Medellin Food

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D’Luigi

D’Luigi was a pizza place in Guatape, so not exactly Medellin, but close enough and worth a recommendation. Pretty sure the restaurant was their living room, beautifully lit just with candles and tables created out of an eclectic mix of table cloths, cushion, and chairs. It’s owned by a lovely couple – the woman is the waitress, the man makes the pizza. There are about seven pizzas to choose from and we went with the standard Margarita. Holy. Moly. Just like pizza should be. Insane homemade tomato paste, buffalo mozzarella, fresh basil. The base though, oh the base! so light and chewy with those little charcoal bits on the crust. Actually probably one of the best pizzas I have had in my life.

Olivia Pizza

We went to Olivia Pizza when we stayed in Laureles. The menu itself is actually really beautifully done and it lets you pretty much make whatever meals you want from a list of ingredients for pizzas, pastas, and salads. We shared a pizza with proscuitto, rocket, mozzarella and tomato paste and an insane salad with a crapload of fresh vegies including avocado, cherry tomatoes, and nuts. So delicious and fresh. Scott also got a Michelada which he said was bloody good. The restaurant is also really pretty, with living walls and festoon lights as its decor.

Herbario

Herbario was our dinner for our first night in Medellin. We got a mushroom and goat cheese entree and a vegatarian risotto with lots of parmesan, to share. So good again. And pretty well-priced for what looked like a super expensive restaurant. Also when you order a spirit and a mixer, they just bring the mixer to the table and you pour it, so you can choose the strength of the drink.

El Cielo

El Cielo was where we went to for my belated birthday dinner and was the second fanciest experience we have had, after Tegui. It is a restaurant all about experimental dining that involves all the senses and our night consisted not of courses but of 13 ‘moments’. There is no other way to describe these than just by telling you what they were. The first moment came in the form of two small white cirlcles on a plate. The waiter poured hot water infused with mint over them and they expanded into hand towels. Yep. The second moment was four numbered morsels on a plate and we had to guess what each were. They were a combination of avocado, caramelized cherry tomatos, caramel potato and chocolate. For the third moment, we each had a big silver bowl placed infront of us and were told to hold our hands out over it. The waiter then gave us a ball of coconut milk surrounded by a white chocolate shell and we were told to break it and rub it all over our hands. We then had warm water poured all over to clean and moisturise. Welcome to El Cielo!
The next few ‘moments’ included a delicious soup paired with burnt butter and homemade bread, white fish that literally melted in your mouth, an insane chicken dish with the most amazing carrots done three ways, and a succulent piece of beef that came to the table cooking on a charcoal log. There was also a prawn dish that came cooking in its own mini salt oven, wrapped in a plantain leaf, and an amazing pork rib with some foam of some description (classic).
It was then time to move into the sweet, and we did this with a salty/sweet transition which included salty strawberries that actually worked. Moment 10 was a yummy panacotta. For the eleventh moment we had Colombian coffee, but not just any coffee, coffee the El Cielo way. The waiter placed two small coffee bushes and a bowl of liquid nitrogen that smelled of coffee on our table. As we watched and smelt the coffee gas pour over the table, he placed the filter in the middle and we watched him make our coffee. Crazy. After that was finished he said, ‘When I come to the table with your next course, you need to put it in your mouth immediately but only touch the plastic wrapping, not the actual thing. Keep moving it around in your mouth or it will burn you.’ Ummmm ok. He came back to the table with a box steaming from coldness, lifted the lid and we each pulled out a little lolly wrapped in crunchy plastic, popped it in our mouth and swirled it around for about 5 seconds before it completely disappeared. It was sherbet-y and freezing and when it disappeared, it literally felt like I hadn’t eaten anything before it – probably the craziest moment for me. For our very last course we were given two rose petals with a lotion in between them. We were told to rub them between our hands, and were left with clear palates and rose-smelling hands.The perfect finale to a weird, beautiful, and tasty night.

It was an awesome experience, and what was even better was that each moment included an ingredient or cooking style native to Colombia. Very cool.

Medellin

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Yayyyyy Medellin. (Pronounced: meh-de-jean) We arrived at our accommodation – Saman House – which was right in the centre of Poblado. Poblado is probably the most touristy place in Medellin, but for good reason. There are heaps of awesome restaurants, bars and cafes, and it’s safe to walk around at night. Because we arrived at 1.30am however, we saved our exploring till the next day.

We woke and excitedly went looking to start ticking off all the cafe and restaurant suggestions we had saved from trawling through Medellin travel blogs. First stop was Pergamino, apparently Medellin’s best coffee. The road Pergamino is on looks a lot like the streets of Double Bay in Sydney – very pretty. The coffee was good and so was the sneaky almond and chocolate croissant.

From there we took the metro to Parque Explorer, which is an aquarium/musuem/interactive TePapa-y type thing. My personal highlight was hearing the little Colombian babies yell out ‘Dory! Dory!’ when they saw her fish in the tank. Also we got to make comics of ourselves. After that we walked through the Jardin Botanical (that’s botanical garden – this is an educational blog also btw), had lunch and took the metro back to the hostel to chill before heading out for the night.

Medellin at night is something you should try to experience. All throughout the city they have these little kiosk things that sell alcohol and chips. And they all have TVs. As we were walking to dinner, we saw the Medellin football team were playing another Colombian team and everyone was crowding around these kiosks watching. We decided to stop, buy a beer and watch we game with them (which was a knock out game decided by a penalty shoot out). The taxis and scooters watch as they stop at the lights and everyone is yelling at the tv just hitting back beers and margarita slushies on the side of the road. Good times. We left to have a really yum veggie dinner at Herbario, and got another beer from the kiosk for our walk back.

