Day 426: Bogota’s Free Walking Tour & Gold Museum

We were on the fence about how long we were going to stay in Bogota. We kept hearing conflicting opinions. Bogota was better than Medellin. No, Medellin was better. We were at a loss of where to spend more time before catching a flight to the coast. In the end, despite liking Bogota quite a bit, we decided to head to Medellin sooner in hopes it would be warmer. So with our last day in Bogota (today) we went on the free walking tour, checked out Museo del Oro (The Gold Museum) and even hopped in a taxi to check out the Usaquen Flea Market.

Because we were suddenly pressed for time, we signed up for the free walking tour in Spanish, reassuring ourselves that we needed the practice. Despite understanding most of the Spanish, I was still grateful our guide was bilingual and often gave us a quick recap in English to make sure we understood. The tour wasn’t very long, but it was nice to have a few things pointed out to us that we would have missed otherwise. Below is the president’s house, an elite high-school (if I remember correctly) and a statue commemorating Colombia’s independence.

I felt pretty safe in Bogota. It was grimy and it didn’t always look the safest, but there were so many police officers around looking out for city-dwellers and tourists alike. You can see two officers on the corner below. I think there were four in total. Mostly because this street led to the president’s house, office, and many political buildings… but still, I was grateful and appreciated being able to keep my camera out instead of buried in a backpack on Andrew’s back throughout our entire visit.

We stopped by the cultural center where a public dance class was being held. They were learning (or practicing) the tango. After the tour, Andrew and I had a traditional lunch: an order of ajiaco (a super hearty soup full of chicken, potatoes, and more) and then made our way towards the Museo del Oro a few blocks away. The walk there was full of pedestrians, street performers, human statues, and vendors.

We didn’t plan on visiting the Gold Museum on its ‘free day.’ This was a bit of a mistake. It was packed. So packed, we would speed walk through certain exhibition spaces that were too crowded for our liking. It offers an impressive display of gold and pre-Colombian artifacts. I loved the clay pieces you see above, and was a little disappointed we didn’t see any recreations for sale outside of the museum. I also loved the earrings below. I usually prefer silver, but I would not pass up the opportunity to have a wall full of gold earrings if the opportunity ever presents itself!

The Usaquen Flea Market was a little far, and only seemed accessible by car (or taxi in our case). I was expecting a more traditional flea market, full of used goods, antiques, and the like. The ‘flea’ market was a little more crafty and perhaps trendy(?) than I would have liked. Andrew really wasn’t this grumpy while we strolled through the market, but I thought his expression fit our overall experience.

I debated buying a wooden door (slightly similar to those I admired so much in Salento) but they weren’t nearly as colorful, and in the end settled for a slice of raspberry cheesecake instead.

Day 425: Monserrate

Monserrate is a mountain on the edge of Bogota that holds a church and beautiful panorama views of the city below. We unknowingly went on a Sunday (our sense of what day it is has been long gone) and despite the little bit of rain we still had to navigate our way around the many pilgrims that had made the climb, or rode the tramway or funicular (like we did) to the top. By the time we made it into the church, a mass was well underway. We checked out the chapel in the back, made our way back down the mountain and headed towards the Botero Museum before calling it a day.

Apparently – according to Wikipedia, The people of Bogota believe, if a dating couple visits Monserrate, the relationship will be cursed and will not last. Andrew assures me that this does not apply to us. “We are so beyond dating.”

“What are we then?” I asked, curious and all about putting him on the spot and blogging all. about. it.

“We are in love.” He responded. And I rolled my eyes.

Back down in the heart of Bogota, we decided to duck into the Botero Museum on our way back to our guesthouse. I’m pretty sure this was the first time we were able to walk into an art museum on this trip and not have to pay an outrageous fee. We didn’t have to pay at all! A free art museum! Point for Bogota – and Botero!

From the courtyard of Museo Botero, we could see Monserrate and the church atop. Usually pilgrims make it a point to go up for dusk, but I thought the view of the mountain at dusk was pretty from below! As we made our way back to our guesthouse before it became too dark (and perhaps a little too dangerous to walk around with my camera) we stopped to watch a street performance that was suuuper popular with everyone else. It was a bit hard to follow, but they seemed to be a big hit with the locals. For part of their performance they were singing in Spanish, judging by the amount of laughs, it must have been pretty hilarious. Practicing my newly acquired Spanish in Colombia is not the easiest thing. The dialect or accent is getting harder and harder to understand the more north we travel.

