South America on a Shoestring

Pictures~!

2010-07-19T01:08:00.001-07:00

Watch out, its told end to beginning! Surf, Sunset, Sunset...

Vietnam, and the rest is history

HUGE WAVES! Monkey standoff (part 2) and the 7 Deadly Plagues of Max

2010-07-13T09:32:00.000-07:00

So we left off flat... Not anymore! Imagine a 2 story house, now make that a wave breaking on an offshore reef about a half mile out. Now place yourself on top, and ride down it with the wind quite literally whistling through your ears. That was our Sunday.

We surfed the biggest waves either of us had ever surfed (and we have video proof of max eating it really bad on one wave) Youtube video to follow shortly. The swell arrived and with it some of the most perfect right hander in Ekas history. After days of no swell, you can only imagine our delight, one that Max was feeling better, and two that there were waves finally! Usually a low tide break, we paddled out to inside Ekas at high tide. We saw only one guy out, and he was nothing but a speck on the horizon. I thought he was too far out (usually you catch the wave pretty close to shore) but as we paddled I saw why. A set wave of 3X Overhead (imagine me X3) broke and he got on it perfectly! We were really excited. As we got out we saw why nobody else was out. There was a current pushing you directly into the path of the oncoming swell. Therefore if you stopped paddling you would be crushed. But thankfully Max caught one, then I caught one so we were feeling good. We then talked to the other guy out there, this Californian from Huntington beach who was wrecking it. We took some queues, and got ready for the next set. Max took off trying to catch the wave, but for once my cautious nature paid off and I was in perfect position for the next wave. As I rode down the huge barreling wave, I could just see max getting crushed underneath it (he had missed his wave...) I ended up about 200 meters in from where I started, and after about 3-4 more waves on the head, Max was right next to me. So we paddled back out, but the current had gotten even stronger, and we had to paddle even harder just to stay put. The last thing I saw was the other Californian dropping in on a 24 foot monster, which then crashed on my head. I then caught the tail section of the next one and rode it in. I was exhausted after about 2 hours of constant paddling for only 3 waves. When I made it in we spoke with Jules, and apparently on Max's last wave he took off, realized it was going to close out, and doe off the wave, not quite making it. But we got a good video. We then took naps and paddled back out in the evening, this time to a perfectly breaking left (about 1,5X overhead but it seemed small) that only breaks about 6 times a year. We were getting 1.5 minute long rides, and loving every second of it. When we got out it was dark, and we scored some free food and then slept, solidly for about 10 hours.

A little more about Max's 7 afflictions. The day before the swell hit, we surfed two breaks, in the morning we surfed perfect head high + southern reef, and in the afternoon surfed inside Ekas. As there were no waves Max went with the 15 year old Australian almost pros. He had to paddle about 1 mile over, and when he got there surfed a barreling wave, but there happened to be TONS of sea lice. Sea lice normally don't cause problems, (they don't leave marks) but are merely uncomfortable. In this case it was "like swimming in acid". So I asked why he didn't get out and Max replied "because I didn't want to be shown up by a 15 yr old." Needless (at this point) to say, Max was covered head to toe in little welts that were incredibly itchy. So as we sat watching the upcoming swell Max looked over at me and said, "this is like the 7 deadly plagues, first Jellyfish! then Reef, followed by Insect (Mosquitoes, Max was covered in bites while I had basically none) then Stomach Virus, and then Sea Lice. Wonder whats next? Then Max got crushed by the biggest waves of his life, and afterward oh number 6, Giant Waves... SO I said well I hope number 7 is that you had to hang out with me for 3 weeks, and Max said he hoped not (he didn't want me to be one of his deadly plagues, but I know he actually did)

The next day we escaped from Lombok by driving 3 hours, taking the Ferry for 6 hours (should have taken 4 but the captain couldn't get the direction figured out, and then the deckhands could literally NOT get the boat tied to the dock) and then driving for 2 more hours to Ubud. Oh yeah and we didn't eat anything the whole time so we were absolutely starving. We managed to find a place to stay though. For only 10$ each we had a gorgeous room, with a balcony facing the rice paddies. Breakfast included. We then had a beer, an amazing salad, nasi goreng (fried rice) gado gado (vegetables with peanut sauce) and black rice pudding, all for 10$. We slept like babies, and then had one of the busiest days ever, (which I am just wrapping up now).

Monkey standoff, part 2. We woke to fresh coffee and tea, and amazing eggs with a fruit plate. We walked through rice paddies to the Monkey forest, site of my standoff last year. This time we came armed with bananas, and a good hiding place (Max's shirt). We gave a few out, and got pictures of Monkeys crawling all over us (I had 4 on me at one point). Everything good so far. But then I gave one monkey a banana, but he wasn't satisfied, and tried to bite me (I guess he knew I had more bananas, so I threw them to Max, after which the monkey just started biting towards me, I didn't know what to do (again) so I tried to be bigger then him and scare him, this just pissed him off, so I tried to back slowly away (the preferred method to deal with Monkeys (but this just made him more bold) so I kinda half ran, jumped away and got the heck out of there, Nick plus Monkeys=no good.

We then shopped for a bit, (2 hours in Ubud bargaining from 250,000 (about 25$) to 50,000. Then had lunch for 1.6 dollars, and got on the road, straight through all the traffic of Denpasar, to the beach called Impossibles, a reef break near Uluwatu. We jumped in the water, and promptly were able to connect a ride for the whole reef, (not so impossible) got lost on the way back to old Betsy, drove back into Kuta Bali, dropped off Betsy (we almost ran out of gas, almost caused an accident by driving the wrong way down multiple streets), got a room, got dinner, tried to change my flight, ducked into the clubs here, and then typed this out.

Whew. How much can one do in 16 hours??

Sleep now, surf tomorrow, eat, repeat.

Be back on Thursday!!

See y'all soon!

Nick

SO now we should have some more swell tomorrow, surfing Kuta's legendary beach break!

Driving, Monkeys and the Perfect Wave

2010-07-08T06:15:00.000-07:00

Max: "That monkey will be back... with a vengeance" Me: "kind of like your diahrea" Max "yeah kinda like that"

This was after I sent max to stand near the monkey eating in the tree behind our house at Ocean Heaven so I could get a good picture. When Max got close the Monkey reared back and sent him running for cover. I love lombok "or so the bracelet I had made by a little girl named Billabong says.

We made the trip from Kuta Bali to Kuta Lombok in the afternoon of the 3rd of July. We chose our vehicle not for looks or comfort, but for price, and the assurances of the man renting it that it would indeed, contrary to appearances, survive the journey across Bali and Lombok in search or the perfect wave (or waves). For only 120,000 rupiah, or about $13 we could drive a 1980 Diahatsu 2 door gorgeous black automobile with enough ground clearance and power to make our way to spots unknown. Right as we made our way in Betsy (named later for obvious reasons) out of Kuta Bal, on the left side of the road, shifting with my left hand, we were pulled over, of course. The policeman demanded why we were not wearing seatbelts, and as we showed the man that there were no seatbelts he said this was no excuse. Then he asked for my international driving license. (I later learned that my UCSF student ID will pass) but he said we would have to settle the issue in court, or pay 200,000 rupiah. We tried to bargin the bribe down, but could only get as low as 100,000 and paid accordingly. What an ignominious start to a 14 day journey in Betsy. Then the road disapeared. Or rather our side disapeared. So now rather than traveling on a 4 lane road it was reduced to a 2 lane road, as they were doing work on the other side. But no signs really announced this, and one could actually see traffic still on the "closed" side, so it was amazing that we didnt have a front end collision with anybody during this time. Somehow through the shifting, driving through dirt, and exhaust smoke, we made it to the ferry, paid off the cops, and tried to pay for the crossing. Mind you a bike is only $5 to cross so we were destroyed when we were told we would have to pay $60 for old Betsy! We should have flown and rented on the other side! This did not put us at ease but we got on the boat (again by paying for the officers to buy some tobacco later) and on our way to Lombok. Driving in Lombok is confused by the fact that there are no street signs, and nobody speaks English. We got some rudimentary indonesian language help (enough to say how do we get to...) and with the help of a map, eventually arrived in Kuta Lombok.

We soon realized that surfing was not easy or cheap here. The first day we surfed with Matt from England (travelling with his girlfriend Becca), at an absurdly shallow break named Mawi (yes pronounced like Maui). On entering we had to pay 10,000 rupiah to get to the break, and then 10,000 more to park. And then Max sliced his foot open on the reef while entering the water. Not that the wave didnt have potential, but there was no swell in the water. In the afternoon we surfed Grupuk, much more successfully as it turned out. The wave is about a 10 minute boat ride (again you must pay 30,000 rupiah to get out) but at least there was swell (surfed about a head high wave) and we decided to return. We surfed here a few more times, until one morning te boatman offered to take us to a "secret" spot on the other side of the bay. We went and had the best surf of the trip! Big glassy waves were breaking away bothe left and right off a deep reef. We caught so many waves as it was only the 3 of us out, and all had the best time. We returned at night, and caught a few, not as clean or as nice as the morning session. Of course when we returned the next morning, there were 20 guys in the water but again had a great surf. This time Matt was barreled and Max and I both got into tubes, but sadly not out. Fun times but it was time to move on to Ekas, which we did.

A little about Kuta. We had a good time here, but the whole town is set up to take advantage of travellers. We were literally followed around by Billabong and RipCurl, two local girls who tried to sell us everything and anything they could. I ended up having them make me a bracelet which reads "Nick loves Lombok" in red white and blue (I got it on the 4th of July), and ended up bargining with an 8 year old girl for about the difference in price of about 10 cents. Yes I gave her the total price in the end... There were several restaurants which were amazingly priced. We paid about 37,000 rupiah ($4) for amazing meals of Mahi Mahi and local caught barracuda, all made by a former 5 star hotel chef. Incredible. And the town of Grupak was quite nice, a real fishing village, with many friendly fishermen who loved to take us surfing, as they either fished or joined us out in the water. All in all a good time, but time to leave when we did.

Now we are staying at Ocean Heaven, a new part of Heaven on the Planet. We are staying in our own villa, within eye sight of the amazing break in Ekas, lots of bugs sharing our room, (and at least one mouse) and many Monkeys within eyesight. (Max woke up with one staring at him through the window) There are absolutely no waves, but for once we are happy about it bc both Max and I are quite sick. Max and I both have some sort of cold (probably just as a result of running our immune systems down) and Max has a horrible case of Bali Belly (he has only moved about 100 yards today and has been to the bathroom about 50 times). So we wait, read and pray for waves. I will surf tomorrow morning early, and tomorrow evening the swell of the year should arrive (or is predicted to) and we will surf.

Gotta love life, hope things are good wherever you are.

Nick

Hanoi Hilton, jellyfish and former US Presidents???

