The Frugal Traveler: Greek Islands

How Robbers Rob you on Subways

2011-07-17T13:41:00.000-07:00

I had a bad last 3 days in Greece. First, I got robbed on the subway on my return to Athens at the end of my trip. Just before I got off the ferry, I put my passport, credit cards, drivers license and 50 euros into my moneybelt and put the moneybelt on under my shorts. Then I got off the ferry and walked across the pedestrian bridge to the subway. To make sure my wallet was zipped into my purse, I took out the 1.30 for the subway, organized and ready to go. I bought my ticket, got it validated and went into the last car of the train which was crowded but still had some room. (They always warn you not to get on crowded trains and I didn't think this was really crowded.)

As I stepped on the train, a tall Middle Eastern or Italian-looking man with a plaid shirt and white boat shoes stepped directly in front of me, blocking my way. His head was turned to the side, as if he was distracted and hadn't realized that he just blocked my way. So I took a step to the right and he again slid to the right to block me. I said "what the..." with a little laugh, like was he really that out of it that he doesn't notice a person in front of him? He let me in that time.

So I got situated, suitcase on the ground in front of me, backpack strapped on with a front belt and waited. Suddenly, about 5-7 men got on, pushing against me hard. I could feel the edges of their backpacks scraping on my arms and legs. I found myself against the pole that people hold onto. Someone was pulling me backwards by my backpack. Another man's armpit was in my face. I started yelling, "get me out of here! Let me out!" mainly because I was feeling claustrophobic. I hadn't realized at this point that I'd been robbed. So the 5 men left, I got off and noticed my purse was open. I looked and sure enough, my wallet was gone. I had 40 euros, my Kaiser card, a Starbucks card, and all my ATM receipts. That's all they got, suckers.

I was very shaken and reported it to security. They said I have to go to the police station downtown if I want to file a report. I said forget it.

Back in town, I walked to my hotel, the Economy Hotel, which was nice except for the neighborhood's sex shops and prostitutes. When I got there, the electricity had been shut down due to the electric company's protests. It was 95 degrees and I had to go up 10 flights of stairs to a hot room and wait for the electricity to come back on. Luckily it did after 10 minutes. Whew!

Later after I went out to eat dinner, I took a taxi back since my neighborhood didn't seem very safe. The taxi driver went waaaay around because he said there's a strike on the main street. Bullshit. There was no strike where I was but I went with it, what's 2-3 extra euros. So he shows up at my hotel and I give him a 20. He put it down and held up a 5 and said, this is a 5. I said no, it was a 20. He said see, this is a 5, like I was an idiot. He said you owe me 3 more euros. So I dug and found 2.50 and he said it's fine like I was so stupid, I couldn't figure out how to pay. I was furious at this too. Ripped off twice in the same day by assholes.

The next night (my last), I was walking back from dinner and a man in a Lexus-type car stated driving alongside me as I walked. He said he wanted to talk to me. I ignored him and he said it again. I said no. He turned right onto the street where my hotel was and he said he has something he wants to tell me. I said I don't want to hear it and kept walking. He stopped right in front of the doors to my hotel and I had to walk around the back of his car, hoping he wouldn't back up and run me over. I went quickly into my hotel, up the elevator and into my room which I double-locked. Very creepy. Unfortunately, this is my last mental picture of Greece. I don't think I would ever go again, unless it's directly to the islands.

Exploring Paros by Scooter

2011-07-17T13:03:00.000-07:00

I rented a scooter to explore the island. The stupid guy told me it was 15 euros for the small 50cc, then when I went to pay the lady said it was 10 euros. The Greeks are not generally very detail-oriented. So I went to Naoussa, the place everyone told me to go instead of Parikia. I wish I would have. Parikia was not a nice place to be. Nobody was all that friendly and there were no fun bars or anything. I guess Naoussa is where the nightlife is. I went first on my scooter and didn't see much. I was trying to find the beach and found out that there's not really one beach. There are many small coves that you need a motorcycle to get to. It was very confusing to me. But I do wish I'd have stayed there instead.

