in the courtyard next door to our guesthouse, we watched a ceremony where the fruits and vegetables that were gathered by the kids from the community were buried into a hole in the ground -- feed the Mother Earth that blesses us with such harvests. Not everyday one comes across rituals that are rooted in such simple yet profound ideas.

We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around town, watching a few comparsa (costumed groups or clubs followed by a band consisting of drums and brass) parading through the streets, munching on street food, e.g. empanadas, grilled tortillas, and soaking in the holiday atmosphere. We were surprised how the same celebration in two different towns can appeal so differently to us -- that's why we are traveling.

P.S. With no TV and little or no Internet, we were unaware of the extent of the Japanese disaster for several days.

Some photos from Pachamama in Huhahuaca, Argentina.

The parading comparsa.

Children burying gifts for Mother Earth. That's flour and confetti in their hair.

Ash Wednesday in Salta

2011-03-12T16:54:00.000-05:00

The second biggest lesson from traveling is that everything is relative to expectations. Salta was supposed to be another highlight for Argentina. It only turned out to be just a smaller version of Cordoba and Tucuman. However it does have a number of churches that have high wow factors. Being Ash Wednesday, the Cathedral was particularly happening. In fact, other than the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City, I had not seen such activity inside a Christian church. There were so many people and with all the comings and goings, evocative more of Hindu, Buddhist, and Chinese temples. During this trip we have gone into countless churches, I have come to really appreciate their cool quietude amidst the hustle and bustle of the city and blazing heat of the sun. Good place for meditation....

Outside the cathedral on the square, the atheists occupied themselves with marching for International Women's Day and worker's rights, complete with red flags with Chairman Mao, not Che!

Inside the City Cathedral on Ash Wednesday.

Outside the Cathedral on Ash Wednesday.

The tranquility of Igelsia La Vina.

Back into highlands

2011-03-08T19:08:00.000-05:00

After leaving Patagonia, we had three weeks of summer in BsAs, Uruguay, and northwest Argentina. Now we are heading north into the fresco highlands again. The first stop is the tiny town of Cafayate (1600m/5400ft). It is at the center of a wine producing region. There are vineyards all around the town, and bodegas all over the town. The setting is even more scenic than Sonoma, CA.

Even though Cafayate is far away from any major population center, being the middle of Carnival weekend, the town is hopping with tourists. Yet most of the bodegas (wine cellars) are closed for wine tasting, but we managed to get it checked off, and tasted some grapes (on the wine) too.

I then realized what we really needed is to do some drinking and eating with friends and family. So, we are planning a dinner party on Saturday May 21 at our home in Raleigh. I will try out some new foods and drinks we learned from this trip. Mark your calender. Family and friends from out of town are of course welcome. You can stay with us.

The climate gets drier as you head to the wine country around Cafayate.

We saw a rainbow with vivid colors while walking to one of the vineyards.

Beautiful countryside around Cafayate with the vineyards and low mountains.

Riding triples and tandems around the town square was very popular with the kids. Here we see the beginning of a shift change.

Could not resist tasting these almost-ready-to-harvest-grapes.

Argentina is Huge

2011-03-07T18:42:00.001-05:00

From BsAs we headed northwest, 700km west to Cordoba, then 600km north to Tucuman. Never before had we bused through so much arable land so sparsely populated, though we suspect the Midwest of the US is probably like this. Along the way there were big tracks of corn, soybean, and sugar cane, occasional orchards, and only a few for grazing cattle, sheep, and goats. There were many signs by agri-industry such as "Roundup" and "Dekalb". Argentina is one of the biggest growers of soy beans. There are more fake meat products in the supermarket here than in the US, but not readily available in restaurants. In BsAs we did notice one of the Burger Kings was selling a soy burger for $5.25US, but did not get around to trying it.

Cordoba and Tucuman are both among the largest cities in Argentina after BsAs, with stately squares, lively pedestrian malls, and tasty ice cream shops. While Cordoba with its UNESCO Jesuit quarters and 100,000+ university students may be considered to be more sophisticated, we were pleasantly surprised by Tucuman.

On the road to Cordoba.

The gorgeous interior of the Capuchin Church in Cordoba.

The Cordoba Cathedral sits on the main plaza.

One of the pleasant pedestrian streets in Cordoba.

The numerous modern high-rise apartments buildings in Cordoba reminded us of China.

Of course Tucuman is going to rate highly with us when we see their Mercado del Norte with its trio of "airplanes".

Not to mention that Tucuman has in our opinion the second best vegetarian restaurant in South America; Fon Vegetarian Restaurant on Maipu.

Which fake meat shall we try?

More mate in Montevideo

2011-03-03T12:40:00.000-05:00

It turns out that Uruguayans are even more steeped in mate than Argentinians. On the streets of Montevideo, one can be sure to spot mate paraphernalia constantly, in the stores or walking down the street. We went into the National History Museum. There it was in paintings.

This is the middle of the summer. All I can think of is eating ice cream; yet they insist on this hot drink. Mate toting Uruguayans nestle their thermos in the crook of their arm, hold their gourd in their hand, twiddle the straw with their fingers. Some do have spiffing looking carrying cases, but those must weigh a ton. Walking around it in the city, I want to be unencumbered as possible; I load all my junk in my day pack. I probably would just have some strapping system. This mate business is so unintuitive for me that it is simply adorable.

Mate is a traditional drink of indigenous South Americans as shown in this painting in the National History Museum.

Gourds, silver straws, cases, and thermoses for sale at a street market in downtown Montevideo.

Some photos of "mate men" at the Sunday street marker in Montevideo.

Man with mate case.

Uruguay grows on us

2011-03-02T19:28:00.000-05:00

From Buenos Aires, an hour's catamaran ride took us to Colonia, Uruguay, a favored weekend destination for porteños (residents of Buenos Aires). While it comes in a little short for my standards for UNESCO World Heritage, we enjoyed it well enough. After a mere week in BsAs, we are beginning to appreciate the tranquility of small towns as porteños do.

A 2-hour bus ride took us to the capital of Uruguay, Montevideo. It has one tenth of the population of Buenos Aires. It fits my bill of a New World city, urban, but uncrowded. We think porteños like to imagine that BsAs used to be like Montevideo in the good old days. It has quite a few of those grand Art Deco buildings that we are always searching for. In fact we made a special excursion to Estadio Centenario where the very first World Cup was held in 1930 as Art Deco fans but not as futbal fans.

On Sunday we joined the thrones of locals as well as tourists through the Sunday Market. Blocks of city streets are closed for anyone to set up, from vegetables to antiques, from art works to Chinese imports, from DVD to car parts.... There was such a genial vibe that even made me question ebay.

This cobblestone street in Colonia's old town is a favorite with tourists.

View from the top of the Colonia Lighthouse.

The Palacio Salvo, built in 1928 in a Deco-ish style, is a Montevideo icon.

The Estadio Centenario, built in 1928-1930 to host the 1930 World Cup, has a very cool Art Deco Tower.

Another grand Art Deco building; Edificio Lux.

Locals dancing in the cool of the evening in a downtown park - Montevideo, Uruguay.

The Sunday Market.

Horse carts seem to have a monopoly on recyclables in heart of Montevideo.

Mate

2011-02-27T17:52:00.000-05:00

Our very first day in Argentina, we noticed that everyone seems to have some strange looking drinking apparatus that they are always fooling with. The next day, we started to make inquiries. We were told that the drink is called mate. Everyone, literally everyone, drinks it. Mate is a dried herb, much like tea. It is prepared and consumed in a mate set that consists of a gourd-shaped cup and a stainless straw, with hot water. Most people carry their own thermos, even on backpacking trips! Various public places, e.g. bus stations, would have hot water dispensers, some furnished by mate manufacturers. I have never seen hot drinking water so readily available outside of China.

