Eric and Mariah’s Travel Adventure

Egypt - Western Desert and Alexandria

2010-01-24T17:22:00.000-08:00

After over a week of exploring along the Nile, we headed west into the vast Sahara desert. This part of the trip wasn't quite as exciting, as it included a lot of time getting from A to B.

Day one, we had our own small bus and drove 8 hour to Dakhla Oasis. The desert scenery is beautiful in its own right, but also

generally monotonous after a number of hours. In Dakhla, we stayed in a simple hotel and enjoyed a few course standard Egyptian meal for dinner at the end of a long day. The highlight was watching the sun set from the rooftop and waving at the small children who jumped up and down, enthusiastically calling "he-llo, he-llo" every time they'd see us peak our heads over the side.

Day two was part bus, part 4WD. We made a stop in the morning at an incredibly well-preserved medieval mud-brick city called Al-Qasr - the former capital of Dakhla Oasis. As we wandered through the narrow passageways and ducked into small houses and buildings, we felt like we were in an Indiana Jones movie. After lunch, we piled into three 4WD jeeps, which would be our mode of transport for the next two days. We headed north to the White Desert, a national park known for it's unique chalky-white

limestone formations. After taking artistic and silly

photos with the numerous rock formations, we parked our jeeps in a U-shape to make camp for the night. We watched another beautiful sunset over the desert, but it didn't even compare to the brilliance of the night sky. The night we spent in the White Desert was another highlight of the trip. We had a delicious camp-fire prepared dinner and sat around the fire drinking tea and enjoying the hookah past dark. Then we laid out our sleeping bags between the jeeps and watched shooting stars and a glowing milky way. I intentionally tried to wake up every couple hours so I could peak open my eyes and look at the stars as the night sky

drifted by. It was quiet and peaceful - with the big dipper and thousands of other stars shining above to remind us that we are only one small being within an unfathomable universe.

Day three was all about 4-wheel driving! Our drivers took us down sand dunes, through rocky patches and choppy roads, and

over numerous hills of sand. We ventured through the Black Desert and climbed to the top of a sizable black hill/mountain to look out on dozens of other black hills/mountains. We got first-hand experience of adventuring in the desolation of the desert and were thankful for being in a jeep instead of on foot! By the end of the day, we arrived to the town of Bawiti in Bahariya Oasis. We

again arrived in the early evening so didn't have too much time for exploring the town. Eric and I took a walk down the main street to buy some snacks for the following day and to browse around some of the shops. A couple young boys gladly engaged Eric in some soccer drills - getting him to kick the ball back and forth across the road with them as we all made our way down the street. We had another relaxing evening on the hotel rooftop after dinner, chatting with others from our group over a couple beers (which we bought from the one shop that sold beer in town).

Day four was another long day on the road. We spent 8 hours in the jeep with few stops making our way through the military-owned slice of desert between Bawiti and Siwa Oasis. Every hour or two, we stopped at a military check point, and now and then would stop for a stretch break. The road is extremely bad most of the way, so there is no other option than a 4WD jeep. Sometimes

we drove on the road, but a good part of the time, we ventured off of it (or what's left of it) and made our own path through the desert. There was definitely some fun 4-wheel-driving! We stopped for lunch under a huge limestone rock formation that was peppered with sand dollar and shell fossils. It was clear this was at one time the bottom of the ocean, pretty incredible to imagine. Some of the landscape was also quite impressive - extremely expansive, but also varied in all ways that a desert can be - sand dunes, rock formations, flat and barren, etc. We did have a few complications along the way - one of our jeeps was a lemon. It got a flat tire, was leaking fuel and had some major exhaust problems. In fact, it ran out of gas towards the end of the day and had to be towed behind the second jeep for the remainder of the trip into town. Let's just say that when its passengers got out of the car with sand caked on their sunglasses and in their hair and their lungs filled with fumes, they were not too happy. Eric and I lucked out and rode in the front jeep, which had the most experienced (and fastest) driver and a good bill of health. We felt bad for the others and had to turn around a few times over the course of the journey to go back and find out what issue they were confronting "this time." It certainly added some interest to the day. When we arrived to Siwa Oasis, we hurried to make the sunset from the top of the ancient citadel...another incredibly well-preserved mud-brick city. Our hotel was

in the main town down below and we were thrilled to have dinner at a restaurant that had greater variety (and quality) of food than we'd had the last number of days. And we were excited to spend the next day exploring the famed city of Siwa - the historic sites, natural springs and surrounding desert.

Day five started early - 12AM. There was a rumble in the tumble and then the food poisoning hit full on. First me, then Eric. The next morning, I peaked my head into the hallway and found a gathering of other sickies emerging from their rooms, asking, "You sick too?" Turns out eight of the fourteen of us fell ill...after a lengthy conversation recounting all possible causes, we narrowed it down to the cucumbers we had eaten at lunch the day before on

our 4WD adventure in the desert. This was definitely a cherry on top (of misery) for the poor people in the lemon jeep! The only people who didn't get sick either didn't eat the cucumbers or didn't have many. While we would have loved to join the excursions of the day, there was no way. The vomiting may have ceased, but we still felt like crap. So, like most others on the trip, we crawled back into our extremely uncomfortable beds, sinking into the mushy hole in the center and laying our heads our brick pillows, and settled in for the day. We slept, read, and stared at the ceiling. After lunch time (there would be no eating), Eric and I ventured up to the rooftop to enjoy the view and to test if we were well enough for some site seeing. After 10 minutes, we decided no go. I did finally get up for a couple hours around 3PM and went downstairs to find a "healthy" groupie, Mavis, and she agreed to come with me to slowly roam the streets and shops in the immediate vicinity. After a cup of tea at the end of our short adventure, I went back to the room for a nap before dinner, which was a gathering of zombies who ate very little, except for the five people who did go on the excursions and had a great time. Darn. Well, what can you do? So we were sick in Siwa. At least it was memorable, and we did observe and take in as much as possible from the rooftop, the nearby street and citadel, and by reading the guidebook about all the cool things there that we wouldn't see. Everyone was happy to go to bed and start afresh the next day.

Day six we headed to the Mediterranean coast and the city of Alexandria, founded by none other than Alexander the Great. On the way, we stopped at the World War II memorial and museum for the battle of Alamein, which was a major turning point for the Allies in the African

campaign. I had not known of this important battle and it was interesting to learn the history and sobering to walk around the cemetery of thousands of Allied soldiers from the Common Wealth and Egypt. We arrived to Alexandria in the late afternoon, in time to head to the local coffee shop to catch the football (soccer) match between Egypt and Nigeria where Egypt beat their opponent 3-1. I actually only joined for the tail end of the game along with Kim from our group to meet up with the others and by a stroke of luck, Egypt scored their final and third goal about a minute after we entered. The coffee shop owner jumped for joy and proclaimed to everyone in the room that we were surely tokens of good luck! It was pretty hilarious. We dined that night on fresh local seafood, which was delicious, though we didn't pig out since our stomachs were still just a bit queasy from the day prior.

Day seven was a full day in Alexandria. We met our local guide, Shireen, at 9AM and spent the first half the day touring the local sites of interest, including the Roman catacombs, a Greek amphitheater, Pompey's Pillar and the site of the ancient lighthouse (one of the seven wonders of the ancient world until it was destroyed by an earthquake in the fourteenth century). Shireen had moved to the U.S. with her family when she was 19 and only returned to Egypt in her twenties because she married her childhood sweetheart who wanted to stay in Alexandria. She was more Westernized than many of the other Egyptians we had met and it was interesting to hear her perspective on the country, culture, etc. We split with a few others from our group before the full tour ended because we wanted to walk the distance of the harbor along the boardwalk. We encountered a number of Egyptian youths along our way that were quite interested in us and asked to take photos with us, talk with us, and even exchange emails with a couple of us. We had a seafood pasta lunch at a restaurant with a great view of the water and had fresh mango juice at a local juice bar for dessert. After a few hours of wandering, we returned to

join the group for a celebratory dinner at a nice seafood restaurant (to celebrate our last night together and a couple birthdays) and enjoyed birthday cake at a seaside coffee shop before heading back to the hotel.

Day eight was officially the last day of our trip. We rose early and caught a 3-hour train back to Cairo. Once we got back to our starting hotel, we said our goodbyes and people went in various directions. It had been a great group and we met some wonderful friends. We spent the remainder of the day and evening with our Kiwi friends - Paul, Jacinta and Mavis - and our

Austrian friend Markus, roaming through the Khan el-Khalili bazaar once again to pick up last souvenirs and gifts. In the early evening, we headed back to the hotel and had a beer and some last laughs with the Kiwis - Paul and Jacinta just embarked on a trip around the world and we hope to see them in California before they head home next year :). We decided to skip dinner to get some sleep since we had to leave the hotel at 2AM to go to the airport to catch our 4AM flight. It wasn't a restful sleep, but I'd take what I could get before the 24-hour plus journey back home!

All in all, we had an amazing time in Egypt and would definitely recommend it as a destination!

Egypt - The South

2010-01-18T05:22:00.001-08:00

After thirteen hours on an Egyptian train (and some intermittent sleep), we arrived to Egypt's most Southern city - Aswan. The next several days would be spent exploring the area known as Upper Egypt (since the Nile flows north, the northern part of the country is considered Lower Egypt, the southern part is Upper Egypt).

Camel Riding and a Nubian Village

During our first day in Aswan, we ventured out onto the river in a motor boat and cruised along the shores of the Nile, taking in Elephant Island (where they used to import elephants for battle from Southern Africa), a variety of tombs along the western bank and some peaceful wildlife once away from the city. We stopped at a small cafe perched on a cliff for Hibiscus tea and to admire the sand dunes and then hopped back on the

boat in the early evening to motor on to the bank where camels were waiting to take us to a Nubian village for dinner. We each got to ride our own camel (assisted by a "camel boy") across a stretch of desert, watching the sunset behind a hillside where the country's first monastery sits. Riding a camel is not quite as easy as riding a horse...and my eager camel, Lulu, liked to be in front so there was certainly some "trotting" involved. It was a lot of fun and definitely a highlight of the day, though after an hour my backside was ready to disembark.

The camels dropped us off at a Nubian village that sits on the opposite bank of the river from Aswan. The Nubian people have been in this area for thousands of years and were one of ancient Egypt's primary enemies. Now they are officially part of the country, but their traditions and way of life are respected and most of them still live within their own Nubian communities. We were taken to the home of a local Nubian family for dinner. They gave us a tour of the house and prepared a traditional meal that included chicken, fish, soup, vegetable stew and some mushy green stuff that was sort of like spinach, but not quite. After the meal, the man of the house sat with us and described the traditions around Nubian marriages and weddings. The evening concluded with some of the local children coming in to drum, sing and dance with us. One little girl was particularly fond of me and marched right in, took my hands and didn't let go for the rest of the evening. She was quite cute and waved goodbye to me until we were completely out of site from the village.

Abu Simbel

In the wee hours of the next morning (i.e., 3AM), we sleepily boarded a small bus to venture South to the famous temple of Abu Simbel. It is a three-hour drive from Aswan, very near to the Sudanese border and in the heart of the desert. The government requires a daily tourist caravan of the various buses, vans and taxis flanked by tourist police...so there is not a lot of option about departure times. They prefer to leave extremely early so that you arrive around 7AM (before the heat becomes unbearable) and stay for a couple hours to take in the site. The temple was built by Ramses II for himself and he also build an adjacent temple for his wife Nefertari. The structure is colossal and a reminder from Ramses to those entering Egypt from the South that HE is Pharaoh of this land. In addition to his impressive statues outside the temple, the inside is also well preserved and includes a number of rooms and chambers decorated with hieroglyphics, carved scenes of war and offerings to the gods, and more statues. Some of the original paint is also still visible to give you a sense for how it might have looked a couple thousand years earlier.

Sailing the Nile

A highlight of our Egypt trip was the day we spent sailing down the Nile on a felucca (i.e., sailboat). We left late morning and boarded the boat, sprawling across the cushions and preparing for a day of relaxation. We spent the day reading, playing card games and backgammon, napping and hanging out with our group. We docked for lunch on a small island in the middle of the river, but had our meal on the boat, sitting around a plastic tablecloth spread across the cushions. The food on the journey was surprising good thanks to our Nubian chef on board. For the evening, we docked along the east bank - first course of business being to build our "temple" (i.e., toilet). We dug a hole into the ground, placed a toilet seat contraption over the top and surrounded it with a canvas wall. Better than the bushes I suppose. A number of us were put on firewood duty and climbed up the bank and walked into the brushy desert to gather large spiky branches of wood from the bush. We weren't too far from a local village and were passed by a couple local boys hauling loads on their donkeys (donkeys are still a common form of transport throughout the country, with the exception of in Cairo and

Alexandria). The boys snuck to the outskirts of our camp later in the evening to curiously observe the goings on around the fire. After another delicious dinner on the boat, we built a campfire and fired up the hookah. Our Nubian crew got out their drums and sang into the night - they are a very happy and laid back people. The stars were amazing and the moon quite full. We slept on the boat and I woke at 5:30AM as the first call to prayer sang out from the village nearby. I kept my eyes closed, but perked up my ears to listen and take in the the still and quiet, broken only by lapping water against the boat and the devout singing of the prayer. It was so peaceful. I drifted back to sleep again shortly after and rose with the group sometime after 7AM for Nubian pancakes.

Luxor and the Valley of the Kings

After our day on the boat, we headed north a couple hours to visit Egypt's capital from the New Kingdom - Thebes, now known as Luxor. The two major sites in Luxor are Karnak temple, the largest in all of Egypt, and the famous Valley of the Kings. We spent two days here at the Little Garden Hotel, which had a great rooftop area and a garden courtyard. Eric and I got the honeymoon suite on the roof, complete with full size bed (as hard as a rock), red satin bed spread, cheesy decor and mood lighting. It was quite hilarious...except for the fact that the lock was broken and we were constantly getting locked in or out of our room. While staying here, we also met a very friendly Egyptian couple and their two-year-old daughter who were in town for work/vacation from Cairo. They were fascinated with us and asked to video tape us and take photos with their daughter. I and another member from our group, Kim, spent some time chatting with them and learning about their life, work, family and other topics. The man enjoyed smoking Shisha with Eric and the wife shared with me the various ways to prepare Kushari (the local dish I like so much).

We were fortunate to have an excellent guide in Luxor named Shaimaa. She was extremely knowledgeable and kept the group captivated with the history and facts surrounding each ancient site. We visited Karnak Temple near sunset on the first day and were one of the last groups to enter so had the place almost to ourselves. It was a temple that was built and expanded by a number of Pharaohs over time and dedicated to Egypt's primary God during the New Kingdom, Amun-Re. It was the size of several football fields at least and had numerous statues, obelisks, a holy lake, courtyards, inner chambers and the "holy of the holies" - the inner sanctum at the end of the temple where the daily offerings of food and drink were given by the Pharaoh and the high priest to the god. This is also one of the temples where the Coptic Christians took refuge to escape the persecution of the Romans, and as a result, a number of the carved murals of Egyptian gods have been chipped away or defaced.

In addition to our explorations at Karnak, we spent a day venturing to the west bank of the Nile (ancient Egyptians always lived on the east bank, where the sun rises, and buried their dead on the west bank, where the sun sets) to the Valley of the Kings. We visited three tombs in the Valley of the Kings from three different periods of the New Kingdom. It was incredible how well preserved these are...many of them still have vibrant painted and carved murals and the construction of the tombs and chambers deep into the mountainside are impressive. It's worth a read on Wikipedia (link above) to learn more if you're interested. No cameras allowed, so unfortunately no photos to show.

We also did a quick visit to the Valley of the Workers. Contrary to common belief, Egyptologists now believe that highly skilled artisans and workers were hired to build the tombs of the Pharaohs. There are remnants of a village for these workers (the skills passed down from generation to generation) on the west bank and it is believed that they were the only people besides the royal family who knew the locations of the tombs. Commoners from the east bank were not allowed to cross to the west bank and and workers on the west bank were not allowed to cross to the city on the east bank. On their days off (evidence shows they had a 10-day work week and then two days off), they would focus on building and decorating their own tombs. We visited two such tombs and while the chambers are of course much simpler and smaller, the artwork and murals were astounding and almost perfectly preserved.

Our final stop on the west bank was to Hatshepsut's Temple, a grand structure carved into the side of the mountain with the inner sanctum being the only one that contains a passageway deep into the mountain to connect with her tomb on the other side of the mountain. Hatshepsut was one of the few female Pharaohs and ruled for nearly 22 years. With the support of the powerful Amun-Re priests, she took power from her young stepson after the death of her husband. When she died, her stepson, Thutmose III, assumed his place as Pharaoh and became the greatest conquerer of all the Egyptian kings. However, he was quite resentful of his stepmother and set about defacing many of her statues and cartouches to erase her from history so that she wouldn't be able to find her way to the afterlife. Initially, Egyptologists thought the temple was Thutmose's since he replaced her name with his own, but after greater investigation, they uncovered the temple's true owner and were able to learn more about the history.

Onwards to the Western Desert

Following our time in Luxor, we headed west into the desert to visit a number of oases over the next several days...

Egypt - Cairo

2010-01-02T08:56:00.000-08:00

A few days after Christmas, we set off for our latest adventure...to Egypt. While Belize earlier this year was a relaxing, lay-by-the-pool kind of vacation, Egypt promised to be a couple weeks of true "travel" (i.e., maybe not so relaxing, but a lot more exciting). Intrigued by the country's history, culture and of course many famous landmarks, we thought this destination would also be the perfect place to celebrate our second anniversary.

