Sarah and Jim: The Travel Blog

Last Day in Peru: Day 13

2011-12-31T14:13:00.000-08:00

We made breakfast at Jessie's apartment and did some laundry in the morning. We headed out to do the last of our shopping at the Inca Plaza (yes Carrie, we found some yarn... first time I'd seen it the whole trip but then again I wasn't looking for it before!), then went to La Mar for our last meal out in Peru (a late lunch).

La Mar is an upscale restaurant that supposedly has the best ceviche (also cebiche) in all of Lima. It isn't too far from Jessie's apartment; it's only about a 5-10 minute taxi ride. My doctor also recommended this place, so it was the last thing on my 'to do' list for this trip to Peru.

We were really impressed overall. It is a nice atmosphere of gray stone, dark wood, and turquoise-colored cloth and decorations. We ended up sitting at the bar because the place was absolutely HOPPING at 4pm. It is only open from noon until 5pm; in Lima it is more common for people to eat lunch and dinner later than most people in the US. 3-4pm is a more common lunch time and 9pm is a common dinner time.

Jim and I both ordered a limonada, our favorite drink while in Peru that I've ordered with almost every meal. It's like lemonade, only with limes and always fresh-squeezed. None of this Minute Maid silliness; this is the real stuff.

They served as a complimentary appetizer freshly fried potato, sweet potato, and plantain chips with three different sauces as well as freshly fried (still warm) corn kernels called cancha that are common around here. The cancha are light, salty, and crunchy.

Jim and I ordered a sampler of five different cebiches, and all were equally delicious. There was the more traditional Peruvian lime, a sweet one with soy, a Chinese-fusion style with sesame and ginger, A chili-flavored Peruvian take, and a multi-seafood cebiche. All of them definitely topped any cebiche I had the week prior. Between the different cebiches and the chips and toasted corn, we were stuffed. What a fabulous way to end our time in Peru.

Now we are back at Jessie's getting ready to pack up as the laundry finishes drying. We'll head to the airport around 8:30pm to allow for traffic (since it's New Year's Eve) for our 11:39pm flight. We're taking the red-eye to New Jersey (Newark), then it's another 4-5 hour flight to Denver from there. I guess when Erik and Steph went home on Thursday their first flight (to Houston) ended up being canceled because the plane didn't land in Lima on time or something and they had to switch to a continental flight through Newark, so cross your fingers for us that we get home on schedule. If all goes well we should get home Sunday afternoon... otherwise it may be later.

Well Peru, it's been great, but it's time for us to go home. Buenas noches y Feliz Año Nuevo.

Back to Lima: Day 12

2011-12-30T19:00:00.000-08:00

Not much to write about today. We had a leisurely breakfast at Rumi Punku before catching a cab to the Cuzco airport, where our flight was inevitably delayed. I'm coming to find this is the norm around here. This delay was due to "air traffic". Really, did 5 planes unexpectedly need to land or something? This makes me really appreciate air traffic control in the US. We landed in Lima a little after 4pm, went to Jessie's apartment, changed, grabbed dinner, went grocery shopping for breakfast and the plane ride home tomorrow... and that's about it.

So maybe I'll write about some of the random things we've noticed in Peru that haven't made it to the blog yet for one reason or another.

emission control in the US is something that we are coming to appreciate more and more
traffic laws, while frustrating at times, are apparently something we appreciate as well
I'm amazed that we've only seen two accidents (and only fender-benders) the whole time we've been here with as bad as the traffic is... the drivers are skilled in their art, I will give them that
horns, while monotone, can communicate so much
"mufflers are a gift from a superior being" -Jim
apparently Decepticons from Transformers are very popular... tons of mototaxis have Decepticon logos on them
The butter here is far superior
Fruits are far superior... probably because, like most of the rest of the world, they only really sell what's in season. I think that we lose something by making so many produce products available year round in our stores.
The Peruvian personal space bubble is smaller than ours in the US (though that's true in most of the rest of the world, too.)
The US has 10 times the amount of available cereal brands in the grocery stores
If your "agua sin/con gas" (bottled water with or without carbonation) is served in a glass bottle, you are in a fancy-pants restaurant; if the water is served from a pitcher, but is filtered or from a bottle, then you are at a seriously fancy-pants restaurant :)
Jim has a theory that Peru supports: most of the world does not refrigerate eggs; it's not necessary. We crazy paranoid US citizens are about the only ones that feel the need to do it.
When traveling in touristy areas it's amazing how much you run into the same people. We saw "strong-feature Swiss family" on our flight to Cuzco, at Machu Picchu, and when we returned to Cuzco after at the Plaza de Armas. "Scruffy French-speaking backpackers" were also on our train to and from Machu Picchu with us.
Volkswagen is also popular in Peru. Yessss.
The sides of buildings (even houses) become advertisements and political campaigns. I saw more "Ollanta 2011" (presidential campaign) painted on the sides of mud brick buildings all over Peru than I could count. There are also a lot of Claro ads like this (a phone company) and we even saw a few for Coca-Cola.
Sometimes the machismo culture works in your favor. Like when the guy checking you in at the airport notices that you're pregnant and upgrades your seat to be more toward the front of the plane. (Though Jim notes the machismo here is very subtle and polite. I would agree. More like chivalry, really.)
I must be showing a lot more because 4 people noticed I was pregnant without me saying anything... just starting on Tuesday... yet many people have been shocked to find out I'm already 22 weeks along. I guess I'm not showing as early as many people.
Sam likes to have "evening raves" in my tummy... he gets really active between 9pm and 11pm. Gonna be a night owl like his momma.
Hotel breakfasts are often complimentary in the Cuzco/Machu Picchu area and consist of breads, jam, the awesome butter, avocados, kalamata olives (which they call black olives), awesome fresh fruit, millet/cereals, cheeses, and random proteins. Sometimes for the protein it's a mini hotdog like thing.
Health foods seem to be less prevalent here than in the US... as far as we've found. Apparently the 'craze' hasn't hit here.
Jim is excited because you can buy 'raw' computer parts (Jim wants me to call them raw computer giblets, but I figured you wouldn't know what that means) in stores here that you usually have to buy online at home.
I really wish I weren't allergic to all things cute and fluffy. I'd love an alpaca sweater but alas... that would make me very, very itchy.
As is always the case, traveling reminds us just how good we have it at home. We are glad that tomorrow is our go-home day... well, the flight takes off just before the new year and we won't be home until Sunday if all goes well, but still. There's nothing in the world like your very own comfy bed.
Jim is someone who apparently needs his routine and is looking forward to getting back into it. (I am okay without it, hahaha.)
We are once again reminded of how nice it is to use tap water when brushing our teeth.
We are reminded that we love living in a dry climate. Blech to humidity.

Ollantaytambo and Back to Cusco: Day 11

2011-12-30T06:54:00.000-08:00

We started the day with our train ride from Aguas Calientes to Ollantaytambo, a city about halfway back on the way to Cusco. This time we took the Expedition, the cheaper 'backpacker' train. It was still a nice train, it just didn't have the plushy seats, music, and nice snacks the Vistadome did and the ride wasn't quite as smooth, but it was totally fine. If you're looking to save a few bucks it's a totally viable train. The only reason we didn't take that one on the way up is because the ones that worked well for us timing-wise were already full… the cheaper trains tend to fill up more quickly.

When we arrived, we went into the little town to check it out and to have lunch at a Lonely Planet recommended cafe, called Heart's Cafe that gives some of its proceeds to local people in need of warm clothing. We also looked at the ruins in the area… from outside the entrance gates. It was going to be the equivalent of about $65US per person to go in… and seeing as we needed to get back to Cusco at a decent time to see the museums we had missed, and we had already seen so many different ruins (and were sore from the day before), we decided to simply admire them from afar. They were still pretty spectacular.

We wandered around for a bit after that finding a ride back to Cusco. The guidebook just said something to the effect of 'find a bus, "collectivo" (van that they fill with as many people as possible), or taxi to take you back', with not much more description. Since the passengers from our train had gone a couple hours before and the next one wasn't due in for a couple more hours, there weren't as many of them hanging around as when we first got off the train so it took a little while, but eventually a cab drove by and asked if we needed to get to Cusco. Why yes, yes we did… we asked how much and he said 10 soles per person. I had him write it down because I was sure I misheard him… seeing as our ride in a cab to Poroy train station only 30 minutes from Cusco was 30 soles (for both of us) and this would be a two hour trip, I was sure it couldn't have been right. We were expecting at least 50 soles per person for such a long ride. But no, that's what he meant… he picked up some other passengers to fill the cab on the way, which is why it was a little cheaper I think. The others were native Peruvians from what I can tell; a woman sat next to Jim and me in the back and a man with his four year old daughter on his lap sat in the front. (Another thing that would never happen in the states, by the way… I am my mother's daughter and all I could see on the ride back was the taxi driver having to slam on the breaks and the little girl flying through the windshield… but that never happened so I digress…)

The ride back, other than the fact that I was squished in the middle seat, was rather pleasant. The countryside between Ollantaytambo and Cuzco is absolutely breathtaking. The mountain air is clean and we drove with the windows down, which was great until we got behind some diesel-spewing trucks, but that was brief. We drove by several villages and farms as we climbed from about 6,000 feet in elevation for Ollantaytambo to Cuzco's 10,000 feet. (I keep flipping between the spellings for Cuzco/Cusco because I've seen both and can't decide which one is better, haha.) Almost every single building is made with mud brick adobe; you can still see straw poking out of the mud bricks. I guess I didn't realize that Peruvians in the countryside really do dress in the 'traditional' Peruvian dress… I mostly saw women wearing a skirt, sweater/shawl, Peruvian hat, socks, and sandals/shoes… I even saw a group of women leading their donkey carrying a load of yellow flowers for them. We drove by so quickly we weren't able to snap a picture, but I'll never forget it.

Entering the Cuzco valley from outside offers an amazing view of the city. There are many houses and buildings up on the slopes of the surrounding mountains, with the center of town down at the center of the valley below. As soon as you enter the city the construction changes to more western-style-brick/cement construction than adobe, though there are still some buildings made with the mud bricks.

The taxi stopped at some unknown neighborhood to let everyone out. We asked in our best broken Spanish how much it would be for him to continue to the Plaza de Armas area to our hotel, and he said just 10 soles more, so we jumped on it. When we got there we gave him 40 soles instead of just 30; he had gotten us there safely, dealt with our limited Spanish, and we were expecting to pay so much more anyway that we felt he deserved the tip. (You don't usually tip cab drivers around here.)

Rumi Punku, our hotel, had definitely settled things with the agency from before and said our night here was already paid. When we got to our room, we discovered we had gotten one of the 'superior' rooms (we only paid for a standard room) with a king bed, bigger TV, nicer shower, and even bath robes. I never thought I would get so excited about a bath robe, but they're too big to pack when all you can bring with you is a tiny backpack and it's cold getting out of showers around here. I'm not sure if maybe they had just run out of standard rooms after they told us one was available when we booked this before we left, or if they felt bad for waking Jim up at 10pm the time before, but it was a nice, unexpected surprise. The only "problem" is that the wifi doesn't reach this room so we have to go out to the main area to use it ::puts hand on forehead dramatically:: so I may never make it. ;)

After settling in we set out for the Inka Museum, one of the largest museums in Cusco from my understanding. It has many artifacts from the Inka empire, though few of them are from Machu Picchu but instead are from other areas. By my understanding, when Hiram Bingham 'discovered' Machu Picchu in 1911 (though he didn't really discover it but I digress) he brought many of the artifacts back to Yale University, where he worked. They remained at Yale until last year, as there has been a battle between Yale and the Peruvian government to get them back. Peru argued that the artifacts were a 'loan' and that they belonged back in their native lands, while Yale argued that Peru didn't have the facilities to properly care for the artifacts and they were worried about them degrading over time. It sounds like they reached an agreement for the artifacts to return to a Peruvian university under Yale's supervision for preservation, though I'm not sure when that happened if it has yet nor do I know which to which university in Peru they are going.

Regardless, there were a lot of cool artifacts at the Inka museum. Their displays are a little outdated, but it was worth the visit nonetheless. There were several stone tools, ceramics, and even some Peruvian mummies. My favorite display was a to-scale model of Machu Picchu. It was great to get an effectively birds-eye view of the entire complex that we had just visited.

We went into the Plaza de Armas in search of dinner. We found a good one at the Inka Cafe (at least I think that's what it was called)… we ended up having some french onion soup because it sounded so very yummy, and it was delicious. It may be lame, but I am crazy for soup.

After dinner we picked up a CD of supposedly traditional Peruvian/Incan music for my classroom. I had no way to listen to it and will have no way to until I get home, so I have absolutely no idea if it's any good or not! We'll see!

We then headed to the Museo de Arte Precolombian (MAP). Precolombian as in before columbus, or before European influence. This museum had far superior displays, with most in Spanish, English, and French… though you could tell that they were written by an artist instead of by an anthropologist, as they were more opinion than fact. I could go into a rant about how some fine artists can be rather full of themselves, as the person who wrote all of these obviously was, but I digress. Let's just say that when it comes to ancient art, I get along better with the anthropologists.

And that's the end of our tale in Cuzco. This morning we had a leisurely breakfast and are getting ready to head back to the airport in Lima.

Machu Picchu: Day 10

2011-12-28T14:59:00.000-08:00

Part I: Machu Picchu

Take that, naysayers... I went to Machu Picchu five months pregnant in the rainy season and survived to tell the tale! Not only that, but I enjoyed myself quite thoroughly... thank you very much! ;)

Machu Picchu was everything it's cracked up to be and more. It is the cherry on the top of this trip. I am so very glad that we came. Cross another one off the bucket list.

We caught the bus and entered the park at around 6:30am, and didn't leave until 4:00pm. We hiked around most of that time, with only a 1-1.5 hour lunch break in between. I don't even know how many calories we burned, but I definitely treated myself to a Twix on the walk from the bus back to the hotel. I figured I probably burned at least that many calories and deserved a little sugar. ;)

I'm trying to think of how to even describe Machu Picchu for you. It's a much bigger complex than I had imagined. I mean, I knew it was big, but I guess I just wasn't expecting it to be SO extensive. We walked around for probably at least 8 hours and (with a few small exceptions) we didn't visit the same place twice. I think we got to pretty much everything in the main complex that didn't require a two hour separate one-way hike, but there's a chance we could have missed something even after eight hours of exploring. Wow.

The purpose of Machu Picchu is still debated by scholars, but the best guess is that it was built as an estate for the Incan king Pachacuti in the 1400s. It reminds me of the South American equivalent of a European castle and its grounds. It may have later served as a sort of Incan army base at the time of the Conquistadors, though the Conquistadors never found/looted Machu Picchu.

We started out by climbing the steps toward the higher parts of the ruins, and even ended up going onto part of the Inca Trail before turning back to the main site. We got some pretty incredible views from up there.

The only bummer to Machu Picchu is that the restrooms are located OUTSIDE of the entrance gates. You can re-enter the park, but it means going out, paying the 1 sole to use the restroom every time (yes, you end up having to pay to use the restroom at tourist attractions in a lot of foreign countries), then waiting in line to get back into the park, presenting your passport and ticket again, and hiking back to the ruins. I understand not wanting to disturb the site with restroom facilities, fine... but why not put them INSIDE of the gates? It would be a 20 foot difference. Also, it can be quite a long hike from some points of the ruins to the entrance gates and back. We had to put a lot of strategy into viewing different parts of the ruins, exiting, and coming back in to the park to maximize efficiency.

After our first 'break' if you will, we headed back to visit the main part of the ruins in more detail (rather than the upper trails). We saw the Temple of the Sun and bath houses, which were my favorite part. Did you know that they had running water at Machu Picchu? In both dry and rainy seasons, the water from a spring and condensation from the clouds runs down a series of ducts they carved that then cascade from bath house to bath house. The first was ceremonial, but the others were for domestic use. They were pretty cool. I'm sure they were running even heavier than normal with the off-and-on rain showers during the day.

We then climbed to another section with the sacred plaza and 'royal palace'. From the top of this area you can see over the other side of this wide yet narrow mountain, which is surrounded on three sides by the mighty Urumbaba river. We also encountered a cute little animal that is like all of our favorites in one... it looks like a rabbit-squirrel-chipmunk and is a bit larger than your average wild rabbit at home. We didn't know what it was at the time, but a little research tells me it's called a Viscacha. Simply adorable.

To exit the park again from there we had to go through the residential/industrial sector, even though we had intended to explore that part after lunch (for some reason, one of the park workers wouldn't let us go down the path that led to the exit and made us go around... even though it wasn't roped off and there were no signs, so strange). We went through them fairly quickly, but it still took quite a bit of time to get back to the entrance that way. Probably an extra hour (we might have stopped for some pictures, to be fair).

There is one place to have lunch up there... a buffet with Vegas prices at the Machu Picchu Sanctuary Lodge just outside the gates. Again, it was okay... nothing to write home about, but it was sustenance. You're not supposed to bring food into the park (though we brought a few snacks just in case), though they didn't seem to enforce that... if we'd had any way to make a picnic lunch (there are no real grocery stores here that we've found) that might have been better if we could have gotten away with it. Oh well.

We explored the residential and industrial sector for the remainder of the afternoon. I know that saying 'it was really cool' is kind of lame, but it was... the amount of stone work in this place is incredible. I love how they worked with the large boulders already in the mountains, adding to them and carving them away. Simply amazing. We also met some friendly llamas (alpacas? something else?) that are apparently the residential 'lawn mowers' that eat the grasses to keep them trimmed.

I held off as long as I could, but by 4:00 I needed another 'break' and it turns out you can't re-enter the park after that time. So Jim an I said our goodbyes to Machu Picchu... just as well, we were both exhausted by that point and I think we covered just about everything.

All in all I really enjoyed the experience. It will be fun to tell my little Samuel that he climbed Machu Picchu in the womb, too, haha. I think he enjoyed it; he kicked around every now and again. ;) It did rain off and on through the day, though more off than on, but I was so glad that we were fully prepared with waterproof breathable hiking shoes, quick dry pants, rain coats, ponchos, and umbrellas. We used all of it. And the rain sort of added to the feel... it was misty and the clouds were low-lying giving everything a quiet, mystical feel. There were still lots of people there, almost too many for our tastes at the peak of the day, yet apparently it was still a lot less than enter the park during the high season. Once again, I prefer travel in the off season, apparently. Jim and I aren't really fans of big crowds; the ones there today were quite enough as it was.

Part II: Aguas Calientes Fails at Food

After such a long day of hiking around, a good dinner was essential. Unfortunately as it would turn out, Aguas Calientes doesn't have much of a food scene at all. I was polite yesterday when I said the "Mexican" food we tried wasn't anything to write home about... anyone who knows me knows that I'm not a super picky eater, but I couldn't finish these 'tacos', they turned my stomach, and the glasses they poured our drinks into smelled like they'd been dried with a musty towel. Yuck. Tonight, as we wandered around in search of food for dinner, we found that all of the restaurants are the same.

Don't get me wrong, I'm no snob... I'm perfectly content at hole-in-the-wall restaurants... they usually do their thing, and they do it well. The problem with these places is that they try too hard to cater to tourists. They try to make pretty much everything under the sun, and they do NONE of it well. I didn't know you could screw up pizza so bad, but this makes Dominoes look gourmet. Each restaurant serves pizza, Mexican food, Chinese food, Peruvian food, Italian food, soups, salads, everything... but they don't do any of it well. It's pretty bad when you walk up to two different restaurants and the people coming out of them tell you the food is not good. It's also a bad sign when the people on the street trying to get you to go into their restaurant literally try to barter with you to get you to go in... "okay, 30 soles and free drinks, any item on the menu... okay okay, 20 soles and free drinks..." you get the idea. Most of these places looked absolutely dead, either completely devoid of other diners or with one or two groups (the ones that came out and told us not to go). I've eaten at holes in the wall in southern China that hands down were waaay better... because they specialize in what they do well.