After Naoussa, I tried to find Golden Beach, which is supposed to be beautiful. There are 3 Golden Beaches and I didn't know which one to go to. So I chose the one with the Golden Beach Restaurant (I don't think that was the right one because there were only 2 restaurants). I was tired of looking so just stayed there. A sandblasting wind was blowing, and I was getting covered with sand. I finally found a chair that was a little more out of the wind but didn't stay long. I had lunch at the Golden Beach Restaurant. I had fried eggplant which sounds greasy and boring but it was really pretty good and it was only 3 euros.

On the way back across the island, I went to the village of Lefkes, right in the center of the island. What a beautiful place. It was so peaceful and pretty. There were more trees and plants here than I'd seen anywhere else in Greece, which is pretty dry and rocky in general.

At night, I tried to find a bar and spent an hour and a half looking for one. I finally found one that was still empty at 11:30. I can't stay up till 4 am. It's just not worth it for me. If I do it, my whole next day is ruined, I'm tired all screwed up on my sleep for the next night. So the bar scene basically sucked in Parikia.

Restaurants
Elaea on the waterfront towards Livadia Beach - very good food, well presented and prices moderate.

Yiannoulis - on waterfront across from bus station. Excellent fresh fish but all the rest was behind the preheated glass thing.

Bars
Dubliner - waaaaay up at the edge of town in a bad area. It doesn't even think about opening until around 11 or so.

Pebbles Jazz Bar - in the Kastro up a few steps. Great place to watch the sunset and good wine

Pirate Bar - looks really cool in a pirate kind of way but was empty so I didn't go in

Rock Bar - right around the corner from the Pirate Bar, could be fun when people were in it

Hotels
Hotel Frangiscos - NO. This is the one with the cockroaches 30 euros
Hotel Paros - looked very nice, the lady was very nice. 40 euros
Hotel Polos - very nice, where I stayed. Clean, has a nice pool. 40 euros
Hotel Apollon - was recommended to me, looked nice

Places to See
Archaological Museum - in Parikia, very good
Hellenistic Mosaic - in Parikia, very good
Antiparos Tour - take a small ferry at the port to the island, leaves around 5 times a day, 5 euros each way. In Antiparos, there is the Cave of Antiparos, very cool. 5 euros to get in. There are 450 or so stairs down into the cave.

Arriving in Paros, and the Cockroach

2011-07-17T09:09:00.000-07:00

So I tried the no reservations thing. I arrived on the ferry in Paros without a hotel reservation. There are hundreds of hotel operators standing there with signs and brochures of their hotels. They all yell at the same time and push on each other. It's very hectic.

I had spoken to a few people and there were 2 hotels in Parikia they recommended: The Apollon and Frangisco's. Two people had mentioned Frangisco's so I thought that would be the one to go with. And they told me that you can get it by looking for them in the hordes of hotel hawkers at the ferry. So I looked around and saw the sign for Frangisco's. I went right up to the guy (to the dismay of the other 7 people strugging for my attention against him) and said this is the one I want. He was so happy; he didn't even have to talk me into it or anything! And when I asked the price it was 30 euros! How perfect is this, I asked myself. So he took me to the van and said he'd be right back. Another ferry had just arrived and he had to try and get a few more. So I sat there for 10 minutes and he returned with 2 girls from New York. They were arguing, as girls do when traveling together for any length of time.

So we all go to the hotel which looks like the picture and looks just fine. The guy takes me to a room and lets me choose between the one with the ocean view or the inside one, a little quieter. Since the streets weren't so busy, I went for the ocean view one. The french-type doors to the balcony were wide open to let the breeze in. I thought perfect! He wanted me to give him my passport and I said no! Then he said OK, drivers license is fine. I gave it to him but it made me uneasy. Did that many people leave without paying?

So I did my cockroach inspection -- bathroom, under the sink, around the shower, under the beds and didn't see any. So I freshened up and went out to dinner. I'd decided that it would be an early night so I went back to my room. When I turned on the light, there was a giant cockroach on the wall, antennae circling around. Having a thing about cockroaches, a chill went through my body and I grabbed the key and ran down to find the manager. I went to the breakfast area and although the manager wasn't there, the man who showed me my room was. So I told him I have a problem: cockroach. He came to my room, irritated. The cockroach wasn't where it was when I left. He said there is no cockroach. I said yes, it was right there, pointing to the wall where it was. He looked around and found it in a cupboard. He picked it up and threw it over the balcony, onto the street near the entrance which I found disgusting. He started yelling at me that he can't help it that cockroaches are in Greece. He said this was a flying cockroach; it must have just flown in that day when the doors were open. I said so there's not a family living in here? He said NO! I said I wanted a different room. He was furious with me but grabbed my suitcase and walked 15 feet in front of me, taking me to a different room.