In this increasing homogeneous world where people are eating the same food (e.g. hamburgers) and drinking the same drinks (e.g. colas). I find the mate tradition endearing. When we asked Anna, from Buenos Aires, if one can buy a mate drink in a cafe or restaurant. She explained that mate is something one drinks at work or on the go. It is not a leisure drink. People have tried to sell them in Buenos Aires, but failed. When John suggested that Starbucks may one day sell mate as they do with chai, Anna found the idea very amusing.

Mate gourds for sale at the San Telmo Street Market in Buenos Aires.

Woman prepares to fill her thermos at a free hot water dispenser (sponsored by one of the herb vendors) in the Bariloche bus station.

At a bus stop a hiker checks his thermos before heading off into the woods.

Ho-hum Buenos Aires

2011-02-23T15:14:00.003-05:00

I am surprised that I do not like Buenos Aires as much as I had expected. Compared to the cost of living and the level of goods and services that are aimed for disposable income, Buenos Aires is low on upkeep, e.g. trash, sidewalks, buildings, etc. For a New World city, it is unusually crowded, and for us, is reminiscent of Shanghai and Mumbai. There seems to be a lot of petty crime, right around us too, probably festering on the hordes of tourists. We are usually just content looking at grand buildings in big cities, but in BA there is a hodgepodge of different architecture styles, but none outstanding.

The highlight for me was the totally unexpected Floralis Genérica, a recent sculpture that combines art and technology. In fact I was so impressed with it that I lament Washington DC does not have a cool addition such as this. We found the famous Recoleta cemetery nicely outrageous, even after what seems like the grand-tour-of-South-American-cemeteries that we have been on.

We are experiencing our third period of hot weather of the trip. Since we are used to hot and humid summer at 35 degrees north, BA, at 34 south does not seem so bad.

A couple of shots of Floralis Genérica.

Eva Peron's tomb draws a crowd in Ricoleta Cemetery.

The Art Deco Metropolitan Cinema.

La Bombonera: Stadium of the Boca Juniors futbol team.

Russian Orthodox Church (Iglesia Apostolica Ortodoxa Rusa).

The "first plates" of our all-you-can-eat-buffet lunch at Granix, one of many vegetarian restaurants in Buenos, Aires.

The Mothers of Plaza de Mayo still march on Thursday's at 3:30PM. Very poignant and inspirational.

From top to bottom

2011-02-18T08:48:00.001-05:00

In exactly five months we traveled from Cartagena, Colombia to Ushuaia, Argentina (about 4000 miles as the crow flies) by bus, except for two trains and one ferry. It is our longest continuous journey by land. I like our route very much; of course, I did most of the planning. Yet I am still amazed by all that we have seen and experienced.

Ushuaia was not even in our original plan, but somehow it worked its way into our itinerary. The southern most city in the world and located on the Beagle Channel Ushuaia may be conceptually significant, but there is nothing unique about its physical feature. It feels like a tourist trap to us, maybe because many cruise ships pass and originate here, and the usual tourist attractions seem overpriced. We had to drum really hard to come up with some worthwhile outings. Our efforts did pay off. The first outing was a hike up towards Cerro del Medio, through a forest reserve, above the tree line, into the snow. The second outing was a coastal walk to Estancia Tunel with unexpected sightings of wildlife and beautiful views of the Beagle Channel.

Walking up through the beech trees on the well-maintained Cerro del Medio trail.

Great views to the Beagle Channal and Ushuaia as we walk above the treeline.

Sun-Ling heads for a patch of snow. That's Laguna Margot at left; Beagle Channel in background. We turned around just after this point as the weather deteriorated.

Stopped at Playa Larga for some beach combing on our way to Estancia Larga.

Sun-Ling looks out at the Beagle Channel on the way to Estancia Tunel.

Beagle Channel with cruise ship in the distance.

View of Beagle Channel from a meadow near the ruins of Estancia Tunel.

Patagonian Fox.

Came on a noisy flock of Austral Parakeets but were too far away for a decent photo - sorry.

Penguins, Isla Magdalena, Chile

2011-02-15T19:00:00.001-05:00

We are on our way down to Tierra del Fuego. We chose to go the western route through Chile so we could visit the Magellanic penguin colony on Isla Magdalena near the city of Punta Arenas. Punta Arenas is at the southern end of Chile on the Straits of Magellan, so we were just about as far away from the 2/11/11 earthquake as possible while still in Chile, much to John's dismay. Punta Arenas is yet another underwhelming town except for the cemetery.

To visit the penguins, boats do not leave everyday, so we had to stick around town an extra day. The boat ride is four hours round trip for a mere one-hour on the island. It is going to be yet another one of those US$100+ day trips. The worst part was that the boat would not leave until 5pm and all the weather forecasts were predicting rain. I hesitated. All the penguins are going to be in their burrows hiding from the rain, our time and money wasted. John was unfazed, so we went ahead.

We packed all our warm and rain gear and bought John a pair of gloves. It started to rain as we headed out to the ferry terminal. When our boat approached island we could see penguins fishing in the water; the island thick with white, black and gray. When we touched ground, I felt I had just landed in a penguin documentary film. All my senses were filled with penguin, sights, smells, and sounds. All my previous doubts evaporated. There were supposed to be 65 thousand pairs plus their new-borns living on the island. It did not feel like an overestimation. The penguins were every bit adorable "in actu" as in film. The one hour flew by even though it was very cold and rainy.

The highlight for me was being "attacked" by a penguin. Visitors were supposed to stay on a marked path which all of us observed well, as opposed to the penguins which wandered indiscriminately. So when I noticed a penguin stepping into the path towards me, I stood still. I could not bring myself to walk away. He first rooted around my shoe laces which I thought was really funny. Then he proceeded to tug at my rain pants. At which point I had to shoo him away. I was so excited by the encounter, it did not dawn on me until later that the little guy was looking for building material for his burrow. What a smart fellow! My rain paints would make very good burrow material.

The shaped trees and park-like atmosphere of the Punta Arenas Cemetery.

Penguins!

Patagonia summer - my coldest winter

2011-02-14T19:13:00.000-05:00

Actually, it is not that cold. It just that every hotel room we have been in has a radiator that gets turned on at least at night or all day. It puts out more heat than our heat pumps in Raleigh. Maybe the title of this port should be "the warmest winter I ever spent was a summer in Patagonia". I hate to think what real winters are like here. Yet the days are long. Every day we go to bed at or before dusk, and the sun is already above the horizon when we get up.

Weather here is highly variable. It can be anywhere between sunny and hot to rainy and cold. But we can always bet on wind, the strongest we have experienced. Throughout the day we are always putting on and taking off our wool hats, fleece jackets, windbreakers, and sometimes rain pants, a million times. The wind makes my nose run, but we have managed to stay healthy -- knock on wood.

Excellent hiking in El Chalten

2011-02-11T19:58:00.001-05:00

Since we did not hike in Torres del Paine, we headed to El Chalten to do some day hikes in the northern section of Los Glaciares National Park. We had three full days of hiking, day 1: 26km (350m ascend), day 2: 25km (750m ascend), day 3: 24km (1000m ascend), with minimal pharmaceuticals, 2 ibuprofen (John) and 5 Band-Aids (me). For me it was a personal record( the hiking, not the Band-Aids).

