Remote Year - Maya P. Yette

Bali Bliss

Maya Yette — Wed, 16 Aug 2017 07:39:06 +0000

(I saved the best for last)

A number of the pictures in this post are courtesy of my friend Arley who was our incredibly talented TN Experiences photographer during the majority of my time in Bali. If he was around, I left my camera at home!

Of all the new places that I visited this year, Bali was hands down my favorite. So much so, that I chose to end my year traveling with a week back on the island before flying home to Maryland. Thus, it was where I both began and ended the Southeast Asia leg of my Remote Year.

Bali is a majority Hindu island in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country -- Indonesia. There are temples everywhere and people place offerings for different things all over the place; mainly on the sidewalks and streets, but also on cars and motorbikes and buildings, depending on the holiday (there’s always a holiday happening in Bali). The offerings are little squares made of banana leaves filled with flowers and rice and then lit with incense. You have to get used to looking out for them on the ground everywhere you step, but they also force you to slow down and appreciate your surroundings in a way that we often don’t. It’s also incredible to see how the Balinese people hold onto their culture despite the increasing number of tourists and Western influence that has begun to pervade the island.

My first trip to Bali was for work to oversee a couple of group trips that Travel Noire hosted in Ubud, the cultural heart of this amazing island. We cooked, we shopped in Ubud Market, we explored Bali’s famous rice paddies, we drank kopi luwak coffee, we surfed, we visited a traditional village and taught the kids the Electric Slide and we had dinner with a prince at his palace (seriously, Bali has something like seventy princes due to the island’s history as a kingdom that eventually broke into smaller kingdoms with many royal families, but Kris is my favorite)!

After two weeks in Ubud, I stayed on an additional week after the trips ended and explored on my own before meeting back up with the Remote Year crew in Malaysia. I stayed in Canggu, a hipster town known for its surfing, especially at Echo Beach. There are lots of expats and a number of buildings in town are under construction, so I recommend visiting soon before it’s more built up like nearby Kuta and Seminyak, which are much more crowded and touristy. I stayed at a beautiful hotel right on the beach and took surf lessons every afternoon for a week. It was very intense, but so much fun (and yes, I managed to stand up a few times!). I also rewarded myself with as many massages as possible (they’re so cheap in Bali – and all of Southeast Asia, for that matter).

I returned to Bali for the second time at the end of January, again to help with Travel Noire’s group trips, but also to visit some of the places I didn't have a chance to see the first time around. Before heading to Ubud, I spent the first weekend after Remote Year on Gili Air, one of three of the Gili Islands located a choppy two-hour ferry ride from Bali. The island is tiny and does not have any cars and very few motorbikes. Most people get around by walking, biking or riding in horse drawn buggies. Unfortunately, it was rainy season and I couldn’t enjoy the beach much, but I was still able to relax and decompress, roaming around the island and taking in the lush views.

Back in Ubud, I visited the famous Monkey Forest (I have no pictures from here because I was scared the monkeys would steal my camera), which is beautiful and filled not only with monkeys, but a few holy temples. One morning I walked the Campuhan Ridge Walk, which is a path cut through the middle of the jungle. I would’ve explored further, but the impending rainstorm sent me back to my hotel prematurely.

On my return to Bali I was most looking forward to visiting Tirta Empul, a temple complex dating to 960 AD, which the Balinese believe is home to a holy spring. I went with a local Balinese woman I met on my first trip to Bali and she was able to provide us with the appropriate attire, explain the cultural significance of the temple complex and take us to a part of the complex that’s usually off limits to foreigners. We began by changing into sarongs and bathing suits to enter the crisp, clear waters that flow from the spring into two purification baths. After saying a prayer, we passed underneath eleven of the thirteen spouts (the last two are reserved for funeral rites), saying a prayer and washing the water over our face and head as we went. After exiting the baths, we changed into traditional Balinese dress with lace blouses tied with a sash and sarongs to enter the inner courtyard reserved for prayer where we saw a priest offering blessings to worshipers. The entire experience was beautiful, and I feel lucky to have had a chance to partake in this Balinese tradition.

Uluwatu, on the southwestern coast of Bali, is home to another temple site overlooking the Indian Ocean. The views at sunset from Uluwatu Temple are incredible and serve as a prelude to the Kecak dance performance that takes place each night.

Finally, I finished my time in Bali in the quiet beach town of Sanur. There’s not much happening in Sanur other than a boardwalk that stretches along the beach. I rented a bike from my hotel and rode around the quiet streets, clearing my head before the journey home.

The only downside to Bali really is the traffic and how congested it can get – the infrastructure is not set up to handle so many people and as more and more tourists flock to the island it becomes even more of a problem. It’s also a place where you need to ride a motorbike, which I was too scared to do, so I was a little limited in where I could go some days. Despite this, I could go back to Bali again and again, not least of all because there are still areas of the island and sights that I have not yet visited. The incredibly kind people, the natural beauty of the rice paddies and the beaches, the fresh juices and smoothie bowls – it’s all perfection.

Thanks for following along with my adventures over the last year! I’ll be updating the Images section of my site in the coming weeks, but this officially concludes my Remote Year blog posts. To celebrate, I’m headed on a cruise to Alaska with my mom and sister tomorrow!

Vibrant Vietnam

Maya Yette — Tue, 01 Aug 2017 23:01:49 +0000

I spent the final month of Remote Year based in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. I had been to HCMC (aka Saigon) before and didn’t love it – I much preferred the French colonial charm of Hanoi to the north. But, with more than a few days to explore the city and its surrounding areas, HCMC ended up being my favorite of the Southeast Asian cities on our Remote Year itinerary. The food was amazing, it’s easy to get around in Ubers (car or motorcycle) or walk in certain parts of the city and there’s a lot to see and do; this goes for the country as a whole, so please forgive me in advance for the length of this post.

My best friends from home came to visit for New Year’s Eve and in the days leading up to NYE celebrations, we explored the history of Vietnam. On a walking tour with a university student studying English we visited Reunification Palace, Notre Dame Cathedral, the Post Office and the War Remnants Museum. We could only see the outside of Notre Dame Cathedral and took a quick peek into the Post Office where a giant portrait of Ho Chi Minh hangs; Ho was the Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (aka North Vietnam) from 1945 – 55 and President from 1954 - 1969.

Reunification Palace, aka Independence Palace, was home to the former South Vietnamese Presidents and, most famously, is the site associated with the fall of Saigon and the end of the Vietnam War. Walking through the halls, everything seems frozen in time as all of the furniture and décor in the various meeting rooms, reception rooms and bedrooms has been preserved from the late 1970s. The helipad on the roof and bombproof bunker in the basement of the building were also very cool to see.

A visit to the War Remnants Museum is a necessary, but sobering, stop on any trip to HCMC. Some of the displays are so one sided that they could more accurately be described as propaganda, but they also effectively convey the horrors that Vietnamese civilians suffered during the Vietnam War. One room is filled with photos of people who were disfigured or born with disabilities as a result of the use of chemical agents during the war. Another powerful exhibit features images captured by photographers from both sides who were killed during the lengthy conflict. In the courtyard outside, there are U.S. armored tanks, artillery, bombs and other weapons as well as model prison cells showing the horrible conditions in which Viet Cong prisoners were held. (The museum gets very crowded during the day, so go early if you can.)

We also took a morning boat ride up the Saigon River to the Cu Chi Tunnels, which the Viet Cong dug and used during the Vietnam War. It is a very touristy site, but pretty incredible to see. Walking through the forest, you would never know that hundreds of kilometers of cramped, narrow tunnels ran beneath the earth. We were able to crawl through the tunnels for about 80 meters where they have been preserved and reinforced with concrete; I wouldn’t recommend this if you’re at all claustrophobic.

After visiting the Cu Chi Tunnels we switched from a boat to motorbikes and headed to the “Little Mekong Delta”. In the countryside right outside of HCMC we visited a farmer named Mr. Phu and had tea before he showed us his rice paddies. There was a temple in the middle of the paddy field to ward off bad spirits and protect the crop. After our walk, we sat and had fresh fruit and coconut water with Mr. Phu’s family and his adorable grandson.

When I found out that I’d be returning to Vietnam during my Remote Year, I knew that I had to take the opportunity to see some parts of the country that I had not on my first visit; namely Hoi An and Ha Long Bay. On New Year’s Day, we flew up to Da Nang, a coastal city in central Vietnam that is also the third largest city in the country. January is rainy season so, unfortunately, the weather was not on our side, but we did get to enjoy one sunny afternoon at the beach.

We also spent a morning visiting the Marble Mountains, which are host to a number of Buddhist and Confucian shrines and have beautiful views of the ocean from various lookout points.

My favorite part of visiting Da Nang was its proximity to Hoi An and, specifically, Hoi An’s Ancient Town which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Hoi An is known for its tailors and leather goods and tons of shops and vendors line the quaint streets. The town is especially beautiful at night when all of the lanterns lining the streets are lit up. Hoi An is also home to Banh Mi Phuong, featured on Anthony Bourdain’s “No Reservations” (I can confirm that this was the best banh mi I had all month).

