Peru day 3: Colca Valley pt II

August 19, 2009

Another early 6 am start. After crawling out of my bed-cave composed of 5 layers of wool blankets and sheets, I got ready for the second leg of our Colca Valley tour. The breakfast and views helped to wake me up.



Today was a big day. We saw better views of the terraced fields in the valley. We made a short hike up Colca Canyon, which is one of the deepest canyon in the world... Twice as deep as the Grand Canyon. We then finally saw the great Andean condors, but not before almost leaving disheartened because they didn't show up until the last minute. But let's start from the beginning.



These fields were made by both pre-Inca and Inca peoples. The Collagua Terraces, which take up the majority of the valley, were carved out nearly 2000 years ago. They continue to be used today, but they're threatened by the nearby volcanoes and the occasional strong earthquake. Driving through this region is mesmerizing because of how the land has been shaped into sharp curves and cuts by both natural and human forces.




We stayed at an altitude of about 3500m or 11000 ft the whole time... I'm going to have Superlungs by the time I get back. Even though there was only a little climbing here, it's easy to get short of breath (I swear it's not just me-- my brother does Olympic style triathlons and thought so too).

It's hard to believe how high up we are. It's surreal to look down the canyon, because it's so deep that it doesn't look that deep... if that makes sense. Anyway I was just eager to reach the La Cruz del Condor, which is the highest point of the canyon and offers views of the condors soaring about, riding the thermal currents of the canyon.



We reached the peak at about 845 am. The canyon itself was of course pretty magnificent. But all the tourists were waiting to see the condors. By 945, none had showed up and it was time for us to go. I was more than a little depressed about this. I knew I wouldn't be back here for a long time, if ever.

As our van was pulling away, a huge condor literally flew over one of the viewing points and I was like WOW. We went-- ok rushed-- back to the viewing point only to see it disappear behind one of the curves of the canyon ledge. I was happy to at least see one, but about 10 minutes later a condor came back around the bend, followed by another, and another, and soon there were eight to ten condors gliding about in the canyon!! It was truly one of the most majestic things I have ever seen. Some flew right over our heads, which was a bit intimidating to be honest (these condors are about 10 ft in wingspan). All in all, I was so grateful to have caught this sight, as many other groups had already left. Thank you Colca Tours:) I will definitely try to insert some pics and videos when I get back. So amazing.

Not much could beat that, but we continued on our way to more viewing points of the valley and to visit a little town. More of my beloved llamas and alpacas were to be found <3



Our tour ended after lunch where I once again stuffed myself on fried bananas, aji chicken, and flan. Our little tour group was very sweet and they wanted to take a picture altogether.

We then hopped on to another van and one loooong bumpy ride later, we arrived in our hostel in Puno. We're staying at Inka's Rest, which is ok but I don't recommend it because it's hard to find and honestly a bit creepy haha. Maybe my opinion will change in the light of morning--tomorrow's another 6 am start to see the floating islands of Lake Titicaca.

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Peru day 2: Colca Valley

August 18, 2009

I underestimated the climate here. I knew it would be chilly but last night I was basically wearing a third of my suitcase :P It's winter down here and even though it's sunny and 70 during the day, the temp can drop a good 40 degrees at night. Alpaca scarves and hats to the rescue!

We woke up at 730 this morning to catch our van for the Colca Canyon Tour (with the aptly named Colca Tours--recommended). Our first stop: to pick up some Coca sweets to help with the altitude. Despite the sweets and prescription meds, my brothers's girlfriend still had a bad case of altitude sickness during the bumpy ride boo-- headache, vision impairment, numbness in limbs, nausea, etc. I'm really grateful that the only effect I feel is occasional shortness of breath! Our tourguide, who looks like (but does not act like) a Peruvian Sarah Palin, was very good about helping her feel better.



During the tour, we stopped at several locations to admire the natural formations and to take too many pictures groups of vicunas, llamas and alpacas. I guess theyre not considered that exciting but I love these animals! They are so funny looking in an adorable way. Especially baby ones



These are vicunas, which look part deer and part llama. They were nearing extinction before becoming protected. Thus these are all wild, in contrast to the domesticated llamas and alpacas we saw a few miles later.

The van slowly wound its way higher and higher, reaching a peak of about 14000 ft above sea level at the Mirador of the Andes. It didn't feel like we were that high though, since we could not see all the way down from where we were. From this point we could see many volcanoes: Misti, Chachani, Sabancaya, Ubinas, Mismi, Hualca Hualca, and Ampato. I commented that volcanos are like the earth's pimples. But much prettier. A lot of these locations also naturally had vendors selling alpaca scarves, sweaters, and trinkets. Nice people; no harrassing or haggling.