We arrived to Cairo late in the evening on December 29, after 22 hours of grueling flights and layovers. We caught a taxi to our hotel and while the city was still abuzz outside, we decided to have a quite beer (hotels being one of the few places you can buy a beer since this is a Muslim country) and retire early. A couple things we observed before even leaving our room: 1. The city of Cairo only "sleeps" from 3-5 am (when the incessant honking from the streets quiets just slightly), 2. The 5:30 am call to prayer to begin the new day is both a wake-up call, and yet also calming and an admirably spiritual part of this country. So it was at 6AM on December 30th that we crawled out of bed to begin our exploration.

We spent three full days in Cairo...

Day One

We focused on getting our bearings and exploring the city. We started our day in one of the oldest parts of Cairo, where there are remnants of the Babylon pillars and narrow alleyways that lead through the old Coptic Christian neighborhood. We visited a famous Coptic Christian church and had lunch at a small cafe that serves the traditional noodle/rice dish called Kushari (one of my favorites). We then wandered to the site of the first mosque in Cairo and I was asked to wear a funny looking green hooded cape (to cover my hair) while wandering around the place of worship. During the afternoon, we took the metro back towards downtown and a taxi to the Khan el Khalili souk (market) and got lost in the myriad alleyways and streets filled with spices, textiles, perfumes, jewelry, and tourist treasures. Deep inside the bazaar we found Fishawi's Coffee House - one of the oldest in Cairo

serving Turkish coffee, mint tea, and shisha...Eric was in heaven.

We walked back to our hotel on the busy main streets and found a delicious fast food place with excellent beef kebabs for dinner. We completed our evening with a visit to the top floor of an old hotel that has a small cafe on the roof where you can sip fresh fruit juice and tea while taking in the city lights and constant chaos of the streets below.

Day Two - New Year's Eve

Today we ventured out of town about an hour south to visit the sites of the first and last pyramids built at Saqqara and Darshur (not to be confused with the most magnificent and famous pyramids at Giza). We hired a driver from our hotel who took us around all day - with stops of course at the carpet and papyrus factories in hopes of getting

a commission (little did he know we were not the buying type)...though it was interesting to hear the "free" tutorial on each. The museum and pyramids at Saqqara were very interesting - especially since these were the first ancient sites we visited. The credited "father of architecture" Imhotep (the royal architect of the Pharaoh Djoser) built the first pyramid, which was a step pyramid. Originally, it wasn't meant to be a pyramid at all, but since king Djoser lived so long they kept adding levels until it became what it is today. Pharaohs following Djoser improved on the art of pyramid building with the pyramids at Giza being the height of perfection. It's worth noting that pyramids were only used as tombs during the Old Kingdom - third millennium BC - later kings used more nondescript tombs to avoid tomb robbers. Eric and I spent a couple hours wandering around the burial complexes at Saqqara and had a self-proclaimed guide show us through some of the tombs and explain the wall carvings and hieroglyphics (for baksheesh - a tip - of course).

After Saqqara, we made a quick stop at the first capital of Egypt called Memphis. While this city was probably grand in its day, it's more of a village now hosting only a small museum. For our last stop of the day, we visited pyramids built later in the Old Kingdom

at Darshur. The highlight of this site was being able to climb down deep into the center of Pharoah Snofru's Red Pyramid to visit the burial chambers (which are now empty). It was pretty awesome - and a bit eerie - to be standing in an open room in the center of the pyramid...even if it did smell of musty urine. I had to wonder how they got all those treasures into that thing considering the passageway down was incredibly steep, very long, dark and so small you had to crouch the entire way down. Where there is a will, there is a way.

After returning from our day trip, we met up with our travel group at 6PM to begin our Intrepid Travel tour through Egypt. There were 14 of us in total, plus our tour leader, Ahmed Soltan. There were several Aussies, a few Kiwis, a couple Canadians, an Austrian and four of us Americans. It turned out to be a great group and we made some friends we are sure we'll keep in touch with. Our 15-day itinerary (which you will be hearing all about) would take us to Cairo, south to Aswan, down the Nile, to Luxor and the Valley of the Kings, through the Western Desert, to Siwa Oasis, up through Alexandria and back to Cairo. We were ready for a jam-packed couple weeks.

Day Three - New Year's Day...and our 2nd Anniversary

What better way to celebrate two years of marriage than at the pyramids of Giza? :) We got an early start and drove across the bridge to the West bank of the Nile and the outskirts of the city of Giza. There sits the Great Pyramid of Giza (belonging to the Pharaoh Khufu) along with a number of other impressive pyramids belonging to his son, grandson, and their wives. Not to mention the Sphinx of course. We spent the morning roaming the site and marveling at the history and ancient construction of these near-perfect structures. There they have stood for more than 4,000 years...despite earthquakes, sand storms and tomb robbers. Truly breathtaking.

We spent the second half the day at the Egyptian museum where there are thousands of relics - statues, mummies, coffins, jewelry, and all sorts of other treasures. There is almost an entire floor dedicated to what they found in King Tut's tomb - the only intact tomb ever discovered. We had been to the traveling King Tut exhibit in San Francisco just a few days before we left and let's just say that it didn't come close to the grandeur of the King Tut display at the actual Egyptian Museum. It's amazing that so many of the relics of ancient Egypt still exist and have been so well preserved through the ages. It certainly was a mighty and long-lived civilization - and one that's customs, art, science, lifestyle and religion has shaped our current day more than one can imagine.

The only downside to the day was that Eric was battling a stomach bug he most likely picked up from some of the food...so he unfortunately didn't enjoy it as much as he would have liked. But he was a trooper and made it through the day. That night, we boarded an overnight train to Aswan in the south of Egypt. Luckily, he was able to sneak in a few hour nap to recover from the day before we endured 13 hours on the train (without a sleeping cabin).

Stay tuned for more soon...

Belize

2009-05-27T16:37:00.000-07:00

There is something exhilarating about the wind whipping through your hair as the sun shines down on your shoulders and your legs dangle off the front of a boat. Speeding across the varying colors of ocean blue, you feel free, awake and alive – does it get any better? Personally, I think not.

For one week, we have been enjoying the pleasures and paradise of Belize. Last year at this time, we also found ourselves in the Caribbean sipping mojitos and puffing Cuban cigars in the final days of our year of travel. It’s hard to believe nearly one year has passed since we’ve returned home to the U.S. And while a one week vacation doesn’t quite compare to an entire year of travel, it certainly has been wonderful to explore a new place and enjoy some downtime from the fast pace of American life.

We decided to focus this trip primarily on exploring beneath the surface with some quality time for relaxing and reading when out of the water. We set up camp at the Paradise Villas on Ambergeis Caye – a small island off the coast known for it’s incredible scuba diving and laid back culture. Now that we are working full time again, we decided to splurge and rented our own little one bedroom apartment with an excellent balcony looking onto the garden with less than a minute walk to the pool and the beach. The dive shop is just down the beach, the grocery store a block up the street, and plenty of restaurants, bars and shops all within ten minutes. I wouldn’t say this is an incredibly Belizean cultural experience, but one can’t avoid the local laid back atmosphere so characteristic of the Caribbean.

The highlight of the trip has certainly been the scuba diving. Out of the seven days here, we dove five. Within a 5-10 minute boat ride from the island, there are numerous canyons of reef filled with all kinds of sea creatures and colorful coral. We’ve seen sharks, spotted eagle rays, eels, dolphins, turtles, lobsters, and many types of tropical fish. One memorable (and slightly unnerving experience) was on our third dive when Eric’s mouth piece detached from the regulator at 60 feet. While he quickly swam to the dive master to use her spare while he switched to his own spare regulator, a friendly little fish came swimming up, incredibly curious about all the commotion. As we got it all figured out within seconds, the little fish swam circles and then let us pet him. He followed us the remainder of the dive often coming close enough so we could reach

out and feel his smooth, scaly skin. He was more like a dog than a fish!

Another highlight of our diving adventures this week was the day-long trip out to the Blue Hole – made famous in the adventures of Jacque Cousteau – about 3 hours boat ride from our island. The Blue Hole is an incredibly deep hole surrounded by reefs and resulting from a cave collapsing underwater. We dove to a depth of 130 feet into the cold, dim water to admire and swim between giant stalactites formed God knows how many years ago. It was mystifying and a little eerie being so deep. As we came near the surface and did an 8 minute safety stop at 20 feet, we were surrounded by more than seven sharks meandering along the edge of the drop off. They are graceful creatures – and thankfully all reef sharks so quite harmless.

We lunched that day on little island called Half Moon Caye and visited the Red Footed Boobie colony (of birds), which all the guys on the trip got a kick out of – some things never change. We did two more wall dives along the Lighthouse Reef, which were spectacular and in pristine condition. The variety of coral and reef plants were striking – purples, yellows, reds, blues and even some rainbow shades all in one. On the way back from the trip, we enjoyed rum punch and the beautiful boat ride. We ran across a pod of dolphins and slipped into the water to swim with them for a few minutes before they went on their way. They entertained us with flips, spins and dives above and below the surface – it was amazing.

In addition to our days diving, we also did an outing to the Mayan Lamanai ruins back on the main land. The majority of the trip was the journey there and back, but we didn’t mind because it’s a great opportunity to see other parts of the country. On the boat rides to the main land and up the river to the ruins, we saw more dolphins, some baby crocodiles, iguanas, and even a couple manatees. Our guide was a bird expert so he pointed out many exotic birds though I couldn’t even begin to remember what they were. We had lunch at the ruins and then explored for a couple hours, climbing to the top of one very steep temple and learning about the history of the Mayan people who inhabited this settlement for nearly 1500 years. It truly puts things in perspective.

During our down time, we’ve spent plenty of hours lounging at the pool, reading, walking the beach, napping, watching movies and going to bed very early. We did manage to get out a couple of evenings. Exactly what a vacation should be! One night we headed down the bar at the end of the dock nearby and found live music – a Blues band comprised of old American and Canadian expats who could sure sing. Not surprisingly, they claim to be the only Blues band in Belize. We thoroughly enjoyed the music over a couple beers – reminding ourselves that we need to get out more to do the same back home. Our favorite eatery has been the BBQ vendor down the street who sells pieces of BBQ chicken, coleslaw, beans and tortillas at a much more reasonable price that what the restaurants charge. This little island certainly has developed its tourism industry and the prices of food, souvenirs and beach front property reflect that. We’ve been happy to have our own kitchen and patio dining area for great ambiance.

Today was our last full day on the island and it was complete with plenty of R&R, some souvenir shopping, pool sitting and finishing our books. We are going to dress up and take ourselves out to a nice dinner tonight and then to a beach bar with live music to celebrate the end to a great week. Maybe we’ll even take a dip in the ocean before retiring for the evening. Tomorrow we’ll treat ourselves to breakfast at the best joint in town – Estelle’s – and then enjoy our final hours of sunbathing before boarding our water taxi back to Belize City. I’m sure I’ll savor the last boat ride of the trip – the salty fresh smell of the ocean air, the idyllic sandy islands surrounded by crystal blue waters and, of course, the wind in my hair.

Re-Entry: Returning Home and One Year Later

2009-05-25T22:02:00.000-07:00

The realization of "oh my God, it's over" came as we sat at the Sprint store browsing Blackberry models and walking out with new smart phones and phone numbers. Luckily for a good couple weeks, hardly anyone knew to call or email so we were able to slowly get back "online" (and it took me quite awhile to figure the darn thing out - Eric, of course was an instant tech pro).

The realization of how much time we had actually spent together (and how much we really grew to love each other's constant company) came when we parted ways for 2 hours while Eric went to a movie and I went to have lunch with my cousin. As we said our temporary goodbyes, it dawned on us that it'd been months since we'd spent this much time apart.

Thankfully, we had a few weeks to readjust. The first we spent with my family and friends in Colorado/Wyoming. Then we had a long 18-hour drive back to California. Dad generously gave us his 1990 Lexus (which, despite its 240,000 miles, still runs like a charm) and then we bought my friend Lorri's 2000 Honda. My beloved purple Saturn went to my mom for "safe keeping" - she couldn't bear to see us part with it for sentimental reasons.

Back in California, after catching up with Eric's family and our friends, we set about finding a place to live. Eric's little sister, now at Standford, graciously let us move into her room until we got situated. We were delighted to find a spacious 2-bedroom duplex with a sizable backyard, patio and space for a garden. It was a lot of fun unpacking the stuff we had shipped home to decorate our house - it's almost become a museum of our travels. I also took great pleasure in planting our first garden with the help and instruction of my mom (it was something I really wanted to do after realizing that in many parts of the world, they actually know where their food comes from). And then we had some work to do to prepare for our US wedding reception, which Eric's mom Jean so lovingly and amazingly organized. In our "extra" time, I gradually began to start working back at Blue Beyond Consulting and Eric started looking for his next career move. Suffice it to say that June was a hectic, but very enjoyable and exciting month.

Once we finally got settled, the challenge was adjusting back to "normal" life. Eric's networking and job pursuit has led him to the field of alternative energy. Specifically, working for a start-up company on building a solar farm and doing some advising on other projects. He's very passionate about this new venture and the timing couldn't be better with the nation's focus turning to clean, renewable energies. Keep your fingers crossed he will make the big bucks and fund our future travel sabbaticals. I have been working primarily with our client Juniper Networks on their Internal Communications and HR teams (with some great people) and also for a non-profit called FLOW on a program around "Accelerating Women's Entrepreneurship." Since our return, we've both learned a lot and make good progress in our careers.

Now, I would be remiss if I didn't admit to suffering a good amount of culture shock. After a year abroad having had so many incredible and eye-opening experiences, with exposure to such a diversity of lifestyles and circumstances, it's impossible to come home and NOT feel a little out of place. While Eric seemed to roll with it and adjust a bit quicker, it has taken me a lot more time. The first few months back I found particularly difficult and certainly had my fair share of ups and downs. Even now, while I am fully back in the swing of this "American life," I find myself occasionally nostalgic - missing the constant new experiences and stimulation, the cultures and people, the truly breathtaking places, and the sense of freedom and total possibility.

After a trip like this, you find that you change in a variety of ways. Some changes are obvious and become a part of how you life your life every day. For example, we have become more mindful of waste and how we consume. When the weather permits, I now dry my clothes on the clothesline I installed in the backyard. We enjoy our garden and growing our own food. We are more planful in how we grocery shop and plan our meals so that we waste less. And we've hardly been clothes shopping at all. After living out of a backpack for a year with a very limited wardrobe, you come home and look at the closet full of clothes and realize that the phrase "I don't have anything to wear" takes on a whole other meaning. I figure if I could live an entire year with 5 outfits, I can certainly make do for now with what I have in my sizable closet. In many parts of the world, people only have two or three outfits and just change them out every few days for washing. Not that I'm saying I only want 2 outfits, but it does make you realize that what we think we need, and what we actually need, are two entirely different things. Let's see...what else have we internalized...I do have to proudly report that we've gotten better about keeping in shape - it does of course help that the gym is walking distance. But we also have started taking a lot more hikes and walks. And we've gotten out a lot more to explore in our regional area, and in addition, committed to taking at least one international trip (or more, finances permitting of course) every year.

And then there are other changes you experience once home, more subtle things that you can't quite put your finger on, but that you know are different. These are the things that bubble up over time, or the little things that pull at you but you can't entirely pinpoint exactly what it is or what it means. Personally, I'm still trying to decipher and figure out what some of those learnings/insights/changes are all about. More so than before, I find myself churning and seeking clarity about my passions, my purpose and how I want to guide my life. What is most meaningful, where my core values fit in and how they are prioritized at various times. It's these kinds of deeper, underlying insights that emerge slowly over time. And it's with time and distance that you have the perspective to better understand what it means and how it will impact your life in the long term. I'd love to report that I've made great progress in figuring it out, but must admit that I'm still working through the process of reflection and personal growth to get clarity.

Every now and then, we pull a journal from the shelf to read about what we were doing one year ago on that day. It brings back fond memories and reminds us of the lessons we picked up along the way. We've also plastered the door in our kitchen with a collage of our trip photos and often admire our adventure over breakfast and talk about our fondest memories. Some of you might be wondering if I still plan to get around to writing a book. Sadly, I must admit little progress as I've found myself sucked into work and life. That being said, I still have the aspiration to do something more meaningful with the experiences from our adventure - I just need to figure out if that's a book, or if it comes in a different format/forum. I do have to say looking back at this blog, I feel quite proud of the stories we were able to share in both words and pictures. This is certainly a treasure we will cherish all our lives. And we are grateful that so many of you have shared in our experiences through this format.

In closing, we are both so incredibly grateful for the opportunity (and the support of family and friends) to leave our everyday lives to truly experience "living in the moment" in so many incredible places. We have been blessed to have met so many wonderful friends along the way, to have seen such beauty, and to have experienced such a variety of things - from elephant riding to hiking Patagonia, scuba diving to getting married with the sand between our toes. Just awesome. We hope that one day, one year, we will be able to do it all again!

Cancun, Mexico

2008-06-01T07:00:00.000-07:00

The final stop of our trip was Cancun - more as a couple day "safety" stop after Cuba to ensure there were no suspicions from the immigration officers as we crossed back into the US from Mexico. This was also probably the most depressing stop of our trip for two reasons. The obvious of course was that it meant the trip had come to an end - our year of adventure passing so quickly. The second was the instant reality check that we were about to endure major reverse culture shock. We had become accustomed to the backpacker lifestyle - living simply, frugally, openly and easily adapting to the variety of countries and cultures we encountered. Many of those countries of course were "developing" nations without much of the excess and luxuries we have in the US.

