Sand Dunes and Guano

Hey everybody,

I'm in Peru and my plan is to eat guinea pig and alpaca.  And maybe go to Macchu Picchu.  I've never been to South America, my brother and his wife are here, and that's why I'm here.  Not my most thoroughly planned adventure.  So far what I can tell you is that Peru is really, really big.  Waaaay bigger than I thought.  Long, long bus rides.  I'm enjoying being referred to as "caballero" and may insist that this continue even when I'm back in the U.S.  I have also discovered what may possibly be one of the most genius culinary inventions of all time:  Salchipapas.   It's a giant plate of french fries topped with sausage.  Then if you want Salchipapas Especial on top of that you throw a fried egg.  This may be the most awesome drunk/high munchie food ever invented.

Peruvians fear my vertical leap

Ste and Cate have been in Peru for 11 months volunteering near Cusco and this is their first real vacation since they've been here.  I met them in Arequipa, which is a good place to relax for a few days and get acclimated, spending most of your time walking around town visiting markets, drinking fruit juice and looking at the spectacular scenery of the six surrounding (active) volcanos.  It's also supposed to have the most picturesque Plaza de Armas (central square) of any city in Peru.  Arequipa is Peru's second-largest city and is also known as the "White City" which sounds very Lord of the Rings.  The only thing it has in common with Lord of the Rings however is that most of its inhabitants are the size of hobbits.  I may be the tallest man in Peru, or at the very least in the top ten.  I think i could easily dunk on 99% of Peruvians, assuming they lowered the hoop enough so that I could dunk.  When I walk down the street behind Stefano and Caterina people look at me like I'm their bodyguard.  It's kind of awesome, except when you're riding on an overnight bus whose seats are made for someone 8 inches shorter than you.  Then it's not so awesome.

From there we took an overnight bus to the small town of Paracas which is on the Pacific coast just south of Pisco.  The main reason for traveling to Paracas (besides Ste and Cate not having seen the ocean in a year) was to visit the Islas Ballestas.  A boat trip out to the islands yields excellent views of penguins, ocean birds, sea lions a giant image carved out of the sides of one of the sand dunes called El Candelabro.  It looks like an image of a candelabra, or a cactus, or maybe some other kind of religious symbol.  It's about 60 meters long and has survived because of the lack of wind on that side of the bluff.  This image was discovered in the mid-1800s but no one is sure when it was made or by whom.  The main features of the Islas Ballestas, however, is guano.  Yep, these islands are chiefly used for harvesting bird poop which is still the best organic fertilizer known to man.  Up until the last century guano used to be one of Peru's chief exports.  The poop harvest happens once every couple of years and it can get to be a few meters deep.  So now I can say I've seen an island of shit, which is nice.

Paracas also has a large coastal desert national reserve that contains many fossilized remains and some spectacular ocean views.  I was talking to Alberto (the guy who ran our hostel) and he told me that as recently as 10 years ago Paracas was simply a handful of houses with a pier.  There's been some kind of tourist explosion over the last few years that has caused massive new ongoing construction throughout the town, although most of the places look somewhat deserted due to the fact it's low season.  Alberto explained that it's mostly due to tourism for the Islas Ballestas and to the fact that Paracas has a beach.  The place gets booked solid during the summer months when Peruvians are on vacation.

Next it was on to the dunes and the desert oasis of Huacachina.  This is one of those hippy backpacker enclaves that you find in every country when traveling, where everyone seems to be of the dreadlocks/baggy pants crowd trying really hard to be "alternative" which mostly involves sitting on your ass all day talking nonsense and/or learning how to fire dance.  Or maybe you're saving the world by making flip-flops out of old tires.  Only one person approached us trying to sell weed which must mean it's low season.  That being said coming to Huacachina was absolutely 100% worthwhile.  The views over the endless sand dunes, especially around sunset, are spectactular.  And if there's one extreme activity that is worth every penny and then some, it's got to be riding a dune buggy over sand dunes.  Although Ste and I will probably suffer some sort of degenerative vertebrae damage in our later years it was totally worth it.  I tried to upload a video but the high-speed Peruvian internet said it would take about 274 minutes so maybe next time.

Now I'm in Puno so the next set of pictures will be from the higher altitudes and, of course, Lake Titicaca, which I have enjoyed talking about since the 4th grade.  For now, here are the pics...

https://photos.app.goo.gl/SDKCsBsPTRqSjXVW7

Take 'er easy,
Dave

Last Days in Thailand

Hey everybody,

Everything is cold and I don't remember how to wear shoes.  Those are the overwhelming feelings I have after being back in San Francisco for 10 hours.  Oh Thai humidity... thou art my master!   I've had so much to do the last couple of weeks that I don't think it's really sunk in yet that I left.   I feel like I can walk out and take the skytrain to Siam station any time I want.  The next few days are going to be weird.