The lock to my new room, which was right next to reception, had been ripped off and replaced because the plywood was new. It would have to do because it was 10:00 at night, it was too late to look around for something else so I stayed. I went to do email and then the owner saw me so I told him about the cockroach. He was very greasy and his breath smelled like alcohol and he looked like he was on drugs. He assured me that there were no more cockroaches in the entire hotel and that my new room was very nice.

I left the lights on all night, in case any of the cockroaches little friends were around. With the help of my airplane eyecover shade and an Ambien, I got some sleep.

The next day I went in search of another hotel. I wish I'd have taken my friends at the Old Captain's advice and stayed in Naossa though. I checked out Hotel Paros which seemed very nice, then the Hotel Polos which had a beautiful pool area. I chose that one for 40 euros a night, and was happy with my choice.

The Lady with the Mustache: Sifnos Restaurants, Hotels, Bars

2011-07-16T13:31:00.000-07:00

Sifnos is said to have some of the best food in the Aegean. I thought it was good but it didn't blow me over. I did have one of the clay pot dishes in Appolonia. It was pork in a stew sauce but nothing else except topped with french fries! I had rabbit in Kamares, and their famous chickpea soup, both very good and fairly priced. The best gyro place was not the one on the main street but the one behind it on a balcony up the stairs. Can't remember the name but the owner was very cool. Meals were all between 5 and 10 euros except for gyros which were 2 euros.

Restaurants
Boulis Hotel - Kamares Beach at the end of town, turn left. The restaurant on the patio had the chickpea soup. It was lovingly served, and both the waiter and the chef were very proud when I gave them the thumbs up. They also had a homemade retsina which was really good. I tried the retsina in a bottle another time and it was awful. I wish I'd have returned here to eat another of their dishes.

O Simos Cafe - Kamares Beach on the waterfront. This is where you can find the lady with the mustache. Everyone says to find her and eat there. This where I had the rabbit. Evidently, the son is a big hunter and whatever he finds out there on the island is what you'll find on the menu, along with the normal Greek offerings. The rabbit was prepared in a tomato-based sauce and was tasty, although hard to pick off the bones. The mustache lady shuffles over to your table and sits down to take your order. She's very matter-of-fact and to the point. The restaurant is on the water so it's a good one to check out.

Absinthe - Kamares Beach, up the stairs behind one of the souvlaki shops. Although I didn't eat here, the food looked very good. I met the owner, George, who is very friendly. A cool dude. The food had a slightly different menu than others I've seen, like basmati rice with shrimp and pineapple. I'd have liked to try it but didn't see it, as it's not right on the main street.

Bars
Old Captains Bar - Kamares Beach. This is the only bar in town and is a great spot to watch the sunset.

Hotels
Morpheas Pension - Kamares Beach, at the end of town and to the left past the Hotel Boulis. 40 euros per night. The beach is down a sand walkway a short ways.
This was a very clean hotel and the owner and his father are very helpful. You can book it through Aegean Thesaurus travel, which I found through Matt Barrett's Greek Travel page.

Exploring Sifnos by Scooter/Moped

2011-07-15T10:07:00.000-07:00

So I rented a scooter (or is it called a moped -- the kind where you put your feet on the platform in front of you and they're only 50 cc and go 30 mph). I headed toward the ancient acropolis in Agios Andreas. There was a walking path so I parked and walked straight uphill for 15-20 minutes. After stopping to rest a million times and pouring out sweat, I decided it wasn't worth the walk. I was still only halfway there. So I walked back down, all pissed off at myself. I continued down the road and then saw a paved road up to the same place I was just trying to walk to! So I drove up, parked, and walked around. It was closed that day but I still got to walk around. It's just a typical ruined building, built in the 12th century BC. Wow, that's old. And it was inhabited up to the 2nd century BC. It looks as if they're trying to make it a more official tourist attraction. There was a window where you pay when they're open. The interior and exterior walls are labeled, and the walking paths are in great condition. There's a church at the top with great views of the other side of the island.