The moment we arrived at the Cancun airport, we were surrounded by vacationing Americans dressed in stylish beach attire, many of the women adorned with large diamond rings and nice jewelry. All the Mexicans spoke fluent English (something we also were not used to) and the price of our shuttle to our hostel in downtown cost more than what we'd been paying for a room. As we waited in line for the shuttle, people were already cracking open beers and getting ready to party Cancun-style. We sat in the backseat of our van and couldn't help but feel slightly uncomfortable taking in one glitzy resort after another on the main strip of beach, the fancy malls inviting you to shop till you drop, and the dozens of chain restaurants all boasting a fun, party theme. There's nothing wrong with a fun vacation to relax and let loose, but coming from where we'd just been, it felt a bit overwhelming and excessive. This didn't feel like Mexico, but an extension of American luxury where your every need, want and desire is catered to if you're willing to pay the price.

I found myself missing the mountains of Patagonia, sitting outside our little tent with a cup of tea/coffee in our tin cups and eating (for the fifth day in a row) our instant oatmeal concoction before setting off for a day on the trail. I found myself missing the thatched hut on the beach in Samoa where we could open our little tarp door and take in the aqua blue ocean and watch the local kids play. I found myself missing the hammocks along the rivers in Laos where we'd lounge for hours reading and playing cards with our fellow travelers.

Our budget was pretty tight by the time we arrived to Cancun, so we chose a reasonably priced hostel in downtown as opposed to a hotel along the beach. It was a decent little place with good access to the local bus to the main strip of beach hotels restaurants. We were already beginning to anticipate the transition and so didn't feel particularly motivated to explore. We spent a lot of time in our little room finishing our books, journaling and talking. We did venture out to the local market for some shopping, but didn't find much of interest. We also made a stop at the post office to ship our Cuban goodies we found back to the US. And we did go one evening to main strip to enjoy a last dinner at Margaritaville. We didn't actually feel motivated to go to the beach...we'd spent a lot of time on beaches and were feeling more like hibernating and being low key.

We did spent one day taking a tour to the Mayan ruins at Chichen Itza. It was fascinating to see the ruins, learn the history and imagen what life must have been like in this place during the height of Mayan civilization. We also stopped off for some swimming in a huge sink hole with a waterfall, which was lovely.

In general, though, we were feeling antsy and anxious. The trip had pretty much finished and, despite some reservations about what it would be like to go home, we were eager to return and see what the next phase of life would bring. We were very much looking forward to reconnecting with family and friends and enjoying our upcoming wedding reception in June. We were excited about finding a new place to live and decorating it with all the cool treasures we'd pick up on our travels. And we were eager to see what the next phase of our careers would look like and how we would put into practice what we had learned and taken away from our trip. So, when we boarded our flight to Colorado, we were ready. Our first stop would be a visit with my family and friends on the Front Range and then a long drive back to California. It'd been a helluva year!

Vinales - Cuba

2008-05-31T07:33:00.000-07:00

Our trip from Trinidad to Vinales was a journey in and of itself. Instead of taking the bus, our host in Trinidad arranged a taxi share. Our driver was a vibrant and very chatty middle-aged Cuban woman full of opinions and advice on what to see and where to stay in Cuban (all the places she got commission of course). The ride was several hours and about an hour from our destination we got a flat tire. Luckily she did have a small spare that would get us the remainder of the way, but she wasn't exactly savvy at changing tires. Eric saved the day and changed the tire for her in the blistering heat as many a car passed by and honked and waved.

When we finally did pull into town, we had her take us to a casa particular recommended to us while in Trinidad - the home to a very sweet Cuban woman, her slightly strange husband who tried to sell us tons of mediocre cigars and in the same neighborhood their cute little granddaughter who made frequent appearances. The little girl was about 7 and entertained us with fashion shows and games out on their cozy front porch while we enjoyed the evenings sipping mojitos and smoking cigars in rocking chairs. They also had a daughter of about 20 still living at home and we got along great with her. We played card games at night and she gave us a tour of her art studio in their back shed - she was quite talented. Our hostess was an excellent cook and took total delight in stuffing us to the gills. At this point, we were already feeling a little soft around the middle after nearly 2 weeks of multi course Cuban meals. So as not to be rude, we told her up front that we wanted to go on a bit of a diet before returning home, which gave her all the more motivation to feed us even more. She made it her mission to make sure that Eric in particular enjoyed her cooking - she'd often wink at me as she'd put down his plate with a large portion and a huge grin.

The highlight of our time in Vinales was the tour we took through the tobacco growing country. Our hostess set it up with a local farmer who took us through the hillsides and fi elds on horseback. He was a good ol' boy with a huge toothless grin, a floppy straw hat, oversized trousers and boots that hung loose on his thin frame. He was 74 years old and had lived and farmed in the area for all of his life. Our horses were a bit of a sad case, like most animals around the area, due to drought and lack of food and nutritious grass. The horses were emaciated and bony and we felt guilty riding on their fragile frames. We both were quite lenient in letting them stop for breaks to grab mouthfuls of grass, which annoyed our guide slightly. The ride itself was lovely. We rode through farming fields where they grow everything from corn, potatoes, and pineapples to tobacco. Some farms are private and the farm ers own them, but they are still required to sell everything to the government. Other farms are government owned and farmed as cooperatives - the farmers getting paid for production. Vinales in general is a beautiful area with limestone mountains and hills rising out of the farming valleys. In some ways it reminded us of Guilin in China. Along our ride we passed by many small farms and their simple wood or cinder block houses often painted white with a color trim.

Towards the end of our ride, we stopped at a tobacco farm to meet with a friend of our guide - a handsome old farmer with a certain air of wisdom and 'tranquilo' about him. He was in his early 80's, though you'd never know it, and he too had been farming in the area his entire life. We sat down with him at his old wooden table and he rolled us a couple of handmade cigars while he explained the cigar growing and making process in detail. He also brought out locally grown coffee beans and brewed us a cup to sample. We took a walk through the thatched-barn tobacco drying house and around his fields. He also showed us his prize fat pig they were preparing to butcher the next Sunday to celebrate a couple of the family's birthdays.

After our tour, we enjoyed fresh pineapple they grow on the farm and we ventured onto the topic of the Cuban Revolution. We were curious to find out how people in the rural areas of Cuba viewed it as opposed to the city dwellers. Both our guide and his friend agreed that the revolution had greatly improved life for them. Befo re, they were not guaranteed to sell their crops and did not often get what they felt was a fair price. Now, the government buys all their produce at a set price which they believe is fair (mind you, they are making their comparison of fair based on what they got 50 years ago and not what they might get now in a free market...we'd be curious to know whether the current system is still better for them now, or if the free market system would be preferable). T he revolution also opened up a number of opportunities for Cubans in rural communities that hadn't existed previously - access to free education and health care being two of the major benefits. It was interesting to hear their positive perspectives and another side to the story. In the countryside in general, you see a lot more propaganda in support of the revolution. It makes one wonder if this is the true sentiment or if lack of access to information, government pressure and the constant comparison only of what was (pre-revolution) and what is (post-revolution) - instead of imagining the possibilities of what could be - contributes to their complete positive perceptions.

In many ways what's said about Cuba seems true - it feels very much like a country locked in time about 50-60 years ago...and at that time there were many benefits of the revolution. It

fought off much of the corruption, prostitution, gambling, etc. that had seeped in from enterprising businessmen (and the mafia) who were escaping prohibition and other legal limitations in the US at the time. The revolution sought to bring eduction, arts/culture, health care and equality to the rural communities and cities. And at that time, many would argue it was a huge step up for the average Cuban. Of course, there were a lot of politics, power games and money that complicated and soured the situation from the US perspective. And like many a visionary leader, Castro's initial idealism got him hooked on power and control, which ultimately prevented the country from progressing and many would argue has done more harm than good. One thing we can say for sure - there are many facets and perspectives around Cuba's history. If anything, our time in Cuba talking to different people, visiting museums and then recalling what we learned from our own education makes one realize the "truth" of what is right and wrong, good and bad, is never black and white. Our numerous conversations with the Cubans we encountered (some pro Castro and many hungering for change and progress) certainly gave us a lot to think about and helped us to understand and appreciate the complexity of Cuba's history...and path to the future.

Anyhow...back to Vinales...

We spent our final day in Vinales taking a trip out to a local island called Cayo Levisa. We enjoyed a last day on the beach, reading and lounging. We had a nice lunch and talked a lot about what we had learned over the course of the year and what we were looking forward to on our return. It truly had been an amazing adventure. It felt bitter sweet to reminisce...so much to be thankful for and many wonderful memories to take home. And while we were both feeling ready and excited to return home, we also felt melancholy that the year had passed so quickly, knowing we'd miss the freedom and constant sense of adventure.

On May 18, we boarded an early bus bound for Habana to spend our last few days in Cuba.

Trinidad - Cuba

2008-05-31T07:29:00.000-07:00

After almost a week of the "buzz" in Habana, we decided to head several hours east to the historic town of Trinidad. The town used to be a central part of the sugar cane industry and was a bustling Spanish city back in the day. As a result, the architecture - Spanish mansions, churches and plazas - are quite impressive. Some are crumbling, but others have been restored to their former glory.

Once we arrived, we found an amazing casa particular to rest our heads for several nights. We originally thought we'd only spend a couple days, but so enjoyed our little paradise that we stayed a few more. This casa was quite luxurious...we had our own bathroom, a beautiful porch off the back door of our room, a cute little garden with flowers and banana trees, and a peaceful patio where we enjoyed many a fine meal while listening to chill music. The family was very friendly and extremely hospitable. And the best part?...turns out the father was a trained Chef and he prepared all our meals. We had incredible lobster twice (for $8!) and a couple other dishes. In addition to the main, each meal came with a platter of fresh tropical fruits, salad, bread, and homemade flan. Not to say we didn't do any site seeing in the area, but suffice it to say that we did spend plenty of time at our cozy casa eating, drinking and just relaxing. It was a vacation from our vacation...which was nice since our trip was almost over.

In addition to our self-imposed laziness, we did do some cool stuff while in Trinidad...

We took a "coco" taxi to a nearby beach strip about 10 kms away and lounged at the seaside for an afternoon. We paid to have a lounge chair at one of the local resorts and soaked up the sun, read our books and took a couple dips in the water to cool off. It certainly was a more relaxing beach than the mania we experienced at the beach near Habana.

We spent a couple afternoons/evenings strolling around Trinidad to see the architecture, check out the local museums and churches, admire the many neat old cars, feel sorry for the tired and sweaty horses pulling carriages filled with local goods, poke our heads into a couple art galleries (we found one we loved where we bought 7 pieces as presents), and even had a demo at the local ceramics factory.

The ceramics factory is actually an interesting tidbit...we followed our map off the beaten tourist track to find the place, but when we arrived, we observed what appeared to be an abandoned factory with a group of old men chatting out front. We were about to walk on by, when one of the men chased after us and insisted that he give us a tour. We didn't really know what there was to see, but what the heck. The man was a sweet fellow, but had a speech impediment to the point where his Spanish sounded nothing like Spanish, so we used sign language and tonal grunts to communicate. Probably not all that different than how we've done it all year actually. :) He took a hunk of clay from one of the shelves and turned on one of the pottery wheels. He proceeded to give us a live demo and made a nice bowl. When finished, he placed it on the shelf with the other handful of bowls/vases...they probably make one or two every time a tourist comes by. Then he led us down the street two blocks (we were a little confused) and guided us into the "showroom" (aka: gift shop). They did actually have some cool stuff in there and had workers painting and glazing.

We sat and debated for about 30 mins about this one vase - we didn't have anything better to do with our time - and we drove the salesman crazy who bargained with us wanting to make the sale. Ultimately, despite being satisfied with the bargained price, we decided not to buy. In fact, I think we've driven a lot of salespeople crazy on this trip...though sometimes we do make the purchase. When you're on a limited budget, and you have to carry your goods (or pay to ship them home), you find that every decision is a big decision. And to some degree the shopping, debating, bargaining process is a bit of a sport and quite fun. We've learned to enjoy bantering about stuff we want to buy for our future home.

In addition to our beach and town days, we spent one afternoon taking the local train to the "Valle de los Ingenios." Now, they actually have a tourist train that does this same trip, but why the heck would we pay triple the price for little-added value! Plus, the local train is much more of an experience. When we showed up and bought our tickets (we still had to pay a higher price than the locals), everyone stared at us curiously. Luckily, there was one other tourist couple from the UK who also stuck out like sore thumbs. We were given a seat on the small one-car train and the locals stuffed in around us. It was fascinating just to people watch and see people hop on and off, going about their business. The "Valle" wasn't all that exciting...it's basically a tourist attraction because it used to be a huge sugar cane growing area filled with plantations, which were filled with slaves. We climbed a very high watch tower (I only made it part way up because my fear of heights took over after a few rounds of creaky stairs) to look out over the agricultural area, which was pretty. The coolest part of the trip though was strolling around the village while we waited to take the train back. One local farmer cut us a hunk of sugar cane to try, we watched a group of old men sitting around playing dominoes, and we walked down the main street alongside carriages pulled by either emaciated horses or oxen. And we even got a tour of the old sugar press by a kind local guy who also appeared to have a speech impediment (like the ceramics guy) so we didn't really understand much of the detailed descriptions he gave, but got the gist through action and hand motions.

So that pretty much sums up our time in Trinidad...I think we will remember this place most of all for the incredibly rejuvenating R&R, the friendly casa and the historic ambiance.

Only a few more entries...stay tuned.

Mariah

Habana - Cuba

2008-05-31T07:08:00.000-07:00

After a very long flight from Buenos Aires, we arrived to Habana late afternoon, hot, sweaty and slightly jet lagged. Our taxi ride from the airport gave us our first taste of Cuban people - extremely friendly and eager to talk. We learned all about the son of our taxi driver as he showed us photos of his son's art work from his cell phone camera. He also pointed out all the major sites as we drove to our destination in Habana Vieja (the old town).

In Cuba, you are required either to stay at a state-run hotel (expensive and overrated) or a registered "casa particular," which is essentially a homestay. Families can pay a monthly government tax to rent out one or more of the rooms in their house to guests. Many also pay a small extra fee to the state in order to serve food. We had made arrangements to stay at Margot's - a lovely casa in the heart of the old city with high vaulted ceilings, antique furniture and the home to the cutest dog called Mia. When we got there, Margot was out at a hair appointment, but we were warmly greeted by 2 Cuban women who were friends of friends staying with Margot for a couple days. Once we got settled and had a much needed shower, we decided to go explore our surrounds.

First Impressions
Our first impression of the city was almost surreal - like we were transported back in time. The old Spanish buildings and churches from the last couple centuries give the place a European aura. Some are beautifully restored, many others are just barely staying together (but somehow they do), but all are lovely in their own way. The streets are narrow, some more recent pavement and some cobblestone filled with old 1950's cars, a few modern vehicles and bicycle taxis. There are a plethora of small and large plazas lined by leafy parks, historic buildings, cafes and restaurants. The residential streets are filled with kids playing baseball with whatever stick and makeshift ball they can find, old men sitting over a table of dominos and women gossiping on the corners. It's hot and humid, but it cools down a bit in the evenings and then everyone emerges out of their homes. The plazas tend to have more tourist attractions and nicer restaurants that are typically state run with lazy service and mediocre food, but nice ambiance. And wherever you are - in the plazas or the streets - you can almost always hear live Cuban music emanating from the many bars and cafes throughout the afternoon and evening.

After our little stroll, we settled down at a table in Plaza Catedral in front of the old Cathedral and ordered our first mojito - the country's famous cocktail with rum, fresh mint, and sugar. We met a couple nice British girls just finishing their vacation and they gave us some excellent advice on what to see and do. One of them (Rebecca - a.k.a. Becks) was staying a few days more so we invited her to join us the following evening for dinner since she'd be on her own. In the end, we hung out with her quite a bit and had some fun adventures. When we got back to our casa, our hostess Margot had dinner waiting - lobster, fried plantains, fresh salad, rice and guava juice. Can we say heaven? Eric smoked his first cigar on our balcony and enjoyed every puff. An excellent start to our Cuban travels.

Over the course of our two stays in Habana (several days at the beginning of our trip and several days at the end of our trip), we got to see many sights, listen to a variety of music, sip our fair share of mojitos and smoke a plethora of cigars (well, Eric did anyhow). Here are some of our favorite highlights:

Our Casas (i.e., "homes")
While in town, we stayed at two different Casa Particulares...Margot's place and also with another family, Luis and Chicha. Margo's featured the classic architecture, fantastic food and she herself was a very open and talkative host. We learned a lot from her about the culture and opinions of the people. We also got to practice both our Spanish speaking and comprehension. Luis and Chicha's was a homey environment - they were a loving family with one daughter still at home and a son our age who came over with his girlfriend and other family members on the weekends. The food here was also very good and they were extremely helpful about sight seeing. Their young daughter also had a blast playing cards with Eric...and changing the game every time he started to beat her. :)

Sight Seeing
There are three major areas to explore in Habana - the old town, the city center and a nearby suburb called Vedado. During our stay we visited...