(I was negligent in taking iPhone pictures for many of these stops because I was too engrossed in taking normal pictures or buying these cute embroidered pouches :/)



From there we wound our way back down, passing by a really pretty view of Chivay and the Inca terraced fields below. Upon arriving in Chivay, I saw that it is a is a tiny town, serving more as a resting point to visit the valley and canyon. After having lunch in Chivay (with delicious fried bananas and chewy alpaca meat), we were dropped of at our little hotel, Pozo del Cielo, which is very cute.

After a short rest, we got back on the van for our final stop of the day: a dip in the hot sulfur springs of la Calera. It basically felt like taking an awesome warm bath but with lots of people o_o The surrounding scenery was nice and altogether it was a good experience.


Tomorrow the tour continues on to Colca Canyon and Puno. Can't wait to see the condors!

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Peru day 1: Arequipa

Aug 17, 2009

Day 1 of 11 in Peru. After a series of flights through Miami and Lima and total travel time of 13 hours, we arrived at our destination of Arequipa this morning. In Lima, a few airport workers called me "chinita" and I'm pretty sure the guy who checks your passport before you can enter the terminal area said "ching chang" before reading my last name. But they say it in such a pleasant way and then look at me as if they just paid me a compliment, so I just laugh it off and I'm more bemused rather than insulted.

Anyway I love plane rides where you can see the terrain below, and the Lima-Arequipa leg was one of such rides. Really beatiful views of clouds seeping into the crevices of the mountains, and terraced fields wedged into steep valleys. We arrived at the tiny airport and stepped out into beautiful 70 degrees weather and a gorgeous vista of the three surrounding volcanoes: Misti, Chachani, and Pichu Pichu







I didn't know what to expect in Arequipa so it was quite breathtaking. It's not a modern urban city by any means but it has a pretty center square and a lot of character. And of course the surrounding volcanoes provide a picturesque backdrop. Misti is the only active one, but even then the last eruption was a long time ago. The white volcanic rock is widely used for construction in the town, giving Arequipa the nickname the white city.

It's a medium-sized town in the southern part of Peru and sits about 2200m above sea level. My mom had been on my case all week about my not working out and thus supposedly not being able to handle the high altitudes. Well turns out I was the only one amongst my family that didn't feel anything from the altitude--hah! Go non-working outers! Everyone else had some cocoa tea to help with the effects:



The little bag the leaves came in was so cute! Our hotel, la Casa de Margott, provided it. I don't know whether to call this place a hotel or hostel. It's housed in one of the regular courtyard buildings near the city center, is very basic, but is also super cute and has individual rooms and is thus not what I normally consider a hostel.



This is a little sitting area in my room. The arched brick ceiling is so unique for a hotel. I really like it. I also like the comical little tv in the alcove :). I don't watch tv in my hotels anyway.

Anyway we started our day here with some crepes and deep-purple chicha maize drinks at Allianz Francais. I thought it was random that my mom wanted to go there but it was actually very good and right across from the convent, which is the main destination in Arequipa. The Santa Catalina Covenant was built in 1579 and remained a mystery to the public until it opened to visitors in 1970. Pretty crazy. Our guide said it is the only convent in the world that is a 'city within a city.' At its height, the 3-block complex housed 180 nuns and hundreds of workers. These nuns were daughters from very wealthy families, and they were sent here at age 13 and could not leave the covenant for the rest of their lives (which is why it is a town in and of itself). It was considered a privilege and honor for the family and the daughters had no say in the situation. Ah religion and power.



The convent is pretty big and we spent a couple hours in it. You can see the buildings made from the white volcanic rock. The courtyards, bright colors, and alleyways are beautiful to see. The rooms were fairly large (the more wealthy, the more room a nun had at the covenant...). But it's still a bit shocking to me to think the nuns just came here and never left. Before the reformation the nuns were hardly even allowed to talk to each other :X




After the covenant we walked around the city center for a little bit. The views of Misti and Chachani behind the main Cathedral were beautiful. Unfortunately jet lag set in for all of us soon after and we didn't reemerge until dinnertime. We ate in the center square at a place called Cafe Boveda. While I'm pretty wary of restaurants in the middle of a tourist attraction, this turned out to be very good. We ordered various traditional Arequipan foods and this delicious 'papaya juice' unlike any papaya I have tasted before. This was more like some pear-mango-golden kiwi-pineapple papaya :) My favorite dish was a 'shrimp soup'-- chupa camarones?-- that looked kind of like a seafood paella in a curried soup, but also had a poached egg, slabs of white cheese, Peruvian corn on a cob, and various other surprises all thrown in to make a big bowl of awesome. Will try to remember to stick in a picture from my when I get back (these blog pics are all ones I took on my phone).




