Broken Heart
Quietly the fizzures show
Broken like a jagged stone
Coldness creeping in below
Broken, barren, cold, alone
Quickly, now, before sadness creeps
Forget it all but don’t let go
Push it down to endless deeps
As time itself begins to slow
Catch a glimmer, bursting bright
Dare not hope, dare not smile
For fake is hope behind the light
And awaiting is the lonely mile
Be still my heart as love is gone
The day is breaking, but with no dawn
I see a string of parallels
rolling through my mind
two lines they twist and twirl around
neighborly entwined
two parallels both straight and true
clearly separate sole and clean
what interests me in parallels
is the spaces in between
would lines go by in parallel
and never know their own
travel always side by side
and always be alone
life might be like parallels
defined by spaces in between
but everything needs something else
to give its life some mean
I see two lonely parallels
travel through their lives
I hope they meet despite themselves
even if they’re only lines
Reading is good for you. Having read many more books on the trip than I’ve commented on here are some more reviews…
White Waters and Black, Gordon MacCreagh
The highly entertaining chronicle of an expedition down the Amazon in the 1920s. We read this book prior to our arrival in the Amazon and suffice to say it freaked us out. If you enjoy travelling, especially with today’s modern luxuries, you will appreciate the difficulties of travelling by mule, acquiring exotic jungle diseases and trying to negotiate with the natives. Good times.
Motorcycle Diaries, Ernesto Che Guavara
This is less of a book than the collected diary entries that Che recorded when he rode across South America with his friend on an old motorcycle. It had special meaning for me because we visited many of the same places along the way so it was an interesting link to the past. The writing makes it clear why Che became such a force in the communist movement. If you can forget some of the more unpleasant things he did in his life I recommend the book as an interesting and unique journey through an interesting place.
Postmortem, Patricia Cornwall
I picked this up because I’ve always liked CSI and thought I would give it a try. Postmortem is the first novel in a very long series about the crime-solving escapades of a medical examiner in Virginia. It’s clear this is a first novel as the writing starts off quite weak and gets stronger as the book goes on. There is a lot of technical description that I enjoyed even if it’s a bit dated at this point. The book is very well researched and the plot moves quickly. I plan to read a few more in this series.
Neverwhere, Neil Gaiman
I’ve been a big fan of Neil Gaiman following his series of Sandman graphic novels. If you enjoy fantasy (and I mean really fantastic fantasy) you should give them a try. Neverwhere was actually written as the screenplay for a BBC miniseries of the same name which was not very successful. The book however, is great and highly recommended. Neverwhere describes an alternative version of London where people who fall through the cracks end up, and how they live their lives alongside the real world. It includes a trademark Gaiman plot with interesting twists and interweaving of multiple stories at once. I actually bought the BBC miniseries on DVD after finishing the book – it’s not so bad if you’ve already read the book first.
The trip, like all good things, has come to an end. I have only one regret for the entire trip and that is the fact that it wasn’t longer. Two months is just not enough to appreciate South America in the way that it should be done. Four to five months would have been better.
Regardless it was one of the best times of my life and I have more great memories than I could have imagined. In typical internet fashion here’s my final thoughts on the trip in top ten memories fashion:
10. 10m plunge into the Rio Negro in President Figuiredo. (Brazil)
Probably the scariest thing I’ve done. We jumped from 10m up into the roaring, pitch black Rio Negro below. At some point during the descent you realize that you have no idea how deep the water actually is and there really might be anacondas waiting for you. Good times.
9. Inventing Shag-Wanker at an Irish pub in Buenos Aires. (Argentina)
This is special not just because we invented the definitive drinking game of the trip (responsible for the loss of most of our stolen items) but because we also bonded with Paula who is now family. It was also the first beer I’ve had in over 10 years. Beginning of the end, I’d say.
8. St. Patrick’s Day in Cuzco. (Peru)
Despite my compatriot’s weak constitutions I ended up having a fantastic night into the wee hours of the morning. It’s amazing that an Irish Pub in the middle of the Andes in Peru can feel just like home on St. Patrick’s Day. Yay for Guinness.
7. Murphy’s Pub in Lima. (Peru)
Most of the stories about Murphy’s must be told by Clive but suffice to say that this was the strangest bar I’ve ever been into. The staff is nuts, the regulars are even more nuts and the drinks are strong. The last thing we did in South America was get a drink at Murphy’s which welcomed us like locals even though they were closed.
6. Copacabana beach at night in Rio. (Brazil)
Beautiful, peaceful and in the company of good friends. We also said goodbye to Paula here so it is a bittersweet memory.
5. Seeing Iguazu Falls. (Argentina)
Easily the most impressive natural site I’ve seen, Iguazu makes Niagra Falls look like a stream. It’s hard to comprehend what it looks like from pictures, you really need to go in person.