Not going to lie, I had a hormonal pregnant moment. It was dark, it was raining, I was tired and hungry, we'd been walking around for what had to be almost an hour finding 20,000 restaurants that all looked the same... not edible, jacks of all trades but masters of none. The last thing I wanted to get was food poisoning, and I was about ready to just go without dinner. I was nearly in tears (blaming the hormones) when Jim and I decided to go back to Inkaterra, where we had lunch yesterday. It's a hotel restaurant. I probably just killed a Semester at Sea angel, it's such a 'rich tourist' thing to do... but you know what, I tried.

This is where all the people were. The place was absolutely packed. And it may make me not a great traveler or whatever... but it was such a relief to see humanity; the mark of a good restaurant. This chef has to be trained well. They have a fixed menu; you choose an appetizer, main dish, and dessert for a fixed price. They have about 10 different dishes for each and they do those 10 dishes well. There are vegetarian options too. Every single thing we had (Jim and I always share bites to try one another's food) was exquisite, well presented, hot, and well-timed. I didn't question the cleanliness at all. They even have a guy whose sole job is to monitor tables and report on the radio (quietly) when a table needs attention. No waiting for more water and perfectly timed delicious dishes. They were also quick with the check... a rarity around here.

Jim and I decided to share dishes so that we could both try the cuy (guinea pig), which was on our 'bucket list' while also sharing some fettuccine. Both were great. Jim really loved the guinea pig. I thought it was good... I don't know that I'll add it to my 'favorite foods' list, but it was definitely palatable. It was prepared with candied orange rind and served on a bed of blended corn and potatoes.

All in all, I'm so glad that Inkaterra was there to 'save' me. While their prices are a little high, they aren't as outrageous as they could be; they are about what I'd expect to pay for a meal of the same quality in the United States. Highly recommended in a town without much of a food scene.

Train to Aguas Calientes: Day 9

2011-12-27T17:43:00.000-08:00

Just after I posted yesterday's blog the phone in our room rang. It was the front desk saying they didn't recognize the website/agency we'd used to book the room and we'd need to charge it again separately... at 10:00pm. So though I was still okay, poor Jim was woken back up and then couldn't get back to sleep (couldn't turn his brain off) and ended up writing emails to the agency and looking into how to dispute charges and everything else for another hour. So while we liked the hotel overall, we were a little disappointed with the late call. Could they not have said something earlier when we stopped by the front desk? The good news is that we heard back from the agency today and it sounds like there was a staff change at the hotel or something and it's being resolved. Since our card was charged twice it seems that they'll use the second room charge for when we stay there again when we're back to Cuzco on Thursday.

Jim and I woke up early again so we could catch our train on Peru Rail. Unfortunately, I woke us up about half an hour earlier than we needed, even with extra fluff time, because I misread our train tickets. I thought the departure time was 7:55 and we needed to be at the station half an hour before that... no no, 7:55 is when we needed to be at the station, 8:25 was train time. So I woke us up at 5:30am so we could check out/get breakfast/find a cab to the station (which is 30 mins away from Cuzco)... just so we could go sit in the station for over an hour before we needed to be there. Hahaha. Oh well, better that way than late I suppose.

Peru Rail certainly takes pride in their company. They are the only rail company that will take you from Cusco to Aguas Calientes, but their monopoly on the market hasn't depleted their level of service. The entire experience with them was flawless. They have a great website that is easy to use and I was able to book our tickets from home before we left with no problems. The station was as clean as a train station can get and rather nice, the staff was helpful and friendly, and the train was on time.

The train ride itself was a lot of fun for me. It is about a four hour ride from start to finish. We were on the Vistadome, which is the midrange train, for the ride there. (We'll be taking the Expedition, the cheaper train, on the way back.) It was a nice, clean train... I daresay much nicer than the inside of an airplane. The seats were plush and there were windows on the sides of the roof of the Vistadome (hence the name) so you can see the tops of the mountains on the ride. They announced points of interest and sites in both Spanish and English as we went along and played soft, pleasant Peruvian flute music for the duration of the trip. They even served a snack midway through the trip... quinoa (local to Peru) with diced carrots and zuchinni, small Peruvian potatoes in the yummy green sauce I have yet to learn the name of with Andean cheese, and small sweet unidentified little shortbread-esque cookies. It was served in the most adorable little blue and yellow basket to top it off.

The views from the train were spectacular. The mountains at first felt a lot like Colorado complete with cactus (minus the pine trees), but as we descended more toward Aguas Calientes it feels more like a temperate rain forest. There were several villages along the way with farms for vegetables (I saw a carrot harvest), cows, pigs, goats, and sheep. Jim, of course, fell in love with the border collie he saw overlooking its flock of sheep. Many of the buildings were made with a simple mud/straw brick and thatched roofs.

We arrived in Aguas Calientes around half past noon. Our hotel, Machu Picchu Green Nature, sent someone to guide us to the hotel from the station... which was impressive, seeing as I had just e-mailed them the night before with our arrival time. It was a short walk to the hotel, but I'm glad he was there so that we could find it more expediently... the rain, as promised, had started. It wasn't a heavy rain, though, and it let up shortly after we arrived. The hotel is nice enough for a mid-range place... a step above a plain hostel, but not super nice like some of the crazy expensive places one could stay around here. There are some rooms in Aguas Calientes that can run $600US+ per night, and then there's the Machu Picchu Sanctuary Lodge (which is the only hotel right by the Machu Picchu site, half an hour drive from Aguas Calientes) which starts at a mere $980US per night. Our room is $92US per night... much more reasonable. :) The desk clerk was friendly and gave us a map of the area and some nice advice on the town and its layout.

While there were rain showers off and on throughout the afternoon, they were never too heavy nor did they last for long. I would say there was more time without rain than with rain for sure, and it was rather pleasant anyway. It was a nice temperature; we were both hiking in short sleeves for most of the afternoon. You can tell by my poofy hair that it is super humid, though. :)

When reading some of the travel reviews of hotels online, many people complained that Aguas Calientes was nothing special, that you wouldn't want to be 'stuck' here for more than one night, etc. I beg to differ... those people must be people who hate nature and have no imaginations at all. It's such a beautiful little mountain town up here, with rivers, riverwalks, waterfalls, and tons of vegetation. We had a nice lunch at Inkaterra and then set out to explore the area.

We ended up taking a little hike up to a "botanical garden" area about half an hour away (and on the way, in part, to Machu Picchu). The buses heading to MP passed us several times, as they run frequently. The "botanical garden" is more like a trail on the side of the mountain that happens to have labeled plants along the way. When we got there a gentleman asked us for 10 soles each, which we assumed must be the admission... but then he proceeded to guide us the whole way through, so we're wondering now if that was for a tour and something got lost in translation. He was so sweet to try to speak to us in English. There are over 200 species of orchids here (though smaller/different than you're used to seeing in the store) and not all were flowering, so most of the tour consisted of the guide pointing to a plant, saying "here, the orchid, the flower, take a picture?", walking two more feet, pointing to another plant, saying, "here, the orchid, the flower, take a picture"... and again... you get the point. In the end it was probably a good thing he guided us though; he pointed out some very, very tiny orchids that we would have missed if left to ourselves. I have the feeling we would have gotten much more out of it if we understood Spanish (the guy seemed to really know and love his plants), but that's okay.

On our way back the clouds lifted away from the top of the nearby mountain and we caught a glimpse of part of Machu Picchu from afar. It made me that much more excited for tomorrow. Aguas Calientes is in a valley by the river, whereas Machu Picchu is at the top of a mountain. It's quite the climb to get up there; the buses go through a series of switchbacks. We could see them going up and down from where we were.

By the time we got back to Aguas Calientes, I was absolutely exhausted. We'd actually done quite a bit of hiking. We had just enough energy to change, go get dinner (nothing to write home about that time, unfortunately, we tried a Peruvian take on Mexican food... not so great), buy water for tomorrow (we'll be filling up our camel baks with bottled water), and head back to the hotel.

I'm using the last of my energy to write this (better when it's fresh) and soon it's time to go to sleep so that we can wake up even earlier... we are hoping to catch the sunrise at Machu Picchu. We need to get ready and eat breakfast (the hotels here start serving breakfast at 4:30am since many people go early) and walk to the bus for the 5:30am bus departure to the ruins, which open at 6am. Today's sunset wasn't anything spectacular so we may not spend the *whole* day up there after that... but we're staying until we don't feel like it any more. :)

Cuzco... day... what are we on now? 8?

2011-12-26T18:32:00.000-08:00

I'm starting to lose track of the days.

We woke early to get to the airport with plenty of time to spare for our flight from Lima to Cuzco. And we were there with plenty of time... which means of course our flight was delayed. That's how it works, you know. It was delayed officially for an hour and a half, then we boarded quite some time after that, and then once we were on the plane, the plane just... sat there... for what seemed like forever. When all was said and done we arrived in Cuzco almost 4 hours later than originally planned, which meant we couldn't see as much for the day as I would have liked. That's okay, though... that's why we left plenty of time for each leg of the journey, to allow for cancellations and delays as they happened.

I knew that I loved Cuzco the second I saw it out of the plane window. I am truly a mountain girl at heart. It is a mountain town at 11,000 feet with beautiful green mountains and blue skies. I was so happy to have fresh mountain air again instead of dank, polluted big city air. Even if it's thinner, I like it better.

We caught a taxi to our hotel, the Rumi Punku. Rumi means stones, and Punku means door. This place is absolutely adorable. It has a beautiful courtyard area filled with plants that the rooms face instead of the streets, so the rooms are relatively quiet. I get wifi in the room (yays!) and there is even a mini-fridge, which I wasn't expecting. It's the little things. And yay for extra pillows and blankets; it gets a little chilly here at night. (No worse than home in the mountains in the summer/fall, though.)

Jim and I headed out ASAP because we wanted to make it to Quorikancha before it closed. Cuzco is such an interesting mix of old Incan streets and buildings with colonial Spanish and modern architecture alike all on top of it, giving it an almost European feel. Cuzco is sort of unique in that it was still occupied by the Incas (they hadn't abandoned it) at the time of Pizarro's conquest with the conquistadores from Spain. Quorikancha is no exception, as it is basically a Spanish cathedral built upon the Incan temple that the kings are rumored to have both frequented and, at one time, been buried in. All of the Incan artifacts (including the mummies of the kings) are now long gone with the conquistadores, but the building is now quite beautiful and serves as both a church and a museum. It sits up on a hill in the back, and Jim and I spent some time taking in the view of the town below and the mountains behind around sunset. It was quite stunning and relaxing.

Can I just say that my husband is the best travel partner ever?

We caught dinner at Inkanto near the bustling Plaza de Armas. (For it being the 'low season' since it is technically monsoon season things are pretty busy here, I'd hate to see it in the high season! I love traveling in the off season.) We had intended to try another restaurant recommended by the Lonely Planet that offered traditional Peruvian dishes, but alas... where it was supposed to be is now a Starbucks, so either they went out of business or I really need to work on my map reading skills. I'm thinking it's the former. No matter, the nearby Inkanto offered both Italian and Peruvian dishes, so I had another round of Lomo Saltado (a beef/onion dish I'm growing to really like) with risotto and Jim had a Peruvian style lamb shank served with gnocchi which was also very delicious. Jim also had his first pisco sour mixed drink, which is very popular here. He says it is a lot like a margarita, since pisco is a lot like tequilla.

We had intended to go to a precolombian art museum (The Museo de Arte Precolombino) that stays open until 10pm after dinner, but between the altitude, getting up so early today, and needing to get up early tomorrow... we decided it best to head to bed. Hopefully we can catch the museum on our way back through Cuzco later in the week. We stopped to get bottled water on the way back to the hotel. You can never have enough bottled water when you can't drink the tap water, especially when it's important to fend off any potential for altitude sickness. So far we are doing okay!

Cuzco is already my favorite stop in Peru so far. I am so glad that we decided to come here. I am very excited for Aguas Calientes and then Machu Picchu next... tomorrow, the train!

-Sarah and Jim (who is already asleep, lol)

Huacachina, Wine Tour, and Back to Lima: Day 7

2011-12-25T19:30:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas to all!

Though today did not feel like Christmas at all, but I knew it wouldn't. Being in a strange place where it is summer (south of the equator) in the middle of a desert is very different than any other Christmas I've had before.

Our winery tour was delayed which threw a kink in the day's plans a bit. It was originally set to leave in the morning but was changed to leave at noon, which meant there wouldn't be much time to do anything once we got back. It also meant timing would be weird for lunch, so Jessie, Steph and I went to go try to find an open grocery store to get some food to bring with us. We didn't have much luck, and ended up pretty much getting snacks and juice at a convenience store. Then, in a moment of brilliance, Jessie thought to ask the hotel if they could make some sandwiches to go. Ta da. Lunch!

We were loaded into another van for our winery tour, with the company of a couple from Normandy, France. We went to four wineries, though three of them were all right next to each other. It was interesting to see where they make the wine and pisco (the local drink). It doesn't really look like the wineries you're envisioning, I'm sure. It's still small-village Peru, which means they're not fancy facilities by any means and it still looks like developing country. Jim and the others reported that the "wines" were more like liquors, and the pisco is sort of like tequilla.

We returned to the hotel about three hours after we left, which meant Jim and I had one precious hour before we had to leave for our bus. We decided to stay close just in case of a problem, so we walked around the oasis area (since we hadn't seen it in daylight really). It seemed like it was no time at all and it was already time to say goodbye to Erik, Steph, and Jessie and go to the bus station all by ourselves.

Jim and I usually travel with just the two of us, yet for this trip since we've been with the others until now, it feels a little strange. We'll get the hang of it again, but we do miss our friends.

The bus ride back to Lima was pretty much just like the bus ride to Ica. Jim and I were in the same seats with the same attendant. The second movie (same one) was even cut off in the same place. That was mildly amusing. Jim and I thankfully were able to catch a taxi and get back into Jessie's apartment with her key and code with no problems, thank goodness. I was a little apprehensive of that for no good reason. I had checked my bag to be sure I still had the keys about 20,000,000 times on the way. :) (Erik-- I blame you since you asked me if I had them as the cab was leaving the hotel, haha.)

So here we are. Jim and I will catch our plane to Cuzco in the morning. We'll spend the day/night in Cuzco and catch the train to Aguas Calientes the next morning. We'll spend the day/night in Aguas Calientes (which means 'hot water', it's a small hot spring town, the nearest town to Machu Picchu), then catch a bus early in the morning to Machu Picchu. We plan to spend a whole day at the ruins... unless we get bored, which I doubt but you never know. Then we'll spend the night in Aguas Calientes again, catch the train to Ollanta early the next morning, explore Ollanta for a while, then get a bus to Cuzco from there. We'll spend Thursday night in Cuzco, catch the plane back to Lima Friday morning, spend Friday night at Jessie's again to collect our lugguge... then back to the states on New Year's Eve. We'll literally be taking off as the clock strikes midnight here. I'm not sure how much internet connection we'll have between now and then, but I'll update as we are able. Love to all.

Travel to Huacachina, Ica (Desert Oasis): Day 6

2011-12-25T07:08:00.000-08:00

After grabbing breakfast and finishing up with some packing, we headed out for the Cruz Del Sur terminal to catch our 11:00 bus to Ica (That really left around 11:20). Ica is pronounced like eek-uh.

The Cruz Del Sur buses are really very nice… the seats are big and plush, they have nice footrests, there is a restroom on board (though they stress you can only use it for no. 1, lol), they provided a snack, and movies played onboard. The movies cracked me up because they were English language movies, played with audio dubbing in Spanish, with English subtitles. The four hour ride south on the Pan-American highway along the coast was much more pleasant than our jaunt up north in the van a few days prior. Maybe I'm getting old, but I'll admit… it was nice.

On the drive down we had a nice view of the ocean on our right and sand dunes to our left. There are many broken down buildings and small towns along the way. It looks a lot like places we've seen in India and South African townships, only less dense, but very impoverished. This is the most impoverished area that Jim's ever seen and I don't think he was expecting it. I can't say I was expecting to find it in such a state here, but I'm sorry to say that I've seen worse. There are even small rickshaw-like vehicles in the smaller towns (we didn't see them in Lima/Miraflores but we did see them on the way to Caral the other day)… I'm not sure what they're called here. (edit: Jessie says they're just called 'mototaxis'.)

When we arrived at our bus terminal we caught a small taxi-like thing that was again like something you'd see in India, and it was a short 7 minute drive to our hotel from there.

Ica is a city in the desert. We are staying specifically at an oasis (literally) in the middle of the desert next to the city called Huacachina. It's a cute little area with the oasis (lake?) in the center with hotels, restaurants, palm trees, and buildings surrounding that… all encompassed by massively large sand dunes. At least, they look massive to me, the biggest I've seen… but seeing as the only sand dunes I've been to before are the great sand dunes in southern Colorado, these may very well be shrimpy, who knows. :) All I know is that an oasis is something that I read about in story books as a kid… but in some ways didn't really believed they existed until I got here. It just hit me that, wow… this is a real oasis. That probably seems silly but it's true. The others felt the same way. I'm glad we came.

The hotel is very nice for the area (makes you feel a little guilty), yet only costs about $60US per night. The rooms are clean but simple, with a single pillow for each person, a single night stand with a lamp, a small lock box, one towel per person, and some small soaps by the sink. There are two small framed pictures on the wall, smaller than 8x10s. Since we are in the desert the weather allows for outdoor walking areas motel-style that surround a pool area complete with its own little restaurant and bar.

After leaving our things in our rooms we went down to chat by the pool and eat dinner for a while. (It is Christmas Eve so the menu was rather limited… I had a Peruvian take on a hamburger that included bananas, it was interesting.) (Jim addition: I had a shredded chicken club sandwich that was quite tasty - though, they seem to like to strip bread of its crust in this region -- this saddens me, as I rather enjoy crust.) Erik, Steph, and Jessie went to go chill in their room after that while Jim and I went to climb the giant dune behind the hotel at sunset/dusk. The sand felt so good on my bare feet. Dusk was a great time to go because the sand still had some warmth to it, but the air was a pleasant temperature and there was a breeze so we weren't too hot. I'm sure my legs will just be even more sore tomorrow (they hadn't really recovered yet and felt like jello when we got to the top) but the view was totally worth it. It was spectacular. Hopefully Jim will post some pictures because words cannot do it justice. You could see all of Huacachina (the oasis area) below, and to the other side of the dune you could see the Ica city lights.

Maybe some day we will come back here. You can ride these monstrous dune buggies (they seat something like 10 people) around the dunes… but Jim won't let me do it because he's worried about me being pregnant and he doesn't want to push his back since he has bad discs. He's probably right. It looks like tons of fun though. You can also go sledding/skiing/sandboarding down the dunes. For now, walking on the dunes will have to be enough. It was still really cool.

When we got back Steph, Jessie, Jim and I went walking around the little town. (Erik was starting to feel not-so-hot again so he went to bed early just in case.) We found a shop that sold little gas station style ice cream (but Peruvian brands, different than home) out of a cooler… they were delicious. We ate them while sitting in the dark on a wall surrounding the oasis water and just chatted about how Peru is much more of a developing nation (not as developed) as we were expecting. Just goes to show you to never have preconceived notions. I can handle it and it's fine, it's just not what I thought it was going to be. But that's why you travel, you know… the more you know, the more you know you don't know. That's one of the most important things that I learned on Semester at Sea and it's something that I've learned over and again.