Each day the hike involved walking to some initial viewpoint, followed by a difficult section that lead uphill to an even more scenic viewpoint. Each day I hesitated going on the last part. With encouragement and help from John, my personal mountain guide, I was able to make it each time. The views were truly incredible.

Another good thing is that all the bodies of water in the El Chalten section of Los Glaciares are potable. I would have been in big trouble if I had to carry all the necessary water. The water is delicious and icy cold. John claims he can barely hold his hand in the water long enough to fill the water bottle in one shot.

Photos from Day 1, the Cerro Torre route.
At Lago Torre with Cerro Torre (topped by a cloud) and Glaciar Grande in the background.

We hiked up to the Maestri Viewpoint for a better look at Glaciar Grande.

Sun-Ling walking up the scree ridge to Maestri Viewopoint.

Photos from Day 2, the Los Tres\Fitz Roy route.
The day started (and ended) with great views of the Rio de las Vueltas.

Lunch break on the banks of Rio Blanco with Mt. Fitz Roy in the background.

Lago de los Tres at the base of Mt. Fitz Roy.

Photos from Day 3, the Lomo del Pliegue Tumbado route.
After 3.5 hours walking with over 2000 ft of ascending we are rewarded with an awesome view of both Cerro Torre (left) and Mt. Fitz Roy (right). But there was another 45 minutes of uphill to go.

John at the top of Lomo de Pliegue Tumbado.

Sun-Ling at the top of Lomo de Pliegue Tumbado with view to Lake Viedma behind.

The descent.

Exuberant Argentinians

2011-02-09T20:30:00.000-05:00

We have been doing a lot of walking to miradors in Argentina. Argentinians of all ages and shapes, solo or by groups, cheerfully ply the same trails. In the beginning, we would be coming down from a mirador, John would see someone not so fit and whisper to me, "they'll never make it." One time we even tried to warn this couple trying to mountain-bike up a trail that is really only suited for hiking. They pointed to their rental bikes, "those are very good bikes." After a while we realized that more times than not they do make it in spite of, or because of, their exuberant struggling. Now we cheer them on when we come across them.

Argentinians also seem to head out on trails any time of the day. John and I are used to being the last ones on trails, between my phobia for downhills and our propensity for dawdling. Not here, we would be heading back when throngs of Argentinians are still heading out. John would worry for them that they may have to walk in the dark. Nothing seem to faze them. To them, it is always vale la pena (worth the pain).

Their exuberance is rubbing off on me. I am hiking more, attempting more difficult hikes, and enjoying myself more. In fact, I have been thinking of finally giving backpacking a try after we get home.

A mirador "worth the pain" in Bariloche, Argentina.

Perito Moreno Glacier -- a HIGHLIGHT!

2011-02-05T08:31:00.000-05:00

We are back in Argentina in El Calafate to visit the Perito Moreno Glacier in Parque Nacional Los Glaciares. During trip research I had identified the Glacier to be of high interest and had been looking forward to it. Expectations were high. Nevertheless, when we reached the park, I was in awe, even after having seen the Pio XI Glacier from the Navimag. Never before I had ever beheld a sight so magnificent.

The Perito Moreno has a pointed front that directly faces a peninsula that has miles of boardwalk that allows one to truly appreciate the glacier. From the top decks, it is very evident the glacier is a frozen river. From the lower decks, one can hear ice cracking and watch icebergs dropping. The glacier does things -- John had promised me. I was not expecting the frequency (every 10-15 minutes) icebergs break off from the glacier and crash into the water. If it were more often, the crackling and booming sounds would be like fireworks.

We had seven hours at the glacier. Much of the time it was very windy. At one point we had to duck into the cafeteria for coffee. Otherwise, I could have just sat there watching the alluring colors and listening to the magical sounds of the glacier all day long. In fact if the weather had been worse, I would have insisted that we return to the park the second day.

Watching the Perito Moreno from the boardwalk.

A large chunk of ice plunges into the water.

The two of us.

The North Face.

An ice cave on The South Face.

Sun-Ling takes in the action.

A few more photos.

National Park Torres del Paine has been checked off

2011-02-04T20:48:00.000-05:00

Everyone from the Navimag that was young and/or fit seemed to be going on some multi-day trekking expedition in Torres del Paine National Park. We had to rule it out due to harsh weather conditions, preposterous pricing, and low interest. In fact our interest was so low that we had even considered skipping the Park completely. Nevertheless on our second day in Puerto Natales we found ourselves boarding the bus along with the old and/or decrepit for a one day "Full Tour" of the Park.

The day was mostly cloudy and windy to very, very windy. The bus took us to various view points and a couple of short walks. We saw the granite towers the park was named after, glacier lakes of various colors, waterfalls, wetlands, icebergs, a lone condor (we think), a rhea or two (nandu in Spanish), and several hundred guanacos. We certainly do not regret not trekking and are glad that we have the park checked off.

All shots below are from Torres del Paine.

The two of us in front of a lake of various colors with the Torres (Towers) del Paine (tops in the clouds) in the background.

The two of us by some rapids and the edge of the Cuernos (Horns) del Paine in the background.

A herd of guanacos.

Lakes of various colors.

Waterfall.

Icebergs, beach, and clouds.

Another strike against Chile -- as in our boat struck land!

2011-02-02T19:41:00.000-05:00

We took the Navimag ferry Evangelistas south 1000 kilometers from Puerto Montt to Puerto Natales. Since this is a working ferry instead of a cruise ship, I had no qualms about riding it. When we went to Norway we rode the coastal ferry Hurtigruten to get around. For symmetry we had to give the Navimag a try. Besides John loves boat rides. I, on the other hand, had low expectations.

The first day weather was perfect; that is, sunny, though we did not leave port until 5pm. The second day it rained more or less the whole day. At night we sailed in the Pacific Ocean over 10 to 15 foot waves which was considered calm. If it were not for the Dramamine pill, sleep would have been hard to come by. The third day weather turned slightly better. Along the way there were snow-capped hills, the occasional dolphins, sea lions, a shipwreck, rainbows, and glaciers. The Pio XI Glacier was quite impressive as it's the largest glacier in South America.

In the middle of the third night around 3am, we were shaken awake by a couple of violent jolts. I drowsily assumed earthquake, proceeded to go back to sleep. John, being the usual alarmist, jumped out his bunk and ordered me to get up and get dressed. I figured that it cannot hurt and decided to humor him. Immediately after that the loudspeaker went off announcing "emergency" and we were order to put on our life jackets and gather at the Pub Deck (the top of the ship). There was hypothermia to consider, we needed to put on or bring all the warm clothes we had. We may never come back to the bunks, we needed to bring our passports, money belts, computer, etc. What if John and I get separated? Good thing I skipped "Titanic" on purpose, so I did not have to cram a playback in my head.

As we were a little slow going, a crew-member was sent to our corner of the ship to hurry us up. By the time we got to the Pub Deck, people were already being sent back to their cabins. The crew had checked out the boat; we were not taking on water and we can still sail. The official word was an investigation was still underway. Through the grapevine we learned that the ship had run into an island. We had to assume that someone fell asleep at the job since the boat is full of instruments: GPS, radar, etc. After some chatting with fellow passengers we went back to our bunks to catch some sleep. The ship now had a vibration it did not have before. It was a restless night.

