08/30/18- Didn’t get much sleep as our flight was at 8am. Three hours to be rounding it. Luckily we already had our bags pretty much packed to where we could just wake up, get ready and leave. We went on a trip to Kansas City a few weeks ago and decided to try Uber for the first time to the airport. Couldn’t believe how easy it was and cheap, so that’s what we did this time around as well.
At 5:15am I called the Uber X . Thought about doing a pool but didn’t want to start off the trip with a delay of any kind. What’s an extra $8.00 anyway. It arrived within seven minutes and we got to the airport in plenty of time to get our bags checked, go through security and get a quick bite to eat before we boarded.
The first flight from LAX to Miami was pretty smooth. Lasted under 5 hours and had an option of watching movies if we wanted. I chose to use this time to sleep. Since this was the domestic portion of our flights I figured there was not going to be food served, and I was right. As we were approaching to land, the captain stated that there were air inconsistencies and for the flight attendants to take their seats and buckle up. This was quite a bit unnerving to say the least as I was literally enjoying my nap. Strangely, the rest of the ride was smooth as well so not sure why the scare. Hey, we landed safely and in time. That’s all I care about.
The second flight was a bit bumpy to start, but still not bad at all. There was only the overhead movie playing (which we already saw) and even if we wanted to watch it again, our headphone jack on the seat didn’t work. Good thing is they served food right away and I was given a bottle of alcohol with my coke. When Sharece asked for a bottle she was told it was $8.00. I guess she liked me enough to give it to me for free. Sharece of course just thinks I’m always lucky that way.
Slept through the five and a half hours and landed in Lima, Peru around 10:30pm. Going through customs was a cinch, although a bit of a wait, and our bags were practically waiting for us when we got to the belt. Upon leaving, we spotted our pre-paid driver holding up my name on his sign. I got some cash from the ATM and off we went. Simple, simple, simple.
Thirty minutes later and we are finally at our hotel, Hotel Runcu in Miraflores. So far so good on this trip as everything has gone according to plan. Normally, I don’t sleep on a long flight but that’s because we are normally adjusting to a time change once we land. Lima is only two hours ahead of LA, so I know we will be fresh and ready to go in the morning after a good nights’ sleep.
08/31/18- The bed was comfortable for the most part, but the room was a bit cold. We still were able to enjoy sleeping in until 9am. We hit the hotel breakfast, which was included, and was very thankful it included hot eggs and potatoes.
Once done, we took a look at our itinerary and decided to go straight to downtown Lima to hit the sights. We asked the front desk the best way to get there and they called a taxi for us, which met us outside right away. They even helped negotiate a fair price for us. Thirty minute journey only cost us about 17 Soles ($6 US).
Funny thing about driving in Lima, the drivers are all so aggressive. Honking at everything, pushing their car to the limit on how much room to allow, and swing across lanes like it’s nothing. Apparently, any lane is a turning lane, even if you are on the far right and need to cut across several cars to make a left. God forbid you actually use a turn signal and politely try to merge as the cars behind you go crazy with blaring their horn.
There is a thick fog that blankets the city, but surprisingly this doesn’t take too much away. There are many run down parts it seems, but in the city center the cathedrals and palaces make up for it. There is definitely a nice charm to this city and plenty of police everywhere. We saw many off to the side with full riot gear on like they are ready for an uprising. This did concern us a bit but figured we’d be out of the area before sundown.
Our first stop was the Cathedral. 10 Soles to enter each and it was well worth the price. This reminded me of the many churches we have seen throughout Europe but with the exposed old features still intact. The underground crypt was also pretty impressive.
Our next spot was to a nearby souvenir shop where we were able to get some very nice items for a decent price. Strange that many of their shops are in a large room that looks like one store but actually there are different vendors in each selling their own items. When we wanted several items from different people we had to pay separately.
Now onto the San Francisco church. We enter the grounds as I take some outside photos. Not happy with the wide range of my regular walk around lens, I use my new wide angle lens. Immediately I am happy that I added this to my trip as it captured the entire church. Once done, we walk inside and pay the 15 Soles each only to find we had to wait for a tour guide to go in. Also, there is a sign stating no photos. That did put me off a bit, but once we entered the church I quickly got over it as the layout was quite nice. The tour took us through several rooms, some still damaged or under restoration from the earthquake of 1974. We also got to see their crypt and all of the bones buried beneath. There had to have been thousands.
Upon exiting, we start to look for a taxi to take us back to our hotel area when we find a place to eat. We stood in line for pizza and as we got to the front realized it was only the pickup area. After asking where we needed to pay, we were ushered to a booth where we selected what we wanted from the cafeteria and then presented the receipt to the proper station. Sharece stayed in line and when I arrived after paying, she left to go get her hot dog from another station while another lady accused me of cutting in front of her in line. I tried to explain that my wife was here and I took her place but she apparently only spoke Spanish and swiftly darted in front of me. Ehhh, whatever.
We took a break at the Plaza Mayor square before venturing off to see Palacio Torre Tagle. There was not much here other than seeing the outside, but it was worth the extra few blocks. Finally, we venture back to the square and find a taxi rank to take us back to Miraflores. The cost was much higher this time at 40 Soles but it was rush hour now.
The taxi took us a little past our hotel to the lighthouse. Even though the sun was coming down, and mostly blocked by the clouds, we still saw an excellent view filled with lush green grass surrounding it. Happy with the days adventures, and still tired from the trip so far, we headed back to our hotel.
After a bit of rest, we went up to the 8th floor of our hotel to take advantage of the 2-1 drink special they provided us. There was a live band which made it cool, but it was standing room only with us or outside in the cold wind. We decided to just take our drinks to our room and call it a night. The drinks were sour but sweet at the same time, which makes an interesting taste when combined with sour cream and onion chips. Don’t ask.
09/01/18- Very tired this morning as I had a difficult time resting my mind. Fell asleep for about an hour but soon woke up and couldn’t go back to sleep for a few hours. Needless to say, I am going on only a few hours sleep and quite cranky.
At 5:30am I went to the lobby to get our bagged breakfast they prepared for us. A simple sandwich, apple and orange juice but it hit the spot. Our taxi arrived on time and we got to the airport with earlier than expected. The tiredness hit me full force as we waited for security. The backpack I had on felt extremely heavy on my already weary shoulders. It didn’t help matters when the security lady told me to take off my bracelets, causing me to have to double back a few times. I never have issues wearing these going through security as they can clearly see what they are, but I guess it’s a bit different here. No big deal other than I was just ready to hit a chair and crash.
We reach our gate and suddenly every annoying thing people can do around you happened all at once. Babies crying, people dropping stuff constantly, a woman speaking on her phone with a cartoon laugh. I’m sure I’m just more agitated than normal with the little sleep. Also, our flight was just notified that it will be delayed about twenty minutes. Hopefully, this doesn’t turn into an event.
To backtrack a bit, Lima itself seems to be quite run down. The buildings are all box like, almost as if they just add on rooms to buildings by dropping another cubicle onto it. I could never see myself actually living here, and one day was plenty to explore. Other than that it was charming.
Fast forward again, the flight was actually quite nice. Clear skies most of the way and our plane was literally right next to a large mountain glacier top as we were starting our descent into Cusco. The flight only lasted an hour but I was able to clunk out for a bit.
Upon landing, we gathered our bags and found our driver who would take us the 2 hour taxi to Ollantaytambo. We stayed here for a few reasons. First, it was only a train ride away from Machu Picchu, which we will be hitting in a few days. Second, the area is much nicer and lastly, the elevation is lower. Due to the possibility of getting altitude sickness, we opted to explore Cusco last. Its altitude will be the highest of all the places we will visit at over 11,500 feet.
Half way through the taxi ride, he stops by a tiny place where they make alpaca clothing. It was interesting to see their twenty minute demonstration, but not enough to buy anything. We finish the journey with both me and Sharece passed out asleep in the back seat. Once we arrived we were wide awake as the scenery was simply beautiful. The temperature was nice and warm, the blue sky was full above us, and the green mountains were just everything. Unfortunately, the driver couldn’t take us all the way to our hotel, Kamma Guest House, due to it being up a cobblestone path. I ended up walking to our hotel and they promptly helped us with our luggage using a dolly.
We got situated into our room, which had its own amazing views, and rested briefly before going back out to see the Ollantaytambo ruins. The lady at the front desk warned us that we may want to take it easy due to the altitude change, since we just flew in. With a busy schedule, we decided to just go ahead and hit the ruins anyhow with the pretense of taking it easy. I took an ibuprofen to help as well as bought some bottle waters for us to hydrate as much as possible. We also made sure to slow down and take deep breaths when we could to acclimate to the area.
The entrance was quite crazy as the mountain was massive in front of us. The sun was coming down at the right time to keep most of it in shade. Even though the wind picked up pretty heavy at times, we were not too cold at all without our jackets. We paid the 130 Soles per person to enter (which seems expensive at about $45 USD a piece, but this ticket also included the entrances to a total of 15 different places to see in the area. We will definitely get our money’s worth on this.
I can’t tell you enough how awesome this place was. Our hotel lady told us to climb the ruins in the opposite direction that everyone else was going and I’m glad she did, because there were hardly anybody around us and we had free reign to explore and take photos without others in the shot. We did have to wait at times for people to climb down the narrow passageways as we were climbing, but it wasn’t a big deal. The whole thing took us less than two hours to see about everything as we definitely took our time and again made sure to breathe properly. We had no issues with the altitude whatsoever. And the pictures were breathtaking.
Feeling accomplished, we worked our way back to the bottom and found a nice, indoor restaurant to sit down in. The food they served was authentic Peruvian and of course I tried the Alpaca meat. It was quite sweet for my liking, almost like it was covered in Oregano seasoning. None-the-less, it was a good experience and filled our stomachs. A funny thing that happened was when I asked the waitress, who doesn’t speak English well, if they accept credit card. After asking the main cook, she said something about it costing us a fee of 50 Soles. Doing the math in my head that would have been about $16 USD surcharge. Figuring that wasn’t correct we ordered anyhow. By the end of the meal we learned that it was 5% she was trying to tell us surcharge which made it only $1.00 USD. That made a ton more sense. That’s one thing about Peru so far, all of our meals have been pretty cheap.
Walking back to our hotel around 6:30pm, it was already very dark. The town did light up in a nice way and felt completely safe. Very different from Lima when we felt things could go down at any moment. We then shower and rest up as much as possible to get ready for a whole new adventure tomorrow. One thing that needs mentioning is our hotels have been nothing but helpful and catering.
09/02/18- Our day started with a nice breakfast at the hotel. Scrambled eggs with fruit and pita bread were enough to get us going. The outside air was quite chilly as I contemplated not wearing shorts today, but I figured it would warm up fast. I did take a jacket with me just in case.
Our pre-arranged taxi picked us up at 8am and thankfully he spoke English. I say this as it was going to be an extensive day with several locations planned. A tour would have cost us about three to four times more so we opted for a driver that would drive to all of the places we wanted. On the itinerary was Morey, Maras salt mines, Chinchero markets and Pisac.
Driving through the mountains was crazy, exciting and scary all at the same time. The views were amazing as we saw snow capped mountains nearby, yet the drive to the top was on a one lane dirt road that hugged the cliff-side. It felt we were literally inches away from falling off at any moment. Lucky for us our driver took his time and knew the area quite well. After the two thousand elevation climb, we finally reach our first destination of Morey.
We were able to use our attractions ticket from yesterday and had no wait time. The driver literally parked and we walked down a path and boom, there it is. A massive stair like grassy structure laid out in a circular formation. The grounds were huge as it took a bit of time descending the walkway to get to the bottom, but it was well worth it. I initially took a short cut that led me straight to the massive structure itself, but as I walked around I heard a guy yell out from above several times. Since it was in Spanish I couldn’t tell if it was directed towards me or if the person just wanted to hear their voice echo. Either case, I quickly got back on the path and saw a sign that said “DO NOT ENTER” on the other side. Whoops!
After getting some great pictures, we walked back up to the top. Not before me tempting to walk past the “DO NOT ENTER” sign one last time just to try my luck. Immediately, yelling was heard again. I guess it was directed towards me after all. The strange part was, as we were leaving the grounds we heard the attendants blow his whistle repeatedly to catch the attention of another couple actually walking fully across the structure. At least I didn’t get the third degree. Also, a flood of tourist groups arrived making me thankful that we started the day an hour earlier than they did.
Back in the car, we continue towards our next place but not before making a few stops. Once the driver realized I was a professional photographer he was more than happy to take me around to hard-to-reach places. He drove down dirt roads, walking paths, up mountains and hills, just to bring me to awesome views. We literally couldn’t believe how awesome and huge this area looked from this high elevation. This guy is definitely getting a nice tip for this.
Once we arrived at the Maras salt mines we had to pay an extra 10 Soles each to enter. This was a very unique experience as there were [patches of salt water lined in the valley, stretching from one side to the other. All of the pools had different shades of white and tan to them as it looked like a small village from afar. Up close, we were able to walk along side which was pretty cool.
