Taking on the Peruvian mafia - Nico, Alejandro, Jose, and Roz do Trujillo

[Inspired by Eli introducing himself as Alejandro, Jesse and I chose our own Spanish names.  Nico has been a big hit.]

Known as the Spring Capital of Peru, the northern city of Trujillo is famous for its pre-Incan ruins of Chan Chan and the Temples of Sun and Moon.

We visited those.  Kinda cool.  Jesse took some pictures.


Our real adventure in Trujillo, however, was saved for the night. After meeting a couple local girls from the university during lunch and conversing with them in our broken Spanish, we were invited to hang out with them later and given their address near the university. With nothing else to do that night, we decided to check it out and took a bus to the university after dinner. I stopped a nice-looking man to ask for directions and handed him the paper with the address.

His eyes nearly popped out of his head. In Spanish, he told us (we think) that despite being only a few blocks from the university, that area was extremely dangerous. To colorfully illustrate his point, he stuck his hand into our pockets as a sign of what would happen to our money; memories of West Philadelphia and Spanish Harlem danced flitted through our heads. Now quite curious albeit unnerved, we thanked him and pondered our next move.

A second opinion was certainly in order. We next asked a passing policeman. "Your money: gone. And if you don´t have any, boom boom!"  Upping the ante, he said that while firing a mock gun at us and indicating slitted throats.

Alejandro then remarked, "You know, I read online before coming that it is common in Trujillo for uncommonly attractive girls to befriend tourists in order to lead them into dangerous situations."  "Why didn´t you mention this earlier?"  "They weren´t uncommonly attractive."

We decided to pass and went to a pool hall instead for a couple of hopefully safe games. But the guns just kept coming; only seconds after setting up the triangle at our table, a gaggle of old men came over and once again I had a gun-shaped hand pointed at my chest. "Bang! Bang! Mafia!"

We moved to the next table. Later on, the same man came over and made a similar motion, this time seemingly offering us drinks instead of bullets. We passed anyway.

I´m initially writing this as we celebrate July 4 in Lima after a couple of glorious days in the mountains of Huaraz. Check back soon for In the path of the Incas - Nico and Alejandro do Machu Picchu.

La fiesta - Nech and Jesse do the Quilotoa Loop

Traveling as we are with little Spanish skills and even fewer plans, sometimes we just have to hope that excitement falls into our laps.

En route to the beautiful crater lake inside Volcano Quilotoa, we stopped for a night in Zumbahua, a small village nestled into the picturesque Andean countryside. As we were checking into our hostel, the owner mentioned something about a fiesta that night. Sweet. We happenned to arrive on the final day of a weeklong festival for Corpus Christie complete with bullfighting, a dozen-man band, and even foosball tables for the kids. Receiving many suspicious looks as two of maybe four foreigners in the village, I decided it was time to act, "We have to start drinking with the old men. They´ll be into it." Sure enough, as soon as we caught the eyes of a few old drunk guys toasting with some unnamed alcohol, they called us over and practically forced us to drink with them. "Salud!"

After a brief foosball match with a few of the kids, we ended up in a small circle with a few local men and I tried practicing my Spanish with one who claimed to be studying Milton (in English) despite being only able to say "Please" and "Excuse me" (to his credit, though, he was able to repeat those phrases many times).

I realized quickly that drunk people may not be the best Spanish partners - I don´t think even they understood what they were saying half the time. Jesse, fortunately, was able to communicate more effectively with a different man through the use of gestures. Unfortunately, however, the man´s gestures indicated that he was trying to proposition Jesse (or get him to hire a prostitute - gestures only go so far). Or maybe he was just another Milton fan and trying to mime Paradise Lost. Either way we decided it was time to hit the dance floor taking up half the main square.

As I´m writing this, I´m chilling on a beautiful beach in Mancora, Peru. Last night the guys dressed in bikinis and dresses for "Ladies Night." Who knew dancing on the bar was so fun?

Check back soon for Taking on the Peruvian mafia - Nech, Eli, Jesse, and Roz do Trujillo.

How fast can piranhas eat a chicken - Nech and Jesse do the rainforest

Completing our week in Quito with an ascent to 5000m high glaciers of Volcano Cotopaxi, we then traveled to Lago Agria and bused and canoed five more hours into the northern part of the Ecuadorian rainforest known as Cuyabeno (the Cuyabeno River eventually flows into the Amazon) for a five day expedition. Almost as interesting as the animals we spotted - everything from pink dolphins, caiman crocodiles, anacondas, and seven species of monkeys to toucans, parakeets, and giant praying mantises - were the people we travelled with.

Jesse swears that our guide (with a little bit of blue makeup) would have fit right in with Avatar's Návi. We also realized midway through that the jolly old Canadian couple from British Columbia were only so jolly because of the three liters of vodka streaming steadily out of their camelpak.

