Traipsing Across Peru!

Let me tell you about my Peruvian adventures with Dad and Uncle Ralph!

I got to the house of some missionary friends Saturday night. I had a wonderful meal cooked by Mrs. Ruth! I had a relaxed evening, and got up Sunday to pick up Dad and Uncle Ralph. They arrived all smiles, ready to adventure with me! We went to church and spent the afternoon relaxing and visiting with our missionary friends. We went out on the town and did some exploring. The evening was relaxed, as the two new arrivals were still recovering from their long flights.

Monday we decided to discover what Arequipa had in store! We headed out at a reasonable time and meandered around the Plaza de Armas. We found a city tour group, and settled down for a nice lunch. The city tour was pretty sweet, and we got to see a lot of sites and sounds!

The plan was to leave that night on a bus to get to Cusco. As of when we purchased the tickets, everything was fine. However, when we got to the bus station we learned there was a huge strike on the road and the company knew about it previously, yet still sold us the tickets. Peruvian deception fast at work! We demanded refunds, however, and got them! Our alternative was a much more expensive purchasing of airline tickets..sheesh! We purchased the tickets and headed the bed. We were leaving at 6 a.m. the next day for Cuzco.

We got to the airport and boarded the plane. After a quick flight we made it to cuzco. We were planning to Couch Surf with a guy, and after finding where he worked and leaving our stuff, we headed to the Plaza to see about some tours! We found some city tours as well as our 2 day trek to Machu Picchu. The CS guy didn't work out (a first of all my CSing...I was sad Dad and Ralph couldn't experience CS!), but our other accommodations were splendid. We toured the city that day, and got ready to head to Aguas Calientes the next day bright and early!

Our tour consisted of a 7 hr bus ride and 1 hr rail ride, with the end result arriving at Aguas Calientes, the jump off site for Machu Picchu. Our small group consisted of 3 Belgians, one Chilean, and us 3 Americans. We enjoyed some good company on the day long ride. We arrived to Aguas Calientes and got our tour information. A group of us decided to leave at 3:45 the next day. Early enough to walk the Inca trail to the base camp and then get tickets to Wayna Picchu. I happened to be #1 (of 450 total daily) to get to see Wayna Picchu! My buddy Mateo and I explored the site together. The pictures (so very famous, almost cliché, tell the tale). Poor dad was sick all day, however :( We headed back to Cuzco by a faster means of train transportation, and dad was still sick. Uncle Ralph and I went to dinner with my British friends from Uyuni (who I also saw in Aguas Calientes! -- small world!) and that was nice.

The next day, Friday, we headed to Lima. We flew out early, met up with a missionary friend,

and sought to see the capital! We did another city tour, enjoyed lunch with David and his family, and before we knew it we were returning to the airport, ready to head back home to the US!

The flight back home was over night--one in which I slept through. I arrived back in the states, home from a wonderful adventure! My time in South America had come to an end. I enjoyed many adventures and have many stories to share. I look forward to the next time I can go overseas and experience more culture and adventure!! Thanks for reading (and sorry for the looonnng delay on this past post) ~~Benjamín

La Paz and Lake Titicaca!

After picking up Dr. Kriley from the airport we returned to the hostel. We had pancake breakfast and hit the town! We passed through markets, Catedral de San Francisco, and had lunch at a nice restaurant. We basically got the lay of the city for the next day, Monday, to go shopping! Apparently there was a futbol match that afternoon, and it was going to be in La Paz! Around 3 DK and I headed to the stadium, only to find it empty. They're playing here, right? I asked numerous locals, all with the same response of yeah of course! The paper, however, said it was in another city. Thank you Paceños for lying to me...We returned to the hostel and relaxed, and then went to a wonderful Asian restaurant with GREAT food! We returned stuffed and happy, and slept quite soundly.