Our third destination of Chinchero was a nice stop over to check out the markets. Lined with vendors in traditional outfits selling alpaca clothing and accessories were quite interesting. We didn’t buy anything of the sort as it’s not really our style, but we did get a very nice slice of apple pie that was perfectly made and only 1 Sole (39 cents USD). We didn’t expect to stay long but soon found that our attraction ticket led us to other ruins there as well. On the grounds, there was an old church with a huge gathering of people. Not sure what to expect, we peaked our heads in to find a wedding going on. Not just any wedding but an old, traditional style where they walk the streets afterwards, with a live band walking behind them. We ended up getting caught up in their celebration as I found myself right in front of them as the bride and groom walked by. Not wanting to follow the crowd, we ducked into a restaurant for a spell. We ordered two empanadas (one filled with chicken and the other pizza) and it hit the spot.
Now onto our last part of the tour. It took almost an hour and a half to reach it as we had to drive back down the mountain side first. This ended up being even scarier than before as the car accelerates going downhill with a more likely chance of going bye, bye. It was a bit unnerving to start as we were so high up, and Sharece did get a bit sick from the car ride. We were also nodding off quite a bit during the drive.
Finally, we reach Pisac just as the sun was beginning to come down. After presenting our attraction ticket, we walk inside the grounds and are met with a gorgeous view of the ancient city. Layers upon layers of green landings unfolded up like a staircase. Each layer was at least twenty feet high and nearly impossible to climb themselves. We had to take the stair path on the side to reach the top. The best part about these ruins was me being able to actually walk on the site without any restrictions. Again, we were ahead of many of the tourist groups so we were happy to have limited amount of people there.
One the sun dropped behind the mountain, however, the wind picked up. Luckily, we brought our jackets as the chill was getting unbearable at times. We stayed for about an hour only as we had enough for the day. It was now almost 5pm and we were tired and hungry. Our driver asked if we wanted to see the markets of Pisac but we quickly declined. He seemed happy to be able to leave for home early as it was a long day.
We finish off back in Ollantaytambo getting a large pizza to go. Sharece ended up being sun burnt quite a bit, which she will undoubtedly feel for the next few days. Tomorrow, we head out in the morning to the archeological site of Machu Picchu. One of the main reasons we even went to Peru in the first place. Unfortunately, the forecast calls for 70% chance of rain starting at the exact hour we arrive. Hopefully that won’t be the case as I am looking forward to getting some really good pictures.
09/03/18- Where do I start? I checked the weather several times for Machu Picchu and each time it kept changing. One said 69 degrees, then changed to 57 for the high today, only to revert back to around 70 degrees. Also, the weather said rain and thunderstorms in the afternoon. At breakfast, we met up with a fellow traveler who coincidently just did Machu Picchu yesterday. Every question we had she was able to answer as she had our exact same itinerary. Even down to the return train ride home being late at night. She also stated that it was forecasted to rain yesterday and never did. This made us feel much better about being able to capture some decent photos.
After eating, we took a motor taxi (we call it a putt putt) down to the train station. Our train soon arrived and left on time at 8:30am. The train, however, did take ninety minutes to get there. The scenery was beautiful on the way as the tracks ran right by a stream with large mountains on either side of us. Feeling tired, I was able to catch up on some sleep as well.
Once we arrived at Aguas Calientes (the town outside of Machu Picchu) we went searching for the bus to take us up the mountain. We walked through a barrage of shops and into the town square, which was nice to view, but took some time finding the bus station. When we finally did we realize we only had a reservation and hadn’t paid the price yet. I reserved online two months ago but it would not allow me to pay with my card for whatever reason, and they didn’t accept Visa. Fortunately, I had just enough Soles to pay for the round trip bus fare and only had about 10 Soles left. Good thing I brought that much with me.
Getting the tickets, we went in search for where the bus was as, since it wasn’t at the station like you would think it would be. We actually had to walk down the road a ways for it. By the time we got to it, the bus was too full. Luckily, another was right behind it and we were first in line to board. Nice and comfortable seats in a modern style bus made the journey enjoyable, even though it scaled the mountainside for the next thirty minutes. It felt a bit unnerving at times as we got higher, but nothing compared to the taxi from yesterday.
At the top, we still had an hour before our timed afternoon ticket would allow us in. I heard we could enter as early as 11am so I took the chance. First off, we wanted to use the restroom since we heard there were absolutely none around the ruins. We find that they want to charge 2 Soles per person for this, which now brings us to only 6 Soles left. Cutting it real close, I know. Then we go to the entrance only to find we can’t enter yet. But were told 11:30am will be fine. Seeing as it was only eighteen minutes away, we found a nice shaded place nearby to wait.
Five minutes before we walk back up to try again only to be told that it still wasn’t time yet and now we had to go to the back of the line. We look behind us to see a slew of people that weren’t there before. I mentioned we were there for the past thirty minutes, off to the side, but still were told we couldn’t stay at the front. No big deal as we just went a few people down in line (that wasn’t in any sort of order) and waiting for them to open the gates for us. Finally, after a few more minutes in the sun, they let us in. Oh, did I mention that it’s almost noon and the skies are partly cloudy with the sun shining and zero rain? So far so good.
We enter the grounds and are amazed at the ruins laid out right in front of us on the mountain. Hearing it’s best to get a higher vantage point, we start our way up the stairs. Of course this does take a toll on or legs but the journey up really wasn’t that long (as the lady at breakfast already told us about). So glad we met up with her as she gave some great advice. Her and her husband were also going around Peru for about nine days and they had four kids. It was almost like we were looking at ourselves in a parallel universe.
We get to the first lookout spot, after taking several breaks on the stairs, and are met with one of the most beautiful views we could imagine. We must have stayed in that one spot for about thirty minutes getting selfies and switching out lenses to get the perfect shot. Afterwards, we decided to venture even higher up to see what other angles we could get. As the crowd of people were starting to pile in, we found the further we ventured out the better as the tour guides had to keep their groups on a certain time frame and track. The sun was starting to bake us a bit as our sunburns from yesterday were still prominent. This time we came prepared with sun block. My arms and hands were getting really red making last night’s sleep a bit difficult at times. Can’t complain though as sun was much better than clouds or rain.
Along the way, I was able to pet a roaming llama as well as soak up the ambience of this mystical place. I mean, it took us having to take a putt putt, train and bus this morning just to get to this point. I’m just happy that the weather has held up for us.
Continuing on, we make our way back down the hill to get a close up look of the ruins. Every corner we turned had another amazing view as I couldn’t stop taking photos. I will have a hard time choosing which ones to go with tonight. We took shelter from the sun in the little bits of shade we could find, but managed to get through in just over four hours. We did put our umbrella to good use to block the sun.
Right before exiting, I find that some of my last few photos I took were deleted from my camera. Thinking somehow I accidently pressed the delete button I quickly switched memory cards just in case. This was quite odd as I’ve never encountered this before. At this point I am really hoping nothing happens to the photos I’ve taken so far as that would ruin the ruins for me. The time now was close to 4pm and our return train was not until 8:50pm, so we had several hours to kill in a town that didn’t seem to have a whole lot to it. The bus ride back down would eat up about thirty minutes of that so that helped.
Back at the base of the town, we ventured out to find some food as our stomachs were starving. It didn’t take long before we found a place that served tacos and accepted VISA. We ordered the two taco platter each, one with beef and the other chicken. The meal was quite good as we spent about ninety minutes there just enjoying sitting for awhile. I looked back at my recent photos and found again that the most recent ones were not on there. This makes the second memory card (although the same brand) that has malfunctioned. I am really getting concerned now as I can’t afford to lose these photos today. I will just have to wait until I get back to the hotel to check.
After paying the bill, we check out some local shops and luckily were able to find quite a bit of stuff at just one place. Or maybe it wasn’t lucky as we literally had nothing else to do at this point. The sun had already set and we still had close to two hours left.
We tried to look at more of the markets but our tired legs had enough. We ended up sitting on the rock wall next to the river for a spell. Still feeling bored, we find a café where we ordered dessert and a cappuccino. We ordered a blancmange crepe. I had to look it up as that was what it said in English. Turns out it was sweet white starch. Who knew!? It was quite expensive as the bill ended up being almost $20 just for that. This town apparently hikes up their prices for the tourists that arrive and charge a huge tax to boot. At least we soaked up our remaining time before heading back to the train station.
The trip back took another ninety minutes as we slept the entire way. Once back at Ollantaytambo we notice the motor taxis were no longer there as it was now after 10pm. We had to walk the mile or so back to our hotel. We barely made it to our room as our legs were simply exhausted as well as our eyes. I quickly plug in my camera to the laptop and am relieved to see the photos from the day (although the last ones I took that were deleted were still nowhere to be found). I looked online and it appears the memory cards just went out on me as they those two are pretty old. But both in the same day seems odd to me. I am very thankful but hoping that I do not encounter any more issues with this the rest of the trip. This is only Day #4.
09/04/18- Ahhh, finally got to sleep in. We ate breakfast at the hotel around 9:10am and relaxed in our room for the next two hours. As we await our taxi, I went downstairs early to pay the hotel bill and find out that check out was 10am. It was now almost 11:30am. Whoops! They were all good about it and only mentioned it when I asked. This was such a nice boutique hotel and recommend the Kamma Guest House to anyone staying in Ollantaytambo. They always had a real smile on their face and willing to help with our bags and what we needed. I almost felt guilty at times for allowing them to do everything.
Our driver arrives and wheels our luggage on the dolly, provided by the hotel, down the alleyway to his car. It takes almost two hours to get to Cusco, but another twenty minutes stuck in traffic. Not sure what was going on but the cars at one point were moving about a yard a minute. After reconfirming the hotel name, he turned at the next block and from there it was pretty quick. I think he may have had the wrong hotel for us at first as ours was “Tierra Viva Cusco Plaza”.
Once he got to the hotel street he turned his car around and backed up about two blocks going downhill. There were some close calls with parked cars but he made it through efficiently. I was pretty impressed with how he wanted to make sure to give us curb side service and not have us carry or wheel our luggage down the block.
After a brief rest, we decide to get a head start and see what Cusco has to offer. The main square just happens to be just down the block from us, so we scored big time on the location. Upon entering the square, we both were pretty amazed how clean and open it is. There is a large church and a cathedral that are the most impressive to look at. Before anything else, our stomachs are crying out to us. Finding a McDonalds, we decide to take in some food that we are used to for a change. I ended up ordering a Big Mac but they had a guacamole burger that looked awesome. I may have to try that tomorrow.
The first spot is the church. We pay the 10 Soles each (as our attractions ticket didn’t go for it). As we are about to enter the doorway we see the “NO PHOTO” sign. Odd as it was just a small church and we just paid, but so be it. We did end up going up a flight of steps to get a nice shot of the outside square at least.
After leaving, we went across the street to the main cathedral. Once we found the entrance I looked around for a “NO PHOTO” sign and didn’t see any. Feeling confident I ask how much and was told 25 Soles (or $8 each). I was about to hand over cash when I decided to ask if I could use my camera. The lady shook her head and said no photos allowed. I looked over at Sharece and immediately left. Look, I am all for viewing places without having to use a camera, but I am a photo journalist per say. I document my travels for myself as well as others to view, and perhaps it will give others inspiration to go on their own trip. I just don’t understand no photos anymore. Europe used to be that way ten years ago, but they realized quickly that allowing people to take them only increases people wanting to check it out. You can even take pictures of the Mona Lisa and Michelangelo’s David now (where before they had those restricted). Unfortunately, Cusco is behind in that way of thinking. Oh well. Would have been nice to document, but we’ve seen our fair share of churches and cathedrals in our time.
Feeling dejected, we look at our attractions tickets to see what’s still open (as it’s now 5pm). We found two art museums around the square. The first ended up being a small room full of figurines and small statues on shelves. There was absolutely nothing to it and even that place said “NO PHOTO”. We just had to laugh at that as what else can you do.
Going to the next place, contemporary art museum, we find it is yet another one room place with small paintings lined up from local artist. It almost feels like the people that made the attractions ticket just decided to add those places in for the fun of it. Calling it a day, we get a few souvenirs and hit the hotel around 6pm. I’m not sure what we plan to do for tomorrow as I was hoping Cusco would be big enough to spend another day in. I really don’t want to wake up early for another day trip so we will see what we find.
09/05/18- So, our room may be haunted by ancient tribal Inca. I say this because as we were going to bed the water in the bathroom kept running sporadically. Figuring it was just the pipes, we laid our heads back down only to hear a loud thump on the ground. I get out of bed to investigate and find our room key (actually key, not a key card) lying on the ground. Somehow it magically fell off the dresser. As I’m standing there in bewilderment, the water drains again from the faucet. Quickly, I grab a coin from the nightstand as a offering and throw it into the bathroom, closing the door securely. I’m not sure what all of that was about and frankly I don’t want to know.
We did get some good sleep, however. Ten hours this time around, unfortunately the thinner air clogged our nose a bit. Still, we felt well rested and ate our breakfast around 9:30am. Hot eggs, sausage and potatoes as well as cereal, bread and fruit were enough to get us started. Our driver for today won’t be here until 11:30am so we had time to relax in our room.
Our sunburns are really showing now. We got some aloe last night so that has helped quite a bit. We plan to wear shorts today so hopefully the weather is more tolerable here. Our driver arrives on time and it literally takes us maybe five minutes to get to the ruins of Saqsaywaman (pronounced Sexy Woman). We are able to use our attraction ticket with no problem. Upon entering, we felt a chilly wind come through that made me second guess not bringing a jacket. Still better than having more of a burn.