The next morning we woke up to find dirt and branches in the bow and were informed that we were now sailing at around 8 kmph instead of 16 as only one of the "screws" is operating. In the afternoon a Chilean Navy boat showed up to inspect our boat, ordered a change of course, and escorted us the rest of the way. In the end we spent an additional day and night on the boat. We spent the day working on our will. Well, at least we thought about it. And yet another restless night rooting for our remaining engine to keep chugging. We were very glad to be safely off the boat on the morning of the fifth day.

A beautiful day in Patagonia to start the voyage on the Evangelistas.

View off the stern.

The Pio XI Glacier.

Pio XI.

A rainbow off the stern.

The Evangelistas at the dock at Puerto Natales.

A crew inspects the damage to the ship's bow after its collision with the island.

Back to Chilean waters

2011-01-28T05:57:00.001-05:00

After our 5-day stint into Argentina, we came back into Chile. First, we stopped in the island town of Castro, Chiloe. Once again it reminded me of North Carolina, the coastal landscape, car ferries, houses on stilts, shingled siding....

From Chiloe we went to the lake town of Puerto Varas. The Chilean Lake District is known for its views of volcanoes next to lakes. From Puerto Varas we had an outing to Lago Todos los Santos, which is known for its distinct color and the falls at its base.

Today, we are going on the coastal ferry Navimag, from Puerto Montt to Puerto Natales, therefore we will be offline From Jan 28 until Jan 31.

Houses on stilts line the waterfront of Castro.

The bus company Cruz del Sur has its own fleet of ferries to Chiloe Island.

Many of the buildings in Castro have shingled siding like this Deco-ish house.

Volcanos Osorno (left) and Calbuco (right) seen across Lake Llanquihue at sunrise from Puerto Varas

Saltos de Pertohue with volcano.

Lago Todos Los Santos.

Water, water everywhere

2011-01-27T20:33:00.000-05:00

From San Martin de Los Andes to Bariloche, we took the bus along the popular Seven Lakes Route through the Lake District of Argentina. It was indeed impressive.

In Bariloche we found a room after trying at half a dozen places. It turned out to be a great location and good value too. If we leaned out the window far enough, we could see to Lago Nahuel Huapi at the end of the street.

The next two days were beautiful. In fact the locals thought they were having a heat wave since they are used to have their radiators on during (even during their summer season) as they were when we arrived the first day.

We made a number of outings to have more lake views. The view from Cerro Campanario, touted as a one of top 10 views as ranked by National Geographic, turned out to be even more spectacular than I had expected, which hardly ever happens. The weather was so pleasant and the views so beautiful, I did not want the day to end. This has to be one of the most scenic areas of the world that we have ever been.

View from the Seven Lakes Route.

Our hosteria at right and the view down the street to the lake.

View of Lago Nahuel Huapi from Cerro Campanario - Bariloche, Argentina

Waterfall near Lago Gutierrez.

Intro to Argentina: from bad to worse

2011-01-26T20:47:00.001-05:00

After much unfruitful research on a more scenic route to Argentina, we took the direct bus from Valdivia, Chile to San Martin de Los Andes, Argentina. The day started well enough. Volcano Lanin was there to greet us at the border. We thought that find good accommodation had not been so easy in Chile, but we had no idea what was in store for us in Argentina.

When we arrived in Los Andes bus terminal around 3PM, it was filled with travelers of all sorts. On our way to the tourist office, we walked by one guesthouse which turned out to be full . After standing in line for 10 minutes at the tourist office, we were told finding a room that night would be difficult, but were told about a $72US-room. We rushed over there in 8 minutes just to watch another couple take the last room. We checked a few more places on the way back to the tourist office, all full. This time we learned that the last $104US-room had just been taken, there might or might not be a $98US-room available, but there were definitely two $19US-beds in a hostel. Learning from our earlier lesson, we half ran to the hostel and secured our roof for the night.

Of all our travels, this is the very first time ever that we ended up in a dorm room. It had 3 bunk beds with en suite bathroom. But I was so shaken by the experience that I decided I would just pretend that I was in a sleeper train and sleep with my clothes on. We left our big bags in our room and went to secure our roof for the next night.

But first we needed some Argentine Pesos and luckily found an ATM that had money. Then, after much walking around and some kind help, we made a reservation at a hotel for a $66US room, only available for one night. Right after that we went back to the bus station to snatch up the last two tickets on the good side of the bus going to Bariloche in two days later. All the while it was overcast, cold, windy, and misting at times. We could not understand what all these people were doing in this place, especially ourselves!

To be fair, the town itself is very picturesque. Not that we are experts on resort towns, it is as lovely as they come. The next morning we moved to our new home at 10AM, showered and did laundry. It felt great! The sun was out. We hiked to a couple of miradores. It was evident why everyone was here, and we could not regret that we came too.

Volcan Lanin on the Argentina/Chile Border.

The San Martin waterfront; ready for action on Lago Lacar.

Lots of bicyclists in the Argentine Lake District. These cyclists were taking a break on the shores of Lago Lacar in San Martin.

View from Mirador Arrayanes to Lago Lacar. Wow!

View of Lago Lacar from Mirador Bandurrias.

And finally, a liter of Quilmes beer and with a pizza on the main drag in San Martin.

You get what you wish for

2011-01-22T20:58:00.002-05:00

We left Talca in a hurry as we thought it was too hot to do anything. After an 8-hour bus ride we landed in Valdivia, cold and rainy. It rained everyday expect for one and on that one sunny day we made a day trip to the nearby port towns of Niebla, Corral, and Amargos. These towns are great for touring: several old forts, working fishing fleets (rowboats and sailboats), ferry rides, great views of the mouth of the Valdivia River and the Pacific Ocean, and a giant pile of wood chips.

I continue to be unimpressed with Chile so we decided to go over to the Argentine Lake District for a few days. Since this is a new plan, I will be spending more time trip planning than blogging. Part of the reason that I find Chile underwhelming is that it is not exotic. Especially this part of the country seems very similar to home. It is about the same latitude south. The vegetation, landscape, and culture seem familiar, unlike Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.

Fish Market - Valdivia, Chile.

Had a couple of tasty pints at Kunstmann Brewery, just outside Valdivia. That's the Unfiltered Lager on the left and the Torobayo Ale on the right. Although John usually prefers ales, the Unfiltered Lager was declared the winner on this day.

The harbor at Amargos, Chile with fishing fleet at center and giant wood chip pile at right.

Castillo de San Luís de Alba de Amargos - Amargos, Chile. Very cool.

View to the Pacific from the Amargos Fort.

The ferry arrives at the Corral dock.

Unintended Talca - Unexpected Talca

2011-01-18T08:15:00.000-05:00

John likes to think of himself as a train fan. There are not many passenger trains left in South America. However, south from Santiago there is a three-hour train to Talca, so Talca became a stop we would not have bothered with otherwise. During research we learned that the real train attraction in Talca, the narrow gauge to Constitución on the coast, is no longer running due to the earthquake last year.

Yet when we arrived in Talca, we were surprised by the earthquake damage from 11 months ago: whole city blocks still closed for business, empty lots free or filled with rubble, visible damage inside and outside buildings. We came across hotels one after another that are now a pile of rubble, closed for business, in the process of fixing up rooms, in a state of managed disrepair. Yet all the newer buildings stood tall and strong. It makes one wonder about all the collapsed buildings in the Sichuan earthquake....

The other surprise in Talca was the hot weather. We had ambitions of going hiking in the mountains to the east. We quickly killed that idea once we realized that we probably could not carry enough water to stay alive. Bicycling among the vineyard in the blazing sun was also out of the question even though Talca is in the middle of vine country where the local Walmart(Hyper Lider) sells vine by the liter or gallon. To escape the hot weather, we pulled out of Talca only after one night.