Nice view of the volcanoes behind the cathedral. Most of the city looks more like this:



Tomorrow we leave at 8 am for Colca Canyon, which I'm very excited about. Til then...

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Happy days

Spent the two weeks following the bar getting reacquainted with the vices and virtues of life. I only captured a part of it on my phone, but even just these puts a smile on my face. I'm really enjoying this limbo time between the bar and work.















Random life size darth maul in a sushi restaurant in Westwood...



My friend's adorable daughter

I had to take advantage of this







Ramen dokbokki (sp?) yummmmm



Very thankful to have sweet friends


Gotta love korean restaurants-- huge free watermelon. Random yes, but delicious.






Ok I guess by vice and virtue I mostly mean gluttony :). I'm now in Miami airport waiting to leave for Peru. Very excited. Time for some roasted guinea pig! Jk but I'll try to do a daily blog of that... Let's hope I don lose my phone though!

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Day 1

Just got out of the first day of the bar about an hour ago. I'm trying to nap but I guess I had too much caffiene-_- so I will blog instead.

So the CA bar is like this:
Day 1: 3 essays for 3 am hours, 1 performance test for 3 pm hours. 13 possible subjects to be tested. (CA only test)
Day 2: 200 MCs, split into 3 hour sessions. 6 subjects tested. (National test)
Day 3: repeat day one.

Day 1 was not devastating, but a bit weird. I feel like they're experimenting with us. All three essays tested in an unusual way. Better than the truly WTF questions, so no complaints, but slightly offputting. The performance test was somewhat straightforward but also a little unusual. I missed some pretty obvious issues in the last essay but otherwise I feel... Not bad.

My essay predictions have been pretty weak so far. This is why I don't gamble :P Even when it's a 50/50 chance, I always pick the wrong one.

What's kind of funny is that one of our lecturers had suggested watching a movie the night before the exam, and this whole time I have been deriding this 'ridiculous' suggestion. But then last night, V for vendetta was on tv and I ended up watching the whole thing -_-* Good movie.

Forward march.


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And here we are

It's the second to last night before the bar. I've been wavering between being absurdly calm and overly stressed for the past week or so. Barbri had left us to our own devises a week ago and since then I've just been trying to pull all the pieces together. At this point I've done enough to feel like I won't blame myself if It Which Shall Not Be Named happens (yes I'm fiending to watch some Harry Potter). Literally thousands of practice multiple choices and hundreds of essays. I probably overkilled it yet I still feel lurking doubt, especially when I'm learning something new with each new practice question hah.

As I look back on these past two months, I only have a few observations: (1) two months went by like nothing even though I was parked at my desk most of the time, (2) as painful as bar studying can be, barbri is awesome, (3) CA really likes to screw us-- only state with three days of exams, a slew of extra subjects and distinctions-- NY you don't even come close! :) ah well got to take the good with the bad... And (4) my mom is awesome.

I'm Harry about to face Lord Voldemort. Apprehensive but trying to convince myself I'm prepared.

'Subpoena Duces Tecum!!!'

My Lord Voldebar is so fail.

Well we'll see how I feel on Thursday, 5:01 pst.


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Smooth Seas Do Not Make Skilled Sailors

"Smooth seas do not make skilled sailors." -African proverb

So I recently downloaded the cutest "gratitude journal" onto my iPhone (search "happy tapper" or "gratitude" on the app store... look for the Buddha Baby). Each day I jot down five things I'm grateful for, and I get a quote in return. I think it's a sweet idea, especially as I can sometimes be a very glass half-full type of person on certain things.

After one of the most tiring days of Bar/bri (btw, I so failed on my attempt to chronicle my Bar/bri adventure), I got this quote. It really connected with me, partly because I enjoy alliterations, party because of the imagery, and partly because it was so timely. Sure it's been said a many times in many ways, but sometimes timing is what matters.

I don't like rough seas but I must learn to appreciate them.