Partagas Cigar Factory: This was a highlight of the trip. Because Eric thoroughly enjoys a good Cuban cigar on occasion (and enjoyed many while in Cuba), it was very cool to actually go see where and how they make these "tobaccos," as they call them in Cuba. We were quite impressed with the amount of quality control and care that goes into the cigar making process. While it's a bit easier to get a job sorting the leaves, preparing the wrappers, or packaging the finished product, to actually become a cigar maker (the one who rolls the cigar), it takes almost a year of intensive cigar school where less than half of students graduate. Being a cigar maker is one of the more lucrative jobs in Cuba because you get the basic wage, in addition to commission depending on production. In addition, you get to smoke as many as you want, and take a few home every day. The work is a bit mind-numbing after awhile and the work environment comparable to a sweat shop, but they counter some of the downsides by hiring someone to read to the cigar makers in the mornings (the newspaper) and afternoons (a novel chosen by the group). The rest of the time they listen to music that is chosen communally and talk among themselves. They also get a few breaks, a lunch hour, and have weekends off. We learned one interesting tidbit during our tour...the cigar brand "Montecristo" was chosen because during the time that cigar was developed, the novel being read was "The Count of Montecristo"...so the cigar makers decided that's what they should name the new cigar. We wish we could have brought home some souvenirs from the factory, but unfortunately no Cuban cigars allowed through customs. :(

Habana Club Rum Factory: While we can't buy this brand in the US, the Habana Club label is quite popular in other parts of the world. The tour took us through the history and rum making processes and we even got a sampler at the end. Personally, straight rum is not my favorite, but mixed with some OJ or in a mojito, it's quite refreshing on a hot day.

The Revolution Museum: This museum tells Cuba's history from the time of the natives up through Castro's Revolution and beyond to the early 1990's when the USSR fell and Cuba went into a major depression. Of course the main focus was on the revolutionary period of the 1950s when Castro along with Che Guevara and General Cienfuegos overthrew the US-supported (mainly by the mafia) Batista. While we knew a bit about Cuban history from the US perspective going into the museum, we learned a lot more about the details and also found it interesting to view it from a different perspective. Of course the museum's history was very much one-sided (as is the US version), but knowing a bit of both sides helped to give us a more balanced perspective.

The La Ciudad Museum: This museum houses relics, classical art and furniture from different time periods (Spanish, American and Cuban)

The Capitolo Building: A replica of the US capital constructed during the 1930's when the US had heavy influence in Cuba (now it houses the Science and Technology Department).

The US Interests Building: We don't have an official embassy in Cuba, but this place represents American interests. We didn't go inside, but the outside was quite a site to behold. It's situated along the seaside and is a modern building surrounded by gates and guards. In front of the building stand more than 100 flag poles flying black flags erected by Castro in memory of the Cuban civilians killed on the flight blown up by a Venezuelan terrorist supposedly supported by the CIA. In truth, we were told the "memorial" was erected when the US Interests building put up an international news screen big enough to see from the street, hence, 100 plus black flags to block it. Tit for tat..that seems to be the bottom line of politics between the US and Cuba. Behind the flag memorial is a huge plaza with stage, lighting, sound system and patriotic propaganda known as the "Protestadrome" - it's where all the huge protests against US actions (i.e., the Iraq war) are held.

The Malecon Boardwalk: This more than 8km boardwalk borders the city's seafront and is a lovely place to take a stroll in the evenings or to see young lovers at night. It's not highly recommended to stroll here in the extreme heat of the afternoon (as we did), unless of course, you are one of the local boys jumping in to take a swim, snorkel or fish. It's too bad we didn't have our swimsuits when we walked by here...the aqua blue water was soo tempting!

Cristobal Colon Cemetery: Habana's largest, most prestigious and most crowded. It's 140 acres with more than 800,000 graves sites. The architecture and monuments within are impressive, but it's not as well kept as one would hope. A number of the tomb "covers" are coming undone and cracked. There were even a few you could see inside and down to the coffin. The most disturbing part though was seeing a truck filled with labeled boxes of human remains (yikes!!) since due to over crowding they remove the remains from their tombs after 3 years and place them in a storage building. Never seen that one before in broad daylight.

Habana Vieja: By far our favorite area of the city to roam around. This was also the area where we stayed. We thoroughly enjoyed wandering the streets and checking out old buildings, plazas and churches. Our favorite past times included: sitting at The Patio Cafe on Cathedral Square sipping mojitos, visiting the Chocolate Cafe that served up hot or cold liquid chocolate for about a dollar, posting up at the brewery in Plaza Vieja to have a home brewed beer and a cigar while people watching, and relaxing on Margot's terraced rooftop to take in the sunset and all the evening city sounds.

Beaches and Sunbathing
Cuba is known for great beaches, and we did visit some nice ones on our excursions to other parts of the country which we'll share in later blogs. Around Habana, we found 2 good options for some sunbathing. The first was a posh hotel in central Habana that had a pool on the roof with excellent city views. Our friend Becks introduced us to this place and we snuck in a few times when we needed a break from the busy city and some poolside tranquility.

The second experience was the stretch of beaches just east of Habana. We initially wanted to save ourselves the taxi fare and take the local bus. When we got to the bus stop the line didn't seem too long, so we asked who was the last in line (as is the expectation in Cuba) and staked out our place. When someone else arrived, they did the same and you basically are expected to remember who is in front and behind you. Then, you are free to leave the line knowing your place is saved. The problem was when the bus arrived, pretty much everyone in the small park across the street came rushing over to reclaim their place...so the line quadrupled in size! Long story short, we waited for more than an hour (in the blistering heat) and still were no where close to the front. So finally, we gave up and pulled the tourist card and caught a cab. Our cab driver was a hip, young guy studying Physical Education and Health at university. He uses his dad's car on weekends to make some extra money as a cab driver. He dropped us off at the section of the beach where he knew there was a big party going on.

And he wasn't kidding...there was techno and house music, a dance "floor," drinks and food and plenty of local teens, twenty-somethings and a few families to enjoy it. We roamed around until we found a place to sit and people watch. We were conscious that as tourists we were quite a target in this crowd for petty theft and couldn't go frolic in the water together because one person always needed to watch the bag. And good thing too...a group of guys did try and distract Eric while I was in the water to grab our bag (luckily there wasn't too much inside, except our camera and a bit of money). But Eric was the wiser and knew exactly what was happening so they had no luck. However, after that experience, it was a bit difficult to feel relaxed and laid back, so we cut our beach trip short and chalked it up as a good local experience. Suprisingly, this was the first time we even came close to getting robbed...we have been very lucky and blessed on this trip considering everywhere we've been.

The Cuban People
Ironicly, while the Cuban government has tried to minimize the locals' interaction with tourists, Cuba was one of the countries where we found it easiest to meet and socialize with the people. They were all quite eager to talk, especially when they found out we were American. Probably 90% of Cubans have some relative or another who lives in the US, and almost all either want to talk politics or explain they hate the politics, but love the people. In general we found the people to be extremely friendly and hospitable and we truly enjoyed the many conversations (mostly in Spanish) we had with cab drivers, waiters, people on the street, tour guides, and a few friends we met while there. At Margot's we befriended the two Cuban women who were staying there our first 2 nights...we all went out one night (with Becks and a German gal who was also staying) for drinks and to listen to music, followed by a stroll on the Malecon. We also befriended a local band that we loved to go hear and were invited on a couple occassions to join them and their friends to hang out in the plaza after their gig. Like the Argentine people, Cubans are very affectionate, so hugs and kisses are the norm at first introduction and thereafter. The people were certainly the highlight on this trip.

Music
You can't come to Cuba and not enjoy the music - it's everywhere. Cuba prides itself on it's musical and artistic traditions..."It's part of our blood," one Cuban friend explained to us. The styles vary from classical music to all varities of Latin music with considerable African influence. These people know how to feel the music - dance, move, play - it's wonderful. Pretty much every restaurant, bar and cafe in the old part of town have live bands from 4PM til midnight. In addition, there are many specific shows and concerts you can attend. During our visit, we attended an excellent classical concert by a popular string orchestra in one of the old churches and we also went out daily (or nightly) to hear music at the different bars/cafes around town. Our favorite band was a group called "Santiago de Habana." This group of 6 guys of all shapes and colors playing all different instruments had a great vibe and a ton of talent. This was also the group we befriended and went to see more than four times during our stay. Another musical highlight of the trip was our visit to the famed cabaret show at the Tropicana. This place has been up and running for about 70 years (yes, this was also the inspiration for the Vegas hotel) and the show is still a top attraction. The combo of music, singing, dancing and especially the costumes made for a thrilling experience. It was also cool to go because Eric's grandfather had been to this show more than 50 years ago before the US embargo was in tact.

To conclude...our time in Habana was amazing. We truly loved this city - the people, the places, the music, and the home-cooked meals from our wonderful hosts. It's really quite sad that it's not easier for Americans to come and enjoy this city and its people. We, and all the Cubans we met, hope that someday our countries (i.e., our politicians) will be able to get along so that we can more easily visit this cool place. We did have many interesting conversations, observations and insights that we want to share about Cuba, but this blog is long enough, so we'll save that for a separate blog.

Coming up, we plan to write a few more entries to finish sharing about our Cuba experiences, and then will write about our final impressions from this incredible trip. As always, stay tuned!

Mariah and Eric

Last Week in Buenos Aires

2008-05-05T11:34:00.000-07:00

We loved Buenos Aires so much the first time around that we decided to spend our last week in Argentina back in this lively city. This time around was a mix of sight seeing, fine dining, going out and taking care of some odds and ends in preparation for our return home. Highlights of the week included...

Fine Dining for less than $40
Both of us thoroughly enjoy fine dining with fancy cuisine and a good bottle of wine. When we are in the US, the fine dining experience only happens a couple times a year because the bill adds up. But with the exchange rate in BA - and the excess of good cheap beef - a fine dining experience is quite affordable. So we decided to splurge and spend a hunk of our daily budget on trying new restaurants for dinner all over town. We went to a mix of bistros and steak houses, Mexican and Middle Eastern. We savored every flavor and the perfectly cooked meat (sorry if anyone reading is vegetarian), and of course tried a new type of wine each evening. In addition to the food and drink, our dinners out also gave us a lot of relaxed face-time together to reflect on our experiences over the past year and talk about what we are excited and anxious about for our return home. Tonight is our last evening in BA before our 11:30PM departure...and we are planning on one last nice meal out.

Exploring the City
Since we weren´t taking Spanish classes this time around, pretty much every day we ventured to a new area of the city to explore the sights. We went to the zoo and saw some very interesting animals we hadn't seen before, we visited the modern art and Evita museums, we roamed around a handful of different parks, and we even did a little shopping at the markets and street malls.

Exploring the Night Life
Last time we were in BA, we certainly got out and about, but we had to get up at 7:30AM every morning for Spanish class. This time, we could stay out (and sleep in) as late as we wanted...sometimes we were in by 1AM (early by Argentina standards) and sometimes we stayed out till 5AM (still relatively early by Argentine clubbing standards!). We had some nights out on our own and a few good social nights. One of Eric's former colleagues from Cypress was in BA with her husband (Tess and Simon) so we had the chance to meet up with them for dinner and drinks. We also met with an American friend we met in New Zealand 5 years ago (Dave) and made some friends at our hostel. Our night life was a mix of live music, clubbing, and bar hopping (at one bar, Tess made friends with a very eccentric bar owner who gave us free drinks...thank you Tess!)

Preparing for Our Return
Now that we are only a few weeks from our return to the "real world," we have begun thinking and planning for our arrival. We had some time to catch up on US and World news, Eric has been researching the latest happenings in Silicon Valley, and we spent some time touching base with friends and colleagues. Our first month back is likely to be crazy as we settle back into jobs, look for a place to live and get caught up on what we've missed in the last year. But there is much to look forward to and we are excited to get back into the swing of things.

But before we do...we still have one last adventure in the Caribbean to soak up the sun, drink some mojitos and enjoy the colorful culture. Stay tuned for stories from our last few weeks!

Mariah and Eric

Iguazu Falls, Argentina

2008-04-29T11:19:00.000-07:00

OK so there are water falls and there are WATER FALLS....

Need another example...

Well most people should have the point by now. This was a painful excursion costing us close to 40hrs of bus time to get to Puerto Iguazu from Cordoba and back to Buenos Aires...and yet, at the end of it, we were both extactic about the experience and would sacrifice the time again in an instant.

Over the course of our 23 hr bus trip from Cordoba to Iguazu, we passed through the arid wine country and miles of farmland into the subtropical rainforest that begins in Northern Argentina and continues up through Brazil. The change was gradual through the windows of our bus, but when we stepped off the bus (thanking God for surviving the epic journey), we immediately noticed the muggy weather and our rain forest surroundings...and all the fun wildlife that comes with the jungle.

We promptly found our hostel and had a quiet night in prep for our all-day adventure in the national park the following day.

The next day felt like we were kids again and going to Disneyland. It is important to note that the actual Iguazu Falls are divided between the Argentina/Brazilian border and most people go to both sides to see the falls from all angles. However, due to the high visa cost for Americans, it made more sense for us to cover the Argentina side in detail and take nice photos of the the Brazilian side without crossing the border. All in all, we had a full day of trekking on the "Lower Path," the "Upper Path," and on the island situated in front and center of the falls. The ultimate experience though was taking the train and foot path to the ¨Devil´s Throat¨ waterfall. This is the highlight of any trip to Iguazu. You literally feel like an early explorer ignoring the rumors of the ¨end of the earth¨and then finding yourself on the edge of the abyss waiting on the other side of the ocean (if of course the world was flat). Another way to describe the experience is exactly as the falls are named...like you are getting ready to be swallowed down a giant esophagus.

As it typically does in rain forests, it dumped rain for about the last hour of our trip, so our time at the ¨Devil´s Throat¨was a little extra wet which only added the the experience!

Click on video below to see the¨Devil´s Throat¨

We are now converts to the fact that no trip to Argentina or Brazil is complete without the side trip to see this amazing feat of nature and would highly recommend the experience to all crowds. It is now time to head back down to Buenos Aires to do some final shopping and enjoy our last weekend in the city that never sleeps before we head to our last stops in the Caribbean and Mexico...

Central Argentina: Mendoza and Cordoba

2008-04-29T10:43:00.000-07:00

Since the weather wasn´t getting any warmer in Patagonia, we figured it was time to head north and follow the sun, so we boarded the bus for a 19 hour ride to central Argentina. Finally, we were in a region populated enough to get one of the more luxury buses that have almost fully reclining seats, food, wine, etc...so the long trip was at least bearable and we were able to sleep.

Mendoza - Wine Country
Once we arrived in Mendoza, we found ourselves a cozy little hostel owned by a very friendly local named Javier (and his cute little dog called Tronco). We enjoyed chatting with Javier over the course of our 3 day stay about the local area, his background and Argentian current events. It was MUCH warmer in Mendoza and reminded us a lot of home in California. The city has many nice plazas and pedestrian areas for shopping, sipping coffee and people watching, and there are a plethora of restaurants with good steak and wine. We spent 2 days roaming the city and just hanging out - enjoying a Sunday picnic at the huge local park and watching all the kids run around crushing Autumn leaves, book shopping for a couple new good novels to read, and then reading our books in the main plaza to soak up the mid-day sun and get a feel for the city. It was very relaxing.

Since Mendoza is the country´s wine capital, we of course also spent a day wine tasting. The area most accessible to tourists is called Maipu and is about 30 mins from Mendoza. We took the local bus there and rented bikes for the day to tour around at our own pace.

We began our tour at the wine museum housed in the La Rural bodega (winery). They had some cool wine making artifacts from centuries past and we got to try a taste of their "Museum" label, which is only for visitors (i.e., the bottom of the barrel free stuff). We spent over an hour here exploring other parts of the winery on our own and having a picnic lunch in their back garden. Our second stop was a liquor and chocolate factory where for 5 pesos you got to taste several types of chocolate, some jam preserves and a shot of your choice of sweet liquor (we had Irish Cream and Chocolate). Then on to the next two wineries Tempus Alba and Viña El Cerno - the first had a nice wine bar and patio overlooking the vineyard, and the other was a family run place with simple facilities but a very authentic feel (there were family members in the back of the tasting room hand labeling bottles). Our final stop of the day was at the bodega Familia Di Tommaso, a very nice winery with a social ambiance - they had a group wine tasting where they sat you down with others and explained each wine before pouring you a sip. At this winery, we met two fun Irish guys who we met for dinner and drinks later that evening in Mendoza.

In general, the Maipu wine country was not exactly what we were expecting from our wine tasting experiences in Napa and New Zealand...the vineyards and bodegas are in an area that is fairly developed in a "dusty-small-town" kind of way. The main road we pedaled along was quite busy with passing trucks and cars and was a mix of pavement, dirt and construction areas. The bodegas were usually a short ride from the main road so thankfully were in slightly more peaceful settings. Each bodega had its own style of "tasting" - for example, at some places you had to buy the wine by the glass, at other places it was more like Napa where you paid one fee and tasted several wines. A couple of the wineries were more formal and fancy and others were more "mom and pop" style and very informal. Unlike in the US, pretty much all the wineries would let you wander around the vineyards and facilities. It was neat to roam amongst the gigantic cedar barrels and to see the wine making process live right in front of your eyes as people hand-labeled bottles, used machines to crush the grapes and worked in the rooms with huge metals containers used for fermentation. In the entire Maipu area, there are only about 5 or 6 wineries you can visit, in addition to the liquor and chocolate factory and an olive oil place. And despite the bike maps making everything seem very close, the area is deceivingly spaced out...as we learned pedaling between 4-8 kms between bodegas (not complaining, it was good exercise!). However, while it wasn´t necessarily what we expected (we should know better than to presume), it was a wonderful day and we certainly recommend the experience.