2010-07-02T07:37:00.000-07:00

I looked up at the Indian Man and asked "you're from India, then it must be good Indian food" He confirmed, then looked to Max and said "you're friend, he looks like Al Gore". Max qithout missing a beat, "Damn you get Al Gore and Kennedy, and all I get is fucking Nicolas Cage". Not sure where he was coming from, but he made some terrible Indian food. We soon saw why, a Vietnamese girl was the actual cook.

We had just arrived in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly/currently Siagon) and had made our way acros the metropolis of 7 million people in about 15 mins while nearly killing (or at least maiming) several scooter drivers on the way. It is actually insane how they drive in Vietnam. There really are no rules, or at least official ones. When 2 streets intersect, there is no need for a stop sign or traffic light, you just go, literally. We saw 2 accidents between scooters while we were there, and were almost hit ourseles while drinking beer on a street corner in Hanoi. Apparently 408 people died last year in traffic accidents, and so far this year 387 have died in Hanoi, about half the size of Saigon. Its only for how slow they go that more werent.

Back to Hanoi. Arriving from SF, I literally almost passed out on the street. It was in the middle of a heat wave and I was doing some serious sweating (4 shirts the first day alone). We alked around for a biut, or sort of limped around while drinking beer and adjusting. Apparently the smaller the chair the cheaper the beer (or at least this was what Conni a nice Dutch guy said). And we found a place on a street corner that had you sitting about 2 inches off the street, so he beers were 20 cents a glass! While fun we escaped the next day.

Halong bay was amazing, only a bit out of the city, and we were on a Junk headed across the bay of several hundred (or thousand ) islands. The islands are just bits of limestone sticking out of the water with dense jungle on top filled with mostly cicadas. We swam and kayaked around them and under them in caves and generaly enjoyed ourselves. We then actually got to stay on one of the islands, and wakeboarded and swam in luminescent water under a full moon, hard life.

Then it was back to Hanoi, and an overigth bus to Hue, about halfway down Vietnam. My bad feelings were confirmed when our taxi could not find the bus stop. The fun continued with two drivers whose family were probably killed during the war, and thus had an intense dislike of Max and I. Everytime we put our feet outside of the "bed" made for a vietnamese midget with his feet cut off, the guys actually slapped them, and by the end max actually took to putting his knees where they would whack the guys as they passed. Good thing we took valium and sleeping pills, so by the time we stopped we were so groggy we almost passed out in our food. We then stopped to say whats up to the remaining families of the drivers and then took a rest stop halfway through the night for about 2 hours. So all in all the trip that should have been 14 hours took 19 hours of pain. Never again.

Hue was gorgeous, we rente4d bikes and checked out the whole city including the former palace, and surrounding royal graveyards and rice paddies. It was nice to have a day to relax. We then rented bikes to travel the 140 km to Hoi Ann, along the coast. We found a desolate beach and ate fresh cuttle fish, swam in the crystal clear water, and then biked over the dividing mountain range of Vietnam before heading into Danang and then Hoi Ann. While heading through Danang, we witnessed our second crash and then ate some fresh fish and swam on the infamous China Beach. Hoi Ann is basically just a shopping town, so we shopped. I got an amazing suit of charcoal cashmere, and a custom pair of leather shoes, all made within 24 hours. We organized our flight to Saigon and got out of dodge.

So here we are, just got in to Bali. We bought surf boards, got a car rental figured out, (15$ /day for a new SUV) , and will surf tomorrow fro the first time, and then head to Lombok. We are headign to Kuta Lombok. Imagine white sand beaches, crystal clear water, and world class surf breaks, and then multiply by 15 or so. I hope to get lots of reading done, climb a volcano or so, and basically refresh ourselves.

More soon.

Back To Southeast Asia, Vietnam and Indonesia!

2010-06-21T11:55:00.000-07:00

Hello Friends and Family,

As many of you know I will be leaving on an adventure again. This time with another 6 foot+ tall California dude known as Max as my right hand man!

Leaving this Wednesday night on the Redeye, to places unseen by western eyes (or at least our western eyes) and unsurfed outside of a few brave (or stupid) locals. We will hike, bargin, surf and eat to our hearts content, all for under 30$ / day.

I will be updating the blog, so enjoy if you want, otherwise I will just enjoy reading it myself.

Much love,

Nico (Nick) Nicholas Hertz

Motor Bikes, Ubud and Leaving

2009-07-03T23:52:00.000-07:00

In the Tokyo Airport after just walking around the beautiful city of Narita with a Delta stewerdess I found. This after just taking a shower in the Airport, and　spending the night on my plane in Business class!! I guess every body in Indonesia really is corruptible. Situation: Nick standing at the counter after drinking a few beers on the way for my 11:55 pm flight, hair of the dog that bit me the night before till 6 in the morning. Nick "any exit row seats available?", guy,"No", Nick "what about for 50,000 rupiah?" (5dollars), guy "maybe..." after checking me in, says "meet me upstairs." He then finds me upstairs, I buy him a bottle of Johnny Walker Red and get on the flight and my ticket says business class! Sooo nice, tons of legroom, all the food and drinks I could get my hands on. And for the next leg, 12 hrs in the Exit row! Not all bad for an 800 dollar ticket.

Back to Bali. I didnt say anything bc I didnt want to worry my parents, but I have been riding a Moterized death trap, also known as a scooter around Bali for the past few weeks. It was unavoidable. Traffic is so bad if you have a car you cannot go anywhere, and the scooters come with nice surfboard racks. So I let my Argentinean friend convince me that was the best way to get around, everybody does it and all that, so I did...　 Ughhhhh I abhor, abhor maybe isnt even strong enough to describe the extent of my hate of the traffic and the smog, and the near death experiences that everybody else seems to just wave off. I despise riding that fing scooter. But it did get me around, and despite being lost most of the time, and desperately avoiding trucks that drive in the middle of the road, huge buses that just HAVE to pass on a tiny two lane (I use the word lane loosely here) road, and potholes/ plain uncovered sewers that can swallow buses whole, I survived. Never will it happen again, my neck and back will never recover, but I did ride across two islands, and surf to my hearts content, so thanks scooter, but you will die an oiless death in desert point before I ride you again.

More adventures. After waking for the second day to a flat ocean, I decided to leave Lombok. I was having a great time, but I could not rationalize another day of laying by the pool with no surf, so I left for Bali and more adventures. I arrived in the beautiful mountain town of Ubud after a tense 3 hrs of scootering across Lombok, 4.5 hrs on a ferry, and another 1.5 hrs of scootering with backback+surfboard abd close toed shoes/ pants in 95+ degree weather. So basically after being lost for 20 mins finding 3 places full, I got a room and REALLY needed a beer. Easier said than done. Not a place was open, so I asked a nice white looking guy, a dutch fellow named Christian, where the nearest pub was, and pointed me in a general direction. After 15 mins of fruitless searching I again came upon him and he asked if I had found a beer yet, I said no, and he said we would go together as he had told his girlfriend that if they saw me again we had to get a beer with me, not to leave me walking all alone as he is also normally a solo traveller.

Ended up being the beginning of a great friendship. The next day was his last with his girlie (Australians call their girlfriends girlies) so I went hiking and shopping, not mutually exclusive as some would lead you to believe. I walked about 20-25 km over many hours. Walked in deserted terraced rice paddies, swam below the Sanoy Terrace hotel in a refreshing mountain stream, bought masks and oil paintings, and came across a cool artists retreat complete with crazy cool artists who told me about my star signs in the mayan calender (I am a spectral star) and gave me a sweet sarong that displays that to all. Needless to say I was quite tired, but after dinner christian and I went for a beer before bed, ended up meeting three delightful Dutch girls, also from Amsterdam and the five of us stayed up till the wee hours hanging out listening to music from a nearby bar that charged almost 4 dollars per beer. Imagine our outrage, a bar at a market is barely 1 dollar. But the next day, the real shopping commenced and poor christian was dragged along for most of it.

Here is a description of bargining: "How much for that?" (usually some cool wood carving or mask, or cloth, or painting), them "300,000 rupiah" (almost 30 dollars). Me "no, no, no! Ill give you 10,000" them, shocked "me bancrupt! okok 250,000" me "10,000", them "ok ok 100,000, final price!" me "10,000", them ok ok 30, 000" then they wait for a few minutes here, I start to walk away, they come down to 25,000, and I usually give it to them. so from 30 dollars to just over 2. I often ask, do you ever sell it for the first price, them smiling either say no, no, no or no, only for you good price. Not sure I completely understand but it is quite fun. I alsio bought some really nice stuff, one mask for (gasp) 700,000 rupiah, it is actually really nice, with gold leaf and lots of details, I think I will have it for some time.

So, after this, Christian was a little upset, he wanted to leave, so we hopped on the miserable scooter and I took him to rice paddies and then the four seasons where we snuck in (if youre white it doesnt matter if you have flip-flops and board shorts on, you can get in anywhere. We then went to the pool, sauna, and then the bar where we ordered a 10 dollar drink to some rich persons room. All in all amazing fun. Then on the way back found the best bar in all of Bali, complete with pool tables, free golf arcade games, and a free jukebox that only played the coolest music! It was run by a really cool American guy (not many Americans in Bali) who hung with us till we went back to Ubud after a great day.

The next day was my next to last, so I headed to Kuta Bali (Australias Mexico) played beach vollyball, surfed, and then after meeting up with my german and argintinean friends went to a club that had an hour of Free Flow, all drinks free! The germans then proceeded to take me to every single club and/or bar in Kuta, for a last whirlwind night. Fun until the Indo prostitutes came out and we headed back home for some sleep. Then after waking up bright and early at 12, went to Uluwatu to surf the epic wave, thank goodness with not a huge swell and on a high tide so I didnt end up like freddie crueger, a 50,000 basket of crab, red snapper, and shrimp and one last Bintang before flying to Tokyo, and now to LA! Ok gotta get on that flight, see everybody soon!!!!!

Lombok, Heaven on the Planet!

2009-06-26T18:59:00.000-07:00

I have been having the most amazing surf sessions of my life! This wave is incredible, a perfect peeling right, about 3 foot over head, maybe 200-300 feet, enough for 7-8 big turns. And then on High tide, a not quite as nice left, peeling over about 200 feet. And thats just the inside wave. There is a huge slabby left that throws over on the right tide and will mess you up if you get caught inside. Basically heaven on the planet, also the name of the hotel I happen to be staying in that overlooks the break perfectly, actually I can see the break from bed.