Out where all the clubs and bars are there are the same guys from during the day walking around selling gum, lollies and cigarettes, except when nightfalls, another product appears on the menu. I’m sure you can guess what it is. Personally, I knew this stuff would be around, it is Medellin for Pablo’s sake. But honestly I was blown away with how open it was. We literally had a guy shake a bag in our face. We went to a hostel called the Lucky Buddha where we met some cool people and ventured on to do some salsa at one of the many bars. I say we, I found a really cool group of people to salsa with and Scott looked on with a drink in hand. Though I will say he got up with me at the end and was pretty good!

Guatape

The next day we were up early, bright-eyed and bushy tailed…lol, to catch a 2 hour bus to Guatape. Guatape is the town where all the wealthier Medellin folk go for their weekends or holidays. There are bars, restaurants and market stalls lining the streets and it all focuses around mansions on little islands in the lake. We stayed at Lake View Hostel and that night didn’t do anything except have the best pizza we’ve had all trip from a place called D’Luigi – if you got to Guatape, go. The next morning we walked up El Penom which is basically a massive rock with epic panoramic views of Guatape, and then did a tour of Pablo Escobar’s holiday house. It’s now a shell of a building thanks to the Cali Cartel (rival drug cartel) who came in and blew it up. There are holes all though the walls, ceilings and floors as a result of locals coming in after the explosion and looking for money that might have been hidden,which makes sense seeing as Pablo never used a bank. At his peak he was making $60 million US a day, and they spent $2500 USD a week on rubber bands to hold all their cash together. As you can see from the pictures below, the place is ruined now, but I imagine it would have been beautiful. Just like me, Pablo loved Bouganvillea, and all the walls we covered in it – that’s about where our similarities end though. We also learnt that their jeeps were kept running at all times to ensure a speedy getaway, and that his brother still lives across the lake. Something tells me a lot of families with houses in Guatape would have few stories to tell.

After our brief tour, we donned suits, picked up some guns, and played paintball throughout the ruins of Pablo’s horse stables and guesthouse. It was awesome. We played capture the flag and a “kill Pablo” scenario where I was Pablo. It ended with only me and Scott left against 3 of the “opposing Cartel”, but they ran outta time.Shame. It was quite a surreal experience playing paintball in his lake estate. Which by the way included a soccer field where he would get the Medellin team to come play private games (he also owned them). Pablo’s original ground keeper lives there in his restored house  – they are the ones who run the tour.

After that we headed back to the town, got on the bus and went back to Medellin.

Back to Medellin

This time we were staying in an Air BnB in a different area called Laureles, which was a nice, peaceful change from a hostel. We headed out that night for a really good dinner at a place called Olivia Pizza – would recommend.

The next day was the walking tour. The Real City Medellin walking tour is voted the best walking tour in South America, and when you have a city with history as rich as Medellin, it’s not hard to see why. Our guide was Carmilo and he was fantastic. The information he gave us was great but it was his love for Medellin that made the tour so good. One of the things Scott and I were most interested in was how Medellin has changed so drastically in the last 20 years from being one of the most dangerous cities in the world, to one of the most up-and-coming. Carmilo explained that after Pablo died in the 90s, a lot has changed; the introduction of the metro being the most important. The metro is world-class, and the people see it as a symbol of progress and pride. This is evident in the fact that there is absolutely no rubbish, or graffiti of any kind anywhere on the metro – the people are proud of it and they see it as the beginning of the new Medellin; a way to make getting around the city safe and appealing. The other reason for such a drastic change is the simple fact that the new generation of Medellin people, or Paisa as they are called, want Medellin to be different. They aren’t burdened by the drug history that their parents were, and they truly believe they can be on part of the rest of the world in terms of culture and tourism. And the third reason, Carmilo explained, is the very fact that we were there. Tourists are still very new to Medellin (and they do stare at us), but he said that seeing us makes them happy because we are living proof that the international opinion of Medellin is changing. And the more tourists that come, the safer Medellin will be, and the more ‘clean money’ will be put into their economy to continue to improve it. There are definitely still dangerous parts, and guys still yell out ‘Gum? Lollies? Cocaine?’ at you at about 1 in the afternoon, but it is an awesome city and you can tell it’s only going to get better.

After the tour we went home to nap and then went out for my belated birthday dinner. We started by having a drink at a bar called Envy which is on the rooftop of a hotel called Charlee. It was very beautiful and the gin and tonic was strong – two thumbs up. Also, there was a pool and sushi menu soooo pretty great. We then headed to dinner at a place called El Cielo. El Cielo is all about experimental dining and our night consisted not of courses but of 13 ‘moments’. You can read about El Cielo in the ‘Medellin Food’ post. It was pretty insane.

One of our other nights in Medellin was with some Kiwis and Aussies, one of which I knew from Sydney, Hayden. We got into Medellin at 8pm from Salento and by 8.30 we had two straws in a 3 litre jug of Mojito – yum. We spent the night dancing and drinking, good times.

…Not such ‘good times’ the next morning though when we woke a little rough. But there was no time to feel sorry for ourselves as we had booked to go and watch Medellin play in the football semi final. The game didn’t actually start till 4.30 but the tour started at 1pm when we got picked up and taken to a store on the side of the road where we brought beers and drunk with the locals. Everyone was wearing their team colours and it was an awesome ‘game day’ vibe. We then moved to another store – more beers – and then walked to a little stall where we all brought Medellin football shirts, before heading into the hectic stadium. The entrance was lined with cops on horses and cops with massive guns. Girls go through one side, guys through the other. We were all body searched twice, had excited fans yell ‘gringo!’ at us multiple times, and then found our seats. The fans at the game were the most insane fans I have ever seen. There is no music over the speakers because they make their own with drums, trumpets and singing. (Much better than ‘Tonight’s gonna be a good night’). And the other thing is, they never stop, not once throughout the game are they not singing, chanting, dancing, and cheering. It’s awesome. The game came down to a penalty shoot out which ended up lasting for 21 shots at goal. Everyone around us was crying or literally covering their eyes in fear, and then, Medellin won. It was insane. The noise and celebration that lasted as we walked out of the stadium, down the road, and then in traffic all the way home was more sporting celebration than I’ve ever been witness to. Kiwis could learn a thing or two about how to really celebrate a win #2011rugbyworldcup. The game ended up being one of our highlights of South America, and of the places we have been, Medellin is officially our favourite South American city.