Cordoba - The Heart of Argentina
We took a 10-hour night bus from Mendoza to Cordoba, Argentina´s most thriving university town and both a cultural and historical center of the country. It´s also said that the people in this part of the country are some of the most welcoming, which we found to be true in both Cordoba and Mendoza...the people were SO friendly. We spent 3 days in Cordoba...

The first two days we explored the city on foot and checked out the city´s numerous churches, old architecture, universities and the Jesuit Crypt (which was a bit anti-climatic because it was never actually in use). We also spent time again in the plazas reading and people watching as we did in Mendoza to get a feel for the place. It was quite cute to watch one little girl with angel wings on buy bird seed and feed the pigeons...that is, until two other little mischievous little girls stormed the flock and sent the angel off crying to daddy. Kids are the same everywhere. :)

Again, a highlight of our time in Cordoba was an outing to some attractions about an hour outside the city in the small town of Alta Garcia. We booked the tour through our hostel and due to a misunderstanding were not able to go the first day. So, being the overly nice and accommodating people they are, they arranged for us to take a private tour the next day. Our guides were Herman (the hostel´s owner) and Diego (a local student and musician who works at the hostel). On the drive, we learned a ton of local and national history...Herman took time to explain about the country´s financial crash in early 2000´s, told some local stories and also answered our many questions about politics, religion, history and the current farmer´s strike due to outrageous tax increases on the part of the government. He spoke in Spanish (very clearly and slowly for us) and anything we didn´t understand, Diego helped to translate in English. We were quite proud, however, because we understood about 90% of what he told us. Having Herman and Diego as our guides was truly the highlight of the outing.

While out and about, we visited the former Jesuit Estancia in Alta Garcia, which was a major source of food for the city of Cordoba around the time the university was getting up and running. I failed to mention that it was in Cordoba that South America´s first university was founded by the Jesuits and is one reason why the city is still a major place of learning and culture. We also visited the Che Guevara museum housed in his childhood home on a quiet street in Alta Garcia. After seeing the movie "Motorcycle Diaries" and Eric having read the original book, it was incredibly interesting to see where he grew up, learn about his childhood, formative years and transformation into a revolutionary, and see photos and the motorbike he used on his first South American adventure.

Next...
We thoroughly enjoyed our time in the center of the country and think we will want to return here again one day to explore more. For now, time is ticking so we head North-East towards the famous Igauzu Falls that are a "must see" on any trip to Argentina...

Patagonia Part 7: Bariloche

2008-04-22T15:52:00.000-07:00

From El Bolson, we headed 2 hours north to San Car los de Bariloche in Argentina´s Lake District. Bariloche is both a popular national and international destination, known for its pristine lakes, great hiking in summer, excellent skiing in winter and, most famously, for its chocolate. We were skeptical at first about the rave reviews of the chocolate, but once we tried it we were converted and bought ourselves a sizable assorted bag - which of course didn´t last as long as we hoped.

Thanks to a tip from our friends Yaron and Dorit (who we met in Torres Del Paine), we secured a nice little studio apartment in the heart of the old town with perfect views of the massive Nahuel Huapi Lake. We also ran into our Swiss friends from El Bolson (Chris and Sabine) and convinced them to stay in the same building so we could hang out. We arrived on the weekend, so spent a couple leisure days exploring the city, checking out the numerous chocolate and souvenir shops, seeing the terrible Hollywood flop "10,000 BC", and going to a Mexican restaurant where the margaritas were tasty, but the food only semi-authentic. We also spent time preparing for our last big hike in Patagonia in the Nahuel Huapi National Park. The weather was beginning to turn, so we were hopeful it would hold a few more days to allow us a good trek.

After visiting Club Andino (the supposed trek experts who actually weren´t that helpful) first thing Monday morning, we decided on our route. Chris and Sabine chose the same so we set off together on the bus to the start of the trek. The full circuit was supposed to take 5 days, but there were a number of alternative routes from the main trail in case of weather or other challenges. While we wanted to attempt the full track, we were strongly advised against it due to probable snow on the highest pass. Eric was game to attempt it if possible, I was a bit more leery.

Day one was fairly leisurely, skirting along the mountainside for some nice views of another of the national park´s lakes and then following above a river into a valley set in between a couple steep rocky mountains. Above the tree/shrub line were some very impressive rock formations - a few of them quite popular for rock climbers. The Refugio Frey sits at the edge of a small alpine lake (partly covered in ice this time of year) with excellent views of the spiring rock peaks. The hut keeper has a gigantic cat (we nicknamed him "little puma") that is quite the outdoor-kitty by day, but spends his evenings indoors on the laps of guests, most favorably men...he loved Eric and Chris and paid little attention to Sabine and I (both cat lovers).

Day two was another day of excellent weather - clear sky and sun, with just a slight bite of cold from the approaching winter. It was by far our most difficult day of the trek, and in my opinion, one of the most difficult days of trekking we´ve done in Patagonia. We began the day climbing out of the rock valley, up to the top of the mountain. This meant a lot of rock scrambling and a bit of climbing made more complicated by the patches of ice that had not melted in the shade. But teamwork and careful foot placement got us to the top...and we were rewarded with an incredible panoramic view of all the surrounding lakes and mountains. I was hoping our major climbing was finished...but I was not so lucky. We descended the very steep (and I´m not exaggerating when I say VERY steep) mountainside into the next valley, navigating once again the rocky terrain and eventually able to almost ski down the last bit of gravelly dirt. We had lunch on the edge of the forest in a sunny spot overlooking the boggy valley beyond. Then, we did it all again...climbed another rocky mountain, got to the top for more stunning views, and then descended a very steep mountainside to the next valley which had a lovely lake and rushing river. It was in this second valley that the Refugio San Martin sat, again next to the lovely alpine lake. The hut keeper here didn´t have a cat, but he did have a dog, a wife and a cute baby (just as good!). We spent the evening with Chris and Sabine and another fellow trekker from Utah cooking, playing cards and enjoying chocolate mousse for dessert (Chris and Sabine had discovered my weakness for sweets and were extremely gracious to share their chocolates and desserts!).

Day three...It rained (and snowed on the main pass) overnight, which meant the decision of whether to continue over the pass or follow the valley to an alternative end was easy. Though from what the hut keeper told us about the snow already accumulated on the pass, in addition to seeing a guy arrive the previous evening who had tried the pass and fallen injuring himself and losing or damaging a lot of his stuff, we had already pretty much decided that it would be safer to head back. We were happy that Chris and Sabine decided to join us and we made our way down the gorgeous valley. The hike was relatively easy compared to the day before, but it was still 4 hours and provided some great views of the mountains and river from a lower elevation.

When we got to the main road, we decided to walk another 5 kms to the small settlement of Colonia Suiza (Swiss Colony). We had heard great things about this little holiday village and since we were with two Swiss, we had to go there and try the Fondue (which was excellent). We found some nice cabañas (cabins) that had a rec room with TV and DVD player...after a few days of hiking, a bottle of wine and a good portion of Fondue, we were all quite happy to settle in and watch "James Bond: Casino Royale." And I also must mention our close encounter with a pet guanaco (he thought he was a dog) who followed us around while we explored the village.

The following day, we began hiking back towards Bariloche and were lucky (for the first time on this trip) to hitch a ride with little effort along the way. We took the bus the second half the way, admiring the many lakes and cute cabins (think Lake Tahoe) along the route back. The two couples separated to shower and run a few errands before we reunited for a last dinner together. We decided to cook in since we had an apartment...we provided the main dish of pasta and Chris and Sabine made a Couscous salad and brought a mouth watering (literally) apple strudel from the bakery. Strudel is a favorite in Switzerland and after the Fondue we had to round off our Swiss experience! We were quite sad to say goodbye to Chris and Sabine...they had been wonderful companions for 2 hikes and we thoroughly enjoyed our time with them. We are hoping they will decide to visit us this summer in California during their travels in the US. ;)

The following day we left Bariloche and Patagonia on a 19 hour bus bound for Mendoza - Argentina's wine country...

Patagonia Part 6: El Bolson

2008-04-19T10:04:00.000-07:00

After our adventures in Southern Chile, we were ready to get back to Argentina where transport is a bit easier and prices are a bit cheaper. From the border we took a bus to El Bolson, an artsy community bordering yet another beautiful Patagonian National Park.

Our first day in El Bolson was all about recovery...after so many buses, trucks, etc. along the Austral Road, we were a bit travel weary and in need of a day of R&R. We found ourselves a cute little studio apartment and treated ourselves to a nice dinner, wine and dessert (ice cream and homemade chocolate). After we were refreshed, we began preparations for another 3-day hike around Cerro (Mt.) Heilo Azul we had scoped out in our Patagonian Trekking Guide.

Day one of the trek took us alongside a crystal clear river and over a VERY rickety bridge hanging almost sideways with numerous slats missing (we later found out the park service considers this bridge "closed," but we hadn´t checked with them and there was no sign). However, we made it safely across the river to begin the 1,000 meter ascent to the refugio Hielo Azul (Blue Ice), set in a lovely valley with a stream, bordered by pine forest and enclosed by high mountain walls. It´s autumn in South America so the fall colors are spectacular and make the hikes even more enjoyable...it also helps me feel the huffing and puffing uphill is worthwhile. :)

The refugio was a cool log cabin completely furnished with natural wood carved chairs, tables, and benches. It had the standard old-fashioned wood stove for cooking and also a small stove for heating the living area. Upstairs there was a loft with pads for sleeping, which was a nice change from our tent. And in addition to the hut to himself...and his girlfriend) who lived in a skeeper (who mostly keptmall enclosed area at the back, there was an adorable resident cat who fell in love with Eric. Another couple from Spain was also staying at the hut and the cabin felt cozy and warm with the fire, a hot meal, and good company.

The next day, we experienced the downside of the change in season...we had an entire day of pouring rain. Initially, we hoped the rain would subside so we could leave for the next refugio by early afternoon. No luck. Then we debated putting on our rain gear and roughing it, but after another couple from Argentina arrived completely soaked and miserably cold, we decided to wait it out at least until the next morning. So we spent the day reading, journaling, chatting, and relaxing...and did our best to combat the boredom of being stuck indoors. Later that evening, the rain stopped and the clouds cleared to reveal a perfect starry sky.

On day three of our hike, we got back to hiking and began the day with a 3-hour sidetrip up to the Hielo Azul Glacier. It was a perfectly clear and sunny day and we had incredible views down into the valley and also of the glacier. The trek included a bit of rock climbing (which I typically am not too fond of), but Eric provided good encouragement as we climbed, singing "spider girl, spider girl..." (Simpsons anyone?)

When we got back down the mountain, we began the walk to the next refugio Cajon De Azul, about 4 hours away. As we came to the next river crossing and found that the log "bridge" was a sheet of ice, we decided to choose another log upriver and had to eventually straddle and slide over it - just a little cold on the inner thighs! Not to worry though, we had a cheering squad on the other side...a couple from Switzerland (Chris and Sabine) had arrived on the opposite side of the bank...and after seeing us cross, decided not to attempt the log crawl and instead joined us. We climbed up a steep hill and arrived at Lago Natacion where we had lunch and they picked up their bags...then we continued on together around the lake and down the mountainside into the next valley where the refugio sits.

The refugio Cajon De Azul was really more of an estancia (ranch)...it had fenced in fields for the horses and livestock, a small orchard and gardens, and even a group of local gauchos (cowboys) enjoying a beer in the dining area when we arrived. Like the previous cabin, it also had plenty of carved wooden furniture, a wood stove, and a sleeping loft. We were joined by the Spanish couple again and another 2 girls from Argentina and Turkey who had come from the other direction. We all sat around drinking tea and mate (the typical Argentian herbal drink) and watched as the local owners brought in a huge slab of beef and prepared a traditional meal of Milanesa and potatoes for dinner. This place felt culturally authentic and incredibly comfortable - we could have easily stayed here several more days.

On day four, we sadly left the estancia after breakfast, waving goodbye to t gates and headed down the valley to the end of the trek. As we followed the general course of the rihe gauchos saddling their horses as we walked out thever out of the valley, we were afforded some more excellent views of the area...and some more great exercise as we climbed up and down the path. Chris and Sabine joined us today too and we enjoyed a nice lunch by the river before finishing the hike and catching the local bus back into town.

We checked back into our little studio apartment and decided to head to the grocery store to see what we could make ourselves for dinner. You should never go to the grocery store when you are hungry...we ended up cooking a feast of Milanesa, potatoes, veges, and cake for way more than 2 people. We certainly went to bed fat and happy, and ready to continue on our journey the next day to Bariloche...

Patagonia Part 5: The Carretera Austral Road (Chile)

2008-04-17T11:35:00.000-07:00

After our extended stay in Villa O´Higgins we were ready to hit the road and head north on the beautiful Carretera Austral Road in Chile. During our rapid climb through the south of Chile we traveled by boat, bus and hitched to get through this sparsely populated region. It didn´t help that we were traveling on the cusp of winter during low season. In terms of landscapes, both Mariah and I were impressed with the many micro climates and ranging scenery from temperate rain forest to barren deserts, rolling hills to glacier topped mountains.

Due to low season and lack of traffic, many public buses were not in frequent operation during our journey north. We also knew with the onset of winter that we needed to quickly move north to get to El Bolson and Bariloche in Argentina to finish our trekking goals (Note: looking back we should have spent more time traveling this beautiful area... more on this in a moment). Due to these reasons, we found ourselves stuck a few times and had (were given the opportunity) to hitch in order to save precious time. In one such instance we found ourselves traveling with 6 Israelis and 1 driver (9 in total) in a small early 90s pick-up truck to the border town of Futulefu. At the time, riding in the back of the truck in the rain for close to two hours seemed reasonable (and like bit of an adventure) to save us 3 days of waiting time for the next bus to the same location.

The experience in the rear of the truck was shared with a new friend Roy (and more than 10 bags) as we fought the rain and dust on the dirt road and tried to avoid the many injections of water into the cab through the holes in the bed of the truck. We wound up in Futulefu half frozen and looking like we had crawled the whole way, but in the end it was worth it for the story and the views were certainly nothing to complain about.

While we didn´t get to spend as much time as we wanted exploring the towns and regions along the Carretera Austral, our journey did include some memorable moments. On the way Mariah and I stopped in Coyhaique - one of the larger towns along the route - and had a great experience staying at a hospedaje run by a kind older lady by the name of Yolanda. We found the place by suggestion of a guy we met and became friends with at the tourist info center (Tal from Israel) who raved about the hospitality of this little place and led us there himself. Also staying was a Chilean guy (Aldo) taking a year to bike around his country. The 4 of us were spoiled by Yolanda who acted as our grandmother, forcing food down our throats and trying to get us to use our Spanish to describe our families and travel plans. Now I know Mariah has been modest lately, but her Spanish improved exponentially during our trip on the Carretera Austral due to lack of English speakers. She had a great time communicating with Yolanda and other members of the family and formed a nice bond with her. This was an amazing experience in terms of getting immersed in the culture and a fabulous few days of TLC (the breakfasts she cooked us were amazing!).

Some Advice for Future Travelers to the Region: Now as many people have responded to us recently and said that traveling to Patagonia is a dream they have held for many years, let me take a few moments to highlight an amazing trip opportunity:

When to go: Dec-March
For how long: 10+ days

1. Fly into San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina
2. Rent a car from a reputable company like Avis/Hertz (usually they have less problems crossing the Argentina/Chile border)
3. Spend a few days in the national park in Bariloche, Nahul Huapi, and in El Bolson (just 2 hours south)
4. Head south on Routa 40 in Argentina down to Los Antigues and cross into Chile via the town of Chile Chico. Take the well marked dirt road north in Chile through the many micro climates, snow capped mountains, temperate rain forests, estancias (farms) and lake districts. During this trip take the time to stop in a couple of the many estancias for local accommodation or stay at hospedajes (local homes open to guests, similar to bed a breakfast). And be sure to take time to do a few short hikes (or even some horseback riding) along the way.
5. If you want more info or suggestions, let us know!

Looking back on our time on the Carretera Austral Road, we wish we had been traveling by car so we had the time and flexibility to explore this beautiful region more completely - but, you can´t do it all (not in one trip anyhow). The people in this region are full of character and open to sharing their lives and culture with you, especially if you are able to get off the beaten track a bit.

Well on to El Bolson...and putting our packs back on to head for the mountains!

Patagonia Part 4: Lago Desierto to Villa O´Higgins

2008-04-07T08:45:00.003-07:00

After our first few weeks in Patagonia, we were feeling an urge to get a bit off the beaten tourist track and into more rural parts. We had heard of a route where we could walk over the Argentina/Chile border to a remote lake and begin to gradually make our way north in Chile through lush and mountainous landscapes on the western side of the Andes. We thought this would be more interesting than taking the long and dusty Routa 40 on the eastern side of the Andes in Argentina through the vast and barren Patagonian Steppe.

After our several days of hiking in Glacier National Park (see previous blog), we took a bus about 50 km north to Lago Desierto where our adventure begins...

We were surprised that all our fellow passengers (about 15 in total) on the bus and boat were 60 plus years in age. There was one particularly boisterous fellow who got the conversation going when he saw the huge bags we lugged out of the minibus and onto our backs to board the boat. When we told him and the others (in our broken Spanish) that we were planning to hike 6 hours over the border, they were thoroughly impressed and immediately adopted us for the next 2 hours. As we rode the boat across the lake, they had us point out on the map our exact route. Enjoying the attention, we decided to ham it up a bit and went on to tell them about our year-long trip and island wedding. They LOVED it and got all excited and began sharing stories about their children and grandchildren getting married.