4. Birthday party at the Loki Mancora (Peru)
Possibly the best birthday party I’ve ever had, Clive came through like the hero he is and turned the Loki Mancora into a crazy party. I don’t remember much after Monique served me a shot of pure Pisco (never drink that stuff straight) but the pictures show that I had a pretty good time.
3. Reaching Machu Piccu after the four day hike of the Inca Trail. (Peru)
Machu Piccu is the most impressive thing I’ve ever seen. This experience was augmented by the fact that we had just completed a grueling 4 day hike in the cold rain which gave way to a beautiful sunny day when we reached the ruins. It was magical.
2. The Armin Van Buuren bloco during Carnaval in Salvador. (Brazil)
The best party I’ve ever seen. I will never forget the feeling of moshing through the streets of Salvador with 1,000 other foreigners. Again, I don’t remember a lot of it but I’m told I had a great time.
1. Meeting countless amazing travellers. (Everywhere)
The best part of travelling is the people you meet along the way. South America didn’t disappoint with an amazing array of awesome and interesting people. I’m hopeful that some of them will find their way to San Francisco someday, or I will find myself in their home town, but either way the time spent with them was fantastic.
So there you go. My next trip will probably be to South East Asia or the UK depending on how long I go for and who I can convince to go with me. Interested in taking a long trip and having a great time? Let me know, I can use some company.
There is a place
where the days are brighter
the air is crisper
the views more brilliant
the nights more alive
To get there you hike on foot
you fly through clouds
you sail across oceans
and climb up mountains
It is not here, not now
but one day’s journey hence
the next leg of the journey
the place where we will always be going
Tomorrow
I write this sore and tired as we finished hiking the Inca Trail yesterday. It was an amazing experience and I’m glad we did it even though it was not easy. A quick summary of the 4 day hike.
Day 1
We awoke at 4:30am to be ready for our 5:30am pickup. After the pickup we were treated to a 1.5 hour bus ride which was great for catching up on sleep. After buying a walking stick (5 soles for a broom stick with a handle) and having a small breakfast we were off.
Day 1 was described to us as easy by others who had completed the hike. It is easier than the rest of the days but I would not describe it as an easy hike, especially if you are still adjusting to the altitude. Even so, it was a clear day and we got to know the other people on our tour who were all fantastic. We were surprised for dinner with an amazing spread that rivaled anything we’ve had in Peru so far. Over the next few days we would eat as well as we have eaten on this trip even though we were camping in the wilderness.
I should note that there were 14 hikers in our group, 2 guides, 1 cook and 19 porters to carry everything from the dining tent to the sleeping tents. We carried our sleeping bags and sleeping mats although you can hire a porter to carry your bag for you. The porters are amazing as they carry typically around 50 pounds and run up the path much faster than we can go.
Day 2
Day 2 is known as the worst day and that is a good description. You ascend 1,200m up to the first pass over the mountains and it is hard going. It didn’t help that there was pouring rain and blasting winds when we reached the summit. After a 2 hour descent from the top we reached camp exhausted and sore having completed the hardest day of hiking in our lives.
Day 3
Day 3 was the best day as it’s easier than Day 2 (although still hard) and includes numerous Inca ruins to explore and some gorgeous vistas from the path. I decided to partake in an Inca tradition of carrying a rock from the bottom to the top of a mountain and leaving it there as an offerin to the Incan gods. I asked only for sunny weather on the last day when we would reach Machu Piccu as it was still raining. That afternoon the weather improved and some of the best views of the trip were available. At the end of the hike I took a longer route to view some Incan terraces above our camp and saw some views that are best described as breath taking. It made the previous 3 days worthwhile.
The day 3 camp has a bar which was like heaven to those of us who were starved for civilzation. Due to the exhaustion and altitude it didn’t take many beers to have a good time and sleep was sound.
Day 4
After it rained heavily all night I awoke at 4am expecting to pack and hike to Machu Piccu in the rain. It wasn’t raining when we broke camp at 5am to wait on line to enter the Machu Piccu trail which only opens at 5:30am. After what felt like an eternity waiting in the dark the sun started to rise and they let us through to race across the 1.5 hour hike to the Sun Gate to see the sun rise over Machu Piccu. There are only 400 hikers allowed to hike the secondary mountain of Wayna Piccu so everyone was racing to be in the first 400. It made some for some insane hiking and a few people fell off of the trail (which had sheer drops off one side) although luckily no one died. One guy ahead of me would have fallen over 300m had the guy behind him not grabbed his pack and pulled him back onto the trail. Scary stuff at 6am.
It was misty and foggy when I got to the Sun Gate exhausted, but the mist burned off and the view was incredible. Even after seein all the Inca ruins over the course of the hike Machu Piccu was still impressive from a distance.