A border crossing, a church, and a roadblock

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While planning this part of the journey we heard over and over again how crossing the border from Ecuador to Colombia is dangerous and to only do it in the day time. I must admit I was expecting something a little more intense, but the crossing itself was really easy, friendly and quick; get a bus to the Ecuador side, walk across a bridge into Colombia, get a stamp and you’re away. Still, I wouldn’t do it at night.

That night we stayed in the Colombian border town of Ipiales. It’s a bit of a nothing place but the nearest nice town – Popoyan – is about an 8 hour bus ride from the border and you do not want to be doing that drive at night. I think the general rule in Colombia is to not do night buses. So we stayed in Ipiales in a pretty rough but clean hotel, and had dinner at about 5pm so we could be back in our room before nightfall (yep, it was that kind of place).

Early the next morning we headed to the Las Lajas, which is a stunning church in a valley about 15 minutes out of town. The story goes that a woman and her young daughter were walking through the valley towards Ipiales and the little girl told her mum she heard a saint calling to her. The woman went back and told the priest and the church was built. It has been through many iterations, and it’s current form is really really beautiful. Underneath there is also a really cool museum. Also, on the walk back up the hill we saw a top three strangest thing  – a full cow hoof turned into a drink bottle.

After that we got on the bus and ventured the 8 hours to Popoyan. This journey was probably where we saw the biggest difference between Colombia and Ecuador. At the beginning and end of every tiny town along the way, there were military guys and police with the biggest guns I’ve ever seen, lining the streets. Quite surreal.

We finally arrived in Popoyan and walked down the main street to find some accommodation. We spent the next full day walking around the quite cute little town with its stone streets and white buildings, eating and chilling. The next day we went to book our bus to Salento – the coffee district – but the woman behind the counter just said ‘no’. Our limited Spanish meant we were very confused. Everyone just said no. We managed to find a girl who motioned out a strike of her hand. Uh oh. Turns out there were roadblocks all over the country as farmers were striking for pay rises. And in this part of the world it seems the way to strike is to get as many people as possible to sit on a road, putting a country that relies heavily on bus transport in to disarray. We asked when it might be better and they just laughed at us.
So back we went to our hotel and checked in again.
This happened the next day too. Popoyan was nice, but not for that long – Salento would have to wait – we changed plans and flew to Medellin.

At the airport there were swarms of army and police officers, again just walking around with shotguns swinging at their hips.
We didn’t feel unsafe but we were glad to get out.

Ecuador

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So the main highlight of Ecuador was obviously Galapagos, but before we went there we spent two nights in Cuenca. We stayed at La Casa Cuencana which we both highly recommend (just make sure you don’t stay on the bottom level – quite noisy). The room was lovely, and the hostel was central. We didn’t do a lot, half because we were knackered from two long travel days, and half because there isn’t a heap to do. But we were just around the corner from an awesome cafe called Windhorse run by an American couple. It served delicious meals, coffee, kombucha, and freshly baked cinnamon scrolls. The town was cool, with cobblestone roads and some nice cafes and museums.

The bulk of our time in Ecuador however, apart from Galapagos was spent in Banos and a fantastic little place  called Black Sheep Inn.

Banos

I went to Banos with Brooke and Tamsin after Galapagos while Scott made the annoying but necessary journey to London to pick up his visa. We were in Banos for three nights, which I think is definitely enough time. I wasn’t overly fussed on it, but it was nice and quiet and let us chill out for a bit. If you are into things like canyoning, mountain biking, abseiling and white water rafting, there is a lot for you here. Having just spent a lot of money on Galapagos, we weren’t keen to spend too much so just hired bikes and rode the 15km to Diablo waterfalls. On the way we did what was touted as the fastest and longest zipline in Ecuador. It was about 1km long and really fast, buuuuuut we also saw an extremely dilapidated restaurant that said ‘best service in the world’ soooo pretty sure you can say whatever you want *an advertiser’s dream. The waterfalls were awesome. You can stand literally right under them which puts you about a metre away from a seriously powerful and mesmerising beast.

Other than that, we just ate a lot, went to the public hot springs, and visited the insta-famous Banos swing (see below). Yes, the picture looks cool but i’ll be honest and tell you it’s not really that cool in real life. Gotta be done though right? Get them likes.

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The Black Sheep Inn

From Banos we went to a very small town called Chucchilan. Very small meaning a population under 100. There is nothing to do in this area but go for hikes, and the hikes are beautiful. Our main reason for coming here however was to stay at The Black Sheep Inn. Look it up if you have a sec. It has been voted in the top eco lodges for a while now, and on arrival it was easy to see why.

You are greeted and hosted by Edmundo who gives you a sandwich using the local Swiss cheese factory’s cheese. Swiss cheese factory in the middle of nowhere in Ecuador? Why not.

There are single, double and four person rooms, but we were staying in the bunkhouse. There are 9 beds on three levels and I picked the very top (it was as close to fort as I could get). Every night I went to sleep with moonlight on the wall, and every morning I was woken by stunning sunrises over the mountains. The beds were so comfortable and the place was silent – bliss 🙂 We only ever had about one other person in the whole house so it was perfect.
To stay in the bunkhouse it costs $35USD a day, but that includes an awesome breakfast, lunch, and insane vegetarian dinners. Also there is an unlimited supply of brownie, cookies, banana bread, tea, and coffee. The grounds are so beautiful, with a yoga studio overlooking the valley, lots of little places to sit in the sun, and an overall eco-vibe. That pic of me below is the reflection of the outdoor bathroom’s mirror.