We get approached by two different guides trying to show us around, but we politely declined. Starting at the bottom, we work our way up the path to the top to get a very nice view of Cusco city. This is where the wind died down and the heat started baking us again. We managed to power through it as we used plenty of sunscreen this time. Strangely, we even crossed paths with a couple we met at our last hotel in Ollantaytambo a few days ago. I mean, how does that happen?
To the left of the ruins we find a long pathway that stretched to Christo Blanco statue. We had thoughts of walking it, but once we saw the cars parked near the statue we figured our driver could take us up there instead once we were done with the ruins.
We decided to venture to the other hill of ruins, and immediately started regretting the climb as our legs were tired. Not to mention we were now at a higher altitude than any of the other places we’ve visited before (around 12,000 feet). Taking it slow with deep breathes was very important. Feeling a bit exhausted from the climb, we make our way to the bottom and head out of the ruins area. On the way we saw a heard of llama and alpaca staring at us as we walked by, like they were making sure we didn’t touch their food supply.
We found our driver waiting for us in the lot and he graciously took us to the Christo Blanco statue (White Christ). He only gave us ten minutes, but we really didn’t need more than that. Soon, we were on our way back to town. We asked to be dropped off at the main square as we wanted to check out some places.
Walking through the square again, we head straight for the monastery (that happens to be next to the cathedral). On the way we were bombarded with peddlers trying to sell their stuff to us. They literally walk up to you and don’t leave unless you acknowledge them. I haven’t tried punching one yet but I’m sure that’s frowned upon.
Paying the eight Soles to get in, we were very happy with this Santa Catalina Monastery. We found out through reviews that they allow photos with no problem, and honestly I liked it even more than the church we saw yesterday. We got to see the nun’s quarters and mortuary to name a few rooms. Overall, I was pretty impressed and there were absolutely no one else there either.
As our hunger pains started, we find a nice restaurant overlooking a smaller square not far away. The atmosphere of the place was awesome as we sat outside under a huge umbrella. We ordered a cordon bleu and chicken lasagna. I have to say that this was by far one of the best meals we’ve had here in Peru. We topped it off with a flask of Sangria and enjoyed resting and indulging ourselves until we were full. The portions were so large that I had to bag up my lasagna. Hopefully the hotel will be able to warm it up for us later. The only negative about the restaurant is that they allowed the peddlers to walk through the tables and hock their stuff while you eat. I have absolutely no idea why this place (as nice as it is) would allow this to go on unless they are getting some kind of kickback for it. Either way, we almost left because of it. They would show up ever two to five minutes standing by your table until you told them ‘no’.
We pay our bill and check our change to find we only have 39 Soles left in cash ($12 USD). With no need to keep that much, we hit up a souvenir shop. I was expecting to buy something cheap that I may or may not have a need for, but then I saw it. Lying perfectly on the shelf was the perfect soft, lightweight alpaca sweater insulated with cashmere. At only 48 Soles ($15 USD) I had to have it. I was able to give her my cash and pay the rest on card. Jeffery is very happy.
It’s now past 7pm and we are at the hotel planning our day for tomorrow. Our flight leaves early with a layover but we should be in Buenos Aires, Argentina by the afternoon.
09/06/18- Leaving Peru day. It was a fun adventure this past week and loved every moment of it, from Lima to Machu Picchu and Cusco. Can’t believe we are already a week into the trip. Now it’s time to move on as we have an 8am flight to Buenos Aires (layover in Lima).
Breakfast opened up at 5am so we were able to sit and eat a hot meal before our driver came. We get to the airport, check our bags and are actually over two hours early by the time we sit at our gate. Being off in the corner we were able to have some down time. As the time to board our plane approached, we were suddenly called up to the desk from the loud speaker. When I arrived, they were happy to tell us that they upgraded our tickets to first class. Wow! Really!
We are first to board and low-and-be-hold our seats are large and cushy. I gently take my seat and melt right into the leather. Now this is what I’m talking about. The entire plane ride was very smooth as we felt zero vibrations.
We get to Lima and have less than an hour before our next flight took off, since our last flight was delayed by about thirty minutes. We thought we could just switch gates, but we were told we had to exit first. We explained that we have a connecting flight that boards at that moment, but they still directed us to go towards baggage claim. We asked several workers along the way and all said the same thing. This could only mean one thing… yup, going back through security again.
Since our next flight was international we actually breezed through security without a problem, and customs as well. Once we got through, I took a look at the board to see our flight was on final call. We darted through the terminal and made it in time. As we board I notice that the plane was only about one fourth full. In the back of the plane there were rows of empty seats. In our row we had the middle seat open as well, so a ton of room to stretch out and get some sleep if needed.
Shortly after takeoff, there was a family behind us that occupied all six seats in the aisle. They were laughing and talking loudly, enough to where I wanted to smack one of them in the head for being an idiot. Luckily, by the time the plane took off and the movie came on, my earphones drowned them out. The move that was playing was The Avengers: Infinity War, unfortunately it was on the overhead tiny screens and way too dark to see it clearly. They also served us food and drinks, giving us a Johnny Walker with coke.
When the movie was done, the chatter behind us started right back up again. This time even the headphones didn’t muffle the sound. I tapped Sharece on the arm and told her to grab her bag as we are going to the back of the plane. Finally, peace and quiet for the remaining portion of the flight.
We land on time (around 5pm) however, the time change is ahead two hours. We are now one hour ahead of Eastern Standard Time. So, not only did we have to take two flights, but we lost two hours in the process. Either way, we weren’t going to do much today anyhow as we have four nights here.
Customs took awhile to get through but our bags were waiting for us when we finally made it to the baggage claim. Exiting the airport, I locate an ATM and withdraw cash. Now, there are two issues with this. Firstly, the exchange rate is crazy, stupid here. It’s about 38 Pesos for every 1 US dollar. That means to take out $60 USD worth I had to get 2000 Pesos in cash. Seems excessive, but okay. Then the ATM has the audacity to want to charge me $10 USD (380 Pesos) for a transaction fee. I’m used to places charging that at money exchanges, and even a 3% for an ATM (which my bank doesn’t charge me any fees for foreign transaction or withdrawals), but almost 17%? And that was the highest quantity I could withdraw from as well. Who could use only 20 Pesos (about 50 cents) anyhow?
After feeling irritated by this, I wait in line for a taxi. The price wasn’t too bad at $28 USD as the distance was about 45 minutes to our hotel. While in line though there was a bull checked bag sitting in the line with the handle extended. No one in line claimed it and it was just sitting there for some time. I can’t see how anyone could forget their luggage like this. My first instinct was to make a joke about bomb squad, but I’ve seen too many “Locked Up Abroad” episodes to do that at a foreign airport. With my long hair and beanie, good luck to me!
So now we are sitting in our hotel, CasaCalma, and looking for a place to eat. I will have to admit that this is one of the best looking hotel we’ve stayed in on this trip so far. The room is very sheik looking with its own jetted Jacuzzi . The hotel staff spent about five minutes explaining how everything worked. Room service and breakfast included in the room as well. It’s located on the 7th floor and there are only two rooms per floor, so very private.
Ventured out and found a small market down the block. There we bought some stuff to make ham and cheese sandwiches as well as snacks and drinks. Alcohol here is pretty cheap as many wines are around $2 USD for a regular bottle and a full bottle of vodka was only $4 USD. I could get used to this. Now, if you excuse me…. It’s drinks and hot tub time!
09/07/18- Woke up to room service delivering our breakfast at 10:30am. A good night’s sleep, although the bed did feel a little hard on my back compared to the other hotels. The breakfast was also just okay, with runny eggs and weird fruit. I think there was a strawberry in there but still not sure.
Didn’t go out until after 1pm as we didn’t have a true course of action in mind. Most of what we wanted to do was within walking distance. The subway was only about a three minutes walk, but we needed to find an ATM first as I already depleted my 2000 Pesos last night. The first bank we went to had a short line for two machines. The first one people were having problems with it and moved over to the second one. Seeing this as an issue, we decided to search for another bank.
The second place was HSBC bank but didn’t give me the option to withdraw money (only make an inquiry). The third bank went through the whole spiel, but then gave me an error message in Spanish telling me they can’t accept my card. Irritated, we decided to just walk to Plaza de Mayo instead of taking the subway.
Buenos Aires is a strange place. The buildings have a European feel to them, but there’s nothing iconic that people would recognize. The exchange rate of money is worse than Mexico. The people speak Spanish but it’s a different version of Spanish with their own language actually. And finally, the plug-ins are completely out of whack. They mostly use an Australian/Chinese style of outlet which absolutely doesn’t make since to me. Peru used American and European which seems to be understandable. Our hotel did provide us two outlet converters, which really helped.
Continuing our walk around the city, we come upon a huge open park area. This is where the sun was starting to come out, despite being around 64 degrees. Just enough to warm us up without the burn. On the other side of the park we decide to try one more bank. There were 6 ATM machines available but only two allowed a withdrawal. After waiting for a bit, I finally was able to withdraw more Pesos. This time I am able to get 3600 Pesos ($95 worth), but again it charged me about $10 USD for the transaction. These banks here suck.
Following the street down to the main plaza, we find ourselves stuck in the middle of rush-hour people traffic. The street is narrow, parked cars and construction block many of the walkways, and most people walk in a single file line as there is no other way to go around. The problem with this is everyone walks at a super fast pace. They aren’t exactly pushy, but I definitely have to watch it when I stop to take a photo. The architecture in some spots is so unique that I do just that when I can.
We run into a church, tucked away between modern buildings, and quickly go inside. Much like other Gothic churches we’ve seen, this one had murals, paintings, statues and a large altar. It only takes another few blocks before we finally hit the Plaza de Mayo. The House of the President (which is pink by the way) has a barrier fence all around it. When I asked if we are able to go inside, the guard told me it was closed. Okay, then! I did take some photos, but there were many trees and a large flagpole in the way that took away from it. The flag was so large that it slowly swayed in the wind as if in slow motion.
After a brief rest in the shade, we continue around the plaza until we get to an armory museum. I took out my VISA hoping they would accept it, but soon found it was free to enter. Surprised, we roamed around the building for a bit. There really wasn’t much there as most of the rooms had only a few things displayed in them, but it was a nice change of pace. To the left side of the museum we enter a large building that looks like it was out of Roman architecture. Once inside we realize this is the main cathedral we saw in our guide book.
Roaming around, it was quite larger than the church we saw just earlier, and yet there is one difference. To the side there was a room with live guards standing on either side of the doorway, holding onto a sword pointing towards the ground. It felt strange walking between them like they would attack me at any moment. I tried not to make eye contact but it appeared they were perfectly still. Somehow, I snuck a picture of them as I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to.
Once done with the plaza, we went on a search for food and souvenirs. The main avenue wasn’t far so we casually walked down to it. This is where our hotel told us to watch our valuables as it’s been known for people to pickpocket and even blatantly snatch your camera or phone out of your hands as you attempt to use it. Luckily, I have nothing in my back pockets, my bag zipped and my main camera strapped around my body. Sharece was also careful when using her phone as we didn’t want any kind of incidents happen. Remember, people are running by you constantly and the streets are filled with them.
We grab some food (McDonalds and Burger King), I know… again. I really wanted to try their guacamole burger and for the record it was very good. Once done, we have a hard time finding any kind of decent souvenir shops though. I found some on google maps and it led me to a promenade type street. As this took our complete interest, we were happy to venture down to check it out. Shops lined this street for blocks on end with even a few gift shops available. It wasn’t long before we found the right souvenir to put on our trip wall (a couple doing the tango figurine). Back on the road, we actually saw a couple dancing the tango and of course had to take photos and a video of it. What a treat to see in person.
With our legs beat, we walk the last ten minutes back to our hotel with another round of drinks in the hot tub to boot. Too bad I accidentally got a diet coke (which looks just like the regular coke but says “light” in small words.
09/08/18- Breakfast in bed at 9:30am. I purchased tickets for a tour of the theater (opera house) Teatro Colon for 11:00am. They have limited English speaking tours and that was the only one left for today. I also checked up on ferry tickets to go to Colonia, Uruguay tomorrow, but I’m a little confused with the pricing. Will look more into that tonight when we return.
We walk the twelve minutes to the opera house. The weather is a bit chilly so I’m glad we brought our jackets. Entering through the side of the building I had to ask to make sure we were in the right line, as one formed already. Promptly on time, they scan our tickets and we are in.
Now we’ve seen places like this before. In Barcelona they have a huge one designed by Gaudi. This one resembled one in Italy. Regardless, it was still awesome to view as we were practically free to roam around and take pictures, even though we were supposed to stay with the tour group. There was a guy that would eventually come into the room to usher us forward though.
Once inside the actually theater, it was amazing to view. The lights were on, the place was about empty, and we got to have a great look of the stunning architecture. I had a ton of fun taking photos with my two lenses. At the end of the tour, one lady that was part of our group actually asked Sharece if we were professional photographers. I guess my work has rubbed off on her as she has learned to take some great angle photos, herself.
The tour lasted about fifty minutes and soon we were outside taking photos of the building. As we were about to head towards the subway, we heard loud drumming music coming from the distance. Checking it out, we ventured closer to see what it was for and found it to be a Brazilian festival. There were several groups of drummers and musicians lining the street as cars were blocked off from the area. Food tents stretched for blocks selling everything from drinks, desserts to actual meals. I happen to catch a person walking by with a sub sandwich that made me realize how hungry I was. Cruising down the block, it took us to about the end before we found the sub place and it cost us only 100 Pesos (under $3 USD). I did have to wait in line for a bit but it was well worth it.