Monday was our market/shopping day. And shop we did! I had met a woman named Carme with Sam who hand made all her goods. So I took DK to her and we bought more stuff. She was just so sweet, I couldn't pass her up! We also got tickets for the bus to Cocacabana, and then to Isla del Sol on Lake Titicaca! We had

another relaxed evening, and got ready for the island. We left early the next morning and caught the bus. We arrived around noon, had lunch and waited for the boat, and arrived on the island around 3. We found a cheap hostel and traversed the unknown terrain! We got to the top of the island and enjoyed a stellar sunset.

Something happened between that night and the morning, because when I awoke I was quite sick. The verdict: dehydration. Yes, I forgot to drink water :/ spent the next half day, Wednesday, recovering and drinking lots of water. That afternoon I recovered, and DK and I explored some old Inca ruins. We watched another movie and went to sleep.

Thursday we left the island and returned to La Paz by 3 in the afternoon.

We spent more relax time, and had a nice dinner (Thanksgiving) in the hostel. Even though we always "relaxed," it seemed when we arrived to another place we again relaxed; I guess that was just DK's style :) Friday I got up with DK and took him to the airport. I then got dropped off at the bus station and bought a ticket for Puno. I would stay there a day, and meet up with my dad and Uncle Ralph in Arequipa, Peru!! Thanks for reading, and keep up the commenting :) ~Benjamin

Branks in BoBo!

Well friends, the odyssey continues in South America, this time with a lot of good times in Bolivia! (With my Brit friends; me being the yank, we together make up Branks :p) We arrived to Uyuni, back to civilization, on Monday morning. We got all our stuff, tipped the worthless Jorge, and headed out together to discover a new city! We were so excited to connect back to the world, but poor Uyuni had NO electricity! We had to use the ATM powered by a generator...good ole Bolivia! We spent the afternoon enjoying ourselves with lunch (I had a llama steak) and the Train Cementary.

We got ready for the 7 hour, 65 mile journey to Potosi that evening. The trip that left at 7 was long, and long. For

traveling less than 70 miles, that comes out to an average of 10 miles an hour on a rugged, unpaved road. TIB!! This. Is. Bolivia! We got to Potosí early in the morning, and took a taxi to the hostel. The sleep was long and

wonderful. We spent the next day updating our lives (finally, wifi and internet!). Sam and I decided to take the mine tour that afternoon. A fun adventure into an active mind in the highest elevated city in the world! (altitude of 13,500 feet!). The tour was SOOO physically exhausting; climbing out of the mine I was the most physicalllytired I have ever b een in my life! We emerged from the caves, blew up some dynamite, and headed back home!

Sam and I enjoyed some Bolivian hamburgers, relaxed in the evening, and headed to bed. Wednesday we went to the Royal Mint (Potosi was the richest city in the world in the 16th century) and enjoyed some more sites before heading to Sucre. We took a taxi for this, and the price was $4 for a 2 hour trip. Amazingly cheap!

We got to Sucre, purchased our bus tickets for Cochabamba, and enjoyed the day in Sucre. We spent some time in the plaza, in an internet cafe, and headed to the station for the 12 hour journey. Sleep was plentiful, and we arrived to Cochabamba at 6 a.m. Nothing was open, so we waited for breakfast. We explored markets and saw sites, and left the same day for La Paz. We were quite dirty, so we showered in the bus station for $1. We

arrived to La Paz Friday and checked into the hostel. We spent the day in more markets--and we reunited with K. Bo and T Grif from our Uyuni tour! We had lunch, spend the afternoon together, and said bye that evening.

Saturday was Sam and mine's adventure on "The Most Dangerous Road in The World," a bike ride from 15,000 feet to 4,000 feet in about 20 miles. Aka, a really steep trip down a crazy road! We left at 8 a.m. and spent the whole day on the trail. What an amazing experience. From rain and cold to sun and hot,

the temperature was as varied as the trail! We got back that evening and finished up Christmas shopping for Sam. I think we found some fun stuff, and of course got great deals on the gear!