By the time we reached Machu Piccu around 8am it was bright and sunny out. I had my first Coke in 4 days and enjoyed the guided tour of the ruins of Machu Piccu in amazingly good weather. Apparently my offering was accepted.
Considering the setting (epic mountains, valleys and waterfalls), the construction and the beauty of Machu Piccu I consider it the most impressive place I have ever visited. If you make it to Peru you have to visit. If this hike doesn’t sound like fun they have a train that will take you to the bottom of Machu Piccu mountain and a bus that will take you up to the ruins. It’s a must see.
However, the hike does take its toll and my legs are extremely sore. I will spend the rest of today hobbling around and trying not to move too much so that hopefully we can move on tomorrow.
Good times.
The fellowship has reassembled as we have been joined by Conor and Jeff here in Lima. Much catching up was done over far too many drinks last night.
I’m happy to report that Clive and I succeeded in having an excellent time here in Peru despite our lack of planning. We decide to head to Nazca to view the world famous geoglyphs (big drawings in the desert) which were much bigger than I expected. We took a plane tour of the lines which involves a small Cesna flying at 90 degrees over the lines so you can see them clearly and fear that you will fall out the window onto them. In reality the flight wasn’t nearly as scary as I had hoped but the lines were impressive.
From there we headed to Ica and the desert oasis of Huacachina which is aptly described as it is an oasis in the middle of the desert. We stayed in an awesome hostel/hotel right on the oasis which is surrounded by sand dunes that must be a few hundred meters high. After much fun relaxing by the pool we went for a dune buggy/sand boarding tour that was an amazing amount of fun. Word of advice – falling off of a sandboard is not like falling off of a snow board. Falling onto sand is more like, err, falling onto sand paper. I’m sure these sand burns will heal eventually.
On the last day in Huacachina I thought it would be good practice for the Inca Trail to try and hike up one of the huge sand dunes. One hour and two heart attacks later I realized that hiking in sand is difficult and that I’m clearly not in shape. The view was nice.
I am sad to report, however, that photo uploads are delayed as we have once again been robbed. Clive’s bag was cut open at the bus terminal here in Lima and his power supply stolen making his laptop a very heavy paperweight. Conor was to be our savior with his netbook which unfortunately was stolen on his way down the Amazon. I am just thankful that all I lost this week was my travel flashlight that was ripped from the outside of my bag.
We restocked today at the American-style mall here in Lima and are ready to proceed to Cusco tomorrow. We expect the party there to be long and epic, as it may be our farewell before we die on the hike.
Good times.
As our regular trip historian is currently stuck on a boat somewhere on the Amazon river without access to the internet or sanity, it falls to me to record the continuing adventures of the expedition.
We arrived in Lima two days ago and were immediately thrilled with both the cooler weather and the fact that Spanish is so much easier than Portugese. We’ve been staying at Loki Backpackers here in Lima which is in the modern Miraflores district of Lima. It’s so modern, in fact, it feels like California – complete with a brand new American style shopping mall built into the cliffs overlooking the ocean. After a month of local foods we couldn’t resist eating at the Chili’s we found there which was awesome. Henceforth Clive will be known as “El Presidente” due to his prodigious consumption of margaritas.
We spent the day exploring the old town of Lima which has some amazing architecture. The San Franciscan monastery was the only tour we took and it was well worth the s/5 as it included a tour of the world famous catacombs. The catacombs were amazing but we were very unprepared for the vast amount of human remains (skulls, bones, etc) on display. Some of the things we saw will haunt me for a long while.
At night we decided to honor Conor by finding the Irish pub in the area which was very hard to track down. Murphy’s in Miraflores turns out to be owned by a great guy named Christian who grew up in the US and now lives in Peru. Even though it was a Monday night we had a great time as Christian and his staff are crazy and the locals are more so. One guy spent 30 minutes telling me about how the KGB had kidnapped him twice in the same day. Also, for future reference a tequilameister is a combination of 2 parts jagermeister and 1 part tequila and is very good.
So it was amazingly drunk that we stumbled home last night down the streets of Peru. Today we arise hung over and ready to head to Nazca to see the lines in the desert. It is not possible to describe how glad we are that we decided to take the afternoon bus instead of the morning bus.
Good times.
After many wonderful and relaxing days on the beach in Morro de Sao Paulo we were fully recovered from Carnaval and decided to venture in to the jungles of the Amazon rainforest. Our destination was Manaus, the only major city in the center of Brazil and smack in the middle of the jungle.
Unfortuately there isn’t much to Manaus which is mostly a port town that takes in cargo from Amazonian freighters and distributes it to the people that live among the many rivers of the Amazon. Hence, the entire town is like one big department store. There are some shops that sell containers, others that sell hardware (including machetes) and others that seem to sell nothing but rice. They also have a great selection of knock-off electronics that look a lot like the real thing. To me the most amazing thing is almost every shop and cart sells used television remote controls – so if you’ve ever lost one I think it might have ended up here.