Apparently there is wine country around here, so tomorrow we are going on a wine tour. Peruvian wine was the no. 1 requested item from my family when I asked them what they wanted… so even though I can't have any, my hope is to have Jim and the others taste out some good stuff for us so I can have it shipped back home. After that we'll see what we can fit in before we have to catch our bus back to Lima at 5pm. I would like to have more time here, but since Jessie couldn't join us until today and we want to be sure to have enough time for Machu Picchu, Jim and I have to get back. Erik, Steph, and Jessie are staying here for three nights then heading back to Lima (I thought they were going to go to a beach house in Asia, Peru [a town] but they're not). Steph and Erik did not want to join us to Machu Picchu so Jim and I are doing that part on our own. So tomorrow, we will part ways.

Laying Low: Day 5

2011-12-23T18:35:00.000-08:00

We all needed a day of rest. Today was pretty uneventful... we hung around the apartment, grabbed lunch from Larcomar (the mall across the street), did laundry and dishes, took naps, splurged on massages at the Marriott down the block, and made dinner at the apartment. Luckily Jim and Erik are pretty much feeling back to normal, just still a little low on energy.

Some of Jessie's embassy friends are over now and we are going to go to Karaoke in a while. Jim and I probably won't really participate but we'll still go out.

Tomorrow morning we catch our bus to Ica for a new adventure with Jessie, Erik, and Steph. Jim and I will part ways with them Christmas evening on the 25th, when they go south to a beach house and we head back to Lima to catch a plane to Cuzco... then a train to Aguas Calientes then a bus to Machu Picchu! I'm looking forward to it!

PS- Samuel has been kicking around in my tummy and Jim says I already look bigger since we got here. Growth spurt!

Caral and Other Ancient Ruins: Day 4

2011-12-23T17:29:00.000-08:00

Yesterday (Thursday, December 22nd) was a very, very long day.

Unfortunately we discovered when we got up at 5:30am that Erik had spent the night up sick and there was simply no way he was going to be able to go on the trip with us. Jim still wasn't feeling great, but well enough to go. We felt bad leaving Erik, but there really wasn't an alternative since the trip was already booked and prepaid. So Jim, Steph, and I got ready and were out the door by 6:30 to meet the taxi to drop us off in front of the tour office.

We packed into the tour van with the other passengers for the day... a couple from Germany (though the woman was originally from Peru) and an elderly mother and her two daughters from Barcelona, Spain (pronounced Barrthelohna, thank you very much). We filled 8 out of the 9 passenger seats... Erik would have been the ninth. It was a long, grueling 3.5 hour ride to Caral. I get carsick easily, and since the traffic in Lima is stop-and-go in a way I can't even describe, the roads for part of the ride were very bumpy, and we were in the back with little air flow... I felt pretty awful. Jim was in the same boat since he still wasn't feeling well from the day before. We picked up some crackers at the one rest stop in the middle, which helped a little, but we were so very grateful when we finally arrived at Caral after the last 23km of bumpy dirt road off the main highway.

Caral is in the middle of a desert area. It's no wonder that this massive complex of ancient ruins (the oldest known civilization in the Americas by my understanding, about 5,000 years old) went undiscovered until 1994... it's pretty much in the middle of nowhere. It is next to a river, which is where the ancient people farmed and got their water. There are older ruins in the Americas, but this is the oldest full civilization. Tourism of this area is still pretty new and not very well known, so the buildings there for tickets, restrooms, and lunch tables are pretty new. There were only two other small groups there aside from our group, so it felt like we had the place practically to ourselves.

The tour of the ruins lasted about an hour and a half. The tour guide that works full time at Caral led the tour in Spanish for the other tourists with us, and then our tour guide Enrique (that brought us to the site) translated it into English for the three of us, which was very nice of him. Unfortunately, that meant that our little pack of three was behind the rest of the group the entire time, but oh well. There were several step pyramids, temples, round kiva-like ceremonial sites, and living areas for the priests. Caral was a holy area, so only priests and the upper class lived there (middle/lower class lived in nearby settlements).

The paths around the ruins are all lined with a local desert plant called Achupalla (ah-choo-pay-uh) which I find absolutely fascinating. It's an air plant of sorts, in that it has no root system and gathers its water from the air. You can literally just pick these up and put them back down wherever you want.

Lunch was provided after the tour. Since Caral is in the middle of nowhere, that is literally the only choice for sustenance. They gave us chicken with some unidentified delicious green sauce, a full potato, a full sweet potato, and Incan corn (which has large kernels and generally not much taste, I prefer good ol' sweet corn). They also gave us chicha morada, the purple corn drink. It was delicious but a lot of starch, so I wasn't able to finish the corn/sweet potato but still felt hungry not long after lunch. Good thing we packed some snacks to eat in the van. We weren't the only ones that would be snacking on the drive.

Unbeknownst to us we were also to visit two more places that day (we thought we'd go to Caral and then come back). We drove about half an hour to a small museum in Vegueta, which was mildly interesting but so small I'm not sure it was worth the extra time to get there, then back north to Bandurria, another set of ruins/temples next to the ocean. They were also neat, but by 4:30 when we finally got in the van to leave we were getting antsy to get back to Erik and still had a 3.5 hour drive back to Miraflores.

The drive back wasn't any better than the drive to Caral... in fact, the traffic once in Lima was even worse, it was late, I was super hungry by the time 7:00 rolled around (and we were still stuck in traffic), and the car sickness had returned. The driving in Lima... well, imagine accelerating as much as possible for five feet, then slamming on the brakes, and repeating every 3 seconds for two hours. Bleh. It felt rather unnecessary. When they finally dropped us back off by the tour office, we happily grabbed a cab. (Jim addition for humor: imagine 3,000 people doing a powdery substance popular in the 80's, hopping in their cars and all trying to get through a 6-way intersection in East Boston - words simply fail to describe just how inconceivably psychotic it is. Also, at one point, we literally "hung" with about 5 police over an 8 block area and derived one simple question: what is it that a) traffic police actually do here, b) what, honestly, could they possibly do?)
Jessie had amazingly ordered some pizza for us (since it was so late and we didn't have the energy to go anywhere) that arrived just as we did. She became my favorite person in the whole wide world in that moment... I was so happy to be still and have food. We also ordered what ended up being a ton of miso soup and rice (to meet the order minimum) for Erik since he was recovering from being sick and hadn't eaten anything that day, which we all also helped eat.

All in all it was worth enduring the car sickness and the drive to see the ruins, but we all agreed that it would be best to lay low the next day. Erik was recovering, Jim was recovering, and we were all simply exhausted and sore.

Eating Well and Ruins in Lima: Day 3

2011-12-21T19:19:00.000-08:00

**Note: I wrote about a loud noise that shook the walls a few nights ago. Jessie found out that it was actually a natural gas house explosion down the street. Luckily the house was unoccupied, so there were no fatalities and only one minor injury. It sounds like there was a gas leak that was ultimately ignited by a light.**

Today was a very busy day (we walked miles and miles) and we have to get up super early for our trip to Caral tomorrow, so this will be relatively brief for as much as we packed in for one day. I'm pretty exhausted so please forgive any weird grammar issues, but I'm afraid that if I don't write now it will never happen since tomorrow is just as busy! (And I must say, after all of the stair climbing yesterday and all of the walking today, my calves are quite sore!)

After wandering around by foot in the morning trying to find our way back to Crepes and Waffles, we finally had our breakfast and headed out by cab to Parque Kennedy. We were seeking the "Inca Market" that Jessie had told us about... we didn't find it there (a small, disappointing market was there instead), but we did find a place to print out our official passes to Machu Picchu since Jessie doesn't have a printer and we got some cold drinks before heading out on foot for our next destination, Huaca Pucllana.

On the way there we found a computer megastore... more like a mall filled with nothing but electronics stores... and since Jim, Erik, and Steph are all geeks of course we had to go wander through it. Further down the street we *did* find the "real" Inca Market, in a place we weren't expecting it to be (actually Plaza Inca), so we spent a little time wandering around looking at the trinkets and local handicrafts. Steph was very amused by a shirt with a picture of a llama on a motorcycle that said "llamaha" (you know, like Yamaha, since ll is pronounced like y).

It was about noon by the time we arrived at Huaca Pucllana, the ruins that are right in Miraflores. Admission was about 12 soles per person, or around 5 US dollars. It is an adobe pyramid thought to be used for ceremonial purposes by the Lima people from about AD 200 to 500. We waited around for our tour for around 45 minutes or so (you can't take yourself on a tour) and the tour itself lasted for around 45 minutes. All of the mud bricks in the structure were formed by hand and dried in the sun. They place them vertically in a "bookshelf" style, which is why they can withstand seismic activity since earthquakes are common. They repeated that the traditional ceremonial/feast dish was shark meat about four times, so I suppose we won't be forgetting that any time soon! They also had a section that showed many of the animals and crops that were raised there at that time, petting zoo/garden style (live animals and plants). We had a good time looking at the llamas, alpacas (different from the other llamas), cuy (guinea pigs, so cute!), ducks, corn, quinoa, yuca, and sweet potato.

Right at the entrance of the ruins is a high-end restaurant, Restaurant Huaca Pucllana, which has a beautiful large porch dining area that overlooks the ruins. They had hands down THE best butter I'd ever tasted until that point for the dinner rolls (topped only by the butter we would later have at dinner, coming soon) and superb dishes. Jim and I decided on goat cheese ravioli with a pumpkin sauce (we were a little meated-out at that point) while Erik and Steph had fish dishes. We all agreed it was the best meal so far.

Since it was getting to be pretty late, just after 4:00pm, we decided to just look at it from outside the fence and then catch a cab to our last stop, the Plaza de Armas or city center in central Lima (it was too far away to walk).

We set out on foot once more to a restored pyramid similar to the previous ruins about half a mile away (or maybe more), Huaca Huallamarca. The Plaza de Armas is a very pretty square with the palace and a beautiful cathedral surrounding a large fountain. We wandered around until after five, then we took a cab back to Jessie's apartment in Miraflores.

Jessie took us to dinner at a restaurant she'd been wanting to try by the water's edge. I can't remember the name at the moment, it started with a C and that's all I've got. :) All I know is that dinner topped lunch and the atmosphere was amazing... we were up on a balcony overlooking the waves of the Pacific Ocean as the sun set. The food was awesome and the rolls were served with three... count them, three... flavors of amazing butter: original, olive, and chili/cheese. Most of us had some sort of fish (I had grouper and prawns) with different flavors of risotto which were all very good, and we split a couple of beautifully arranged desserts amongst us.

They say that Lima is an up and coming food capital of the world, and I would agree. Yes, Jim and I tend to focus a lot on the food when we travel. Trying new things (and new interpretations of old things) is half of the fun!

We were all dead tired when we got home. Poor Jim isn't feeling very well (may be a light traveler's stomach bug) so he went straight to bed and is sleeping as I write. We have to get up at around 5:30am to catch our tour to Caral, so I just hope that he gets a good night's rest and is feeling better by the time morning comes. It is a three hour bus ride to our destination, so maybe he'll be able to take a nap.

As of yesterday the baby in the oven has decided it's pretty fun to start kicking around in my tummy at around bed time, so he'll probably keep me up again tonight. :) Happy resting everyone!

-Sarah

Day 2 in Lima

2011-12-20T21:08:00.000-08:00

Jim, Erik and I had a fabulous lunch just a few blocks from Jessie's apartment while Steph stayed at the apartment to sleep off her sickness. We each had a different kind of Ceviche. Mine was a more traditional ceviche common to the north, Erik had one with a mix of several types of seafood, and Jim had one with three kinds of chili powder. Believe it or not, Jim won on the ordering... his dish wasn't that spicy and I'd say it was the best of the bunch.

Afterward we took a path down from the top of the cliffs where most of the restaurants and housing are down to the beach, which was quite the little hike. We spent a couple of hours wandering around the beach, watching the surfers, gazing at the crabs, and exploring a little restaurant/shop area down there before hiking back up. The beaches are mostly rock, not sand, so not exactly the type where you want to be laying out and chilling. It seems that surfing is pretty big around this area. They do lessons... I might have considered it if I weren't pregnant, but that's okay, there will be another chance sometime.

We went back up to Jessie's place and took short catnaps while we waited for her to get home from work so we could head out for our next adventure. Luckily Steph was starting to feel better so when Jessie got home we all were able to head out together.

We walked about 20 minutes to a tour office to book a tour for Thursday to Caral, supposedly the oldest known civilization in the Americas. After that we headed to a restaurant near Kennady Park, and Jim and I both tried the alpaca, which was quite good. Mine was served on mashed sweet potato and Jim's was served on a cheesy risotto... once again Jim won on the ordering. While mine was delicious, his was exquisite. Alpaca is good, it tastes like something between beef and lamb. We all tried a glass of Inca Kola, the local soda which is supposed to be flavored with limon but tastes more like bubble gum.

We visited a small nearby market before heading to a custom shoe shop, Calzado Moore. I guess it's really popular with all of the diplomats and embassy workers in Lima, and Jessie had promised Stephanie a pair of custom boots for Christmas so we had to knock that off the list. This place makes leather/designer shoes and everything is made in-house. While Steph ordered her boots we might have all (at least, all of the women) bought some sandals that were on sale and I *might* have gotten a pair of comfy flats (sort of mary-jane-esque) that will work well for teaching. ;) I got both the sandals and the flats for 100 soles total, which equates to about $38 US, so I thought for two pairs of super comfy leather shoes that wasn't too bad of a deal! No way I'd find anything that look like these do in the states. We are calling that my Christmas present from Jim.

After the walk home we planned for tomorrow and pretty much called it a night. We'll start off by going to a waffle joint in the morning that Jessie says we *have* to go to, then we'll check out a market, a couple of different ruins right in Lima, visit the Plaza de Armas... then Jessie will meet us in central Lima for dinner and a fountain/light show that is supposedly cool. Better get to bed! (If we can sleep, it sounds like there is a party next door and the music is BLASTING... ha! It's Pitbull, which makes me laugh.)

-Sarah and Jim

Day 1 in Lima

2011-12-20T08:28:00.000-08:00

Yesterday (Monday, December 19th) was a day full of errands.

After a lazy morning at Jessie's apartment recouping from travel exhaustion and making plans, etc. we headed out. (Jim and I, in typical fashion, had tried to be as ready as possible to leave ahead of time but still only ended up getting two hours of sleep the night before we got on the plane. Ugh, we do that every time no matter how hard we try. :( )

We met Jessie for lunch at a wonderful buffet restaurant called Polo Marino close to the US embassy (where she works) that had really good ceviche, sushi, and Peruvian dishes. My first taste of Lima's famous ceviche was very good and I'm looking forward to having more before we leave. The boys tried a local purple corn drink called chicha morada. I had some of Jim's and it was really good, just very very sweet, so I was glad I hadn't ordered a full glass for myself. I wouldn't have been able to finish it! I had a frozen limeade-type drink instead.

Following the meal we headed out for our errands. Jim and I were able to make reservations for our flights to Cuzco from Lima and the Machu Picchu tickets online, but you have to pay in person (or at lease we did; our cards wouldn't work on their sites online). Our first stop was to an ATM to withdraw money. Jim accidentally withdrew US dollars not realizing the machine could give us dollars instead of Soles (pronounced so-lace, the local currency)... so then we ended up at nearby Citibank to exchange the US dollars into soles. Luckily the woman at the counter was very nice; we got a good exchange rate with no exchange fee and she even helped us by making a little map to our next destination... Banco de la Nacion... all with our combined broken Spanish.

Between the four of us we can roughly communicate basics in Spanish, haha. Steph took 5 years of Spanish and teaches high school with a large population of Spanish speakers with whom she's been practicing, so hers is the strongest. Jim took Spanish in high school, but hasn't used it in over 10 years so he's forgotten most of it but still knows some basic phrases. I took French and Latin in high school/college (not fluent but I can fend for myself), so I can read most signs using root words and cognates... I picked up a little bit of basic Spanish during the kids' Spanish classes they have in my room on Fridays (greetings, animals, and fruit, hahaha), and I have my trusty Spanish Lonely Planet phrasebook. Erik speaks a few basic phrases from what I can tell. Between all of that we manage to get around.

We walked quite some ways to Banco de la Nacion to pay for our Machu Picchu tickets. After waiting in a line that would win the "Longest Line not in an Amusement Park" category for about half an hour, it took about one minute to present our reservation paper, pay for the tickets, and get our confirmation. Using my broken Spanish I said "Pagar Machu Picchu, por favor" (Pay Machu Picchu, please... I know, primitive!) and that got the point across. Haha. (Jessie thinks that between Christmas coming up, which is of course also celebrated here, and the possibility that today was payday for a lot of people, that could have been the cause for the long lines at the banks.)

Afterward we headed back to Jessie's place in Miraflores by taxi... Jim and I had more to do but I think Erik and Steph were a little tired of waiting on us and wanted naps, so we went back out on our own.

Driving in Lima is a lot like several other big cities I've been to that are not in the US. Trust me people, driving in Boston (which I'm not brave enough to do, btw), is nothing compared to traffic in most cities around the world. It's not quite as crazy here as, say, India or Vietnam, but it's not too far off. Erik describes it as a giant game of Marco Polo, whereby the driver honks "Marco" and the other drivers honk back "Polo" so everyone knows you're there as you weave your way in and out of traffic, stick your nose out to turn in the middle of traffic, and drive in two lanes at once. Fun cab rides, let me tell you. :) I'm used to it though. Still not quite as fun as rickshaws in India.

So Jim and I got into another cab to go to the Star Peru office to pay for our airline tickets to Cuzco. It was pleasantly uneventful. We visited a local grocery store to replace some of the milk and cereal we ate at Jessie's apartment and pick up a few other things, then got another cab back to Miraflores.

Except even with the address handed to him and telling the cab driver that the apartment was across from Larcomar, the cab driver dropped us off a mile or two from Jessie's place and we didn't realize it until we got out. We're still getting familiar with where we are and how things look. We didn't know how far off we were, but knew what direction to head since it was on the walkway by the coast overlooking the ocean, so Jim and I had a nice half hour walk back from there. At least the views were very pretty! The fog had rolled in, which added a peaceful feel to everything.

Back at Jessie's place we regrouped and then headed out to dinner at a great restaurant named Tanta. We had some great Peruvian dishes (I should have written down the names, mine was beef with potatoes and onions Peruvian style) and juices.

Unfortunately on the walk back home Steph started feeling sick. We're still not sure if it was just a bad sugar crash or if it's travel related or what. Either way, we dropped them off and then Jim and I went down to the park and Larcomar area across the street.

Jim took several nighttime shots of the skyline, then we headed down to the three story mall that is built into the cliffside there. We just wanted to check it out since it was so close. It was pretty much a bunch of stuff that you would find in US malls with the same prices, so not too exciting. We headed back as everything started closing down around 10pm.

Jim and Erik stayed up chatting like two teenage girls at a sleepover (they will kill me for saying it but they're such a cute pair of friends) until around midnight while I drifted off on the couch before heading to bed.

We were all woken up in the middle of the night by a big boom that shook the walls. It definitely wasn't thunder. We still don't know what it was... nobody on the streets acted out of the ordinary and there is nothing in the news about a bomb or anything like that, so we'll probably never know. Oh well, we were fine, it was just a big noise.

Since Steph was still feeling sick we ended up having another lazy morning around the apartment (hence me having time to write this, lol) even though we had intended to go out and do stuff hoping she might start feeling better. It's lunch time and she's still feeling ill though, so the three of us are going to head out to get some lunch and maybe stay close to the area today. I hope Steph starts to feel better!!

-Sarah (and Jim)

Safe in Lima

2011-12-19T06:55:00.000-08:00

It's been quite some time since we've traveled out of the country... save for our wedding in the Bahamas last year. Seeing as this blog is mostly meant to 1) keep our parents happy with updates that we're safe and 2) preserve our memories for ourselves, we haven't had much need write anything since, oh... 2008 it looks like. And now with a Bambino on the way, it will probably be just as long before we have another trip worth writing about! ;) Sarah tends to do most of the writing, but I'll let you know if it's Jim's voice speaking to you.

