Northern Peru

One uneventful border crossing and 19 hours on the bus later, we arrived in Trujillo, Peru. We didn´t really know what there was to do in Trujillo, but we had reached our busing tolerance and decided to call it quits for a bit.

Trujillo/Huanchaco
Turns out Trujillo is an urban, dirty city. Not to worry though because for about thirty cents you can take a bus out to a little tourist beach town named Huanchaco just a few kilometers away. The best thing about Huanchaco was that they served Peruvian food and not Ecuadorian food! Obviously, we were not suprised by this fact, just really, really happy because Peruvian food is significantly better than Ecuadorian food.. like they aren´t even on the same scale. Our favorite Peruvian food is called lomo saltado, which is basically a beef stir-fry served over rice and french fries. They also have great ceviche and grilled chicken and other strange dishes and it usually costs between $1-$5 for a full meal!

Sunsets on the beach!

The native people use these really cool canoes made of reeds to go fishing. I am pretty sure this tradition dates back to before Incan times.

More sunsets!

We pretty much just messed around and rested for 3 days, but it was really nice.

Keegan had his first Pisco Sour, a mixed drink native to Chile and Peru. It is made of pisco (a grape based liquor), egg whites, lime and other magic delicious ingredients.

 I also gave Keegan a haircut because it was time...

Before.

During.

After! 

The only other thing we did in Huanchaco was to visit the pre-Incan ruins of Chan Chan. Apparently it is among the largest remaining adobe ruins in the world. We didn´t feel like springing for a guide, so I can´t tell you much more than that. It checks out though, the ruins spread for 6 square kilometers!

Huaraz

After 3 days we figured it was time to move on, but we didn´t have a plan. We met a group of travelers (2 girls from University of Washington, a guy from Vail and a guy from Canada) who convinced us to go to the nearby town of Huaraz with them. We hopped on a night bus and arrived the next morning. We found a really cheap hostel and a pretty cheap tour to take us the next day on a hike out into the national park. Huaraz is apparently known as the Alps or the Switzerland of Latin America. It definitely did not disappoint.

The goal of the hike was to reach a high mountain lake called Laguna 69. The hike started at 12,800ft and ended over 15,000ft. Keegan took 1000 photos so I´ll let them do the talking.

Not the Laguna! Just a lake we stopped by on the way.

It was cold! But I got this awesome Marmot knock-off jacket for $20 at a market in Huaraz (Keegan´s is knock-off Colombia. We know they are knock-offs because the zipper on Keegan´s men´s jacket says "LOVE". But they are waterproof, warm and cheap so we don´t care.)

There are lots of glaciers on the tops of the mountains, so down below there were lots of neat rivers and waterfalls.

And lots of cows.

Not the lake either, but we were about 45 minutes away still and we kind of wished it was the lake.

As we got closer, we got into the glaciers.

First peak at the lake!

It was SO beautiful and blue. We were the first people to the top by about 20-30 minutes so we had it to ourselves! In the middle of the picture is a big waterfall running down from the glaciers.

Another cool thing was that every 5 minutes or so you could hear the glaciers cracking. Makes you feel pretty small thinking about those enormous glaciers!

We had avocado sandwiches and cookies for lunch

We were hot from hiking at first, but right after this picture we threw on every warm thing we had brought.

The hike was amazing and beautiful and a great work out. That night we jumped on a night bus to Lima. Since we have a layover for a few days in Lima at the end of the trip, we decided not to stay. We immediately hopped on a day bus bound for the town of Ica in south/central Peru. Lots of busing! We forgot to account for the fact that the southern part of the continent is huge so I think long bus rides are going to start being the norm unfortunately.

Passports!!

We arrived in Guayaquil, dirty and tired, at 7am. We headed to a hostel to drop our bags off and then hopped in a cab to the U.S. Embassy. What we did not realize was that it was Colombus Day, so after 30 minutes in a cab we arrived to find the embassy all but abandoned. Blasted! 

There isn´t really anything cool to do in Guayaquil. It is the biggest city in Ecuador, but for tourists it is pretty much just the gateway to the Galapagos.

There is a park in the middle of the city with giant iguanas, so that was pretty cool

The next day we went back to the embassy and finally, actually got our passports!!! As a bonus, the man at the Quito embassy had thought to order us the one with extra pages, free of charge. 

In conclusion, Guayaquil is not that exciting. We hopped on a night bus that night, bound for Peru!! 