My last side trip of the year was to visit Hanoi, which served as our jumping off point for a cruise in Ha Long Bay, another UNESCO World Heritage Site. There were torrential downpours the few days I was in Hanoi and it was much colder than HCMC, so our exploration was limited. We did manage to visit the Library Temple, Ba Dinh Square and take a stroll through the Night Market. We also ate at Bun Cha Huong Lien, another Anthony Bourdain recommended restaurant (he really loves, Vietnam), where he famously brought President Obama back in 2016.

From Hanoi, getting to Ha Long Bay takes about three hours by car. Ha Long Bay is beautiful, even under overcast skies, and just two days and one night on the boat, which was surprisingly nice, was not enough. I kayaked for the first time in my life (it’s much harder than it looks!) and we explored some caves on one of the thousands of limestone islands and islets that dot the bay.

Did I mention the food in Vietnam? I couldn’t get enough banh mis or bowls of pho while I was there.

HCMC is also home to some great cafes, in particular L’Usine (both locations) and Au Parc. Some of my favorite restaurants were Propaganda, Secret Garden and Mountain Retreat (owned by the same people and both set on cute rooftops), Pizza 4 P’s and Eon 51 (which has great views from the Bitexco Financial Tower). The Ben Tanh Street Food Market is home to a number of food stalls under one roof with live music and communal tables, so it’s a great place for groups. Finally, check out the speakeasy Snuffbox for cocktails, Pasteur Street Brewing Company for beer and Chill Skybar for a big night out. To find many of the restaurants, cafes and boutiques in HCMC requires walking through unmarked doors, alleyways crowded with motorbikes, animals or both, and sometimes up multiple flights of stairs. But, just when you think you must be lost, you find exactly the place you were looking for or something even better!

At the end of the month, my Remote Year group joined together for a special goodbye party to close out an incredible year traveling together. It was definitely a crazy ride, but I'm incredibly grateful for the opportunity, the beautiful people I met along the way and all of the experiences that we shared!

Drone shot of the group at our farewell party in HCMC.

Christmas in Cambodia

Maya Yette — Wed, 19 Jul 2017 12:41:19 +0000

Holiday drinks at the Raffles Hotel in Phnom Penh.

I was excited to head back to Cambodia after almost five years since my first visit to the country. After my bar trip, in particular one amazing day in the countryside, Cambodia was one of my favorite places on the planet. Sadly, I didn’t feel that same connection this time around, perhaps because the city I’d truly loved, Siem Reap, was not on my itinerary, or because my tastes have changed as I’ve grown and traveled more. Either way, I still had a good time in Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital city, our home base for the month.

Wat Phnom Temple.

It was an interesting month for us on Remote Year because it was the first time that two programs were ever in the same city. It was nice to meet people who were having the same experience as we were and compare stories from our year on the road (we were in Month 11 and they were in Month 7). Group dynamics and experiences were both similar and entirely different based upon the unique personalities in each group.

Outside of certain neighborhoods, Phnom Penh is a really difficult city to get around by walking. There are few sidewalks and those that do exist are home to numerous motorbikes and street stalls selling various foods and other wares. We took the ubiquitous tuk-tuks almost everywhere, which cost about $2 - $3 a ride, but add up if you’re taking multiple a day.

Although I felt pretty safe walking around, there were a number of petty thefts by motorbike -- people got necklaces and purses snatched from their bodies by guys driving by -- so I was careful not to have my phone or camera out too much on the street (one reason for the relative lack of pictures this month, sorry!).

The second reason is that I was only in Cambodia for half the month because I spent the first two weeks in Kenya on a team retreat for work. Given my limited time, I didn’t revisit any of the tourist sites that I saw on my first trip. However, if it is your first time in the country, visits to the “Killing Fields” and “S-21”, the Tuol Sleng Museum of Genocide to learn about the country’s dark past under the Khmer Rouge are a must, in addition to a visit to Angkor Wat. This time around, however, I chose to relax and check out the surprisingly good café scene in Phnom Penh (Backyard, Enso, ARTillery and Mere were favorites). As far as restaurants go, Malis is delicious Cambodian food served on a beautiful outdoor patio; Romdeng (where I tried a traditional Khmer delicacy: tarantula!) and Khmer Surin are more mid-priced Khmer restaurants and Il Forno is decent Italian.

During my last week in Cambodia, we celebrated Christmas, my first away from home since I studied abroad in college, which felt a bit surreal. We took a boat ride to a resort up the Mekong River and spent the afternoon lounging by the pool drinking and exchanging Secret Santa gifts.

The highlight of the day was a walk around the neighborhood to a silk farm where we met a Cambodian family who weave scarves and other textiles using techniques passed down from their ancestors. They were absolutely beautiful and I treated myself to a little Christmas present. I also enjoyed the brief glimpse into life outside the hustle and bustle of Phnom Penh.

A few days after Christmas, it was time to head to Vietnam for our last stop of the year!

Traversing Thailand

Maya Yette — Wed, 12 Jul 2017 01:39:34 +0000

In Thailand for my birthday month last year, on my third visit to the country, I was based on the beautiful island of Koh Pha Ngan in the southeast region of the country. To get to Koh Pha Ngan requires a flight to the neighboring island of Koh Samui or Surat Thani on the mainland, and from either of those places, a ferry to the island.

Koh Pha Ngan is deceptively small. Life is laid back and it’s home to the most amazing coconuts and some of the best Thai food I’ve ever had (shout out to Bee’s Kitchen and Mama Pooh’s Kitchen!). But, to get around to the various areas of the island requires a lot of patience waiting for the communal taxis, which are pick up trucks with benches (sans seatbelts) in the back, or the courage to rent a scooter, which I didn’t have. Thankfully, our hotel was right on the beach and within a fairly easy walk to our workspace, so for the week and a half that I was actually on Koh Pha Ngan I was able to relax and explore in equal measure. Thong Nai Pan Beach was one of my favorites and watching sunset at Amsterdam Bar is a must (I hear 360 Bar also offered beautiful sunset views, but I didn’t make it there).

The island is most well known for the infamous Full Moon Party that takes place each month on Haad Rin Beach. There is plenty of debauchery that (don’t worry, mom) we witnessed and didn’t partake in, but it was definitely an experience to see the party in full swing. Personally, I preferred the more laid back Jungle Party that takes place the night before every full moon. The night after the Full Moon Party, we were up and at ‘em to catch a 7 am ferry to Koh Samui for our flight to Chiang Mai.

Chiang Mai is my favorite city in Thailand. Although it’s the second largest city in Thailand after Bangkok, it is much less hectic, the food is delicious and there are a lot of modern comforts mixed in with traditional Thai culture. It’s also easy to get around with Uber and the local taxis -- red pick up trucks that you hail on the side of the road and hop in the back. Not to mention, Chiang Mai is close enough to more rural areas of Thailand so we were able to spend an afternoon riding ATVs through rice paddies and across beautiful vistas, which was a welcome escape from the city.

In recent years, Chiang Mai has become known as a great place for “digital nomads” because it has a ton of cute cafes and restaurants; there is also plenty of cheap street food. We stayed in the Nimman Road area, which is pretty trendy and home to my namesake mall! In July 2016, the MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum opened about half an hour outside of Chiang Mai, and it is totally worth the trek. The museum houses the private collection of its founders, the Bunnag family, and is easy to get through in an afternoon. There is some really interesting work by modern Thai artists, but one of my favorite rooms featured works of art honoring the late Thai President, Bhumibol Adulyadej AKA Rama IX, who was widely revered in the country and had recently passed in October 2016.

Like much of the rest of the country, Chiang Mai is home to a number of Buddhist temples. Four of the more well known are Wat Chiang Man (the oldest), Wat Phra Singh (adorned in gold), Wat Chedi Luang (which gives off major Angkor Wat vibes) and Doi Suthep (the most sacred temple in Chiang Mai, which overlooks the city). Wat Chedi Luang also hosts a program where younger monks talk to the public and you can just grab a seat and start chatting with them about their lives, which is pretty cool, and I’ve done it both times I’ve visited Chiang Mai.

My final stop in Thailand was Bangkok, where we spent my birthday. It was my third time visiting the city, and if I’m being honest, I’ll be ok if I don’t get to return for a fourth visit. The traffic is horrific and it’s way too difficult to get around, especially because the city is so big. There are, of course, plenty of good restaurants and bars, among them the Banyan Tree hotel’s rooftop Moon Bar and Gaggan and Nahm, two of the 50 best restaurants in the world. My favorite part of visiting Bangkok this go round was getting out of the city and visiting Ayyuthaya, the old capital of Siam. Many of the temples there, which are all ruins now, were built in Khmer style so resemble Angkor Wat and are incredibly beautiful.

If you haven’t been to Bangkok before, some obligatory temple visits are Wat Pho (Temple of the Reclining Buddha), the Grand Palace, which is home to Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha) and some of the most ornate and intricate designs of all the temples, and Wat Arun (Temple of the Dawn). I didn’t make it to the weekend market, but I hear that’s well worth a visit if you have time as well!