It is now going on 2pm and we finally were about to check out the subway system for the first time. We enter the underground area and looked for a ticket booth of some kind, but only venders were around selling food and stuff. Following the signs we curiously ended up at the train stop without having to cross through any kind of gate. Perhaps because the festival they decided to make it free? I still am not sure about how that happened. Either case, we jump onto the train. It wasn’t until the next stop that we realized we took it in the wrong direction. Since it was the end of the line anyhow, we stayed on for it to turn the other way. We did have to change trains to a different subway line once, but we soon were at the famous Recoleta Cemetery.
This place is absolutely huge. I thought it weird at first when I saw this as the second best thing to do in Buenos Aires, but it completely made sense once we entered. Instead of gravestones it was more like grave houses. Each stood up as high as around ten to fifteen feet with intricate statues and designs for each one. There were many from several hundred years ago, but some more modern as if it were recent. These lined a path that seemed to go on for a block or two and the whole place was lined out in a grid almost as if it were a small city. The grave houses acted as walls which gave us a very eerie feeling. Some houses were so old and rusty that the windows were smashed and the casket was exposed to the elements. Strange that those are left that way without a caretaker. Oh, and I actually saw a tourist taking a selfie inside the place as well. I can understand pictures, but do you really need to mark that you were at a gravesite with a picture of yourself?
We spent a good hour there before checking out what other places to explore in the city. Having done many of the top attractions already, we find an area called San Telmo that looked decent to check out. As we left, however, we noticed tents and music not too far away. We looked at each other for a second and decided, why not? So we followed the tents and found it to be a fair set up with all sorts of crafts and artist. Some of the artwork looked amazing as the detail was so spot-on. It’s awesome to see locals and the uniqueness they bring to these kinds of shows.
Not too far down, we see a seller displaying all kinds of leather items. As Buenos Aires is famous for their leather, my attention went straight to the belts. I have been disappointed so far in what I’ve found from other shops as none seemed to have a red belt made for men. Seeing the color I wanted, I quickly ask if they have one in a thicker size. To my surprise he found one in the stack. At this point it was only the belt part without any holes or even a buckle yet. I was able to pick out the buckle I wanted and provide him with my current belt so he could get the size right. Custom made, what more can you ask for.
We did have to wait there for about ten minutes or so as he prepared everything, but by the time he was done I had an awesome souvenir that definitely is an eye catcher. Best of all it was only $10 USD. I was also able to find a leather bracelet to match my belt for only $1.50 USD. I’m so glad I was able to withdraw cash from an ATM yesterday now. Actually, I am very happy with the exchange rate here as many things seem to be much cheaper for the US dollar exchange. More on that shortly.
Down the road, we found a sit down restaurant that seemed decent. They had a good deal on a three course meal that included an empanada, chiriso steak and flan for desert. Sharece ordered the fettuccini with cream sauce as well as Malbec wine. The wine came up to around $8 USD, which I thought was quite high for the area on a glass. But once they started pouring, they actually left the bottle. It was then I realized the $8 was FOR the entire bottle. Again, exchange rate is awesome.
The meal was good as we spent quite some time at our outdoor table soaking up what was left of the sunlight. Once done, we paid our bill and they even corked our wine bottle so we could take with us. Not feeling ready to end the day just yet, we decide to tackle that neighborhood San Telmo after all. We find the subway station and see that we have to pay to get in this time. We pay for a subway card (which we only had to pay for one as we both could use it) and took the multiple stop journey there. We even past our stop by one exit and had to convince the person at the subway booth to allow us to re-enter so we could take the train back a stop.
Once out of the station, the sky is almost completely dark. With a walk of several blocks in front of us, I am beginning to second guess this place as it is nothing like around our hotel. Graffiti is apparent everywhere you look, hardly anyone is on the streets and I just had an overall bad vibe. Once to the neighborhood we see that there is absolutely nothing going on. Perhaps it is only jumping during the daytime? Not wishing to get mugged, we walk back to the subway station and make our way back to our hotel for the night.
In our room, we enjoy the remaining bottle of wine as I book our ferry tickets to Uruguay tomorrow. Should be an interesting day as we about explored what Buenos Aires is about and are ready to check out a new country for a day trip. Our hotel was nice enough to print out the tickets for us as well as confirm we got everything squared away for tomorrow. I can’t say enough about how all of our hotels have gone far and beyond expectation to make sure we are comfortable and happy. I feel like such a rock star.
09/09/18- So, something I forgot to mention in yesterday’s blog. On the subway, there are always people walking down trying to sell you things. Some even place their item on your lap or bag and then return to collect it if you don’t wish to pay. The odd one though was when a young lady walked up to us and held out her hand. I ignored her, but I saw another passenger shake it, which then she promptly gave that person a piece of paper and walked off. Not sure if that was a drug deal that just happened, a club thing that only members would understand (perhaps like FIGHT CLUB), or what. Just found it odd.
We left the hotel around 10:40am as it was a sixteen minute walk to the cruise terminal. Once there we were a little confused as we needed SeaCat ferry but couldn’t find any signs. Apparently they are all in the same terminal. We got lucky by trying it out anyhow. Once inside, we check in for our cruise and proceed to immigration. We were told it would take up to an hour so we made sure to get there early, but we were through with over thirty minutes to spare. The place was set up like an airport as they had baggage check, immigration (of course since we are leaving to another country) and a tarmac that led to the ship. Before we could board, I found a way to get into the tarmac area to take a few pictures outside the window of the boat. Funny, how they didn’t have that restricted at all. We could have just done that instead of waiting in line to board.
On the boat, we find it is open seating. Despite being towards the back of the line, we found a three-seat row where we could sit on either end and use the middle seat for our stuff. It didn’t take long before we settled right in and fell asleep. The ship was pretty comfortable where you didn’t feel the waves at all. I did feel the rockiness of the boat when I got up to buy a sandwich and drink for later. Wasn’t much though and I was able to get my change in Uruguay Pesos, so score there.
With a limited amount of time in Colonial Uruguay, we leave our seats as it gets closer to 1pm to stand near the exit door. Problem was that it took an extra twenty minutes for the boat to cruise into port and turn around to line up for the door. I didn’t figure this in to my schedule at all. When I booked the tickets originally I thought I had three hours to spend in Uruguay, however, I soon found that on the way back we had to go through immigration which could take an hour. That brought our time there to only two hours. So when we finally left the ship and got out of the cruise terminal in Colonia, we now only had ninety minutes to explore before we had to be back on the ship. That cut our journey in half which made it a bit pressing.
From the terminal, it took about a ten minute walk before we arrived in old town Colonia. There was an old wall that surrounded the entrance and cobblestone streets to line our path around. It was a really cool experience to see the old buildings full of color, the lighthouse that loomed overhead and a cathedral-like church. All of this on a perfectly clear, blue sky day. We found that there really wasn’t much to do as we took pictures and shopped for souvenirs in the amount of time we had. It would have been nice to have an extra hour at least to relax by the beach or at the park, but nothing I could do about that now. We both agreed that with our flight out tomorrow, we didn’t want to be out too late tonight anyhow.
Arriving back at the terminal, we go through immigration, get our passports stamped with Uruguay, and quickly board our ship back to Buenos Aires. We decided to try the seats in the back of the boat this time to get some pictures, but the seats were only two-seaters. No biggie as we just had to put our bags on the floor in front of us. The issue came not long after as a whole group of school kids showed up, yelling as loud as they could. None of them could find seats as they all boarded late. All of the adults already seated were starring at them hoping to find an adult that was supervising them.
It wasn’t long before the kids had to leave the area as there were no seats for them to sit in. Finally, peace and quiet which allowed us to be able to sleep. We get to Buenos Aires and walk back towards our hotel. Along the way, we stopped at a pizzeria restaurant to sit and eat. This was our last night in Buenos Aires so we wanted to enjoy the time out. The food was quite good and again so cheap. Cost us about $17 USD and we both got a full coarse meal. Our appetizer was a chicken stuffed tomato which was quite unique and tasty. It tasted quite like chicken salad. Our meal was ravioli which also was very good. The waiter didn’t speak any English so we were happy to have ordered food that worked out. My limited Spanish did us good in this situation. I will have to say that knowing Spanish in South America does help of course but is not necessary. There is always someone who speaks English, and if not google translate is your friend when asking for something specific.
All In all, I loved our time here in Buenos Aires. It wasn’t the most picturesque town we’ve been to, but it was nice to get to know it for a while. The buildings have a nice European feel to it and you can tell it tries to be the Paris of the Western world. All of the things we heard about this area being unsafe didn’t affect us at all. We never encountered anyone that seemed shady, of course we didn’t venture out to the unsavory neighborhoods either. The only thing I think this city is missing is an iconic symbol where everyone knows you are in Buenos Aires. Like London with Big Ben or Paris with the Eiffel Tower.
09/10/18- Leaving our hotel at 9:15am, our taxi took us to AEP (which is the regional airport). We had to wait in a long line to check in our bags, as they didn’t allow us to do that online beforehand. Surprisingly, the line went very fast. At the counter the guy tells us that we are over the weight limit for their airline (which is 15 kilograms per bag). We knew this going in and expected to pay the difference. As he sees our first bag being 23 kgs, he leans over and says, “I will lie for you and say it’s 20 kgs so you don’t have to pay that much extra.” HAHA, that was cool.
As I pull out my credit card to pay he states that I can’t pay there. I have to take the ticket he gave me to another counter down the hall. Once done, I could simply skip the line, go back to him, and he will give us our tickets. Strange, but we were warned that Andes Airlines was a truly budget airline here. You could tell as they only had one counter and no kiosk to use. We also asked the guy if he could change our seats as they had us separated on the plane, even though we booked together on the same ticket. I have never seen an airline do that before on purpose. He quickly was able to put us together towards the front of the plane, which was perfect.
We pay the amount of the bags (which both plus the extra weight came up to only $20 USD total). A very fair price that I was happy to pay with my VISA. We returned to check-in, got our tickets and was through security in no time. We found that local flights here let you get away with bringing water through, so we did just that. I found out later that Sharece brought two bottles through, one with water and the other bottle filled with vodka. Wow! I love her.
We are at our gate with quite a bit of time to spare. Around 11:15am we see people start lining up, so we do the same. After a little bit of waiting, I tell Sharece to go ahead and sit down and I’ll stand in line for us. Another plane arrives at our gate as they unload their passengers, so I already know our flight will be delayed a bit. I just didn’t know how long. At first it was twenty minutes. Once that passed, we were sitting on the floor (still in line) waiting for any kind of announcements when we hear it will be another thirty minutes. I was prepared for this already as I looked at the last week worth of flights this plane took. Only once did it leave on time and the average was about thirty to forty-five minutes. Well, we ended up being delayed for an hour and a half before we finally took off. We had to take a bus from the tarmac to our plane as well, and when we boarded the plane we saw how cheap the headrests were. This most definitely is a budget airline. Hey, at least they fed us snacks and drinks. Also, you couldn’t beat the price of only $60 per person (not counting bags).
The flight took about ninety minutes, and once we landed we were able to quickly get our luggage and find a taxi to our hotel (Residencial Los Lapachos). The taxi ride made me feel a bit queasy, something that I am still feeling right now as I write this. Our hotel turns out to be in the middle of a neighborhood. The lady that we met at the gate simply asked for my name and handed me the keys to the room. She spoke very little English but apparently her sister will be here tomorrow to check us in fully. In the meantime, she helped us to our room and it is like a log cabin. It’s a very small room big enough to house just a bed, small dressers and a half fridge. There is also a bathroom so that’s good.
We wanted to venture out to the town, but were concerned we may be too far out from everything. Our place seems very residential and the closest (or only shop for that matter within range) is over a mile away. I went downstairs to the lobby to speak to the hotel and had an interesting google translate conversation with her. She would speak into her phone, wait a second and I would see the response translated. Then we’d both nod our heads and laugh as this was the best thing in the world. I was able to get all of the info we needed for tomorrow’s trip to the falls as well as tonight going around town.
Initially, we were thinking of taking the bus down the road as it was going to be over a twenty minute walk to anything substantial, but as soon as we got to the main road we saw various shops and restaurants around. Sharece found a handbag that looked quite cool, but they only accepted cash. Being on limited funds of cash for the next two days, I needed to hit up an ATM first. Finding a supermarket, we were able to buy a few things with our VISA card and ask directions for the bank. It took several more blocks but we finally were able to withdraw some more cash, but at the hefty $10 fee price again. Seriously, this is getting to be a pain.
On the way back to the hotel we see the sun setting. We pretty much know that the store we saw with the handbag would be closed by the time we got back there. At least we got some cash as this town looks like they won’t take credit card much. Honestly, it almost looks like a small town somewhere in Arkansas and not some tourist attraction. This will be quite interesting the next few days, but hopefully pretty exciting. I can’t wait until tomorrow to see what kind of photos I can get. Now off to do some research.
By the way, I left one of my pair of jeans at the last hotel. Sometimes, I will bring a pair of pants that I am ready to get rid of on a trip so I can dump it off in some foreign country. The pocket was getting a hole in it as well as the zipper was broken. I just received an email from that hotel asking if I want them to mail it to me since I left it behind in the room. How funny would that be if they just did it without asking. I told them to just trash it. It’s in a better place now.
09/11/18- Man, it feels like we’ve been on this trip forever. Almost two weeks in and we are just over half way through. Funny how I actually am feeling used to this trip now.