After leaving the ruins, I got back on my scooter and headed towards the town of Vathy. It was recommended to me over the other beach, Plati Gialos which is much bigger. Vathi was a narrow sand beach but there were no beach chairs anywhere. People were laying in the shade of the trees in the sand which is what I should have done but I wanted a lounge chair. So I walked for about 15 minutes down the beach to the only beach chairs that were for rent. A gruff old man came out and charged me 4 euros. I asked for a bathroom and he said NO! Cranky old man.

After laying out awhile, I decided to go have lunch. Maybe this would be the place for fresh fish since nobody seems to have fresh fish other than by the kilo. I think there's a way you can order a portion for one person but I think it would still be around 15 or more euros or $22! Aaaaah, for a plastic chair and a paper tablecloth and bad service. I think not. So I ordered the fish soup which I heard was excellent in Greece. There were 4 piees of fish and 4 potato chunks in a small bowl for 7 euros. It was OK but the fish soup in Mexico is far superior, cheaper, and in bigger portions.

So after Vathi, I went to Faro. I had to go all the way up to the center of the island and back down another road so it took awhile. Especially with my little 50 cc scooter. They have a hard time going uphill. A guy on a motorcycle passed me and made a pushing motion with his body, teasing me for the slowness of my scooter.

Faro is a small, cute fishing village on a bay. Very quiet. I didn't see many restaurants but it looked as if the actual town was built up the white stairs similar to a Kastro. I had an ice cream at a mini market and left. By the time I got home, I was quite sunburned. Be sure to wear a long sleeved shirt and put suntan lotion on when you're going to be riding around on a scooter all day.

So after showering and resting, I went to have the Sunday special, which is a chickpea soup. It's basically stewed chickpeas, onions, and a ton of olive oil. It's very tasty but I was wondering how many calories in olive oil I was taking in. I also tried the homemade retsina. It's like a white wine but is much stronger. One glass gets you really buzzed. As I sat there eating my hot soup and drinking my retsina in the sort of shade, I heard a ferry come in. Maybe it was the retsina but the sounds were very peaceful. First the ferry honks its big old horn with a long honk which echoes through the bay which is surrounded by mountains. It sounds so cool. Then the waves come from the ship, so you hear the kids playing in the ocean start screaming because it's the only time they get any waves. Then 10 minutes later when the ship is leaving, it honks again. Then you hear the chains and anchors rolling in and the vibration of the ship moving sideways or reverse to get away from the dock. I was having a moment, enjoying the tastes and sounds around me.

Later that night I went to the Old Captains Bar to have a chat with people who would actually talk to me.

Sifnos really grew on me. The day I left was a little sad.

Getting Lost on the Way to The Kastro in Sifnos

2011-07-14T21:08:00.000-07:00

There are only about 5 buses per day to the capital of Appolonia which is ontop of the island, up the hill from Kamares. Since I didn't know what I was going to do until later, I took the bus around 2 pm. I'd forgotten, though, that everything closes down from about 1:30-6:00. EVERYTHING was closed except for a bakery and a coffee shop. It was very hot and I had nothing to do and nowhere to go. The next bus back to Kamares was coming but I couldn't figure out what to do fast enough so I let it go by. The bus after that was in 3 hours. So I read in an uncomfortable chair in the shade at a closed cafe. B-O-R-I-N-G and HOT. Finally, bored out of my mind, I walked down the road towards the Kastro which is the former capital. I stopped in Veranda cafe which was a very cool, breezy spot. They listed this in Lonely Planet so when I saw it I recognized the name right away. I had a Craft beer which is a "microbrewery"? in Athens. The beer was 3.50 euros. Coffee was 3 euros, almost the same price.

So at 6:00 I decided that the sun wasn't as hot and I started down the path to the Kastro which was 5K. The waiter told me it takes 20-25 minutes. I thought, "how in the heck do you walk 5 kilometers in 20 minutes?" but nodded and followed his directions to the marble footpath. Sifnos, by the way, is full of these footpaths. They're mostly well maintained and pretty as well.