The train we rode from Santiago to Talca just before departure in Central Station, Santiago.

School Clock Tower - Talca, Chile. Stopped at 3:34 AM.

The entire block around the Central Market building is closed due to earthquake damage. Many of the vendors appeared to have moved to a temporary location by the Bus Terminal.

This church shows damage where the steeple meets the roof.

Santiago, finally a piece of the puzzle

2011-01-14T09:25:00.000-05:00

We are having a hard time figuring out Chile. The cost of goods and traveling is comparable to the US or higher, more like Europe (Chilean wine being one of the few exceptions), yet the level of development is barely discernible from Peru where the cost is half.

After a few days in Santiago, we are finally seeing signs of development that begin to justify the prices.

Santiago has more miles of downtown pedestrian streets than anywhere we have been. People love them, overflowing the streets all day long.
There are all kinds of pleasant neighborhoods in the city center, blending residential and commercial, the old and new. There are street cafes everywhere.
The subway system is modern and clean. The stations not only have stores but also services outlets for train, bus, bank, etc. Except the system is not so tourist friendly. The per ride cost for us is more than the Washington DC subway.
The Changing of the Guard is among the biggest of the dozens of such spectacles we have seen, while it may not be the most unique.
We found the best vegetarian restaurant of the whole trip, where we he had all three lunches there though there are over a dozen ineffectual alternatives.
Santiago is supposed to be one of the most dramatically situated capitals with the snow capped Andes to the east. We could hardly see anything through the brown haze of auto exhaust. Development.

As sophisticated as Santiago may appear, we still think the exchange rate with the U.S. dollar is wrong. Of course our opinions are biased here.

Pedestrian Mall.

Changing of the Guard.

Evergreen Vegetarian Restaurant.

Half Way

2011-01-11T18:47:00.001-05:00

We finally bought our return tickets to the US on January 10th which happens to be the halfway point of our epic eight-month trip. On May 5th, we will fly the red-eye from Lima, Peru to Fort Lauderdale, FL then to Roanoke, VA to attend Niece Sophie's college graduation, after which my in-laws will deliver us home on May 7th.nt

Atop Cerro Santa Lucia in Santiago.

Things are looking up for us

2011-01-08T19:52:00.000-05:00

We have been in Chile for ten days now. I find it to be the most overpriced country compared to its level of development.

The exchange rate is 20% lower than when I was researching this summer.
Being the summer high season and New Year, we have had a hard time finding rooms. Hotels and guesthouses are either full, way overpriced, or have way too small rooms that seem more like caves. It is disheartening.
We bought first class bus tickets on the best bus company, Pullman. We had paid less for airplane ticket. When we showed up at the scheduled time, the bus turned out to be a phantom. As buses with other companies were full and we loathed to return to our not-so-friendly and haphazard guesthouse, we had to suffer the humiliation of taking another bus with the same company over two hours later, stuffed in the back of the bus. I want to cry.
Chile is a tremendously long country. We wanted to stop in on cities every now and then, otherwise the whole country would seem like one long bus ride. So far, none of them seem particularly remarkable.

Valparaiso (Valpo) finally seemed like a reasonable city, but of course, being UNESCO World Heritage, it is expected to be a highlight for any tour of Chile. Finding a good room with a view helps, though it costs almost twice as much as our mostly expensive rooms of this trip. BTW, the Central Bank decided this week to drive down the peso. Good news for us!

Sun-Ling works on the next blog entry in our room at The Yellow House in Valparaiso.

The sun sets and the city lights come on.

Valparaiso claims to have the world's oldest electric trolleybus system.

Valpo is also famous for its hills and funiculars.

Street scene.

Mercado - Valparaiso.

The port.

More of the port.

Valpo has quite a few 20th century Art Deco and Art Moderne buildings.

Precious water

2011-01-07T20:26:00.000-05:00

Since John last wrote about oasis, we have bused through another couple thousands of kilometers of desert and sand in southern Peru and northern Chile. We now think we understand what true desert is, maybe until we travel North Africa and the Middle East.

Whenever a river flows through the desert, then you can have a green valley. East of La Serena, the Elqui Valley is such a valley, much treasured and touted for northern Chile. Having been through countless such valleys in Peru, we were not so impressed. However, I liked the unusual blue of the storage lake behind the dam. Overall, we found our outing the next day to the port city of Coquimbo more interesting.

View of Elqui Valley from Cerro de la Virgen in Vicuña.

Another view of Elqui Valley from Cerro de la Virgen in Vicuña. That's a vineyard at left center.

The storage lake and dam as seen from a speeding bus.

Sharing this pint of homemade ice cream (half coffee, half chocolate) at El Cobre Soda Fountain was the perfect way to end our day trip to the Elqui Valley.

View of the coast at Fort Coquimbo.

The Cross of the Third Millennium in Coquimbo which soars 93 meters above the highest hill.

Felt pretty safe as we walked up the hills in Coquimbo, being that we were out of danger from tsunamis.

The bandshell on the Plaza de Armas in Coquimbol ready for The Feast of Epiphany.

Earthquake: it really happened!

2011-01-05T06:55:00.001-05:00

When I was trip planning last summer and getting all worked up about armed robberies, John tried to calm me in his own way, "why aren't you worried about earthquakes?"

When the magnitude 7.1 earthquake centered at Temuco happened last Sunday, we were on the bus, hundreds of miles away, and clueless. But this evening I was sitting down at the computer when our room here in La Serena started shaking like a really really big truck driving by, I knew it was an earthquake. However John was scrubbing himself vigorously in the shower, did not feel a thing. Now he is really bummed that he missed yet another earthquake. Later we learned from the news, the epicenter of the 5.9 magnitude earthquake was less than 100 kilometers away.

There have been promises of activities ever since we entered Chile. No wonder the poor boy is disappointed.

With signage like this, one would think that tsunamis should occur fairly often, but no luck so far.

New territory

2011-01-04T18:18:00.001-05:00

We have been traveling south for almost four months in the tropics, Iquique, Chile, being our last stop. Iquique, at 20-degrees south latitude, was a mere 2 degrees to the north of the sun on January 2nd; the closest on this trip so far. The nearly shadowless midday intrigued us (see photo below).

From Iquique we took a 19-hour overnight bus to La Serena (30-degree south). The sun is now to the north and we have left the tropics. While we should feel right at home outside the tropics, I suspect having the sun to the north might be disorienting.

No wells around, so this numbered parking place will have to do. The photo features Sun-Ling with round hat and backpack.

Iquique is known for it's beaches; Playa Cavancha is the most famous. This shot is from Saturday, January 1, 2011.

Iquique has some interesting architecture, the Central Market for example.

Into Chile by train

2011-01-01T15:03:00.000-05:00

After 8 nights in Arequipa it was time to move on south to Chile by taking the bus to Tacna and then the train across the border to Arica, Chile.

Since reading The Old Patagonian Express by Paul Theroux, I've wanted to travel by train in South America, but never had the chance; until now. This would be a short ride, little more than one hour on an antique train. Not the fastest route either, but I was hoping for a romantic ride on the rails.

The bus ride to Tacna was uneventful. We had 45 minutes to kill before the ticket window opened at the train station, so we headed over to the town square, devoured our packed lunch and admired the fountain and church designed by Gustave Eiffel.

Bought tickets, cleared Peru immigration, snagged snagged some seats, and the single car train - engine and coach all in one - pulled out of the Tacna station just after 4PM Peru time.