Breakfast consisted of bread and sliced fruit. Not really ideal for what we’ve been getting so far. I got a piece of bread, butter and coffee and Sharece did about the same. There was a large family in there with several kids that talked and screamed in that tiny room. The echoes smashed our eardrums making us wish we would have taken our food to our room. The hotel host was the one riling them up as well. At least they were having fun. We also were able to fill up our empty water bottle at the hotel. Score!
Ready to start our adventure, we walk out towards the bus stop area. We wait perhaps five minutes before seeing our bus pass us by without even hesitating to stop. Knowing that this bus comes by every twenty minutes, and wanting to get to the park as early as we could to avoid the tour groups, we walked down the block a little ways to see how much a taxi would be.
The first quote was for $500 Pesos (or around $14 USD). Figuring this to be too high, we went further down to find another taxi stand. After pointing to our tourist map on where we wanted to go, we were told only $150 Pesos. Instantly we jump on that deal. As we were driving down the road, however, something seemed odd to me. I looked back at the map and realized the place I pointed to was not the falls we needed to go to but a lookout spot. I got his attention and tried to explain where we needed to go, but he didn’t understand English very well. He pulled to the side of the road to another taxi stand to ask another driver for help with translating.
After using our google translate again and pointing to the correct spot on the map, the one driver told our taxi where to go. The fare did end up being 500 Pesos after all. We found out that the Iguazu Falls was the opposite direction than what we initially thought, so if we would have boarded that bus the first time we would have been going in the wrong direction. Sometimes, things work out for the better. Oh, and our google maps was trying to tell us to cross the Brazilian border which we knew wasn’t right.
Takes about fifteen to twenty minutes before we arrive at the gates. We wanted to get there before 9am, which was about thirty minutes ago, but I was just happy we made it to our destination. The ticket booth was very quick and we were able to pay with VISA ($600 Pesos each) and soon we were inside the park ready to get started.
Fortunately, we did some research last night to help us know which path to take throughout the day. There are four different paths, which may have been quite confusing without that info. Our first trail we took was the Upper Circuit which took us to the top part of the falls. The walk was over a mile that circled around to give us a great view of the falls with a very easy stroll. As we exited the trail we saw a few monkeys trying to open up a trashcan and somehow managed to do so. They were the cutest things.
The next trail, Lowe Circuit, was not far away. This one took us down to see the falls from more of an upside view. It was a bit longer but we were very happy with the panoramic view. The stairs were not much to speak of as the anticipation of the adventure kept our minds occupied. We were met with one of the most gorgeous, overall views we could have imagined. Unlike Niagara Falls where it was one or two main parts, Iguazu is a combination of many different layers flowing freeing upon each other. To view it in its entirety is a true sight to see. I am so glad we did Niagara first, otherwise we may have been snobs about how it doesn’t compare. Even a picture doesn’t do it full justice of viewing it in person.
We completed the second trail around 1pm and were ready to sit down and rest for a moment. There was a food stand selling hamburgers that we jumped on. For not much more we opted for the combo meal with drink and fries. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize until after I opened my soda that it had no sugar added. That’s the best part of Coke. The label here is exactly the same as the original Coke, however there is a black banner above it with the small words “Sin Azucar”. Makes me feel like they have to try and con people into thinking they are drinking regular soda that way. You can easily taste the difference. Since we opened it already they wouldn’t exchange it, even though the lady behind the counter is the one who handed it to me. Ah well.
As I drank the soda initially, a possum came up and tried to take it from me. It jumped up on the picnic table and put its nose onto my arm trying to sniff what I had before realizing I didn’t have anything it wanted. Funny time, but also a bit scary as these things have been known to bite.
After resting, we walked over towards the free train they had at the park. Normally, it runs about every thirty minutes but we were fortunate enough that it just got there as we did. As soon as it took off, we realize that it was taking us back to the entrance of the park and not to the top for the last trail we wanted to go on. Knowing it would just turn around once at the bottom, and feeling the nice breeze in the shade, we sat back and enjoyed the twenty minute round trip.
At the top, it was now around 2pm and we were very anxious for this one. This trail is called the Devil’s Throat and takes you close to the top of the falls to get more of a straight down view. This part is where we could actually feel the mist spraying on us. It wasn’t enough to worry about getting wet, but it was refreshing from heat. The other trails we were able to navigate around the tours, but this one had quite a bit of people there on the landing. It was a straight shot to this spot for the one viewing section as opposed to having several viewpoints to choose from. Either case, the round trip of the walk and back to the train station took a little over an hour. We thought we would have missed the train back and have to wait another twenty minutes or so, but luckily it was sitting there when we arrived.
With weary legs, we jump on board and enjoy the trip down to the bottom. Done with the park, we do a bit of shopping for souvenirs at their shops before exiting. We opted to try the bus option again and saw one parked nearby. The cost was more than what we thought at $200 Pesos ($100 each) but still less than the taxi option. The bus ended up being pretty quick and dropped us off by our hotel.
Instead of retreating for the night, we walked a short ways to sit down and eat. There was a restaurant we saw the night before that we wanted to try nearby. When we arrive, we find it almost entirely empty of people. We were able to enjoy the ambiance of outside without anyone smoking or talking very loudly in our ears.
We order our food, me vegetable ravioli with pesto and Sharece spaghetti with cream sauce. Both were excellent and very large in portion. Sharece also ordered a salad that was quite huge. We almost contemplated cancelling the pasta order once the salad came, but before we could say anything, our main meal was already on its way. We thoroughly enjoyed every bite and even had to take some back to the hotel to have later.
I think I could have paid the meal with a VISA card, but I didn’t want to have too much Pesos left over. I heard the Peso is hurting so much right now that even the Brazil side won’t accept it. Right now, I have only $750 Pesos left ($22 USD worth) so I’m hoping that will be enough for our taxi ride to the Brazil side tomorrow. I did some research and it will be a bit crazy trying to cross the border after checking out of our hotel, but we are up for the challenge.
09/12/18- Power went out at our hotel around 7:30am. Wouldn’t have noticed accept the emergency bright light came on in our room. I tried to use the switch to turn it off and that’s when I realized there was no power at all. We weren’t ready to get up yet, so we just turned over to block out the light and went back to sleep. About thirty minutes later, the power did come back on though.
This hotel is much different than our last. I wouldn’t say run down by any means as it looks to be kept up to a degree, but not the service we have grown accustomed to. I’m really not trying to act prissy about this as we expected our hotels on our travels to be different, but the wood paneling and noise is quite different. It’s not just our hotel by the way as it appears to be in good shape considering the area. We saw a man taking a dump on the sidewalk as we walked around. Only supermarkets and some restaurants take credit card, and the one bank we saw to withdraw cash was several blocks away. Not exactly catering to tourists even though there is a major tourist attraction at the falls nearby.
Speaking of which, we talked with our hotel about ordering a taxi and luckily were able to find one for only $600 Pesos. He arrived at 10:45am and we were on our way. We made sure that he was going to stop at the border for us to stamp our passports first. He parked his car, waited for us to get through customs (which only took about two minutes), and then proceeded to take us to the Brazilian Falls entrance. Little did I know that this was a bus ride away from the actual falls. At this point I am wondering how this may affect our itinerary.
They accept VISA for the park entrance and also a locker to store our bags. I asked if one was enough and the guy made a funny face stating they were pretty big. We get over there and it only houses one suitcase. They did allow me to skip the line to pay for another locker though. So far so good as everything has followed the plan.
Waiting in line for the bus, it took almost thirty minutes before we were finally able to board one. There was a long line of people already waiting and it took about six buses before we were able to get on. The journey to the falls took about fifteen more minutes. At one point we actually got off before realizing it was the wrong stop. We quickly jumped back on to not lose our seats.
Finally we arrive at the trail. It’s about a kilometer long but it takes you along the Brazilian side of the water. The views were stunning as it gave a full panoramic view of Iguazu Falls that the Argentina side couldn’t do. We are so happy that we decided to do this today. We hiked down the trail with several view points along the way. At the end, we were able to walk a long platform over the water to get up close to the falls itself. The weather was a bit hot, but the mist from the water cooled us off very nicely. If we stopped at one part of the bridge for too long we would have been soaked. Despite the massive amount of people, I was still able to get some really good shots (especially with my wide angle lens).
Before leaving, we shopped a bit at their store. The bus back to the entrance wasn’t a long wait and before we knew it we were taking out our luggage from the lockers and ready to go to the airport around 3:25pm. Our flight was set to leave at 5:20pm but we were advised that we didn’t need to be at the airport any earlier than ninety minutes.
Asking around, I found that we could take the bus to the airport (which was just down the road). We boarded and used only $50 Pesos. That leaves me with $100 Pesos left. Cutting it very close but somehow it all worked out. The stupid part was, they wouldn’t allow me to stay at the front with my luggage. After paying, I had to go through the bar turn-table thingy and have two other people help lift my suitcase over it to my side. Sharece, parked herself down at the front as they never asked her to do the same.
Once at the airport, I realized nobody was getting off. I wasn’t sure if we were at the right departure gate but once I saw nobody else had luggage, I quickly got up, yelled for Sharece and got off the bus. Sharece had a time trying to get through the hoard of people but with help was able to with no problem.
Now the fun begins. Upon entering the terminal, we were initially lost on where to go. We saw an entry door way stating “Check-In” and made our way through. Suddenly, we are in a room where they make you put your bags on a conveyer belt to scan. It was a pretty quick process and around the corner we found our airline to check in for our flight. We already did so online but again they didn’t allow me to pre-purchase our bags, so I had to go to the counter.
Once there, the guy mentioned that there was a problem with our ticket. After a few moments, he said that the name on my ticket “Jeff” didn’t match my passport name “Jeffery”. Ugghhhh, what? He told us he wasn’t sure if he could allow me to go through and needed to check with someone else. After several confusing minutes, he came back and still stated he needs to get clarification on whether or not they could allow me to board the plane. Now I am starting to get anxious inside, but I kept my cool, nodded my head, and stayed pleasant with him throughout the process.
After about ten minutes of waiting, he directed me to the airline window behind me to tell them of the situation to see if they could correct the ticket name. Still dumbfounded, I agree to this. At the window, they take my passport, push a few buttons, make me wait about five minutes before saying everything should be good to try again. This is all weird to me as I have traveled for over 12 years internationally and never had this issue before. Only once was it ever mentioned.
Once more, I go back to the guy at the ticket counter and I have to wait for the records to update on the new ticketing. This is actually important as I had three other flights attached to this itinerary (a layover today and another flight onto Rio later in the week). I didn’t realize it would take another fifteen to twenty minutes to do so. I am looking at the clock and it is now pushing 4:30pm, or about our normal boarding time. Still I stayed calm and waited until we got our tickets. We weighed our bags and checked them through before he says we have to go back to that window behind me to pay for our bags. Ughhhh, okay!
At the window, I hand over the receipt and credit card (which came up to almost $30 USD per bag) and was told to wait. Then, the lady started helping out the people behind us as we just stood there. I am not sure why but it took another ten minutes for them to give me the receipt to sign. Once done, we got through security quickly and were right at our gate. The line already was forming, but I had time to get some sandwiches at a nearby café. Our flight left a bit behind schedule but we arrived at our layover destination of Sao Paulo, Brazil in only an hour and a half.
Here, we had over four hours of a layover before our connecting flight to Sao Luis. We walked the terminal a bit to look at shops before sitting down to eat a small pizza and drink a jack and coke. At first they told me “no” when I asked for a drink. Since I didn’t speak Portuguese I thought they were telling me that they don’t serve drinks after a certain time. Turned out she was just telling me they don’t accept credit card for the drink. I was able to pay in Cash (which I took out at the Brazilian Falls ATM before going to the airport). Ahh, all is right again.
The rest of the time we spent charging our phones and waiting by the gate. The weird part was, they do accept European converters to plug in our stuff, but the casing around the outlet was too small for our converters to fit. We had to walk around the terminal to find ones that didn’t have that casing for it to work properly. Also, I kept getting looks from others as I roamed the terminal. I’d like to think they were looking at my long hair and beanie and thinking, who’s that rock star?… but they may be just wondering who the idiot was that was wearing sunglasses in an airport at night time. Hey, at least I got a worker at the falls today asking me if I played in a band.
09/13/18- Well, it was inevitable. After taking so many flights on this trip we were bound to encounter a really bad one. Our second flight from Sao Paulo to Sao Luis boarded around 11pm and the entire flight was turbulence filled. I mean bumpy and wavering. Half way through the flight the pilot finally put the fasten seatbelt sign on. That’s when I knew it was going to get worse. We survived though and arrived on time, 3am. Ugh! There was a moment in the flight where a little girl next to Sharece actually threw up all over her seat. It didn’t get on Sharece at all, but they all had to switch seats for the remaining part of the flight.
I absolutely hate A321 jets. I am so used to flying international where they normally have upgraded planes. The benefits of not having to go through customs and getting in and out of the airport on a domestic flight are outweighed by the type of planes they use for them. No service, no movies…. Nothing! After getting our bags, we enter the taxi line and the next driver in line took one look at us and waived his finger as though he didn’t want to take us. The organizer of the taxi stand told him he needed to take us and off we went. Being almost 4am now, I was a bit intrigued on how this ride would go.
