October 7, 2011
Today (Friday) I get up at 2:45am and meet everyone at the minivan at 3:15am because we are going to Kuelap which is 3 hours south of Chachapoyas and it is like Machu Pichu which is a fortress built on a mountain top and the group wants to get sunset photos. Well we get there at 6:30am and it is very cloudy so no sunset photos. Jennifer says she is learning english but speaks it very well and is teaching me spanish pronounciations and about Peruvian culture. There is a Brazilian named Fernanda who is traveling all around South America and she can speak Portuguese, spanish, english and a bit of french. We probably would have met up with her in Vilcabamba but she said he was delayed a day and had to travel solo the next day to Peru which cost a little more since she couldn't share a colectivo with anyone and there was no one at the border to share a taxi and she is off to the Peruvian coast after Chachapoyas on Sunday but I might meet up with her along the way going the opposite direction since we are both eventually going to Machu Pichu.
At Kuelap, Jennifer translates everything for me from Carlos to give me some info about Kuelap and that this culture built round stone houses and then the Incans came along and built their square houses with the doors and windows facing east and west so the natural sunlight would enter their homes at sunset and sunrise and that this clifftop fortress was for religious reasons. There were a few llamas up there milling around the ruins as well.
On our way back we stop at a local village for lunch. I ask the woman if they have "cafe americano" and she says "Si" and which point I fire back "No instantaneo!!!" at which everyone in our tour group starts laughing and I then realize that they are all fully aware of how I truly feel about South American instant coffee. I guess I bitch and complain about it without realizing it.
We get back at around 3pm and I decide to upload some pictures which takes me an hour and Jennifer walks into the hotel and is with 2 spanish women that she just met at her new hotel a few blocks away and they are booking the Waterfall tour that Megan, Eugene and I did on Wednesday. Jennifer stops by to chat and then we go out for coffee at some place a couple blocks away and she wants me to try an alcoholic drink that is very popular in Peru. I think it is "Pisho" which is 42% alcohol. I don't particularly care for it but she says it is only a 6 out of 10 and that it is normally better depending on who makes it. She is going to do the waterfall tour on Saturday and then meet up with the 3 of us in Tarapoto for a day before she has to return to work in Lima.
Carlos and Fernanda come into this place we are at but only Fernanda stays and we chat about our travel plans and exchange information. That is the good thing about traveling to countries by yourself because it is easier to meet people and get out of your comfort zone because solo travelers are like magnets to each other and it is easy to form groups. A few travelers have mentioned this as well. I order a couple slices of pizza and it is only a couple bucks. The futbol game is on with Peru against Paraguay and everyone is excited including Jennifer because it is their country playing but Fernanda and I are paying no attention to it and just exchanging information about our itineraries. I am super tired at 7:30pm and tell them both that I am off to bed and will email Fernanda in a week to see where she is and Jennifer will be meeting up with us in Tarapoto on Sunday. I go downstairs and pay for my things and head to my hotel when I realize that Jennifer has had my bag the whole night so I return to the eatery and get my bag and they both laugh since that is the second time today that I have forgotten my bag and had to return a minute later realizing I forgot it. I just have my passport in there so no big deal eh? My flight back to Canada is out of Lima so I will spend a week or two with Jennifer in Lima and she will give me the full tour.
Well I finally go to bed and am sleeping at 7:45pm when I get a loud knock at my door at 10pm. Eugene and Megan usually yell for me outside my door and never knock on the door and it sounds like a landlord knock when you are late with the rent (POUND! POUND! POUND!). Well sure enough it is Jennifer and she is very excited that Peru won the Futbol match. I said I had already figured that by the loud yells and cheers from the hotel people here. She asks if I was sleeping which she already knows the answer to. She says she is very happy about Peru winning this Futbol game and wants to celebrate with someone but doesn't know anyone in this city except me. Not being a futbol fan I ask her if Peru won the world cup and she says no that it is only the first game and I say "And you are happy because of .....??". Anyhow we chat for a bit and I can understand her being happy but I am friggin tired and she realizes that so gives me a hug and kiss on the cheek (which is a very common spanish custom) and I tell her I will see her on Sunday night in Tarapoto since I will be emailing her of the hotel we get so she knows where to go. I was sleeping pretty good up to that moment and now I can't sleep so have decided to do a travelogue entry of today at 12 midnight. We did have coffee late in the evening which usually keeps me up.
Hopefully tomorrow I will have time to upload some more photos from today of Kuelap and then Eugene, Megan, and I will be getting a colectivo tomorrow from here to Pedo Ruiz which is a main hub for buses and then get a 7 hour day bus to Tarapoto.