Sunday I said bye to Sam after 2 weeks...what a great travel mate! However, my GCC professor friend DK was coming to visit that same day! I woke up and headed to the airport, ready for a new, but different adventure with my US friend! Thanks for reading and commenting!! ~~Benjamín

The Journey Continues! Salta, San Pedro de Atacama, Salar de Uyuni

Well here I am nestled nicely in La Paz, Bolivia, at a good hostel with good computers (and some free time to write!). A lot has happened in the last 10 days, ever since I set off on my post semester South American journey! So without further adeu, lets get rolling:

I said good bye to my roommate and good friend Luis from Buenos Aires on Sunday with a ticket to Salta, Argentina (Which is in the north of Argentina; check out the travel map for places I've been and where I'm going!). I arrived the next day and was Couch Surfing with a friend named Gonzalo. We spent that evening in the plaza enjoying the colonial architecture. We got some bread, avocado, and tomato (and a few cold ones) and decided to make some dinner. We had spaghetti with bread w/ the avocado and tomato. I headed to bed that evening pretty tired, but ready for the next day! We climbed to the top of Cerro Cristobol, the famous site in Salta. The view was impressive! We meandered along the rest of the afternoon, and after a good conversation with my dad and Laura, I hit the sack--ready to leave for San Pedro de Atacama, Chile!

The bus ride on Wednesday morning through the Andes mountains was quite

impressive! We started out at about 7000 feet and rose up to 13000 feet, all passing through the beautiful mountains! At the Chilean immigration I saw a friendly looking fellow and introduced myself. Sam, a Brit from London, just so happened to be going on the SAME route I was, and after a little coordinating we decided to travel together! We found a hostel, booked a tour for the next day, and enjoyed some time getting to know eachother. We spend the next day on the valle de la luna tour, one that consisted of seeing a lot of beautiful places!

We returned that evening, had some empanadas, and headed to bed, ready for our full day tour starting at 8 a.m. The next day's tour included the Laguna Chaxa, the place where 3 of 6 of the new world flamingos live, along with other places to see! We had a good time on that tour as well, and got back that evening. We had booked a Saturday trip to Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia, which commenced at 8 a.m., so we again went to bed early (minus a 1 a.m. phone call to my wonderful Laura ^^)

Saturday came early, and Sam and I got excited to see all there was! We met a pair of British ladies, Tara and Katherine, and decided to go together, us 4, on the tour (there were two groups of 4, so it worked out well!). The next three days were WONDERFUL! Unfortunately the guide was not very good--rather unfriendly and mostly unhelpful--but our group was a lot of fun! We shared a load of laughs and good times, as well as a lot of great photos! The Salar de Uyuni is the largest and highest salar in the world, and some of the pictures show the true beauty!

We arrived to Uyuni, Bolivia on Monday morning, tired but excited to see Bolivia! I'll try to update my continued Bolivian adventures here in a little while. Enjoy all the photos and I look forward to hearing from you! (comments or emails; e-mail me @ benthelefty@gmail.com) ~~Benjamin

Where in the World Am I?

Hello friends. I apologize for the lack of posting. But due to my current travel situation, I can´t really find time to lay down a solid post! So, I´ll let you instead feast your eyes on some photos! They´re on facebook, so hopefully you have that...

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2020859&id=1504230012&saved#/album.php?aid=2020859&id=1504230012

And to let you know whats going on now with my current travel itenerary, here you go:

November 17 - Potosi, Bolivia
18 - Sucre, Bolivia
19 - Cochabamba, Bolivia
20 - La Paz, Bolivia
21 - Coroico, Bolivia
22 - La Paz (Dr. Kriley, a professor friend from GCC, is coming to visit for a week until the 27th)
23 - La Paz
24 - Lake Titicaca
25 - Lake Titicaca
26 - Lake Titicaca/back to La Paz
27 - Puno, Peru (Dr. Kriley leaves in a.m.)
28 - Puno, Peru/ Arequipa, Peru
29 - Arequipa, Peru (Dad and Uncle Ralph visit for a week!)
30 - Arequipa, Peru
December 1 - Cuzco, Peru
2 - Machu Picchu, Peru
3 - Lima, Peru
4 - Lima, Peru
5 - Head home to the US, Midnight @ Lima airport!