Again, from the beginning. Leaving Bali was a day long trip, 2 hours on the road, 4.5 on the slowest boat from Bali and then another 3.5 hours in Sunday afternoon wedding traffic on Lombok, another world from Bali. Nobody speaks English here, the majority of the population is very devout Sasak Muslim, i.e. no alcohol, praying 3 times/day, and married at 17. Very different experience. We traveled to the end of Lombok, literally the end of the road, and then further. As we were driving, came across beautifully dressed Sasak women on the back of tiny little motorbikes, only the men with helmets, on there way to group weddings that happen during the dry season every Sunday. And then a hunting party of guys, again on motorbikes waving guns and hands at us, I was pretty sure we were not in the right place. But the people here are just extremely friendly. They actually havent seen that many westerners, so everywhere you walk you wave and yell "Apacabar Batur!" Hello friend to everybody you see. Our accommodations started out at 10 dollars/ night, and we shared the bathroom with rats and not a few large frogs, no shower, just a tub of water, the same that you use to "flush" the toilet, with which to splash water on yourself. Good times.

But the wave, so incredible. My first morning out, caught a few lefts, got out, waited for the low tide and spent 4 hours surfing this wall of aquamarine water, with a strong offshore breeze, all the way into the coral reef. I dont think that does it justice, but I am in love with this place.

The next few days were spent in this way, fighting teams of Lombok monkeys while walking to the beach, seriously, and laying for hours on the perfect white sand beach, waiting for the tide to drop. And then after one of my best sessions EVER, Jony tells me this wave doesnt quite cut it and he wants to leave! I said I had to stay, and we would meet up soon, but first we had to go to a circumcision party, traditional Sasak party that lasts until 6 in the morning. Didnt quite know what to expect, but our friends Oudin and Maan were sure we would enjoy it. It was great. We first had some dinner (watermelon, spicy fish, soybeans, and the everpresent white rice) at our friends house, sitting on th floor and taking pictures of the kids (the love to see the photos). And then to the party, of course no alcohol and everybody was just sitting in front of the mosque watching a backlit puppet show, telling the story of some important muslin figures, not sure who, but leading up to the circumscision the next morning. Amazing.

The next day I had an interesting experience. As I came into the bathroom, there were three monkeys inside the bathroom! I guess they had come through the hole I kepts telling the guys to fix, to get water presumably. I think they were just as surprised to see me as I them, and they became quite agitated. So before they had a chance to attack, I slammed the door, hoping they would leave the way they came in, opened it again, one had left but the two remaining were freaking out! One was smashing its head into the ceiling, and the other was sortof coming for me, so again I slammed the door, and hoped they would leave, looked back in, one more was gone and the last was looking for blood, rushed back out, and finally he was gone. Wow. The monkeys here are wild and are always around, pretty cool, but scary when you come into the bathroom not expecting them.

Anyway, that was my last night there, I moved to the Heaven on the Planet resort, incredibly nice. Views from every bungalow, cool Australians/British to hang with (Toby, Tom, Mike, Nic, Dan and George rock!) and a more relaxing atmosphere, the locals in the old spot were getting a bit close and wanted me to but property and maybe eat monkeys? (The language is difficult) And here I've been.

Also, met this boat crew of Austrians who Ive eaten dinner with the last two nights. The captain is this amazing bloke, surfer extraordinaire, runs a boat here 8 months of the year and 4 months as a ski patrol back in Austria. Cooks an incredible chili con carne and last night some of the best pasta carbonara I have ever eaten. Actually the swell was pretty much non-exsistant for one day, I think Thursday, so when I ate there it was easy to come back to the beach. But last night no such luck, so I slept on the rocking boat, which was awesome, and then got in the water this morning at 4:45, before first light, and caught about 7 BOMBS, fighting off the boat and otherwise crowd that has assembled here. Seriously the best surf of my life. Did I mention that it is about 2-3 foot overhead and a perfectly breaking wave. I absolutely love this place!

SO anyway for the next 3-4 days I will rock this sick spot, until Tuesday or Wednesday, and head back to Bali, probably check out Ubud, and then Uluwatu, and back with my German buds for one last party night in Kuta (possibly at Sea Garden) and then for a bit of shopping/surfing Cangguu and then back to reality, shiza...

Back to the ocean, or maybe a nap, or maybe some snorkling, or...

The search for uncrowded waves

2009-06-20T09:24:00.000-07:00

Hello,

I find myself writing this on the eve of yet another adventure. Tomorrow at 7 AM we will go to the next island over, Lombok, and we will hopefully find the promised land; perfect peeling waves with only a few hardy souls riding them. From the beginning:

Arriving in Bali was quite the adventure, 3 planes, 4 nights (one in LA (thanks Max), one in airplane (not sure where Saturday went as I never actually experienced it, and one in Tokyo (again thanks Max (Preston!). So when I arrived with 600,000 rupiahs in my pocket you can be sure I was not quite right when I guy selling me my tourist visa tried to steal 50,000 of the little buggers from me. I guess its only 5 dollars but still, that will buy 5 plates of Nasi Goreng, (the standard fried rice here) a real Reef or O'Neil shirt (undoubtedly made here in some sweatshop) or a ride on the back of one of the ubiquitous scooters to just about anywhere in Southern Bali. To say this place is cheap is an understatement, many ppl have remarked that this is hands down the cheapest country in the world, and that it also has coral reefs that have perfect swells breaking over them is just a huge bonus.

So the surf. So far it has been difficult to find the perfect wave, although today we came close today. (I say we as in the 4 Germans who are "studying" here, and Johhny my Argintinean friend who I will be traveling with) In the last week we have surfed Kuta beach (6-9 foot with strong offshore winds and plenty of barrels to be had) and Canngo (6-7 sideshore wind, but we were the only ppl out) on Bali, and two coral breaks on the closest island Nusa Lembongan known as Lacerations, (apparently very aptly named according to Johhny and quite dangerous when there are 50 australians in the water and 8 foot waves breaking over three feet of water). Its been very fun to say the least. The best day for me was today surfing Canngo with one german guy (my germans were lured to the next peak by 4 hot Australian girls) and riding it over a deep shelf for about 200 feet. SO sick.
Bali is amazing in other respects as well. For example, to pamper myself before setting out to Lombok I treated myself to an hour long Massage (50,000 rupiahs) a seafood basket including a whole red snapper, clams, crab and calamari (also 50,000) and a new reef shirt, you guessed it 50,000 rupiahs. SO for 15 bucks we were stuffed and relaxed beyond belief, we literally had to sit in the street for a few minutes before going home, and even then if you saw us you would think we were drunk based on the slow shuffle and swaying from side to side. We are currently staying at a place with a gorgeous garned for 80,000/night, and im paying 15 cents/ minute to use internet. I love this place.

And the nghtlife is incredible, we went to a 4 story bar/club/disco and drank 1,000 rupiah beers(about 10 cents) and 10,000 drinks till 12 and then danced upstairs to the same 12 songs on repeat (or so it felt, i mean why bother to have a DJ if you just play the same songs) or so until about 4 in the morning, headed to the other club till 6 and then stumbled home to wake up to perfect surf all of today, albeit with slightly less ability than other days. All in all an amazing place, and if there only werent so many ppl it would be perfect.

That leads me to my final point, Lombok is the next island over (of which there are between 12-17,000 in Indonesia) but is a completely different Island. Most ppl never go there, the surf is as good (at least in some places) and there is this 10,000 foot volcano I want to climb and then go to hot springs in the crater. I wont have internet, or may not, we will see. But I will have a cell phone, in an emergency call 08983147319, placing the country code for Indo in front (god only knows what that is)

Ok time for one last beer with the Germans, and then sleep. Hope the new week goes great for everyone!

Japan, land of stangeness

2009-06-16T03:45:00.000-07:00

Hello all,

I just got back from the beach in Bali, overhead perfection with off-shore wind, so nice! Spent most of the day buying a surfboard with my new buddy Johhny from Argentina. We are long lost brothers and I will be traveling with him all over. This place is amazing, the smallest streets crowded with an amazing assortment of small cars and a deluge of little scooters trying to run you over, all with surfboards hanging off the sides. More from Bali later, first Japan...

Ok so Japan is very different from the United States, or any other country I have ever been in. People are polite, nonviolent, clean (the homeless carboard boxes had small windows cut in them with pieces of plastic covering them), the opposite of pretty much any country in South or North America. All the trains run on time to perfect stations that are not the resting places of vagrants or muggers , but rather places to meet up and catch up with friends. The "red" zone is clean orderly and the only distractions are these Japanese men who invite girls to bars and the girls pay to be complemented. I guess there were some strip clubs, but they were so far from the perception as to almost not be (we didnt go in one though)

This was just one night there, the next morning was eye opening, I have never seen so many ppl packed into the subway at 8 AM, with not a single sound. And then the stations, I went through one of the busiest in Tokyo, and there must have been 1,000 ppl walking on distinct paths, but all you hear is shoes. Granted I dont take the subway much, but usually it is not that quiet. I then walked throughout downtown tokyo. Past the imperial garden (they wouldnt let me in, weird) through the Ginza district home to upscale shopping, and then to the jewel, the fish market. That was not so quiet.

I walked for literally two hours past giant tunas being carved and readied for sale. Bought a plate of fresh Sashini fr 5 bucks (incredible) and then got lost in the rows upon rows of everything that could possibly live in the sea. (sea urchins, clams, red snapper, cod, Eels, crabs, octupus, snakes, shrimp, tuna, mackeral, flounders, other crazyness that I dont have a name for, and everything in between. Lets just say came out on the complete other side, and didnt get run over by thse awesome little scooters with three wheels that were buzzing around everywhere.

Next I walked back through the center, only taking side streets, and only one block from the market there were these little residential streets with gardens and old japanese women watering them. Through to the electronic district, so cool, you could buy anything electronic there, met some christian missionaries trying to spread the gospel. (I told them surfing was my gospel, and they left me alone) Then I had lunch at the coolest "Maid" bar, where all the girls are dressed as maids and hit on you as you eat. My maid was this brazillian girl who spoke spanish (it was nice to converse in a language I had the slightest idea of after lots of gesticulating and broken english from everybody else). She was very nice and told me about moving to Japan and learning japanese and how she loved it, and so did her kid and husband. It was just a nice part of japanese culture, so I rushed out when I realized I had a train to catch, was forced off at some pt, didnt have enough money, but then made a mad dash through an awesome garden shrine, made it to the airport and here I am.

So. Japan conclusions: I think the fact that everybody works for these huge corporations, the only ambition being to move up in these corporations, keeps them level headed. I mean, 150,000 new companies are started every MONTH in America, which also turns over 15% of jobs every year, and we are all insane. That could explain the calmness and sort of happiness with the status quo that keeps ppl from doing crazy things. However the evidence of homeless ppl, and the fact that they have been losing jobs there could mean some big changes are coming up. All in all, an amazingly different place, so competely unlike anywhere I have been; I want to go back!

Indonesia!

2009-06-08T18:17:00.000-07:00

Hello Friends and Family I will be heading to Bali, Indonesia this Saturday for three weeks and thought it might be kinda fun to start up my blog again.

I will have (hopefully) passed my Qualifying exam, on my way to candidacy for a Ph.D! I will be in Bali from the 15th of June to the 3rd of July, surfing, partying, exploring... you know.