Day 424: Street Art in Bogota

It was supposed to take us eight hours to get from Armenia to Bogota. It took us fifteen.

We later found out that this is fairly common. We shared a taxi into the city with two other travelers and after dropping them off, we arrived at our guesthouse in Bogota around midnight, utterly exhausted. In my efforts to not bore you with another day of us sitting on a bus, or complaining about sitting on said bus, I put together a melange of street art that we discovered during our stay in Bogota. Just in our late night taxi ride from the station to our guesthouse alone, I was amazed by the beautiful murals along the highway. They were everywhere. They were beautiful. They were big. While it was too dark to shoot footage from the cab at night, I found some other equally impressive art throughout Bogota and tried to record as much of it as I could. Had we known from the start of our stay, we would have readily gone on the Bogota Street Art Tour, but didn’t find out about it until we were on our way out of the city.

There are some impressive artists in Bogota. Unfortunately the links that the aforementioned tour provide didn’t work for me, except this one. DJLU was one of my favorites. Also scattered around the city, were these public sculptures of famous artists as well as political and historical figures sitting on rooftops. As well as a few colorful walls and doors dotted the streets as well. How could I refuse taking a picture of this pretty juxtaposition of color?

Day 423: Halloween in Salento!

A year ago, we were celebrating Halloween in Chiang Mai, Thailand. We didn’t exactly celebrate, per say, but we were there. Halloween in Salento, Colombia is a significantly bigger deal. Everyone seemed to congregate in the town square and the main road just off the square. There was a parade – and by ‘parade’ I mean some police vehicles leading a lot of mothers and young children through the town. It was adorable. We strolled around town, sat and watched children run from storefront to storefront screaming what I believe was the equivalent of “trick or treat!” and enjoyed what felt like our first festive holiday on the entire trip. It was nice to feel like we were a part of something, even though we were very much the visitors. It also made me look forward to celebrating holidays back home. I just might turn into that girl who wraps her front door in wrapping paper on Christmas, makes heart pancakes on Valentines Day, and dresses like a leprechaun on St. Patricks Day.

Andrew really wanted me to get a picture of the square (and the church) with the mountains in the background. Unfortunately the cloud coverage got in the way. I don’t think this picture really does the scene justice, but I’m sharing nonetheless.

I LOVED the doors and walls of Salento. All of them were beautifully painted and it just added so much character to an already lovely ambiance. I would have photographed absolutely every door if the light would have allowed. Instead, I managed to squeeze one of the main street as dusk and more trick-or-treaters took over.

Day 422: Horseback Riding in Salento

Truth: We spent the entire day on a bus again. But our following afternoon and evening (Halloween) in Salento was so much fun, I thought I’d break them up so you could see more! Salento is a little town about forty minutes or so outside of a bigger town called Armenia. We merely stopped through to change buses and were pleasantly surprised when we jumped off our final bus in Salento. It’s small. It’s picturesque. It’s friendly. It has a lot to do. We decided to go horseback riding instead of trekking mostly because it had rained the entire day prior and continued to rain as we walked through town hunting down a couple of horses. Luckily two oversized ponchos were strapped on our horses and we were more or less covered for our four hour ride down the mountain, through the rainforest, to a waterfall, and back!

You know when you’re home and you have plans to do something outdoors, and then it rains, and you decide to stay indoors and watch a movie instead? Unfortunately (or fortunately) traveling around the world doesn’t always allow for those kinds of days. If I were in Korea (or Kentucky), I would have definitely curled up on the couch, ordered food, and turned on a movie. In the middle of Colombia- in Salento for only two nights, we climbed on a couple of horses. You can’t really tell by any of the pictures, but it was raining for most of our ride. Thankfully, I was warm enough under the poncho.

We weren’t exactly expecting the ride to follow the road down the mountain. I think I assumed we would be driven down to the rainforest and palms, where we would then climb on a horse and ride for a few hours. Riding the horse through town, and down the mountain took about an hour and weaving around cars and bikes along the way made the horses a little bit skittish. It was nice once we got into the valley and were on a trail instead of a paved road. We also thought we were going through the palm forest (think really, really tall palm trees) but instead we rode through some beautiful fields, crossed some streams, went along the old railway track, and walked to a waterfall that was simply gushing with all of the recent rainwater. It was a great ride, not exactly what we were expecting, but nice nonetheless.