Some people have been surprised that I would be traveling to a foreign country while 20-22 weeks pregnant. But this is me we're talking about! This is sort of our "babymoon" if you will and an opportunity we couldn't pass up. I'm in the second trimester which is the best time to go. I did my research and other women have gone to Machu Picchu at this stage in their pregnancies and they report that they were just fine. The best part is that my doctor has done this same trip and she was excited for us to go and not really concerned at all! She was giving us advice for restaurants, etc., it was great. :) My goal of course will be to stay rested and hydrated, and I will keep snacks around and I'll try not to push myself as hard as I usually do. But all should be fine!

We have officially arrived safely in Lima, Peru. The plan for this trip is to spend some time in Lima with our friends Steph and Erik at Steph's sister's apartment (Jessie works for the foreign service here) for about a week, then go with them to Ica (a nature preserve), then Jim and I will break off to go to Cuzco/Aguas Calientes/Machu Picchu before returning to Lima then heading home.

A shout out to Daddy for driving us to the airport yesterday morning… thank you Daddy! Sorry it ended up not being the smoothest ride back home for you, but we do really appreciate it.

I learned something in airport security yesterday: apparently a 2 lb. block of cheddar cheese next to an umbrella and over some camera lenses looks an awful lot like a big block of C4 next to a detonator on the security monitors. Luckily we made it through security just fine… it just took quite a while as they checked it for residue, etc. :) Luckily the TSA lady handling us was super nice, and we definitely got to keep the cheese. From now on I will be sure to check my cheese. We brought some cheeses to Jessie, Steph's sister who works for the foreign service in Lima, since cheese is so very pricey in Peru. (It sounds like one block of parmesan can run $20US!) She was thrilled as we unloaded all of the different varieties we brought, so it was totally worth it.

Our flights themselves were fairly uneventful. The only catch was that our flight from Houston to Lima was "canceled" for about half an hour or so… then they fixed whatever problem they were having and reinstated the flight just as we were on the verge of figuring out another plan. For a while there we thought maybe we were spending the night in Houston... which wouldn't have been so bad but we were happy when they reinstated the flight. Huzzah! So we got into Lima a few hours late due to the confusion, but no worse for the wear.

Samuel (the baby growing in my tummeh) was quite excited to go to Peru too, apparently. He was rocking and rolling more than ever before in there as we were waiting to take off from Houston. Jim felt him for the first time so that was pretty exciting for the happy papa-to-be. He quieted down after that though, thank goodness, so that was nice.

Jim has to rant: Dear Apple, please make it more clear that after I "Redeem" a digital copy of a movie by successfully authenticating against the iTunes store, copying it into iTunes and having it appear to be completely available, that I should then specifically Authorize the content prior to being able to play it (apparently with a second inexplicably required login!) We loaded four digital copies of movies we've recently purchased using this process, just to find out on the plane, when expecting to flip open the laptop and enjoy a good movie rather than watch the swill on the in-flight monitors, that we needed the internets to perform an authorization. This is definitely not the "smooth, user-friendly" experience that I have come to expect from Apple, and I'm really sad that we spent 6 hours on a plane with four movies locked away in iTunes and no way to play them. Grrr… /jimrant

Jessie arranged for a driver to pick us up in the airport. After long customs lines and a teensy bit of confusion when Erik and Steph "disappeared" for a bit (turns out they were randomly selected to have their bags inspected at customs), we found our driver and all was well. The views as we drove the half hour to Jessie's apartment reminded us a lot of Manila, with fewer power lines dangling down. Jessie's neighborhood, Miraflores, is very nice though.

Don't get me wrong. Jim and I aren't the kind of travelers that *need* luxury. We're happy in hostels and, while we might spring for one that has its own bathroom rather than a shared one, we're happy in meager accommodations. Driving up to Jessie's apartment complex, though... man, I should join the foreign service. This place is NICE. There are parks and playgrounds along the boardwalk, the building is white marblesque and gated with security, the works. The inside of her apartment has three bedrooms (plus a 'maid's quarters' that she uses for storage), three bathrooms, hardwood floors, is completely furnished for her with nice furniture, has a full dining room with a table with settings for 12, and a private balcony that has a stunning view overlooking the coast and the water below. Staying here for a week will be tough, let me tell you. ;)

Jessie greeted us at her apartment door (it was nearly 2am by this time so she didn't meet us at the airport since she had to get up and work at 6am) by telling us that there was apparently a light 4.something earthquake while we were in the car. I feel a little jipped! Being in an earthquake is one of those things I've always morbidly wanted to do... nothing damaging at all of course, I just want to feel a slight little earthquake that just shakes things a bit. But since we were in the car, none of us noticed at all. Boo!

After a good night's rest and hanging out at the apartment for the morning we will be meeting Jessie for lunch and looking into getting our tickets to Machu Picchu all settled. It should be a good day!

-Sarah and Jim

Success!

2008-06-15T00:29:00.001-07:00

Back home.

No money or property was stolen.

No identity was stolen.

No passports were lost.

No flights or buses were missed or canceled.

No bones were broken; no blood was shed.

Only one broken umbrella...

...now that's what I call a great trip!

Thank you so much to Lynsie for taking us to DIA in the beginning and thank you to Jennifer for picking us up. Love you two! I have such awesome colleagues and friends.

Thank you to JJ for helping to get my order for School Specialty put through while I was overseas. You're awesome.

Thank you to Scott and Chris for putting us up in Sunnyvale, CA. Miss you guys already!

Thank you to Brandon for house sitting and making sure our three fluffy children (dogs and rabbit) were well fed, healthy, and safe.

Thank you to Claire for taking care of our photography business and answering calls while we were away.

Thank you to Shane for helping us continue to fix up the studio today in our mad rush to get it done by Wednesday in time for our first official senior portrait session of the season!

Thank you to Dad, Jane, and Chris for coming to help tomorrow.

Thank you to everyone else for reading along and caring! Hopefully we'll get to catch up on pictures soon, so keep checking back!

Trip Monetary Totals, for the curious:
Two Osprey Stratos 40 Backpacks: $300
Flights, International for two: $2,000
Flights, Domestic for two: $600
Hotel expenses for 13 nights: $650
Bus and misc. travel: $100-150ish (lost track of cabs/MTR)
Food, tours, admissions, and other misc. expenditures: $1,000ish
Food for the blog: Priceless ;)

Grand Total: somewhere around $4700
(two people, three countries, 19 days total)

We won't be able to go anywhere on another continent again for probably three years or so :) Next stop... Yosemite or Yellowstone or Rushmore or somewhere you can drive to!

In California

2008-06-12T23:44:00.000-07:00

We landed safely in San Francisco yesterday, over an hour behind schedule and having not slept a wink on the flight. Turns out those new fancy planes that are supposed to be more comfortable really are less comfortable... at least in my opinion.

Oh well, it's been great to spend some time with Scott and Chris. Last night we had our first home-cooked meal in weeks; it was glorious to have a fresh salad.

Today Jim and I visited Chris' classroom in San Jose (She teaches 2nd grade for Teach for America) to experience her last day of school. The school is definitely different! Let me tell you I'm super thankful for air conditioning. It was HOT. I'm surprised students can concentrate in that climate. There are no hallways... well, it does, but they are outside. So is most of the cafeteria seating. I guess that's something that can happen in California, but not Colorado! We helped Chris clean up the classroom and check things off her EOY checklist. I should be an expert at this by now :) Hopefully there isn't too much left for her to do on Monday, just clean/organize her desk and closets.

We visited what Chris and Scott say is the "best bookstore ever"... it was a pretty neat used bookstore. Of course I ended up in the Children's section after not too long and got some more easy readers as I feel that my classroom library is lacking in a variety of those. I also got a few more Arthur books because you know I love Marc Brown :)

Tomorrow we are theoretically heading to the beach and to dinner before boarding our flight bound for Denver. Then, it's four CRAZY days of hard work getting our photography studio ready to open!! Our first "real" (not ambassador) senior session of the season is scheduled for Wednesday. Yes, we are crazy.

In reflection... I miss Hong Kong already. That's one place where, humidity aside, I could live. I still would rather live in Colorado though... there's no place like home!

HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAYS!!

2008-06-10T11:42:00.001-07:00

Sorry I'm a little late Carrie and Momma,

Happy birthday on June 2nd Carrie! 24 years young!

Happy birthday on June 9th Momma! 44 years young!

(If only I can look as good as my momma does in 20 years...)

Love and hugs to you both. I've been thinking of you!

Vegas meets Portugal meets China

2008-06-10T11:02:00.000-07:00

Dear Macau,

I still don't quite know what to think about you. Thank you for a very interesting mesh of... culture.

Sincerely,
Me

We have officially been to Asian lands that were once territories of Spain, Britain, and now Portugal. (Philippines, Hong Kong and Macau respectively.) I have been to Vietnam, so add one under French rule as well. Those rascally Europeans, racing to take over the world hundreds of years ago...

Today (Tuesday the 10th) we decided to spend our last full day in Hong Kong not in Hong Kong.

Macau is an island (plus a tid bit of mainland) that was Portugese until 1999 when it was returned to China (two years after Hong Kong did the same). It is known not only for its Portugese influence but also because it is basically the Las Vegas of Asia... complete with the Wynn, MGM Grand, and Venetian.

We were confused when we got to the ferry terminal to buy tickets and there were signs for "Turbo Jet" everywhere. A jet is an airplane, right?

Wrong. So very wrong. Apparently, ferries are high tech now complete with jet engines. It was seriously like being on a waterplane. These things are incredible. We tried to take a picture for you but the lens fogged (they air condition them a little TOO well) so you'll have to try this link instead... . The ride was very fast for the distance and only took about an hour.

I'll admit that I was very unimpressed when we got there. The first thing you see when you get off is "Fisherman's Wharf", which really has nothing to do with fishing but is some sort of amusement park... only it was practically deserted. I was expecting hordes of people... but nada. It seemed like a lot of waste for not a lot of use. It ws like that scene from Shrek when Shrek and Donkey arrive at Duloc.

It didn't take us long to find the Wynn and MGM Grand. While there isn't a concentration of casinos like in Vegas (they're a little scattered), once inside the casinos you would never know the difference aside from signs being in Portugese and Chinese instead of English.

Fun to note: I have spotted several other caucasians in Hong Kong, but I counted five in Macau that I saw. Could just be chance. I'm definitely the minority here! That's always a fun feeling. Same in the mainland of course. Same same ;)

The waterfront seemed so rundown compared to what we'd just seen the night before on Kowloon... and everything was eerily empty.

Finally as we wandered up the hills toward the center of the island we found the ruins of the famous church on the island and night came seemingly suddenly. We wandered around the old walled fortress (similar to the Spanish one in Manila, go figure) and generally took in the stunning views. Then I was impressed.

On the way back down we enjoyed a boba tea and finally found the life of the town in the wandering nameless (and not on the map) alleyways filled with shops. It was teeming with teens, a much younger population than we'd expected.

Back at the Wynn we enjoyed the very amusing and overly dramatic "Golden Tree" show as well as a Bellagio-esque light and water fountain show set to music. All free to the public of course.

Dress code: It seems that everyone in Hong Kong wears sandals and shorts (aside from business people going to and from work of course who wear suits), so that's what we wore to Macau. Suddenly, especially in the nice casinos, everyone was wearing slacks and close-toed shoes. It took us a while to find a place to have dinner (back at Fisherman's Wharf) where there wasn't a dress code.

In the beginning I had spotted a sign on a quickly moving taxi for Cirque du Soleil so I was trying to figure out if we could see the show as it was one I'd (of course) never heard of before... but alas, we figured it out as we were leaving instead. It was at the Venetian on the other island we never went to. Oh well, probably better this way anyway.

We ended up on the 11:30pm ferry back to Hong Kong, putting us on the last MTR train back home. Yes, home... or as close to it as we can get right now :) (Ferries run 24/7 every 30 minutes between Hong Kong and Macau... we could have caught a cab back if needed.)

You have to go through immigration and customs between the two territories, so my passport is now adorned with more entries and exits out of Hong Kong than you can imagine as well as a new Macau stamp! How about that?

It's either very late or very early right now, depending how you look at it, but I felt it important to stay up and blog. We get back on the plane for San Fran tomorrow afternoon, and by the time all is said and done if I don't write about it now I never will. This blog is as much for me (us) as it is to keep our mothers updated as it is to amuse the rest of you :) Multipurpose... my kind of style.

I'm sorry that we've been running ourselves so ragged that we haven't had a chance to upload more pictures. There's a really funny one from today that deserves its own post. Hopefully We'll get a chance in California. And by the way Chris, thanks again to you and Scott for having us and we're looking forward to seeing you too! And I'll gladly take you up on using that washing machine if you're offering it!

P.S. Attn Sam Shepherd: There are tons of Body Shops both on Hong Kong and Macau! I took a picture just for you. I have no idea if you're reading, but there you have it.

P.P.S. Sorry children, I am entirely too tired to proof read right now. I realize some of my grammatical structures are odd and I have some run-on sentences. Please forgive me!

"The Big Buddha" a no go...

2008-06-10T10:28:00.000-07:00

I had noticed on the news Sunday night that Lantau Island had experienced incredile rains while we were in the mainland resulting in landslides that had knocked out road travel (though ferry is still possible).

I didn't make the connection that it would affect seeing Ngong Ping and the Tian Tan Buddha until we went to transfer to that line in the MRT Monday morning and discovered that the Ngong Ping Skyrail (360) was out of service. Come to find out one of the fiber optic cables was damaged in the landslides. I should have made the connection before that.

I knew that several SASers had gone to see the Tian Tan Buddha (either the largest or one of the largest in the world... I can't remember) back in '05, so I've wanted to go just for grins since. It's not actually that old and is in what equates to a Chinese Disney Land (Ngong Ping Village), but I thought it would be fun to see anyway. The views from the skyrail (like gondolas on the side of the hills) are supposed to be beautiful, and there's supposedly rainforest on Lantau Island.

Lantau will have to wait. Nature didn't want us to go there I guess. I just hope the residents of the Tai O village on the island get running water back soon.

We decided to turn back around and head to Central for some more time in the skyscraper cluster.

The day amounted to a lot of walking and hiking up hills and staircases. Along the way we might have given in and had Starbucks, visited the conservatory that was closed last time in Hong Kong Park, and checked out the Hong Kong Zoo. By the way, the parks, conservatory and zoo are all free admission and very well kept. I can't get over this phenomenon. A trip to the zoo at home is what, $20? I can't remember. It's pretty ridiculous.

We headed to the Star Ferry Pier and took in the 1 hour Victoria Harbour Tour. It was quite beautiful.

Back on Kowloon in Tsim Sha Tsui (I'm beginning to think of this area, particularly Nathan Road, as home base) we walked along the Avenue of the Stars. It's basically the asian Hollywood Boulevard, right by the Hong Kong Museum of Art. It is a beautiful, free, clean walkway all along the harbor offering spectacular views of the Central Hong Kong skyline. We spotted the stars and handprints of Jackie Chan, Chow Yun Fat, Jet Li, and even a statue of Bruce Lee.

Dinner offered an unreal view of the twinkling lights of the skyline at dusk.

Off to the night market after sunset. I can't believe how things can change in only three years. Last time I went to the night market, there was a lot of hassling. Vendors touching and grabbing my arms, saying "Missy, missy...", and generally doing their best to be annoying in order to get me to buy stuff.

This time, it was almost eerie how much they left me alone. Except for the endless offers for "copywatches" and "copyhandbags", it felt like I was back in the U.S. in that people generally allowed you to browse their booths without much hassle. I wonder if it's anything to do with the economy? At least they still bartered... some of them.

The walk home offered much of the same as we've experienced on Nathan Road this whole time... always the offers for the copywatches and copyhandbags, endless jewelry stores, offers for tailored suits and shirts, and restaurant owners beckoning you inside.

I can't explain to you how much we had been on our feet. I was practically falling asleep as we walked up the steps back to our room. I had BETTER be in better shape by the time we get home!

Round 2 in Hong Kong

2008-06-09T20:25:00.000-07:00

Note: The roads in mainland China leave nearly as much to be desired as the toilet facilities. Ouch.

The bus ride back from Yangshuo was better than the one there (mostly due to having a much better designed sleeper bus), but was still a jarring experience. Don't take an overnight bus for that length in the mainland and expect your brain not to be a bit tenderized at the end. I think we topped the bathroom fun this trip with our first in-the-middle-of-nowhere-at-night-without-lights fun. As can be expected, the guys were spoiled and opted to stay out of the building to utilize the moonlight while the women ventured into the unknown abyss. Poor ladies - I mean it. Those things are frightening when you can see where you're stepping.

The net benefit of the bus ride back was very positive, though, as we met up with another pack of friendly Israelis. This time it was three girls who were traveling to Kowloon Hong Kong like us, so we formed a posse and navigated the bus terminal and Lo Wu (though, it was confusing since on the China side, they apparently spell in LoHou) together.

Sarah had discovered mention of a nice sounding place to stay in the SouthEast Asia Lonely Planet (whereas before we used the Hong Kong one) so we made our way to it and were pleasantly surprised to discover that their comment of “immaculate” was dead on. The room is tiny, but it seems very recently updated and is incredibly clean. As an enormous bonus, it has a mini fridge! (Yay for cold water.)

The Hong Kong return agenda was to check-in, clean up (badly needed), have a lunch and head off to the Stanly Dragon Boat races. Like the trip into the mainland, the trip back took about 40% longer than predicted and we ended up getting to the dragon boat races with only 2 hours left. It ended up working out well, though, since honestly they're quite cool, but not necessarily something you want to watch hour after hour of. After the races, we bummed around the market and surrounding area before heading back.

Since we keep seeing signs for “The Spaghetti House” around Hong Kong, we decided to give it a go for dinner before heading back to the room. It was very yummy, but Sarah was sad to find that the Crab Meat and Spinach Cannelloni apparently had mustard in them (strange...) After the yummy dinner, we stopped off for some water/snack/etc. supplies and passed out.

Heading out of Yangshuo

2008-06-07T02:30:00.000-07:00

Note: I love watermelon juice! Why don't we have this in the states? Or have I been missing it?

The today and yesterday weren't quite as eventful as our first day here.

Yesterday we took Alan up on his offer to take us down the big Li river... it wasn't half as spectacular. Beautiful, don't get me wrong... but not quite as majestic, even though it is bigger. To Alan's credit, he did warn us of that.

It was a bumpy bus ride up to the bamboo raft (yes another bamboo raft... only this one was fancy with a propeller attached to a lawn mower motor). We rafted down the river with Alan pointing out all the peaks. It's funny because they're very into naming things after animals and what they're shaped like. Lion Riding Carp hill, Yellow Cloth in Water, Apple, Grandfather Watching Apple, etc.

Then it started to rain. A lot. Again. :) My umbrella broke so that was fun.

We had a yummy lunch of the most delicious fried vegetables I've ever had. They had a cousin to the bamboo shoot in there, so yum. We also had the local specialty which is called beer fish.

We were in the oldes village around, with many of the buildings nearly 2,000 years old. The only problem was we felt a bit rushed and didn't get to explore and take as many pictures as we'd have liked to; Alan had picked up a couple of Chinese tourists that spoke Cantonese and they were tagging along. I'm not sure how I felt about that.

Then it rained some more and another bus ride later we were back in town. Alan asked for even more money to take us to his house the next day... we declined.

The good news is, we had the hotel staff wash and dry our laundry instead of handwashing it ourselves... how lovely to have fresh clothes again! We only packed enough for 4-5 days (one small backpack and messenger bag each) because we wanted to pack super light. We haven't had to check a single bag! It's been nice.