Ecuador was so beautiful, awesome and fun, but we were happy to have passports so that we could continue on our journey southward. (We still have a lot of ground to cover over the next 2 months!)

Latacunga, for real!

We got into Latacunga at a decent hour and managed to easily find the only backpacker hostel in town. It was particularly important to find a backpacker hostel in Latacunga because they will hold your bags for you (very important since we were about to embark on a 3 day trek, we didn´t want to be carrying anything unnecessary.) This was actually a big accomplishment for us because 90% of the time we set out looking for one hostel or hotel, but end up giving up and checking into the first one we find. Since Latacunga only has one backpacker hostel, the stakes were high.

Latacunga is just the jumping off point for the "Quilotoa Loop", our goal destination. We stayed one day in the town to get prepared for the hike, and then took off on an early morning bus the following day. The loop takes 1-4 days depending on what combination of buses and hiking you do, as well as how much of the loop you do. We aimed for doing the full loop in 3 days (and we actually did it!)

It didn´t take long on this adventure for excitement to strike. The bus was supposed to be 25 cents from Latacunga to Saquisili. I was misinformed and paid 60 cents for Keegan and I, which the bus driver accepted. Keegan was sitting in a different seat and didn´t realize I had paid for him, so he paid another 30 cents. The lady sitting next to Keegan was OUTRAGED that the bus driver overcharged us. I heard her talking to Keegan and I told her that, indeed we had been ripped off. She turned to Keegan and aggressively said "te ayudo" (I am going to help you.) She starting inciting the passengers around us and the outraged mounted. She demanded the bus driver give us the extra money back and he eventually (since he really had no choice) gave us 25 cents back. The lady seemed satisfied (she didn´t see how much I had paid, so she didn´t realize we were still short 15 cents) and we were definitely satisfied because.. yeah it was 40 cents.

So we get to Saquisili after about 20-30 minutes. We were really fortunate that the timing worked out such that we could visit the enormous Thursday market in the town. The market was  particularly fun because it was in no way oriented towards tourists. Instead of every person trying to sell us some trinket, we were largely ignored and just got to be bystanders of the action. There are 7 or 8 plazas that host different aspects of the market. Because we had limited time (arrived at 9am and had to leave on the only bus out at 11am) and maps are definitely not available, we only found 3 of the plazas. However, in the three plazas we saw people selling everything imaginable, it was basically like Walmart, only with MORE stuff! One thing that you couldn´t find at Walmart is all of the live animals. There were tons of live animals for sale including rabbits and guinea pigs (yep, guinea pigs are an Ecuadorian delicacy! We actually never tried any because it is pretty expensive) and of course, chicken, cows, pigs, llamas, etc. The only thing we bought was lunch in one of the plazas, which was delicious and more importantly, incredibly cheap.

(pictures are limited because they had to be taken in stealth mode since we were trying to be as non-intrusive as possible.)

lunch

someone´s lunch, but not ours!

Beautiful views from the bus

So then, we boarded the next bus ($2) to Isinlivi, 3 hours away. When got off the bus and watched it drive away, we both secretly got a little nervous. I had verified in Spanish with the bus assistant and passengers that this was Isinlivi,but it pretty much looked like a ghost town. Two kids were playing across the street from us, and, as a Hail Mary, I asked them if they knew of a hostel nearby. They said, "yeah of course, just down the way" but we were still super doubtful. Sure enough though, within one minute we found the hostel which was actually incredibly nice and had a beautiful view of the valley. Not only was the hostel nice, but it was cheap and completely empty save for one super hospitable Belgian girl that was volunteering there. We paid $18 each which included a bed, unlimited and helpful trail maps (we lost the one we had originally been given basically immediately in Saquisili), a 3 course dinner and a full breakfast. The dinner was possibly the best thing we have eaten so far.

View from the hostel

llamas everywhere

(A funny aside: somehow I missed the fact that the dinner was three courses. The first course was a pot of lentil soup. I looked at how small it was and thought "Wow I am going to have to eat a lot of soup if I´m not going to starve." My fourth helping in, Keegan and the Belgian girl looked at my like I was insane and asked how I was going to have room for the rest of the meal. Oops! Big mistake too because the main course was some sort of delicious cheesy chicken lasagna thing. I made room though, I just fell into a food coma afterwards.)