Laid back Laos

Maya Yette — Wed, 05 Jul 2017 01:10:22 +0000

I arrived in Luang Prabang, Laos on Election Day 2016, so I don’t need to tell you what kind of mood I was in. My sister, Laila, and I met in Bangkok and we flew to Laos together; it was the first time in my life I truly understood the meaning of “bittersweet”– I was so happy and excited to see Laila for the first time in five months, but also depressed and anxious about the future of our country. Despite that, and the fact that the gray and rainy weather seemed to match our mood, Luang Prabang is truly a gem along the Mekong.

Visiting Laos had been on my list of places to visit (what country isn’t, really?) since I first traveled to Southeast Asia in 2012, but I didn’t have time to squeeze it into my itinerary then. Luang Prabang is a UNESCO World Heritage City, and deservedly so. It is quiet and moves at a relaxing, slow pace. The old town is pretty small and it’s easy to walk its entirety in a day or bike through its charming streets a few times. Over the course of a few days, we walked around, stopping to visit many of the temples (aka wats) and shops in town.

The detail on the temples is incredible, with intricate gold paintings, beautiful wooden doors, sculptures and numerous Buddha statues.

We weren’t in a rush to see anything and because part of Luang Prabang’s charm is just to enjoy the slower pace, we relaxed at the hippy Oasis Restaurant right on the Mekong River and watched the fishermen floating by below.

Eating well and trying local dishes, particularly in Southeast Asia, was one of the predominant themes of my year traveling, so naturally, much of our visit to Luang Prabang centered on food. My favorite restaurants were Tamarind followed by 3 Nagas and L’Elephant. After dinner, it gets dark pretty early and most places are shut down by 11 pm, so Luang Prabang is a perfect place to recharge and get some rest.

Early to bed, early to rise is certainly true, as many people are up before sunrise to take part in the traditional alms giving ceremony that Luang Prabang has become known for. Every morning, hundreds of Buddhist monks clad in their saffron robes file silently out of the many temples throughout town and walk the quiet streets with their “begging bowls” collecting alms. Locals (and more recently, tourists) provide alms, or gifts, in the form of food, mainly sticky rice, which will be the monk’s food for the day.

We got up on our last day to observe the alms giving ceremony, which was a beautiful ritual that dates back to the 14th Century; in Buddhist culture, those who give alms to the monks believe that these good deeds will help them come back in their next life as a higher life form and also help them on their path to enlightenment. After watching the alms giving ceremony, we climbed a few hundred steps up Mount Phousi to reflect and catch one last view of the town and the muddy Mekong River spread out below as the sun began to burn off the morning fog.

Singapore Slingin'

Maya Yette — Wed, 28 Jun 2017 07:14:37 +0000

Depending on how much sightseeing you want to do, a long weekend in Singapore is plenty of time for a solid introduction to this city-state in Southeast Asia (not least of all because it’s relatively small, only about 3.5 times the size of Washington, D.C.). This is exactly what I did when I spent a long weekend in Singapore, which is a quick one-hour flight from Kuala Lumpur, my home for that month of Remote Year.

On our first night in town, we splurged for a room at the Marina Bay Sands Hotel purely so we could get into what is one of the most famous pools in the world. It was teeming with people trying to get selfies with the city’s recognizable skyline as a backdrop and the weather wasn’t on our side that afternoon, but still worth it.

From Marina Bay Sands we could walk to Gardens by the Bay, an amazing park across from Marina Bay Sands that’s full of colorful, filled with different forms of greenery and plant installations. We visited the Cloud Forest and saw the light show from the Skyway above the Super Tree Grove. We didn’t have enough time to check out all of the attractions within the Gardens, which I’d definitely do upon a second visit.

The food in Singapore is delicious and a weekend is definitely not enough time to try it all. Highlights were the black pepper and chili crabs at Long Beach Seafood and dinner at Neon Pigeon. Hong Kong Soya Sauce Chicken Rice & Noodles, the first hawker stall in the world to receive a Michelin star, serves chicken & rice (a popular dish in Southeast Asia). It was good, but not wait in line for 2.5 hours good, and the pork ribs were, in my opinion, the better dish.

Singapore itself is a very interesting place. It has a reputation for being “sterile”, especially compared to other nearby cities like Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia or Jakarta, Indonesia, that are more colorful, crowded and where the cacophony of scooter horns, hawkers in the street and the buzz of everyday life can overwhelm the senses. In comparison, Singapore is orderly and clean; the city-state famously banned the sale of chewing gum back in the 1990s. Formerly a British colony, Singapore was a part of the Malaysian Federation from 1963 to 1965 and then gained independence in 1965. Roughly 75% of Singaporeans are ethnically Chinese, so cultural and ethnic differences were at play in the split from Malaysia (ethnic Malaysians make up another 12% of the population). It’s also very expensive because the government adds taxes to many things that it wants to discourage, such as smoking, drinking and driving cars.

I was lucky enough to visit Singapore with a Remote Year friend who has friends living there. They showed us the more local side of life in the city-state, like where the start-up scene is concentrated, where to get the best noodle dish at 3 am after leaving the club, and where young Singaporean couples go to hang out in “private” since many of them live at home until they get married (hint: the local beach).

Singapore didn’t work its way into my heart like some other places in Southeast Asia have (more on those in the coming weeks), but it’s definitely a place I would return to next time I’m in the region and am looking for a change of pace.

Meanderings in Malaysia

Maya Yette — Wed, 21 Jun 2017 10:41:37 +0000

All of the Remote Year cities on the Southeast Asia leg of my itinerary were repeats of cities I had previously visited on my post-Bar trip a few years ago when I graduated law school. I was excited to return to many of them and see what changed and see how I might appreciate them more with the benefit of thirty, rather than three, days in a place.

Our first stop was Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. There wasn’t much sightseeing I wanted to do in KL, but there was a lot of food to eat (Jalan Alor for street food, Oribe for sushi and Din Tai Fung for dim sum were a few of my favorites). The speakeasy scene in KL was unexpected but pretty good – check out PS150, Omakase & Appreciate and 61 Monarchy if you find yourself in Malaysia’s capital city.

The sightseeing that I did do consisted of visits to Kuala Lumpur Tower for one view of the city and the Petronas Twin Towers for another. I also made stops at Central Market, Merdeka Square and the Islamic Arts Museum.

The Batu Caves are one of Malaysia’s holiest Hindu shrines and are located a little outside of the city, but worth the Uber ride to see the large golden statue of a Hindu god and the impressive limestone caves (just beware of all the monkeys).

The highlight of my time in Kuala Lumpur was definitely stumbling into an underground dance party when trying to find one of the aforementioned speakeasies. We walked into an office building and down a stairway filled with graffiti into what turned out to be a club called U9. For most of the night my friend and I seemed to be the only non-locals in the place and it was incredible to watch what seemed like a break dancing scene from “The Get Down” – not to mention everyone had on Kangol hats and Adidas track suits!

My only trip outside of Kuala Lumpur was to Penang Island, right off the coast of Malaysia. On my previous visit to the island’s main city, George Town, I had what was the best samosa of my life and fell in love with the region. This trip was different not just because of who I was traveling with, but because we tried different food (this time I had the best char kway teow of my life) and explored a little further from downtown, but George Town is still as charming as I remember.

We visited Penang Hill at dusk, strolled the streets of George Town, had drinks at sunset overlooking the water, visited the Green Mansion and Kek Lok Si Temple, the largest Buddhist Temple in Southeast Asia, and walked through the Chinese Clan Jetties. It was a quick trip to Penang, but a great visit; ditto for my entire month in Malaysia!

A Short stint in Split

Maya Yette — Tue, 30 May 2017 23:31:18 +0000

I was only in Split, Croatia for about a week and a half before heading to Bali for a work trip last year. I had been to Croatia before – Dubrovnik and Zagreb, to be specific – but not to Split. All I really knew about the city before my visit is that it is the jumping off point for the original “Yacht Week” and serves as a set location for some episodes of “Game of Thrones”. While both of those things are true, the city, the second largest in Croatia after the capital, Zagreb, is also a perfect blend of modern and historic. It is full of both natural beauty due to its position right on the Adriatic Sea and historic, manmade beauty because of all the ancient Roman architecture.

My first full day in Split, I oriented myself with a walking tour of the Old Town and Diocletian’s Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The main areas of the “palace” (which is actually a town inside of what was originally built as a fortress and residence by the Roman Emperor Diocletian), were built in 305 AD and much of it is still original, which was mind blowing. Diocletian built the Palace using imported marble from Italy and Greece and columns and sphinxes from Egypt. Walking on the smooth stones and viewing the sphinxes up close was pretty cool.

On one of my last mornings in Split I got up early and was the first person to climb the bell tower at the Cathedral of St. Domnius, inside Diocletian's Palace, which offered beautiful views of the city waking below me.