Alan found us this morning anyway and we had to tell him again that we didn't have any more money to spend. We said our goodbyes and mainly wandered around the couple of parks here and around the town and market. It was good to see the town, but now we're hot, tired and sweaty! Yum yum. We're having a cold drink right now, then we'll wander some more until it's time to catch our bus back to Shenzhen (and subsequently Hong Kong).

Apparently, there's an ongoing commentary by the staff about how fast I'm typing. They look at me wide eyed (according to Jim), point, and talk to each other. Apparently I'm quite the spectacle!

I'm starting to hit the point where I'm just about ready to come home again. Of course I love exploring, I just really miss the dry climate and being able to not feel like a sweaty pig some times, you know? I'm also missing... how shall we say... nice standards for restroom facilities.

Love and miss you all!

An Even Better Kind of Pain

2008-06-05T07:57:00.000-07:00

After the grueling overnight bus ride and subsuquent Lonely Planet proven journey to fend off hotel planted assistance, we landed our incredibly nice and ridiculously cheap off-season room and freshened up with a much needed shower and the intent of snagging a nap. The plan backfired and we felt so refreshed after that we decided to be ambitious and seek food and the day's activities.

We wanderd down West Street and found a neat looking “multi-cultural” cafe for breakfast. Before our food arrived, several agents of tourist hawking wandered by and tried to push their products. Luckily for them, the first was a lady selling a gorgeous book of area photography and she hit Sarah's weakness, along with a well bartered price, and both parties won. The second was a very patient and polite gentleman named Alan who's timing was excellent as he was pushing the exact services we had intended to purchase – bike rentals and bamboo boat trips. He, of course, ultimately wanted to sell his tour guide services as well, but we fended him off in the light of taking care of the sorely needed bodily function of nourishment.

Alan actually waited through our entire breakfast, without a single interruption, so we entertained his offerings. Though we did not want to spend the money on a tour guide, we heard him out and his initial offer for a package price was so reasonable that we haggled him down to $20 USD each for 5 hours of guidance in addition to the bike rentals and boat ride (wow.)

The day's agenda was to ride bicycles about 4km via “local routes” out to the small Lu Wi River, have a leisurely bamboo rafting experience followed by the option for a tour of the Moon Cave and a “The Real China” return trip. After our progressive education in the Philipines about “offers” that had pressure and guilt-based prices attached at the end, we ensured that everything was clear and were imediately impressed with Alan's integrity.

Although the Lonely Planet recommends that tour guides aren't necessary and our experience in getting to the hotel supported this argument, in hind-sight we're monumentally glad we hired Alan. The initial ride out to the river was stunning and probably not something we would have found on our own. When we arrived at the river, Alan introduced us to his uncle (who did not speak a lick of English) and esured us that he'd be at the end with our bikes. After a series of relatively efficient grunting and hand gestures, we wrapped our day bags up in plastic, securely attached them to the backs of our seats on the bamboo rafts and set off down the river for an admittedly leisurely 2 hour scenic experience.

Other than being blasted with endless offers for cold drinks, pictures of us going over the repeated “falls” and wonderful scenery, the float was great. Something of interest: they actually have little bamboo rafts in the middle of the river offering full food and drink services, as well as little wi-fi fed stations complete with power and die-sub printing for on-the-spot pictures! Hey, we may not have bought anything (interesting enough per Alan's suggestion stating that we'd get ripped off), but we were admittedly as impressed as we were annoyed with the non-stop barage.

At about the 80% point in our float, we went over a fall as usual to be suddenly broadsided by another bamboo raft. Alan's uncle jumped in pain and started splashing river water over a good gash as the sloppily guided raft moved on with hardly an apparent apoligy by it's local raftman. Though his wound was not incredibly severe, he was definitely leaking some blood cells and Sarah whipped ou the first aid kit and helped to disinfect and bandage his leg. He thanked us in Mandarine and the tour continued, with Alan at the end as promised with our bikes.

Next, Alan offered to take us by Moon Cave as promised (and without strings attached), in case we wanted to procure a tour. He negotiated 20% off the price of the tour for us and the cave seemed pretty neat, so once again he set off to patiently wait as we took the little “bus” out to the cave. Surprisingly, it was located much further out than we had anticipated in the middle of a really gorgeous, but incredibly remote farming area (complete with rice fields – yay!)

Our tour through the cave was, once again, worth the paltry sum we had paid for it. As the somewhat crude other American group we ran into in the caves put it, “this would never have happened in the states – someone would have bumped his head and although the helmets they made us wear would have protected them, they would have been sued and shutdown.” Wow-the cave was a great adventure, ending with a view that can not be beat.

Our guide during the cave tour, Cassie, was absolutely fantastic and we enjoyed a tremendous amount of creative interpretation of the cave's structures, as well as even better conversation that turned to various fascets of cultural sharing. The cave's end offered precisely the delicious view of rice patties and agriculture that we had been seeking for photographic opportunities and the pro body came out introducing a note of converstation surrounding our jobs as photographers. We offered to show Cassie an example of our work via taking a portrait of her (oh my gosh was it easy against THAT backdrop!), and she took us up. We showed her the (always) mediocres in-camera results and we could tell she was excited, so we offered to send the portraits to her via email and are very much looking forward to doing so after we return to the states and can process them appropriately.

After a 500% increased wait of “10 minutes” for the bus back to civilization, we finally arrived to find Alan waiting patiently for us with our bikes. We tried to argue him over his promise to take us back via a route that would show us “the real China”, stating that a quick route would do just fine, but he insisted. Once again, he did not disappoint, giving us yet another taste of mind-blowing scenery, as well as a great tour of the farming land and one of the “minority villages” in the area.

By this later-than-expected point in the evening we were not only feeling the strain of 8km of biking along with tons of squat crawling through caves for over an hour, but we also had the unique experience of heading back into town as the sun set. Don't worry moms, not only was the ride not terribly scarey, but Alan really earned every cent of inflated tip we gave him – the man not only delivered an incredible product and saw every bit of his word through, but we felt amazingly safe and comfortable under his care.

After yet another sorely needed refreshing shower, we begrunginly left our room to seek dinner (and yes, we mean that-wow we're sore and tired.) The only net bad result of the day was Jim's painful oversight to apply sunscreen to his legs requiring a trip to the market to seek out some moisturizing “post-sunburn” crème. D'oh! :)

And now... BED.

Getting to Yangshuo

2008-06-05T07:21:00.000-07:00

Getting into China was such an adventure it deserves its own post. We made it safe and sound!

Let me explain: Guilin is the big famous city around here, but all the books and other backpackers (and even locals) will tell you that the nearby smaller town of Yangshuo is the place to be. So that's where we headed off to.

Of course taking the Hong Kong metro system to Shenzhen (Lo Wu station) was very easy; we just used our Octopus passes. Shenzhen is one of the cities that marks the gateway between Hong Kong and mainland China. You do not need a visa to stay in Hong Kong, but you do to get into China... we had ours issued in April so this was not a problem. (It's a very expensive pretty sticker for your passport... $350US!)

After passing through Hong Kong and China immigration stations, Jim and I managed to find a place to have dinner (we were getting worried for a bit that we wouldn't) with some wonderful dumplings. After a teeny adventure involving lots of pointing Jim and I found the bus terminal and were happy to find that our bus was a "sleeper bus" with the seats lying down.

The ride was:
-over 12 hours long (7:45pm-8:00am)
-very bumpy... no, VERY bumpy
-very bright (many cities)
-full of twists and turns

I'm never going to try driving in China. The traffic wasn't bad, but the roads weren't great and I'd have no idea where I was going. We must have gone through a toll station every 20 minutes (maybe more frequently). I was expecting some sort of highway, which it was at times, but we ended up going through so many small towns on tiny roads that I have no idea how they figured this route out.

Imagine a place that is filthy beyond belief, super smelly, and involves a hole in the ground. That would be what the bus stop restrooms were like! (Though that's just expected around here...)

We didn't sleep much, maybe 3 hours total each, but the views were cool. We also met some other backpackers. One was also from the US (Washington), a guy about my age who was really friendly and basically doesn't know what he wants to be when he grows up. He was on his way to Yangshuo to teach English for a while (he didn't know how long) because the living is cheap and he wanted to go rock climbing here. He had no idea if he really liked teaching or not... a much braver soul than myself! The other backpackers were a pair of Israeli girls. Come to find out that there are many young Israelis backpacking around here. I guess everyone who is not disabled has to serve their military, girls for two years and boys for three years, when they turn 18. They all seemed to have enjoyed it at least and weren't upset. They all go backpacking when their service is up, which they enjoy! They were very friendly and their English was very good... I feel lame to only speak English and a little French!

As an aside, I read a very interesting tidbit: If you are bilingual in English and Mandarin Chinese, you can converse with 50% of the world! That's a pretty powerful stat... a great reason to learn Mandarin!

Around 5am we started to see the famous Karst hills... and we arrived at 8am. Let the adventures begin!

The Hong Kong Museum of History

2008-06-05T07:12:00.000-07:00

We learned all about the "Hong Kong Story" Wednesday afternoon. It was quite the treat. Wednesday is free admission day for all of the museums. The Hong Kong Museum of History focuses on Hong Kong's history beginning with the creation of the earth and continents all the way to modern times. We only allowed ourselves about 2-3 hours and we were definitely wishing for more, there is so much to learn!

The museum itself is very nicely done. It is modern, clean, well laid-out and high tech. I think I counted at least 8 different rooms screening videos in Cantonese, Mandarin, and English (the languages take turns). My favorite sections of course were the archaelogical ones with early human activity in the area as well as the cultural exhibit that explained the history behind many Chinese customs. I also learned a lot about how Hong Kong really suffered (as did the rest of the world) during the Japanese Occupation of World War II.

Our time came to a frantic close as we realized we had to get moving to the metro station to find our bus to Guilin (Yangshuo)!

I highly recommend visiting the museum if you ever get the chance. I hope to check out the science museum that is just across the way next Wednesday right before our flight to San Francisco!

Getting Caught in the Rain

2008-06-03T21:12:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a very good day.

As a bit of background for those that don't know, I visited Hong Kong three years ago when I was on Semester at Sea (Spring 2005), but I didn't really see it. Our ship was damaged 10 days into the voyage by violent waves in the middle of the Pacific (first and last time this will happen on SAS) and instead of heading on to Korea and Japan, we limped back to Honolulu Harbor. Missed Korea and Japan, flew on to China, Hong Kong, and Vietnam where the ship met back up with us. BUT, I didn't really see Hong Kong while I was here... I was too busy taking MIDTERMS! They had us locked in the hotel during the day, so I really only could go out at night. All I saw of Hong Kong were the night markets really. I never even got to have dim sum. Half of this trip is making up for all that I didn't get to do last time!

Upon waking we made our mission to find the best Dim Sum in town (according to Lonely Planet), so after a quick and easy ride on Hong Kong's clean and efficient MTR subway, we found ourselves in Hong Kong Central. We made our way to the Luk Yu Tea House for some very tasty dim sum dishes and tea. I would believe it if it really was the best in town. My favorites are always the bbq pork buns.

Not far off from the tea house we found a China Travel Services branch (yay!) so we purchased our bus tickets to Guilin. We're set to head out on the overnight bus tonight from the Shenzhen (Lo Wu) bus station at the border between Hong Kong and mainland China. $250 Hong Kong dollars per ticket and $7 Hong Kong dollars to the US dollar, so not too shabby. We have to buy our return tickets when we get there.

After wandering on Hong Kong's elaborate covered walkways and ending up in the wrong direction, we finally made our way to the Bank of China tower. This building is known for its spectacular (free) view from the 43rd floor... and it was very pretty. In the bottom of the tower is an official 2008 Beijing Olympics merchandise store. Of course we had to get some official gear!

We then made our way to the Peak Tram station. The Peak Tram has been operating since 1888, and we are here 5 days after the 120th anniversary. There are plaques commemorating the different cars and ticket methods everywhere. Of course the ticketing system is very modern and similar to the metro now. You can even use your Octopus pass, which is a card you simply scan to use on any public transport. It works much in the same way my work badge that lets me into the building does. You can add funds to it at any “add funds” kiosk in any MTR station. I love it.

The tram itself is made to look like it is an older style even though the cars themselves were probably built in the 90s. It is a very quick and efficient ride up a VERY steep hill to Victoria Peak! The tram is led up the hill by a very beefy metal cable. The tram has only ceased operation twice since its opening; once in World War II, and once in 1966 when they had horrific rains which washed half of the track away.

At the top to go with all of Hong Kong's artificial glory is the “Sky Terrace”, a very elaborate building with 5 floors of escalators taking you to an observation deck where you can see the city skyline and the harbor. It IS a breathtaking view (though very misty). We hung out up there for a long time just taking it in and enjoying the quiet and fresh air. (As an aside, Hong Kong is MUCH less polluted than Manila! MUCH!) As we went back down, we saw all of the (of course) overpriced restaurants, gaming facility, and Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum.

Outside of the terrace building we found a much cheaper lunch at a little cafe, and followed our panini sandwiches with some amazing gelatto (I got coconut of course) which we took with us for a little walk. We meandered around the hillside (Being a Coloradoan, I call Victoria Peak a hill) for probably over an hour, taking pictures of all of the greenery and the path in the mist. It all looked very mysterious. We were surrounded by clouds. We also stumbled upon some mansions overlooking Hong Kong... I don't even want to know how many millions of dollars these elaborate homes are worth.

Back at the bottom it was nearing dusk as we made our way to Hong Kong Park, the equivalent of Central Park. Let me tell you, after Kowloon park the first night then this one, I can officially say that Hong Kong's parks put ours to shame. Not even central park in New York is this cool. There is an aviary, a conservatory (botanical garden), a tai chi garden, a children's play park... and there are waterfalls, ponds, caves, meandering paths, and more. GORGEOUS. We climbed to the top of the lookout tower to see it all. And then it started to rain.

Now I see what this monsoon season thing is all about. I've never seen this much rain in my life! (Well, that's easy being from dry Colorado...) It started off light as we explored the tai chi garden under umbrellas. (A side note... the tai chi garden was built in summer 2005 to commemorate health care workers who died combating the SARS outbreak of 2003... so it wasn't even in existance when I was here on SAS.) Then, as we made our way toward the conservatory, someone opened the floodgates and the lightning started up. We sought cover along with a couple of European girls who had the same idea.

We watched as the lightning got closer and struck the Murray building just across the street. I've never seen sparks fly like that, but I guess it's a good thing all the towers are equipped with lightning rods. We waited it out until we decided the lightning was far enough away and that the rain wasn't going to quit for a long time. We played around a bit (the rain was probably an inch deep or more) in the “Olympic Square”, just taking it all in and subsequently getting soaked. The Olympic Square is actually a circular stadium, I can only imagine that the torch may be passed at this place in August before the games begin.

You can tell that China is very proud to be hosting the Olympics this year. There are giant timers, signs, etc. EVERYWHERE. It's very neat, but I wonder what they'll do with all of these permanent structures dedicated to the olympics when they're over!

Once we were thoroughly soaked through, we found ourselves back at the MTR station and were whisked away back “home” in Tsim Sha Tsui on Kowloon. We had some excellent sushi for dinner at a conveyor-belt style sushi bar at Sushi One (my new favorite) for pretty cheap compared to US sushi prices. We'll proably be coming back here after we get back from Guilin.

Sipping on some starfruit juice from a stand, we returned to our petri dish of a room to find that, just as the night before, none of the outlets were working. This time instead of flipping the right breaker back on they couldn't figure it out and switched our room. We got an upgrade!!! Yaaaaay! This room has a view and is NOT a petri dish. Well, except for some patches of carpet, but I'll let that slide as I'm coming to find that Hong Kong is a very wet place. All in all, an excellent day.

Today we are off to the museums as Wednesday is free admission day and they are close to our hotel. Then we'll go grocery shopping (if we ever find a grocery store) as overnight buses don't feed you dinner or breakfast, then figure out how to get to Shenzhen. I have no idea if we'll find internet in Guilin. We're hoping to return on the overnight bus the night of the 7th so we can be back for all of the dragon boat races that happen on the 8th. Wish us luck!

Full Tummies in Hong Kong

2008-06-02T06:32:00.003-07:00

Quick note: Please forgive any horrendous typos in any previous posts, the keyboards in these internet cafes are... lacking. And sticky.

After quite the interesting airport experience in Manila and some unwelcomed motion sickness, we landed safely in Hong Kong this afternoon.

The public transport here is as clean, easy, and efficient as I remembered. Getting to our hotel was almost toooo easy.

Our hotel room is... 'ow you say... musty? :) That's what we get for being cheap. The Imperial Hotel is undergoing rennovations, and I can definitely see why. I'm worried that my mold allergies might act up, we'll see!

After checking in, we only had to wander across the street to discover gorgeous Kowloon Park complete with aviary, waterfalls, and flamingo pond. We walked out to the bay at sunset and could see the Hong Kong waterfront as it started to light up. We'll post a picture later I hope- even in severe overcast it was quite beautiful.

We then headed to the Southern Indian restaurant that our Lonely Planet guide suggested. It was nearly impossible to find, but I've wanted southern Indian food since I was in southern India three years ago!! I like it so much better than northern Indian food, which is what we see a lot of in Colorado. We walked by the place three times at least before seeing the sign out in the road. Turns out you have to walk up this really shady staircase that seems to be residential. After two floors, we were facing the door with the sign above it, afraid to open it and expecting nobody else to have braved coming up.

We couldn't have been more wrong. It was packed! I've been chasing a dish called Behl Puri since I was in Chennai; you can't imagine my excitement when I saw it on the menu! Then, imagine my disappointment when the waitress told me they were out. OUT. ::pout::

Regardless, the food was DELICIOUS... thinking of you Amisha my darling! We ordered all of your favorites.

This posting brought to you by one torrential downpour and a really shady tailor shop slash internet cafe complete with virus infested computers that was nearly impossible to find. $2USD for 30 minutes as opposed to $1US for two hours in the Philippines... which is why there aren't any pictures yet. :) Maybe later!

We're tired (go figure)... so back to the moldy petri dish we go. :)

Diesel dust, fun and fish!

2008-06-01T00:13:00.000-07:00

Well maybe not in that eact order, but our excursion back from the volcano had all three! After having a relatively uncomfortable and light sleep from the sparsely sheeted and fairly uncomfortable bed at the resort, we woke up with the intent of heading back into Manila via Taygaytay (a slightly larger town surrounding Taal volcano). Our goal was to have a nice lunch, check out the supposed view and find the bus station/stop.

The lady that owned the Green Lake Resort had mentioned that we should easily be able to snag another tricycle from the driveway up to one of the Jeepny locations and get to Taygaytay with ease and for realatively low cost, so we strapped our packs on and started out. We waited for a few minutes and were shocked to find out that unlike the night before, it was rather hard to find a tricycle during the day (they were all full.) We remembered her pointing in the direction (so we thought) of the Jeepney junction, so we decided to huff it and see if we could at least be productive while waiting for a tricycle. Turns out we had remembered incorrectly, but luckily after only about 20-30 minutes of some very hot and incorrectly bound scenic walking, a tricycle stopped and we barted a fairly good deal directly to Taygaytay (we're still a bit shy of Jeepneys.)

Note to USA travelors in the Philipines: for the good of the locals, don't ever let them talk you into driving you + 2 20lb packs up a mountain in a tricycle - it's not good for their bikes!