The station is in city center and for the first few miles the tracks went right down the city streets;lots of tooting as there are no crossing gates or signals. Then into the desert passing a large land development project; or squatters?; or speculation?

The single coach is crowded with about 80 passengers; a few travelers like us, some Chilean vacationers on outings; and a quite a few day-shoppers from Arica returning to Chile with enormous bundles of toilet paper. Turns out that toilet paper is much cheaper in Peru. Hmm. In the end, not such a romantic trip. ;-)

Pull into Arica just after 7PM. It's a one hour trip but Chile is 2 hours ahead of Peru. Find a hotel and crash. The next day we switch hotels, eat lunch at a vegetarian restaurant run by Taiwanese, check out 2 more buildings designed by Eiffel, and enjoy a walk up to the old fortifications above town with great views of the port and Pacific Ocean.

Here are the photos:

Plaza de Armas in Tacna, Chile with fountain designed by Gustave Eiffel.

Boarding the train in Tacna, Peru.

The train from Tacna, Peru to Arica, Chile.

Train Station - Arica, Chile.

ESCAPE! - Arica, Chile - from tsunamis I'm guessing.

San Marcos Church in Arica, designed by Gustave Eiffel, has metal columns. Unusual.

View to Central Arica.

The Port in Arica - with fishing boats, tugboats, and container ships.

Chifas

2010-12-28T15:28:00.001-05:00

Ecuador and Peru have a lot of Chifas, i.e. Chinese restaurants. The term originates from Chinese chifan, let's eat. Until five years ago, most of the Chifas are not run by Chinese people. It is like in the US that one does not need to be Italian to run a pizza joint. However, in the last few years many immigrants from Guangdong and Fujian have joined the ranks. An easy way to tell the difference is that Chinese-run restaurants are open all day and all days of the week - no siesta.

Most of the menu items look familiar, but in Peru, there is a curious entry: aeropuerto (airport). I had to ask someone. It is rice and noodles fried together with bean sprouts and normally has chicken also, so we have not had one. Otherwise, Chifas are safe bets where we can normally fill ourselves up with vegetable fried rice (Chaufan), open vegetable egg omelets over french fried potatoes (tortilla de verduras), and noodles with veggies (tallarines con verduras).

Tallarines con verduras at a restaurant in Otavalo, Ecuador; run by a Chinese family who came to Ecuador 30 years ago

Tortilla de verduras con papas (front) and Chuafan (back) at Casa de Korea, also in Otavalo; run by non-Chinese.

Chifa Hong Kong in Arequipa, Peru.

Chifa Hong Kong in Casma, Peru.

Beautiful Santa Catalina Convent

2010-12-27T21:31:00.000-05:00

The Santa Catalina Monastery, a cloistered convent, is the top tourist attraction in Arequipa. We have never been anywhere quite like it. The architecture alone makes it an amazing place, but the preserved, in-place artifacts (furniture, kitchen implements, icons, etc) boost it to the top of our list.

In addition to the standard cloisters, this convent is like a city itself with streets, plazas with fountains, and a cemetery. Besides the austere cells and dormitories as one would expect, there are many whole apartments with luxurious furniture, dressing room, bathroom, maid's room, and laundry machine! We were quite surprised. Now I am looking for a historical fiction or a memoir about nuns and convent life.

The convent opened in 1580 and operated until 1970 when it became a museum.
A few nuns still live in seclusion in a small portion of the original convent.

The convent entrance.

The nuns only contact with the outside world was through these grilled windows.

One of the three courtyards/cloisters.

Another cloister.

A street inside the convent.

Communal Dining Room.

Austere Cell.

A not so austere cell; actually an apartment.

Apartment entrance.

A kitchen attached to an apartment.

Apartment window (from the outside).

Plaza with fountain and the chapel behind.

Christmas in Arequipa

2010-12-26T10:30:00.002-05:00

This is the first time we spent Christmas away from home in a predominately Christian country. We have been seeing Christmas paraphernalia in the stores and houses for months now. They don't let Halloween or Thanksgiving (which they don´t do of course) get in the way.

Nativity scenes are really big here and so are Panettones, a traditional bread. The same Chinese made lights, decorations, and stuff are here.

We woke up Christmas morning at 6:00 AM to clear skies so right after breakfast we set off on a short hike to view the snow-capped volcanic peaks that ¨loom over Arequipa¨ as the guides books say. We were rewarded with pretty good views and an invigorating start to the day.

All of the photos below are from Arequipa, the second largest city in Peru, unless noted.

Plasz de Armas on Christmas Eve.

Nativity scene in Igelsia La Merced in Lima. The most elaborate I've ever scene. This photo does not do it justice.

Display of Pantonnes.

Christmas Eve Lunch.

Strolling the streets on Christmas Eve doing some last minute shopping perhaps or buying fireworks.

Brass band in Plaza de Armas on Dec 23rd.

Our hotel is about 100 meters down on the right-hand side of the street.

El Misti Volcano on Christmas morning.

Major change of plan/route

2010-12-25T12:24:00.000-05:00

During some random web surfing, I came across a great airfare from Lima to Miami. After much deliberation, we decided on a loop from Lima, going down the west coast of Chile to South Patagonia (Chile and Argentina), coming back northeast to Buenos Aires, crossing through the northwest of Argentina into Bolivia, then north through Bolivia back into Peru. This way we are hitting each area in more favorable seasons. My only concern is that good hotel rooms may be hard to come by. We should see.

Likable Lima

2010-12-24T15:57:00.000-05:00

Everyone traveling in South America goes through Lima, but most (but not all) people we talked to did not like Lima and minimized their time there. This included a couple of travelers from Lima themselves.

Lima has around 10 million people. Having lived in Shanghai, this was not a problem for us. On the other hand, Lima has many natural assets: great climate (average high 80-66, low 69-60), situated on the ocean with beaches; colonial and pre-colonial history: grand colonial buildings; recent improvements like the 100% natural gas BRT (except they could use about one hundred or two times the coverage).

The city was also much cleaner than we had been lead to believe. People were friendly and helpful; totally unexpected for such a big metropolis. In the beginning of the trip I used to glance at everyone and wonder to myself what a bad guy would look like. In Lima I realized that I had stopped doing that somewhere along the way.

Our only regret is that we had to leave Lima after only two days. The price of bus tickets is going up each day leading up to Christmas. The day (12/22) after we left was going to be 50% more. However, we had a major schedule change and will now come back to Lima to fly back home in May (more on that later).

Sunset on the beach cliffs in Miraflores, a southern district of Lima. Can you spot the paraglider?

View south from Miraflores.

We enjoyed riding the Metropolitana, Lima's BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) from Miraflores to city center and back.

Lima has a Changing of the Guard in front of the Presidential Palace every day at noon with a brass band that plays seasonal selections like Jingle Bells and old favorites like El Condor Pasa.

Iglesia and Monastery San Francisco with armored troop carrier. We took a tour of the Monastery and it's catacombs. Not to be missed!

Plaza de Armas with fountain and Christmas tree.

Not to mention several very good vegetarian restaurants like Vida Sana.

And the most elaborate Nativity Scene ever in Iglesia La Merced. This photo does not do it justice.

The spectacular Cordillera Blanca

2010-12-23T19:52:00.001-05:00

We are hitting the Cordillera Blanca in the raining season and had to make it a short visit, but everything about it was very scenic: the bus ride in through the Cañon del Pato, the day hike up the Cerro San Juan and beyond, the visit to the glacier lakes of Llanganuco, and bus ride out through the cordillera. Raining season means high cloud coverage, i.e. hidden peaks. However, when there is some clearing, all the peaks have snow. The weather forecast would include snow line, e.g. 4200m.