After about an hour, having passed a colt, a pig, chickens, and goats, I realized I was not heading towards the ocean. I was heading parallel to it which wasn't right. And the trail didn't look the same. Panicking a little, I thought to myself, who am I going to find out here in the middle of nowhere to ask. I was thinking about turning back and walking for about 1/2 hour until the last time I saw civilization when lo and behold, there was a man and woman feeding about 50 pigs. I asked the man, "Kastro?" and he pointed to a path perpendicular to the one I was on. I said "Efharisto" and turned down the narrow, rutted path. About 15 minutes later, the path dumped me onto the highway. So I walked the last mile down the winding highway and finally arrived, sweating and overheated, at the Kastro. I walked uphill into the Kastro and found a restaurant to get a cold drink. I felt a little shaky and low blood sugary so I got a Sprite, thinking I needed the sugar. While drinking, I felt something moving around inside my underwear in the front. I bolted to the bathroom and sure enough, there was a little bug in there trying to get out. I freaked out and flung it to the ground, then returned to my Sprite. It suddenly tasted horrible and warm so I left the rest and explored some more.

There's not much to see up there. There is a museum but it was closed. There are only about 3 restaurants but the view is gorgeous. This Kastro overlooks cliffs on the ocean. Good place for watching and catching pirates!

Sifnos, small island favorite

2011-07-14T11:21:00.000-07:00

When everyone told me that the ferry Agios Georgios would be carrying me away to Sifnos, they said oh, you're going on the small, slow ferry. So of course I imagined like in the movie Mama Mia, chickens, goats, and old Greek women wearing those black dresses. But no, it was really just as nice as the big ferry, just a smaller version.

I got into my hotel in Kamares Beach at 10 at night. The owner's dad was there to check me in but doesn't speak a word of English. So we communicated by sign language. In fact, not a lot of people speak English here. There are lots of French and Germans, but they're generally not very friendly.

Luckily I discovered Old Captains Bar on night #2. There were Americans mixed in with the others. (Americans are just so much darn friendlier than anyone else except Australians!) This was to be my haunt for the next 4 nights. A place where everybody knows your name. Nice when you're traveling alone.

So the next day I dedicated to being a Beach Day. I rented a chair from the nice girl for 3 euros and settled in with my book. Suddenly a huge wasp, the kind with the multi-jointed body, flew in and landed between my water bottle and the plastic orange bag underneath it. I think it was drinking water off the side, then it looked confused, then I think it got stuck. So I thought do I kill it and eliminate a possible sting from a pissed off wasp that's trying to get unstuck? I watched it and agonized over the decision for 10 minutes.

I finally decided to smash it with my water bottle. I smashed and smashed but it didn't die all the way. It kept writhing in what I assume is pain. I didn't want it suffer so I kept smashing it hard, then got a rock to finish it off. I buried it in the sand, still twitching, and put a rock above the spot in case it was to come crawling out of the sand 10 times bigger with a bloodlust for me.

I feel terribly guilty over this murder and am sure karma wise I'll be paying back for that wasps life. Just like that, a fly came and bit me 3 times. I don't know if that'll equal out for a wasp's dear life -- probably not. I imagine a nest of wasps hunting me down and covering me like those beekeepers, waiting to all sting me at once just to instill a sense of terror in me. Or that the one I killed will come back to life and find me. Oh, I'll pay. Maybe I'll go into one of these tiny churches and repent for my sin.

This was the highlight of one of my days. Another day, I came to the office to use the internet and there was a big group of French people eating dinner in the office. The owner's father asked me if I wanted an ouzo. I said sure! Then he gave me a hunk of sheep cheese to go with it. He went baaaaah like a sheep sounds to tell me it was sheep cheese. All the French people laughed and watched as I ate the cheese to see if I would like it. It did, although it was a little stinky.

Santorini Restaurants and Hotels

2011-07-12T10:40:00.001-07:00

Santorini is full of gyro places. There are also lots of waffle and crepe shops. They're everywhere and they're cheap so that's the best way to go if you're on a budget. The farther you go away from the caldera, the more reasonable the meal (if you can call those prices reasonable). The places along the caldera start at 20 euros for a basic meal.

You can buy some souveniers for not too much money. They have tons of shops with real stone necklaces, bracelets and earrings for under 10 euros. I got a red coral one for 7 euros and some black lava earrings for 5 euros.

Restaurants
Ampelos Wine Bar for wine by the glass on the caldera towards the farthest end from Oia.

Corner Crepes and Waffles - walking up towards the caldera, good crepes for breakfast, around 5 euros

Taverna El Greco - typical Greek food, all preheated and kept warm behind a glass display. These things make me nervous because you never know how long the food has been in there. I talked to the owner who was nice and used to live in the US. The worker was trying to fix us up. I didn't actually eat there, just sampled the lima beans.