The poor guy... we tipped him 100Php (really huge tip) after he learned the lesson I just noted. These poor little 150cc two strokes just can't haul us larger Americans with baggage up really steep mountainous inclines. After the first incline where the carriage started pulling extensively to the side, he had me hop out and ride with him on the seat (local style - actually, it was totally fun.) That worked for the most part until we hit a really crazily steep incline that started to slip his clutch and caused us to lose so much speed that the carriage started to pull the bike around and backwards. I hoppped off and helped to stop the bike from sliding down the road while Sarah bailed and we, once again, learned that the locals are incredibly kind and trustworthy as we huffed the next couple hundred feet on foot while he slowly drove ahead with the bags and waited.

Once to the top (about a 45 minute ride or so), we observed even more of the already gorgeous scenery we had seen on the way up and took off on foot towards the town center. As always, we had a million offers for tricycle rides, offers to take boats out to Taal island, and plenty of boarding offers as we walked along. We ran into an incredibly friendly gentleman that recommended a very good place to eat (the Kaye Ryan Grill) and indicated that it had one of the best views as well as excellent food. He was right on both accounts. We had an order of Pork Adobo and a grilled locally caught Palo Palo fish that was absolutely fantastic (the fish was incredibly tender and moist.) By the way, if you ever go, have a glass of the Mango juice - it's like drinking liquid heaven.

After lunch, we set out by foot again to find the station. After about 20 or so minutes of walking, an older and very kind tricycle driver stopped in front of us and hopped out to offer us a ride. Since the sky was looking a little ominous and he had taken more trouble than normal, we asked about the station and he barted us a deal we couldn't turn down (we're pretty sure he gave us the local rate.) Good thing we took him up since the station was not as obvious to find as we had thought. After some help from one of the bus driver assistants we hopped onto the right bus. (All busses here have an assistant that helps to fuel the bus, announce where it is bound as it drives up to stops and issues tickets.)

And this is where the diesel comes in. While our first bus out of Manila was closed and had AirCon, this one was cheaper and did not. While we were leaving Taygaytay, this was fine - the air felt nice and the rather humerously loud subwoofer asisted stereo kept us entertained. However, once we left the mountainous area and hit the congestion, wow!!! Sarah rapidly developed a headache and eventually associated it to the horrible smog. She pulled out the previously unused tourist trap face mask sold to us at Taal and used it on the bus. I later used mine once we got really close to Manila for the same reason. The ride was incredibly interesting and proved once again that the Philipines is a really interesting mix of living. When we go back into Manila, we wiped our faces with tissue and were horrified to see what came off of them.

Pardon a quick rant: we're so so tired of being given help that we don't want and then being forced into tipping! Guh... I know that people are trying to earn a buck and that they think we want help, but at this point we absolutely did not need help hailing a cab. The second we got off the bus, a guy outside of it went running off and started working on hailing a cab for us (totally unprompted.) When we hopped in, he stood there waiting for his tip, so we fished out 5 pesos and apparetly offended him. He continued to wait and we were virtually lectured by the driver that we should tip him. We explained that we did not want his help, had not asked for it and felt that his request of 1/4th of what the ride itself was going to cost was totally unreasonable. The driver proceeded to hand him the top he had requested and told us we could pay him back. Grrr... seriously... I know, it shouldn't both er us, but it does.

To boot, he told the driver the wrong place... luckily our driver was nice, had followed my request to turn on the meter and kept going. He claimed that he knew of a better place than the Malate Pensionne (where we had stayed before), and we let him take us there. Turns out that it was the same price, and while having a slightly better bathroom and cleaner floors, it was a mix of better and worse. The beds weren't quite as good and the windows didn't seal half as well, so it was a loud evening with slightly less quality sleep.

We spent the rest of the evening going about the business of washing our clothes, acquring dinner and a few other necessities after having a sorely needed shower after the bus ride home.

Meow Meow Meow, Meow Meow Meow Meow

2008-05-30T08:00:00.000-07:00

Squirrels are to USA as Cats are to the Philippines. They are EVERYWHERE. That is all.

Look back through old posts... we've added pictures!

Today's Blog Title Changed Four Times

2008-05-30T07:00:00.000-07:00

1: The Most Adventurous Day I've Had
2: I Had a Coconut on Top of a Volcano
3: What the Guide Doesn't Tell You
4: The Universe is Balanced

Too much happened today to sum it all up easily. I really had to exercise my courage... no matter how much I thought I stretched myself on Semester at Sea, I think today topped that even more. Needless to say we made it to Lake Taal and the volcano that makes it famous, but getting here was almost more interesting.

1: The Most Adventurous Day I've Had

After securing supplies (water and some snacks) and having a good breakfast, Jim and I set off to follow directions to a small town that were given to us over the phone by the Talisay Green Lake Resort. On our second attempt we found a cab that could take us to the bus station, which entailed careening through little alleyways dodging pedestrians. Upon reaching the bus station, two men who were “being helpful” grabbed our backpacks out of the trunk for us, asked us where we were going, and without a moment's more discussion took off with them and put them up on a bus that we could only guess was headed to Tanauan. (Tan-ow-ahn)

I'm not going to lie, I was really nervous about them just taking our backpacks like that (luckily that's only clothing... all our valuables are in our day bags for that reason). We got even more nervous when it looked like the bus driver wasn't going to let us on, and since we weren't 100% sure that this bus was the one we wanted. Then we got annoyed when, of course, the men wanted a tip for carrying our bags for us (when I would have been much happier keeping them in my possession, thank you very much). But, that's culture for you eh?

Thankfully, the bus attendant was friendly and helpful and assured us that we were going to the right place, and that it would only be 98 pisos (approx. $2.25 US). That's super cheap. We headed on the “highway” south toward Tanauan, getting caught in what I must assume is one of the monsoons we were supposed to hit (it's monsoon season). The leaky windows allowed a few raindrops to come inside. Apparently, it's normal to stop halfway to fuel the bus. 52 pisos to the liter... 42 pisos to the dollar... there's a fun math problem for you! Which is cheaper, gas in the Philippines or gas in Colorado? Don't forget to convert liters to gallons!

When the bus finally stopped in Tanauan (which didn't look much different from any other place along the way... shanties and run-down shops surrounded by enormous amounts of tropical vegetation) we hopped off. We then found a “tricycle”... a motorbike with a side car attached... to take us for the “one hour” trip to the market in the small town of Talisay. It actually ended up being 40 minutes or so. Picture this: Sarah and Jim squished into a seat that's barely big enough for one of them with a giant backpack on their laps and the other riding on the back seat of the motorbike. We were definitely quite the spectacle for the locals! It's a good thing we brought backpacks and not suitcases.

We then transferred tricycles at the market to take us directly to the Green Lake Resort.

Now when I say resort... that's a loose interpretation of the word. I'm not complaining of course, but it's not what you're thinking. Small room, stiff bed, in-window air conditioner, nobody around. Mom, this is probably non-touristy enough for you, anyway.

I think that has to be the craziest transportation I've ever taken. I'm sure it could get even crazier... but I'll stick with this for now.

2: I Had a Coconut on Top of a Volcano

After putting our bags down at the 'resort', we hired a boat out to the island in the middle of the lake (which is the volcano). The boat ride itself was actually spectacular... the views were incredible and the lake was as smooth as glass.

The part they don't tell you is that the "guide" is extra, and they're going to chase you with horses the entire time because they don't think you can hike the thing. They didn't understand the part where I said I was allergic to horses and that we're from the mountains where hiking is a normal activity. Halfway up the volcano the horse guys finally gave up, but our guide was booking it up to the top. Jim and I took this as a personal challenge and kept up as best we could. We didn't see anyone else actually on foot... I think we amazed some people. I will admit it was the steamiest, hottest, sweatiest hike I've EVER taken.

But, when we got to the top, we had some fresh buko (coconut) juice straight out of the shell and it was delicious. The views were spectacular. It was incredibly beautiful! You could actually see steam coming out of the vents and feel the heat coming from the earth. Gorgeous.

3: What the Guide Doesn't Tell You

What the guide doesn't warn you about is all the hidden costs. An extra 500 pisos for the guide. 100 pisos for face masks (which, of course, you don't actually need). 50 pisos to buy a drink for your guide and 100 pisos for drinks for yourselves. 20 pisos to tip the person who helps you out of the boat and a tip for the boat driver. Tips, tips, tips. Oy vey.

It's not even the amount of money... 20 pisos is only about 50 cents. It's that the ATMS only dispense 1000 and 500 piso notes (sometimes you might get some 100 notes if you're lucky), and NOBODY seems to have change. By the time we got back from the volcano, we had zero change left. Just a bunch of large bills that nobody could break. There was no way to pay a tricycle driver to get us back to town to get some dinner. The "restaurant" at the "resort" could not give change either. We were getting pretty worried about being able to get back.

Back at our room, we met the only other guests at the resort... two Belgian fellows who were having similar change problems. They were friendly, but could offer no advice.

4: The Universe is Balanced

Just as we were about to lose hope and had resigned to eating up all the snacks we had packed for dinner, breakfast and lunch the following day... we ran into the resort manager. She didn't have change of course, but she did suggest having a tricycle take us to the gas station to see if they had change.

Sure enough, telling the tricycle driver what we needed and assuring him he'd get paid when and only when we got change did the trick. There was a native restaurant right across the street from the gas station, so we went over to get some dinner.

The place was EMPTY aside from three young waitresses. If I've ever felt like a rock star it was here. Lee Ann spoke really good English, come to find out she is 16 and dreams of going to New York (she has family there). They attended to us so much that it was almost a little uncomfortable! It was nice that Lee Ann chit-chatted with us while we waited for food, but then I just had to laugh as they literally just stared at us while we ate. Lee Ann said they liked to see that we were enjoying our food. That seems to be common here... the waiters and waitresses stand nearby while you look over the menu, eat, and pay the bill. They don't leave your side very much.

We had a whole grilled native fish that starts with M, I forget the name... Makalputi? along with some delicious vegetable fried rice. It was very delicious.

Lee Ann and her cousins as we came to find out really enjoyed having us there. They wrote us a cute note thanking us for coming on a napkin (addressed to maam and sir, as everyone calls us here) and wanted hugs on the way out. They were the epitome of giggle teenage girls... they were cute.

The universe was right again, and Talisay wasn't such a bad place after all... and after all, it was a gorgeous sunset.

Wow tired!

2008-05-29T17:26:00.000-07:00

We had a fun day today chasing around basic needs, incidentally discovering cool things and knocking off a "must see" item. Our first objective of the day was to acquire a PLDT phone card (local carrier) so as to avoid $2.50/min roaming charges on the loaner phone to book a room near our next destination (Taal). After a literal goose chase, two hours, accidentally discovering the Robinson's Mall and a a really good breakfast, we achieved nirvana and found a little cart selling them. We now have a room and some really Hollywood instructions on how to get there. And yes, they do include such tasks as "get off the bus, hire a tricycle to the market and ask for us". Hehehe... new experiences lurk around each and every corner these days.

As the Lonely Planet guide mentions, while there are seemingly thousands of taxis available while you intend to be on foot, they all seem to disappear when you actually want one. We had the intent of hiring an actual yellow taxi (they're what the security guard recommended outside of the place we're staying), but we finally gave in and nabbed the more common white kind after much hunting. We did not a) get ripped off, b) killed, c) brought to somewhere unexpected, so we used one a second time after spending a great afternoon exploring Intramuros and getting an incredible taste of history. I, not having so many miles under my belt for travel, was astonished to see buildings (or the crumblings of) from the 16th century. More interesting than them was to see the contrast of modern society living in and among them as if they were nothing out of the ordinary.

We did learn a lesson today after hiring a horse carriage and "guide" to bring us around Intramuros. While we're not total noobs at this game and remembered to negotiate a deal up front, we forgot to ask if it would cost us extra as he encouraged us to get out of the carriage about 4 times to check out different locations. 45 minutes later (we had negotiated for 30) and his claim of 1 hour, we were presented with a guilt trip and new negotiations. Must continue to beat into our skulls the virtues of understanding ALL of the fine print as it presents itself. We negotiated a very fair payment in the end, especially considering that those 45 minutes off our feet were valuable, but educational none-the-less.

For the records, I (Jim), did get minorly grumpy today (no doubt Sarah would mention it). The reason for this little bit of grumpiness is quite simple: it's getting a bit overwhelming trying to do such normally simple tasks as crossing the road w/o being killed. Tiring... all is good, but man it's a culture shock for me. While being a foreign tourist here is incredibly simple thanks to the seeming fact that everyone and everything speaks and/or is in English, the constant choking vehicular smog and adrenaline rush of crossing the street can be shorten your patience.

Another unintended, but fun "check-off-the-list" item was our dinner at Jollibee (the local fast food joint of Manila) in Intramuros. The Yum Burger was, well, Yum and the fries were incredibly like McDonald's. It was quite refreshing having a pineapple juice in place of the standard optional lemonade. Also fun to note, every place you go that is a "nicer" store, like a Jollibee or 7-11 or bank or even a hotel, has its very own security guard. This security guard opens the door for you and greets you "Good evening, sir, maam..." What service.

I think Sarah has put it the most elegantly when she said something along the lines of, "at least the children in India would say 'please ma'am' as they chased after you." While I received a taste of this phenomenon in South Africa, Manila is really my first experience with persistent child-pleading for charity. I must admit that I'm almost feeling like a bad person when I say, it's really tiring, but it really is. I really wish I could help everyone out that asks, but I can't. And when everything that approaches you knows only one phrase, "GIVE me money", I quite frankly feel a little dead inside. I wish, at least, people here would ask and not splash muddy water at us as we walked by and did not give. I guess it's more culture shock that I need to work out in my head as the trip progresses.

It's a Good Kind of Pain

2008-05-28T07:00:00.000-07:00

We're safe in the Philippines. You know you were worried. (Kidding!)

We're very very tired jetlagged pups. After 3 hours on the plane to San Francisco, a day on the town, a 14 hour flight to Hong Kong, and a 1.5 hour flight to Manila, we decided to walk all over the capital city. We're in pain, but it's a good kind of pain... the kind where you know you're going to sleep well.

Manila is about 14 hours ahead of Colorado, so here we are wrapping up our Wednesday evening when in Colorado Wednesday has just begun. (We never did have a Tuesday due to the International Date Line.)

First impressions: Manila reminds me a lot more of India and Vietnam than I expected. I expected the friendly people (of which there are many) but I wasn't expecting to see here the begging children in the streets that I've seen so many other places. I don't know why I didn't expect it, you would think I would... but I didn't. So there's that. There are also many more people living in rusted corrugated tin shelters than I expected. The traffic is just as absurd as both places. However, we had a great time and met a few very nice people in the process today.

Benjamin, for example, reminded me of a few of the reasons that I became a teacher. He put me to shame today with his knowledge of world history. You see, Benjamin works on a cruise ship that visits the United States, but regardless he was having a great time informing us of the history of the Philippines as well as the United States and everything related inbetween. Don't get me wrong, it's very important to learn U.S. history, but I feel that as a U.S. citizen I learned very little history other than that of my own country and state until college. We need to fix that. (And we are...) It's just sad that I knew very little about the Philippines until college when I took a course on Southeast Asia, and yet I still learned quite a bit from the “history” chapter in my Lonely Planet book.

Jim and I have decided that we like to slow down a bit. We did nothing but walk the city today until our feet hurt so badly we had to surrender. We discovered so much that we would have just passed by otherwise... my favorite was watching the families flying kites in the park, but stumbling upon the heavily guarded U.S. Embassy was a highlight as well. A police officer helped a child string his kite... that's just not something I really see at home. We walked through Rizal Park full of monuments and gardens, then quite the opposite as we played Frogger in the Jeepney traffic and strolled by shanty after shanty in the alleyway.

Our hotel, the Malate Pensionne, is quite modest. We are on a very tight budget (teacher's salary, you know). However, I'm rather enjoying it here for now. We only have one night booked so far but I have the impression that we can extend the stay if we wish. We have to do a bit of research now and figure out what we want to do. We have 5 nights in the Philippines (this is night 1) so we might go to see Lake Taal and its volcano or perhaps to a beach... we really have no idea. No matter what though, we will be fine... if all else fails, we'll just stay here.

Heading to Asia

2008-05-26T00:30:00.000-07:00

It's been too long since we've gone anywhere of note! (Together, that is...) Jim and I are off to Asia. We'll be in the Philippines from May 28-June 2 and in Hong Kong from June 2-June 11. We're flying in and out of San Francisco because it's so much cheaper and we get to see friends, so we leave Colorado May 26th and return June 13th very very very late. (On the way out we lose a day due to the international date line.)

What are we doing when we get there? Good question. We have backpacks and Lonely Planet guides and some ideas of what would be cool, but other than one night's hotel booked in Manila... we're off to see where the wind takes us. I've always wanted to do a trip this way.

Stay tuned, we leave bright and early tomorrow morning!

Love,
Sarah and Jim

Vegas and a Big Ending

2007-03-19T22:14:00.000-07:00

This one's for you, "Anonymous". Sorry to leave you hanging, guys. (Yes, we are home in CO safe and sound.)

The city of sin apparently doesn't believe in wireless Internet. The La Quinta Inn in Salt Lake has it, but the Luxor in Vegas? Nada. I guess people are too busy gambling to need Internet. People might cheat in the casinos? Who knows.

So I left you last Thursday the 15th as we were about to drive to Vegas. We made it! Hurray! A few things to note along the way:

*The San Luis Reservoir area is GORGEOUS. SO green and the water looked so inviting. If ever you want somewhere different to camp or drive through, look into it, just off of CA 152.
*We kept seeing signs for Bakersfield. That looked familiar and it was bugging me, so I called Mom up to see if maybe that's where she was born. Nope, she was born in San Bernardino, but my Aunt Marilyn used to live in Bakersfield so that's probably where I know it from. Sweet.
*We drove through Bakersfield. Not too much to note, another city in a bland landscape from the interstate's perspective, at least. Er, excuse me, the "freeway". Everything is a "freeway" in California it seems... not a highway, not an interstate... a freeway.
*We stopped at the cutest little fruit stand/orange grove area just out of Bakersfield. We got AMAZING Medjool dates from there, I never knew dates could taste like candy. We ate them as desserts for the rest of the trip.
*I kept seeing signs for "Calico Ghost Town" along I-15, and it was on my road atlas too. I absolutely insisted to Jim that we MUST stop because I'd never been to a really real ghost town before. [Picture me at age 5: Oh PLEASE Daddy, can we? Oh please, Daddy, oh please??] We pulled up to the entrance of the "park" at 5:05 and apparently they close everything down at 5 but you can stay until sunset, so we got out of paying since nobody was there to take our money. I'm glad we didn't pay, though, because it was just a restored version of what the town used to look like. Still cool, but during the day I guess it's filled with shops and reminds me of Silver Dollar City. Psh. Anyway the cemetery was cool. Old silver mining town that died when the silver market crashed.
*I watched and Jim listened to Superman Returns as the sun set. Video iPods rock.

You can sense that Vegas is coming hours before you get there. First it's all of the billboards on the interstate, then it's the mini-Vegas town as soon as you enter Nevada (from both ways)... then you come over a hill, and there it is in all of its shining energy-wasting glory. I went just last year on a roadtrip with friends, but the last time Jim went it was for his sister's wedding and he wasn't 21 yet then, so we wanted him to be able to "fully" experience it.

We entered the city just as the last scraps of light were dwindling from the sky, and they were quickly replaced with the brilliant sparkle of the casino lights. After a murderous attempt (and success) at finding parking (thank goodness it was free), we walked the TEN MINUTES to get from the car to check-in. TEN. Walking very fast. So we check in, throw the bags we had on us in the room, walk the ten minutes back to the car, grab the rest of our bags, and walk the ten minutes back to the room. By this point we're hungry, tired, achy, and in bad need of a shower.

Step One: Take a shower. Aaaaah, much better. But now it's already 9pm and there's still that hunger issue to deal with.

Step Two: Find Mexican restaurant in Luxor. Have amazing burrito. Make note of the fried ice cream for later, but too stuffed for now.