The Old Town is fairly compact and easy to wander around in a day, getting lost in its labyrinth. The farther away you get from the main square, the more authentic it feels and the more removed you’ll feel from the hordes of tourists that visit Split from their cruise ships each day.

I spent a few mornings wandering around getting lost and stumbling upon cute shops and restaurants. I didn’t get to explore too much of Split’s food scene, but did have some good meals at Restaurant Dvor, Uje Olive Bar and Bokeria.

Remote Year opened its first workspace in Split, WIP, which was one of my favorites of the year. I could go to the workspace in the morning, walk across the street to the beach at lunch, and then return to work for a few hours in the afternoon. Because I was only in Split for a week, I tried to do some exploring most mornings, whether it was a run to one of Split’s beaches or a visit to an art gallery. Galerija Meštrović is a bit outside of the city center but worth the trek for the art (Ivan Meštrović is Croatia’s most famous sculptor) and the views overlooking the city. The Gallery of Fine Arts is also worth a visit and right outside of the gates to Old Town.

The highlight of my time in Croatia was a Labor Day boat ride to Hvar and overnight on the island. We watched a beautiful sunset at Hula Hula and then after dinner did what everyone does when they go to Hvar: party. On the way to Hvar, we stopped for lunch on another small island, Vis, that I really wish we had more time to explore. Ditto for the rest of Croatia!

An Interlude

Maya Yette — Tue, 30 May 2017 17:44:38 +0000

Remote Year's Lisbon workspace, "WIP" (aka Work In Progress), which applies to this blog as well.

Hello from Lisbon, Portugal! I’m writing this from Remote Year’s new workspace in Lisbon, Portugal, which seems appropriate considering I want to (finally) finish sharing all the experiences and places I visited during my Remote Year.

Remote Year officially ended at the end of January. Since then, I went to Bali for a second time to close out my time in Southeast Asia, moved back home and caught up with friends and family in the DMV, New York, North Carolina and California (one of my resolutions for 2017 is to spend more time traveling domestically after a year abroad) and spent a long weekend in Barbados celebrating a friend’s 30th birthday. Which brings me to Lisbon. From here I’ll be visiting a few more places in Portugal, spending another friend’s 30th birthday in Cuba and then heading back to Spain to explore a few cities I haven’t yet visited.

In the meantime, let’s pick up where we left off…

Hangin' in Hungary

Maya Yette — Sun, 08 Jan 2017 10:37:40 +0000

Budapest, Hungary is an uncomfortable and sketchy 9-hour overnight train ride from Belgrade. I left the train station in Serbia late one Thursday night with three of my friends from Remote Year to visit Budapest for the weekend. We didn't splurge on the 4-person cabin, so it was a roll of the dice who our other two cabin mates would be. We got lucky with a nice Irish couple who spent the evening playing cards and sharing their wine with us. The cabin was tiny and barely fit the six of us, let alone our bags. I hadn’t thought to bring my sleep sack (which I hadn’t needed since nights spent sleeping in South American hostels), so spent the night curled up under my scarf on the middle bunk, trying not to freeze or touch anything, especially the blanket provided on the train. Every few hours our sleep was interrupted by the border police coming through, banging on the cabin doors (which, thankfully locked from the inside) to check our passports and tickets.

We finally rolled into the Budapest train station, bleary eyed and hungry, around 6 am on Friday. At the train station, we left our bags in lockers for the day since we couldn’t check into our Airbnb yet and set out to find a café that was open early. Friday afternoon we settled into our Airbnb and finished up the day’s work before heading out to dinner. We ate al fresco at a restaurant in the square surrounding St. Stephen’s Basilica and then spent the evening checking out the “Ruin Bars” that abound in Budapest. These bars are abandoned buildings that have been converted into local watering holes, each with its own unique vibe. I hadn’t heard of this phenomenon before arriving in the city, but similar to Prague and Belgrade, Budapest is a city that wears its history on its sleeve.

On Saturday, we explored the city, or cities, rather; the Danube River divides Budapest into Buda on the west bank and Pest on the east bank. We stayed in Pest, where the ruin bars and many of the restaurants and cafes are. We began our morning with coffee at a cute café and then walked across the Chain Bridge from Pest into Buda and up the aptly named Castle Hill. There, we wandered around the Buda Castle complex, home to the Royal Palace, Matthias Church, and Fisherman’s Bastion, which offers great views of Pest across the river below.

Since it was summertime in Europe, the weather was extremely hot and after our morning walk we were ready for some air conditioning. After lunch, we stopped to visit the Museum of Applied Arts, which ended up being one of my favorite stops in Budapest. The building was built in the art nouveau style between 1893 and 1896 and is beautiful both inside and out. We had some fun playing on the bikes on display at the temporary “Bikeology” exhibit and then explored the permanent collections upstairs. Another temporary exhibit, “In the Mood for Colours”, arranged all of the objects according to their dominant color and was really cool to see. We capped off our day of exploring with a fireworks show in front of the Parliament building to celebrate St. Stephen's Day, which happens every year to mark the day of Hungary's foundation under the reign of St. Stephen, the nation's first king.

Even on the road, Sundays are best spent resting and relaxing. Before we had to endure the horrors of the night train again, we treated ourselves to a day at the Gellért Baths. Bathhouses are a major attraction in Budapest because the city sits atop a number of natural thermal baths. We chose the Gellért Baths because they’re a little less crowded than the popular Széchenyi Baths and with their art noveau style are supposed to have the most beautiful indoor swimming pools in the city. The baths are a weird experience – sitting in hot water with a bunch of strangers and not actually swimming around isn't my idea of fun – and probably something that I won’t do again, but I’m glad to have experienced it. We also got a nice massage while we were there and finished the evening with dinner at The Four Seasons Hotel before heading to the train.

This time, we weren’t so lucky with our cabin mates: one surly looking backpacker of undetermined nationality who barely said a word and an awkward Danish girl who kept staring at me while I tried to sleep. Budapest was totally worth it, and I enjoyed the city more than Belgrade, but next time I think I’ll fly!

Best (and worst) of Belgrade

Maya Yette — Wed, 28 Dec 2016 04:20:47 +0000

Whenever anyone asked me what cities I’d be visiting over the course of Remote Year, when I mentioned Belgrade, Serbia, there was always a pause. I didn’t know what to say about it, having heard very little about Serbia and Belgrade generally. It turned out not to be so bad, but was probably among my least favorite stops of the year.

Belgrade is super gritty and many parts of it are not traditionally beautiful in the way you think of other European cities like Paris and Prague. In fact, there are still a few buildings throughout the city that were bombed during the NATO air campaign against Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War in 1999. These buildings sit largely untouched since the bombings, gutted insides exposed, serving as a reminder the city’s rough history.

These buildings stand in stark contrast to the beautiful open areas that dot the city like the Kalemegdan Citadel, a fortress overlooking the Danube and Sava Rivers, which offers beautiful sunset views.

The first weekend I was in Belgrade, one of my good friends from college, Matt, came to visit. He was going to be in London visiting another friend and thought I was going to be in Prague during that first week of August. When I told him I’d actually be in Belgrade, but he was welcome to come there, I was pleasantly surprised when he said yes. Following a tourist map he got in the airport, we created our own walking tour and crisscrossed the city. We started at St. Sava Temple, the world’s second largest Orthodox church. It is beautiful on the outside, its silhouette dominating Belgrade’s skyline, but after 80 years remains unfinished on the inside.

From St. Sava we walked to the other side of town, stopping at the Belgrade Palace, the Presidential Palace and St. Mark’s Church along the way until we wound up at Republic Square, back in the heart of the city. To close out the day, we took a stroll through Skadarlija, the Bohemian Quarter, which is all cobblestone and filled with cute bars, restaurants and stores.

Overall, Belgrade was a big adjustment for me because of the language, which sounds like nothing I’ve heard before and is written in the Cyrillic alphabet, so it’s impossible to even sound out words. However, hands down my least favorite thing about living in Belgrade was the fact that smoking indoors is still very much acceptable and there were many meals that I couldn’t properly enjoy because I was waving away the smoke from someone at the table next to me. I kept thinking I’d get used to it, but to no avail. Add that to the fact that the food in Belgrade isn’t great to begin with (lots of meat and little finger sausages), and it was not pleasant. (The few exceptions to the bad food were Homa, Manufaktura and Marukoshi; check them out if for whatever reason you find yourself in Belgrade.)

The saving grace for our time in Belgrade was that we were there during the summer. I’ve heard from other Remote Year programs who went this fall that when it’s cold and rainy, it is even harder to enjoy the city and escape the smoke. Belgrade is heavy on the party culture and since we were there during the warmer months of the year, we were able to take advantage of the many club boats that line the Sava River at this time of year. The crowd favorite was the aptly named “Hot Mess” where Remote Year hosted our welcome party to Belgrade. Another crowd favorite was "Shake 'n' Shake", which boasted hammocks jutting out over the water.