When we got to the far shore of the lake where we would camp for the night before beginning the trek, they were delighted when we suggested a photo in front of the border guard station. They grouped around us and happily posed as the guards took numerous photos with ours and all of their cameras. Before we set off to make camp, each and every one of them showered us with hugs and kisses to say goodbye (some of the grandmas hugging and kissing us at least twice!). They called out over and over again as they walked back to the boat, "Suerte! Suerte!" ("Good luck!"). I think we made their day...and they certainly made ours!

We set up camp on the edge of the forest alongside the grassy paddock where horses were grazing near the shore of the lake - it was picturesque. We made dinner on our little gas stove and then treated ourselves to some mulled wine...we had brought box wine, an orange, and cinnamon sticks to enjoy before our big day of trekking. Near dark, a group of about 10 Argentine guys showed up after having completed the trek around the lake and set up camp beside us. We shared some of our cooking gas with them and they gave us a quality dark chocolate bar as thanks. They were friends on an annual camping and hiking trip and were planning to stay to enjoy the lake for a day or two before heading back.

Fairly early the next morning, we packed up camp and headed to the guard post to get our passports stamped before setting out on the dirt path up the mountain side. I was carrying about 45-50 lbs in my bag and Eric was shouldering 60-65 lbs on his back (he was of course a gentleman and took some of my weight!). After about 2 hours, we reached the official border line with the signs showing the boundaries for Argentina and Chile. We thought there would be a guard post here for Chile, but learned later it wasn´t until the end of the trek where we would officially check into the new country.

Luckily, after the first major climb out of the valley, the terrain was relatively flat and easy until the descent at the other side down to Lago O´Higgins in Chile. I say flat and easy, but that would be without bags of bricks! We both weathered the walking quite well considering the weight and actually made really great time...I think we just wanted to get there and get it over with! We did make a few short stops for lunch and quick 5 min breaks to give our backs and legs a rest, but otherwise it was onward march! The scenery on the hike was nice...some lovely lakes, wooded areas, valleys and a great lookout to Mt. Fitzroy miles beyond where we had been a day before. When we finally descended down to Lago O´Higgins we were VERY happy to hand the guard our passports and walk the last 15 minutes to the small estancia (ranch) along the lake.

The family who owns the estancia were the original homesteaders years before. The daughter of the founder (a kindly woman named Justa) is now around 70ish and still keeps the place going with her husband Geranimo and one of their sons Ricardo. They provide camping and lodging to weary travelers for a reasonable price and also sell home-cooked meals and bread. I was extremely happy when Eric decided our strenuous efforts should allow us to splurge and stay in the house for a bit extra. It never felt so good to take off our shoes and socks and enjoy a hot shower. After we relaxed a bit, we spent the evening in the dining room and kitchen area where the large wood fire kitchen stove provided warmth, a place to cook and bake, and even heated the hot water heater. The only other place I´ve used a stove like this is at our cabins in Wyoming´s mountains...but we were soon to discover that many people still have and use these stoves in Southern Chile.

Justa spent her time doing household chores, cooking, making fresh bread (she taught me how), and tending to the needs of the several other guests as they arrived. Geranimo is not quite as mobile and seemed a bit grouchy at having all these tourists in his kitchen, so he mostly sat and observed or scowled from his chair by the stove. I made some attempts at conversation with him and Eric gave him cookies and chocolate, so he warmed up to us after a bit. Ricardo, the single son around 40ish, takes care of the horses and livestock and also rents out their horses and his services to tourists who don´t want to carry their packs over the border. He arrived just after dark with a young couple from Norway and brought in a fresh cut of beef from outside for dinner. We learned that the other siblings in the family all live in the general area - one of Ricardo´s brothers runs another part of the ranch further away and the sisters are married and live in the tiny settlements nearby. They are a lovely family and their way of life is rustic and simple - we personally found it refreshing and wonderful. With the exception of a few modern amenities (e.g., a TV, a radio for communication, a washing machine), it felt like we were back in the Wild West 80 years ago.

The next day, the once-a-week boat showed up at 1PM to take us across Lago O´Higgins to the tiny village of Villa O´Higgins (population: 500). The village is at the very end of the Carretera Austral - a long, winding, dirt road that connects the sparsely populated southern part of the country with the more populated north. Most of the people in the village were relocated here after Chile and Argentina shifted the borders a number of years back. The inhabitants receive generous government subsidies and, as a result, are not the most motivated people you´ve ever met.

We stayed at the El Mosco hostel´s camping ground, owned by a Spanish guy named Gorge who moved to Patagonia about 4 years ago and since has become the town´s local entrepreneur. He is quite the character - a bit narcissistic and money-oriented, but overall friendly and helpful. Gorge informed us on our arrival that we had four options to get out of town to travel north: 1. wait 4 days and take the weekly bus to the next "sizable" town 6 hours north, 2. hitchhike, 3. charter him and his van for an ungodly price to take us to a small town 3 hours north where there are more frequent buses, 4. wait 2 days and take the small, questionably safe plane. Since we couldn´t gather enough people to make chartering the van financially feasible, and the plane seemed a bit risky (plus, 4 fellow travelers gobbled up the remaining seats within a couple hours), we decided to try option 2 and hitchhike.

We got up early the next morning, packed up our tent, and went to post up by the only road out of town for our first Patagonian hitchhiking experience. Gorge had informed us the evening before that all vehicles leaving Villa O´Higgins must take a car ferry (that leaves twice daily) across a channel, so it´s really only worthwhile to hitch between 8-10AM and 2-4PM. We sat down by the side of the road, made ourselves bread and honey for breakfast and waited. As we sat patiently (with a tinge of boredom), we were entertained by a variety of local stray dogs (and a few horses) roaming about looking for food and testing territorial boundaries. But it was Sunday...and cars were scarce. We saw only a military truck, which refused to take us, and the neighbor whose truck was filled to the brim and packed with people. So we returned to the hostel to sit and read until the 2-4PM shift. But again, no luck...only a guy in a blue truck who passed us about 10 times, but never went more than 5 blocks from his house before returning, going inside, coming out and doing it all over again in a different direction. Very odd. So our hitchhiking adventure wasn´t much of an adventure at all and we went back to set up our tent for a second night.

Feeling a bit discouraged about hitchhiking, we decided the next day to join a few others on a couple day hike up to a refugio (i.e., hut) several hours into the nearby national park. This was a much better decision. The hike provided great views of the local area with lovely lakes, river valleys, forest and glaciers. The refugio was a simple log cabin with a make-shift wood stove made from a barrel, wooden table and benches, and enough floor space to sleep 6. We spent the evening enjoying the company of a Norwegian couple (Espen and Magni) and an Australian guy (Ralph) while cooking, reading, conversing, and huddling around the fire as it got dark and cold. The next morning, we opted not to do the several hour side trip to the El Mosco Glacier and instead headed back to town. I forgot to mention that I had taken my turn twisting my ankle after our border crossing when running from the estancia down to catch the boat. I´m not quite as tough (or motivated) to walk through pain as Eric did in Torres Del Paine...though I think he´ll agree that I was a trooper to do even the shorter trek to the hut.

When we got back to the hostel, the five of us had the place to ourselves for our last evening. Gorge had left with the plane to go out of town for a few days and just asked his girlfriend to stop by and check on us and collect payment. So we all enjoyed long hot showers, cooked nice meals, did our laundry, and used the computer to check our email for free. Before bed, we stoked the wood fire in the living room, played Gorge´s eclectic mix of CDs and chatted as we sipped glasses of red wine and beer.

The next morning, we headed to the bus to begin our journey up the Carretera Austral...

Patagonia Part 3: Glaciers National Park

2008-04-04T09:17:00.000-07:00

After our time hiking in Torres Del Paine and a long and bumpy bus ride back across the Argentian border, we arrived to the area known as Parque Nacional Los Glaciares. Our first stop was a very touristy town called Calafate. We probably would have skipped over this town if it wasn´t for the access to Glacier Perito Moreno, one of only three Patagonian glaciers that are not retreating, but in fact occassionally advancing.

We had met a trio of fellow travelers from the US and Germany in Torres Del Paine (Dylan, Dave and Sandy) who we decided to partner with to rent a car to go and see this natural wonder. Unfortunately, it was Easter weekend so finding an available car was quite the task...but we eventually prevailed and got ourselves and true POS (piece of S!$&*) to make the 100 km trip. While the car (with half a bumper) wasn´t the best deal in town, it did get us from A to B and allowed us more freedom (and a cheaper price) than taking the tourist bus.

When we arrived, we understood why this attraction is indeed a "must see." The glacier is a mammoth river of ice that pours down from several huge valleys and ends at the base of its glacial lake. The sheer size and awe of the thing is hard to put into words...and it´s constantly cracking and calving off into the water. If you sit there and stare long enough (which we did) you can see chunks breaking off into the water followed by what sounds like deep grumbles of thunder. We spent several hours walking along all the board walks to get a variety of views and to watch the glacial show. It was pretty awesome.

After our return from the glacier, we treated ourselves to a "tenedor libre" (all you can eat buffet) at a local restaurant which included unlimited access to the BBQ (Eric´s favorite), rows of salads and potatoes, and a mulitude of desserts (my favorite). Since we had no reason to hang around too long, we left the next day to the tiny town of El Chalten, which is at the main entrance to Glaciers National Park and a variety of cool hikes. El Chalten is also a popular destination for Argentians and since it was Easter weekend, there wasn´t a bed in town. But no problem, we have a tent. Once we found a place to store our extra stuff, we set off on a 4-day excursion into the park.

The first afternoon of hiking was relatively easy after we climbed our way out of town and into the park. We camped by a rushing river near Lago Torre and spent the next morning exploring the area of the glacial lake and enjoying the serenity of the nature. On Easter morning, we had the pleasure of seeing a huge Condor cirlce and dive through the air above us on the ridge above the lake - a nice reminder to pause and reflect on life and creation. In the afternoon, we made our way over a small mountain, through a valley of lakes and to our next camp site near the base of the famed Mt. Fitzroy. This rocky peak (popular with experienced mountain climbers) towers above all others and is surrounded on all sides by glaciers. We were lucky to have great weather for most our time in the park that allowed outstanding views and photo ops of Mt. Fitzroy.

We camped for 2 nights at this site and used it as a jumping off point for a couple nice day hikes. One hike was up the rocky river valley boulder hopping to Laguna Sucia at the base of Mt. Fitzroy and surrounding peaks. We sat at the base of the lake in awe as we watched the waterfalls tumble from the glacier and then looked above to admire the sheer and towering rock mountains. Amazing. Our second day hike was to another nearby glacier called Pideras Blancas and then down the main river valley for a couple hours...again, wonderful views and lovely scenery. On day four, we decided it was time for a bed so we made our way back to town and settled in at a very cozy hostel run by an older Argetenian guy who resembled Santa Claus. The fireplace, wooden table, and comfy chairs and hot shower made this place perfect for some R&R.

When we were in Ushuaia, a fellow traveler recommended a route from El Chalten to Villa O´Higgins (in Chile) that is off the beaten tourist track. He sparked our interest and after some research we found it would be possible to make the journey and hike over the border (more in the next blog), but that we would have to wait a couple extra days in order to time the trip with the once-a-week boat across the gigantic Lago O´Higgins in Chile. In the end, the delay was quite enjoyable because on our return to El Chalten we were delighted to meet again our couple friends (Dorit and Yaron) from Israel. We spent our couple extra days here doing a day hike with them, sipping wine, going out to dinner and meeting for dessert. It´s been great to run into this fun couple a few times so far on our travels...we hope we will encounter them again up north.

On Thursday (March 27), we said our goodbyes and parted ways as they boarded a bus to travel the famous Route 40 in Argentina heading North, and we took a bus to Lago Desierto about 50 kms away where we would begin our next adventure...stay tuned.

Patagonia Part 2: Torres Del Paine

2008-04-03T16:30:00.000-07:00

Let me set the scene for our first real trek in Patagonia...On our marathon bus ride from Ushuaia (Argentina) to Puerto Natales (Chile) I was explaining to Mariah that if we wanted to get a good flavor of Patagonia, we should do 20+ days of hiking over the course of the next 4-5 weeks. We spent the bus ride debating the multi-day hikes we wanted to tackle and day dreaming about all that we were going to experience and see. Then, while exiting the bus at our destination, I sprained my ankle and we watched over the next couple hours as it swelled to the size of a tennis ball...all hopes and dreams flashed before my eyes...

Well, needless to say, we took a day or two to discuss what we wanted to accomplish in South America (and especially in Patagonia) while I rested up and began to recover. Thankfully, my ankle seemed to be healing relatively quickly, so I decided to grin and bear it and get started exploring this special place. In Puerto Natales (the base town of Torres Del Paine National Park) we geared up, bought our trekking food rations and decided to wrap the ankle, take a handful of anti-inflammatories and head to the mountains.

In the National Park, there are a few multi-day treks. We decided to do the popular ¨W¨ route, starting at the eastern end of the park to hike up to the "Torres" and eventually making our way to the western end to see Glacier Grey. As most well planed trips go, it turned out nothing like we planned for both good and bad reasons:

Weather - The first day we climbed for 4 hours in beautiful weather and arrived at the Torres lookout (large rock pillars rising out of the mountain) to find the tops hidden by clouds. The third day of trekking after leaving our camp ground (Los Cuernos) and heading up the center arm of the ¨W¨(Valley Francais) we encountered severe wind and rain. We thought, ¨No problem, we have rain gear and are warm so let's keep going.¨ Like champs we made it to the top of the vista and have some amazing photos to prove it... but the next 4 hours back down the valley and across to Campamento Pehoe we encountered 60km winds and rain (a great way to wrap up our marathon 9-hour day). That night while we slept restlessly in our tent, it dropped below freezing and ice covered our rain fly. We also had a few friendly mice visitors that kept trying to get cover from the weather between our interior and exterior tent walls...we had to knock them off several times. The next morning when the rain and sleet still hadn´t let up, we had second thoughts about heading up to Glacier Grey to finish the trip. When we saw the fog cover and learned the forecast was bad for the next few days, we opted to go pack to Puerto Natales and have a hot shower...we may not have finished the ¨W,¨ but it was a very impressive ¨U¨!!!

Animals - Rats and camping don´t mix. Out durable tent has done a fabulous job with a little ducktape at keeping the little bastards at bay, but we have multiple times in Torres Del Paine woken up to the sounds of them gnawing at the tent. In the morning when we assess the damage, we have found patterns that look like a 5 year old had taken a whole punch to our tent. But we have overcome and we our proud to have a tent with many ducktape patches.

Friends - During our time in Torres Del Paine, we met several friends who made the trip very enjoyable. We had great conversations over hot meals and wine and had fun meeting along the trail to exchange updates and advice. There is a certain "we´re all in this together" feel that makes it easier to pass the moments when your wet and cold, or huffing and puffing up a steep climb with 40 lbs on your back.

Yaron and Dorit - An fun Israeli couple that we met on the bus from Puerto Natales to the National Park. We became fast friends and had a great time hiking and camping together. What we didn´t know at the time is that we would end up traveling with these guys off and on for the next couple weeks. As we say to each other on each goodbye, "Our time is not yet finished." We hope to meet them again further north in Patagonia.

Dave and Dylan (USA, Washington), and Sandy (Germany) - Another group of friends that we originally met on the bus from Ushuaia and that fate would have it we would meet again in Torres Del Paine and later in Calafate to travel with, sight see and enjoy a great all you can eat buffet.

Scenery - While we did encounter a number of weather and animal obstacles during our journey, the incredible scenery and amazing views made it all worthwhile. The hike was strenuous in parts and easy going at other times. The surroundings were constantly changing from impressive peaks and mountains, to green valleys and expansive grasslands, to peaceful lakes and raging rivers. We found we constantly had our breath taken away.

All in all, our time in Torres Del Paine was amazing...and in the end, the challenges made it all that more memorable. Now that we have our first big hike under our belts (and a couple days rest to continue to heal my ankle), we are ready to head north to Glacier National Park back over the border in Argentina!

Southern Patagonia Part 1: Ushuaia

2008-04-01T15:09:00.000-07:00

After our week in Buenos Aires, we were in need of some rest and recuperation and Ushuaia was the perfect place. It is the Southerly most city of the world and the jumping off point for many cruises to Antarctica. Truth be told, it´s not really that exciting of a place...it´s mostly filled with tourist and outdoorsy shops, cafes and restaurants, and chocolate shops (which we thoroughly enjoyed). It is set among some pretty glacial mountains, alongside the Beagle Channel (south of the Strait of Magellan) and has a nice national park – Tierra Del Fuego – nearby. However, compared to some of the other spectacular scenery we´ve seen in Patagonia since we left Ushuaia, we would not classify it as a “must see” place. But for what we wanted and needed at the time, it was perfect.

We were able to rent a double room in a 2-bedroom apartment, which was more homey than a hostel. One of our flatmates while in town was a guy named Bob from Alaska – he owns a successful construction business and spends his months off traveling the world. He was a very interesting guy and we had several intriguing conversations about travel, the state of the world and American politics. We also had a couple nights without roomates, which was wonderful because it felt like we had our own place and could cook, drink tastey Argentian wine, and study Spanish at our leisure.

During our 5-day stay in this city, we both took turns recovering from a nasty cold and spent a day in bed resting and reading. We also spent time in the internet cafe catching up on some emailing and “to do” items, did some shopping to get the right gear for our upcoming trekking trips, and indulged in some of the local cuisine. We also spent a day hiking in the national park, and on another day Eric ventured up to the local glacier in the rain and sleet (the day I was sick in bed). He came back drenched, but enjoyed the views from the top of the mountain...and we managed to dry him off well with our little heater. Had it not been for full buses, we probably would have left Ushuaia a day or two sooner, but we were glad for the time to relax and prepare for our upcoming Patagonia adventures.

