(Monday 21 March 2011, after a long shower, Puerto Varas, Chile) Continuation from Couchsurfing and bed-dwellers The plan was to spend a few days alone, in Paula’s great little beach cottage until she joined me that weekend, just relaxing and thinking over my trip. Just being alone. But on night one, as I lay in bed and started this thinking and alone-being, I found that I was not in fact alone. The bed was FULL of fleas. Having sprung out and examined my clothes and body for unwelcome company, I eventually went back into the bedroom. Needless to say, I pulled up the bed. Her room was by far the nicest place to sleep. I stood in my underwear in the middle of the house, feeling lost. I stared at the big white bed for a while… Nothing moved… I decided I would sleep in my sleeping bag on top of the bed. The fleas were all inside the covers, surely. So I climbed into my sleeping bag and jumped diagonally onto the bed simultaneously pulling it up tightly over me so nothing could get inside. Plus, I lay with my head at the foot of the bed – that would confuse them. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Mistakes and Mishaps
(11:15, 18 March 2011, La Casa de la Paula, Sector Papirua, Chile) The sound of the waves has been right outside the door for a day and a half now, and still I sometimes look out at the sea just to check that it’s real. It’s a brown beach, unlike the beaches I am used to, but its lovely. Pine forest lines the shore and spreads up and down, and up and down the horizon hills behind the houses. There certainly aren’t a lot of people around. Yesterday evening I went for a walk on the beach. And I had a laugh because, if I was worried about finding my way back to the right place, I just had to follow my own footprints – they were the only ones on the whole beach. Read the rest of this entry »
(9:10PM, 26 January 2011, sitting in the same bed, in the same hospedaje, Ollantaytambo, Sacred Valley, Peru) I have just consciously taken a decision that I know will cost me money, all for the sake of familiarity! Me: the traveller who changed hostels three times in one week in Lima, none of which were the two I tried out the last time I was here, to save money and for a change of scenery. Tonight I got out of my bus a town earlier than I should’ve, knowing I will pay an additional bus ticket to get there tomorrow, all so I could stay in a hostel I already know.
The straight, narrow streets of Ollantaytambo were designed and lived in by the Inca themselves and have been inhabitted ever since. I know them well, having walked up and down them looking for a cheap place to stay only three nights ago, and then again, after checking in, when I ended up retracing my steps back up the hill in the rain because the Inca put a long inviting road on the other side of the river, but only connected it to the rest of the town with one bridge, at its top end. So when I hopped off the bus this evening, into the very-same ancient town square where I had hopped on the bus as it was passing the day before yesterday, I walked past the very-same market and the very-same spot of pavement where I had sat to drink a ponche (hot spiced drink), and directly to the very-same hospedaje door, which I knocked on to wake the senora (she usually goes to bed quite early), paid the already negotiated price, located the light swich in the very-same room I had stayed in two nights before, and climbed into the very-same bed in the corner, having already tested the other two and found this one to be the best. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Reflections, South Africa
From Cuzco, posted by Stacey Hope-Bailie on 2/13/2011 (Showing 4 of 38 items)
“The deservedly reknown city of history, culture and architecture from pre-Inca to Colonial. “
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Tags: Photo Albums
From Lima II, posted by Stacey Hope-Bailie on 2/13/2011 (Showing 4 of 9 items)
“Second time in the city, and I love it all the more! Great walks, good chats.”
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Tags: Photo Albums
From Huaraz, posted by Stacey Hope-Bailie on 2/13/2011 (Showing 4 of 49 items)
“Photos from the infamous Santa Cruz Trek which we eventually completed, despite Sonya having food poisoning and then Pulmonary Adema. Beautiful scenery, even out of the hostel window.”
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Tags: Photo Albums
From Trujillo, posted by Stacey Hope-Bailie on 1/17/2011 (Showing 4 of 22 items)
“Great colonial town surrounded by history from both Peru and the civilizations that existed before the country as we know it. Photos are from Chan Chan and other Huancas of the Chimu culture which we explored in and around the city.”
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Tags: Photo Albums
From Pimentel, Chiclayo, posted by Stacey Hope-Bailie on 1/11/2011 (Showing 4 of 11 items)
“Very odd spot out on the beach, 20 minutes walk from Pimentel, and close enough to the city of Chiclayo to be a bit ugly. Nevertheless, where we partied for New Years with the crowds of locals who flocked to the sea and sand and limited sun.”
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From Chachapoyas, posted by Stacey Hope-Bailie on 1/11/2011 (Showing 4 of 15 items)
“Lovely mountain town in the cloud forest, surrounded by archeological sites including the famed Kuelap, which we trekked back from, and the Karajia Sarcophagi.”
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From Sauce, posted by Stacey Hope-Bailie on 1/17/2011 (Showing 4 of 9 items)
“Spent Christmas in a hammock on the beautiful Blue Lake in Sauce, the Selva, Peru. The lovely family who owned the cabanas where we stayed invited us to their midnight Christmas Eve dinner of roast turkey and ham, followed by hot chocolate and panetone. Apart from a fairly radical rowing incident, it was very relaxed.”
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What You’ve Been Saying