We ended up staying here for 6 days, one of which was my birthday. On that day we did the 5 hour hike up to the Quilotoa volcano which is filled with sparkling azure water, and after I had an awesome massage, cheese platter, and red wine. Not bad.

Quito

From there we took two buses to Quito, the nation’s capital, where we spent two nights before heading into Colombia. Scott and I had gifted Brooke a voucher for high tea in Ecuador at a beautiful place called Casa Gengotana, so me Brooke, Tamsin and Scott got dressed as fancy as we could (without an iron, or anything other than jandals) and headed there. We were given coffee and hot chocolate and an array of sweet treats and delicious savoury morsels. It was so cool to do something a little different and a bit luxurious. And it was pretty cheap! So cheap in fact that we needed to pad out Brooke’s Christmas present a bit. After high tea we went to an awesome little local brewery/bar called Banditos where we had a few beers before heading to Shibumi. Shibumi is rated the number one restaurant in Quito on Trip Advisor and serves insanely fresh and delicious Japanese food.

We had actually turned up at lunchtime but they were only doing dinner so we made a reservation. This was very lucky as the place is literally run out of a converted single-car garage and seats about 10 people. Us four were lined up along the ‘bar’ where we were mesmerised watching the chef’s amazing knife skills and flavour combinations.

We got the equivalent of a chef’s menu and you can choose how much you want to spend. For just $15 each we got to try plates of nigiri, sashimi and sushi that were among the best I’ve ever tried. My personal favourite were a salmon and coffee nib nigiri, and a sushi roll using salmon, cacao, walnuts, cucumber, avocado and sesame leaf. SO GOOD. The food, combined with the service and unique environment made Shibumi the number three food experience Scott and I have had on this whole trip (after Tegui and Gran Dabbang.)

We spent our last full day  walking around the town visiting really beautiful churches and finished it by seeing a movie – ‘Youth’ – and eating gelato. I implore you to go and see Youth, at the movies. I haven’t been that emotionally affected by a movie since Mufasa died. And the soundtrack is epic.

The next day we took a bus from Ecuador to the border and crossed over into Colombia, (do this in the day time to avoid danger.) I loved watching the town of Quito go by, seeing the community vibe that South America does so well. It was Sunday, everything was closed, and outside the churches big groups of families were chatting and buying food and coffee from the local vendors. I think we stay in our own little worlds a lot in NZ. I love seeing the South American locals just hanging out on the street together, watching the world go by, saying hello to strangers just to say hello. I would love to make Sunday more of a family day, like it used to be when my parents were younger.

 

I know people will disagree with this, but Ecuador overall wasn’t that amazing for me. The people are friendly, and getting out into the country was great, but I don’t know – if I wasn’t doing Galapagos I don’t know if I would come. That’s the problem with growing up in paradise; your expectations tend to be quite high. To be fair, we only did a tiny bit of it and I have heard Montanita is very cool. Plus, if you are going to come to one place, Ecuador does have beaches, mountains and the Amazon, so it’s good for that.

On to Colombia – our last country in South America!

28 years

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This year I had my birthday in Ecuador.

I have spent the last nearly two months travelling through South America with 16kg on my back, bouts of homesickness, and an increasing sense of gratitude.

If time is the most precious commodity, why do we feel sad each year we are given more of it? We always get told it’s á year closer to death’, like we’re losing something with each birthday. But we’re not. It’s about gaining one more year of life.

It’s a truth that getting old is a luxury denied to many. So while New Years might be about looking forward, for me I think I’m going to make birthdays a celebration of the years gone, and how lucky I was to have had them. So this year I celebrate 28 years of everything. Of having a body that works. Of having eyes (though they look like peeholes in the snow) that I can see babies, and puppies, and nature, and the faces of my friends and family through. Of having ears (even though one sticks out way more than the other) that hear music, and storms outside when i’m cosy, and the thoughts and knowledge of other people in the world…and the words ‘ I love you.’ Of having a mouth that can talk and create relationships with people, and say what I think and create my own identity. And that can eat burgers, obviously. Of having a nose that can smell butter and garlic cooking, babies heads, and the nape of my love’s neck.

Of having a family I am obsessed with. Of having friends who I don’t feel worthy of. Of being in love.

Of cheese, and negronis, and good books, and fresh sheets, and sashimi, and pizza, and words, and fries with aioli, and ideas, and travel.

Of making mistakes, and learning, and making mistakes again. Of the word ricochet. Of nights being the perfect amount of drunk, and the dumplings the next day. Of post-exercise endorphins. Of live music. Of dappled sunlight on water. Of art. Of fresh flowers. Of jumping off cliffs into rivers. Of feeling safe. Of trees.

Of a beer after a day of skiing. Of fresh air. Of good duvets and good movies and good red wine. Of doing things i’m scared of. Of crisp white shirts. Of opportunity.

Of boozy dancing, sun on skin, and nice sunglasses. Of 6pm on a Friday. Of seeing people I love smile.

Of freedom. Of crayfish. Of singing in my car. Of slightly underdone brownie. Of the smell of washing that dried in the sun. Of prosecco and warm bread with butter. Of choice. Of writing. Of dad as my emergency contact. Of mum as my best friend. Of cuddling both of them. Of Christmas. Of laughing.

Of 28 years of life.

The Galapagos

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We just finished one of the best weeks of our lives.

Diving the Galapagos was always one of the things we were most excited about for this whole trip. It was also (by far) the most expensive thing we booked.

Having just finished the week, I can tell you it was worth every penny and more.