It´s faster to ride a burro up Cerro San Juan, but we prefer our own two feet.

A brief glimpse of a snow-capped peak.

Sun-Ling recovers from a close encounter with a cactus on the way up Cerro San Juan.

Looking down on to the city of Caraz and Huaylas Canyon where we started the day´s hike.

Going up beyond Cerro San Juan, we were surprised to see the mountain flatten with farms, fields, and a small village.

Now we are beyond and out of sight of Cerro San Juan and Caraz. Below is the small village. And we´re still headed up.

We turn around here, after a tasty lunch, with a peak at the narrow entrance to Canyon Paron in the distance.

And the wind began to howl on the way down, with some rain, but I stopped to take one last photo.

The next day we take a day trip to Yungay and the LLanganuco region.

Into the canyon and on to the natural, glacier-fed lakes of LLanganuco in Huascaran National Park.

Lake Chinancocha.

Walking around the shore of Lake Chinancocha.

Looking back down Lake Chinancocha to its natural dam.

Looking back from the second lake, Lake Orconcocha, to Lake Chinancocha in the distance.

Leaving Caraz and the Cordillera Blanca for Lima, there were still plenty of great views of snow-capped mountains, green valleys, and natural lakes out the bus window.

And finally, to see all the photos of the trip in and out of the Cordillera Blanca, click here.

Cañon del Pato

2010-12-18T20:57:00.000-05:00

The general strike in the Huaraz area was over, so after a day in Casma we set out for the Cordillera Blanca, the second highest mountain range in the world, by heading up the Cañon del Pato in a bus.

The highlights of the bus ride included spotting a Duke Energy Power Plant in Huallanca and passing through a series of 39 one-lane tunnels high above the river below. Oh, and not to mention that the road is unpaved. See video below.

Long second hurdle

2010-12-15T20:54:00.000-05:00

Northern coastal Peru was my second hurdle of the trip. Chiclayo and Trujillo are supposed to be run by gangsters. Bag snatchers frequent Chiclayo bus terminals. When John and I walked out of the Chiclayo bus terminal, all our senses were at high alert. What we saw were sparse main drags, deserted smaller lanes, streets more littered than usual, and more storefronts closed than open. This was only 5:30pm, not even dark. For a city of 500,000 people, it looked very suspicious. Alarm bells were going off like Christmas lights in our heads. We felt very uneasy, but the guesthouse we settled down in was rather friendly. The next day we made visits to a couple of archeological sites outside the city. Upon returning to our guesthouse, we were exchanging pleasantries with the proprietors, I glanced over at the calender and noticed that the day before was marked red. It was a national holiday for the Immaculate Conception, which explained all our suspicions. It was a good laugh all around.

Trujillo turned out to be uneventful as well, except when we started to inquire about onward moves, we learned that there had been road blocks and unrest at our next destination. It had been going to for six days. After Nepal we totally understand the gravity of a general stirke and started to plot alternate routes and monitoring the situation on the web. We decided to detour to Casma even though it means we would have to transfer through the most unsavory city of all Peru, Chimbote, twice. The same day we learned that the conflict was ending. We pushed ahead with our detour.

Due to our poor timing, in order to go to the most unsavory town, we had to get on a bus with the most dangerous bus company "America Express" whose bus caused a head-on collision that left 38 people dead back in February 2010 while attempting an illegal pass. We landed in the most vulnerable seats, the front row on the upper deck. The view was fantastic. The bus cruised along at a "snail's pace" according to John.

When our bus safely reached Chimbote, the most threatening act we witnessed was someone throwing a bucket of water from a third flour terrace, barely missing a bicyclist. From the same bus terminal we made a transfer to Casma, Ciudad Del Eterno Sol, and tasty Cremoladas (think Slurpee, but with real fruit).

Two days later we passed through Chimbote for the second and last time. Unfortunately for us we were "enveloped in the stench of dead fish" for 90 minutes as we waited at the bus terminal for our onward bus to Caraz.

We don't look too concerned in our front row seats as we pull out of Trullijo on an America Express bus bound for Chimbote.

No head-on collision with this big truck as we head down the Pan-American Highway to Chimbote.

One of the many irrigated asparagus fields.

Welcome to Caraz, the City of Eternal Sunshine.

Cremoladas.

Down the coastal road

2010-12-14T20:39:00.003-05:00

My first impressions of the Northern Peruvian dessert are mixed. The coast from Chiclayo south with it's beach towns and awesome weather is a dry sandy string of pre-Inca ruins with good to great museums, ugly trash dumps, industrial drip irrigated mega-farms, and colonial towns with pleasant city centers.

The very awesome El Museo Tumbas Reales del Señor de Sipán in Lambayeque, Peru. [No photos allowed inside the museum.]

Reed boats, fútbol, and fishing pier at Huanchaco Beach, just north of Trujillo.

Trash dump somewhere on the Pan-American Highway between Chiclayo and Trujillo. The truck is on a side road, not the Pan-American.

Irrigated fields.

Heading South on the Pan-American Highway with some irrigated fields in the distance.

The pre-Inca ruins at Tucume, Peru. All those rain-furrowed hills are pyramids.

Ruins of Chan Chan. Near Trujillo. Art Deco?

Huaca de la Luna (Temple of the Moon) outside Trujillo.

Cathedral - Plaza de Armas - Chiclayo

Cathedral - Plaza de Armas - Trujillo

Musings on quality of life and development

2010-12-11T20:55:00.001-05:00

Being Chinese, food is of particular importance to me. Being around all the scrumptious food in Cajamarca really made me think and rethink. I used to feel sorry for people in developing countries because of their lack of "cargo" (see Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel). Now I feel sorry for myself because of my lack of access to abundance of "real" food. Furthermore, I envy climates where temperature control is irrelevant and plants flourish.

What makes a good life? Maybe Starbucks is only a consolation for the poor souls that do not have coffee trees, pastured cows, and sugar cane plants in their neighborhood. Maybe all "cargoes" are really consolations. What does development mean besides clean water, good roads, education, health care...? If China can be used as a cautionary tale for development, what are the trade-offs regarding autonomy, environment, family ties...? On the other hand I am grateful on behalf of the developing world for Chinese manufactured compact florescent bulbs, clothing for the masses, and affordable vehicles. It's so complicated..

Cajamarca is scrumptious

2010-12-09T21:59:00.000-05:00

Very few places are comparable in historical significance as Cajamarca, Peru where the Spanish Conquistadors effectively ended Incan rule. It has tons of historic architecture, big-hatted indigenous people, and bustling vendors. What really got my attention is the amazing quantity of cheese, chocolate, pastries, and other treats, in addition to usual mountains of fruits and vegetables. It is totally my kind of place!

Some photos from Cajamarca, starting with architecture.

Hot Springs in Banos del Incas, just outside Cajamarca. It was here that the last Inca King Atahualpa rested before he was captured by Francisco Pizarro.

Centro Cajamarca has narrow streets lined with old colonial buildings.

Plaza de Armas with 17th century fountain.

Iglesias San Francisco.

Big-hatted lady spinning thread while walking in Plaza de Armas. At left is a gelatin vendor with wares in bucket. In back you can see part of a military ceremony.

On the van to Otuzco.

Typical street scene with big-hatted ladies and moto-taxi.

We bought some sweet chocolate balls from this street vendor. She's digging them out of the basket. She also sells disks of unsweetened cooking chocolate (in basket) and cheese (basket at right).