Our climb back up the mountain was tough. Instead of winding our way back into town on the paved road, instead we climbed a muddy ravine that both of our horses struggled with. By the end of our ride, our backs and legs were sore, we were covered in mud, our shoes were squishy from all of the rain and river crossings, and we were starving.

et and very dirty, we went straight for lunch (instead of showers) mostly because we were afraid the restaurant we wanted to try the most would close before we could get cleaned up. I think I may have gotten too comfortable with being dirty on this trip. Or perhaps simply too used to it? Either way, hot showers and washing machines have become a luxury. I’m not sure if the average American would think the same.

Day 421: Popayán

Popayán is known as the white town of the southern region of Colombia. It’s beautiful and quiet, even amidst protestors circling around the main square on our way to get some breakfast. Now that we’re officially in our last country of our trip, we’re starting to feel the effects of our trip coming to an end. It’s exciting and scary and nerve wracking and relieving and overwhelming all at the same time. I’m excited to see loved ones again, but I’m terrified at the thought of returning stateside. At the beginning of this trip, we would tell people we were traveling for 15 months but I’m not sure we actually believed it ourselves. Then living out of a backpack became normal. Visiting Angkor Wat or the Taj Mahal or Petra seems like an ordinary Monday. Meeting friends in foreign cities felt special. Jumping on a bus for 12 (or more) hours seemed like the obvious choice to get from A to B. I’m used to not speaking the local language. I can’t help but eves-drop when I hear a conversation in English because it’s that much harder to equate as background noise. I can’t seem to buy anything without first converting the currency. At this point, I think that my (our) “normal” is probably pretty opposite what is considered “normal” in America. And now I’m supposed to go back? It’s strange. It’s weird. It’s not “normal.” At least to us. And today was one of the first days that it was hitting us.

We walked around the city, bought some strawberries off the street, tried to check out some churches (but they were all closed) and then once it started to rain again, we ducked back indoors for the rest of the afternoon.

Day 420: Pasto to Popayán

Our day, and night was rather uneventful. Pasto is a town to get in and out of. So after only one night, we left early in the morning to catch a bus from Pasto to Popayán and arrived with the rain. Another torrential downpour.

A little while ago, an infographic was being circulated about what different countries led in. Colombia leads in rainfall. At least we are at a lower elevation here than we were in Quito. That rain was cold. This rain wasn’t as cold, but we preferred to stay indoors during the rain. The interior of our hostel was nice and cozy though!

Day 419: Crossing into Colombia + Las Lajas Sanctuary

We were slightly nervous about the border crossing between Ecuador and Colombia. It’s not exactly recommended to travel up through the southern region of Colombia, but it’s significantly safer if you only travel by day, which was our plan! As it turns out, crossing the border was ridiculously easy – lightyears easier than getting into England. Making our way to Las Lajas Sanctuary and then Pasto afterwards to spend the night turned out to be equally easy. Las Lajas Sanctuary is a basilica church built into a canyon in Ipiales just five minutes away from the border. Andrew purposely kept pictures of the church from me so I would be surprised when we arrived. We had all of our bags in tow, and climbed down the canyon (and then back up again) to check out the church before continuing to make our way up through Colombia, well, as much as we could before nightfall.

We forgot it was Sunday, and arrived right in the middle of a mass. While we walked around the outskirts of the church, a local (from Ipiales) stopped to chat. He ran an English school and told us he always liked to practice his own English with visitors passing through. He was so sweet, and little did we know that he would be the first of many lovely Colombians that we would meet throughout the rest of this beautiful country.

With all of the doors to the church open, I snuck a quick picture in from the very back just so you could see what the interior looked like. Beautiful, isn’t it? We walked around to the other side of the canyon, still with all of our bags on our shoulders (and Andrew’s back) to get some pictures. Andrew decided to climb up to the top of the canyon to get even better pictures. I stayed below with all of our bags.

On our way out, I handed my camera off to get a picture of us in front of the church. I had the picture lined up and everything so the entire church would fit into the frame… but that didn't seem to matter. In other words, I should have just whipped out my travel tri-pod. I had it with us after all… I cropped and straightened the other image down because I think this was the first time we were in front of a famous landmark or site with ALL of our possessions.

And then sheer madness broke out. For some reason, we were bombarded by families wanting us to pose for pictures with them. Despite Andrew carrying 3 of our 5 bags, one mother practically forced her young son into his arms. When I managed to sneak away to retrieve my own camera back, Andrew was kept with a different family and I was snagged and ordered to embrace one woman’s husband.