Step Three: Ignore aches and fatigue, we only have two nights in Vegas. Jim pops his first emergency Red Bull of the entire trip.

At about 10:30pm, we were ready to hit the town with a targeted bed time of 1am. (It's Vegas, it's a requirement to stay up late.) We stayed within the bounds of the Luxor and Mandalay Bay since they are connected and we each spent about $10 on nickel video poker and black jack.

Why they make checkout time in Vegas 11am as the standard is beyond me. It's VEGAS. Nobody goes to bed until at least 1am, usually between 2am-5am. But, we were forced to drag ourselves out of bed at 9:30 anyway, pack everything into the car, and have a scattered breakfast of leftovers and cereal bars in the parking lot.

Let me take a time out here to tell you of my disappointment in the Luxor. For those that have never been to Vegas, it's the casino that's shaped like a big black shiny glass pyramid. When I came here last year, I thought it was THE COOLEST and vowed that I would stay at least one night there the next time I came so that I could ride the "inclinators". The inclinators are like elevators that go diagonally up the sides of the pyramids, but you have to have a room key or it won't let you in them. We managed to sneak our way on for a few floors the last time, but this time I was determined to go to the top since it would be legal with a room key.

Well, wouldn't you know it, our room was only on the fourth floor and we didn't even need to go up the inclinators to get to it. Apparently since our room wasn't accessible by inclinator, our key didn't work in it either. No view. No inclinator. No free wireless... just a $150 room (on a cheap night) that happened to have some fake hieroglyphs on the dresser. What a rip off. So mad. If we had stayed for Friday night too, it would have been $250 just for Friday night (Vegas on a Friday night is ridiculously expensive). I'm glad we didn't. They were rude to us at check-in, too. Psh.

Check in time for our cheaper room at "America's Best Value Inn" wasn't until 3pm, so we left the car where it was and spent the next 4 hours between MGM and New York New York. Rode the roller coaster at NYNY, which was fun except the seat didn't jive with my body and it smashed my head around a bit. Jim was fine, except he realized halfway through that technically he's not supposed to ride roller coasters due to the disc he herniated last year. Oops, we'd both forgotten. But he kept his core tight and he fit better in the seats so he was fine, and I massaged his back later to hopefully make the muscles feel better. Other than that, we mostly walked around. We also bought tickets for the 7:30 showing of Zumanity, a Cirque du Soleil show... a compromise. We couldn't afford to see "O", the best one with water. Maybe next time.

Jim started to get a little testy. I finally drug it out of him that he was disappointed that if you're not ready to spend a lot of money, all there is to do in Vegas is walk around. This is true, unfortunately. The roller coaster rides alone were $12 each. The next time we come back, it will probably only be because we are going specifically to see "O", which only shows in Vegas and does not tour. I was sad that he was disappointed, so we were in a bit of a sour mood for an hour or so. Part of that may have been the fatigue too.

Around 3 we headed back to the car and got ready for a 1 mile drive that was supposed to take 10 minutes. Well, we ended up missing a turn and caught in one-way traffic with no turn offs in construction that went way past where we needed to go. It took us an hour and we drove two miles to get somewhere a mile away. UUUUGGGGH.

But we checked in, and oh how glorious it was to have a parking spot four feet from the door of our room! We got our bags in the room in no time and promptly proceeded to take a nap before we had to get ready for our show. We woke up in much better moods. Just like 2 year olds. Haha.

Next time, I'm totally just staying in a cheap motel. They're nothing fancy, but I'm no snob. The rooms were outdated and had 10 layers of paint, sure, but the beds were clean, the A/C was working, the water was running, and we got our very own parking spot right in front of the door. Only $100 (cheap for Vegas) on a Friday night as opposed to $250+ everywhere else. And once we did get ready, it was only a 10 minute walk to New York New York where Zumanity was showing. Totally the way to go, in hindsight we should have just stayed there both nights. I'm not there for the hotel room, anyway.

Zumanity. It is marketed as "The sensual side of Cirque du Soleil" for "Guests of the age 18 or over". So you can guess at the content. Overall it wasn't bad, in fact it was funny... just not what I would call "Cirque du Soleil". It wasn't that I wished I hadn't gone, we enjoyed the show... but I feel no need to go back again and it won't be on the top of my recommendation list, let's put it that way. We should have seen Ka, another cirque show (I think there are around 5 in vegas), instead. Jim and I had already seen Mystere, O was too expensive, and Love sounds cheesey (a Beetle's themed Cirque show? Who knows how that would go...).

After the show was our much anticipated dinner out. We'd been making ourselves eat our roadtrip food from the grocery store all day (aside from some pretzel sticks from NYNY), so a sit-down meal after the show was just what the doctor ordered. The plan was to go to Paris and try to find a good French meal. Well, that place was too expensive (we were willing to spend a bit, but $45 a plate is too much for me my friends)... so we found a Provencial French dinner... which is mostly northern Italian. Close enough. It was delicious and there were live performers. We got a crepe suzette to go, and ate it at Caesar's Palace out on the benches after watching the Bellagio's water show.

We had done quite a bit of walking to get everywhere we had gone, and by the time we got back to the motel my feet were KILLING me. I don't recall them ever being in that much pain (must have been the shoes, dressing up and walking don't mix, how girls walk in heels is beyond me)... I was convinced that the entire pads of my feet must be bruised if that was even possible. It was to the point that I literally ran the last block because it hurt less to run than walk, go figure. Walking into that room with the blast of cool air was one of the most relieving feelings ever. And that was a "rough" time for me, we have it so good in this country.

We got up just in time for check out (wanted to be well rested for the last leg of the journey) and went to the nearby Coco's Bakery for breakfast. It's like an IHOP near as I can tell. The food was delicious and cheap, but apparently this is what makes them popular and all told took us another hour. But, I had promised Jim that we could have a real breakfast this day for once :)

Add that to losing an hour with the time change, and technically we didn't leave until 1pm mountain time. Fast forward 8 hours through the desert. Nothing exciting to note here... the drive between Vegas and Grand Junction is *almost* as boring as driving through Kansas. ALMOST. 9pm MST in Grand Junction, and I see a Chick-Fil-A sign. We had told ourselves we could get chicken (expecting a KFC) to add to road trip food for dinner since the last of our ham had spoiled. Well, they hid the chick-fil-a... and all told between getting gas, a quick 10 minute trip to Kohl's, and finding the chicken took another hour. Ugh, so our ETA changed from midnight to 1am. (The Kohl's run, for the curious, was for Martha's birthday. I had picked up a pretty fish necklace charm in China Town for her present, but needed a chain for it, so I found a good one there at not-california-or-vegas prices. Her b-day was technically the day we drove back but the party was the next day, Sunday, which I was to attend and didn't want to have to go shopping the morning of.)

The western slope portion of I-70 is one of the best stretches of mountain road I've seen... clearly marked with bordering-on-gorgeous rest areas. The eastern slope? Not so much! We struggled to find even a line, much like the western slope portion of I-80 that Jim hated on the way through California to Scott's.

We made it home at 1:30am, sorted the mail, loved the "neglected" children (dogs and bunny), unpacked a bit... and went to bed at 3am. I got up around 11 and left for Lulu's (Martha's) party at 1 (she turned 7!)... and Jim was still sleeping. Dad would be proud... I convinced Jake to play Simon Says with the girls! That's what every dad should do at his daughter's birthday party, right? I got back from the party, and Jim was napping. So I took a nap too. From 4 to 7. I got up and made dinner, at which point Jim was finally able to tell me that he wasn't feeling well. We pumped him full of liquids, chicken, airborne and cold meds and he was perky again within the hour. Did some cleaning since the dogs brought in half the yard with them while we were gone, took care of business stuff that piled up while we were gone, then attempted to get Jim to bed at a decent time to start his new job!

Jim got to his new job just fine and had a fairly normal yet uneventful first day. He seems pretty neutral about it at this point. I nannied today so I didn't get to see him much, but from what I can tell he likes it okay. I think we'll be able to tell more when there's less signing of papers and more actual job, so we'll let you know in a couple weeks. He has orientation tomorrow at the Denver Tech Center, so he went to bed extra early so he can get up at 5:45am, yech.

So anyway, not a very exciting "Big Ending", anonymous... I'm sorry :) We were a little late in posting due to exhaustion... and lack of enthusiasm. Hehe. Thanks for reading all, I'm still checking for comments and *maybe* we might get around to posting a few pictures one of these days. Hehe, you know us, but don't lose hope either!

Love,
Sarah and New Job Jimmy

Missions Complete

2007-03-14T22:48:00.000-07:00

It seems to be the case with me that when I have the most to say, I'm too tired to say it all. Today was a full day and I am a VERY content but tired pup pup.

We were able to catch the early baby bullet train again this morning. We didn't have time for breakfast before we left, so we ate our pears from the market yesterday on the train... they weren't nearly as good as the samples. In fact, they were pretty bland. Blah. We ate them anyway, but we were still hungry.

We took the bus straight to Chinatown in the morning, one of the goals I'd formulated in my head. I just wanted to poke around and compare it to the ones in New York and Hawaii (and actual China and Hong Kong, haha). Jim also wanted to go. Since we were hungry, it didn't take much to convince us to walk into one of the millions of Dim Sum restaurants we found. We finally picked a hole in the wall that had locals eating at it, which is always a good sign. Neither of us had ever had dim sum, so it was a good place for a first experience... not fancy, but it was delicious. We spent the whole morning shopping and walking around China Town (I thinkI like the one in NYC a teeny bit better), then we were off to the top of Telegraph Hill to get a view from Coit Tower.

We walked up some REALLY steep hills (the ones in the movies LoL) to get up to the highest point in the bay (I think) and see the view from Coit Tower. It was $4.00 a person to get to the tippy top, which is a rip off, but I was glad we went up there even so. It was a beautiful view. When we'd had our fill, we went on a mission to find Japan Town before we got too hungry for lunch.

It's hard to find Japan Town when you haven't had a chance to look up where it is. Eventually we found it on a transit map at a bus station, in teeny tiny writing. We waited forever for the right bus (okay 20 minutes), but then it didn't take too long to get there once we got going in the right direction.

We found the perfect sushi place for a first experience. So much to write about it, but long story short the sushi chef is in the middle of an oval bar area, and put sushi plates on little boats going around on water around the bar. You just take off whatever you want as it comes along, and the plates are color coded by price so they just add up your plates at the end to charge you. Tea is included at no extra cost, and it was yummy tea. Same with the wasabi, soy, and ginger (yes I tried it all). The sushi was great, I really like it. Yummy, now I want more. Haha. They were reasonably priced, too... Jim and I gorged for $20 for the two of us. My favorite was the bbq squid wrapped around a california roll. Sounds weird but it was super yummy. (Scott's Chris (not to be confused with my brother), you totally have to go there. It's so cool. I already told Scott to take you there. He knows where to go.)

After poking around Japan Town (it's pretty small) we made our way back to Fisherman's Wharf to try to find the boat tour guy. It was 3:45 by this point, and we didn't find the guy from yesterday, but just then another boat was pulling up to let a group of people disembark, offering the same tour for the same price. We bought tickets at 4:00 when they were done unloading, and they told us we would leave at 4:30. This would be perfect, since it was an hour tour, to catch the last baby bullet train at 6:33. haha.

Needless to say they pretty much kept the boat in the bay as long as it took to get a full boat load of passengers on it. We took off at 4:55. Grr.

Once we got going, though, it was beautiful. They took us under the Golden Gate Bridge and around Alcatraz, and the guy was really knowledgeable and told us a lot of things we didn't already know (and was really funny about it), so it was well worth the $10. Plus since we were the first ones to buy tickets we got to sit in the front, which Mom and Dan know is my FAVORITE part of the boat, so we got the sea spray in our faces and everything else. Yay! It was chilly, but we were prepared with sweatshirts, so we were fine.

Of course by the time we finally made our way back to the Cal Train station we missed the 6:33 by 5 minutes... but turns out we were just in time to get good seats on the 6:56, which I had somehow missed (I thought the next was at 7:20). Still, by the time Jim and I ran to the store to stock up on more food for the last leg of the road trip, ran to Kinkos to fax one last form for his new job, and scrounged up dinner and now I tried to write this quickly (me? concise? haha)... it's really late. We wanted to get up at 6:30 but I don't think that's happening. Oh well... no big. We'll be alright.

Off to bed with us!
Love,
Me (and us)
(We've all pretty much figured out by now that if there's going to be a Sarah and Jim blog, Sarah has to write it. That's okay though, Jim is tracking the receipts and budget so it's a fair trade ;o) )

We Escaped from the Rock

2007-03-13T23:32:00.000-07:00

And it was very difficult and extremely dangerous. Haha just kidding.

Thanks everyone for posting! Feels more like a conversation that way :o) Yes, climb in the ball pit... love you all... this blog should provide a few good tips for a trip out here and others we can tell you at the next bbq... Scott says thanks for the virtual hugs from Mom and Zoey, and yes brudder a BBQ would be good (and wtf is ftw?).

We caught the Cal Train early this morning, navigated our way on the street cars up the Embarcadero, and managed to get to the place to get Alcatraz tickets. All told took about two hours from Sunnyvale.

Between streetcar transfers, we stumbled upon a farmer's market on the street and managed to get some nice looking pears and oranges. Score, one goal accomplished without even trying!

When we got to Pier 33 to buy the tickets to Alcatraz (which is now a national park), there were protestors outside. I guess the union workers lost the contract to run the ferrys to the island to another company, so they're protesting and have been for a year or something like that. I kind of feel bad for them, but the reason we're here is because Jim lost his job... anyway. So we bought our tickets anyway for the next available ferry, which was at 12:45. It was 10:15, so we had some time to kill.

We walked our way down the rest of Embarcadero to Fisherman's Wharf. The last time I was here on my 9 hour layover tour two years ago, this was a completely different world since it was 5am then and nobody was awake yet (and nothing was open). After some meandering and pictures, it was 11:00 and places were finally open for lunch. My 7am Cheerios had already worn off, so we stopped at Alioto's (I think) for an early lunch. This place was supposedly the first fish stand (now restaurant) on the wharf and has been in business since the 1930s. Eating up in the high-class dining room (which had a great view of the bridge and the bay) was a trip, I felt like I'd stepped right into the 1950s, and suddenly I felt out of place in my capris... I needed a dress, and a hairdo that involved hairspray. I had fish, and it was great. Jim had some scallop pasta thingy that he kept raving about. And the San Francisco Sourdough rolls were great as always.

We walked back to Pier 33 just in time to get in line for our ferry to Alcatraz. Couldn't have timed it better. We even got seats on the top part, hurray! As soon as we got onto the bay, things got windy and it felt about 10 degrees cooler. I was glad I had my jacket, but poor Jim was cold. (How's that for role reversal?)

A sign greeted us on the island, saying that if we helped any prisoners escape we'd be subject to imprisonment. I got a little worried. ;o)

They had signs for audio tours all over, but I never feel like they're worth the extra money (especially on top of $21 tickets), so Jim and I spent about an hour wandering around the island watching a free video they had playing and giving ourselves a tour and taking pictures. There is a beautiful view of all of the bay from the island, and tons of birds and plants (all plants on the island have a historical timeline to them... as people brought them to the island).

Alcatraz Island was discovered in the 1700s and named for all of the birds that called it their home. In the 1800s (civil war era) it was turned into a military base to defend the bay, because at that time whoever controlled San Francisco controlled the world. They built a fortress on it. In the early 1900s they built on top of the fortress (or was it citadel?) to make a military prison. Then it was converted to the federal penitentiary it is famous for in the 1930s. Characters such as Al Capone served time there. It operated until the early 1960s, when the last prisoners were escorted out (was it March 21, 1963?) because the island was too expensive to maintain, it was falling into disrepair (lots of wind and the sea air taking a toll), and prison views were changing from punishment to rehabilitation (go the 60s). Then American Indians took it over in demonstrations from 1969 to 1971 (look it up, a lot to explain). Later in the 70s it became the national park that it is today. That's my brief history from memory, but it's interesting so look it up. You can use Scott's Company's website and it will do a great job ;o)

Anyway, while reading all of the plaques and wandering around the island, etc., we noticed that almost everyone had the audio tours. Why was everyone paying for this? This was unusual. Our wanderings eventually accidentally took us to the audio tour pickup, where we figured it out: turns out the audio tours are included in our tickets. Why isn't this advertised more clearly? We debated for a while, but since we were already there and they were free, I decided we should go ahead and get them. Worst case scenario, I could fast forward through it and just give it back.

It ended up being really good, and in the end the way we did it worked out for the best. Some of the places Jim and I found on our own were not on the audio tour... and we hadn't found some places that were on the audio tour. Plus, it would have been difficult to take pictures while on the audio tour anyway. Tour complete (too much to explain, you'll just have to go to Alcatraz yourself), we made our way back to the ferry and were back on the Embarcadero at around 4:30.

Tips for Alcatraz:
-bring a jacket
-bring water and a snack (even having eaten just before, we ate granola bars on the ferry back)
-wear comfy shoes
-just get the audio tour since it's included
-explore the island without the audio too
-plan at least 4 hours for it, if you take your time
-don't buy tickets online (they're $10 more contrary to what they claim, I thought that might be the case so I'm glad we didn't) and just buy them at the pier, but get there as early as possible... they were sold out for the day by noon.

We were hungry again by the time we got back (hey, it had been over 5 hours)... and we had walked by a delicious smelling bakery on the way back from Fisherman's Wharf earlier that day... so we decided to head back there to get the "world famous" clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl. Mmmmm it was soooo good. The San Francisco valley has a very unique strain of yeast, which is what makes San Francisco sourdough so amazing. And the soup was great too. Apparently this is a very popular and famous bakery that's been around since the 1800s called Boudin. Definitely worth the look around. We'd have done the tour of their very own museum except they don't run on Tuesdays, maybe tomorrow.

After we finished eating we looked around the bakery shop for a while, but after a few minutes my wrists started itching like mad. Jim thought I was going crazy, because it was driving me nuts so I was acting nuts too. It was so itchy I couldn't ignore it, and eventually had to find a nearby table to set my bag on so I could check it out. I pulled up my sleeves to discover that I had hives on my wrists, weird! I have no idea what caused it. As far as they found when they tested me I'm not allergic to food, so all I can figure is that since I'm allergic to so many molds maybe there was a weird one in the air or on Alcatraz or something, I have no idea. It could be anything really. It was even more strange because the intense itching started subsiding in 15 minutes, then I washed my hands (took me that long to find a place), then it subsided some more but we stopped at a nearby Walgreens and I took some Benadryl anyway. I'm fine now, but I'll talk to the allergenist when I get home... and tomorrow I'll have Benadryl and Hydrocortizone cream riding in my bag with me. I guess from now on I should just take those with me everywhere, dammit, even more to carry around.

Jim and I spent the rest of the afternoon/evening wandering around the shops on Fisherman's Wharf and getting a sweatshirt for Jim because 1) he was cold and 2) he only owns one other sweatshirt anyway, so he could use it.

I thought the Cal Train ran every half hour, but turns out after 6:00ish it's only every hour, so by the time we walked/transferred our way to the train station, we arrived at 7:25 to have just missed the 7:20 train.

So to kill the hour until the 8:25 train, we found a nearby Starbucks in a Safeway and sipped our coffee in the station. The trains are pretty nice so the ride back was pleasant. Our feet and backs really hurt, and turns out these shoes I got in Reno are actually probably a half size too small so my toes were really crowded all day (and one of my toenails was digging into another toe all day, that explains the pain). Scott's complex has a hot tub, so we all went out to that for a while (man, it was boiling, though) and now it's time for bed.