With that said, we made it to our hotel (Hotel IBIS) just before 4am. We noticed the same stupid plug-ins in our room. You know, the ones that LOOK like they can fit a European plug but the casing is too big for it? Don’t understand that one bit. After a bit of searching, thankfully our hotel found a converter for us to use. We may have to go ahead and pick one up here as I’m sure Rio will be the same way. Or maybe we will just hold onto the one they gave us for the rest of our trip. Hmmmmm!
Finally settled, we hit the bed around 5am and didn’t wake up until around noon. Sao Luis has some interesting stuff to view but it is mainly located in one spot, so I we didn’t need the full day. The first thing I did was go downstairs to the lobby to have them help me secure a transfer ride to Barrierinhas tomorrow morning. We will check out of our hotel and need to take a 4 hour long transfer to our next location. We originally were going to take a bus but realized the bus station was about thirty minutes out and a shuttle would actually pick us up from our hotel for not much more.
I tried to contact places online to book, but all expected an email. So I had our hotel call the tour places for us to secure our transfer since we didn’t speak Portuguese. The first time we were told we would get a call back soon, but it never came. Then, I was able to chat with a tour company online but they were fully booked. Going back to the lobby, the lady behind the desk called three other places before finally being able to get us booked. Only issue is the bus leaves at 3:20am tomorrow. Hopefully, we will be able to get some sleep on the four hour journey but it also beats taking the bus.
During the google translate conversation, the lady typed her question to me in Portugues on her screen and the translation, dare I say, came off a little different. I think she meant to ask “Do I plan to stay at the hotel for more than one night”… but it translated to “Do I want to “F-word” for more than one night”. I was literally dying inside but I held it together as I knew she didn’t mean or know what she said. She even smiled really big when she turned the screen towards me so I can view it.
Once we finally got that all arranged we now were ready to tackle Sao Luis. I check on an Uber and find it to be only 15 Reals ($4 USD). I haven’t taken an Uber so far this trip as it was advised not to in the other areas, but it appears here it’s perfectly safe. Our Uber arrived within one minute and quickly takes us to the Igreja da Se (Church). Once we arrived we were floored at how beautiful old town looked. We had no idea this place looked as charming as it did.
Walking around, we were busy taking as many photos as we could. We also found a souvenir and some bottled water for cheap. Getting that squared away we finally enter the church. It was pretty simple in design but the ceiling was very uniquely painted. There was a service going on, which was odd for a Thursday, so we tried to be as respectful as possible. Found out later that it was a funeral. Whoops!
Upon exiting, we ventured down the way to find several large buildings with the country’s flag hanging overhead. One of them they allowed us to take a free tour of the governor’s residence. The intricacies of the layouts were awesome, and the explanation of how almost all of the items in the rooms were imported from France and Portugal hundreds of years ago was also quite interesting. I am so happy we were able to get up this morning and check this area out.
The streets surrounding old town were old but very beautiful. The blue sky hit the buildings just right to give it a perfect glow. Along our path, we found a boutique restaurant ticked away and were able to get some ham and cheese sandwiches and cappuccinos. Looking for dessert, we realized they also had the pastries from Belem, Portugal that we absolutely loved when we visited Lisbon a few years back.
Happy with the day, we order an Uber back to our hotel. Once we arrived, we walked around a bit hoping to find some food that we could take with us tomorrow morning on our long shuttle ride. Not finding anything around us, we checked with our hotel and they hooked us up with more ham and cheese sandwiches and bananas. Perfect. We again have had to use google translate all day and it has saved our behinds. It’s funny how the other party even gets a kick out of it as they are just as amazed.
Getting settled in our room, I go back downstairs to book our excursion trip for tomorrow. We have our shuttle scheduled but I didn’t want to risk getting to our next hotel and our trip plans were all booked up. Luckily, we got in touch with a tour operator there that got us all booked for a 2pm timeslot to the sand dunes. This trip will be an awesome time and I hope to get so many pictures that it will just blow everyone away. I will save that info for tomorrow’s blog.
For now, we are in our room packing our belongings. We leave tomorrow, but we will be back at this same Ibis hotel in about three days. Two weeks into this trip. Where has the time gone?
09/14/18- Our driver was downstairs waiting for us as we checked out of our hotel around 3:20am. As agreed, the hotel stored one of our bags as we would be back in a few days. The car waiting for us was just that… a car. I was expecting a shuttle to take us on the four hour journey to Barreirinhas. As Sharece and I got into the back seat, I fumbled with my translator to make sure he was indeed our driver. The whole thing felt very “scary movie” type as I wondered if this is how those kind of movies start before the people in the car get tortured. Even though my gut didn’t tell me anything was about to go down, I still checked the locks on the door and went over in my mind our escape plan.
Shortly down the road the driver picks up another passenger, who sat in the front seat. Both speak only Portuguese so this did not calm my nerves much. I turned on my google map to confirm we were going in the right direction. I suddenly recalled the moment when our hotel booked this driver. She spoke Portuguese the entire time but I do remember hearing the world “Gringo”. Now my alarms are going off in my head as I’m wondering if that was code for “mark”. Quickly, I take out my phone and post a message on Facebook where we were going. Too bad I didn’t take a picture of the license plate to post as well.
About twenty minutes later, we arrive at the airport, which makes me feel uneasy. But as the driver was on the phone I realized he was looking for the shuttle to drop us off at. Turning around to find it, I see a whole line of shuttles on the side of the road as he pulls up to one of them. Whew! I’m feeling much better about all of this, already.
There are a few people in the van when we board, so we take the back four-seat row. We had the rest of our luggage with us so we needed the extra space. A few more people got on, but not enough to fill up the shuttle, so we got lucky. Or did we? As we started driving we could feel every vibration of the van as it drove down the cobble stone streets and over the speed bumps. Keep in mind, all throughout our stay in South America we’ve encountered towns with many, many speed bumps to slow down the drivers. However, these were lifting us out of our seat and crashing down into the armrests. Not a good thing when it’s so early in the morning and you just need to get more sleep. To make matters worse, there was constant chatter from the other passengers that annoyed us completely. How are they so awake? The jumpy ride made me actually miss the turbulence we felt on the plane the night before. Can we have that again instead, please?
Taking advantage of the extra seats between us, we were able to put our bags on the floor or use them as a pillow and both lay down on the seats. Sharece was kind enough to allow me the extra room as she preferred to sit up against the window. She initially had to move to the other side of the van as the woman in front of her leaned back her chair almost to Sharece’s face. This without even bothering to say anything to warn her. Some people are complete idiots. After about thirty minutes, everyone settled down their talking and it was quiet.
The shuttle stopped half way through the journey for people to use the restroom and get something to eat or drink. We took turns as I wanted one of us to be by our bags at all times, just in case. I soon was able to clunk out for a bit.
Around 7:30am we arrive at our hotel (Pousada do Rio). I grab my bags, thank the driver and head over towards reception before seeing the driver still behind me. I completely forgot that I hadn’t paid him yet. Luckily I had exact change as to not hold him up any longer. *Doh*!
Check-in was very fast and we were able to get our room right away, even though it was early still. We get to our room and are amazed at the property. We have our own hammock on the balcony and the whole place looks like an island resort. We walked down to the pier behind the hotel and are very happy with our choice to stay here. We will definitely need to find time to enjoy the facility before we leave. Feeling hungry, we decide to sit down for breakfast. We thought it was included but later we were told that we had to pay 30 Real for today since the free breakfast for us doesn’t technically start until tomorrow. I had no problem with that at all, just wished I would have known beforehand. Either way, the food was good enough to fill our stomachs. They had fruit, bread, eggs, coffee, crepes along with ham and cheese.
Before we were done eating, I went back up to reception to book our boat tour for tomorrow and our transfer back to Sao Luis on Sunday. Another guest saw me using the translator and wanted to help as she knew both Portuguese and English. I was able to get everything we needed for these next few days done and I appreciated her help very much. Have to say that we’ve encountered quite a few people who have been more than helpful on this trip.
Our tour today to the sand dunes doesn’t begin until 2pm, so we have several hours to rest before then. Luckily, our hotel actually has the normal European plug outlets for once. However, they are apparently expanded this property so all we hear right now is hammering and yelling. Oh, and they shut off the power for a spell. I really hope that doesn’t last long as we have no air conditioning right now and it is about mid 80s already.
After an hour, I asked the hotel about the power as it was still off and was told that it won’t be back on until around noon. Funny because that was around the time of the original check-in. I wonder if it had anything to do with the people working on the grounds or if the hotel did that on purpose. Hey, at least we got a nice room to stay in for a few hours to sleep before heading out on our excursion.
So now to the best part of the day. Our driver shows up ten minutes before 2pm and we are off and running. Instead of a car, we load up in a 4x4, which is like a huge pickup truck with a canopy on top to fit up to 12 people. Now we know this is going to be good.
We travel around town to pick up others for the day trip before coming to a stop at the river. Everyone is asked to get off and wait before getting on the boat to cross, but we weren’t the only ones. Five vehicles, including ours, got on the platform as we hugged the sides to stay out of the way. Apparently, we couldn’t still be on the vehicles while crossing for safety reasons. The boat went very slow but still only took about ten minutes.
Once on the other side, we board the 4x4s again and begin the journey to the sand dunes. The roads were completely unpaved and quite bumpy as they followed the carved out path, but for some reason or another it felt fun to ride. There were several points where they would zig zag back and forth, causing everyone to scream out in laughter. I’m not sure if this was for fun, but I think they do this as not to get stuck in the sand.
I believe we were in the vehicle for close to an hour before coming to a stop at the foot of the sand dunes. Wow! What an impressive sight to behold. The dunes to start were at least fifty feet high or so as I took whatever pictures I could.
We gathered all of our things, except for our shoes as we were instructed to go barefoot, and made our way up the white, powdered sand. It took a bit to get to the top, but once we did we were met with the most gorgeous view that we could have witnessed. There was a large pool of water laid out between the dunes. Instantly, people took off running down the hill.
These pools are naturally made with rain water as it showers down half of the year. During the dry months, the water slowly evaporates. We happened to catch it in the middle of the dry season to where there are still large bodies of water. Slowly, we stagger down the hill to the base of the pond, put our things down into the sand and jump right into the water. At first it was a bit chilly to get used to, but once we were in it warmed up fast as the outside temperature was around 90 degrees.
I can’t tell you how happy I am with this. While planning this trip, this place of Lencois Maranhenses was brought to my attention and once I saw the photos online I knew I had to make a stop. This absolutely made the turbulent flight and queasy shuttle worth it to come here. I took pictures and videos and overall just enjoyed the moment with Sharece. There was one point when I asked her if she would take a video of me running down the dune and into the water. We set the whole thing up as I climbed back to the top and with everyone there watching I ran down the hill as fast as I could, prepared to do some kind of trick into the pond at the end. Unfortunately, the sand was very fine and I slipped on my way down, doing a summersault right into the water.
As I come up, everyone around me was laughing as hard as they could. I had no other choice but to raise my hand to tell them I’m okay and swim away in shame. Sharece caught it on video and couldn’t stop laughing. Oy!
Not to be outdone, I wanted to attempt it one more time. This time I took the GoPro camera with me with a selfie stick to record it myself. I chose a higher part of the dune this time, staggered sideways down the hill as to not flip over my head, and successfully jumped into the water. Okay, now I feel redeemed.
After about thirty minutes, our guide had us pack up our things to continue on to the next pond. We march on over the dune to find yet another large body of water on the other side. This one we didn’t stay very long as we continued walking.
Each dune we crossed, we were feeling a bit tired, but actually more energized to see more. We absolutely couldn’t get enough as the footprints, the landscape, and the way the people there looked like ants on top of the hills. I am in total disbelief on why this is not already considered a top ten place to go to in the world.
Towards the tail end, after spending about two hours there already, we trek to the peak of one of the dunes to get an awesome view of the sunset. What better way to spend a day and complete a journey than to be sitting on the break of white, powdered sand with your love and best friend hugging your arm. I couldn’t think of a more perfect way.
Once the sun disappeared from the sky, it was time to go. We boarded our 4x4, crossed the river and were dropped off back at our hotel around 7pm. Wow! What a day to remember for the rest of our lives.
09/15/18- Breakfast promptly at 7:30am so we could get ready for our 8:15am pick up time. We board our 4x4, just like yesterday, yet this time it takes us a very short distance to the dock. From there we all put on life jackets and board our boat for the day. Sharece thought it was hilarious that I had to put my satchel and camera strapped over my life jacket. It was pretty bulky. We also met up with several people who were part of our tour from yesterday. One of them spoke some English, which helped us out with the guide.
We cruise the lake for about forty-five minutes. It almost felt like we were going around in circles as the landscape looked the same no matter where we went. Finally, we stop at the small village where you can shop, have drinks and climb up the sand dunes to swim in the pond. Upon exiting the boat, we saw a group of people laughing and taking photos. Walking closer, we see that there are small monkeys roaming freely around as they were jumping on people’s bags in hopes of trying to grab whatever they had on them. It was a pretty funny sight to see and the monkeys were actually quite cute.
We noticed the rest of our tour walking up the sand dune at the back of the resort. Sharece was not wanting any part of a day two adventure of this, but I was curious to see the view. It was a bit of a climb, but I managed my way to the top to see the pool of water with the electric windmills in the backdrop. If we didn’t see them already the day before I would have been all over this, but now I’m a bit exhausted of dunes at this point.