Argentina - Buenos Aires

2008-03-10T13:03:00.000-07:00

We loved Buenos Aires. More than any other city we´ve visited, this was a city where we felt we could stay for an extended period of time, or even live for a year or two. Its filled with a lively vibe that is hard to put into words - a mix of European and Latino cultures.

The older parts of the city are dotted with amazing Euro-Spanish architecture, the restaurants are filled with steaks and wine, the bars and clubs are lively with Latin music, Tango dancing and patrons who are always up for a good time. The city literally never sleeps. Whether it´s 4AM on a Saturday night, or 2AM on a Wednesday, there are people in the street and restaurants and clubs that are open.

We decided to stay in an older part of town called San Telmo, known for it´s Tango culture and historic architecture. In the course of a week, we got a small taste of the best of BA...and know for certain that this is a place we will return to. Here are some of our favorite experiences:

Spanish Class

Since we´d both learned some Spanish in the past, and since we are going to be in Spanish speaking countries for 3 months, we decided it was a priority to take some lessons to brush up on our basic skills and build a foundation for further learning as we travel. We signed up for a week of small group lessons (Mon-Fri from 9AM-1:30PM) at a local language school called IBL.

While the time commitment did eat up a lot of our "tourist" time during the day (and waking up every morning at 7:30AM was killer), we were both glad we did it. We reviewed grammar rules, increased our vocab and got some good speaking practice over the course of the week. We also met some really great people in our classes from Brazil, Holland, the UK, and the US. Eric´s classmate Jayme (from Brazil) became a quick friend and we toured around the city and went out with him throughout the week. Admittedly, we probably won´t be fluent by the time we get home, but we will certainly be "proficent" - or at least we hope!

The Food/Drink

While Argentina is not necessarily known for the most flavorful cuisine - they are famous for their steaks and wine - and for good reason! No doubt about it, these people are carnivores and love their red meat. There are parillas on every block serving up steaks, asado (traditional meat dish), chorizo, sausage and much more. The norm on the menu is a hunk of red meat with french fries or potatoes. And trust us, it´s very good. We found a number of great local places to get quality steak for between $5-10.

In addition to the steak joints, there are also a handful of other gourmet restaurants that have more variety on the menu and a nice touch of class. We splurged a couple times (spending $30-40 on a nice meal with wine) to treat ourselves to the finer things in life. Although, I think Eric ordered steak pretty much everywhere we went.

And of course, Argentina is known for their wine country near Cordoba and Mendoza in the central part of the country...producing many great wines. We shared quite a few bottles of red wine over the course of the week and each one was excellent.

The Bars/Clubs

Many a traveler has raved about the awesome night life in BA, but until you are here, you just can´t understand. Even I - a girl who likes her sleep and is more of a homebody - wanted to go out every night. There are so many cool places to go...from clubs pumping techno and pop music, to music venues with live bands, from funky cafes and pubs to swanky upscale bars. There is something for everyone...and some place for every mood every night of the week. While we were slightly strapped due to our early morning wake-ups, we still managed to get out most nights to see some great local bands, dance the night away, or sit chatting away in a local pub.

Two of our favorite evenings was a Saturday night spent listening to 3 local bands - all with a bit different sound. We met some locals there to support their friends in the bands and even bought a couple of the CDs. And a Friday night spent with our friends Cristian (from Chile) and Jose Luis (from Spain) at a Cuban restaurant/bar called Rey Castro. We had a great 3 course Cuban meal followed by live Cuban music and dancing. It was a blast!

Tango

One thing is very clear when you arrive to BA - Tango music and dancing are at the heart and soul of this city. Everywhere you turn...the street corner, restaurants, bars, live shows...Tango is present. We thoroughly enjoyed listening to live Tango music on the streets and seeing people dancing at local Milongas (essentially Tango joints) or pretty much any where there is music and space. To get a full Tango experience, we decided to attend a Tango dinner show with our friend Jayme from Spanish class. Complejo Tango offered a free Tango lesson the hour prior to the dinner show where we got to test our beginner skills...and we actually weren´t too terribly bad considering it was our first lesson. The actual show and live music were phenomenal and quite impressive. We sat there in awe watching the dancer´s feet as they performed many complex and graceful moves. It´s good to take the lesson beforehand because even though they make it look so darn easy, you realize how much talent and practice it takes!

Football (i.e., Soccer)

For those of you who don´t know, Argentineans are football fanatics! One of their most popular teams in Boca Juniors representing the BA barrio of La Boca. There is one group of fans that is so dedicated to this team (and present at every game) that they call the cheering section the "twelfth player." We were lucky enough to get to go to one of the games to experience the fanaticism ourselves. Standing in the public cheering section (across the stadium from the even crazier twelfth player), we joined in the singing, stomping, jumping, hollering, swaying, etc. The energy in that stadium was enough to fly you to the moon. I have been at some great USC football games where the fans go wild, but never have I been to a game where the entire stadium - literally - is singing and jumping/swaying together in complete unison making so much noise you can´t hear anything. And, the Boca Juniors won 3-0 against the Mexican team Atlas, so it was a great close to the night.

Sightseeing/Shopping

While we didn´t get as much time as we wanted to see all the sights around BA, we did get a chance to visit a few of the major "must sees," including: the Recoleta cemetery filled with crypts and large tombs of the rich and famous (including Evita); the famous street of Caminito lined with rainbow colored houses and shop fronts, Tango dancers and artisans selling crafts and paintings; the Playa del Mayo where social activists gather; in addition to a few other spots.

But the touristy day we enjoyed the most was right at our hostel´s front door in San Telmo. Every Sunday, there is a huge antiques and handicraft market in the streets and plaza of San Telmo. There were dozens of street performers, of course lots of Tango music and dancing, and hundreds of booths selling souvenirs we couldn´t resist. We decided to buy a boxful of goodies to ship home - telling ourselves that it´s worth it because, seriously, how often are we in Argentina? :) We are such suckers!

What´s Next...

So after about a week of non-stop fun and activity, we flew to Patagonia to begin our hiking and outdoor adventures in the most Southerly city in the world, Ushuaia. I have a feeling we will need a couple days of R&R - with a couple day hikes to get in shape again - to recover from last week. Then from here, we will be working our way up North through Argentina, Chile and finally to Peru. We plan to return to BA for a few days near the end of our trip because it turns out it´s the cheapest city to fly home from. So we figured we´d spend a few more days in BA (without early mornings for Spanish classes) to see some other parts of the city we didn´t have time to explore. More adventures to come...

Impressions of the South Pacific Islands

2008-03-09T21:37:00.000-07:00

All in all, we spent a couple months in the South Pacific Islands - Cook Islands, Samoa and Tonga. Before we start our S. America entries, we wanted to highlight some of our impressions of this region (as we have done with the other major regions we have visited on our trip).

While we were ready to get a move on by March, we thoroughly enjoyed the time we had to relax on beautiful beaches, explore the islands, rummage through the local markets, get to interact with tourists and locals alike, and of course get married. :) While each island was unique, there were a number of similarities between them. Below are some of the things that stood out to us about the island lifestyle...

Religion: The evidence of 20th century missions by every major Christian sect was very apparent in the islands. In addition to the presence of many Christian Churches, there were several others - most notably the Mormons. Most islanders are avid church going people who take Sundays (or Saturdays if they are Seventh Day Adventists) very seriously. It´s a day for worship, family time, feasting and rest...and virtually everything closes down. People dress up in their best outfits (white if in Samoa) and head to church. Religion is a major part of village life and a staple in the community. Religious symbols can been seen everywhere - from buses, to markets, people´s homes and even by the road side. While most islanders are devout in their faith, we did also encounter those who shared that a number of people (especially elders) do still hang on very quietly to their ancestral beliefs and superstitions, regardless of the faith they claim. However, as the generations progress, this is becoming less common. And there were also those who admitted that choice of religion depended on what the particular church was offering up in terms of education for their children and other side benefits. It was an interesting part of their society to observe considering how much the presence of Western religions have impacted their societies, beliefs and customs in the last century.

Burial Practices: Each country´s burial traditions are slightly different, but what they have in common is that you can´t miss them. In the Cook Islands, family members are usually buried on family land...so as you drive by everyone´s front yard you can see large concrete tombs often decorated with photos and kind words from loved ones. Samoa was similar to the Cooks Islands, but on the volcanic island of Savaii tombs were also often covered by an arrangement of lava rocks. In Tonga, small cemeteries were more the norm. Here, concrete burials were covered with sand and gravel, then fake flowers were stuck into the sand for decoration...but the most important aspect, were the colorful and lavishly decorated quilts they hang behind the mound. The more ornate the quilt and the more fake flowers...the more the person is respected and loved.

Family: Islanders generally have large families and everyone looks after each other. As we found in Palau and Yap, aunts and uncles are pretty much like another set of parents, and everyone shares the responsibilities of raising children. Cousins are like brothers and sisters and grandparents are respected elders. Everyone helps out the other in matters of land, food, housing, money, or anything else. Family reunions are major affairs when everyone gathers together annually, or every few years. Weddings and funerals are also big events where everyone comes and must be invited...a small wedding is not an option, and funerals are more celebrations of life rather than dwelling only on the mourning. Those who go abroad to work in Australia, New Zealand or elsewhere (which is quite common) generally send money home to help their families in the islands. They also come home as often as possible for the holidays. We quite admired how immediate and extended families look after each other and stick together through thick and thin.

Island Traditions - Music, Dance, Dress and Food: There is certainly a feeling of "island" traditions and lifestyle when you arrive to each country. Again, each is distinct, but all are similar in that they highly value their traditions. We heard the same sorts of music in all the islands we visited. It was either traditional, which generally included a lot of drum beats, ukulele and singing...or, modern island style - laid back, happy, hip-hoppy beats. Traditional dance is a point of pride for these countries with many men´s and women´s dances often set to drum beats or gentle singing. Island food was also similar and a mix of taro root and leaves, tapioca, fish, coconut, papaya, and then the canned stuff like corned beef that´s imported (and generally quite unhealthly). In terms of traditional dress, lava lavas (large, colorful pieces of cloth) were highly popular in the Cook Islands and Samoa. In Tonga, it´s a bit different...they wrap woven mats around their waists and tie them with string or a belt. Of course the modern world has crept in and many of the traditions are mixed in with Western styles of dress, music, food, etc. However, they are not lost and you can still see many traditional aspects played out in daily island life. Or, you can be a tourist (like we were a number of times) and pay for a traditional island "night" where you get to eat a tasty island buffet and watch a traditional dance show set to their music all in a matter of a few hours.

Village Life: As we observed in Micronesia, village lifestyle is still very much a part of how things work. Each village has a chief or chiefs (in Samoa there are chiefs for different purposes) who determines and enforces village rules. The chiefs and the elders must be respected and hold a lot of power in governance of the village (and often play a large role in the larger government). In Tonga, this is of course different because it is a monarchy (see Tonga blog). While many people commute into the bigger city/town on the island for work, they return to their villages at night and live their weekend lives there.

People: Islanders tend to be quite laid back and very friendly. We had many nice conversations and hospitable offers throughout our time on the islands. In fact, in the Cook Islands we were virtually adopted by a local family for a couple weeks, which was wonderful. Islanders may not be the most highly motivated and driven people you´ve ever met, but they are certainly pleasant to hang out with and very welcoming. We are grateful to all the wonderful people we met while in the South Pacific...for their tourist advice, their assistance and hospitality.

Of course, there are many more aspects of the islands we could highlight from our time in Polynesia, but this is a good flavor of a few things that made an impression on us about the culture and the lifestyle. As we always say with these kinds of entries, bear in mind this is only one perspective from a traveling couple who breezed through quickly. As always, we are happy to discuss our impressions on this region further if you feel inclined to ask us. :)

Tonga

2008-03-09T13:59:00.000-07:00

Tonga....well, to put it lightly, we felt that Tonga was more of a transition period for us than a memorable part of the trip. We were only in the island group for 6 days (due to changes in our plans to increase our time in S. America) and, therefore, didn´t really have the opportunity to enjoy the country´s most prized tourist sites. Tonga is most known for its outer island groups of Vava´u and Ha´apai, which have beautiful, rustic beaches and opportunites for close encounters with whales during the right season. But it wasn´t whale season when we visited, and we unfortunately didn´t have the time or money to visit the outer islands. As a result, we spent most our time on the main island, which does not have as much to offer. Here´s a brief synopsis of our time in Tonga...

Culture

In terms of culture, we found that Tonga - like many other islands we visited - has a relatively lazy and sedate lifestyle. Due to hot weather and abundant sources of food (e.g., taro root, coconuts, tapioca), Tongans don´t necessarily have a strong work ethic. And since building a tourist infrastructure and culture of customer service takes work, Tongans have not exactly thrived in the tourism industry as of yet.

It´s not exactly that tourists are un-welcome, but you certainly don´t feel welcomed with open arms. The "resorts" on the main island are simple and rustic, and for the money you pay, are not exactly great value. The people are friendly enough, but in our experience, did not go out of their way to say hello or help you like we found in Samoa.

Tonga is also a unique country in that it is still a traditional monarchy ruled by the King of Tonga. The King - and a ruling class of nobles - have virtually absolute power and there are major issues with nepotism and greed. As a result, the lower class of Tongans are hungry for change and a more democratic society. There have been some uprisings and riots in the recent past, and when you drive around the island you can see banners posted by citizens calling for change in the new government.

That being said, our experience in Tonga is only one view and of course was colored by the fact that we were not able to visit the parts of the country that are most raved about. In addition, we were a bit tired of the sedate island lifestyle and ready to head to South America. This is not to say that the country doesn´t have many amazing attributes, but from what we heard, your best experiences will be found off the main island.

Island Tour

On our second day in Tonga, we took a tour of the main island Tongatapu guided by our slightly disenchanted, incredibly sarcastic, British-expat hostel owner named Toni. In a matter of 6 hours we took in the major tourist sights of the island, including: the small captial of Nuku´alofa, the supposed landing sites of explorers Captain Cook and Abel Tasman, the Trillithon (which marks the rough location of the international date line), a few cool beaches, and a coastline of impressive blow holes. We also got a lesson and commentary from Toni on the island´s agriculture, the plethora of Mormon churches popping up (which he opposses, along with the many other churches outnumbering villages 3 to 1), and his general frustrations about the Tongan government and people. However, we might add that despite his negative view on Tongans, he is married to a Tongan woman 30 yrs his junior and has chosen to live here the last 20 years. Overall, our trip around the main island was interesting and we enjoyed taking in the sights and rolling our eyes with our tour-mates at some of Toni´s pessimistic commentary.

Friends

The most enjoyable aspect of our time in Tonga was the people we met while there...

Keith (from Canada) was a faithful companion in Samoa and also joined us traveling around the main island of Tonga and to a small island 20 mins away called Pongamotu. After spending so much time together, it felt like he was part of the "family" - he brought a light hearted party vibe to the group and we truly enjoyed his company. He is also at the begining of a year plus trip around the world, so we found ourselves giving lots of tips and recommendations. (Sorry Keith if we badgered you too much, we are jealous of the many great adventures you have ahead!)

Our first two days in Tonga were spent at Toni´s Guesthouse (Toni being our very vocal tour guide) where we encountered fellow backpackers from all around the world. While at Toni´s, we did the island tour, went to see an "Island Night" dance show, spent some time in town checking out the local handicraft market and dining at the quaint Friend´s Cafe.

Martin & Petya (from Bulgaria) where a young married couple who joined us on our tour and town outings. They had also been traveling for quite awhile and we had fun sharing stories and exploring together.

We spent the next two of our six days in Tonga at a "resort" on the tiny island of Pongamotu just off the main island. In the couple windy/rainy days we spent at Mama´s Yaht Club, we met several other great people and spent the hours of the day sharing stories of travel and life, playing cards, a marathon poker game, darts and pool.

Keith & Kathleen (from Idaho) provided excellent conversation and were great card partners. Keith had just finished 4 months working in Antarctica at a remote outpost operating heavy machinery. He works for the National Parks Service back home, so sometimes spends his winters off duty working elsewhere. Kathleen flew out to meet him for a short tropical vacation before they return home to their children and the daily grind.

Charin & Annemieke (from New Zealand) were on short holiday from work and instegated games of pool and a cultural Kava drinking session with the Tongan owners of the resort and the relatives present (Kava is a popular local beverage that tastes like dirty socks and provides slight sedation).

Steve & Sandra (from England) arrived the second day of our stay, but were quite keen to jump into the fun and compete in the marathon poker game we had going. Our buddy Keith ended up taking home the pot, but we still managed to cash out with some money.

After two days in Pongamotu, we moved back to the main island for our remaining two days and splurged on a bit nicer place called Heilala Garden Inn, where breakfast and free (slow) internet were included. This little retreat provided a nice environment to relax and prepare for the next leg of our journey in South America.

Julian and Sandra (from Scotland) provided nice company during our days at Heilala Resort. They are newlyweds like us and got married Dec 31 in Fiji. They chose to keep the ceremony more private so it was just the two of them. They had some funny stories about wedding drama (e.g., Sandra´s dress was mailed and never arrived, it rained on the big day, the make-up lady almost cancelled last minute), but also had some really heartwarming moments to share. It was fun to talk with them because they had also been together many years before marrying and had lots of similar experiences we could relate to.

Finally, after six days of "killing time," we departed Tonga for South America. We are looking forward to South America and the adventrues that lay ahead...