Tomorrow we're going back into the city, the only remaining big mission being Sushi (i.e. Japan Town... San Fran not San Jose). We also saw a guy giving bay tours for $10 on the wharf, so we might try to find him (you know how I love boats). We might try to do the bakery museum tomorrow... and we're going to try to buy a loaf from them so it's fresh for the trip to Vegas just before we head back. It's just going to be another nice day, but this time we'll head back earlier.

Love and hugs to all... I'm beat :)

Googlie-Oooglie Oogle Goo

2007-03-12T20:38:00.000-07:00

So, what is up with only Chris posting a comment? Thanks, Chris!... but as far as I know you're the only one reading! I guess I don't need to post any more, just e-mail Chris ;o) Mom? Dad? Marge? Anyone?

Anyway, before we went to bed last night Jim and I decided that we were really tired from four straight days of driving and camping, and that one day of rest wouldn't be so bad. It is a vacation, after all, and we didn't have any huge plans that we HAD to keep up with. And we do have 3 days here and only 2 days worth of things to do, really. So we didn't set the alarm.

When we woke up, we spent altogether too long deciding what to do with the day, since we were scheduled to come see Scott at Google at 6:00pm, and it's an hour and a half-ish each way to the city. We figured that it wouldn't be worth the travel time to only have a few hours in San Francisco, when tomorrow we can have a full morning, afternoon and evening.

Since one of my goals was to see an orchard, I looked long and hard and tried to find one advertised. I don't think they exist, at least not anywhere near and not at this time of year. Damn the off season. Sad day. I tried!

Then we thought we'd see the Winchester Mystery House which is supposed to be the big attraction in these parts, but a bit of searching for reviews told me that it was too expensive and boring unless you were with little kids or high schoolers. Didn't sound like that would be worth our time. So we went to Target and got a map of the area and just started driving.

So, we eventually ended up in downtown San Jose. I thought there might be some cool things to do there. Not so much. We drove through "Japan Town", which seemed to consist of a few rundown sushi places that didn't really look open (still saving that for actual San Francisco)... and not much else. Actual downtown had an art museum, but Jim and I are kind of done with art museums for a while. The Metropolitain Museum of Art in NYC was great, and I don't think this would have lived up to that. We have one in Denver anyway. So we ended up grabbing a quick bite to eat at a burger joint and shared a malt. We walked around for a bit. And then we got bored.

We decided to make our new mission to find Jim a new pair of sunglasses, and some shorts because he didn't pack any and it was HOT for jeans out today, and it's supposed to be hotter in Vegas. We ended up at some mall called "The Great Mall of the Bay Area" or something like that, but mission accomplished: $14 shorts, $12 sunglasses, and a bonus $11 nice button up work shirt that was on huge clearance. Go super shopping.

Now for the highlight of the day: Gooooooogle! Scott wasn't kidding, this felt more like a college campus than a corporate office. The grounds are beautiful and people were playing soccer and frisbee on the park as we walked up to Googleplex (there isn't enough parking, the one downside). To sign in, we typed our names into a computer and out spat sticker badges for us to wear that said Google Visitor, with our names, locations, and our host's name (Scott).

The rumors are true: you can wear whatever you want and you can bring your dog. I saw two dogs, and lots of kids. Apparently Google has its own preschool, they leased a nearby elementary school that would have otherwise been abandoned. [If Jim were ever to decide he did want to apply at Google, I'd try to teach in it haha.]

When you walk into Scott's building, there is a constant feed that shows the queries that are being pumped into Google at any given moment, in any given language. Some of them are kind of funny... one that I remember is "tvs comin soon". There is also a map of the world that shows you how many queries per second in what languages (color coded) are coming through in all over the globe, which was fun. Lots from everywhere except for Africa, which aside from South Africa and Egypt was pretty much black (nothing). It's quite the trip. Apparently Google also has its own rocket which is hanging in one of the buildings, and a dinosaur skeleton out in the courtyard.

I saw a girl wearing a Google shirt (many others would follow), and assuming I'd have to pay for one I asked Scott where I could get one. He said that sometimes they stock a cabinet with free ones, but that it's at sphorradic times and people literally camp out so that they can nab a shirt. We checked just in case but yep, nada... and I guess it was too late to buy one. Oh well, next time.

Everything in the food areas is free to take... Superfood Juice drinks, teas, espresso, gum, candies, snacks, water... you just open the doors and take it. The offices are sort of like tents inside with clear walls so that there is as much natural light as possible. Everyone has two 24" widescreen monitors and they're free to decorate their space as they like. There is a ball pit (no joke, like the little kid kind), a pool table, game machines, marker boards, continuous swimming pools, a fitness center, a tennis team, workout clubs, dance lessons... it's pretty ridiculous. Oh, yeah, and I guess they have enough employees from Japan that it justifies having the toilets with the warmed seats and water sprayers/dryers. Yessss.

We went to get dinner. There are at least five "restaurants" all over and they're all really nice. The one we went to was the mecca of food from all over the world... Indian, Italian, and I don't even remember what else because that's what I ate. Other places inlude the Pacific Cafe, a vegetarian one, and others. It's super nice and the food is very good. Apparently Scott has already been a victim of the "Google 15" and I can see why. They serve 3 meals a day. We took our food to the outdoor courtyard which was nicely shaded by all of the buildings and google theme-colored umbrellas, while many of Scott's new coworker friends came to join us. I only had a bite, but over time the dessert would simply kill me.

We left at around 8:15 and the place was still hopping with employees, something you don't see many places. I guess happy, well-fed, healthy and entertained employees are productive employees. The founders seem very young and cool. I can see them sitting around saying, "Yeah man, and our company should totally have a pool table and free food everywhere." "Yeah, dude, and espresso machines. That would be pretty sweet." It's very laid back.

It's a great environment now, but Jim and I are wondering if Google will be able to sustain this lifestyle past the next four years and if it will be able to survive its competitors. Yahoo and MSN would love to make Google dead, now. So wish Google luck. We'll just have to wait and see. Also, it seems that since many employees do not come in until around 9 or 10:00... many don't leave until pretty late. We asked around and many of them said they put in around 12 hour days. They were happy to do so, but if you had a family it makes me wonder if you would ever *really* see them. Many Google employees seem to be young and single, adding to the college feeling.

And now we're hoping to process pictures. Then it's early to bed so we can make the most of our day on the bay tomorrow.

Love,
Sarah and Awake Jim!

Back from the Giants

2007-03-12T00:22:00.000-07:00

Once again, we're really tired! This will be another quick post, but we are back at Scott's place safe and sound.

The redwoods were amazing and we had a great trip. It was eventful in the right ways and uneventful in the ways we'd like it to be as well. The only negative thing that happened is that Jim lost his sunglasses somewhere by the largest redwoods in Rockefeller forest, but there were plenty of fabulous things to outweigh that and they're an item that is easily replaced.

The "champion" tree is 362 feet tall. We got our picture with it, and as you'd expect it won't do it justice. After a while, though, you can't tell which ones are taller because they're all so tall that you can't see the tops of them.

The canopy of the trees is tall enough and thick enough that it locks in the moisture and keeps the sun out, so that it's always shady, humid, and cool. It was very comfortable but at the same time I had very unruly hair ;o) There was also quite a bit of condensation on the tent, and toilet paper becomes something more like a wet wipe. It is green everywhere, though, and since the trees need so much water (they don't have a tap root, all shallow roots and absorb moisture from the air) they're all right next to a beautiful blue river.

Scott is off to work at Google in the morning, and we're going to take the Cal Train into San Francisco and then go wherever the wind takes us. We want to find good sushi for lunch so our adventures may lead us to Japan Town at some point, and we want to see Alcatraz island one of these days. Other goals for the city include going on the water (the ferry to Alcatraz may cure this), crossing the Golden Gate Bridge just because I can, going to Pier 39, and a few other things I'm too tired to remember so I guess they aren't big goals. A few goals for California in general include finding an orchard so I can walk among orange trees and getting some fresh foods at a farmer's market, namely avacados and citrus.

Time for sleep so we aren't huge bums tomorrow :)

Love,
Sarah and (too tired to blog) Jim

We're off to see the Redwoods!

2007-03-10T08:59:00.000-08:00

This is Scott, making a guest appearance to bring you this important message: we're off to see the Redwoods, bye!

Safe in Sunnyvale

2007-03-10T01:38:00.000-08:00

Just a quick post since we're really tired and we need to get up early to get to the redwoods!

A quick recap:

-stray kitties outside the hotel are cute
-stopped so Jim could see the Great Salt Lake
-stopped to make our salads at a rest stop and it turned out to be the Bonneville Salt Flats (beautiful, actually)
-Northern Nevada is beautiful. Very hilly and mountainous, not what I was expecting
-Good weather
-We got much better gas mileage since there wasn't much wind and California was all downhill
-Took ourselves on a tour of Reno. I got my shoes, and we got to see "the strip". It's cute.
-It was dark, but it was a trip to see a ski resort and then palm trees an hour later
-Scott's place is very new and nice. He says we're allowed to go into Google, I'm psyched!

So I love you all and never fear, we are safe and sound and content.

Love,
Sarah and (almost sleeping) Jim

California here we come

2007-03-09T08:41:00.000-08:00

It's 9:42am, and had I not tried to start the computer to tell you we were leaving on time, we'd be leaving on time. :)

Does Jesus know he's such a commodity?

2007-03-08T22:14:00.000-08:00

We're safe and sound in Salt Lake City. Our tummies are full. Jim's back (although stiff) survived round one, however I did have to massage his shoulder a little bit :)

In usual Sarah and Jim style, we were a little overly optimistic about our departure time. I guess that's why I padded the travel times (a lot), so it's alright. While we *did* get up early like we wanted to (6am), yesterday's getting ready activities just took too long. By the time we were done doing car maintenance, signing and copying jim's new job forms, finishing laundry, updating the itinerary and getting maps ready, getting food ready (our goal is to eat out as little as possible, if we save enough out of the budget we can go see a Cirque show in Vegas!), running to the bank and post office, getting everything to go so that Brandon could watch the animals... it was midnight and time to go to bed, without having packed yet. We didn't want a repeat of the last trip, where we only got 3 hours of sleep and Jim was super cranky pants (and I cried because I get emotional).

I'm proud to say we were both rested well enough that we did perfectly fine in the mad rush to get everything packed in the morning. Finding our camping stuff was an adventure... but a mere four and a half hours later (10:30) we were ready to go. Oy. By the time we got to Longmont and I waited for my shots (it's busier later in the morning) and stopped at Walgreens for the few things we forgot... we didn't officially hit the road until 12:30. I had wanted it to be 9:30.

The good news? The car was pleased to serve us without error thus far. We ended up taking Jim's car instead of mine, so we could go faster. We only took one break the whole way there to fuel up (etc) and make some sandwiches, so we made it to the salt lake exit in 6.5 hours.

All the way through Wyoming and Utah I saw tons of "Jesus" paraphernalia. "JESUS is the answer" bumper stickers. "ESCAPE. Jesus Christ." billboards (It had the temple on it, but it looked like an ad for Disney Land or something). "I (heart) JESUS". There were more. I don't remember. It makes me wonder how Jesus feels about being slapped across bumper stickers and billboards. Tacky. But you can go to your local gas station and buy yourself some Jesus. I wonder if that makes you holier than me, having a Jesus bumper sticker. Too bad I doubt the profits go to charity.

Things were flying. I always think of wind when I think of Wyoming, and today was no exception. First it was the Flying J (ironic, yes, I know) truck flobbling on the road, then the cardboard that flew out of the truck in front of us and smacked the bumper enough to make a giant thud and scratch the clear coat. There was a weird patch of low-lying clouds that produced rain/snow/sleet with lots of wind... but it was eerily quite beautiful as the rest of the day had been sunny and even through this cloud the sun was poking through... it was bright. It was beautiful, and only lasted 10 or 15 minutes. The rest of the trip was sunny skies with lots of puffy clouds (and more wind).

Anyway, I was trying to stay hopeful most of the trip but gave up about 5:00 and called Uncle Blake's number. Nathan (the youngest) answered, and told me Blake was at work but gave me Reanna. So I apologized and said that I thought we'd be there around 7:30 instead of 6:30.

We hit the exit ramp at 7:00, so I thought we were golden. The plan was to check into the hotel so we were sure to have our key if they closed, then to drive to Uncle Blake's a mere 10 minutes away. Never fear, it can never be that easy... Mapquest to the rescue.

I'm not even going to tell you how many streets were named differently than Mapquest said, how many times it wasn't lit enough that we could read it, or how many times we turned around. Then we finally saw the La Quinta sign, then spent another 20 minutes trying to get to it... one of those deals. We finally got there, checked in, found Uncle Blake's house by 7:45... and it turns out it's right by where we turned off of the interstate. 40 minutes. We could have been there 40 minutes before. Grr.

Well, turns out that "work" for Uncle Blake is in Europe starting today, so he wasn't there ;o) Maybe the next time! I did get to spend time with Aunt Reanna, Aunt Teresa, Tim, Tyler, and Missy. Nathan made a few appearances. Yes, they've all grown and are ridiculously tall. I told Tim that the last time I saw him he was in Kindergarten, and he said that all he remembered from Kindergarten was that backpack! Haha, that's hilarious, because all I remember about him is how much he LOVED that backpack and refused to take it off. Anyway, I thought Tawny would be there but it must not have worked out, and Christina sent me a text and said she was going to try to come but never made it. Oh well, it was a nice dinner. We did lots of catching up, but I feel like we must have done most of the talking. They were too good at asking questions! I'm really glad we did it, though, and I hope that they'll want to see us again. And yes, I tried to convince all of the kids to go on Semester at Sea. Hey, Aunt Reanna brought it up!

So we made it back to La Quinta with no problems because I think we have the area memorized now, we just had to figure it out first. Haha. We are safe and we love you.

Tomorrow will be smoother, as it's midnight now and we're going to bed. Wake up time is 8am so we'll get full rest, there's a continental breakfast, then we'll head out. I had also forgotten about the time change (to our advantage) on the way to California, so we should make pretty good time. If there's enough time, I want to see if I can't pick up a new pair of tennis shoes in Reno... I figured out that all of mine are dead when I tried to pack. The newest ones are three or four years old, and have worked at kiddie kandids, done yard work, gone around the world, around central america, on three road trips and to New York twice... it's time.

Love,
Sarah (and an already sleeping Jimmy)

Itinerary and Contact Info

2007-03-07T23:33:00.000-08:00

This is our updated tentative itinerary (guaranteed to be modified):

Thursday, March 8th, 2007:
-7:30-8:00am: get out of the door
-8:30-9:30am: get allergy shots in Longmont
-9:30am: depart for Salt Lake City, UT
-5:30pm: estimated arrival in Salt Lake vicinity (530 mi, ~8 hours incl. stops)
-6:30pm: Dinner at Uncle Blake's
-11:30pm: bed time at the La Quinta Inn Layton
Contacts:
Uncle Blake
3360 N. 2550 E.
Layton, UT 84040
801.771.2830
La Quinta Inn Salt Lake City Layton (Reservation under Jim Harris)
1965 North 1200 West
Layton, UT 84041
866.725.1661

Friday, March 9th, 2007:
-7:30am: wake up
-8:30am: breakfast?
-9:30am: depart for Sunnyvale, CA (Scott's place)
-5:30pm: stop in Reno, NV for dinner and rest
-11:00pm: estimated arrival in Sunnyvale (783 mi, ~13.5 hours incl. stops)
-12:00pm: bed time
Contacts:
Scott Williams
730 E Evelyn Ave. apt. 216
Sunnyvale, CA 94086
970.227.4537

Saturday, March 10th, 2007:
-8:00am: wake up/kidnap Scott
-9:00am: depart for Humboldt Redwoods State Park, CA
-2:30pm: arrive at Burlington Campground (269 mi, ~5.5 hours incl. stops)
-3:00pm: set up camp (spot #037BU)
-hiking and taking pictures
-6:12pm: watch the sun set
-whatever, i'm not telling you when we're eating dinner this night, it's camping!
Contacts:
Humboldt Redwoods State Park (Reservation under Sarah Cantrell)
P.O. Box 100
Weott, CA 95571
720.946.2409
www.humboldtredwoods.org

Sunday, March 11th, 2007:
-DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME! Lose one hour, do not pass go.
-7:27am: watch the sun rise
-breakfast, hiking and taking pictures
-12:00pm: check out time for campground
-lunch
-we'll find something cool to do
-3:00pm: depart for Sunnyvale
-8:30pm: arrive Sunnyvale

Monday, March 12th, 2007:
-Spend the day around San Francisco.
-See Alcatraz?
-Eat sushi.
-Spend evening with Scott

Tuesday, March 13th, 2007:
-San Francisco
-Spend evening with Scott

Wednesday, March 14th, 2007:
-San Francisco OR Santa Cruz/Monterey if we are bored with SanFran.
-10:00pm: early bed time

Thursday, March 15th, 2007:
-6:00am: wake up
-6:30am: depart for Las Vegas, NV
-4:00pm: arrive in Las Vegas (542 mi, ~9.5 hours incl. stops)
-4:30pm: check into the Luxor on the strip
-Vegas stuff
Contacts:
Luxor Hotel & Casino (Reservation under Jim Harris)
3900 Las Vegas Boulevard South
Las Vegas, NV 89119
702.262.4100

Friday, March 16th, 2007:
-Vegas Stuff
-Catch the light show downtown?
-Check into America's Best Value Inn--Las Vegas
Contacts:
America’s Best Value Inn—Las Vegas (Reservation under Sarah Cantrell)
167 East Tropicana Ave.
Las Vegas, NV US 89109-7306
702.795.3311

Saturday, March 17th, 2007:
-9:00am: wake up
-10:00am: depart for Broomfield, CO
-9:00pm: arrive at home! (750 mi, ~11 hours including stops)

I'm not one to hold a clipboard with the checklist and keep times to a T, this is just a general structure. Things can and will change. Hurray!

HOW TO CONTACT US (and other important info.):
Sarah's Cell: 720.261.8237
Jim's Cell: 720.317.8850
Car: Green 1999 Acura Integra, Colorado #MBC6336 (as requested, mom)
Brandon Buck: 970.214.6339 (watching animals)
Jay : 720.284.1648 (neighbor)

Road Trip to California: 3/8-3/17

2007-03-05T15:46:00.000-08:00

We're road trippin' to California.

Jim and I have been talking about doing a road trip all along the 101 on the west coast for a long time. When we found out that he was being laid off on March 7th, we thought that it would be the perfect time to do a road trip. While we've been considering this for some time, we couldn't make any solid plans because Jim got a great job offer (hurray!)... but without a confirmed start date. Would it be March 12th or March 19th? We didn't find out until last Friday, the 2nd, that we COULD take a road trip after all... he starts on the 19th!

I started planning our route as soon as I heard the word "go". We would head out of Denver to Salt lake, then up to Boise, up to Seattle or maybe even Vancouver, head down the 101 to Portland, along the California coast to San Francisco, then out to Vegas and back home. Just what I've always wanted to do... but wait a minute. That's over 60 hours of travel time in just over a week. We'd be pretty cranky... that trip needs at least two or three weeks. And we wanted to see Crater Lake in Oregon... that will be covered in snow this time of year. Scratch the 101, that will have to wait for another time. Hmm... what to do now?

We decided to still make San Francisco our destination... I only got to see it briefly on a layover (see Semester at Sea blog haha), we'd like some place that's a little springier, and my friend Scott just moved there. It's only a 4-5 hour drive to the Red Wood forest from there, something I've always wanted to see. We can stop to see my family in Utah on the way out, and stop in Vegas on the way back. Bingo.

And so it begins...

2007-03-05T15:44:00.000-08:00

I mostly made this for the parents, so that you can keep track of us and won't have to worry so much. I figure that we can keep using this blog any time we travel... be it by car, plane, bus, whatever. Enjoy!