We stopped to catch our breath on the way back up the canyon and this little girl caught my eye. She was sitting with her mother and we exchanged a few smiles while Andrew was busy getting proselytized to by the woman sitting on the other side of him. Not wanting to get sucked into the conversation I continued making eyes with her as she curiously watched both of us. When they left, her and her mother stopped and said hello. A few minutes later, she returned to sing me a song. I really wanted to film it, but she seemed a little nervous as it was. The song went something like this: “Hello Hello I speak English. How are you? Good. Thank you!” It melted my heart.

Day 418: Otavalo

Before making our way across the border into Colombia, we stopped for two nights in Otavalo, Ecuador. Otavalo is a little town that is most famous for it’s markets every Saturday morning and early afternoon. As we walked through town last night, I knew I was going to enjoy our short stay here. While the Ecuadorian coast was nice, and the historical center of Quito very pretty, I think the beauty of Ecuador lies in it’s small towns inland, or in the mountains. I loved Mindo, I had a feeling I was going to love Otavalo as well. It made me feel a little bad we spent most of our time in Ecuador studying Spanish instead of traveling around more smaller towns! We spent the morning at Otavalo’s main market, and then the afternoon searching down the Peguche waterfall outside of town.

It seemed as if the entire city shut down and morphed into a giant market. Granted, the city wasn’t that big, but when all of the streets are suddenly covered in tents and stalls selling everything from skeins of yarn to gold bracelets to pre-Colombian statues to slabs of pork on a plate for a quick lunch it felt huge and delightfully overwhelming. Andrew and I strolled around taking it all in, taking pictures, and seeing what was for sale before we bought anything. We could have bought small and unbreakable things, but we went straight for the pre-Colombian statues (some of which you can see below). More specifically, Andrew wanted them. It’s official. I have rubbed off on him. At least when it comes to buying (and subsequently having to carry around) breakable, slightly heavy and hard to pack souvenirs.

We’ve also seen reproductions based off of Ecuadorian artist, Oswaldo Guayasamín‘s work throughout Ecuador. They were everywhere. In our guesthouses, in restaurants, even on the walls in our Spanish school in Quito. I was hoping I’d be able to find a few prints or hear more about the artist before we left Ecuador. Fortunately the market offered lots of reproductions and we were able to hop from stall to stall pricing out different ones we liked and eventually decided on a few that our future walls simply will not be able to live without. Done shopping, we strolled through the food market (always one of my favorite areas of a market) and took pictures before ducking into one of the restaurants for lunch.

The outskirts of the market offered quieter streets which made it relatively easy to sneak back to our room to drop off our newly acquired art before trekking out of Otavalo to check out the Peguche waterfall. We took a public bus and got off at the suggested stop, but we felt a little lost wandering around a much smaller town with no clear signs of a waterfall.

We were also told it was a weaving capital of the area surrounding Otavalo, but we quickly found out this simply meant there was one shop with very pricey rugs and tapestries inside. I was more impressed with the street art. This little tiny two street town with hardly anyone walking through it offered up some incredible murals. Even in Otavalo offered equally impressive public art.

Even though we asked for directions, walking down this dirt road we were a little skeptical if we were heading in the right direction. There weren’t any signs, no other tourists, so when some locals walked past us, we simply followed them and were relieved when we found ourselves at the entrance of the park and winding trail towards the waterfall. Anxious to catch a public bus back into Otavalo before dark, we didn’t linger in the park too long.

Instead, we walked to yet another small town that wrapped itself around the outskirts of Otavalo in search for the bus or perhaps a taxi if we were lucky. Eventually we were told where we could go, and before the sandflies consumed my exposed legs entirely, we were back on a bus towards Otavalo and heading back to Taco Bello (yep, you read correctly) for another taco salad.

Day 417: Banana Spanish School: a cooking lesson

Banana Spanish School was our third, and last school of our Spanish studies between Peru and Ecuador. Even though I liked Banana Spanish School, I was disappointed with my second week and I have to admit that despite loving the owners/teachers of the school. Our second set of lessons at Sundown Inn (outside of Canoa) were a complete disappointment. That being said, my favorite school was San Blas Spanish School in Cusco, Peru. However, we ended on a super positive note, joining in a cooking class (it was basically a well delegated preparation of one meal for all of us to eat together) where we learned how to make ceviche (with boiled chicken instead of fish).