The Galapagos are a bunch of volcanic islands sitting right on the equator. Due to its location it gets a number of different winds and currents which result in a unique ecological site and a mecca for divers.

After meeting up with Scott’s sister Brooke and Brooke’s friend Tamsin, we all flew from Guayaquil to The Galapagos and stayed a night on Santa Cruz island. (Great sandwiches at the Galapagos Deli by the way). The next morning we were greeted by Jimmy and taken to get all our gear and board the boat.

We were on board the Nortada and had two dive gides – both called Jimmy – and six other crew for eight guests.
We were on the boat for 8 days but the first day was just the check dive and the last we visited the Darwin centre on land. So overall there were 20 dives over 6 days.

Day 1 we boarded, did a check dive to make sure our gear was all good, were welcomed that evening by the crew and some pina coladas, and settled into our cabins.
I won’t go into mega detail about the dives themselves but more on the animals we saw – ‘give the people what they want’ and all that.
The days generally went like this:

6am wake up
Dive #1
8:30am Breakfast
Dive #2
Snack
Dive #3
1pm Lunch
Dive #4
But on day 2 we just had two dives and the second to last day we had three.

Day 2 we did a couple of dives at the Northern end of Santa Cruz where we saw reef sharks, turtles, sting rays, moray eels, parrotfish (which are hilarious and look like absolute goobers), and after the dives we saw mantarays jumping out of the water to catch their fish.

That night we sailed 15 hours through the night to get to Wolf and Darwin Islands which have the very best diving. During the months of August – October this stretch of sea can be extremely rough so we/I was very lucky we weren’t there then. We spent two days at Wolf and one at Darwin and the diving was insane.

Day 3 was at Wolf, and we had four dives. We saw over 30 hammerheads, Galapagos sharks, Eagle Rays, massive schools of all different kinds of fish, morays, stonefish, and lots of swimming turtles. The dives were all about 30 metres and about 50 minutes long. They were so fun and interesting I recorded in my dive log as ‘the best dives I have done to date.’ That night I did my first ever night dive. It was a bit more chilly and we didn’t see as much but it was a cool experience and is pretty crazy looking at everyone suspended in what looks like mid air. The stars when we surfaced were some of the best I have ever seen. Very magical.

Day 4 was Darwin, named obviously after Charles Darwin who came up with his theory of evolution after visiting and studying species that live in The Galapagos. Again we had four dives at the Darwin Arch. On our first dive we descended straight into a school of large silver fish which was really cool. During the four dives we saw lots of hammerheads, tropical fish, and morays. We had a sea lion dive for fish right infront of us which was awesome.

…Oh, and we saw a WHALE SHARK. Yep, dreams do come true people. It was our third dive of the day and we hadn’t even got to our meeting point at the bottom when YOURS TRULY spotted the spotted legend. I turned to my right and honestly didn’t know if I was seeing things. It was like ‘ís it real if no one else sees it?’ So i powered over to Scotty pretty much whacked him on the arm and pointed. We both gunned for the big fella. Well actually it was a wee fella in Whale Shark terms but big for us. We all spent the next 15 minutes (!!) swimming with it, watching it get cleaned by other little fishies and generally just looking at each other and shaking our heads in disbelief. This is not the season for whale sharks, and even when it is you’re lucky to see one. To have stumbled upon a baby (which again we were told it’s very rare to see babies) and have it stay with us for 15 minutes was an experience I will never forget. Needless to say we were buzzing…kind of still are.

Day 5 was back at Wolf and over the four dives there we had lots of Hammerheads swim close to us, a school of Galapagos sharks, and red lipped batfish which look like characters from that TV show Real Monsters. Also I had a moment with a very cute little fish who was chasing its own tail and then it looked at me and swam away – very cute. One of the dives also had a few caves and swim-throughs which were fun.

Day 6 was Puerto Vicente and over the three dives here we had sea lions playing with us while we descended, bullhead sharks, and lots of fish. We also had two other highlights. The first dive we went looking for the Sunfish, which we were told was quite rare. Not even 10 minutes into our first dive, and there it was! One time one of them came right through the middle of our group. The Sunfish was something I really wanted to see – I like how it looks unfinished – so I was stoked. The second highlight was dive three, which was all about Marine Iguanas. These are one of the attractions of Galapagos as they are native to the area and are quite frankly just so weird. We spent 45 minutes watching them swim, dive, and eat algae underwater. It was also quite funny watching them get swept off their little rocks by the surges… The last dive of that day was supposed to be looking for Sunfish again but since we had seen them we asked if instead it could be a snorkelling trip with the seal lions. We also had a Panga (a runabout) ride around and saw the Blue-footed Boobies, Iguanas, Penguins, and a bunch of other cool birds. Seriously, I don’t really like birds but Galapagos has some goodies.

Day 7 was two dives, both of which I skipped because of infections in both my ears. Classic me. Quietly relieved though because the group saw absolutely nothing. The goal was to look for Mantarays but they didn’t find any. Scott did see some White Tip Reef Sharks sleeping under a rock. After the dive though they went snorkelling with a baby sea lion which everyone raved about 🙂

Day 8 was a visit to the Darwin Centre which was ok. Massive tortoises. Often having sex with each other. Standard.

So yeh, an insane week. The boat itself was perfect for 8 people; clean, spacious, with a deck on top and loungers out the front. The food was fantastic and plentiful (nearly had to chuck an extra weight on the weight belt) and the service was pretty faultless. It is expensive, but if you can do it, do it. And we highly recommend Nortada. On a persoanl note I am very proud of myself as boats and their tendency to rock isn’t really my jam, also I had a touch of anxiety on the first couple of dives but pushed through and I can comfortably say it was one of the best things i’ve ever done and I will never forget it.