Panama and the beginning of the end!

2007-08-20T21:26:00.000-07:00

Well, I dont know exactly where I left off as I am a few glasses of wine deep after my cousins birthday party here in Guatemala city, but Ill start in Panama city. After arriving in the city I was picked up by the hostel, thinking it was a nice gratis ride from the airport. The guy picked me up, made me wait while he got a half a chicken, then ate it, and then began to drive like a bat out of hell, while telling me he "knew" all the cops and they wouldn't arrest him. He then explained that the real hostel was full, but I could stay in the old space, which apparently they had almost completely moved out of, and then told me to pay him 17 dollars! I thought I was getting robbed, but the city turned out to be just very expensive.

My goals for the city were threefold; see the canal, buy a surfboard, and see the Casco Viejo. I accomplished on other goal, which was going out for a night on the town, with a very nice young lad named Jack. He had been working for the English consul in Costa Rica and was on his way to Colombia, and decided to join me (or did I join him) to some club in la Ciudad. The next day, right at the crack of 12 we walked the Casco Viejo, avoiding ladrones left and right. It really was an amazing part of town. We were able to see Noriegas old bombed out palace, along with all the embassies and a great view of the whole city. After a large plate of lentils I fell asleep with visions of the great canal in my head.

The next day slightly earlier I made my way to the canal, the Miraflores locks to be exact. It was rather incredible to see this huge ship with 5000 containers on it navigating this canal with around 6 inches to spare on either side. Apparently it costs 267,000 dollars to pass the canal, and it is the only time when the captain of a ship has to give up control of his ship. I watched a few ships pass, hiked around a botanical gardens and made my way (via chicken bus) to the city. The only goal left was to find a surfboard and then the beach. I went to a surf shop, and after realizing that all the boards would break the bank, met two Panamanians who were going to the same beach as me, Playa Venao (or Vanado depending on who you were). We then picked up my bags, some "other" things which they insisted upon, and an old board I had seen the day before for 160 bucks. The only thing left was the girlfriend of Yungfa (the driver who happened to be Chinese). I really didnt know what to expect, but all of the sudden we were in America. I mean we drove into the old Canal Zone where all the military personnel lived. It was really incredible, every street had a large sidewalk and tract homes which all looked so similar to the houses in some neighborhoods in Los Angeles, and out walked Jenny, the girlfriend. Somehow I knew she was trouble.

Finally beginning our 6 hour drive at 11 at night, we arrived in Aguadulce at around 3 in the morning, to stay in Chuch's relatives house. While hanging out and talking in Spanish on the back patio, far from Yungfa, Jenny all of the sudden leans over and whispers "your so hot" to me, as I struggle to understand what I just heard. I knew she was trouble. The next day on the way to the beach my bank account was again called on to purchase supplies for our trip. Apparently because Im an American I owe everybody something, and had to bankroll the whole trip, I didnt mind bc I was getting a ride to the beach, but I spent about 8 times what the bus would have taken and ended up arriving at the same time as I would've anyway.

We immediately surfed the nonexistent swell and then got a small cabana on the beach where I was to spend the next three weeks. After a dinner in which I began a long string of fried fish meals it was off to bed, as there was really no more light. Thats apparently when the sand flies as well as Jenny began their attack. I put repellent on for the sand flies and had to just avoid being anywhere near Jenny to fend the two off. I finally made it to sleep only to awake to screams and the smell of burning. Struggling out of my sleeping sack, I looked over to see Yungfa and Jenny's mattress on fire while Jenny bravely tried to put it out. I helped, but in the end the fire started by the mosquito coils they had dangling dangerously over their bed had made a rather large mark, on my psyche and the bed; I had to escape from these dangerous lunatics. The next morning things were made easier by the fact that Jenny got in a fight with the restaurant owners and had to leave anyway.

After surfing I sadly reported that I would no longer be joining them on their trip, and instead would head to the Eco Venao, a reforestation project/ hostel above the beach. After arriving I met Charlie and Daniel, an American and Italian whom I proceeded to search waves out with, and basically have a good time. We mostly surfed in the mornings and at night, and in between I read and slept in Hammocks. As it was the rainy season, it managed to rain most days, but the surfing was really quite fun, and we managed to make lots of friends in the little town named Pedasi to surf with.

In the end I had a great time, made lots of new friends, surfed a bunch, and basically prepared myself for grad school at UCSF, kind of.

Cartagena, returning to the ocean and the good life

2007-08-06T19:40:00.000-07:00

Well hello. I guess its been a while since Ive written. I guess its a lot harder when you are on beaches and in the jungle to find Internet access. I have been enjoying myself immensely, the weather is a heck of a lot better in this part of the world. After arriving in Cartagena with my dad, we spent a few days just exploring the old city and basically I just tried to acustubrarme with the really hot weather. We headed to a great beach, of which there is a picture, and slept in some of the more rustic beds that my day and I have ever slept in. But the beach was great, and it was really nice to see my dad. We then headed up ther coast to see Santa Marta, a town where while we were there beer reigned supreme. I mean me were just in the streets drinkin ALL the time, later we learned it was the middle of vacation, and Columbian independence day. I just liked eating good food and paying more than 3 dollars for a place to sleep in, one that didnt involve bedbugs and other friends.

My dad left after only a week, and I went to the Ciudad Perdida (literally lost city). It was an incredible 3 day hike in through jungle and crossing multiple rivers. I hiked mainly with an English chap named Rupert. Every day we would get to cool off after hiking in these pristine river pools which really increased the enjoyment of the trip. My bag on the other hand has not smelled the same since, and actually need to be cleaned quite desperately. The ciudad perdida was the capital of the Tayrona Indians who lived in the Sierra Nevada. This mountain range just rises from the coast of Columbia, and in where the legend of El Dorado was started, as early Spanish settlers had easy access to it, and the Indians had an incredible amount of gold. The trail used to be impassible, but is now quite safe due to the militares who kicked the guerrillas out of the mountains, and now keep about 50 men at the city at all times, armed with the latest weaponry (see photo). Everything about the hike was just amazing, and on returning I stayed with Rupert in Tagunga for the final days of the festival. We then went to the national parque Tayrona, which is just a beach with a few hammocks on it. We slept on the beach, in the hammocks, and basically enjoyed ourselves thoroughly for a few nights.

I then left Rupert, along with a nice Swissso on the beach and continued back to Cartagena to catch a flight to Panama, land of surf and fun. I had booked everything, including a private bus back to Cartagena, thinking it would be safer, well I was wrong. The bus arrived on time, and we left Santa Marta at 3:30 as advertised, but when we arrived in Barranquilla we met lots of traffic. Apparently the president was there, and as is customary with presidents they cause lots of problems in the city they are visiting (thanks Bush for making my 20 minute commute 2 hours in LA). So we left the city late, and it was getting dark. Now I know what you´re thinking, ¨¨the guerillas come at night¨. You would be right, but the President Uribe has really taken control of the security situation there, and I therefore did not expect any problems. Yet, when we were aburptly stopped by a burning tire thrown into the middle of the road I knew I was done for. I was going to be kidnapped and that was it. I was the only gringo within 150 km and the guerillas had stopped traffic in a small carribean town on the coast of Columbia. Incidentally, the door of the van had broken earlier on this epic trip, so my only defense was the Patagonia windbreaker which Martha, Max´s mom had supplied before the trip. After throwing the hood over my head, we waited. However, the more time that passed the more it looked like it was going to be alright. Apparently the locals had become fed up with their lack of elctricity and decided to do something about it, and that something was a roadblock. We made one manuever so that we werent the first car, and as I sweated my head off in the jacket our driver tried to figure a way out, as we were only 25 km from Cartagena. The whole time I just thought that if anyone knew there was a gringo, I was done for: everyone in the car agreed it would be better if they didnt find out. So when we walked over the roadblock to a waiting van I kept a low profile. Entonces, everything turned out alright, except for the next day when the hotel I was staying in was hit by lighting, and then I left the country.

I arrived in Panama, bought a surfboard: A 6 foot six shortboard, some wax and sunscreen, and have been on the playa Venao staying at an eco lodge for backpackers and other very interesting characters for a week now. I have really valued this time to just relax, and as there is a 7 foot swell set to arrive wednesday, it looks like Ill be here a while

I need to relate the charaters I met on the way here, maybe tomorrow...I need to sleep to surf!

Lima, Ica and desert oases

2007-07-08T22:03:00.001-07:00

Continuing in Lima...

After going out we were all feeling a little sick, especially Stephan who threw up a few times. That didnt stop us though, and we went to the centro Historical de Lima to look a cathedrals and the museum of the Inquisition. Soon after arriving frenchie (one of the girls) was hungry so we stopped and got some civiche. What a bad restuarant. First we ordered, I got some drink called chicha along with Stephan, and she got some civiche. It took only moments for us to get our chicha, me to drink it, and then realize that this was the drink made from purple corn which began the drink making process with indians chewing the corn, and then spitting it into the drink. I didnt feel so well. After 30 minutes the civiche arrived. It was tough, fishy, and didnt really look that good, but we all ate it and by the end all were about to throw up.

The girls then went home while stephan and I went to the catacombs. The catacombs were interesting as there were more than 70,000 peoples skeletons there. Apparently everybody in early Lima wanted to be buried there, and would only be buried somewhere else after they exhumed the body of some priest and put it in the alternate cemetary. Anyway, I gues the crypt was closed for some years then opened in 1937 when some anthropologists decided to take all the bones out and cont them, also ordering them by bone type, and making interesting designs. It was a little creepy to see all these femurs of long dead Limenos arranged in concentric circles around rows of skulls. This one stupid american (we mistakenly went on the english tour) asked over and over why they had taken the bones out and arranged them, while the tour guide dutifully answered the each time.

That night we took it easy, and the next day went on a nice tour of Miraflores which included the beach and the rest of the town. The next day Stephan left, we made dinner, a chicken salad made with a 3 dollar whole rotisserie chicken (the cheapest Ive seen) and a bunch of Pisco sours (made with lime juice, sugar, Pisco, and egg whites). After that I had had enough of Lima, I headed to Ica, a small town to the south. I got there on Friday, always the most traffic and craziness in South America, and had some Chifa (chinese food) which made me feel terrible (the first time Ive gotten sick). The bed was the worst I think I have ever slept on, it was pretty funny bc it once was a normal mattress but at this point it is just a top and bottom of a mattress and no springs in between so you end up sleeping on a board. I then went to the, Poor mans Galapagos, a short boat tour which takes you to these islands that have a lot of birds, and bird guano, on them. Apparently these islands are so endowed with the good white stuff that a war precipitated over them in the 1800s over their large nitrogen based crop of crap.