Our classes at Banana Spanish School were one on one, which reaffirmed my preference of small group classes. I also realized that I need more structure in my lessons. For example, I like following a book because I feel like it allows me to monitor my progress better than learning willy nilly grammar lessons and random lists of vocabulary. Another thing: I need homework. If I don’t have homework, I’m less likely to study after class. Even if it’s just one worksheet, it’s better than nothing. It will force me to practice later and tap into that section of my brain that will otherwise be turned off until class the following morning.

I wish I would have given this some thought. For some reason I naively thought that learning Spanish in South America would be similar to when I studied French in France… or Italian in Italy… or even the few classes of Czech in the Czech Republic. All of these other language classes offered books to follow and there were specific lists of vocabulary that were to be practiced with the given speaking practice assignments and then homework. It was all very similar to how I taught English in Korea. But for some reason, learning Spanish in South America- especially when it was one-on-one was quite different. I’m glad I spent a month learning a new language, but I couldn’t help compare my previous experiences and I felt I got more out of the more structured settings. So, if you’re planning on studying Spanish in South America… perhaps give more thought than I did to the different teaching styles and one-on-one vs. classes and even ask about the structure and homework and general teaching style before you sign up!

I loved my first teacher’s style, and I loved my second teacher’s patience and ability to help me carry on a conversation in Español… but for our second week at Banana Spanish School, my lessons were held in a communal area that was well traveled by other students, and often interrupted by a ringing phone or doorbell. I was so distracted to the point I felt like my progress halted. It pains me to admit this, because I truly liked the instructors, but I would simply recommend only taking lessons here if you make sure you can have lessons in a private room. And (even more painful for me to suggest, yet with the best intentions) request a teacher who is not one of the owners of the school. Because when it comes down to it, a teacher cannot be answering phones, the door, discussing class times with a future student, or even monitoring and grading another (future) student’s test simultaneous to trying to teach me Spanish!

Day 416: The Equator (part 2)

The real equator line lies a short walk away from the monument and park. By short walk, I mean a rather unmarked walk along an expressway where we spent the majority of the time wondering if we were going in the right direction or not. After turning down another unmarked road (that we were told to turn down) we kept walking until we saw a sign for the Museo de Sitio Intiñan. Once inside, we were led on a guided tour through the outdoor museum where we did some experiments and of course, had our picture taken on the real equator.

See what I mean about not knowing where to go? It’s a little bit strange how big and grand the official monument and park are for an inaccurate equator line and then how little (actually there is none) signage between the “two equators.” You would also think that the Museo de Sitio Intiñan would put more effort into the walk in between. For the record, we saw others walking in between, looking just as bewildered as we felt.

We started the tour in a huge group of German tourists, but quickly fled once we realized we couldn’t see, nor hear a thing and started the tour over in a smaller mostly English speaking group. The museum is nice, I think it was a bit more interesting than visiting the monument and fake yellow equator. We watched water drain in different directions on either side of the GPS calculated equator, tried to walk in a straight line with our eyes closed on the it, as well as balance an egg on a nail. Andrew walked out with a certificate confirming his abilities to balance the egg. I fully plan on framing it and hanging it up, if he lets me. An hour later, we were back in Quito for one more night, one more Spanish lesson, and one more afternoon in Quito before we started making our way north towards Colombia.

Day 415: The Equator (part 1)

Truth: This yellow line is not the equator, or “middle of the earth” as it’s known in Ecuador. This line, and the subsequent park were built around the measurements calculated by French astronomers in 1736. It’s slightly off though, and according to GPS calculations, the real equator is a short walk away. Don’t believe me? Read more about it here. (Because of bad weather in Quito this week, I split up our visit to the equator into two “days” on the blog, so the real equator is coming at you tomorrow!) I felt a little silly visiting this line, knowing it wasn’t even the real line of the equator, but it felt silly not going. Instead of posing like every other tourist there with one foot in each hemisphere, we walked the line. balanced on the line. tip-toed on the line.

Another truth: I’m not really sure who this dude in the last picture is, but there were lots of busts of explorers leading up to the monument, so I thought one of them deserved their picture taken.