Eric + Mariah

Samoa

2008-02-19T18:45:00.001-08:00

We have spent 10 great and fun-filled days in Samoa relaxing in the sun, enjoying fresh fish and Vailima beer, and swimming in the clear warm water. Paradise. To sum up our adventures here, we thought we'd share with you our top ten experiences for the last ten days...

Riding the Samoan Buses

Samoan buses are an experience in themselves. Each driver is given artistic freedom to decorate the inside and out as he pleases, which generally means they are brightly colored and filled with a variety of toys, flags or religious symbols on the inside. Not to mention pumping loud island music as they bump along the road. The best part of the Samoan bus experience, however, (or worst depending on how you look at it) is getting stuffed in like sardines with a bunch of large Samoan people for hour-plus rides to wherever you are going. There is no such thing as "the bus is full,"...there is ALWAYS room for one more.

My favorite ride in terms of cultural experience (though admittedly least comfortable) was the one where I was welcomed on to a large Samoan woman's lap so we could make room for others. She hugged me in tight and wrapped her arms around me, giving a gentle pat now and then as we readjusted when the bus went round a quick curve. Eric, meanwhile, was stuck standing on one leg in the aisle for an hour until enough people got off the bus so that he could stand properly. The buses are also great places to chat with the locals who are very friendly and always ask where you are from, where you are going, how you like their country, etc. It was a much better, and cheaper, way to travel than a taxi.

Relaxing at Tafua Beach Fales in Lalomanu Beach

We left Samoa's main city, Apia, on our first day and discovered a little slice of heaven at Tafua's Beach Fales. The family who runs the place is very friendly and it's a popular place among travelers. We were given an "open fale" (i.e., open-air thatched beach hut with tarps you roll down when it rains and at night) right on the beach front. As we laid on our cushy mat in our fale reading our books, we looked right out onto the beach and aqua blue water. Now THIS is the honeymoon we were waiting for! In our 4 days at Tafua, we met a lot of great people from all over the world, enjoyed communal meals (and good food) at the long dinner table, spent time snorkeling and swimming, played with the local children in the sand and took daily naps. It's a tough life...but someone's gotta do it!

Playing Nightly Games of Cards

While at Tafua, we met a few friends who we bonded with over nightly card games of "Switch" (similar to "Uno"). Daniel (from Australia) and his French girlfriend Nadege, along with Thomas from Germany were our willing opponents every night after dinner. We'd have a couple beers, talk a lot of crap over who was the best card player, and have good laughs throughout the games. It was a lovely way to pass the time and get to know some interesting and fun people from different reaches of the world.

Watching a Samoan FiaFia Dance Show
While staying at Tafua, we were entertained one evening by the village dance troupe comprised of local teens. They performed traditional Samoan dances, and also got creative and weaved in traditional moves into more modern dances. The girls´dances had many graceful hand movements and gentle hip swinging, while the guys´ dances included a lot of hip thrusting and foot pounding...which they all seemed to enjoy while checking out the cute female Pelangis (tourists) in the audience. Eric definitely had enough of the suggestive hip thrusting by the end of the show. The best part was the fire dancing performed with burning torches. The fire dancer only missed his catch once and just barely avoided scalding the drummer. It was kinda funny.

Touring Savaii Island

After four days at Tafua's, we figured if we didn't get moving, we'd never leave. So we decided to broaden our Samoan experience and head over to the other main island called Savaii. We were a bit sad at first to leave our little paradise at Lalomanu beach, but found some new friends and adventures not long after. We'd had enough beach sitting for awhile, so decided to rent a car and drive around the entire island in a day to take in all the touristy sites. We shared our car with our new found Italian friend, Angelo, who currently lives in New Zealand and was on a week long holiday. Most of the "must sees" on the island were actually not that exciting, but we did thoroughly enjoy seeing the blow holes that spurted sea water many feet into the air. Another highlight was the Afu Afua Waterfall that had a 10 ft pool to dive into. The swimming hole was filled with locals enjoying a refreshing swim and dancing about to island music. And finally, the vast lava fields from the early 1900's that had covered whole villages and churches were also quite impressive to tour.

Swimming with Turtles

Our favorite experience on Savaii was the hour we spent swimming and feeding sea turtles in a lagoon just inland from the main sea. The locals had made a nice home for about 10 turtles and you could jump in the water with them and give them bits of papaya as you patted their shells and sat in amazement watching these cool creatures. We got some neat photos, so be sure to check them out.

Going to Church

We were told that going to church in Samoa was part of the cultural experience since most Samoans are very religious. The variety of denominations of Christianity (and some Mormon) are many, but we chose to go to a Methodist service (since that was the church across from our hotel). We were accompanied by our friends Angelo and Keith who we´d been hanging out with a for a few days. As we entered the church just in the nick of time, we were smiled at by the Samoan ladies dressed in their best white outfits and hats and the men who wore black lava lavas and collared white shirts. The choir was amazing and the music was the most enjoyable part of the service since we couldn´t understand anything (the sermon was in Samoan).

We were given a small bit of relief from the heat when the woman seated behind us took pity and occasionally fanned us with her woven fan. We think she usually got most inspired when she saw Keith nodding off. :) During the service, everyone was on best behavior, though the smallest children were allowed to wander freely. One boy of about 8, however, was surprised by a knock on the head with his grandfather´s bible because he had been provoking his elder during his reading of the bible to the congregation. All in all, the Samoans seemed to enjoy having us there and we certainly enjoyed seeing a piece of traditional (well since the missionaries came anyhow) life.

Visiting Manono Island

Our last day in Samoa was spent on Manono Island, a tiny island between the two main islands. We were joined by our friends Angelo and Keith for great company and found a wonderful little place to stay called Sunset View Fales run by a very nice family. Since there isn´t a whole lot to do on the island, the family has taken it upon themselves to provide some fun local activities to entertain guests and teach them about local ways. We did circumnavigate the island with "Junior" (the son) in about two hours and also did some swimming, canoeing, napping, reading and even a bit of basket weaving. The highlight, however, was having delicious local cuisine at a special table set up for the 4 of us on their jetty...and watching the sunset. It truly was paradise.

Cooking Traditional Samoan "Umu" Style

While in Manono, we got to experience a traditional Umu BBQ, in which a large fire is built to heat a pile of rocks that become like an oven. Local specialities made from ingredients such as taro root, coconut, taro leaves, and breadfruit are prepared and placed inside the rock pile to cook. The rocks are covered with large palm leaves to keep the heat inside and bake the food. With the guidance of our local expert, Apa, we got to help with food preparation - Eric and Keith did some coconut grinding, Angelo did his best to start a fire using the old wood on wood method (we all tried actually, but only Apa was successful), I prepared some of the vegetables and also wove part of a basket to put the finished food inside. It was great fun.

Meeting Great People To Share the Experiences

While everything we did and saw in Samoa were wonderful experiences, what really made our time here unique were the many great people we met and spent time with. The local families that ran Tafua and Sunset View Fales were wonderful. We also had so much fun with our fellow travelers Dan, Nadege, Thomas, Keith and Angelo.

New Zealand Week 4: Qeenstown to Christchurch

2008-02-08T12:55:00.000-08:00

Our final week in New Zealand was very much about rest and relaxation with a few nature days thrown in. After our week hiking the Routeburn and exploring Milford and Doubtful Sounds, we headed to Queenstown to stay with our friends Robert and Nancy Good and family. We met the Good family on our first visit to New Zealand over 5 years ago while Eric was bungy jumping...and after our first dinner at their house, I soon adopted them as my second family during my study abroad time in New Zealand spending a number of weekends at their place.

The Goods are an American family that moved to New Zealand about 6 years ago from LA, enjoying a bit of early retirement and a nice change of pace while they finished raising their kids. They now only have their youngest Emily still at home who is now 15 (their two older kids Will and Rose are back in the US studying and working). Unfortunately, on this trip, Rob was back in the US, but we did have a wonderful time hanging out with Nancy and Emily and a handful of other guests and family members who happened to be visiting at the same time. What we love about the Good's home is that it's one of those places where everyone feels welcome and comfortable...in fact, our 2 days there soon turned into 4 because it was so hard to leave since we enjoyed our time there so much.

Their house is set in a little paradise overlooking the Shotover River and surrounded by mountains. They have started their own vineyard, so there are vines on either side of the property and we were lucky enough to sample their first vintage, which was fabulous! The have built a lovely guesthouse which is quite luxury compared to our camping and hosteling. We spent our days hanging out and catching up on life - chatting over dinner or a cup of tea, or taking a walk by the river. We also had plenty of time to read, journal, do computer stuff, and make a variety of calls back home since they have a monthly phone plan to the US. And Eric was so excited to find out they got the Superbowl on their TV so we even got to see the awesome game between the Giants and the Patriots...it's the small pleasures in life. :)

The day before we departed, we did a day trip to Mt. Aspiring National Park and hiked up to the Rob Roy Glacier. It was a spectacular hike with great views of the valley, numerous waterfalls and the glacier. And it ensured we didn't become complete couch potatoes! Finally, we sadly said our goodbyes to everyone and headed East to Mt. Cook National Park.

Mt. Cook is the highest peak in New Zealand and also home to a number of glaciers and great hikes. Taking the advice of a friend of the Good's, we climbed one of the steep mountains up to Muller Hut for stunning views (once again) of the glacial region and surrounding valley and lakes. We even got to witness a number of avalanches coming off the glacier (no worries, we were on the opposite mountain facing the glacier that didn't have any snow on it). That was awesome. On the way up the mountain - which I might add gave no reprieve from the continuous uphill climb - we met a couple really cool Americans from Oregon named Sarah and Jeremy. After chatting at a resting spot for about a half hour, we decided to continue the hike together. The boys raced up ahead and us girls indulged in some much needed girl talk. Eric is always happy when I find girl friends along the way to chat up a storm with and "get it out of my system" as he says...it gives him a break from my constant chatter during hours of driving. It's a girl vs. guy thing, as I'm sure many can relate. There is just a certain bond when you find another girl traveler and you can immediately bond, open up and talk about life with and just gossip about senseless things boys aren't always as interested in discussing. :)

After our 7 hour hike, we snuck into the YHA hostel where Sarah and Jeremy were staying (we were camping) and took a much needed shower. We then shared dinner, wine, conversation and a game of cards. It was a great end to the day. The next morning, we packed up camp and picked up our new friends and headed to see another glacier in the region and do a short hike before we parted ways and headed East once more towards Christchurch.

After 5 hours of driving (in which Eric konked out), we got to Christchurch and the home of our friends Simon and Katrin. I had met Simon while studying in New Zealand and we've stayed in touch over the years, so it was great to get a chance to come stay for a couple days before we head to Samoa. His girlfriend of 3 years, Katrin, is from Germany and they also share a love of world travel so we have many stories to share and lots to talk about. Our first night, we went out to dinner at a fabulous Italian restaurant which was such a treat since it's been awhile since we've eaten out. The next evening, we went for dinner and drinks downtown and also met up with my friend Tim from university in Dunedin and his girlfriend Lee. It's so wonderful to keep in touch with friends you meet and be able to visit again around the world and catch up. And it was also fun to have a good night out...though our wardrobes are certainly lacking in the "trendy" night out department. :)

After a couple loads of laundry and a reassessment of what we can realistically fit in our bags (we've kinda expanded our "stuff" since we've had a car the last month), we will fly out Sunday night to spend a couple weeks in Samoa and Tonga before flying to South America for our final 3 months of travel.

Our time in New Zealand has been a blessing. We have so enjoyed the phenomenal natural beauty, the hiking, the camping, the boating, the driving...and of course, the people. It's been great to catch up with old friends and meet some new ones. And since culturally it's not so drastically different from what we're used to, it's truly felt like a vacation from our travels. Don't get us wrong, what we love most about travel are the variety of cultures, new experiences and different kinds of stimulation, but after a number of months on the road, it can be really refreshing to have several weeks in a country that feels a bit more like home. In New Zealand, we have also rediscovered our love for the outdoors and feel confident that we will make more of an effort when we get home to explore our own surrounds and go on some fun camping trips. Plus, we'll be so poor when we return that camping will be the only way to go for awhile! Ha ha ha. In closing, we'd like to say thank you to our friends who made this month so much fun and give thanks for a great first month to our honeymoon.

And stay tuned for new adventures coming to a blog near you...

New Zealand Week 3: South Island Fiordland

2008-02-08T12:52:00.000-08:00

After our travels along the west coast of the South Island, Mariah and I were ready for our adventures in Fiordland National Park located in the southwest corner of New Zealand.

Routeburn Track
<- Click to see map of Routeburn Track
The Routeburn track is one of New Zealand's Great Walks and is a multi-day track (we did it over 3 days) leaving from Glenorchy, going over Harris Saddle, and then traversing the ridge of the Hollyfiord Valley to the Milford Divide. The trek has many huts providing bunkbeds (no linen = bring your own sleeping bag), gas stoves (no pots/pans = bring your own) and drinking water. This was the first multi-day track Mariah and I had done together and we were both full of anticipation...

Right off the bat we both realized that due to our recent hiking trips in NZ, we were in much better shape for the hike than expected and had no problem the first day lugging our packs to the first hut - which took us less than 5 hrs with a nice picnic lunch by a stream in a pretty valley. The remaining two days were progressively more challenging, but nothing too strenuous. We were lucky to have great weather, which enabled us to do a side trip to climb Conical Hill and take in the breathtaking views of the Hollyford Valley stretching all the way out to the Tasman Sea.

Other highlights from the trip were meeting a Swedish couple with a 7 month old baby! This sparked many conversations and was very eye opening that life doesn't have to end when you have kids. This couple, Malin and Kris (and baby Matilda) were incredibly active and decided it was better to expose their daughter early on to the things they love to do. They were also lucky of course to have such a happy baby...she was almost all smiles, quite friendly to the many strangers who gooed and gaaed at her, and only fussed when in need of something. We learned they even make baby sleeping bags and specialty baby carrying backpacks for tramping! So for all you with young children, or who have the inking that someday you might, there are a bunch of trailblazers out there living their lives and traveling the world with their kids...and exposing them (and preparing them) at a young age for the world. Meeting Malin and Kris also reminded us of similar couples we had met in Russia and South East Asia who had little ones traveling backpacker style...and all pretty happy campers. Some good examples for us to look up to.

What made the trekking adventure most enjoyable was the comradarie we found with our fellow trekkers. It was a nice treat in the evenings after spending all day hiking just the two of us to meet and socialize with others at the huts to share experiences from the day, in addition to other intersting life and travel stories and tidbits.

My Birthday in Milford Sound
Mariah, my wife, was amazing and secretly packed a chocolate muffin and candles, and two of my favorite candy bars, for three days on the Routeburn. We got off the trail late afternoon on Jan 27 and took a bus straight to Milford Sound to stay at the lodge there. For anyone who has been to Milford, you will know there isn't a grocery store, or much of anything but gorgeous landscape, one lodge for accommodation, two boat docks and one pub. But she planned ahead and on my 26th birthday morning (Jan 28), surprised me with a bit of "cake" and the cheesy "Happy Birthday" song. It was a special start to a great day...

After our little birthday celebration at 6:30AM, we were picked up to spend the day kayaking on Milford Sound. Seeing this spectacular fjord is a "must" for most who travel to the South Island of New Zealand, but most see it by cruise boat. We decided to put a small twist to the whole adventure and see it up close and personal by kayak, getting on the water at 7:30AM when it's most peaceful (i.e., before the on rush of cruise boats). Thanks to this wedding gift from my colleague and friend Ruth and her husband Bill, we paddled the day away next to fur seals, sea gulls and a variety of other bird life. We had a great time and were amazed at the dwarfing effect you experience while on the fjord. Because the cliffs are so drastic, walls which are 3x the height of the Eifel tower look like 10 story buildings. The Milford fjord got its majestic landscape from the melting of enormous glaciers over many years past that carved the steep rock walls. After 5 hours of paddling, and a bit of water soaking my underside, we felt we'd gotten the most out of the experience and were ready to head back to the lodge, take a hot shower and a nap.

That evening, we decided to continue my birthday celebration by treating ourselves to a nice dinner at the only restaurant/pub in town. We were disappointed...the food was excellent and filling and the beer wasn't too bad either. And we struck up a fun conversation with the table next to us. All in all, it was an excellent way to celebrate my 26 years.

Doubtful Sound
Thanks to another wedding gift from the Fields Tyler family, we were able to take in another of the amazing fjords in the national park that's a bit more difficult to get to. The enormous Doubtful Sound is south of Milford Sound, but there is no direct road access due to the large lake and steep mountains that sit in front of it. To get there, you have to take a boat across Lake Manapouri and then take a bus over a steep mountain pass to reach the sound. The trip is well worth the time and money, but due to the hassle, few tourists have the oportunity to see the sound. We were very fortunate to take in Doubtful Sound during a 3 hour criuse and also got to explore many of the ajoining arms that branch off from the main sound. Its not as steep as Milford, but is much more vast. We also got to see seals, dolphins and penguins!

Before heading to Doubtful Sound, we did a little research and found out that there is a little known hostel you can stay at that is normally reserved for workers in the area. However, the place does accept tourists if you call and there is space. We got a great deal on a very nice double room that included 3 meals...and everyone there was extremely friendly and welcoming! Our extra work in booking this accommodation allowed us to stay a bit longer to hike and enjoy the area. If we'd had the time, we probably would have stayed a few more days we enjoyed it so much.

So...after a packed week with the Routburn, Milford and Doubtful Sound experiences, we were ready to lay low for a few days and headed to Queenstown to stay with some friends and indulge in some R&R...