The day after the dive charter ended we took a two hour ride to Isabela Island where we spent two nights. Isabela is a very relaxed beachy little town. One of the days we did a hike up a volcano whose crater has the second largest diameter in the world. It wasn’t overly spectacular but was satisfying and felt good to do some exercise. That arvo and the next day we swam at the beach and chilled with the roaming iguanas.

From Isabela we went back to Santa Cruz for one more night and then boated to the island of San Cristobal where we had breakfast, went to the airport, and left the Galapagos as very satisfied customers.

DCIM101GOPRO
DCIM102GOPRO
DCIM102GOPRO

 

Machu Picchu

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There are three main ways you can do Machu Picchu; The Classic Inca Trail  – 4 days of walking, sleeping in tents along the way, Salkantay Tour – 5 days of intensive hiking,  at least 20km a day, sleeping in tents, and The Jungle Trek – 4 days of mixed activities, sleeping in private hostels.

We ideally wanted to do the Classic Inca but didn’t have exact dates so couldn’t book in time (you need to book about 6 months out), so we did the Jungle Trek. Verdict? Awesome.

Day One

We did our tour through Loki Travel (another branch of the hostels by the same name), so met at their office at 7am. We only had 6 people for the first day and then two were leaving us, so 4/6 people with two guides. That was really good as it ended up meaning we moved fast and all got quite close. The day before us though they had 20 people so it’s all luck.

We bused about 1.5 hours to breakfast and then another 1.5 to the top of our bike ride. We got all geared up as you can see below, and started our 2 hour downhill ride. We went from the mountain tops, through what they call the cloud forest and into the rain forest. I wasn’t overly stoked on being back on a bike again but this was a smoother ride and we went slower. However, with massive trucks speeding past you and other bike tours causing a bit of congestion at some points, it actually felt a bit more dangerous than Death Road at times. The best times of the ride were definitely when there wasn’t any other groups in front of us. The views were amazing. We later learnt that road is one of the main roads used to take Cocaine in and out of that area, so some of those trucks that passed us were definitely carrying.

We got to the end of the cycling road, hopped into the van and were driven to the accomm for the night in a tiny town called Santa Teresa. After lunch there we had a choice of white water rafting. I was being a bit of a wimp and already pushed myself with the biking (The saying is do ONE THING everyday that scares you, not two.) So Scott and I just chilled. But annoyingly the group came back and said it was fun. So if you do this, do the rafting. Silly me. Two of our group left after the rafting so we were left with one other couple who are leaving the UK to move to NZ, while we are doing the opposite. We had a beer with them, had dinner and went to bed.

 

Day Two

Day two is the big walking day of the Jungle Trek. You walk about 16km which doesn’t sound too bad but you climb pretty high and if it’s hot, it’s hard. Lucky for us it had rained the night before and a heavy mist shrouded the rain forest for pretty much the whole walk so walking conditions were perfect..and beautiful. Also, depending on what order you do the countries, you might find some altitude issues here, because we did La Paz before, we weren’t affected by it at all.

The hike led us up deep into the mountains. Our first stop was where our guide explained the business of Coca leaves. He started by telling us how there is a government sanctioned organization that allows each farmer to legally produce 5,000 kgs of Coca leaves a year. They are paid for these and it goes to making Coca Tea (which by the way is great for altitude sickness). In my mind i’m waiting for the ‘buuuuut’, and it came.

Buuuuuut, said the guide, nearly every farmer grows an extra 15,000kgs of Coca leaves a year, for the drug makers. ‘And why wouldn’t they?’ he said. The drug industry pays these farmers far more, pays them advances, and looks after their families. Peru is now the highest producing country of Cocaine in the world. Some of the top generals, police, and government officials are involved. There are rumours  that one of the ex-presidents who is now in prison used the Presidential jet to transport cocaine out of the country.

I couldn’t really figure out the guide’s opinion of Cocaine. On the one hand he explained the Coca plant is actually sacred to the Inca people and it shouldn’t be abused and that its addictive nature ruins people, BUT he explained how the farmers chew coca leaves all day to give them energy to tend to their farms, and it seems it pretty much drives Peru’s economy. This wee conundrum is nothing new obviously. As a side note, that night the other guy in our group was talking to the other guide about cocaine and the guide got quite emotional saying how he hated it and what it has done to their people and the reputation of Peru.

After that little chat we hiked another couple of hours to a little hut in the middle of nowhere where we had the native fruits and plants of that area explained to us. We then continued walking and came out onto an extremely high, narrow track as you can see below. At our next little rest we had traditional Inca patterns painted on our faces and bought some banana chips.

Another few hours and we were at lunch where a 4 course meal was waiting. Fresh guacamole from jungle avocados, an amazing chicken salsa thing, a delicious quinoa soup that they have with every meal and spag bol! We had a siesta in the hammocks and then hopped in the car and were taken to natural hot springs for a well-deserved dip.

After our soak, we had a few beers and got our bus back into the little town called Santa Maria. We had a shower and went out with our couple friends for some Pisco Sours. Little did we know this would be the start of quite a big night out…

We went to dinner where three people joined us for the next two days. They were a dad, his daughter and his daughter’s friend. The daughter and her friend have been travelling for 3 months and the dad came over to meet them for the Machu Picchu trek. They were very cute. So we had dinner, and about 4 Pisco Sours each. Then me, Scott, the other couple, and the dad all went to this hilarious bar. We downed about 7 more very strong Cuba Libres each, danced A LOT, talked a lot of shit, and went home. Good times.

Good times, that is, until the next morning.

 

Day Three

Breakfast was at 7 and I attended with my sunnies on.. Scott was still drunk. The other couple didn’t show till 7.45, they were still drunk too. And then we went zip lining.

The zip lining was really cool – 6 zips criss-crossing across a gorge. The hangover seemed to subside and I tried a few funky upside down things which was fun.