Day 414: Quito hop on hop off bus tour

We left Spanish class an hour early this afternoon in order to ‘hop on’ the hop on hop off bus for tourists in Quito. We weren’t necessarily planning on hopping on and off throughout the day, but wanted to ride it around to get a different perspective of the city. I was pleasantly surprised when it circled up to the top of El Panecillo and stopped for thirty minutes for passengers to walk around the Virgin Mary Statue overlooking Quito. We did end up hopping out to see the interior of the Basílica del Voto Nacional and before we were ready to leave the skies broke open unleashing a torrential downpour on us. Who knew that Quito would be so cold (thanks to the altitude) with such temperamental weather (in October)? We didn’t. And I was cold a lot of the time. We had plans to walk around Quito, but the cold rain canceled those plans and instead we spent an hour trying to flag down a taxi back to our guesthouse instead.

We hopped on the bus at the Mariscal stop and rode past the El Ejido, Centro de Arte Contemporáneo, and past La Basílica, which you can see below. For some reason Quito’s hop on hop off bus experience seemed a little different than those in other cities that we have been on one of those buses. Maybe because it seemed like there was less to really see and take in from the bus? It was still interesting, but just a little different. I most enjoyed the sprawl of the city because the buildings were so colorful and seemed to stand out against each other beautifully.

We drove around and up to El Panecillo, a volcanic hill where a statue rests at the top overlooking the city. It’s a beautiful view, and if you are feeling risky, you could walk up to the peak, although it’s not recommended as it has a reputation of being the most dangerous area of the city. The top is calm and other tourists milled about. My favorite part? The empanadas that were made to order. I have to say after nearly two months in South America, this was the first time I’ve had a fresh empanada and it was pretty life changing. Lightyears different than an empanada that has been sitting in a bakery for a few hours. Oh my yum. Go try one. Figure out how to make one. You must try one.

After El Panecillo, we rode back down through Quito, through the Plaza Grande and then we hopped off at García Moreno Park to check out the inside of the Basílica del Voto Nacional. It’s a huge, yet rather dark church. There’s a smaller alter, or if it’s possible another basilica within the church itself? I’m not sure of the technicalities of it all- but contrary to the rest of the church, it was beautiful and much more ornate. Unfortunately there were a few “no photo” signs throughout, and I abided by them.

We tried to wait out the rain. We even ran down the street in the middle of it to get a hot chocolate to try to wait it out even more. It was relentless. We gave up. Everyone else in the historical center must have given up as well, because it proved impossible to catch a cab. By the time we made it back to our equally cold guesthouse, we discovered a leak in the ceiling, one that was dripping water directly on our bed. One not so quick room change later, we were tucking into a bowl of mac and cheese and watching The Walking Dead. Yes my friends, we found mac and cheese in Ecuador, and it was glorious. Ok to be fair, I think the water messed up the noodles a bit, but I didn’t care. And next to it, cheddar cheese and crackers. Because obviously we were going for a well rounded meal. Oh right, and we miss cheese.

Day 413: Mercado Artesanal La Mariscal

Back in Quito after our weekend away, we went right back into Spanish lessons in the morning and exploring (and sometimes studying) in the afternoon. We stopped off at the Mercado Artesanal La Mariscal thinking it would be a bit… more than it was. After so many months of traveling, I think tourist markets like this one have lost their charm on me. I noticed this in Peru, with my Mom. She would be bout it bout it walking into a souvenir store or a market that was geared towards tourists. If you haven’t noticed by now, Andrew and I tend to prefer the markets that make your nose wrinkle a bit in reaction to the not so fresh smell of butchered meat. A market should have fresh produce and locals shopping in it. If the only customers are tourists (or travelers if you will) you’re in trouble. In my very humble opinion, if a market is clean and orderly, chances are you’re not going to find something unique, and you’re definitely not going to get a good deal.

I recently was talking to my Mom about bargaining. She’s not the greatest. At least, she wasn’t in Peru. She explained that she knew a few dollars to someone in Peru meant more to them than it did to her. I agreed that she was probably right, but pointed out that she hadn’t been traveling around the world for over a year, and she had to think of other travelers and their wallets, not just the woman selling scarves in the street.

“Just buy more souvenirs instead of spending more for than you should for one!” I insisted. If I really like a vendor, I won’t bargain hard, but I’ll still bargain. It’s usually expected, and sometimes it’s considered rude not to (not all the time, keep in mind). I might even buy two of something instead of one, or sometimes I’ll leave a little tip.

I love bargaining. Not necessarily because it gets you a cheaper price (even though of course what’s easiest on my wallet is always good), but because it’s a way to interact with a local. Sometimes it’s a way to practice a language. And sometimes it’s just plain fun. Unless, of course, you really really want something and you know your bags are already fuller than full. (Which obviously happened to me. a lot.)