Once I got back to Sharece at the bottom, we shopped for some souvenirs, which I finally found one I wanted for Lencois, and then bought us a coconut drink. They serve it still in the coconut, which is something I’ve always wanted to try. Check!
With time left before our departure, we stood in the shade enjoying the breeze flowing through when I decided to see what would happen if I fed the monkey my drink. Pouring a little bit onto the ground, I soon had one practically taking it out of my hands. We were wrestling with it for a bit, playfully, before I tipped it upside down allowing him to drink straight from it. Sharece got the whole thing on video and it was very cool. At one point, the monkey jumped on my arm. I thought it would have sharp claws but it felt very smooth.
Our next destination was to a restaurant and beach area. They had ATV rides and you could walk the shore if you wanted to. We were surprised to hear that we had two and a half hours at this place, but we had no desire to do anything but eat at the moment. We sat down at the table and looked over our menu that was written in Portuguese. Going over our translator we found most of it was fish or shrimp, but when we were shown that they had chicken, we jumped on it. We also ordered some Smirnoff and a coke. Shortly after getting our drinks, we found that they had free tequila shots at the bar. Of course we weren’t going to say no to that.
It took quite a bit of time before our food arrived, but when it did… man was it good. The chicken was perfect and served with salsa, beans and rice on the side. I was astonished on how well everything tasted and can’t recommend this place enough for anyone else taking this tour. I didn’t catch the name of the place, however.
We still had about twenty minutes so we left the table to lie out in covered hammocks. A truly great way to relax as this entire trip to Lencois has felt like an island vacation. I still can’t believe this place is tucked away like it is.
The boat then took us across the water to a small village with a lighthouse. There wasn’t much there as it seemed run down, but the lighthouse was a cool thing to see. It was well over 100 steps to the top, but with us being alcohol filled we were ready for the challenge. Going back to the boat, we found some ice cream bars that ended up melting pretty quickly as we were eating them.
Finally, the day trip was over as the boat took us back to the dock. Once at our hotel, we were so tired and wore out that we just called it a day. Perhaps, we will venture out tonight once we get our legs rested. I would like to upload some videos that we took over the past few days, but the internet here is not very good.
*Continued- Decided to try out the hammock on our balcony and rested there for a bit. The stars were out and the night was very pleasant. We tried to go out to the dock to water the water, but the chairs were just way too tough to be comfortable in. That and the bugs, ants around the property and a few mosquitoes, seem to be the only real drawbacks to this place.
09/16/18- Last night, I went online to check-in for our flight that leaves on Monday morning. Here, they allow check-in up to 48 and sometimes 72 hours in advance. When I pulled up our record locator I only saw Sharece’s name on there. Apparently, when they redid my ticket with my full name they gave me a new record locator. I looked through the site and the only way for me to check-in to my flight is with that info. After a few minutes of trying to think of a solution (as I didn’t want to waste money calling or wait until I arrive at the airport), I remembered I took a photo of my last plane ticket on my phone. I looked through my pictures and suddenly there it is. The new record locater for my last ticket also went for this next one (since it was purchased together and with the same airline). Wow! Sharece keeps telling me how things just work out for me on things like that. I guess it’s true. The only thing is they have us on different rows (one aisle and one window). That should work itself out when we get to the airport, so not worried.
After we ate in the morning, we waited for our 8am pickup. Around 8:30am, it still hadn’t showed up, so we talked with the front desk who booked the transfer for us. They scrambled around a bit trying to find out what service they used. The first place they called had no record of us. So now we are sitting at the front of the hotel lobby with our luggage and mosquitoes flying around. Not a good combination. It took another ten minutes before they finally arrived, much to our relief.
As soon as we entered the shuttle, we made sure not to sit in the back above the wheel, as that is why our ride was so chaotic the first time. We did find two seats empty and sat. Within minutes, the two girls behind us start chatting away in Portuguese in a very loud tone. This continued on for the several hours straight. All of the other passengers were doing their best to close their eyes and try to sleep, but these two morons were constantly going. I don’t care what culture you are from, you need to shut the hell up every once in a while and take a break, or at least keep your voice down. I’m so glad I brought earplugs.
When we finally got to Sao Luis some four hours later, we first arrived at the airport. The two chatty girls actually got off at that stop. As they passed, I bust out with clapping as another passenger knew what we were doing and joined in. Some people just need to get a punch in the face every now and then, but unfortunately they still probably wouldn’t get the hint and play the victim card.
As the shuttle went around Sao Luis to drop off the other passengers, it appeared we were next. My map said we were seven minutes away from our hotel when we encountered a roadblock for a cycling race going on. The van had to turn around and decided to drop off the others first, which delayed us checking into our Ibis Hotel for another twenty minutes. Luckily, we had plenty of time.
We check-in, grab our large suitcase that we had stored there a few days ago, and get settled in for the day. Our flight tomorrow leaves very early in the morning (around 3:45am), so we will need today to get some sleep. I’m not sure how our hotel in Rio will handle us coming in around 8:30am, though. I doubt they will have our room ready and most likely will just store our bags while we walk around the area for a bit. With the flight being only 3 hours and the plane another A321 jet, I have a feeling we may be very tired once we arrive.
Only thing left to do today will be to find some dinner. Most likely we will just order from our hotel. Only four more days left after today. Can’t believe how much time has flown by already, and how much fun and adventure we’ve done. I almost don’t want this journey to end. Almost!
09/17/18- Arriving in Rio de Janeiro to see this awesome new world wake up before our very eyes. The sun is hidden behind the clouds pouring in as it appears that it may rain soon, but that’s of no consequence to us at this moment. Our three hour flight has landed from Sao Luis and we couldn’t be happier.
We took an UBER to the airport in Sao Luis and then another UBER from the airport to our hotel, Rio Othon Palace, in Rio. The cost of both was only $25 USD combined. Not a bad way to stay a day. We arrive at our hotel around 8:15am knowing full well that check-in won’t be until 3pm. Talking with the guy behind the desk, I ask if there is any way we can get in earlier. He looked at his availability and said he could get us in right now, with breakfast included and upgrade us to a full ocean view room for only $125 USD total. DONE! I didn’t need to hear anymore…. You had us at OCEAN!
We get to our room, open the door and just stare in awe at the beauty of the ocean roaring through the balcony window. We are on the 23rd floor and the view was tremendous. We were so enamored that we failed to notice the room hadn’t been cleaned yet from the previous guests. We called reception from their phone and they had a person up to our room within five minutes to make it up. Not before we took a few drinks from the mini-bar though- cost of not having it ready for us when we arrived.
As the maid came in, we decided to use this time to hit the breakfast on the 3rd floor. We stored our luggage in the closet and waiting several minutes for the elevator to finally reach our floor. It seems like everyone is ready to eat as when we arrived, we saw the entire room crowded to the max. They had a full on buffet in different sections with several types of bread (the cheese roll was awesome), eggs, potatoes, fruit, cereal, ham and cheese. The coffee was also gourmet and pretty strong. We needed several packets of sugar for that one. Hunting for a table, Sharece finds a small one fit for two people.
We took our time eating, despite the chaotic scene around us of everyone getting food and barely making it through the crowd. Once done, we retreated back into our room to find it completely ready for us. Awe! Now to fully relax and take in the atmosphere of Rio. I could literally hear the sound of the ocean waves crashing all day.
Venturing out to check out our area, we exit our hotel only to find it already starting to rain. Immediately, we go back up to the 23rd floor to get our umbrellas. I held the elevator door open while Sharece ran into the room to get it. Back at street level, we start walking down the boardwalk for a souvenir shop. The streets are a bit dirtier than expected, but that could be because the sun is not shining at the moment. Getting turned around a bit, we look up a souvenir shop on google maps and find one down the road.
While there, the shop owner noticed my camera and started talking to me about pictures. He showed me the views of Rio that they had in the shop and gave me a fold out book for free. I then showed him some of my work and he quickly brought out a paper and pen for me to write down my instagram handle. Very cool!
On the way back, we stopped at a small market to get some food and drinks for the next few days. We have free breakfast each morning, but it’s nice to not have to go out every time we felt hungry. While walking around, a good Samaritan walked up to me and pointed at my camera. Since I had my umbrella up, he wanted to make sure that I had my camera in front of me and not from behind. He said, in broken English, that someone may try and cut the strap and run off with it. I am also careful with my stuff, but with my umbrella in my hand I am glad to get the reminder.
After a few hours of rest we decided to take an UBER to Central Rio. It took about twenty-five minutes to get there and along the way we saw the huge Christ the Redeemer statue with dark skies and clouds around. It was really spooky looking. I can’t wait for the sky to clear up to take a look at that up close. One of the many reasons I wanted to come to Rio in the first place.
We get dropped off at Praca XV and immediately are met by several statues and churches in the square. I’ve heard about theft, especially when it gets dark, so we knew we only had a few hours at most to spend. The first place we went to was Palacio Tiradentes. As we walked inside we were immediately greeted by a guide. The whole place was free to view and we could take as many pictures as we wanted of the Palace, but we had to be escorted by the guide at all times. Seemed like a fair trade.
The grounds were pretty cool to view with a ton of emphasis on coffee as there were carving symbols of it spread all throughout. I also learned that Brazil used to be named the United States of Brazil until 1961. Very interesting to know.
Afterwards, we marched down a few blocks to a large church, Candelaria. We thought we could step in and take a look as the photos from our guide book looked pretty cool, but apparently it closed at 3:30pm. Seeing at it was almost 5pm, we missed it. We were able to get some nice shots of the outside, as well as figured we’ve seen hundreds of churches in our lifetime, so missing this today isn’t much to worry about.
We also tried to get into another museum, but after entering the grounds we were told that it was also closed. With nothing else really to do, we grabbed a bite to eat and took an UBER back to our hotel for the night. We had a productive first day in Rio despite being up since virtually midnight, having a three hour flight and coming to a cloudy, rainy city. Now, if we can only get through the next three days without getting mugged, I’ll be very happy.
09/18/18- A very good night’s sleep. Didn’t bother with waking up early as we needed the rest, and went to breakfast at 9:30am. Still a madhouse there, but easier to find a table. The sky is once again cloudy with a chance of rain later in the evening, but it seems to be clearing up at the moment.
We grab our cameras and head for the top floor of our hotel to get a 360 view of the city. You can’t see the Christ statue as the mountains block it, but it is nice regardless. They have a pool up there that should be heated (I say should because we didn’t check it). We will definitely have to take advantage of this before we leave.
Planning our day out we decide to finish what we started yesterday. There were a few churches and museums on our list to check out around Central Rio. However, since the sun was coming out we wanted to venture down Copacabana beach first. As soon as we walk outside we realize how hot it has gotten. We forgot to bring any sun block, but I think our bodies are used to the burn by now. The best part is the blue sky is now fully in play, just how I envisioned Rio to be. I was able to get some good beach photos but we didn’t lay out this time. Our plan today is to hit up some places on our list so we have more time to enjoy the weather later.
Happy with the stroll, we call an UBER to take us to Mosteiro de Sao Bento. Our driver took us up the hill and dropped us off right at the entrance. This is why I love UBER, it doesn’t matter if you know the language or not as it’s all electronically sent to the driver on where you want to go. Best of all, it’s so cheap. Under $6 USD for that ride. Why anyone would take a taxi for double the amount is beyond me.
We walk through the entrance to find that they are having service. The usher told us (with hand motions) that we couldn’t use our camera until the monks were done. We only had to wait five minutes, but in that time it was quite an interesting experience to hear them sing in harmony and do their thing. Once done, we were free to walk around and take whatever photos we wanted. What an absolute treat to be able to witness the ceremony as well as see this place from the inside. The outside didn’t have much to it, but the design and style from within was absolutely beautiful. The place was small, but meaningful enough to give it a look. So glad we did.
Only a few blocks down the way was the same church we went to yesterday (the one that was closed). We walk through the doors to find them having a service going on as well. Being familiar with the Catholic faith, it appeared they were towards the end. Not sure why they have service on a Tuesday, but following along brought back old memories for me (even though it was in Portuguese). The place was similar to any other church or cathedral we’ve seen, so we didn’t stay long.
Now onto the museum. I thought the National History Museum was close by, but it ended up being several more blocks further. Along the way, we encountered many homeless people. It’s crazy how much disparity there is between those who are comfortable and those who have nothing, here. In California they have trouble neighborhoods but they still live in actual houses. Some of these neighborhoods are literal dumps. No wonder there is widespread crime. It’s a shame because there are so many beautiful things about this city.
At the museum, we had to pay 5 Reals each ($1.25 USD) to enter, which is not a bad deal at all. The place was extremely informative and all in English. It was very cool to see the history of Rio and Brazil from the stone ages until now. At the end of the exhibit, they even had a section of things from the 1980s and 1990s like an Atari, old flip cell phones, etc. Something definitely worth looking at when in Rio.
Feeling hungry, we stop at a local fast food chain called Bob’s Burgers. We order the bacon burger and it came with two beef patties on a cheese bun. It wasn’t the best burger I’ve ever had, but it was unique enough for me to enjoy. While sitting down, we look at the weather and can’t seem to figure it out. Originally, we saw that it was supposed to rain around 12 noon. Well it was now 3pm and the skies were fully blue still. Taking the chance, we decide to check out the city landscape from Sugar Loaf Mountain. If you are not familiar with this, it’s a series of mountains that give an excellent view of Rio de Janeiro in which you have to take a cable car up to. On a dreary day like yesterday the views wouldn’t be as good, but if the weather can hold up for us then we can get this off of our to-do list for tomorrow.