Cheese shop.

Cakeman and VW van.

Mangoes are in season and 4 (or 5) can be bought for 1 New Peruvian Sol - about 35 cents US.

Random colorful market shot. Not sure what those "sauces" are.

Revelation on cemeteries

2010-12-08T21:42:00.001-05:00

It seems to me that we are always visiting cemeteries on this trip. John and I both come from families big on cemetery visits and during our previous travels we had toured various cemeteries. It had never bother me. In fact I find cemeteries tranquil and spiritual. That is until this trip. Why? The cemeteries on this trip all have above-ground vaults occupying the same air as I do. Way too much spiritualness for me.

Today we went to the archeological site of "Ventanillas de Otuzco" (300-800 AD), a prehistoric burial site, just outside Cajamarca. I was looking in the face of the source of all my heebie-jeebies.

John commented that the modern cemeteries in South America look a lot like this prehistoric one. What do you think?

Cementerio - Tulcan, Ecuador

Cementerio - Mompox, Colombia

Cementerio San Gabriel - Quito, Ecuador

Cementerio - Tulcan, Ecuador

Necropolis - Ventanillas de Otuzco - Cajamarca, Peru

Necropolis - Ventanillas de Otuzco - Cajamarca, Peru

Necropolis - Ventanillas de Otuzco - Cajamarca, Peru

Chachapoyas is about epic journeys

2010-12-07T17:05:00.004-05:00

It took an epic journey to come to Chacha (see previous entry).
From Chachapoyas, we took a day tour to Kuelap, a major pre-Incan ruin. The site is 1200m above the main road, but our van had to take a 360 degree counterclockwise 60km ramp along the side of the mountain. It took over an hour of driving while we could see the site the whole time!
One day we took a shared taxi to see the Sonche Canyon at Huancas; then walked back to Chacha. At the canyon mirador Sun-Ling was befriended by the very polite and sweet local children.
Another day we took a shared taxi to a village, Levanto, which is probably 10km as the crow flies. Again it took us almost an hour going up and down ramps on dirt roads. We walked back on the Inca Road. Because of poor directions, we went up and down the network of Inca Roads in a futile search for Yalape, a minor pre-Incan ruin. We walked for six hours non-stop and barely made it back before dark.
Leaving Chacha was yet another epic journey. We got up at 4am in order to catch the 5am bus for an 11-hour journey. For the first seven hours we zippered back and forth on long mountain ramps and switch backs, from high Andes mountains to low Amazonian oasis and back up again.

The walls of Kuelap tower above the valley.

The approach to Kuelap.

John and Sun-Ling pose at the narrow main entrance.

Inside the walls there are ruins of 500 circular dwellings. You can see some ruins in front and a reconstructed house in back.

View from Kuelap.

Sun-Ling and friends at Sonche Canyon.

Sonche Canyon.

Sun-Ling on the Inca Road between Levanto and Chachapoyas.

In the Andes between Chachapoyas and Celendin, Peru as seen from the bus window.

Another shot from the bus window. The deep green in the valley is a mango oasis.

Drinking water on the road

2010-12-06T21:47:00.002-05:00

When traveling we pretty much drink and eat as locals do although as vegetarians we don't eat meat or fish. In particular I take my cues from cleanly dressed ladies when it comes to selecting food stalls, restaurants, or street vendors. The fact we are vegetarians and we travel with Ciproflaxin for major episodes and a Chinese medication for minor upsets makes us pretty liberal with food and drink.

For water, we drink tap water from the hotel if the locals say they drink the town's tap water, and we almost always use tap water for brushing teeth. When tap water is considered non-potable, we get or boil our own water (as in China), get filtered water from hotel (pretty rare), fill from hotel's water cooler (not very often), or buy water as a last resort in order to cut down on the amount plastic we use. Our family mule not only goes through a lot of feed, he can drink a lot of water each day. When we do buy water, we buy the largest size bottle we can comfortably handle. For this trip, we have been able to get 5-liter bottles in Ecuador and 5-liter bags in Colombia, which we decant into our two, 1-liter nalgene bottles: one wide-mouth and one narrow-mouth. We also carry 2 small metal mugs.

Our strategy has worked pretty well in general, except John got parasites in Burma which he got over by himself. In fact he did not even know he had them until well after he was all better. I got parasites in Nepal which took me a while to diagnose and had to take medication.

This trip we have been doing well so far. We have been mostly over 2000m (7000ft). It is either sunny and dry or cold and wet, not very conducive for bacteria growth. Besides, boiling water does not help as much, since water boils at lower temperatures. We can even tell just from drinking boiling hot coffee which seems to be "ready to drink". Even at lower altitudes I suspect people are pretty apt to use pesticides. Lastly the population density in the New World is not same as the Old World; that makes everything better.

A Journey: Ecuador - Peru border crossing

2010-12-02T20:50:00.020-05:00

For our route, the Zumba-La Balsa crossing is most direct of the three overland crossings between Ecaudor and Peru. It's the most scenic but supposedly the most difficult journey (the border formalities here are considered "easy" on both sides). We gave ourselves three days instead of the normal two for everyone else that seems to be on this amazing race. We had read and heard first hand harrowing reports of unpaved roads, landslides, greedy transports, and dangerous towns. I made myself a chart (below is an updated version). I had this picture in my head of someone pushing me over with my backpack on and running away with my money belt – my definition of a dangerous town.

Segment	Transport mode	Time	Cost	Notes
Vilcabamba - Zumba	Bus	6 hours	$6.5pp	Overnighted in Zumba
Zumba - La Balsa	Ranchera	1.5 hours	$1.75pp
La Balsa - San Ignacio	Squished shared taxi	1.5 hours	S/12pp
San Ignacio - Jaen	Minibus	3+ hours	S/12pp	Overnighted in Jaen
Jaen between terminals	Moto rickshaw	10 minutes	S/1.5	Road work
Jaen - Bagua Grande	Shared taxi	1.25 hours	S/9pp	Road work
Bagua Grande - Chachapoyas	Shared taxi	3 hours	S/22pp	Road work

As usual, things turned out to be as easy as pie, except

The road on Ecuador side is worse Peru. In fact, at the rate that we suffered from road construction work delays in Peru, in the very near future it will be full fledged highway.
The ranchera ride was an experience. It was physically demanding. We had to work hard to stay on the bench, not fall to the floor or out of the truck, which was really regretful as there was no chance of photographing morning mist over the mountains. On the graveled switchbacks the ranchera was what I remember a roller-coaster to be minus the upside down part. There was so much jostling that our netbook did not turn on that evening.
Coming from Ecuador, the transportation cost in Peru seemed very high. We kept suspecting that we were quoted Gringo prices, but each time we watched fellow passengers pay exactly the same amount.
We were told Jaen was a dangerous town and spent endless time researching and contemplating whether to overnight there. It turned out to be a perfectly safe and friendly place. Our only regret was not to have taken a cooler and air-conditioned room. There were more moto rickshaws than pedestrians in town which may freak some people out.

It is a tremendously scenic journey through varied landscape. We are so glad that we came that way!

The church in Zumba.

The Zumba to La Balsa ranchera as it was loading.

The main Plaza in Jaen, Peru as seen from our hotel room.

Unedited video of part of the moto-taxi ride from our hotel to the Bagua Grande colectivo stand.

Stopped due to road work on the road from Jaen to Bagua Grande.

Stopped due to road work on the road from Bagua Grande to Chachapoyas.

And finally installed in a big hotel room in Hostal Amazonas in Chachapoyas.