Day 412: The birds and the butterflies

We read that we didn’t need to get up at the crack of dawn to go bird-watching. We could go to a guesthouse that had a yard that was full of birds until eleven in the morning. Had we known the only birds that would be at the guesthouse were hummingbirds, we would have definitely gotten up early to walk through the rainforest instead. Word to the wise: get up early. That’s when the birds are out! We watched the hummingbirds, and then made our way towards the butterfly sanctuary, hoping we would get a little bit more action. Fortunately, the butterflies were a plenty and worth the visit!

If you look really closely at the feeder to the right of the picture, you can see three hummingbirds- or rather, the blur of their wings. While we were looking forward to seeing some bigger, more colorful birds, watching around thirty hummingbirds buzz around was mesmerizing. And a bit fascinating. There were actually three different feeders, but one feeder was under control of a “boss” hummingbird who was not keen on sharing. When any other hummingbirds tried to approach his feeder, he would chase them away!

After about a half hour, we walked through town and then hopped into a cab to go out to the butterfly reserve. We’ve been to gardens before, but this was by far the most populated one that we’ve been to yet, even if there were a lot of the same butterflies.

We got a brief introduction, mostly so we could understand that the butterflies were in part harvested out in the rainforest, but also bred within the sanctuary itself. And then we were told we could feed the butterflies with any of the banana left out for the butterflies to feed off of. All we had to do was get a finger full of mushy banana and put it as close as possible to the butterfly’s mouth. Andrew was better at this than I was. Most butterflies seemed more interested in my orange sweater than any banana I had on my finger.

We tried – I tried to get a beautiful bright blue butterfly to land on one of us, or at least let us feed it, but failed for the majority of our visit. Right as we were about to leave, one of the blue butterflies landed on Andrew. He stayed long enough for me to get some banana for him to eat. Unfortunately snapping a picture of him with his wings spread, revealing the bright blue wasn’t easy.

You can see a little sliver of bright blue inside the wings as they are closed. These guys flitted all over Mindo. They were just beautiful. It was fascinating to see how different they looked when their wings were closed!

Day 411: Zip-lining with Mindo Canopy Adventures

When I turned 20, I made a list of 25 things I wanted to do before I turned 25. While I was able to cross off roughly half of the list, I underestimated how long it would take to complete the entire list and it morphed into another list: 50 things to do before 50. The list is written inside a beautiful leather bound book with pictures of each activity (riding a motorcycle, sky-diving, surfing, etc. etc.) I was able to cross of the list. The book is in a box, in my parents’ house in Kentucky (much like the rest of my life at the moment). I’m almost positive “zip-lining” is on the list. We’ve been really great about mixing up our activities- paragliding in one country, whale watching in another, riding camels in a desert in India, sand-boarding in a desert in Peru… It’s been great fun to mix it up, and obviously, helps me knock off a few things on my “to do” list. Today zip-lining with Mindo Canopy Adventure turned out to be a blast! Our guides were sweet, the zip-lines were fun (some a LOT faster than others) and I was so glad we did it! Minor note to future self: “the butterfly” is upside down, “the superman” is what you really want to do (equally fun, minus the head rush)!

Day 410: Ecuadorian chocolate? Yes, please!

We weren’t sure we were going to be able to make it to Mindo between all of our Spanish lessons, but we decided getting out of Quito for the weekend was a good idea. I’ve realized throughout this trip (time and again) that I prefer living in bigger cities, and visiting smaller ones. Mindo is certainly much smaller than Quito, and just the idea of getting out into a smaller town made me so happy. We rolled into town late in the afternoon on Friday, and inadvertently explored the majority of the (teensy) town while looking for our guesthouse. Our priority was dinner, and then sleep before taking advantage of all of the activities Mindo has to offer the next day. Like El Quetzal, where we went on a tour of the chocolate factory. Who can refuse Ecuadorian chocolate? Not. me.

So yes, technically I’m cheating (again). We actually went to El Quetzal on Day 411, but I keep trying to spare you the long bus-rides whenever I can. Our bus ride wasn’t so bad from Quito to Ecuador, but a post about chocolate is so much sweeter! When we showed up at El Quetzal, we thought we were going to be indoors the entire time, in what we assumed was a more traditional factory like setting. We were wrong. The “factory tour” was mostly held in the garden where we saw cacao trees (above), banana trees (below) and so much more. It was great, but had I known we were going to be in the garden the majority of the time… I definitely would not have shown up in shorts. The sandflies were out. of. control. and by the time we got back to our hotel, my legs were covered in bites (more like welts) and I was suffering.