After puking off the boat, (never eating chinese food again) I went to a small oases town of Huachina. The hostal was really cool as it included a pool and lots of fun folk to hang out with. I spent the day working on my tan, (my first day swimming except for hot springs on my whole trip) and took a dune buggy ride where we got to go Sandboarding. Sort of like snowboarding but on steep ass dunes. That night while everyone else went to Ica to party I went to another hostal that was even more laid back than mine. As soon as I walked in the bartender offered me a joint and explained that I could light up at the bar no problem. I wont say anything self incriminating so lets just say I had a fun night which included running up the dunes and getting sand into every (I mean every) orifice on my body.

The next day was spent around the pool, and then I made it back to Lima for my flight to Cartagena the next day, where the tropical phase of my journey has commenced.

The Jungle, Machu Picchu and more peruvian lies

2007-07-08T21:10:00.000-07:00

Hello from Peru. I am currently in Lima on my way to Cartagena, Columbia where I am meeting with my dad, I am so excited! Finally a bed with springs, or at least no bedbugs, hot showers, and decent food (I finally got sick).

After Grock arrived, (Mr. Andrew Grock the first to all those who dont know), we had a coca leaf mate and went walking. Despite the fact that Andy had spent the night on an airplane and in an airport, that tea kick-started his system and boy did we walk. We walked to three separate ruins outside of Cuzco, about 15 kilometers in total, mostly uphill. Amazingly enough Grock had no problems with the altitude, and was in good enough humor to meet some cute girls along the way. It felt a little weird for me to be talking all the time, as most of my trip I guess I hadnt been, but it was great fun. The name of the first ruins sound like sexywoman, but look like piles of rocks, how dissapointing. They also happened to be the site of the Inti Raymi the day before, but looked a great deal different from closer up. The next site we had to walk pretty far to get to, but by the time we did we had picked up two new girls to hang out with and basically annoy. I believe I managed to pull my shoe off at one point to smell my sock (it really stank) as one of the girls was reading about ancient Inka history, Grock laughed. Finally we made it to the best ruins I saw in Peru, Pisaq. They are on a hillside which is pretty much impregnable, or at least appears to be. The ruins consist of many terraced hillsides and some cool ruins with sundials and a small spring. I say they were the best ruins bc their dramatic location rivals Machu Picchu however there were no tourists so we had it to ourselves.

After the ruins we returned to reality in Cuzco and began planning our next few days. We decided to take an alternate 4 day journey to reach Machu Picchu which ran through the Jungle. The first day we were suppposed to bike ride from 4,500 meters (14,850 feet) to 1,100 meters (3,630 feet). The distance that we descended alone was higher than I have ever been in my life. The tour group, which by the way had alredy lied/overcharged me numerous times proceeded to lie to me again. They told us that there was a small landslide and that we may have to get off of our bikes and walk them over it. We initially agreed, but when the horribly cheap owner refused to lower his price we set out looking for alternatives. We discovered that another agency was taking a 10 hour busride to get around the slide, but as they were more expensive and were not going to bike we went back. The agency promised us repeatedly that there was no chance of us ending up on a 10 hour busride, I guess they werent lieing bc it turned out to be 12 hours! The next day we got up to the top of the mountain, and proceeded to bike down. About 1 hour in a police vehicle comes from behind us and stops us saying it is impossible to pass, at which point this horrible lady who came from one agency tries to intervene. The police then show us photos of the slide. It apparently was a slide below the road, and even if it hadnt slid more it looked like about 2000 foot vertical fall and really no way to get past it, especially with bikes. We were all very upset, and at one point all wanted our money back. The lady who came (I dont think she always comes, only when they anticipate trouble) then asked for receipts, and then ripped the name off of one receipt! We were all really pissed, but the group seemed good, and it didnt seem worth the trouble to lose a day in Cuzco so we all agreed to take the bus.

Seeing as this was Andys first overnight bus we proceeded to get good and drunk. After a few bottles of rum our guides were probably the drunkest and boarding the bus was an adventure, especially when one of the girls in our group had her wallet stolen! I ended up sleeping ok, as Im used to the torture of night bus rides, however Andy had the worst seat in the bus and ended up sleeping next to dried hamster piss on the floor.

When we finally arrived in the jungle we had breakfast and proceeded hiking. This turned out to be amazing as we passes coca leaf, avocado, and coffee bean plantations all on the terracced hillsides. After 6 hours of fast hiking we arrived at some delicious outdoor hot-springs and relaxed the trip away. We then had a few after dinner games of Asshole of which I won the majority, but lost the last one of the day which forced me to carry the pack of one beautiful Irish girl named Fiona for one hour the next day. The next hike was relatively easy and we arrived in aguas callientes, the town at the base of Machu Picchu. Instead of relaxing, we all decided to climb a hill which overlooked Machu Picchu. We were suppossed to begin climbing it at 3 because it takes a while to ascend (1.5 hours) and when it gets dark the ladders are extremely dangerous. We didnt start untill 4:30 and were forced to climb it as fast as possible (30 mins) after which I could ring the sweat out of my shirt. We then took the first of our ¨naked in Peru¨ pics which had Machu Picchu as a monument framed by our butts.

The next day we got to MP for sunrise, however there was no sun to speak of. We climbed the Wayna Picchu and took another naked in Peru shot, then went down the long way which pretty much ate up our time there in MP. By this time we were all pretty tight in our group and made plans to go out in Cuzco, which we did. After a night which ended with me locked out of our hostel for a brief period, I wont go into specifics but lets just say we had fun, we flew to Arequipa, city of light.

Andy and I booked a trip to see the deepest canyon in the world and then had a delicious but overpriced dinner. This trip was the polar opposite of the other. Instead of trekking for hours each day, this trip shoved you in a van and didnt allow you to even walk if you wanted. Instead of cool young folk out for a good time, this trip was full of cranky old french people with a distinct hatred of youthful Americans. During the first day we managed to get to almost 5,000 meters which is pretty freaking high, and then Andy and I ditched the tour to climb around a creek and ended up in some more hotsprings. After this we had dinned for 5 soles (1.5 dollars) and tried to meet with our group but they lied to us (damn french) and told us to go to the wrong restaurant. Another thing, the tour was suppossed to be in English and Spanish but our guide kept forgetting, while also speaking in a very low lispy spanish accent, with the frenchies in full translating mode. Needless to say Andy didnt understand a dang thing, and I only understood enough to know I wasnt interested.

The canyon was cool, we saw condors flying about 20 feet from us and got attacked by some interesting bugs which really freaked Andy out. We then flew to Lima and stayed with two girls from the good tour in the nice neighborhood of Miraflores. After Andy left Stephan from the tour came top stay with us in Lima. We cooked an amazing rendition of my classic Hostal Pasta, and went out to the cool neighborhood of Barranca for a night out.

Cuzco, Machu Pichu, Bailamos!

2007-06-30T12:08:00.000-07:00

Hola Chicos! I have just been spending some of the best days of my trip with my good buddy Andy Grock, Grockster if you will. After arriving in Arica for the surf contest I spent approx an hour looking for a place to stay that wasnt 15 dollars, and found one that was 7. I was excited. The wave called the Gringo was one viscious wave. it broke in about waist high water on top of rocks, let me tell you there were some concussions and stiches the first day, and the second day the first surfer broke his board on the first wave of the day, after which the top 50 surfers in the world decided they were too scared to surf. It was cool being there, and I managed to run into this girl from new zealend whom I met on the bus from the airport in Santiago. We played hacky sack, and I think had more people taking pictures of us then anything else.

After the amazing game of hacky sack I had the three consectutive most shady meals of my trip. First I had some civiche in a mercado where they had posted all kinds signs (about 3) saying Do not eat uncooked fish as it is bad for you. As we all kniow civiche is uncooked fish. Then I bought some salmi and bread and fruit, after which I crossed the border into Peru. A note, apparently crossing a border with bread, chicken, (of which I had a drumstick from the night before) fruit and vegetables (I had a carrot) is illegal. I was sweating when they x-rayed my bag. Right after the x-ray they started yelling and I thought I was done for, but they just stopped this nice looking lady with a bag full of what looked like Marijauana. Another note, traveling at high speeds in a 50 year old ford with 7 people in it across a border in the middle of a desert is a nerve racking experience, oh yea, no seat belts. But I had to do it to save about 30 bucks on my bus which I bought in Tacna, Peru, and was still way overcharged for.

Buses in Peru are not like busses in Chile or Argentina. Wow, understatment of the century. When we finally got on this but to Puno we had a box of hamsters (to eat) a box of chickens (for eggs) and three dogs (to eat?). It was the smelliest longest most miserable bus trip, well until my next overnighter in Peru. We arrived at about 13,000 feet on the banks of Lake Titicaca, and watched the sun come up over the highest navigable lake in the world. I then got on a 6 hour bus to Cuzco which was fun, but also quite miserable.

Cuzco is a wonderful city, full of historic spanish buildings built out of the stones which were once ancient Inca buildings. I arrived and got a look at the festival of the sun. Wow! Every city in the province had representivitves and they were all dancing through the streets. I had a great steak dinner which cost a fortune (read 15 dollars but I hadnt eaten anything but old chicken, bread and salami for hours). The dinner was good fun as I sat overlooking the plaza where all the action was. I talked to everybody who sat next to me and actually ended up seeing all of them again in Agaus Callientes. The next day all of the locals left and only tourists were left to see the actual Inti Raymi or Festival of the Sun. We hiked to a few plazas and I actually bought a tour so I wouldnt have to be alone. We saw the sacrifce of a llama and then the burning of the llamas heart to try and determine the future, which looked good. Another note, evrybody in Peru lies constantly. It is actually amazing. I wazs told we would have food, seats and tour guides who spoke quechua on this guided tour. We had no seats, (we sat on a hill with trees blocking the festival), no lunch (a bar of coca leaf grain doesnt count) and I am convinced our guides were making up what the festival was all about. But it was fun, and the next morning Grock came!

More later, right now I need to catch a plane, yea I splurged 11 hours in a bus or 30 minutes in a plane, to Arequipa!

