Ok, I´ve realized that I am a horrible blogger and Nic forgets about the blog every time we go to the internet. Im just going to try and catch everything up more for myself than anyone.
After that amazing bus ride we were in the mountains in this smallish town of Chachapoyas which is probably spelled wrong. Its a bit of a tourist town with a bunch of tour companies trying to sell trips to nearby places. When we were in Cajamarca I read about Kuelap, from what I read it was supposed to be smaller than Machu Pichu but in a way just as amazing.
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
So many adventures in places with so little internet.
I apologize before hand for any spelling errors, this computer thinks everything is wrong because I´m writing in english.
We left Lobitos after the hot sun, lack of fresh water, and swarming flies finally got to me. It was a nice time of rest but I was ready to see more of Peru. For fellow travelers or an inspiring traveler I highly recommend Muelles Surf Camp in Lobitos just outside of Talara. I´ve heard from some friends that a lot of things have changed for the better but you cant beat the layback vibes and family you recieve while living there.
Anyways, we headed south to the next surf town, Pacasmayo. After a drive around in a moto looking for a cheap hostal we found ourselves at Sol y Mar. Closer to the point than the more expensive hostals and a family that was more than welcoming. They gave us almost a whole apartment to ourselves with a sun deck After walking around for a bit we found out that Carnaval is going on in Cajamarca only 4 hours away. The family was nice enough to let us leave some of our heavier possessions including the surfboards and we caught the next bus into the mountains.
Cajamarca is one of my favorite big towns. It has a little of the Quito vibe but less people. Beautiful church buildings, friendly people and the best holiday ever...Carnaval. Although most people think of Brazil when people talk of Carnaval, it is in my biased opinion that Cajamarca´s carnaval is the best. Its equivalent to Christmas in Woovile. All year they prepare for a few weeks of fun, water fights and never ending parades. Of course because we are gringos Nic and I became a huge target for all the water fights. At one point I stood in one spot with my rain jacket as a shield while balloons came from all sides with the last bit being a huge bucket of water thrown at my back.
I´m going to let Nic write a more intensive post about Cajamarca later.
After an amazing time in this mountain town we decided to head further into the mountains on a 12 hour bus ride to Chachapoyas. We had read a lot about this ride from other blogs and travel websites but the experience was still amazing. Before we left we took our map to the bus terminal and talked with the guy about the ride. He tolds us the small inch of the map took 9 our of the 12 hours. After a bit we soon realized this is so. The mountains are amazing and far past breathtaking but along with the view it makes for difficult travel. The snaking trail you see in the picture is our road and in many spots was way worse.
But views that made every hour worth the time.
Although I´m impressed by my cheap camera the fotos still don´t capture how amazing the views were. Its something that you just have to see for yourself.
We left Lobitos after the hot sun, lack of fresh water, and swarming flies finally got to me. It was a nice time of rest but I was ready to see more of Peru. For fellow travelers or an inspiring traveler I highly recommend Muelles Surf Camp in Lobitos just outside of Talara. I´ve heard from some friends that a lot of things have changed for the better but you cant beat the layback vibes and family you recieve while living there.
Anyways, we headed south to the next surf town, Pacasmayo. After a drive around in a moto looking for a cheap hostal we found ourselves at Sol y Mar. Closer to the point than the more expensive hostals and a family that was more than welcoming. They gave us almost a whole apartment to ourselves with a sun deck After walking around for a bit we found out that Carnaval is going on in Cajamarca only 4 hours away. The family was nice enough to let us leave some of our heavier possessions including the surfboards and we caught the next bus into the mountains.
Cajamarca is one of my favorite big towns. It has a little of the Quito vibe but less people. Beautiful church buildings, friendly people and the best holiday ever...Carnaval. Although most people think of Brazil when people talk of Carnaval, it is in my biased opinion that Cajamarca´s carnaval is the best. Its equivalent to Christmas in Woovile. All year they prepare for a few weeks of fun, water fights and never ending parades. Of course because we are gringos Nic and I became a huge target for all the water fights. At one point I stood in one spot with my rain jacket as a shield while balloons came from all sides with the last bit being a huge bucket of water thrown at my back.
I´m going to let Nic write a more intensive post about Cajamarca later.
But views that made every hour worth the time.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Pancakes in the Desert
As time goes on, I find that I miss simple things from home. Little things like warm showers, more than 3 changes of clothes, and our dog Rocky. These are things that pop in my head at random times. I'll be walking through the market and all of a sudden miss my bed or swimming out in the ocean thinking of how good a nice green salad with spinach sounds. I was having one of these moments this morning as I woke up. I wanted pancakes and not just regular pancakes but chocolate chip pancakes. These seemed like a difficult task at first but here is the recipe I ended up using with my resources.
1 cup of harina (flour)
1/8 cup of azucar (sugar)
1 teaspoon of bicorbanate (baking soda)
1/4 or less of avena (oats) slightly wrong translation
1 huevo (egg)
2 tablespoons of vegie oil
1 cup of leche (milk that can be bought by the cup down the road, but bring your own cup)
1 Sublime chocolate (found at the tiendas in Lobitos, the chocolate also contains peanuts so peanut butter is not needed)
1 Banana(sold for only 6 bananas for 1 sole)
A little oro de somethings (butter)
I didn't mix the ingredients in any real order but I think your supposed to mix the dry things first then the wet but I did add the banana and chocolate last. After the mixture is ready you pour it on a hot pan with butter and fry one side then the other. Served with some miel, makes an excellent breakfast for the hungry surfer. I do not hold responsibility if a horrible batch of pancakes are produced by this recipe.