Buuuuut then we had to get in a van and drive an hour to the next point. I struggle with motion sickness at the best of times – combine that with a hangover? Woop woop. But I made it. And we walked 30 minutes along a really beautiful train track to a jungle lodge where we had lunch. One of our guides called me over and took this little bottle of flower essence of out his medical kit. He rubbed it on his palms and put it on my forehead and through my hair. Holy. Moly. It instantly made me feel better. I need to find this stuff and bring it back to NZ, maybe sell it at Maccas drive-thrus after 1am for your inevitable hangover.

From this lunch spot we could see the top of Machu Picchu. The guide told us a really beautiful story about a 75 year old woman who he took up earlier in the year. She took a very long time to get to the top but refused his help to carry her back pack. When she got to the top she took out two small urns and they were the ashes of her husband and daughter. All three of them had vowed to do the hike together, and then their daughter suddenly passed away. The husband and wife promised they would do it to honour her memory but a week before they were supposed to leave, the husband died. She did it on her own. It was such a sad beautiful story. The guide said ‘so if you find tomorrow hard, just know that you have the strength inside of you and you are doing what many people wish they could do.’ It was a really nice moment.

After lunch we continued 3 hours long the train track which was a seriously stunning walk. We could see Machu Picchu mountain from all angles, were sheltered in dappled sunlight and had a river rushing past us the whole way. We finally arrived in Aguas Calientes which is the cool little town everyone stays in the night before they go up the mountain. We had a nice last dinner all together, bought some filled rolls to take up with us the next day (it’s very expensive to buy food up the mountain) and went to sleep due to our EXTREMELY early start the next morning.

 

Day Four

Our alarm went off at 3.45 am. Told you it was early. We walked with our head torches down to the gates at the bottom of the mountain and were four people from the front! The gates open at 5am and by that stage there were about 50 people lined up. We had our passports checked, and off we went. It was quite surreal. Pitch black, no noise but the puffing of a bunch of strangers and birds slowly waking up, and you’re about to be at Machu Picchu..

Apparently it is 2000 steps up, and takes people around 1 hour 15, it took our group 45 mins which our guide was very proud of 🙂 We ended up being among the first 10 people into Macchu Pichu. Uuuuunfortunately it was very cloudy when we got there. We were pretty disheartened but held on to the hope it would clear. Our guide met us and took us for a tour which to be honest was a bit disappointing. The facts were a bit muddled, and it felt like he really was just going through the motions. The most interesting thing was learning how they used hot and cold water to split the massive rocks and create bricks. And also that the Machu Picchu ruins are sinking by 5cm a year  – due to human impact and also the soft ground – and will quite possibly close and people will only be able to view from a balcony. So get in quick!

After our guide left us we all went out of the gates to get a hot drink (you can’t eat or drink on the ruins) and wait for the mist to dissipate which took a looooooong time but did happen!

We went back in and spent the next 3 hours exploring, wandering, wondering, climbing, patting llamas, running away from llamas, and generally just trying to take it all in. Though there was a lot of mist when we first arrived, it was amazing being up there relatively alone. We really begun to appreciate this as the place got more and more crowded = a lot of selfie sticks.  Machu Picchu was never a massive bucket list thing for me, but it is truly spectacular seeing this ancient mini civilisation in what feels like the middle of nowhere surround by sheer cliffs, and rolling mist.

Once we had had our fill, we walked back down (which was actually harder than going up) and went  back to the town for a shower and something to eat. That was right about the time I started feeling sick. We had a 2 hour train ride and a 2 hour bus ride back to Cusco, which I imagine would have actually been quite pleasant if I wasn’t vomming all the way.

Anyway. Made it back to Loki Hostel, and fell asleep after our 18 hour day.

The next morning I recovered, we did some laundry and started our 3o hour travel day to Cuenca in Equador (plane, plane, bus, walk across border at midnight, bus).

I would highly recommend the Jungle Trek. The variety of activities keeps it interesting and not too tiresome. You definitely feel like you’ve worked hard to get to Machu Picchu while still having fun on the way. Fun fun.

Cusco

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We weren’t in Cusco for very long, and one of the days Scott was ill and another I was ill so we didn’t explore as much as we wanted to but I feel like I should write about it because I loved it so much.

It is my favourite town or city we have been to so far. The Spanish influence is evident all over South America, but none (so far) as much as here. Cobblestone streets, beautiful tree lined plaza squares, cafes, quaint alleyways, and lovely little boutiques. It’s a little like Uruguay without the water-side vibe.

We stayed in a great little hostel called La Boheme run by some French expats. It was nice and small and every morning for brekky we had a choice of crepes and fresh bread with butter and jam. The first day we got there was after an overnight bus ride and Scott wasn’t well so we chilled in the room most of the day. I did pop down the road to get some lunch and found an awesome little french bakery where I got to practice some of my French 🙂 That night we just watched Game of Thrones and slept.

The next day we did a free walking tour. It wasn’t as good as the La Paz one, but it’s still cool to see the city that way, and it finished off with a ceviche cooking lesson. They only leave their fish to marinade in lime juice for 5 minutes, which for anyone who makes ceviche/kokoda is about 5 hours and 55 minutes less than usual. But it was delicious. We learnt there are 3500 different types of potatoes in Peru and 350 types of corn. And we saw skinned guinea pig ready for boiling at the market – teeth and all. yum. Cusco was and still is considered the epicenter of all things Inca so I felt a little disappointed that we didn’t get much info about the history on the tour due to our guide’s poor English, but oh well.

For lunch we went to a freaking good burger place called Fuego Burgers. Go if you can. Epic lamb patties.

That was Cusco really, fleeting, beautiful, and burgers.

 

Isla Del Sol

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Yes, yes, and yes. If you got the gist that I was pretty over La Paz at the end of it, you wouldn’t be wrong. Leaving the city was exciting.