El Norte y el Sur de Chile

2007-06-21T18:55:00.000-07:00

Hola todos! While in Santiago I felt as though I were home. I had a nice bed to sleep in, my parents were there (thanks Andreas and Vicki) and all around it was comfortable and nice. Of course I wanted to leave as quickly as I could. I left the warm house of the Vorwerk´s late one Sunday night for the freezing confines of the Transantiago buses followed by one of the worst, ok the worst busride. I made the HUGE mistake of choosing the window seat in the front of the bus. There were only two seats and I chose wrong. I had so little room that my right foot had to be angled all night. I had dreams of beds, and during the night every single part of my body fell asleep at some point. Despite this my time in Pucon couldnt have been nicer. When I arrived Sergio, the cousin of Cecelia, a grad student in the lab I worked in, picked me up right on time. It was so nice to talk with him as he was super excited to have me and to go on some adventures! We grabbed some bread and made for his house, 30 km out of town. it was the exact opposite of Santiago. No smog, no traffic, just pure nature. He lived with his mom on a piece of land that has its own natural hot springs! They are not quite ready yet, but as I was reminded many times by the time I return they will be. When I arrived we immediately went to a museum, and then began the preperation for an asado we were going to have. I learned the two most important, ok really the only two ingrediants for an asado are lots of meat and lots of beer. We got about 5 pounds of beef ribs and 7 liters of beer, and some tomatoes and other stuff to. We then went for a nice hike to see two lakes near Sergios house, (it aint called the lake region for nothing), and then started the asado. We were forced to do the asado under a little auxilliary house that Sergio had and were thusa bombarder with smoke during the entire process, but we got it done. We had to sit out there stoking the fire, drinking beer, and just having a great time for about 3-5 hours, Im not sure as the beer was steadily working its magic. By the time the ribs were done they were the most beautiful things I have ever seen, crispy, covered in fat, and perfectly tender. Needless to say we ate them all, and went back out to the fire to finish off the beer.

The next day we woke up a little late to a scolding by Sergio´s (and my) mother who was incredulous that we finished as much beer as we did. We then left to see the Cuevas (caves) on the side of the volcan Villarica. As we bagan the ascent we realized we couldnt make it in Sergios car and decided to walk the rest, in about a meter of snow. After an hour or two walk in the snow, (oh yea it was snowing as well), and we arrived. It looked like there wasnt another person around, and I began to blame Sergio, until we saw a girl in the ticket booth. Sergio rapped on the glass and the girl asked, ¨hello have you come to visit the caves?.¨ I had to hit Sergio to keep him from saying, ¨No, we came for a cup of tea,¨ but it was a ridiculous question. After speaking with Sergios friend we got a free tour of the caves and a free ride ont he back of a modified snow pickup with some Brazillians, sweet. That night we had a great soup made with some of the ribs that we didnt use in the Asado, and then we went to a hot springs nearby where Sergio had some friends.

The next day we visited some waterfalls all around Pucon, and had an amazing lunch of homemade Fetuccini Alfredo and great donuts made from pumpkin. After thislunch I decided I was far to comfortable and left for the furthest south point that I would reach, Valdivia.

Valdivia was a cool ciudad, between rivers. The fish market was amzing with some of the freshest fish I have ever seen, and lobos del mar, otherwise known as sea lions, sitting right next to the fishermen witing for scraps. I went for a long walk and ended up by some forts which were used to defend the city from attacks by pirates and by the native mapuche who kicked the settlers butts quite a few times. I had some great fish for lunch and then saw the news which featured Santiago up to it neck in water and I knew I had to head back for some snowboarding.

The busride back was so much better than the one down, it cost less, the legroom was immense , and it even smelled better. I arrived back in Santiago to find the rumors of traffic were not exagerated too much as it took em about two hours to get across town. However the sun was incredible, the first sunlight I saw in Santiago. It looked especially amazing as it struck all of the two meters of snow that had fallen in the preceeding two days! As I already wrote, I went snowboarding two days, the second being incredible, the first indecipherable.

It was near this time that my good friend Andrew Grock, AKA Grockster, emailed me and informed me of his plans to meet me in Peru ASAP. I therefore dropped everything, left for La Serena with plans to head to Northern Chile and Peru as fast as I could hop on a bus.

Let me tell you something, if you can avoid arriving in a city in the morning (5 oclock in this case) definetly avoid it. Another note, busdrivers know which will be worse, arriving too early or too late, and will always try to accomodate you. In this case we were meant to arrive at 6, but there we were, groggy as hell at 5 in the morn. Despite this, I made my way to Valle del Elqui and the little town of Pisco Elqui. It turned out to be the right stop as it was a beautiful little valley of grape farms and distilleries. I rented a bike and rode for a while, (until my bike broke I think I am far too big to ever rent a bike as I always manage to break rentals, see Ecuador) I then toured a Pisco distillery and drank some of the good stuffa, followed by a wonderful hamburger and drinks in the bike rental guys bar.

The following day I managed to escape the valley on the first bus of the day at 12:30 and made my way to La Serena to buy a ticket for Arica, site of a surf contest with the top 40 surfers in the world! And thats where I am now. A great little town in the middle of the desert, with a world class surf break, and great rotisserie chicken, (a whole chicken for less that 5 bucks). Tomorrow I will continue my gawking at the surfers and then head to Tacna, Peru where I will catch a bus to Cuzco for the Winter Solstice festival on the 24th, and my reunion with Grock on the 25th.

Chile, Estados Unidos of the South

2007-06-20T13:13:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the long delay I have just been living in LA-LA land for the last few weeks. After arriving in Santiago de Chile on the 4th of June I changed my money in for thousands of Pesos thinking I was in for a good time. A few seconds later i spent all that I had to catch a bus to the house of Andreas, Vicki, Felix and Max Vorwerk, my family in Chile! Initially it was great to be out of Hostels so for the first day I just hung out and rested under what I thought were cloudy skies but later found out was a substance familiar to my heart, smog. I helped Max, my second cousin (our grandparents were brother and sister), take these three great dogs for a walk in the hills above Santiago, ang the next day went to school with Max. Basically I was one of the family. The next day I went to the center of Santiago and visited an amazing pre-columbian art museum, where I thought of my sister who did her thesis on that type of art. That night I went out with some of Max´s friends to a bar and to a disco, the whole time I was trying to size up the differences in the way i was seeing the city compared to my normal methods of hanging in a hostel near the center of the city.

Later on I was invited surfing with some of Max´s friends, Pancho and his friend. I was told by Pancho to be ready at 4, but being pretty smart I called him at 4 to find out that he wouldnt be there until later, lucky me. The drive was beautiful, especially as the sun began to rise over un-smoggy hills. When we arrived at the beach and I eventually found my way into the water I realized that my rented wetsuit was completely inadequete. Wow was it cold. I caught a few waves before I completely lost feeling in my feet and hands. However before we got in Pancho told me I had to stay in for a while so as not to be a mariposon, like a wimp but a more negative conotation of being a butterfly as well (god only knows why that is so terrible). Therefore, when I finally got out I experienced some of the worst pain of my life as my feet were completely numb to my high ankles and it was pretty difficult to walk. I only regained feeling in all 20 toes after about an hour and a half. Anyway, it was really fun to be out of Santiago. The next day we had a great lunch with the family in which Max and Felix cooked, and then I left for Pucon on a night bus to visit the cousin and aunt of Cecelia.

Before I leave Santiago let me tell you a few things. It is big, and by big I mean Los Angeles big. Starting that comparison, let me just finish it. LA, terrible public transportation, Santiago, a new bus system called transantiago which is the subject of complaints on EVERY single episode of the nightly news the whole time Ive been in Chile, and which takes an hour to reach any where in the city. LA, smog, ditto Santiago. LA, miserably selfish people obsessed with money. Well this is difficult bc of my limited experience, but yea most people I met, obviously not my family or any of there friends, were very closed off and inacessible, and yes selfish. Example? Anytime, anywhere, if you are standing or sitting in someones way and they wish to get around you, they will not ask if you can move, or tap you lightly, they will just sort of push you. I think this is a manifestation of selfishness, but I could be wrong. Despite these obvious flaws, my family and their friends were some of the most warm and welcoming people I have ever met, and welcomed me into their lives as though I had always been there. Including speaking German at a birthday dinner for Andreas in which I was the only one of about 13 people who didnt know what the heck was going on. And in the middle Vicki asks me if I understand anything in spanish and I answered in English, ¨no, Im confused¨ to the uproirous laughter of everybody at the table. I really was confused. I had been speaking spanish with Sergio, (cecelias cousin) and then read an entire book in English on the way home, and then spent a whole night trying to speak German, I couldnt speak properly in any language for days!

So as you may have figured I spent more time in Santiago after Pucon. When I got back to Santiago they had just recieved over 2 meters of snow and I was able to go on the first day of the season to Valle Nevado, a mountain just over 12,000 feet which is only 40 minutes from Santiago. The first day was great, well scratch that, the snow was great but the visibility was about as bad as it can be. I tried to snowboard but continually almost injured myself falling off small cliffs which were completely invisible to me. I got a few great runs in knee deep powder and vowed to return. And return I did, the next day. I went with Felix and his friend Sven and Svens girlfriend who happened to have a cabin directly on the slopes. Wow, I couldnt imagine two more different days. The first day I took a miserable bus to the slopes which took forever and cost a fortune, the second day rode up in style in Svens Range Rover. The first day I couldnt see an thing, the second day the sun was shining and I could almost see the ocean. It was incredible! Felix and I did so many runs, I was in the powder and he was on the groomed runs initially, but I convinced him to do some crazy stuff with me. We did a chute between two rocks and got fresh tracks on a black diamond that was closed off, it was sweet. I had one of the best days ever bc I wasnt with the powder hounds of California and was able to get fresh tracks from bottom to top, which never ever happens in Cali. Anyway, I finished off my Santiago experience the right way and took off to La Serena in the north, where I am writing now before getting on a bus to Arica which will cover about 1,500 km and 19 hours!

Pictures of Chile

2007-06-09T22:33:00.001-07:00

These are the most recent pictures I have taken! Starting with Aconcagua 22,841 the highest peak in the western Hemisphere out of the airplane to Santiago. Next is my cousin Max and I at his University. The next pic is the Moneda palace which was raided by Pinochet during the (very bloody) coup in 1973, followed by pictures from a surf trip to the coast today. In the one with the surfer you can also see Aconcagua which is clear across Chile, neat!

Colonia, and goodbye to Beautiful Uruguay

2007-06-05T10:45:00.000-07:00

Arriving in Colonia, a little (you guessed it) colonial village on the coast I went looking for something to eat. I found this cool little restaurant called the Drugstore in the center of little cobblestone streets and right next to the central square. I was enticed to go in by Luisa, the manager of the place. She spoke impeccable English and after convincing me that I wanted to eat there told me about her amazing life working with a fake social security number in New York, and as a chef in Porugal. She appeared to be about 35, but that may have been 35 years old like my dad is 35... I also met Maia, this beautiful waitress with whom I immediately fell in love. But as I was leaving the next day, I merely promised to return someday...

The next day I woke up, took a ferry to Buenos Aires, again with the Austrians, and ate lunch in San Telmo. Lunch was my last Argentinian Steak and boy was it good. Covered with Roquefert cheese and bloody as hell, all for 5 dollars!

I made my way to the airport after buying more Yierba Mate (it has become quite the addiction) and on to Santiago de Chile!