We get another UBER to take us to the cable car entrance. The wait can be about twenty minutes for the cable cars to take you up, but we were lucky to have one waiting for us when we got in line. Once at the first level, we quickly power through the mountain to the other side so we can take the second cable car up to the higher peak of the other mountain. We learned from tripadvisor online that the first stop is not nearly as good as the second, and since we got there in the late afternoon we wanted to have a prime spot for the sunset. Again, the cable car was already there when we arrived and we were able to quickly get all the way to the top in no time.
Our first impression was awesome. The clouds were starting to roll in, but that gave a nice, mystical view of the Christ the Redeemer statue in the far distance. But after about ten minutes we felt the first rain drop hit our heads. Seeing the storm brewing, we venture down the path for cover until we find an open-air restaurant nearby. All of the tables were full but there was a bench that we were able to sit at and keep out of the rain. Within minutes, it starts to pour, forcing everyone to reposition their tables and chairs to get out of getting wet. This is where we find two chairs (without a table) and drag it fully under the rooftop. Every now and then the water would splatter hard against the ground, spraying our legs in the process, but once we turned our chairs inward towards the bar area we were good.
Knowing it may be a bit, we order a drink. I had to flag down a person as the bar wouldn’t take my order directly and when I got someone’s attention I find they do not have the pitcher of Sangria available right now. Ordering a different drink, we were given a “thumbs up” as he walked away. A few moments later, he came back to give us our receipt. The odd thing is I hadn’t received the drink yet. Another five minutes went by when I wondered if I was supposed to pay for the drink first at the register or not, and when I got up to check, suddenly the guy approaches me with my drink and takes my receipt away from me.
Sharece and I are fully engulfed in this beverage as it was very good. It didn’t even bother us that the rain was coming down hard and the fog completely surrounded us. What once was a full view of the city was now nothing but white. Yet, by the time we were finishing our drink, the rain fully stopped just as the sun was setting. We instantly slurp down our beverage, and run to the edge with our cameras in hand.
What a fantastic sight to witness. The red and orange hues are dominating the skyline as the clouds magically dissipate. It’s almost as if a supreme being wiped the musk away so we could get a clear view of the city. Needless to say, we spent a good thirty minutes taking photos and enjoying the view. As the sun disappeared beyond the horizon, the lights of the city began to turn on, giving us another impressive sight to see. It was at this time that we took the cable car back down to the first mountain to see the other side of Rio.
We didn’t take much more time as the rain started to fall again, although this time very lightly. We get to the bottom and quickly call an UBER to take us to our hotel. When it arrived, the driver swung around the parking circle as if he wasn’t even trying to look for us (even though we were standing at the meet up point in the app). He parked down the road and tried to call us twice, but I was having no part of it. I heard about an UBER scam here where the driver will wait until you possibly cancel, then attempt to pick you up again and say to pay him in cash. This of course has its consequences as you are at the driver’s mercer at this point. That was not going to happen as I simply waited for the driver to cancel the request and for another driver to show up. Within minutes, that’s exactly what happened.
We get to our hotel, safe and sound, and immediately check the 30th floor to see the rooftop again. We wanted to finish off the night with a swim at the pool but unfortunately it closed down at 7pm. We were half an hour too late. Not sure why they would close the pool that early in the day, but we will remember this for tomorrow evening. Feeling beat, we finish the night with drinks in our room and planned for tomorrow’s activities.
I had my doubts when we first arrived. Of course the cloudy skies affected my judgment a bit, but this city really cleaned up for me today. I now can’t wait until tomorrow to see the famous Christ the Redeemer statue up close as the rain should be in the rear view by that point.
09/19/18- Finally, a day in Rio without any chance of rain. The sun is supposed to come out very nicely today with complete blue skies. Knowing this, last night we pre-purchased our train tickets online to go up to the top of the mountain to see Christ the Redeemer. Our tickets were for 9am, however, we were instructed to be there thirty minutes beforehand.
Woke up, ate breakfast and called an UBER to arrive exactly at 8:30am. There was no line at all as we walked right up to the window and exchanged our voucher for the actual train tickets. We were one of the first people there for our boarding time and sat down at the bench. Suddenly, a flood of people came in and formed a line. I originally thought it was for the 8:40am departure train as it was a few minutes before that time, but soon realized the 9am time had already started to queue. Not sure what just happened but I quickly got out of my seat and stood in line with them. Of course I could have waited as I had a guaranteed seat on the train, but I wanted to pick my seat so I could see the views as the train made its way to the top.
Ten minutes later, we are allowed to board the train. There were a set of seats facing one way and another set facing the other. I wasn’t sure which one to go with so I picked the one facing in the direction that we were going. Turned out that the other side had slightly better views, but it made no difference once you got to the top of the mountain, anyhow. The entire journey did take around twenty minutes, but mostly it was forest views and nothing too spectacular.
At the top, there were two ways to go… up the stairs or by elevator. Sharece used the elevator and I met her at the top. I wanted to check out the city as I walked up the steps, which turned out to not be very much at all. When we met back up again there was still an escalator that we could go up. Once at the top, we were greeted with this enormous view of Christ with the pure blue sky in the background. Quickly, we start to put on sunscreen as the weather temperature was already at 85 degrees. We look around and already see quite a bit of people standing around and taking selfies. Hmmm, this should be fun.
Working our way through the crowd, we were able to find an open spot to get some pictures of us with the statue. I took regular photos, wide angles shots, selfies, you name it. I wanted to capture this moment as best as I could from all angles. Mission accomplished! The bad part, besides the roaring heat, were the bugs that kept getting caught up in my hair. We were so busy making sure we didn’t burn that we forgot to bring the OFF spray.
On the way down, we hit up a few of their souvenir shops and got a few things before taking the train to the bottom. As it was only 11:30am, we called an UBER to take us to the Botanical Gardens. This place was a walking trek, that’s for sure, but not nearly as impressive as other gardens we’ve seen in our travels. Either case, we spent a few hours just walking around and getting pictures. When we tried to enter with our tickets, the guard looked at the ice cream we had in our hands (that we just bought by the way) and told us we had to finish that first. I was put off at first and thought about just stuffing it in our bag, but we decided to finish it anyhow. It was actually extremely good and very much needed on this hot afternoon.
With our legs about to fall off, we were ready to hit the beach. Our driver took us to our hotel where we quickly changed into our swimwear. The hotel allows you to checkout towels and chairs for free, so we brought them across the street and immediately were met by a guy helping us to an open umbrella. We ordered drinks from him and enjoyed the afternoon. The sun was on its way down at this point, but the air still felt comfortably warm to us. Ahhh, finally we are able to relax in Rio.
Several people walked up to us trying to sell their stuff, but we ignored them all. That was until a guy with cooked shrimp came by. I got his attention and paid the 15 Reals for a plate full. I don’t know how it was cooked, and most likely we will pay for this later, but the shrimp was done to perfection. I even dropped one of them in the sand and still went after it. Don’t know if a ten second rule counts in that situation but such as life.
After our drinks were done (a Mohito and Pina Colada), we jumped into the water for a bit. It was cold at first, but not nearly as bad as the California ocean. The waves, however, were crashing pretty hard so we couldn’t venture out too far from the shore. Very, very happy with how today went and will most likely have to go back to the beach tomorrow when it is sunny once more. I need more beach pictures.
Before going back to our hotel, we go down the block to get a bottle of coke for our drinks and a Subway sandwich. I didn’t see roast beef on the menu, which is our go-to in this situation, but the steak and cheese looked appetizing enough. We then took that to the 30th floor of our hotel to enjoy the pool for a bit. Jumping into the water, it was heated after all and felt so relaxing. The only issue was the small kids around who kept jumping into the pool around us. In some way it felt like a kiddy area. That was until an adult near the pool starting smoking a cigarette, which I can’t believe was allowed in the first place. Anycase, we made the best of it, enjoyed our swim and retreated back to our hotel room for the night.
I took a shower and found that there was no hot water. I am not sure if it is meant to be this way, but there was only one temperature… and it was not even warm. We called the front desk to fix it so we’ll see how that goes. Our air conditioner leaked water onto the floor as well last night, but it appears they may have fixed that while we were out today. Other than those things, I can’t really complain about this place. So happy to have a great hotel with an awesome, ocean-side view. These past few days have felt very relaxing.
09/20/18- Our last day in South America. Our flight back home doesn’t leave until 10pm tonight, so we have the full day in Rio to spend. With check-out being at noon, we decided to sleep in and hit the breakfast buffet late. Once we got up and checked outside, we saw the thick fog had returned blanketing the city. We were hoping to hit the beach one last time, but it appears that’s not going to happen.
After breakfast, we came back to our room to find a note from the hotel. They are giving us an opportunity for a late check-out until 6pm for about $60 USD more. With this being our final day, and us not leaving until around 7pm anyhow for the airport, this was a no brainer. I can’t get over how everything has worked almost perfectly this trip. Any hiccups we encountered were pretty much solved in about ten to twenty minutes. By the way, they did come and fix our hot water last night. I’m not sure what he did, but there are actual knobs on the wall, outside of the shower, that you have to turn to adjust. Weird!
We took a few moments to scan our guide book to see what may interest us today. We found a neighborhood of Lapa that looked appealing and quickly ordered an UBER there. The driver was a bit aggressive on his driving, which I’ve noticed the last few have been. The good news is that we still got there in one piece. That’s the important part. We get dropped off at the Lapa Arches, which was first on our list of things to see. The arches are from an old aquaduct in the 1800s that they’ve converted over to a trolley line. Not sure if it’s mainly for sightseeing now or if people actually use it to get around, but it’s pretty high up in the air.
A few blocks down there was the second thing we wanted to see. My google map wanted us to go down an alleyway filled with graffiti and locals, as Sharece originally protested. My camera was strapped around my body like a sash so she was concerned for me of course. I’m a very cautious person when it comes to flashing my camera around, but again if my gut alarms don’t sound off then I feel pretty comfortable. I sometimes wonder if people look at me and think “Who’s this long-haired, beanie and sunglass wearing guy walking towards me with a camera strapped around his body as if he has no fear. He must be dangerous.”
The alleyway turned out to be pretty cool as at the end of it was a long set of stairs, colored and artistically painted. There were tons of tourists trying to get a clean picture of themselves on the steps, which seemed to take quite a bit of time. We had time to kill, but got what we needed fairly quickly. We also found a street vender selling bracelets. He wanted 30 Reals for this red one that looked very cool, however I only had 24 and change left. He took the 24 and now I have another souvenir to remember this trip by.
Taking another UBER, we pass our hotel to get to the Copacabana Fort. As we are dropped off, I realize that we have zero cash left and didn’t know if this place accepted VISA. When I saw that it was only 6 Reals per person to get in, my thoughts were confirmed. No credit cards accepted. Not feeling we missed much, as this was not high on our guide book list, we took this opportunity to walk down the beach back to our hotel. It was about a mile away but a very easy stroll. Too bad the fog was hovering thick as these would have been great pictures to take.
Feeling hungry, we stopped over at Subway once more. We didn’t want to take any chances of getting bad food somewhere right before our flight home. The workers there only spoke Portuguese, which wasn’t an issue yesterday but today they were out of several things. No Italian bread and no roast beef. It took a minute to order as we wanted to make sure we got everything right. By the time we got back to our hotel room it was around 3pm. We spent our last few remaining hours there to pack and rest up.
At 6pm we checked out of our hotel and called an UBER BLACK to take us to the airport. Their premium UBER happened to be a Honda Civic, which was funny, but at least it had trunk space to fit our luggage and was only a few dollars more in price. Due to traffic the trip took over an hour.
We arrive with two and a half hours to get through check-in and security. After we boarded, our airline actually changed our departure time to twenty minutes ahead (from 10pm to 9:40pm). I guess everyone that was on the flight had already got on. I’ve never heard of that before.
The nine hour flight was smooth for the most part. We had two seats to ourselves on the side of the plane and were able to watch a few movies and sleep. They also handed out free bottles of Jack Daniels, which we stored away in our bags for later. When we arrived in Atlanta (our layover) we had to pick up our luggage and recheck them. This is where we put the small bottles of alcohol as we knew we would have to go back through security ourselves. Worked like a charm.
Customs was a breeze to go through and our next flight to LAX was on time. We watched a few more movies on that five hour flight before landing in Los Angeles. Our bags made it through and we soon found ourselves on the curb trying to get internet service to call an UBER. For whatever reason our phones would not connect. We tried to use the LAX free Wi-Fi but even that was spotty. Eventually, after twenty minutes of waiting, I had to walk back into the terminal ticket area to connect so I could use the App. Finally, we are picked up and on our way back home.
What a fantastic, crazy, exciting, tiring, awesome vacation we just had. I had no idea that South America had this much to offer, even when I was originally planning it out over a year ago. The people we’ve encountered have been overly nice and pleasant and our hotels nothing short of welcoming. It’s hard to believe that three weeks has flown by already since we started our journey.
In 22 days, we’ve taken 15 UBERs, 14 Taxis, 11 Flights in 10 Cities with 8 Hotels, passing through 8 different Airports, riding on 6 Trains and 5 Buses while going through 4 Countries on 4 Cable Cars, 3 Subways and 2 Shuttles… all of this while having 1 helluva trip!
END OF BLOG