Possibly the most interesting person, however, was a well-traveled Ecuadorian around our age named Mauricio. Though not all of his ideas came to fruition (like dressing up in war paint and raiding neighboring lodges), there was one instance when he could not be deterred. After having only a little luck on our piranha fishing expedition, Mauricio wanted to up the ante - see how fast the piranhas would devour a whole chicken. So, when we visited an indigenous village the next day, Mauricio bought a chicken and then (with some difficulty) killed it a few minutes before we set out for our sunset swim in the lagoon.

Arriving at the piranha fishing spot, we all sat on the edge of our seats, poised for a scene normally reserved for National Geographic. Mauricio lifted the chicken, put a hook throught it, and flung it into the water. The reaction was immediate - but not by the piranhas. Instead of sinking a few feet to the depth of the piranhas, the chicken floated on the water next to the boat and we all rocked with laughter. Mauricio's further efforts (including spilling the guts out and repeatedly poking the chicken with a stick to drive it deeper) didn't help. Eventually we had to give up and dove into the water for our swim.

But not until we'd sailed to the other side of the lagoon; just because the piranhas didn't eat the chicken, that didn't mean they wouldn't eat us.

I'm initially writing this from the popular adventure town of Banos; today we hiked up to see an active volcano smoking and pouring out lava. Next up is the tranquil Vilcabamba, whose miracle water enables its residents to regular live past 100 years of age.


Check back soon for La fiesta - Nech and Jesse do the Quilotoa Loop.

My very own Ocarina of Time - Nech and Jesse do Quito

With a week to spare before our jungle expedition was set to depart, Jesse and I had time to explore Quito and its surroundings. Our visit to parts of Quito´s old town was blocked, however, by hundreds of police surrounding the Grand Plaza. Though we were able to catch a glimpse of "El Presidente," we never spotted the real reason for the police - a fellow American by the name of Hillary (such a copycat following us to Ecuador).

But that wasn´t the only run-in we had with the diplomatic corps. After a Friday night bat mitzvah of the daughter of the local DEA agent (with the the US and Israeli ambassadors in attendance), we had dinner with two local families including the former Finance Minister. Thanks Danny for that hookup.
I got pretty excited during dinner when they mentioned we might see gorillas in Lago Agria, our jumping off point to the rainforest. A little confused, they then clarified, "No no no, not the kind of gorillas with fur - the kind of guerrillas with machine guns." Oh.

Following a visit to Mitad del Mundo - the zero latitude center of the world - Jesse and I followed a wizened tour guide on a hike up to the rim of Pululahua Crater, an active volcano with a small farming community living inside. After describing the ancient ceremonies he partakes in (at the equinoxes and solstices of course) complete with pschychedlic berries and spirits of the dead, he pulled out his ocarina to whistle his thanks to the gods.



Barely able to contain my excitement over this unexpected real-life enactment of the classic Zelda game, I told Jesse, "I have to get one of those." Unfortunately for Jesse, I actually got two several days later in Ecuador´s famous Otavalo market. I have faith that someday I will figure out how to play them properly. Until then, they´re my revenge for his snoring.

Check back soon for How fast can piranhas eat a chicken - Nech and Jesse do the rainforest

Taking on the Che - Nech does South America

Done with college, I have now set off on an adventure that will hopefully take me all over the world to majestic peaks and pristine beaches, vibrant cities and tranquil villages. My only plans before leaving consisted of a one-way ticket to Ecuador´s capital city of Quito, one of the highest cities in the world. With a stunning coastline in the west, the mountain villages and volcanoes of the Andes cutting through the center, and the Amazon rainforest pulsating life in the east, Ecuador promises to start my expedition off on the right foot. Joining me for my first two months is fellow Fun House alumnus Jesse Wenger.

With limited computer time at all stops, I won´t be overwhelming you with dozens of posts every month. I will, however, try to share a couple of fun stories and particularly exciting adventures each week. The first post is above. Also feel free to check out my old posts from Asia or to subscribe with the link on the left side of the page to be notified of future posts.

I´d love for you to comment on the posts or e-mail me, or just to travel with me in spirit.

As they say here, "Hasta la victoria siempre."

Miss you all,
Nech

Mountains, monkeys, and magnificent temples - Nech does Springs, Sichuan, Saigon, and Siem Riep

Hey all. I've had quite a few adventures on my last few trips to 1: Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton, southern China's largest city) and nearby natural hot springs; 2: Chengdu (in China's Sichuan province), home of many of the world's remaining giant pandas and several of China's most picturesque mountains; 3: Vietnam, specifically Saigon and nearby island Phu Quoc in the Gulf of Thailand; and on the same trip 4: Siem Riep (in Cambodia), the site of Angkor Wat and the rest of Cambodia's magnificent ancient temple comlexes.

After returning from Vietnam and Cambodia, I took all my finals and for the past few days been enjoying the company of my fellow exchange students before we all part ways next week. I will be heading to Delhi and surrounding areas in northern India before heading in Nepal on my biggest adventure yet. There's a chance I'll write more on the blog about Guangzhou, Chengdu, Vietnam, or Cambodia during my first few nights in India, but don't count on it. More likely, I'll get to tell you in person when I get home (Jan 7).

Thanks all for reading; I've had a lot of fun and hope you have too,
godspeed,
nech