Nic and I really enjoyed this treat this morning and hopefully it will lead to more attempts.
1 cup of harina (flour)
1/8 cup of azucar (sugar)
1 teaspoon of bicorbanate (baking soda)
1/4 or less of avena (oats) slightly wrong translation
1 huevo (egg)
2 tablespoons of vegie oil
1 cup of leche (milk that can be bought by the cup down the road, but bring your own cup)
1 Sublime chocolate (found at the tiendas in Lobitos, the chocolate also contains peanuts so peanut butter is not needed)
1 Banana(sold for only 6 bananas for 1 sole)
A little oro de somethings (butter)
I didn't mix the ingredients in any real order but I think your supposed to mix the dry things first then the wet but I did add the banana and chocolate last. After the mixture is ready you pour it on a hot pan with butter and fry one side then the other. Served with some miel, makes an excellent breakfast for the hungry surfer. I do not hold responsibility if a horrible batch of pancakes are produced by this recipe.
Nic and I really enjoyed this treat this morning and hopefully it will lead to more attempts.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
A New Country
So here we are again starting over in Peru. After many long hours on the bus we get to the town Nic wanted to stay at for a month, Mancora. It took only a few minutes to make a change in plans. We ended up staying only one night. Mancora is crowded, hot, has the pan-American highway running through it, and not a whole lot of beauty. We quickly packed our bags the next morning and made our way to Lobitos.
We ask the taxi driver to take us to the cheapest hostal. He said it would cost about 20 soles which is a little lest than $10 a person. This wasn't really in our budget but we figured we could get a better deal long term. Supposedly the place was a friend of his but later when we were talking with the owner he had no idea what the taxi drivers name was. The taxi driver was also wrong because it was 25 soles each for one night and he told us there was no place to camp, which was also a lie. The hostal was in comfortable home with hot water and a tv but we needed something cheaper.
The next day we found our home for the month. I wish I had my camera because this place is something else. Its an old warehouse that has been turned into a tent camp. It reminds me of a giant kids play house with a small skate ramp downstairs, paint all over the walls of art and different surfer thoughts, and couches made of old parts over looking the beach. Nic and I have the best spot in the house. Its on the third floor with our own little silla and a room that we added a lock to. We also have a great view of Piscinas which is one of Nic's favorite surf spots now.
The town itself is like another world. Down the way used to be military but now all that is left is empty buildings and homes without roofs. Out in the water there are platforms that are sucking up the oil from below. And everywhere you look is desert. Time goes by quickly here and you loose track of what happened the day before. We met a pair of german twins that don't even surf but ended up staying here for over a month although they only planned a week or so.
So now the day consists of eating, surfing and maybe swimming for me, sleeping, eating, surfing, eating, and a sometimes more surfing. Everyone surfs here so much that they actually go to bed early. I went body boarding the other day with a board this guy let me borrow for free but I'm too cheap to rent a board so I'm waiting to either buy a cheap body board or long board. I'm also starting two different projects today. I want to make cookies bad so I'm going to try and make a solar oven. The other project is chickens!! One of our new friends has a killer spot and wants chickens so I volunteered. If Nic gets out of the water soon enough then we are going to go into town, get a bunch of food and chickens. I'm excited :) Hopefully with all this free time I'll be able to keep up with the blog a little better. I'm sorry again for falling behind but without a camera I was lacking the motivation to post anything.
We ask the taxi driver to take us to the cheapest hostal. He said it would cost about 20 soles which is a little lest than $10 a person. This wasn't really in our budget but we figured we could get a better deal long term. Supposedly the place was a friend of his but later when we were talking with the owner he had no idea what the taxi drivers name was. The taxi driver was also wrong because it was 25 soles each for one night and he told us there was no place to camp, which was also a lie. The hostal was in comfortable home with hot water and a tv but we needed something cheaper.
The next day we found our home for the month. I wish I had my camera because this place is something else. Its an old warehouse that has been turned into a tent camp. It reminds me of a giant kids play house with a small skate ramp downstairs, paint all over the walls of art and different surfer thoughts, and couches made of old parts over looking the beach. Nic and I have the best spot in the house. Its on the third floor with our own little silla and a room that we added a lock to. We also have a great view of Piscinas which is one of Nic's favorite surf spots now.
The town itself is like another world. Down the way used to be military but now all that is left is empty buildings and homes without roofs. Out in the water there are platforms that are sucking up the oil from below. And everywhere you look is desert. Time goes by quickly here and you loose track of what happened the day before. We met a pair of german twins that don't even surf but ended up staying here for over a month although they only planned a week or so.
So now the day consists of eating, surfing and maybe swimming for me, sleeping, eating, surfing, eating, and a sometimes more surfing. Everyone surfs here so much that they actually go to bed early. I went body boarding the other day with a board this guy let me borrow for free but I'm too cheap to rent a board so I'm waiting to either buy a cheap body board or long board. I'm also starting two different projects today. I want to make cookies bad so I'm going to try and make a solar oven. The other project is chickens!! One of our new friends has a killer spot and wants chickens so I volunteered. If Nic gets out of the water soon enough then we are going to go into town, get a bunch of food and chickens. I'm excited :) Hopefully with all this free time I'll be able to keep up with the blog a little better. I'm sorry again for falling behind but without a camera I was lacking the motivation to post anything.
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