We got on the bus and drove what was supposed to be a 3 hour trip but ended up more like 5 to Copacabana on Lake Titicaca. You can stay here but we had heard great things about Isla Del Sol, so when we got off the bus we bought ourselves two ferry tickets, and made the 2 hour boat ride to the island.

Isla Del Sol is where the Incas believe the sun was born, and after seeing the beautiful sunrises and sunsets – it’s almost believable…almost.

We arrived at the little harbour not having booked any accommodation, and were greeted by a man yelling ‘hostel?!’ ‘Si’, we replied and we began the 20 minute uphill hike to the accommodation. You can stay closer to the water but the views from higher up are worth it. Isla Del Sol is about 3,900m above sea level so the altitude was making the hike tough. The guides ended up taking both our packs while we wheezed our way up.

We had no idea what the rooms would be like so were blown away when we were shown to our baby blue cabana, with private deck, an completely unobstructed views of the lake, surrounding snow-capped mountains and sunrise. The best accommodation so far by a long long shot.

We dropped our bags, said ‘holy shit this is awesome’ about 10 times, and then walked up to find somewhere to get a drink. We crossed over the top of the island and found a little place where we ordered a Pisco Sour and a beer and rocked on little outdoor rocking chairs overlooking the sunset on the West side of the lake.

On our way back we got pizza – which was very average, bought a bottle of red wine and a Kit Kat and watched The Revenant in bed while drinking out of the bottle. 🙂

The next morning we woke to the first light of the day creeping through our little curtains. We both got up, rugged up (it’s very chilly), and sat on our deck watching the famous sunrise as the birds, donkeys and llamas of the island also woke.

We hopped back inside and watched the day unfolding from our cosy beds until we got a little knock at the door from a very sweet lady offering us breakfast. Our limited Spanish meant we didn’t really know what we said yes to, but turns out it was eggs, bread, jam, yoghurt, and coffee. We ate this on our deck, repeating the ‘holy shit this is awesome’ line a few more times.

After breakfast we chilled a bit more then headed down to the water to get a ferry to the North of the island so we could walk the 3 hours back to where we were – the South. Buuuuuut we got there at 11.30 and the only ferry to the north was at 10.30. So we hiked the 25 minutes of steep steps back up and did our own walk. We walked out to what was one of the highest points on the island and could see sparkling blue lake and snowy mountains in all directions – the area around Isla Del Sol looks a lot like Queenstown.

We walked for about 2.5 hours and headed back for a beer and some fries. The worst fries we have ever had. They tasted like fish haha.

For lunch we got some Pringles and a Snickers-  #cleaneating – and went back to our little paradise to chill for the afternoon.

For dinner we went with Trip Advisor’s number one recommendation on the island and it paid off big time. The place was called Las Velas and it stood on its own at the Southern tip of the island. It was very small with seating room for about 15 and no electricity, so we ate stone-fired pizzas and trout by candlelight. It was so delicious, as was the bottle of red wine that went with it. From our table we watched the stunning sunset be replaced by the most stars and one of the brightest full moons I have seen in a while which lit our cobblestone path home. It was such a nice night, that capped off one of our favourite days of the trip so far.

The next morning we were again greeted with breakfast, packed our bags and headed down to the water. We ferried back to Copacabana to wait for our 10 hour bus ride through the night to Peru!

Death Road

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So far, this was the most challenging thing for me on this trip. Give me a bungy jump or sky dive any day. Biking down something called ‘Death Road’ at speed, over loose rocks along a 600m drop – not so much.

We had heard a tourist died a week before we were doing it, and one also died a few days before Scott’s sister did it, soooo needless to say I was a bit nervous and I didn’t tell mum and dad I was doing it till after the fact.

We met our group for the day and were taken by our chosen company – Barracuda – to the start of the road, about 45 mins out of La Paz. We were given our gloves, helmets, pants, jackets, and bikes, rode around for a little bit and we were off. The journey itself goes from 4700m above sea level to 1100m. The first 24km was sealed road which gave us a chance to get used to the bike but also meant it was freaking fast, and a little scary when big trucks and vans are passing you in both directions. We made four stops on the way for our crew to regroup. Apparently most times they are waiting about 15-20 mins for the last people to catch up. But we were all within about 5 mins of each other. There were four Danish guys who literally didn’t use their brakes the whole time out the front and then four of us girls who were fast but cautious 🙂 Scotty was being nice at the beginning and hanging with me but then I said he could go and he disappeared into the distance.

After the first 24km we got back in the bus and were driven the next 8km which is uphill, to the start of the real Death Road.

I will tell you now that my jaw, my fingers and my forearms were already seizing up due to being so tightly clenched. Also, I had to keep reminding myself to breathe…

So we got to the beginning of the next 32km which is a gravel road with a sheer drop off the side. Hurray.

It was actually wider than I expected which was nice, but there were some tricky parts with a lot of loose stones, pot holes, and waterfalls landing on the road…

One of the girls in our group came off her bike and grazed her chin but she was all good. And a few of the Danish guys also bailed when they were taken on the single track for the last 10km. But they were fine too.

When we reached the end a clever Bolivian entrepreneur was there selling ice cold beers out of his chilly bin – the perfect way to finish.

From there we were taken to a cool little restaurant where Scott and I swam in a river while waiting for lunch. Then we all got back in the bus for the 3 hour ride back to La Paz, during which I found a little satisfied and proud smile creeping across my face 🙂

I really enjoyed Death Road and highly recommend going with Barracuda. Their mantra is ‘no bullshit’ and it really was. Stay safe, have fun. It was an awesome day out, and despite the stories you will most definitely hear about it, I feel like if you just refrain from being a dick, you will be safe.

Death Road – been there, got the t-shirt.

…literally, they give you a t-shirt.