We slept hard that night and woke up early to hit the trail. A lot of places online told us we should buy some small candy to give to the kids along the way, so we hit a store on the way out of town (more like part tiny store, part one bedroom house) where we were sold 20 pieces of candy for $1 by an adorable old woman. And then we hit the trail!

The map was wonderful and we didn´t get lost hardly at all. We were told to expect 4-6 hours of hiking. We were pretty proud of ourselves when we arrived at the next town in just under 4 hours! The hike was really difficult though, we started at 9,700 feet and ended at 10,500. The hardest part was that it started to downpour about 45 minutes out. We arrived in Chugchilan incredibly tired and hungry.

Chugchilan is the second most touristy of the towns on the loop (and by that I mean there are more than one option for hostels because people can arrive by car without actually hiking.) We opted for one that was mid-range expensive, $15/night including breakfast and dinner. The town of Chugchilan was tiny, but not a ghost town like Isinlivi. After a warm shower and a mini nap, we explored the town which took approximately 15 minutes and then went back to the hostel.

Nothing really eventful happened that night (the dinner was a predictable one course with dessert, so no problems there for me.) We slept like logs and prepared for the next leg of the journey. Foolishly, I thought this leg would be easier, but I was definitely wrong.

This leg of the journey was where the altitude gain comes in. We started at 10,500 feet and ended above 12,800. The part that you think is the hard, altitude-gaining part (15 steep switch backs) is actually NOT the hard part! That comes at the very end when you have to scale to the top of the volcano. It rained again, but not quite as bad as the day before luckily. 

When the rain came in we were just outside of a small town, so we sought refuge under a covered cement soccer court to put on our rain gear. Some boys aged 7-9 were playing soccer and REALLY wanted us to play with them. I first placated them with candy, but eventually caved. I was so tired from hiking and the altitude I could only play for a few minutes before I was totally winded. They were happy to have the attention though.

We arrived in the tiny town of Quilotoa thoroughly exhausted. Mercifully, about 30 minutes out, you get a little teaser to remind you what you did this whole hike for in the first place! It pretty much takes your breath away when you get the first view of the lake.

We still had to walk half way around the crater but at least we would get to have this view.

We jumped into the first hostel we found, which was probably not the best idea. Quilotoa is the most touristy town and actually has some nice hostels, but we did not stay at one of the nice ones. For $10 a night (plus dinner and breakfast) we got a bed with a private bathroom, but no heating. A big issue since its pretty dang cold at night. We thought we were going to freeze, but luckily the bed had 5 huge, thick blankets on it, so we managed to stay pretty warm. It was actually really fun staying there though because it was much more like a homestay. We were the only guests and we ate dinner with the family (mom, dad, older brother around 18, younger sister who was 9.) We watched a Mexican tv show with them at dinner and got to chat with them in Spanish a bit too. (Great side story: the tv show they watched was actually borderline racist against the U.S.! One character was named "Super Sam" and he looked very similar to Uncle Sam. He fought unsuccessfully tried to fight villains with a bag full of money as a weapon, although he never defeated anyone- the main character always had to save the day, and he could always be distracted by someone telling him there was money to be found somewhere. Keegan and I watched for awhile and then we were like "hey wait!!)

We knew that we were too exhausted to hike down to the lake that day (I think my legs would have given out and they would have had to drag me out with a mule) so we just looked down from above as the sunset. Definitely not a bad view.

We got so lucky, the clouds cleared for just a few minutes so you could see some of the volcanoes in the distance!

The next morning, we felt a little better and headed down to the lake. I really wanted to rent kayaks to paddle out, but the place wasn´t open yet.We were trying to make a bus that left at 10am so we didn´t have time to wait around.

More llamas, for good measure.

Even the best laid plans don´t work out though. It was a Sunday, and on Sundays the bus schedule is different and consequently, no one seemed to know it. The 10am bus never came and we started to doubt whether we´d get on a bus. Lots of pick-up truck drivers will taxi people between towns so we hopped in one for $2.50 each. By the time we got to the next town, Zumbahua, we had picked up 4 more passengers (ya it was crowded.) From there it worked perfectly, we only waited about 5 minutes for the bus back to Latacunga. After about an hour and a half we arrived in Latacunga, retrieved our bags from the hostel, and found a night bus to take us to Guayaquil so we could finally pick up our new passports!! 

For the visual learners out there: We went counterclockwise starting in the bottom right (Latacunga). The first day we took two buses. The second day we hiked. The third day we hiked. The last morning we took the truck and the bus back.

