South America

Cuenca – The Perfect Goodbye to South America

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Cuenca, Ecuador, was a city that I had heard much about, but never made it around to on my first time through Ecuador, mostly due to the fact that I fell in love with Montañita and ended up spending all my time there! So on my second time through the country, I made sure this city was a priority. Hailed as the most beautiful colonial city in the country, it’s easy to understand why. The cobble stone streets, the old baroque buildings and stunning churches; the city has the feeling it’s been trapped in time. You can detect a Parisian influence here as well with some of the charming architecture. Wire moulded flower pots hold vibrant red flowers spilling over them, as the pots cling to the sides of buildings on narrow streets. The strong smell of aromatic Ecuadorian coffee fills the streets, and vendors hawk their snacks on street corners. Continue reading →

Hola, Loja!

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After Argentina, I flew back into Guayaquil, Ecuador and then bused it out to Montañita to spend some time back on the beach in my favourite spot. The weather wasn’t near as lovely as it was back in June, this was their cloudy/rainy season after all, but it was still warm compared to the rest of South America and I was able to hang out in shorts and a tank top and throw down my yoga mat on the beach and get back in my groove after a long hiatus. I met with old friends, ate at my favourite places, practiced yoga daily, took dips in the ocean and worked on my blog. Continue reading →

Surviving Death Road

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My body was beaten down. Sore, sick, battered, and utterly exhausted from multiple illnesses and five days trekking through the mountains, I desperately needed to recover. So far I had spent most of my time in South America being sick as a dog. Unfortunately the next stop on my list wasn’t exactly an easy place to travel. In fact, I’d say I was heading into the most unforgiving country yet: Bolivia. I stayed on one more day in Cusco because I was simply too sick to move, but I was still trying to catch up with Anthony so I couldn’t linger too long. With my purse full of drugs, water, kleenex and puke bags, Sally and I set off on an evening bus from Cusco to La Paz. I was feeling absolutely terrible and we were only going to be increasing in altitude as the bus chugged on. I was miserable and couldn’t sleep and waves of nausea over took me. Continue reading →

A Journey Through The Salkantay Pass To Machu Picchu

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It was a long 18 hour bus ride through some hard terrain to reach the renowned city of Cusco.  The bus ride left Sally feeling awful; it was the high altitude and the tight corners that we zipped around at dizzying heights as the cliffs fell away below us. Sally had to close the blinds and force herself to not think about it as it was giving her some major anxiety. Eventually she dozed with the help of some sedatives, and I spent the whole evening trying my best to sleep and failing miserably as I always do on night bus rides. I listened to my music and only snagged about an hour of sleep around sunrise. We rolled into Cusco at 8am and stepped off the bus into a frigid morning, our breath misting heavily in front of our faces. Sally quite literally screamed as she desperately tried to layer on more clothing as quickly as possible.  Continue reading →

Huacachina, A Peruvian Desert Oasis

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I had lingered too long in Montañita, cutting deeply into my time in Peru. Anthony was well ahead of me now- he ended up heading down to Lima to get the rabies vaccine as he found out the one in Ecuador isn’t reliable. I was hoping I would be able to catch up to him eventually, but I had to move fast. I bid a sad farewell to Montañita and hopped on the evening bus to Guayaquil. I had plans to jump on another bus right away to head straight down to Lima, a good 30+ hour trip. I got on the bus in Guayaquil after only an hour layover and was feeling awful. I didn’t like the bus, nor the energy around me and the idea of spending 30 hours on it made me anxious. Continue reading →

Montañita, My Paradise

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Oh my darling Montañita. What sweet, secret, untold treasures you had in store for me! After having my laptop stolen, I began writing everything in my journal, and I had nearly finished writing my account of my time in Montañita on the bus ride from Huacachina to Cusco, Peru, when I stupidly left my journal on the bus. I went back hours later to hopefully reclaim it, but had no such luck. All that writing.  Gone. So here I am – a month later – once again, trying to recall the incredible three weeks I spent on the beach on the coast of Ecuador in Montañita. Continue reading →

That One Time I Went To The Galapagos Islands

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Bright and early, Anthony and I headed to the airport to make our way through the customs-like checkpoints for heading to the famous Galapagos Islands.  While we weren’t leaving the country, the islands are treated a bit like their own country, with their own set of very strict regulations to ensure the environmental integrity of the islands. Look for my upcoming blog post on how to do the Galapagos islands for under $1000.

We paid the $100 entrance fee, had our passports checked, our luggage raided (lost a bag of chia seeds in the process, darn!) and then boarded our plane with a load of other tourists all excited for the trip of a lifetime. It was an hour and 45 minute flight out over the Pacific ocean and as the first island came into view we all excitedly peered out the little oval windows for our first look at the Galapagos.  Continue reading →

Hospitalized and Robbed in Quito & Baños, Ecuador – Still Had A Blast!

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I wish I could say I spent a few amazing days exploring the great city that is Quito, but Quito turned out to be a repeat of Medellin and Bogota- sick, sick, sick. You can read about my adventures dealing with illness for over a month on the road here.  We spent 5 days in Quito, most of them being in the hostel bed, bathroom and couch, and then in the hospital.  All we wanted was to get on the road. Other than exploring the streets near the hostel and on the way to the hospital, we didn’t really get to see any of Quito, unfortunately. We walked to the super market a couple of times to load up on soup, bread and rice which was all we could stomach. After a few days we were nearly delirious with desire for anything other than ichiban soup. The only excursion we set out on was to head to the equator which ended up in me getting painfully ill, almost as a lesson to not leave the hostel! Other than being terribly sick near the end of our day it was a a great way to get out and see a bit of Quito on the long drive to the Equator park. It’s cheap and there are lots of little shops – but it’s a pretty tourist heavy excursion; though still neat to learn the history! Continue reading →

How To Not Get Robbed On A Bus, Like I Did…!

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Well this also finally happened… I was robbed. Before you freak out, family and friends, no, I was not held up at gun or knife point and stripped of all my belongings, thank god. It was a more of a ghost robbery, where I was left totally unaware. I  hopped on my bus in Banos heading for Guayaquil to meet up with Anthony, a nice cheap $7 ride for 7 hours. I walked towards the back of the bus where my assigned seat was. There was a man at the back of the bus who looked as if he worked on the bus as he was directing patrons to seats. He motioned for me to take my assigned seat, which I did and then said I could store my backpack up top or below my seat. There were bags under the seat in front of me so I slide my back pack back under my own seat and settled in. Mistake number one. Unnoticed, the man took a seat directly behind me. Continue reading →

When Travel Sickness Strikes – How To Cope

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*Warning* this post is explicit in the shameless details of being ill- if you’re easily disgusted, don’t keep reading! 😛

So it finally happened. I got sick. Real sick.  Two days before I left Guatemala, I came down with mild food poisoning. I got through a bad night of basically trying to sleep while sitting on the toilet, the agonizing cramps making me nearly cry out for my mommy. There’s something about being violently ill that makes you want you mother desperately. I had flashbacks of warm baths, cold cloths on my forehead, four litre ice cream buckets that we dubbed “puke pails”, gingerale, tums, and gentle back rubs from moms comforting hands. Unfortunately all I had was a shared public bathroom with doors that were open on both the top and bottom, allowing all the gastric sounds to escape easily. Continue reading →