Anyhow, the last few beach days in Phuket went by incredibly quickly.  I finished my training at Rawai almost two weeks ago and have been missing it ever since.  I find myself being jerked out of sleep by taking a swing at some imaginary bag.  I've been really, really antsy... having this gnawing feeling in the back of my mind that I need to hit something.  I should probably stay away from children and the elderly until I'm able to get back to the gym.  I'm going to have to come back and train again, and I'll probably end up staying at the same bungalow place on Naiharn beach, drunken cooks, ladyboys and all.  And of course the group of old white guys that shows up every day without exception between noon and 1 o'clock and drinks large beers for about six hours.  I asked the staff how long they'd been doing this and the answer was about two years.  Oh, and if you want to see what a couple of rounds of pad work with a trainer at the gym look like, here you go...


http://youtu.be/PssECmrqoUk?hd=1

Hey, I didn't say they'd be quality rounds.

Not exactly a chameleon

After Phuket it was back to Bangkok for the final week or so of my stay.  It was also Lee's last week in Thailand after spending a year teaching English in Bangkok, and Mark flew in from Liverpool for a few days as well.  It was the first time we'd been in Thailand together since 2005.  Lee was even more jumpy than usual trying to get all his last-minute stuff sorted out not to mention the fact that he quit his job with no notice.  Well, it wasn't exactly no notice.  Lee's genius plan was to tell them on Monday that he had to fly home immediately for a family emergency... but his flight didn't leave until Saturday.  This posed a logistical challenge because it meant that Lee had about a two-mile radius in central Bangkok that he had to avoid during the week so that no teachers or students would see him.  This also meant that we basically couldn't use the skytrain for a 12-hour window each day.  It actually wasn't that bad until that one day where Lee and I had to end up taking a cab across town in the middle of rush hour, which ensures at least a one hour cab ride.  The driver spoke pretty good English so we chatted a bit and Lee told him that he was a teacher but needed to avoid going near his school, which was closeby.  So the cab driver says that he knows a shortcut to get through the traffic, takes a couple of lefts and turns right up the street of Lee's school!  At this point Lee is sprawled across the back seat with his shirt pulled over his head.  The street is blocked off as students and teachers are streaming out of the school building at 5 pm.  The driver decides and head back so he pulls INTO THE DRIVEWAY OF THE SCHOOL to turn the car around.  A bunch of security guards head toward the car yelling in Thai and the driver says "Don't worry... he's a teacher here!" and points to Lee who is still hiding in the back seat completely paralyzed with disbelief.  I, of course, am laughing hysterically (in a sympathetic way).  I have no idea how we managed to drive Lee through this gauntlet of about 1000 people without anybody stopping or recognizing him.  It might have had to do with the fact that he was hugging the floor mat.

We mostly spent the week in a celebratory mood eating and drinking together.  On Lee's last night out we made a mandatory stop into a girly bar in Nana, where for the first time I saw Mark register a look of pure horror as he saw what to me looked like fairly ordinary depravity (for a Thai girly bar anyway).  Well, I do have to admit that I've never seen a soaped-up woman inside a glass booth/shower in the center of a strip club before.  The upshot is that at least you know she's clean.  We didn't stay long... I think we spent more time eating sandwiches at Subway later that night.  In the rush to get out we left my buddy Jon behind... as far as I know he may still be there.

Eventually both Mark and Lee left, and Lee's departure was especially emotional.  He's absolutely loved his time in Bangkok and has found a group of excellent friends.  I left town for a couple of days and headed to the countryside to visit Roger and Denise, my friends from when I was living in Bend who have spent almost two years as volunteers for the Peace Corps.  They live in a small rural village called Natakut working in schools and with a local government office.  Well, when I say "working" I mean they try to work but mostly get the runaround from local bureaucrats.  I learned a lot about how the Peace Corps works in Thailand, which is that it's more of a "cultural exchange" than any sort of development organization.  Roger and Denise have had to struggle not only to find projects to work on but to convince the locals to work with them.  They're both happy they've had the experience but I think they're looking forward to heading home in February.  Honestly, the weirdest part of the whole trip may have been seeing both of them speaking fluent Thai.

And then there were three:  Rich, Cari and me.  I don't know what I'm going to do without those two.  I don't know what they're going to do without me.  The last couple of days in Bangkok are kind of a blur... I bought a bunch of t-shirts and four tubes of that Herbal Salt toothpaste... we went to a fish spa where the little fish bite your feet... we partied on the Khao San road... Mui came up for a day and gave me some final lessons in Thai language... it was great.  And also sad.  I love Thailand.  I could easily see myself spending a year doing something like teaching English, learning Thai, training muay thai and bjj and it would fly by.  The people are great, the food is great, there's always something to do...  I'm going to miss it.  I know I'll be back, though.  I always come back.

Here are the pictures...

https://photos.app.goo.gl/MHnREmDFH8X6eekY6

Take 'er easy,
Dave