After the garden tour, we peeked into a few different rooms of the “factory” and learned more about the process of making cacao beans into chocolate- chocolate as we know it today (oftentimes with milk and sugar). We watched the paste being mixed and then readied to pour into molds. We tasted straight up chocolate without any additives. It was bitter. Then we added sugar, then we added chillies, and we even added vinegar to the bitter chocolate giving it different flavors and textures. It was interesting, a little redundant after our visit to the Choco Museum in Cusco, but nice. We even made it through the entire tour in Español as well! A group of American students were in the middle of a semester abroad in Quito and wanted to practice. We didn’t have much choiceindulged them. Despite loving the chocolate (with chillies was my favorite) and wanting to get some to bring home, traveling so close to the equator with a few bars didn’t seem wise. American chocolate might pale in comparison, but I have a weakness for those mini squares of Dove Dark. I guess I can wait until we get home (in the middle of winter) to purchase a bag of chocolate!

Day 409: La Ronda by day

La Ronda, more specifically known as Calle La Ronda is more popular at night. It offers a vibrant restaurant and cafe scene with live music and more. However, as we were in the area, walking around the historical center of Quito, we decided to check it out by day and planned to return another night. By day, La Ronda is quiet. It’s quiet in a good way and feels peaceful and safe compared to other parts of the city where it’s practically unthinkable to whip out your camera to photograph a door or the façade of an ice-cream shop.

La Ronda is one of the oldest streets in Quito. There are explanations set up along the street about who lived there, what shops were operated, and how the street came to be. It’s interesting, and would have been even more interesting if more of the cafes were open so we could have sat down for a warm cup of coffee in the surprisingly cold city only thirty minutes away from the equator. We ducked into a couple of art exhibitions, (above is a piece by Carmen Davila Falconi) walked the entire length of the calle, and looked forward to returning to a more vibrant night scene next week!

Day 408: Ecuador is going to the World Cup!

Ecuador is ecstatic, to say the least! After all, it’s now official: Ecuador is going the World Cup! The town center was quick to celebrate and we even caught glimpses of the team emerging from the president’s palace on the square. It was more fun to see everyone react to the soccer team than to see the soccer team itself. I desperately wanted to photograph (videograph) it all, but I was hesitant pulling out my DSLR in the middle of all of the commotion. Instead, Andrew filmed the performance (above) that was going on in the square. Whenever I don’t feel safe holding onto my camera, Andrew carries it in his backpack (on his front). We’ve become almost tactical in how we carry valuables. On this particular day, because we were relying on the public bus (something that made my Spanish teacher proud) I had money in my bra, my ipod in my underpants, and my camera with Andrew. We hardly ever both carry ATM and/or credit cards at the same time, and Andrew even has a decoy wallet. Generally I carry a little purse that often has nothing of value in it. We miss Korea often, where you can leave your laptop computer on your table in a cafe while you go to the bathroom (Seriously) but I’m glad we’ve had to watch our backs more than we’re used to on this trip, before we move back stateside. 

Day 407: Quito at 5 AM

Quito at 5 AM is not exactly the best time to be walking around with all of your worldly possessions in tow. We jumped in an overpriced taxi (we’re gringos after all) and headed straight to our hostel, where we weren’t sure if we would be able to check in immediately or not. When we found out we weren’t able to, we camped out in the living room, and not feeling comfortable enough to sleep, we both pulled out our computers. Until we were able to check into our room, around ten in the morning, I worked on the blog. Yep, for five hours, on very little sleep, I edited photos, videos, took advantage of the fast internet connection (the first time I had a fast internet connection in several weeks) and tried to get some work done. By the time we were sinking into our bed, I had five new posts up and was more than ready to crash. Which is exactly what we did for the majority of the afternoon. We were exhausted. We went out for dinner, and then amidst the excitement in the streets for another Ecuador World Cup Qualifier, we headed back to our room to watch the game in bed, instead of a bar. The best part was not being able to watch the game in my underpants- but that our television was on a tiny delay. Every time we would hear loud cheering on the streets, I would know to pay attention and wouldn’t miss a goal (or a save)! I’m sure not everyone would agree, but given how exhausted I was, it was the perfect way to watch Ecuador make it into the World Cup!