I´ll try to get an update here soon because I´m now at a nice hostel with a good connection! Thanks for reading, commenting, and praying for me :) --Benjamin

Ushuaia - The End of the World

This past Friday, October 30th, I set off on a journey to Ushuaia, Argentina, the southernmost city in the world! One of my friends from the University, Laura Van Mareem, had told me her interest earlier, and she decided to come with! So we left at 4:30 to get to the airport and fly south! (1200 miles from Antarctica) Thanks to a silly error on my end I didn't get to leave until the 8 o'clock flight, so Laura went ahead of me and I met up with her later!

Flying into Ushuaia was a truly breathtaking experience! So many mountains around the city--we were covered in them! They say that there isn't a horizon in Ushuaia because Mountains are everywhere you look! I met up with Laura at a café and we planned our weekend excursions and trips! Due to the foul weather (windy to rainy to, snowy!? Didn't know it snowed in Argentina, only GCC) we went to see the Museum of the end of the World

(Mueso del fin del Mundo which sounds better :p). We continued on around some other little cute museums and places. I walked with Laura back to her Hostel and we decided to meet the next day early to see the national park, Tierra Del Fuego (The firelands!). I arrived at my CS host's house, Sandra, and we chatted for a little while. I went out and bought food for the next day, and learned that a Spanish girl was staying with another CS friend across the street, and she wanted to go to Tierra del Fuego too! So I stopped over and met her, and she was cooking dinner--a nice Spanish treat of tortilla española. Turns out Marta (the host) was going to take her to the park tomorrow; since CS is a pretty "come along!" system, I found space for myself and Laura to go!

We headed out the next day around 9:30 to pick up Laura and get to the park! We saved about $10 in bus fare because Marta had a car. Furthermore, when we got to the entrance, we got in for free! They said we were Argentines (Laura and I are residents, so it was true :p) and didn't have to pay. Yay! We spent the next 10 hours hiking and trekking all over one of the most beautiful parks I've ever been to (and I've been to a lot). The pictures tell the tale...

I was fairly tired after 12+ miles of hiking, so decided to go to bed. I woke up the next day and Laura and I met at the dock for a tour! We saw some fun little sites, mostly famous touristy sites, but nonetheless a lot of fun! After we got back we headed to see Glaciar Martial, which was interesting. The trail was closed or something, so we didn't make it. We then returned and went to the Museum of the old jail. Glad I wasn't a prisoner back then! Well, that I'm not a prisoner now, either. It was quite interesting (and very big!). I said bye to Laura (she was heading back home that night), and went back to Sandra's. I took a nap (10:30-12 a.m.) and woke up refreshed. Some of my GCC friends were on Skype so we chatted (the 2 hour time difference favors them) as well as I talked to my beautiful girlfriend Laura.

Monday I had no plans. I was pretty tired from all the trekking and seeing, and had pretty well explored Ushuaia.

So I decided to take it easy! I relaxed quite a bit, and even studied for my economics final that wasn't until Thursday! Such a good student I am..). There was a big fútbol match on later, so some people came over and

we enjoyed the game. I headed to the airport around 9 to get home! Thanks to an unexplained delay I arrived at around 2, finally making it home at 3!

This trip to Ushuaia was my last "during the semester" trip. Thanks to some finals I was able to take earlier (i.e. Thursday and today) I am DONE with the scholastic endeavors! However, I start traveling again Sunday night! The cities and sights on the agenda are: Salta, Argentina (in the north), San Pedro de Atacama, Chile (driest desert in the world!), Uyuni, Bolivia (largest salt flat in the world), Potosí, Bolivia (one of the largest copper mines in the world), La Paz, Bolivia (My friend from GCC Dr. Kriley is going to visit here! Also, highest capital in the world (elevation) with trips to Lago Titicaca (highest navigable lake in the world)), and Cusco, Arequipa, and Lima, Peru with my wonderful dad and Uncle Ralph! I should be able to post every once in a while, but don't expect too much :p

As always, thanks for reading and posting! Chau ~~ Benjamín