The street art throughout the city was also pretty cool; a fact I'd forgotten until looking through my pictures from so many months ago. While I’m not itching to get back to Serbia like I am to a few other places I’ve been this year, it was certainly an experience to remember!

Prague (with Poppa)*

Maya Yette — Mon, 05 Dec 2016 16:58:52 +0000

* My dad suggested this title and probably didn’t think I would use it. He also didn’t think I’d be writing this post until at least 2017.

Prague was my first visit to a city in Eastern Europe and a great introduction to the region. Like many European cities, Prague is oozing with charm and all of the streets and buildings are just waiting to have their pictures taken. It also has a complicated history that is still seen when you walk the streets of this beautiful city.

I spent about two weeks in Prague in July (the other two weeks I spent in Sayulita, Mexico for a company team retreat) and the weather was great, especially after less than ideal weather during our month in London. I was based in a neighborhood called, Žižkov, which was extremely livable and removed from the craziness of all the tourists in Prague’s Old Town Square, but still pretty central. There were a number of cute cafes and restaurants nearby, and we were a short 20-minute walk to our co-working space, K10, which is housed in the old Danish embassy and one of my favorite workspaces of the year. I also lived right across the street from the infamous Žižkov TV Tower, known as the second ugliest building in the world and which has ten giant babies designed by a famous Czech artist crawling up and down its sides. This tower, the tallest building in the Czech Republic, served as our guiding light home for the month.

I found Prague easy to navigate using a combination of Uber, train and my own two feet to get around. I usually try to do a walking tour of each city we visit to get my bearings early on. In Prague, the tour of the Old City took us from the Old Town Square to see the famous Astronomical Clock, through the Old Jewish Quarter to Wenceslas Square and ended with a visit to the Powder Tower.

My dad came to visit for a few days shortly before we left Prague and I had saved up the rest of my exploring for his visit. Our first stop was the famous Prague Castle, which is featured on many of the iconic images of Prague. I was surprised to learn that it’s not a castle in the traditional sense, but a complex of churches and an old palace, which has served as the seat of Czech princes and kings, as well as the Prague bishop. We also walked across the Charles Bridge to visit the John Lennon Wall for some obligatory photo ops.

Over the weekend, we tried to avoid the traditional tourist attractions and visited a couple of underrated destinations, which turned out to be some of my favorites. We started with a visit to the Vyšehrad Fortress, which offers great views of the city below and has some pretty cool architecture within the park grounds. After wandering around Vyšehrad we walked down to the Náplavka Farmer’s Market for lunch, which made me a bit nostalgic for Sundays at the Dupont Circle Farmer’s Market.

During my month in Prague I was also surprised to learn that it’s home to a mini Eiffel Tower, built in 1891 as part of the Jubilee Exhibition, sitting atop Petrín Hill overlooking the entire city.

Within the Old Town, the Klementium, a complex of baroque and rococo halls is also home to, arguably, one of the most beautiful libraries in the world (no pictures allowed, sadly, so check out the link), in addition to the Czech National Library. These are the kind of attractions that I probably wouldn’t have visited if I were in Prague for a few days, but that I had the luxury of discovering because of my slow travel style this year.

Prague also has some pretty good food and, of course, beer that’s cheaper than water. Some of my favorites were Field, Čestr and the Letna Beer Garden (go at sunset for the best views). There’s a food tour that I didn’t have a chance to participate in, but which gets rave reviews if you’re ever in Prague. The owners also rent out a very cute apartment, so maybe that will be my next home base when I make my way back to Prague one day.

Escapades in España

Maya Yette — Sat, 26 Nov 2016 17:45:31 +0000

I’d never really thought about it this way until now, but Spain is the country outside of the United States where I’ve spent the most time. It was the country I visited in middle school on an exchange program, staying with a host family in Madrid and taking a side trip to the university town of Salamanca, where I’d return years later for a semester studying abroad. I went back to Salamanca the following semester during spring break and I’ve been back to Spain on a few family vacations since then.

So, naturally, while I was in Europe this summer I made not one, but two, trips to the land of jamón, tapas, sangria and siestas. On my first visit, I spent a week with a friend traveling to cities both new and old to me. We started with a quick 36 hours in Madrid. To be honest, Madrid was not at the top of my list among Spanish cities based on my previous visits and I much preferred Barcelona (still do), but I was excited to give it another chance.

I woke up and got breakfast while I waited for the Vodafone store to open so I could get a Spanish SIM card (I can never go anywhere longer than a day without getting a local SIM card anymore and it is a game changer!). Armed with a data plan so I could navigate the city using Google Maps, I set out towards El Prado, the Spanish national art museum, where I planned to see a temporary exhibit featuring the works of the painter Jheronimus Bosch. I had not planned ahead and purchased tickets online, so when I arrived and saw the line that stretched around the corner of the building, I decided not to waste the precious few hours I had to explore waiting to get inside.

Instead, I settled for a couple of pictures outside the museum and then spent some time meandering through the Royal Botanic Gardens, which are located directly behind the museum.

After admiring the flowers I decided I wanted a museum fix after all. Lucky for me, one of Madrid’s other famous museums, La Reina Sofia, Spain’s national museum of modern art, is right around the corner from El Prado. I spent most of my time there at the Wifredo Lam exhibit and in the museum’s interior courtyard. After the museum, I took a quick detour to Parque del Retiro, home to the Palacio de Velazquez and Palacio de Cristal, which are both operated by La Reina Sofia Museum, before heading to get some work done.

The next morning, it was time for a road trip to the city I was most looking forward to on this visit: San Sebastián! I never made it to San Sebastián while I studied abroad in Spain, so I was very much looking forward to visiting this city in the Basque country that sits in the northwest region of Spain. The New York Times recently came out with a “36 Hours in San Sebastián” piece that would’ve been helpful a couple months ago, but I think we still did a pretty good job exploring the city.

The drive from Madrid took only about five hours, after a quick stop in Segovia to see the Roman aqueducts there that date back to the 1st century.

Once in San Sebastián, when we weren’t working, we spent our time sampling the variety of pintxos (small tapas-like dishes) that the city is famous for, wandering around the cobbled streets of the old town, and admiring the views of the city and its famous La Concha Beach from the Igeldo Hill lookout point.

I could’ve stayed in San Sebastián much longer than two days, but it was soon time to move on and make our way to Barcelona for the flight back to London. We drove from San Sebastián to Barcelona in a whirlwind day, stopping off in numerous cities along the way. First, a visit to the Guggenheim in Bilbao, where we visited an Andy Warhol exhibit and admired the building’s beautiful exterior.

Next up, stops in Pamplona, Zaragoza and, finally, Montseratt, right outside of Barcelona.

My week in Spain was capped off with one night and day in Barcelona. I went with my friends to Park Güell, the famous park designed by Antoni Gaudí that overlooks the city, before dinner. The next day, rather than rush around trying to see all the tourist attractions I’ve already visited on prior trips, I found a great café in the Gothic Quarter, had a leisurely breakfast and sat in a nearby park to spend some time journaling before meeting back up with my friends for lunch at La Boqueria. I’m glad I didn’t rush around Barcelona, because about a month and a half later, I was back in the city for a weekend to celebrate another friend’s birthday. We ate and drank our way through town and I explored some neighborhoods I hadn’t gotten a chance to see before.

I’ll surely be back one day soon!

London Livin' (better late than never)

Maya Yette — Sat, 20 Aug 2016 17:31:10 +0000

I began my European Summer with Remote Year in London after four amazing months in South America. To be honest, everyone in the program was a little skeptical about how the month would play out after we found out that we wouldn’t be spending June in Istanbul (for obvious safety concerns), due to the extremely high cost of living in London. As a result, Remote Year housed us on the outskirts of the city, where we lived in a co-work/co-living space that was only partially completed (i.e., no actual workspace, no gym, no restaurant or café for half the month). Despite these challenges, I really did enjoy London and, aside from a very touristy weekend spent with my sister and friend Courtney, who were in town visiting, got to enjoy areas of London that I otherwise would not have seen on a quick weekend visit.

My favorite of these areas is Shoreditch. My first weekend in London, we spent time hanging out at Spitafields Market and the BOXPARK Shoreditch. It was sort of like reverse culture shock after being in South America for so long – both for the general diversity and for the fact that I was not the only black person around, attracting attention for my skin color, curly hair, or both. It also took a little while to get used to speaking in English again when we went out to restaurants or got in an Uber – my natural inclination was to say “Hola” or “Gracias” during my first few days in London.

I took a midweek trip to Oxford with a couple of friends and it is every bit as charming and picturesque as you’d think it is from reading or watching Harry Potter. We rented a car and drove the hour and a half out of London and spent the morning touring around campus before parking ourselves at a café to work in the afternoon.

The next day, we visited Blenheim Palace, built in the early 18th Century to celebrate the English victory over the French in the War of the Spanish Succession. It was also the birthplace of Winston Churchill in 1874. I could have spent all day lounging in the beautiful green spaces around the palace, and touring its many rooms, but we had to get back to London to start working in the afternoon. The beauty of the last few months in Europe is that I don’t start working until my afternoon (early morning East Coast hours) and can spend my mornings exploring each new city I visit.