Today (Friday) I get up at 2:45am and meet everyone at the minivan at 3:15am because we are going to Kuelap which is 3 hours south of Chachapoyas and it is like Machu Pichu which is a fortress built on a mountain top and the group wants to get sunset photos. Well we get there at 6:30am and it is very cloudy so no sunset photos. Jennifer says she is learning english but speaks it very well and is teaching me spanish pronounciations and about Peruvian culture. There is a Brazilian named Fernanda who is traveling all around South America and she can speak Portuguese, spanish, english and a bit of french. We probably would have met up with her in Vilcabamba but she said he was delayed a day and had to travel solo the next day to Peru which cost a little more since she couldn't share a colectivo with anyone and there was no one at the border to share a taxi and she is off to the Peruvian coast after Chachapoyas on Sunday but I might meet up with her along the way going the opposite direction since we are both eventually going to Machu Pichu.
At Kuelap, Jennifer translates everything for me from Carlos to give me some info about Kuelap and that this culture built round stone houses and then the Incans came along and built their square houses with the doors and windows facing east and west so the natural sunlight would enter their homes at sunset and sunrise and that this clifftop fortress was for religious reasons. There were a few llamas up there milling around the ruins as well.
On our way back we stop at a local village for lunch. I ask the woman if they have "cafe americano" and she says "Si" and which point I fire back "No instantaneo!!!" at which everyone in our tour group starts laughing and I then realize that they are all fully aware of how I truly feel about South American instant coffee. I guess I bitch and complain about it without realizing it.
We get back at around 3pm and I decide to upload some pictures which takes me an hour and Jennifer walks into the hotel and is with 2 spanish women that she just met at her new hotel a few blocks away and they are booking the Waterfall tour that Megan, Eugene and I did on Wednesday. Jennifer stops by to chat and then we go out for coffee at some place a couple blocks away and she wants me to try an alcoholic drink that is very popular in Peru. I think it is "Pisho" which is 42% alcohol. I don't particularly care for it but she says it is only a 6 out of 10 and that it is normally better depending on who makes it. She is going to do the waterfall tour on Saturday and then meet up with the 3 of us in Tarapoto for a day before she has to return to work in Lima.
Carlos and Fernanda come into this place we are at but only Fernanda stays and we chat about our travel plans and exchange information. That is the good thing about traveling to countries by yourself because it is easier to meet people and get out of your comfort zone because solo travelers are like magnets to each other and it is easy to form groups. A few travelers have mentioned this as well. I order a couple slices of pizza and it is only a couple bucks. The futbol game is on with Peru against Paraguay and everyone is excited including Jennifer because it is their country playing but Fernanda and I are paying no attention to it and just exchanging information about our itineraries. I am super tired at 7:30pm and tell them both that I am off to bed and will email Fernanda in a week to see where she is and Jennifer will be meeting up with us in Tarapoto on Sunday. I go downstairs and pay for my things and head to my hotel when I realize that Jennifer has had my bag the whole night so I return to the eatery and get my bag and they both laugh since that is the second time today that I have forgotten my bag and had to return a minute later realizing I forgot it. I just have my passport in there so no big deal eh? My flight back to Canada is out of Lima so I will spend a week or two with Jennifer in Lima and she will give me the full tour.
Well I finally go to bed and am sleeping at 7:45pm when I get a loud knock at my door at 10pm. Eugene and Megan usually yell for me outside my door and never knock on the door and it sounds like a landlord knock when you are late with the rent (POUND! POUND! POUND!). Well sure enough it is Jennifer and she is very excited that Peru won the Futbol match. I said I had already figured that by the loud yells and cheers from the hotel people here. She asks if I was sleeping which she already knows the answer to. She says she is very happy about Peru winning this Futbol game and wants to celebrate with someone but doesn't know anyone in this city except me. Not being a futbol fan I ask her if Peru won the world cup and she says no that it is only the first game and I say "And you are happy because of .....??". Anyhow we chat for a bit and I can understand her being happy but I am friggin tired and she realizes that so gives me a hug and kiss on the cheek (which is a very common spanish custom) and I tell her I will see her on Sunday night in Tarapoto since I will be emailing her of the hotel we get so she knows where to go. I was sleeping pretty good up to that moment and now I can't sleep so have decided to do a travelogue entry of today at 12 midnight. We did have coffee late in the evening which usually keeps me up.
Hopefully tomorrow I will have time to upload some more photos from today of Kuelap and then Eugene, Megan, and I will be getting a colectivo tomorrow from here to Pedo Ruiz which is a main hub for buses and then get a 7 hour day bus to Tarapoto.