Montevideo, Capital of my heart

2007-06-05T10:12:00.000-07:00

After the initial rough around the edges appearence, I really had a great time. Montevideo is so laid back I could have been in San Fran, Ca. Every street has London Plain trees which give it this great feel, and it definetly was the safest city Id been in a while. I just walked around with the swiss girl the first day while alternately bargaining for a new mate and bombilla, and looking in museums (all free). Every person I met was so friendly, and the girls, wow. I think the girls in Uruguay are the most beautiful. Well, the Argintinas are nice as well, but they all seem so full of themselves that I feel like Im back in LA. The Uruguayenas on the other hand are very innocent and just drop dead gorgeous.

While in Brazil my budget sort of flew out the window, so I decided to get back on track here in Uruguay. The first night I made some great lentils in the kitchen, and a sandwich for lunch the next day. The 200 grams of cheese, 200 gs salami, giant loaf of bread, 6 eggs, 200 gs lentils, 2 onions, head of garlic, tomato, and 2 carrots all together cost...4$! I was stoked, food for two days for almost nothing, I love this place. The next day we walked to the beach and watched kite surfers for a while. When we walked over to say hi to them one of the guys invited us to their house for a party on saturday night. Then we went to a farmers market\garage sale and got some amazing grapes and arrugula, and a CD of Puro Rock from Uruguay.

That night I started drinking beer at about 1 am and went to some clubs with the Brazillian guys. It was great fun, dancing and drinking and all that, and no smoking inside, what a progressive country! The best and worst thing were the girls. They were all so beautiful, but completely unaccessible. I wasnt looking for a girlfriend but just someone to dance with a little. That proved to be impossible as the guys are so aggressive, that girls are afraid to even talk to you.

Anyway, made it home at around 6:30 and slept most of Sat in anticipation of a great night on Sat. This night was different. It started with going over to another Brazillians house, a guy who had stayed at the hostel for a few months but later moved to an apt in the center of town. He was actually on his way to Michigan, Ann Arbor to work on his PhD in Sociology This proved very usefull as the brazillians and I started on a night long discourse on social inequities and the problems of raising children in this day and age in the United States and Brazil, and why people were so different in Uruguay. We also foreyed into Politics, with the main question being, how in the hell did Bush win a second time??? The discusion tailed off at around the 9th liter of beer at which point we left for Almodobar, one of the big clubs. The night reminded me of Spain, with tons of people in the streets and lots of little clubs along two main streets. We had a great time dancing and being rejected by girls, when finally at around 8 in the morning we went to, god forbid, McDonalds and continued our analysis of the United States, with the conclusion that if people have everything, as in the States, they will be as (or more) unhappy as people who have nothing.

After a long sleep I left to Colonia to sleep and ponder the questions of the Universe, or at least this planet.

Goodbye to Brazil, Gremio, Inter and hello again to Brazillians

2007-06-05T09:47:00.000-07:00

A few days ago I left Canela with a heavy heart, after thoroughly enjoying myself, making new friends and partying in the clubs I said goodbye to Vagner and the amazing 5.50 cent buffet libre in which he worked. After extensive planning, making phone calls to Porto Allegre in portugese is not the easiest thing to do in the world, I hopped on a bus for Porto Allegre and an 8:30 overnighter to Montevideo, Uruguay. I didnt realize that Gremio, one of Porto Allegre's futball teams was in the semifinals of the Copa Libertadores and was playing in Porto Allegre that night! Of course we drove right by the stadium along with 60,000 screaming honking fans, (I think they won), and I hopped on the bus mere seconds before it left for Uruguay.

A little about Porto Allegre Futball. Inter, the other PA team last year won the Copa Libertadores, championship of South America, and then finished by beating Barcelona, the champion of europe. They are therefore known as the campeons del mundo. This year it looks like Gremio is going to win, didnt I say that PA is the futball capital of the world?

Anyway, back to bus reality. When I first got on I met all the other travellers, one of whom was a catholic priest from Ecuador, and two others were travellers from Austria. I could never tell if they were boyfriend girlfriend, or father and Daughter, but I ended up seeing them several more times, finishing with lunch in BA. The bus was nice, big seats lots of room, but the road made up for that, nice and bumpy. We made it through customs at about 3 in the morn, thank you german passport! And got to Montevideo at 8 in the morning. I beelined it for a hostel and slept for a few hours before breakfast.

A little about hostels. Each hostel has its own personality and therefore its own charms and problems. The charms include breakfast, free internet, the problems horrible beds, loud roomates and absolutely horrible bathrooms. At first it seemed this one suffered the problems with no redeeming factors, my room was occupied by a smoking man, possibly from Saudi Arabia (I was told), the bathrooms were wet all over, with no hot water and no toilet paper, and the bed, wow, the mattress stunk and was about as effective as a single sheet over a wooden plank. Despite these problems it soon became my favorite hostel!

I moved rooms, put two mattress on top of each other and learned to use the bathroom before the guys from Bangledesh did, (they were the source of the water apparently). I met a nice girl from Switzerland who only spoke spanish with me, and 3 great Brazillians who were studying Architecture in Montevideo, and they had a fireplace in the hostel which kept things nice and toasty.

Porto Allegre, Canela all you can eat and the freezing southern winds

2007-05-29T13:43:00.000-07:00

From now on I will always pay the extra 5 dollars to not sit on the slow bus anywhere! Instead of six hours the bus to PA took 9 hours! With stops every few minutes it was pretty difficult after a while, but I made it to saturday night in Porto Allegre. Well it wasnt quite what I thought it would be. The center is not realy where you want to be on Sat, its full of shady characters and homeless guys, not quite the lively party scene I was expecting. The hotel I stayed at was nice enough, but the guy at the front desk put me next to the elevator; and by next to the elevator I mean my head was about 6 inches from it. Needless to say sleep was controlled by how much people went up and down. Good thing they stopped at around 3 and didnt start until 7, when I promptly woke up. I decided that walking around the town would be fun on a sun morn, maybe a little shopping, sightseeing... well the shady characters were still around and I literally had to run at one point when 4 guys tried to surround me, needless to say I decided to flee while I still had the majority of my posessions. Thinking quickly I read about a little mountain town called Canela, and took the first bus there!

The two towns had about as much in common as New York and Ojai. When I got here I spent the day walking around sipping mate and eating chocolate; (apparently this area absorbed a lot of Italians and Germans) What a great town! I met a couple of nice brothers in the hostel who spoke spanish, one of whom was a midget as well, of course we got along famously! The only problem with this town is the complete and utter absence of any form of heating, be it a fireplace or central heating. The showers also are not heated by water heaters but instead by these little electric things attached to the water flow above your head. They dont work that well. Despite what I thought was adequete planning, I was not prepared for the cold. I dont know why not, maybe my body is used to summer right now and my internal thermostat is turned way down, but Im wearing 6 layers, every long sleeve shirt I own and my jacket at all times and still Im pretty cold! Despite the cold, the people here are warm as can be. I already made a few friends and went to a great open mike night last night. Today I just got back from a long (10K) hike to this waterfall which falls 130 m and has a lot of falcons and other rapiers which live near them! I just had a great lunch of all you can eat Buffet with my friend Vagner, and we made plans to go out tonight to some club in the next town over.

I forgot to mention the all you can eat spots in Brazil, well there are a lot of them! It is pretty amzing, every Churrascuria, or meat grill place is all you can eat, and most cost 5 dollars! There are numerous buffet livres for lunch with some only costing 3.50. Lets just say if I were a certain Andre two chicken I would be in hog heaven!

More later, hopefully tomorrow when I transfer pics onto the site!

Brazil, land of sun, surf and spandex!

2007-05-29T12:54:00.000-07:00

Well, last time I left you guys I was on my way on an overnight bus to the Isla Santa Caterina, also known as Floripa and as Florinopopoulis. As I got on the bus I made the acquaintance of a nice Kiwi (from New Zealand) Virginia who now lives in London. We talked for a while and decided to try to get a place together on the Island as it is cheaper to get doubles than singles. Wow did we luck out, we got a place with two bedrooms, a porch, a a great view of the nicest beach, playa ingles! It was so great to be there! It was sunny and warm, and the ocean was so nice to swim in. The beach we were at didnt have too many waves, but there was one only a few minutes away that had some pretty big ones, so I set out to do some surfing! But apparently no. During the months of May and June surfing is prohibited on the island so that fisherman can catch a particular type of fish. Now Im really not so sure about this as I never saw the fisherman actually fishing, more just drinking beer on the beach, and I could really not figure out how in any way surfing would affect their ability to sit on the beach and drink, but there it was.
The best part of Brazil is the people. They are without doubt the nicest and warmest people I have ever met. They helped me with everything, from figuring out the right bus to take to where to get a haircut. The man at the front desk of out hotel was so happy all the time it was amazing, he always had a smile on his face, and was always there to help. I think after working in a hotel for a whgile I would not be the happiest of people but he was! Anyway, I did have a great time for three days, relaxing on the beach reading, sunbathing, and drinking the best beer; Antarctica Pilsen. I began formulating a plan at this point and decided to head south and eventually back to BA to fly to Chile to save money on transportation and lodging. Therefore after a few days I headed to Porto Allegre, the Soccer capital of South America!

Iguazu Falls and Swiss guy

2007-05-28T13:25:00.000-07:00

When I finally arrived in Iguazu I looked for a posada with my own room which I needed after sharing with 6 anonymous people in BA. I found one where I was the only person, and proceded to wash clothes without realizing that the extreme humidity would induce mildew and not drying of my clothes. After a wholly unsatisfying lunch I went for a satifying hike among the forest which surround Pto. Iguazu. After a great night sleep, I took off on the earliest bus to Iguazu, ok the 5th of the day, but whos counting? The falls were everything I thought and much more! They were the most powerfull falls I have ever seen, especially now bc it is the rainy season and they are swollen with brown water from the jungle. I guess I cant even really put into words how cool they were, but eating lunch with this swiss guy I met at the edge of the biggest one, we agreed that lonely planet had it right, this is what europeans must have thought the edge of the world looked like. After a 8 km hike to another fall, we went back and had a lunch-dinner of all you can eat Parilla for 5 dollars. At this point I decided I would go to Brazil using my German passport which would help me avoid the visa necessary for US citizens (along with the hefty 150$ price). I tried to book a flight to Rio, failed and decided to bus it (20hrs). First the swiss guy and I went to the Itaipu dam which according to the dam people produces the most hydroelectric energy in the world. A little about the swiss guy: He was at the tail end of an 8 month journey and was a little disillusiuoned with travelling. Also he was quite the addict, with cigarettes and mate chief among them. He did manage to connect me with this great site, hospitality club, with which you can stay with locals all over the world for free! I signed up already. However, later that day at the Bus station, I decided against Rio, and instead went to Isla Santa Caterina!