I had three weekends in London: one that I spent in the French countryside with my friend Roxie, another that I spent in Spain during a weeklong visit there (more on that in my next blog post), and the aforementioned touristy weekend spent riding around London on a double decker hop-on, hop-off bus.

My sister, Laila, had never been to London before, so this was the quickest and easiest way for us to cover all the highlights in a short period of time. We rented an Airbnb in the Fitzrovia neighborhood (no way was I wasting time commuting back and forth from my digs in Willesden Junction) and hit the ground running. We made stops at Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, the London Eye, St. Paul’s Cathedral, the Tower of London, and more.

For plenty of (obvious) reasons, London offered the greatest taste of home I’ve had since January. Despite my initial hesitations, it provided a great jumping off point to explore some other areas in Europe and even though the weather was grey and gloomy half the time, I’m glad I was able to spend more than a weekend there!

Cusco's Charm

Maya Yette — Wed, 29 Jun 2016 23:26:23 +0000

When I look back on the month that I spent in Peru in May, I realize that between two trips to Lima, two trips to Machu Picchu and a great weekend at the beach in Mancora, I only spent about half of my time in Cusco. As a result, there are regrettably some things that I did not get to see, like the Inca Museum and the San Pedro Market. But, what I was able to discover during my time in Cusco I loved.

Walking the cobblestone streets and mile high staircases, you can imagine people hundreds of years ago walking the same paths. The streets are impossibly steep and narrow, barely allowing one car to squeeze through (yet somehow they are supposed to let traffic pass in both directions!). Walking around on my first day in the city, I remember being in awe of how picturesque it is.

This, and its proximity to Machu Picchu, make Cusco a very touristy city and it is definitely the South American city where we encountered the most English speakers. I had to learn to ignore all of the street vendors and men and women crowding the streets outside of their storefronts and restaurants offering “masajes” (massages) and inviting us to come try the daily special on their restaurant menu.

While Machu Picchu is the most famous, and certainly the most impressive, it is not the only place you can visit Incan ruins in Peru. On one afternoon, we hired a taxi driver to take us around to some Incan ruins in Cusco, including Sacsayhuaman (pronounced “sexy woman”), a huge complex overlooking the city; Tambomachay, which were believed to be Incan baths; and a few other sites whose names I can no longer remember. We also made a stop at Cristo Blanco, a large statue of Jesus Christ that can be seen from different vantage points throughout the city. I think that because I had gone to Machu Picchu the day before visiting these sites, I was a little underwhelmed in comparison.

Cusco is situated very close to the Sacred Valley, thought to be the heartland of the former Inca Empire. We spent one Saturday there in a town called Chinchero, visiting with a local community and learning a little bit about their way of life.

None of us knew what to expect, but as soon as we stepped off the bus, the women greeted us with singing and dancing, grabbing our hands to join in after presenting us with a necklace of flowers. We went into their compound and, following their lead, introduced ourselves by name, age and marital status (Maya, veinte-ocho (28), soltera (single)). We then had some hot tea, flavored with our choice of chamomile, coca leaves and another local herb. After fortifying ourselves, we walked to the fields where the villagers showed us how to build a traditional mud oven where we would roast the potatoes we were about to harvest. That afternoon we learned how the villagers give an offering of coca leaves to Pachamama (Mother Earth) before planting any crops. I also learned how hard it is to use a hoe to turn soil in preparation for planting crops and I declined trying my hand at leading the bulls in plowing a field.

After all this activity, we were ready for a traditional Andean Buffet, which largely consisted of potatoes and other starches in various forms, and the traditional delicacy of cuy (AKA guinea pig!), which is reserved for special occasions – I tried a tiny bite and it wasn’t bad, but I couldn’t bring myself to eat too much.

Following lunch, we learned how the women make yarn from sheep’s wool, watching them wash and dye it with natural ingredients and then seeing how that yarn is turned into all manner of handicrafts from scarves to purses to camera straps (my souvenir of choice).

On another occasion, we returned to the Sacred Valley for a visit to the Sacred Valley Brew House where we had a beer tasting and tour of the brewery. In “the world’s so small” news, the founder of the brewery was born in Peru, but actually grew up in Montgomery County, Maryland, where I’m from, and went to a rival high school! The brewery is pretty awesome and definitely worth a visit if you’re in the Sacred Valley.

We also ate a lot of great food in Peru. If you’re ever in Cusco, be sure to visit KION, Chicha, La Bodega 138, Morena, Cicciolina, Jack’s Café, Juanito’s, La Sanguicheria 154, Green’s Organic, Papacho’s and Inka Grill, among others.

This past month in London I have not missed the feeling of being severely out of breath when I walk up the steps to my hotel in San Blas (one of the most picturesque areas in Cusco), but I do miss the views of the city that such a vantage point affords.

***

When I left D.C. for Remote Year, people often asked me which city or country I was most looking forward to. My response was always that I didn’t have one in particular, but I was most looking forward to visiting South America, a continent that I had not yet visited. This made my itinerary seem a bit anticlimactic since I’ve spent time in Europe and visited all of the cities on our Southeast Asian leg of the trip on my post-Bar exam trip. While I am looking forward immensely to the next eight months (seven, since it took me nearly a month to finish this post), I was sad to leave South America behind. Montevideo, Buenos Aires, La Paz and Cusco were each special in their own way. Spending time in South America allowed me the opportunity to regain a lot of the Spanish that I lost since studying abroad in Spain during college, and connect with wonderful cultures and people that I previously knew little about!

Memorial Day in Mancora

Maya Yette — Tue, 07 Jun 2016 23:25:22 +0000

Mancora is a dream. Before setting foot in Peru, I had never heard of this tiny beach town situated on the Pacific coastline. About two hours south of Ecuador, Mancora offered a warm escape from the beautiful, but often cold cobblestone streets of Cusco.

At first, my plan was to head to the Galapagos Islands with a few friends over Memorial Day weekend. We’re in South America, so why not? Unfortunately, we waited until ticket prices were a little too unreasonable and searched frantically for somewhere else to spend the long weekend. We settled on Mancora -- another friend happened to be getting his dive certification there (for the aforementioned Galapagos trip) and sent word that we would love it.

Love it we did! We arrived on a hot Wednesday afternoon to sunshine and blue skies, which were a welcome departure from the gray winter clouds that blanket Lima this time of year (we had spent the past few days there for “Remote Nation”, the first ever meet-up of all three Remote Year programs that were in South America at the time). As we drove from the airport, we were all surprised at how desert-like the landscape was, but once we made it to the beach, quickly forgot about the dry, clay-colored mountains we had just driven through.

In Mancora, our hotel, K!chic, sat right on the ocean in an area known as Las Pocitas. We holed up at K!chic for the next few days, taking this whole “digital nomad” thing seriously and working from their open air living room, taking lunch breaks at the pool directly overlooking the quiet beach, and eating some of the best food I had during the past four months in South America.

When the weekend rolled around, we were ready for a slight change in scenery and had planned to transfer to a hotel closer to the heart of Mancora where we could go out on the weekend. Enter Eco Lodge. At first, we were wary of our decision to leave the comforts of K!ichic behind when our tuk-tuk turned off of the main road and down a dirt path, driving past an empty lot and a few stray dogs. Our fears only increased when the guy at the front desk welcomed us and told us that there was no power in Mancora –- we did not realize that we’d signed up for another weekend in Cabo Polonio! In reality, it was a scheduled power outage and he assured us that the power would return by 5 pm.

So, we headed out to explore Mancora and spend the afternoon at the beach. The difference from Las Pocitas was noticeable immediately. We walked up the dirt path, baking in the sun, and turned onto the main street, where tuk-tuks and motorcycles zoomed by a surprising array of street art and people hung out at all the restaurants lining the street.

We turned toward the beach and were surprised at the number of people we saw compared to the nearly empty beach we’d spent the last few days on, a mere 10 minutes up the road. Mancora is primarily a vacation destination for Peruvians and other South Americans, and everyone could be found at the beach. People rode 4x4s and horses up and down the sand, others played soccer and sat around with friends, while vendors walked back and forth, selling juice, fresh fruit and ice cream (I couldn’t drown out the sound of the ice cream lady shouting “helados” and honking a little horn attached to her cart long enough to nap or read).

While this certainly wasn’t the tranquil beach we had left behind at K!chic, it was great to hangout and perfect for people watching. Shortly after 5 pm when the power returned, the beach bars behind us began blaring music, alternating between two Calvin Harris songs and trying to see which could play their music the loudest. We headed back to the hotel to get ready for dinner and then ended the night back at the beach bars, which had not given up on their quest to see whose speakers were most powerful.

On Sunday, we met up with a non-Remote Year friend we met while traveling who also happened to be in Mancora. After a lunch of ceviche, octopus and grilled fish, we spent the day hanging out in Los Organos, another tiny town outside of Mancora. We ended the day with a beautiful sunset over the Pacific. Watching it, I couldn’t help but reflect on the other beautiful sunsets I’ve witnessed during my four months in South America and feel a tinge of sadness at the thought of flying to London to begin the European leg of Remote Year the following week.