One last picture!! Agh, so beautiful!

Latacunga... eventually

We boarded a bus from Baños bound for Quito that would drop us off in Latacunga, the gateway to a great hiking loop we have been really excited about doing. The plan was to spend 3 days hiking the loop and then to head back to Quito to pick up Keegan´s debit card, which we found out had just been delivered to our hostel there. 2 hours into the 3 hour journey Keegan looked at my still very swollen foot and asks if it wouldn´t be better to go to Quito first to pick up the card and give my foot an extra day to heal. Seems logical to me. We stay pay the bus driver an extra dollar fifty each and in 3 more hours we arrive in Quito. Talk about spontaneity.

After checking back into our hostel we are told, to our dismay, that the debit card has not arrived. Shit. We retreat to our room to investigate. When we log into the wifi we immediately receive emails that our passports are ready, over a week early! Great news! (Unfortunately we had them shipped to Guayaquil in the south, so we have to go chase them down there later.) Even better, 15 minutes later Keegan´s debit card arrives. Hurray! So, feeling very happy, we settle into our room for a chill night because we have big plans for the morning: riding the TeleferiQo (a gondola that leaves from Quito), climbing Volcan Pichincha (at 15,696 feet), and then getting an afternoon bus to Latacunga. We met our roommates that night, an American guy and a friend he´d picked up whose name we never learned because he was introduced to us as The Italian Rambo. The description fit, the dude was massive and seriously a character. He carried his backpack on his shoulder, he always had a massive leatherman knife strapped to his waist, and he showed us where he stored his money: in a flap sewed into the back of his underwear. Italian Rambo heard of our plans to climb Pichincha the next day and invited himself (and later his Swiss friend, Sara, who was staying at a hostel just down from ours.) We couldn´t really say no because he is Italian Rambo.

The next morning we hop out of bed early and head for the TeleferiQo. Italian Rambo, as it turns out, is afraid of heights. So that was an interesting and hilarious character development. The TeleferiQo drops you off at 13,400ft and that is where we began to hike. Unbeknownst to us, we IMMEDIATELY took the wrong trail (labeling trails doesn´t really seem to be a priority in Ecuador.) After about 30-40 minutes of hiking we can see the trail we should be on and we can also see that we are not really on any trail at all. At this point Italian Rambo is really struggling with the altitude. Muscle mass doesn´t matter when you are from Sicily and you don´t pack enough water or snacks. It is also at this point that Sara tells us she has had knee surgery and might not be able to make it to the top.. double face palm. Because we still want to make it to Latacunga at a reasonable hour, we kindly leave our friends behind and highly encourage them to turn back, which they eventually did. Heading off solo we make way better time and start getting into some serious hiking. As will happen when you are over 14000ft, the weather turned sour quickly. Another group of hikers told us we were only 15 minutes from the top, so we pushed on at the point where we were about to throw in the towel. 10 minutes later the rain gets heavier and fog starts to move in so thick that we can´t see the trail for more than 15 feet. That was our cue. We were probably only 5 minutes from the top but we didn´t know the way, it was´t well marked, we certainly couldn´t see it, and we still had to hike down. We called it quits (there are always other days and other peaks) and high-tailed it out of there. What took us 4 hours to get up, only took about an hour to get down. 

Early in the hike we got charged by a damn llama! I didn´t even know llamas did that. The only reason this is significant is because I turn around as the llama is coming at us and Italian Rambo already has his knife out somehow. I actually had to say "Do not stab that llama" and he actually replied "why?" Italian Rambo was an amazing creature. (No llamas or people were hurt luckily.)

You´ll notice me off in the middle of no where. This was us getting back on the right trail and also the point where we left our friends behind.

The fog moved around a lot. One minute was clear, the next was super foggy again.

Somewhere in there was our destination

Blue skies kept making us hopefully, but they were just trickery!

We think just over that ledge was the top, but we couldn´t see anything and we couldn´t be sure. Not worth the risk.

Luckily we packed a lot of snacks, water and warm clothes so we could keep smiling despite the weather.

We jetted back to the hostel to get our bags and then piled onto a very crowded public transport down to the bus terminal where we hopped on a bus bound for Latacunga. This time we would definitely make it to Latacunga, the place we were most excited for in Ecuador, without any more delays!!!!

This is all we´ve got between the two of us. Makes packing up pretty easy!