Family Matters

Today is Thursday and currently I am taking in some afternoon air at the house of my friend Kristie which is located in Chiclayo, Peru. This is the place of residence for her family which also consists of her parents, sister, and grandmother. I arrived here last Friday and plan on absorbing the atmose of Chiclayo until this forthcoming weekend.

The previous blog post was written in Trujillo and three days were spent within its charming colonial style boundaries. The beauty of Trujillo was a complete surprise and I arrived to the city bus terminal very early in the morning without any accommodation reserved. Only a few minutes of research about this place was undertaken beforehand and by complete luck a local taxi at the bus station recommended a hostel that ended up being one of my all time favorites of this trip. El Mochilero is a cheap, centrally located gem of a place to stay which offers great coffee and a heavily chilled out environment. This discovery was the first of many great experiences in Trujillo and for that I am truly thankful. The Plaza De Armas is stunningly clean, bright, and full of life. At night break dancers form circles and casual pedestrians roll through wide avenues lit in dim yellow hues. The food is great and there is access to some wonderful ruins such as the Chan Chan and Huaca Del Luna y Sol. Only fifteen minutes away is Huanchaco, a laid back beach town that provides seagoers with spenty of sun, fine sand, and relaxing ocean swells. After doing some exploring I was able to partake in a few language exchanges with some really cool locals. In the end this place ended up being one of my favorite cities to explore in Peru.

After the three day detour I hopped a four hour bus ride last friday to Chiclayo to visit my friend Kristie and her family. The ride to this destination was part of a promise I made two months ago and the trip up the coast went without problems. Chiclayo is a coastal city in Northern Peru and is situated between Trujillo and the beach haven of Piura. After spending exactly a week here a few striking characteristics have definitely set this place apart from anywhere else I have been in this trip. Currently the city, which is considerably hot, dry, dusty, and surprisingly loud, is under massive road reconstruction and it seems that for every person walking down the sidewalk there is at least one motorcycle taxi honking for their attention. A sea of vehicles swarm its narrow streets like ants attacking candy and moving from place to place at times has felt like a game of Frogger. It's the first time in a great while where the traffic congestion and frequently looming hum of passing vehicles has left me quite uncomfortable at times. Also despite it's normal appearance I have been warned multiple times that this place is a little dangerous and that constant caution is recommended. These descriptions seem like major reasons not to see this place but despite some of its tradeoffs Chiclayo offers the best food, access to some of the most culturally rich traditions, and houses some of the kindest people that I have ever encountered. The Ceviche, Arroz con Pato (duck), Cabrito (baby goat), Chaufa (Chinese infusions), and various Asados which can be found on nearly every street corner make this place a gastronomic Mecca. My friend Kristie has been a wonderful host and has done her best to expose me to the various cultural offerings of her city and for that I am truly fortunate and thankful.

In addition to food Chiclayo is in very close proximity to numerous pre Inka museums, ruins, and various historical sites. On Saturday we took a collectivo taxi to Lambayeque, a neighboring town, which supposedly was the first place officially liberated from the Spanish empire in Peru. On Sunday Kristie's sister and I went to El Museo Tumbas Reales De Sipan which houses a collection of artifacts taken from a Moche (one of the first Peruvian civilizations dating back thousands of years) temple. Also time has been shared around Pimental Beach, El Museo de Sican, and seeing inverted pyramids at Tucume. A great deal of time has been spent with the family of Kristie who all have been very welcoming and have shed a great deal of light on Peruvian home life, food culture, and family dynamics. Overall this experience in Chiclayo has been extremely rewarding and it is an absolute goal to return here in the future and to hopefully be as hospitable to guests in my future home as her family has been with me.

I apologize for the very wordy blog update but a lot of events have taken place since last week. On Sunday morning I will loop back south to Trujillo to commence a series of substantially lengthy bus rides to Chile and finally Argentina (and maybe Bolivia or maybe just buy a sandwich). More updates will be on the way soon and thank you for reading this blog! Have a great day and take care.

Northbound Recovery

Today is Tuesday and currently I am taking in some fresh air at a backpackers called El Mochilero located in Trujillo, a coastal city that sits about ten hours north of the Peruvian capital of Lima. I arrived here a little over an hour ago via a very spacious Oltura bus that left from Lima. The bus was booked extremely last minute and Jorge who worked at my previous hostel will be indebted forever thanks to his help. The plan is stay to here for a few days to see a few ruins such as the Chan Chan then spend some time on the beach in Huanchaco which is a small surfing village that borders the city about twenty minutes away.

A few changes have been made to the trip itinerary since the last blog post and the culprit behind it was a pretty bad case of the flu that sprang up in Puno. Seeing either the northern deserts of Chile or the other side of Lake Titicaca in Bolivia were the two original options outside of Puno but after a few days of heavy recuperation watching dramatic Spanish soap operas time has become severely limited. On January 18th, three days from now, I'll be staying with the family of my friend in Chiclayo and therefore had to head fairly quickly north through Peru.