Buenos Aires

2007-05-28T13:09:00.000-07:00

Hello all! Sorry for the long delay between posts! After leaving Quito, and being stuck in the Lima airport for 5 hours, until 4 am for a 4 hour flight, I made it to BA! I caught a ride from some nice Venezuelen women, one of which had an art opening in the Palermo district, read rich, area of BA. I just walked around the city, fighting off a cold, the whole first day. I saw the balcony where Evita said, Dont cry for me Argentina, or at least I think she did. I also got to see the birthplace of Tango, which was cool, but the best part was lunch! I walked to what I was told was a cheap and good place for lunch and boy was it! Only 3 dollars for a huge plate of Ribs cooked up fresh! After the big lunch and a nice nap I met the first of many Israelis in the hostel. Wow, it seems only Israelis are travelling these days. Anyway, after a nice dinner with them we ended up walking around the city the next day together and switching hostels to the Palermo district. The new hostel was a questionable improvement, but the area was much better. We found an all you can eat Sushi place for dinner, it was so good! The next day we went to the Zoo! I finally got some pictures of monkeys, the same kind I saw in the jungle, but this time they were moving a lot less. After another filling and cheap lunch at a parillada (grill) and another nap, we went out to experience the famous BA nightlife. Wow, it was poretty amazing! We went to Opera Bay where there were 3 different dance floors, one with Rap, one with rock and one with electronica. I talked with some Argintinian girls who didnt believe that I was from the US bc my accent was so good, I know it was weird, I guess they thought I was messing up on puropose. Anyway, at about 6, after dancing all night, I decided I had had enough and went homne and slept until 2 pm, when there was a BBQ on the roof of the hostel! After another night of the BA nightlife, I decided I had had enough, and at 7 am I made an online reservation to go to the Igauzu falls on an 18 hr overnight bus, good thing I was kicked out of the hostel at 11 am, bc I slept the whole 18 hrs! I have to mention that this day was pretty hard. I really felt the absence of anything familiar, and felt pretty alone. I mean BA was nice and all, but it was so big and such a city that I just wanted to get out. Goog thing Puerto Iguazu was different.

The Oriente, Cuyabeno Rainforest

2007-05-15T11:20:00.000-07:00

After awakening numerous times throughout the ride, I finally awoke at 6 in the small border town of Lago Agrio, where I promptly lost the incredibly ineffective clock which I had brought. Lacking any timepiece, we travelled (I say we meaning the Guide, Jiro, and a Texan couple) for another three hours to the entrance of the Cuyabeno reserve, and then three more hours by boat to the camp. On the way in we saw three species of monkey, and many more of birds. The Camp was a little rustic, but what can you expect in the middle of the rainforest? We had a great dinner followed by a night walk in which we saw a Tapir and many, many insects including tarantulas, giant locusts, several other types of spiders, and more mosquitos and moths than stars in the sky. As a sidenote, this was where the relationship which the Texan couple had was elucidated. Apparently you can describe the husband as a ¨mandarino¨ which I was informed of by my guide. This means he is someone who is dominated by his wife. It may be that he was shorter than her, or that she had an MBA, JD and was an accountant, and he was the son of Immigrants from Puerto Rico, but he sure got told by his wife. Nonetheless, she was also the type of person who needed something to complain about, and was completely illogical- traits shared by many americans. Back to the story: The next day we went on a 4 hour hike in which I learned about many different plants, but didnt see too many animals. After lunch we went to see a 3 meter long Anaconda which some of the guides friends spotted, and our guide almost grabbed. And then we went to a village in which we helped to make Cassava bread from the roots of Yuca plants, and I was attacked by sand flies. Over a hundred bites later, we went to sleep, but not before the woman had complained enough that she decided to leave early the next day with her mandarino in tow. The next day was the best! We went out early, and as the woman refused, Jiro and I jumped in a little canoe at 6 am to paddle around. We spotted two more types of monkeys, one even had a baby on its back. Also some really rare birds which I didnt think were quite as cool, but was assured that they were ¨oro¨or gold to bird lovers. We then managed to lose the texans on our way to lago grande where we fished for Piranha with hunks of bloody steak. I caught two, and made them eat stuff, which was cool. We then had lunch and then a long swim in the lake, with the Piranhas. As long as you are not bleeding apparently they are quite safe. After another long hike we watched the sunset and bagan looking for caiman, which are like crocodiles. Again, Jiro almost caught one. I on the other hand realized that the thing on my leg was a huge wolf spider! Jiro calmly caught it and put it on my hand, that was pretty scary, its fangs were about an inch long. On the boat ride home I swallowed about 300 gnats and mosquitos, but we managed to catch a small boa. The next morning we awoke at 3 am, and did the whole trip back to the airport, there was no way I was going to take a 9 hour bus. After arriving in Quito Mark, Aline, and some of their friends went out dancing. Sunday we went shopping, and yesterday I went to a place called Papallacta where I went for a hike at 10,000 feet and sat in more hot springs.

Today I go to Buenos Aires at 9 pm, for yet another overnight trip. I am so excited about BA! Cheap steak, great wine, and parties till 6 in the morn!

Ill write more soon, same channel...

Ecuador-Tonsupa, Banos

2007-05-15T10:43:00.000-07:00

Hello all, sorry I havent written in a while, but I was busy making sure I had something to write about.
I went to the Middle of the World, or so I was assured by the museum there. Apparently the Spaniards couldnt figure out the real equator, so about 300 meters from this big monument there is a little museum which shows you cool stuff. They claim the correalis effect is visualized when moving a trough of water form the equator to about 6 feet on either side of it. I managed to disprove this. The equator, or near it, is the only place you can get water to go straight down as it drains through a hole. In the northern hemisphere it will always go clockwise, while in the southern it will go counterclockwise. So first they show water draining straight, which is cool, then they move the trough to the northern side, but as they pour the water in, they pour it in such a way as to induce a clockwise motion, and then repeat the feat on the southern side, inducing a counterclockwise motion. So of course I, as a graduate of several Physics classes, had to object, and was able to create a counterclockwise motion in the northern hemisphere. Needless to say, they had excuses, mainly that near the equator the pull is different and that I just induced it, which is what I said to them. But it was pretty cool that the water would drain stright down, bc that you cannot see anywhere else but the equator.

After that Mark got the day off work and we went to the top of Pichincha, the volcanoe overlooking Quito. We were at 4,100 meters, which is about 13,000 feet above sea level, the highest I have ever been in my life! We tried to go for a walk, which was quite difficult, and after it started hailing, we decided to investigate the effects of alcohol at that altitude. Later that night we got on an overnight bus to Esmereldas, specifically the beach at Tonsupa. First overnight bus went well, except that the seats are made for 5 foot tall ecuadorians, and the bus drivers are a little manic. I took two sleeping pills and some whisky, and still only slept for about 2 hours. The beach was great though. Even though when we got there I was informed that nobody brought a camera because their friend was robbed at gunpoint a few weeks before on the same beach. Nothing more dramatic than a little sunburn, and some great bodysurfing happened to us. We stayed in a condo overlooking the beach, there were seven of us, including Mark´s friend Jem, who as it turned out was a male ¨dancer,¨ and his other friend Megan, from Alabama. After I informed Jem that I couldn´t move my hips independently from the rest of my body, and Megan that when I was a kid my dad threatened to send me to Alabama if I was bad, I think they both took a liking to me. Anyway, we had a great time, got back to Quito after eating great seafood, and drinking more than a few Pilsener beers.

Banos-Un pedazo del cielo
First thing Monday I took off for Banos, a small town with great thermal baths and all kinds of cool outdoor activities to do. On the way there I learned that Buses in Ecuador will stop anywhere at any time, and that you are not very bright if you catch the bus at the bus station. Apparently it is even favorable to stand outside the bus station because no matter what time they tell you the bus is leaving, it is guarenteed to leave an hour more later. After driving through all of Quito, offering rides to everybody we passed, we got on our way to Banos. It ended up being an great drive, even though some guys tried to steal my bag: I saw the first erupting volcano of my life! After finding a room at a great little hostel, I got some food, a burrito, and then headed to the Thermal baths. I was informed by a nice scottish fellow that he had eaten at the same place the day earlier and along with the rest of his family, was still suffering gastrointestinal strife as a result. I managed to survive the ravages of the burrito and ate some fairly decent italian food, followed by an early night to prepare for the following day in which I bike rode 20 km past 8 waterfalls, jumped off a 30 meter bridge attached to a few ropes, and went canyoning in which I repelled down a 45 foot waterfall! I then got on another overnight bus to Lago Agrio and the mysteries of the Rainforest.

Quito, land of lost baggage

2007-05-02T13:44:00.000-07:00

Yea, first thing that can go wrong. Continental lost my bag somewhere in Houstan, guess I shouldn´t have tried to bring all those nudie mags with me, all the customs guys got stuck reading them. I have still had a great trip. I met the nicest people on the way down: A nice couple in LAX on their way to Sonoma, and a guy, Matt and his kid jackson from Memphis on the plane to Houstan. Wow, Memphis is a much different place than LA, apparently if you don´t have a concealed weapon you are just asking to get robbed! And on January first everybody in town waterskis in 25 degree weather on the Mississippi! Sounds like I need to visit.

Quito is great though, Mark picked me up from the airport last night, sans backpack, and I spent the day walking around the old town. Old town Quito is all colonial buildings and is pretty much identical to Spain. Everybody wears suits and it feels really safe which is nice. There are even old men napping in the main plaza, just like Spain! There are two large volcanos on the east and west sides of the city so the city only runs north south. Tomorrow, I am going to go to the Mitad del Mundo, and see the correalis effect, and other such fun stuff. This weekend Mark, his girlfriend Aline and I will go to the beach. Apparently it is the best time to go as it is winter. Next week I am goiong on a 3-4 day jungle tour in the oriente, just to make sure all those vaccines I got really work.

Schedule

2007-04-29T16:20:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to list my schedule, or at least what I know.

Tuesday May 1st
Quito, Ecuador to stay with my friend Mark and his girlfriend who are there teaching english. I will probably do a few one or two day trips, and then Mark and I will go on longer trips on the weekends.

Tuesday May 15th
Buenos Aires, Argentina. I have no plans other than to explore and travel to Santiago, Chile over land. I will go to Pucon to visit Cecelia's family and Santiago to visit my own family.

Friday June 22nd
Lima, Peru. Again, no plans except to explore the country and to surf.

Monday July 9th
Panama City, Panama. Meet Max, surf and travel to Costa Rica, eventually to Guatemela to visit Imogen and friends.

Wednesday August 29th
Los Angeles, CA. Travel back to the real world, and begin Grad school at UCSF in middle Sept.

This is the website for my grad program in case you're interested
http://www.ucsf.edu/ccb/

Leaving Los Angeles

2007-04-27T00:40:00.000-07:00

Hello all,

Im finally getting ready to leave for Ecuador. Just got waterproof shoes, repellent, and sunglasses, hope I dont need too much more. I guess this is the last time I will be living in Los Angeles. For the first time in my life I will call another place, San Francisco, home. But right now its time to see the world, or at least a part of South America.