We were lucky enough to meet two awesome girls from San Francisco at Hostel Manaus who told us that the best jungle tours were located in a small town called President Figuejredo which was 2 hours by bus. True to form we stumbled our way there with our limited portugese and lots of pointing and found the guide they had recommended. At 8:30am the next day we started off on one of the best days of the trip yet. Highlights:
By the end of the day we were exhausted and rather concerned about the amount of Amazon water we had swallowed or shot up our noses during those jumps. The water here is Negro meaning that it’s the color of dark tea due to all the decomposing leaves. The rapids look vaguely like enormous Guiness taps. I have no doubt we acquired something exotic that will come back to haunt us later.
It was weary and slightly injured that we arrived back in Manaus only to find that our hostel reservation was lost leaving us no option but to sleep on the roof of the Hostel (no joke). I was fine due to my foresight in treating my sleeping bag liner with premethrin which made an excellent makeshift mosquito net. Conor was not so lucky and stayed up most of the night itching.
Now we rest in Manaus as Conor prepares to waste 7 days of his life on an uncomfortable hammock on a boat bound for Iquitos while Clive and I prepare to fly to Lima, Peru.
Good times.
The Guide to Carnaval in Salvador
Carnaval in Salvador is one of the best parties in the world. While I haven’t been to most parties in the world I have been to Carnaval in Salvador and I can assure you that this is true. There are very few descriptions of Salvador, Carnaval and how to enjoy it so we were forced to learn how best to enjoy it on our own. Here then is a description of everything we learned so that you can make the most of your trip to Salvador for Carnaval.
Which you will make because it is awesome. Let us begin…
What is Carnaval?
Carnaval is a multi-day celebration designed to get in as much debauchery as possible before the start of Lent. It offically lasts four days and ends on Ash Wednesday. As a distinctive part of the culture in Brazil you will see it everywhere and most of the population gets two days off of work to celebrate Carnaval.
What is Carnaval in Salvador?
Each city celebrates Carnaval differently. In Rio, Carnaval centers around the Sambodrome which is a massive Samba competition that is more like a massive parade. In all cities there are blocos (block parties) where live bands play to large masses of people drinking alcohol. In Salvador, Carnaval centers around parades of moving blocos that follow one of 4 routes through the city. Each bloco features a band that plays on a moving truck with enormous speakers and a mob of followers. These blocos comprise many different musical forms and take over the city while they are running. Do not come to Salvador during Carnaval unless you want to celebrate Carnaval.
Why go to Carnaval in Salvador?
Hmmm… let’s see.
What to expect
Before we get to the details, it’s important to know what to expect. Carnaval in Salvador is a massive party that is more like a club (or large mosh pit) than a street party. The number of people is vast so you will be mashed, bumped, pushed, hear deafening music and probably get robbed (ok, you will definitely get robbed). You will also have an amazing amount of fun, meet awesome people, dance until you can’t dance and probably get kissed many times by many attractive strangers.
I should note that if you are not Brazilian you will definitely stand out as the number of foreigners is dwarfed by the number of Brazilians. I received many stares, many smiles and interest from the women because I stood out.
The Basics
There are three primary ways to enjoy Carnaval in Salvador, all involving the moving Blocos:
What to do before you head to Salvador
Which Bloco should I do?
That’s really up to you. However I strongly recommend going to the headliner Bloco on the Barra route on the last day. This is usually techo/trance music by a big name DJ like Fatboy Slim or Armin Van Buren (whom we saw). It’s the last bloco on the last day of the Barra route and you’ll see advertisments for it all over the city. Think of it like the culmination of Carnaval.
The reasons that this bloco rules is as follows. Note that this was the best time I’ve had in my entire life.
As I mentioned earlier I found the Camarotes rather lame so you’re on your own for this one. The earlier in the route you are the more lively the crowd will be so that might be a good rule.
What to do when you get to Salvador
Let’s party
You’re in Salvador, you’re ready to party. Let’s get it on.
Kissing
One of the many sports that are common during Carnaval is kissing women. Most men spend most of their time trying to kiss strange women and most women spend their time fending off strange men that want to kiss them. If you don’t think you can laugh this off then it isn’t for you. If this sounds like fun then you should be booking your ticket now.
Post-Carnaval
If you did it even remotely right you are wiped out after Carnaval. What do do? Head down to the docks and take a 2 hour ferry ride to Morro de Sao Paulo to relax on amazing beaches and hang out with everyone else recovering. There are parties every night, great food and a very festive crowd so it’s a great place to wind down.
SO Anyway
Carnaval in Salvador is awesome. You should go. Much fun will be had. If you have any questions feel free to comment here or drop me an e-mail. I plan to return again next year and relive the awesomeness.
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