Magnificent Machu Picchu

Maya Yette — Tue, 31 May 2016 02:58:23 +0000

When you live in Cusco for a month, it’s impossible not to visit Machu Picchu, the famed city built by the Incas in the 15th century. With two visitors in two weeks (first my friend, Janelle, and then my mom), I was lucky enough to visit Machu Picchu twice during my month in Peru.

My first visit to this UNESCO World Heritage Site was on a one-day trip with Janelle; we did the Llama Path one-day train and if you’re short on time, I highly recommend it. When my mom came to visit the following week, we spent three days at the Belmond Sanctuary Lodge, the only hotel at the entrance to Machu Picchu (all others are in the nearby town of Machu Picchu Pueblo - formerly Aguas Calientes - which requires a round trip bus up and down the mountain).

Getting to Machu Picchu

You can skip over this section if you’re interested in what it’s like to hike the Inca Trail or any of the other multi-day treks that get you from Cusco to Machu Picchu. I took a train both times I visited, for reasons of both time and convenience, not to mention a little luxury. The Belmond Hiram Bingham train ride has been called one of the best train rides in the world and it was definitely a treat! We arrived at the train station in Poroy, about 30 minutes from Cusco, and were greeted with live music and champagne. The train ride was a scenic 3.5-hour journey through the Peruvian countryside, which took us past remote villages and dense vegetation, across rivers and below mountains that stretched high above us. Onboard the train, we had a three-course lunch (trout carpaccio, steak and cheesecake for dessert) and wine, accompanied by more live music. On the return journey to Cusco, we took the Vistadome train, the main highlight of which was an entertaining fashion show put on by the train staff, showcasing all manner of clothes made from super soft baby alpaca wool.

The Citadel

In a word: breathtaking. The crowds at Machu Picchu are sometimes overwhelming and it is a very touristy place, but upon seeing the historic city, with Wayna Picchu Mountain towering in the background for the first time, it is not hard to understand why. In my opinion, the best way to start a tour of the Citadel is to climb the steep steps to the left as soon as you pass through the entrance gate and make your way up to the guard house. From this vantage point, you can appreciate the Citadel in its entirety before heading down the steps to get a closer look. Every aspect about the way Machu Picchu was constructed is a reminder of just how intelligent and advanced the Incas were. There’s the irrigation system that prevents flooding when it rains and still carries water down to the city from Machu Picchu Mountain. There’s the fact that the temples were constructed with such care and precision that there is no mortar holding the massive rocks together. There’s the Sun Temple, where windows were carved into the rocks to let in light in the exact spot where the light at sunrise hits on both the Summer and Winter Solstices. I could go on, but you really should visit and see for yourself.

Wayna Picchu

On a rainy and gray Friday morning, one week after I first visited Machu Picchu with Janelle, I woke up at 5 a.m., filled with excitement to climb Wayna Picchu. I ate a light breakfast at the hotel and then joined the other tourists already in line to enter Machu Picchu when it opened at 6 a.m. I was surprised to find no line when I arrived at the gate to Wayna Picchu around 6:30 a.m., so I sat and read my book until the gates opened at 7 a.m. Only 400 people are allowed to climb Wayna Picchu per day – 200 are allowed to enter beginning at 7 a.m. and another 200 beginning at 10 a.m., so it’s necessary to buy tickets in advance if you’re interested in making the climb. The hike to the summit at Wayna Picchu and back down is supposed to take about two hours – I entered the gates at 7:05 a.m., had reached the top by 7:48 a.m. and, after catching a few quick glimpses of Machu Picchu through the clouds and the rain, began my descent around 8 a.m., finishing in a little under two hours at 8:50 a.m.

The descent surprisingly took a little longer than the ascent because I frequently had to stop to let people pass on their way up. Many parts of the path are extremely narrow and only one person can pass at a time. In addition to being narrow, the majority of the climb to the top is really steep and up steps that only about half of my foot can fit on. This climb is not for the faint of heart or anybody who’s scared of heights. I kept my head down most of the way, making sure that I did not slip on a wet rock anywhere and fulfill all of my mother’s worst nightmares when I left her sleeping in the hotel to climb Wayna Picchu all by my lonesome. Many of the steep steps required that I use both hands and feet to pull myself up as if I was climbing a ladder. On the descent, there was one point where I had to basically crawl through a cave and was convinced that I had taken a wrong turn somewhere! Although the day was cloudy and never really cleared up, for me the hike up Wayna Picchu was not so much about the view that I got of Machu Picchu (which was fleeting), but about proving to myself that I could do it and experiencing another part of the vast Machu Picchu complex. Mission accomplished.

The Inca Bridge

Although still amazing, walking to the Inca Bridge was my least favorite of the walks I did around Machu Picchu (it was also the easiest). You can’t get very close to the bridge, and I don’t know why I assumed we would be able to walk across it, but obviously that’s off limits too. It took about half an hour to reach the trailhead for the Inca Bridge from the entrance to Machu Picchu, and then another 15 minutes or so before we reached the bridge itself. For the Incas, the bridge served as one of two entry points to the city of Machu Picchu, the other being the Sun Gate. You are able to get great views of Machu Picchu from the trail and seeing Machu Picchu and Wayna Picchu from another vantage point is always incredible.

The Sun Gate

The Sun Gate marks the end of the Inca Trail and, as I mentioned, was one of two entry points that the Incas used to the city of Machu Picchu. The atmosphere was extremely festive when my mom and I showed up shortly after 7 a.m. on Saturday. Groups of hikers were celebrating the end of their 4-day trek and understandably excited to finally reach Machu Picchu. I felt a little like I’d cheated by walking up to the Sun Gate from the entrance to Machu Picchu, which took about an hour. We wandered around briefly and enjoyed the view of Machu Picchu from the Sun Gate, but I didn’t have time to linger because I had an entry ticket to Machu Picchu Mountain for the 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. entry slot.

Machu Picchu Mountain

Like a crazy person, I thought it was a good idea to hike Machu Picchu Mountain immediately after trekking up to the Sun Gate on our last day at Machu Picchu. Maybe it was because I was already a little tired (I don’t think so, though), but Machu Picchu Mountain was definitely harder for me than Wayna Picchu. The trail is longer and takes about an hour and a half to climb instead of 45 minutes. At times, there is nothing but another hiker standing between you and a very steep drop off the side of the mountain; I don’t get vertigo nor am I scared of heights but even this was a bit much for me. Thankfully, the weather was beautiful and when I reached the top of the mountain, the views of Machu Picchu below were crystal clear. I sat for a while and had a snack, pleased with another personal accomplishment and taking in one of my last views of Machu Picchu.

***

Getting to Machu Picchu isn’t cheap, nor is it a short journey, but it is worth it. While the Citadel can be explored in just a few hours (most tours only last for about 2.5 hours), to really give yourself time to appreciate this new wonder of the world, I suggest spending a couple days there. About seventy percent of Machu Picchu is still the original construction. Since being designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983, the Peruvian government can no longer make any repairs or additions to Machu Picchu, though you will see people around cleaning the stones and trying to preserve them as best they can. Because of this, the sooner you get yourself to Machu Picchu (if you haven’t already) the better!

The Spectacular Southwest...of Bolivia!

Maya Yette — Sun, 08 May 2016 22:32:19 +0000

One of the few facts I knew about Bolivia before visiting, besides the fact that it sits at an insanely high altitude, is that it is home to the largest salt flats in the world, Salar de Uyuni, which are about 4,000 square miles. A visit to the salt flats was one of the few side trips I knew I had to take this year and it did not disappoint.

Unbeknownst to me was the fact that the southwest region of Bolivia where the salt flats are located, Potosi, is also home to a wide array of other, equally stunning landscapes. In order to see them all, a group of us signed up for a three day, two night tour that took us to some of the furthest reaches of Bolivia.

To get to the city of Uyuni, the jumping off point for the salt flats, we took a 10-hour overnight bus from La Paz (not as bad as it sounds, I promise). Upon arrival in Uyuni, we had breakfast and then met our tour guide, Nadia, and split into three jeeps that would be our refuge over the next few days. Our first stop right outside of Uyuni was a “train graveyard” where trains that were used to transport minerals across British-engineered rail lines to the Pacific during the late 19th and early 20th centuries now sit abandoned.

After climbing through and on top of old, rusted out trains that would certainly not be open as a tourist attraction in the United States, we made our way towards the salt flats. Before we could see this natural wonder, we stopped in the town of Colchani to see a salt processing plant, where people bring the salt they harvest from the flats and process it to sell.

As we left Colchani behind and entered the salt flats, our driver, Freddy, picked up speed and soon all we could see was the flat white expanse spreading out around us. We made a few different stops on the salt flats to observe the different areas. First, on the part of the salt flats closest to Colchani, there are a number of small pyramids of salt that people create to let the water run back into the ground and dry the salt out.