After recovering in Puno I hopped a bus last Friday to Arequipa and instead of stopping then proceeded to hop another bus directly to Lima. The trip was about 22 hours and during this time the altitude dropped from 12500 feet down to 500 feet. This rapid change was a little too sudden and upon arrival in Lima there was heavy pressure in my head and absolutely no hearing from my left ear for two days.

Despite being half deaf and semi sick the time in Lima was very nice. Saturday night consisted of watching the 49ers win a playoff game at The Corner Bar with a 56 year old Californian named Ken and Sunday was filled with renting a bicycle for a ride through The Miraflores District then seeing a light show at Parque De La Reserva Circuito Magico De Agua. This basically is a really big water park that consists of a series of really big fountains, a must see if you are in Lima! Thankfully yesterday the left side of my head became adjusted to the change of climate then a friend named Melody from Couch Surfing and I met to do a language exchange and walk around the city. Overall Lima was a great experience and now I'll be in the North coast for the rest of the month.

I hope everyone is doing really well and more updates are soon to follow! Take care.

Puno'd

Today is Wednesday and currently I am watching "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air" in Spanish at the Puma Backpackers located in northern Puno. I arrived here three days ago after spending a little over five weeks in Cusco and after saying farewell to some really great people. The hostel is essentially a house converted into an extended living accommodation and the owners, Enrique and Frita, have been really hospitable.

Puno is a very relaxed town filled with pizzerias, motorcycle taxis, and generally warm people, that sits along Lake Titicaca and is very close to the Bolivian border. Before arriving here I was playing with the options of hopping into Bolivia to see La Paz for a few days or trekking deep south into Chile to see San Pedro de Atacama. Both ideas have been officially left on the back burner because I have contracted the Flu and have been forced to stay here in Puno until things get better. The worst of it has definitely passed and thanks to whatsapp my Mom helped me find proper medication. Being stuck here isn't too bad because the hostel is completely vacant minus me which is perfect for recovering and there is a really nice TV so life is good!

Hopefully tomorrow things will be even better and now the plan is to go to southern Peru to Tacna because there are two Couch Surfing contacts there, head up along the coast to Lima for the weekend, maybe stop for a day in Trujillo, then be in Chiclayo by the 18th of January. There are some really good friends in Chiclayo who made arrangements for me to visit! This is all for now and a dubbed Will Smith is still pretty funny. Take care and I hope everyone is having a great day.

The Journey Continues

Today is Sunday and currently I am relaxing at a cafe called Kushka...Fe located alongside one of the corners of Cusco that is most frequented by travelers. Despite being a little pricy this Lima, owned eatery boasts one of the best atmospheres in the city. It has been quite some time since updating this travel blog and once again I am very sorry, the past few weeks have been consumed with hostel work and living like a semi Peruvian citizen. After working full-time as a quasi receptionist in a Spanish speaking hostel and getting to know one of the most beautiful cities in South America, a chapter in the trip is about to be completed. Within twenty-four hours the stable environment of living in one location for an extended period of time will become a memory and the backpack that has been placed in storage will regain familiarity like a once forgotten friend.

Tomorrow morning I will hop on a bus to Puno which is a laid-back town located on the Peruvian side of Lake Titicaca. After spending a day or so around the world's tallest lake, the trail will be sporadic and accommodation will be based on which people on Couch Surfing have available space. The tentative goal is to cross into Chile after a night in border city of Tacna, spend some time in the dessert of Atacama at Valle Del Luna then either dip south towards Santiago or come back up to Peru. During the end of January I made arrangements I visit some close friends in Chiclayo which is a beach city located in the very far north of Peru. To put it shortly there are is a two or three week gap of time between now and Chiclayo which gives me some flexibly to see some new places but not enough time to wander too far away. As soon as more wrinkles become ironed out this blog will be the first to know!

Today is an emotional day in the former Inka city because it is difficult saying goodbye to familiarity, to some very amazing people, and to embrace the unknown. Describing the past few weeks in Cusco is a very hard task because the experience here has been arguably the greatest in my life. The countless travelers and fascinating locals that I have crossed paths with during my tenure as a staff member at Pirwa Colonial Backpackers is one of the best gifts that life in the colonial city has brought. Hundreds of people from all walks of life, each with there own interesting story and characteristics, has shed light on how beautiful this world is and how lucky I have been to be on this journey. Leaving the city will be very bittersweet because in my heart it is undoubtably time to ramble, to get lost, to struggle, and to experience new things. On the contrary there are countless memories soaked into this place's foundation, from the rainy dim lit side streets to the creaky wooden dance floors that are easier to find than a proper store to buy face wash.

Every individual memory of Cusco brings a tear to my eye and lights a fire inside my soul. I unfortunately can't even begin to describe what has happened the last few weeks because writing them down doesn't give justice to how thankful I am to have experienced this city. More information about future plans will be posted soon but until then thank you to everyone who has been in Cusco since the day I arrived. We might have been here together for weeks, simply made eye contact on a bustling street corner, or we might have only shared a two minute conversation. What ever the situation you will forever be remembered and hold a very special place in my heart. Except Nick and Carlton, you guys are just a couple of jerks :) just kidding but seriously I want my dollar back.