A little deeper into the flats there was an area that was covered in about 2 centimeters of water, which created a slight mirror effect. We stopped here to walk around and have lunch: llama steak and quinoa, staples of the Bolivian diet.

After lunch, we drove to see the first salt hotel (the bricks of the building are made of salt), which has since been closed because of the destruction it began to cause to the surrounding environment.

After driving even deeper into the salt flats, we stopped in a seemingly never ending expanse of white to take the silly, perspective bending photos that the salt flats are known for -- llama props were a crowd favorite.

My favorite part of the day, however, was arriving at Isla Incahuasi, an “island” in the middle of the salt flats that’s covered in cacti. The contrast was unexpected and beautiful -- from the top of the island you can really imagine that the salt flats were once a lake.

As we drove out of the salt flats, we stopped to take in the sunset before heading to our hostel.

On our second day in the southwest region, with the salt flats behind us, we set out to see what else Bolivia had to offer. From pink lakes with flamingos to volcanoes everywhere we looked and more, it did not disappoint. For large parts of the day as we drove through vast expanses where it seemed like the only inhabitants were a few llamas or vicuñas, I felt like we must be on Mars, or at least what I imagine Mars to look like, with red, rocky land spreading out all around us.

On our final day of the tour, we set out before sunrise to drive up into the mountains 5,000 meters above sea level. We saw geysers of smoke and bubbling sulfur all before the sun reached its peak in the sky. Because of the altitude it was also colder than any of us were prepared for and we quickly retreated to the relative warmth and comfort of Freddy’s jeep. After driving to view another lake and volcano combo, we drove to what is known as the Desierto de Dali (Dali’s Desert), for its similarities to one of the deserts in Dali’s famous painting (he is not known to have ever visited Bolivia, making the similarity all the more striking). Despite the frigid temperatures, some of us also braved the cold to enjoy some time in a natural hot springs. After drying off, we stopped in a little town called Mallku Villa Mar for lunch and walked among a field full of llamas before beginning the drive back to Uyuni. From there, I and a few others opted to catch a one hour flight back to La Paz instead of taking another overnight bus – so worth it!

Life on the Lake

Maya Yette — Tue, 03 May 2016 12:49:08 +0000

One Saturday morning I woke up early and headed to Copacabana, Bolivia with a few of my friends. Copacabana sits on the edge of Lake Titicaca, which is both the largest lake in South America and the highest navigable body of water in the world. The lake stretches between Bolivia on the east and Peru on the west. From La Paz, getting to Copacabana is an easy but cramped five-hour bus ride. When we arrived, we grabbed lunch in town, which was covered in what looked like snow (we later learned it had hailed that morning) and then caught a ferry that brought us to Isla del Sol (Island of the Sun) after an hour and a half crossing the lake.

Isla del Sol, home to about 800 families, sits on the Bolivian side of the lake and is believed by the Incas to be the birthplace of the sun. As we arrived at the dock on the southern side of the island, we were greeted by numerous cholitas and all of the donkeys that are used to carry goods across the island. There are no cars or paved roads on Isla del Sol, a fact that I didn’t fully appreciate until we were actually there. Isla del Sol is around 4,100 meters at its highest point, about the same as La Paz, but the air felt thinner there and I was winded more than normal walking up and down the hills that crisscross the island.

After we dropped our bags off at our hostel, we set out to explore. We hoped to reach one of the 80 Inca ruins on the island and hike up to the mirador, at the highest point on the island, where we would have a view of the island and the lake below. Isla del Sol is beautiful and at every turn you run into one of the many donkeys, llama or sheep that call the island home.

We walked and admired the view, stopping to take pictures along the way. Eventually, we realized that the Inca ruins we were in search of were back towards our hostel, in the opposite direction of the mirador. Knowing that we planned to see the more famous Inca ruins the next day, we scrapped those plans and stopped for a bottle of wine on a patio overlooking the lake. Sufficiently rested, we continued up to the mirador and were rewarded with beautiful vistas of Isla del Sol and Lake Titicaca.

On our way back down the mountain, we ran into some fellow Remotes who we did not know were also on Isla del Sol for the weekend. We ended up having dinner with them and then trekking back to our side of the island in the cold, dark and rain, with only our iPhone flashlights to guide us (and wondering the entire way whether we were stepping on mud or donkey droppings).

The rain did not abate overnight and on Sunday morning we woke up to a torrential downpour. We had to catch an 11:30 a.m. ferry back to Copacabana to get the bus to La Paz so we did not have time to wait the storm out. We hired a ferry to take us to the northern side of the island where there are pretty extensive Inca ruins. The Palacio del Inca is a huge complex of stone walls and doorways overlooking the lake, also known as El Laberinto (the Labyrinth). As we reached the top of the mountain where the ruins are situated, the rain slowed to a drizzle and we were able to enjoy our last morning on Isla del Sol, walking through the ruins, ducking through doorways and envisioning what life must have been like for the Incas on Lake Titicaca.

Lots to Love about La Paz

Maya Yette — Wed, 20 Apr 2016 12:42:18 +0000

I’ve been in La Paz, Bolivia for two weeks now and although I've been lucky and didn’t suffer the worst effects of altitude sickness (I’ve been told it feels like a really, really bad hangover complete with nausea and headache), I still find myself short of breath when walking up a flight of stairs or one of the many hilly streets throughout the city. La Paz is anywhere between about 10,000 feet to 13,000 feet above sea level depending on where you are in the city, enough to make it the highest de facto capital city in the world – de facto because Sucre is the true capital but La Paz actually houses more government departments.

Despite the minor inconveniences of not being able to catch my breath due to the altitude and pollution, the fact that the altitude makes me constantly sleepy, and the fact that I only remember about half the time that we’re not supposed to flush toilet paper here (seriously!), I’ve found myself enjoying La Paz more than I did Montevideo or Buenos Aires. So have many other people in Remote Year, notwithstanding the broken bones, salmonella and general illnesses that have plagued our group this month. Perhaps it’s because I had little to no expectations upon arriving in La Paz late on a Sunday night a couple weeks ago or perhaps it’s because Bolivia is the first country we’ve been to on Remote Year that really feels different. Around 60% of the population is indigenous (in Montevideo, all of the indigenous people were killed off and Buenos Aires’ population looks largely European as well). In Bolivia, there are “cholitas” (not to be confused with “cholas”, which the cholitas view as a derogatory term) everywhere, walking around proudly in their colorful flowing skirts and top hats, long braids flowing down their backs. The traffic in La Paz is terrible and car horns serve as a constant soundtrack when walking around the city. La Paz has a population of roughly 1.8 million people but feels infinitely more crowded and busy than the other South American cities I’ve lived in for the past two months.

There is no shortage of things to do in La Paz and the surrounding Bolivian countryside and we’ve all quickly come to rue the fact that we only have one month in this amazing country. My first week in La Paz was also my first week on a new job, so I’ve had to make the most of my nights and weekends. From walking tours around the Sopocachi neighborhood where we’re staying this month, to dinners at Gustu and Ali Pacha, both of which offer delicious tasting menus, and rides up the cable car (in my opinion, La Paz’s best form of public transportation) from La Paz to the neighboring city of El Alto, it has not been hard.

El Alto is also home to the infamous and bizarre “Cholita Wrestling” show. Inspired by the WWE in the U.S. and lucha libre in Mexico, the cholitas deck themselves out in fantastic costumes and put on a show that is meant to empower the women and entertain their audience. Bookended by men’s wrestling matches, the cholitas are clearly the highlight of the show and what locals and tourists alike come out every Thursday and Sunday to witness.

On the weekends, I typically find myself heading out of the city limits to explore everything else that Bolivia has to offer (I wrote most of this from a bus heading back to La Paz from a weekend visit to Isla del Sol, but more about that in a later post). Last weekend, some of my friends and I went mountain biking on Bolivia’s “Death Road”, known as one of the world’s most dangerous roads.

The first 45 minutes of the ride are along a winding, paved highway that offers breathtaking views of the mountains and cold temperatures that require gloves, hats and layers of clothing underneath the helmet, jacket and pants supplied by our tour operator. Once we reached the start of the actual Death Road, which is entirely dirt and rocks, we were literally among the clouds and could not see anything but their white nebulousness off the side of the mountain. As we descended the narrow road into the jungle, the clouds cleared, we shed layers as the temperature increased and we never let go of the brakes on our bikes. It was really hard to fully appreciate the beauty around us while riding the bikes because I was so focused on not falling or riding over the edge of the cliff (there were no guardrails and it’s not called Death Road for nothing). Thankfully, we stopped often to rest and the guides were able to take lots of photos of us. During the last twenty minutes of our 40-mile ride the skies opened up and the dark clouds we’d been trying to out-bike all afternoon finally caught up with us. We arrived to the bottom of the mountain soaking wet, but with adrenaline coursing through our veins. It was a good thing too, because we still had to head back up the mountain to go zip lining across the jungle!