Bars
The Brothers - for the younger hookah crowd

Murphy's - very expensive (7.50 euros for a Corona!)

McDaniel's open-air cowboy style on a street corner

Hotels
Nissos Thira Hotel - along the road parallel to the caldera but down the hill, below the bus station. Take the local bus from the ferry, much cheaper than a taxi.

Sights
Kamari Beach - black "sand" beach which is really a black rock beach. I wasn't impressed with the beach but there are lots of tavernas along the waterfront. The ruins of Ancient Thira are nearby but were closed when I was there due to the strike.

Akrotiri - town buried by lava similar to Pompeii. The ruins are closed at this point but will eventually reopen.

Volcano tour - check the agencies all over the place

Ride donkey up from port. The cruise people do this. You can do it too if you walk down the trail or take the cable car down and get a donkey at the bottom

Archeological museum - right in Fira; worthwhile

Followed Around Santorini by Skanky Albanian

2011-07-11T18:59:00.000-07:00

So there I was minding my own business checking email in an internet cafe. A 20-ish year old guy sits right next to me and interrupts my typing to introduce himself. I can't remember his name -- Tony, something like that -- he's from Albania. So I'm typing away but feel a hole being burned into the side of my head by his eyes. He is STARING at me constantly. Don't react, I tell myself. His computer has problems and he is forced to move across to another computer.

Every so often I glance up again because of his burning gaze and he winks at me. I ignore him and continue my work. When I finish, I quickly pay and leave so by the time he pays I'll be long gone.

I'm walking down the sidewalk, relieved to be away from him when suddenly to my dismay and surprise, he appears beside me. Hi! he says, smiling, as if I should be happy to see him. I say hi and keep walking, trying to make an ugly face. We get to the corner and he says, "I come to your hotel?" I said NO, making the ugliest face I could. He left and I was again relieved. But nervously so. I kept slyly turning around to see if he was following me. Nothing.

So I go up to the caldera and check out a church. I go inside and sit down and have the feeling that if the dude is following me, I'll lose him in here. After about 10 minutes of spiritual enlightenment, I go to the wine bar, Ampelos, which is next door. I had a glass of wine and the bartender liked me so he refilled my glass for free.

Pleasantly buzzed, I leave and go to watch the sunset. Imagine my dismay when the Albanian shows up. Hi! he says. Mmmmpgh, I manage. I darted into a silver shop and hid. I watched the Albanian walk by, looking around. I succeeded in losing him! I tell the lady in the shop that this guy is following me. When she finds out he's Albanian, she says that Albanians are primitive. They're 50 years behind everyone else. Hmmmm...so there's racism in Greece too.

Santorini Volcano Tour

2011-07-07T13:11:00.000-07:00

There are TONS of volcano tours available. I would advise that you shop around and don't do as I did which is sign up with my hotel. I went on the King Thira boat. With so many other beautiful wooden sailing boats, glass bottomed boats, yacht type boats, you really should look around first. But no, I got stuck on the big brown barge. It is dressed up with what looks like sailing masts but they're really just poles. It wasn't horrible; it just wasn't "nice".

So on my trip, the bus picks you up at a corner, we cruised around, then went to the volcano island. We walked to the top which took a full hour+. I wore my Keens with closed toes but rocks kept getting stuck inside. Tennis shoes would have been better. It was a longish walk past piles of lava rock. I couldn't find the crater. Our guide told us there were 7 craters but I couldn't even find one. I asked a girl and she said that there was one with steam coming out of it and when we passed the place she was talking about on the way back, I couldn't see anything. So we came back down (great views from the top, by the way) and got back into the boat to go to the hot springs.

These hot springs are from volcano waters. They smell strongly of sulpher and will turn any silver jewelry black. SO TAKE OFF YOUR SILVER BEFORE GOING IN, something I didn't do and as a result, my silver anklet now has a permanent blackish non-shiny finish. Into the garbage you go, my little pretty. Also, the tour guide anchored the boat around 200 feet from the entrance to the springs and told us to swim. He said, "If you can't swim well, don't go." No life jackets, no floaties, no emergency preparation. I asked what if someone gets tired and he said we have a boat but we don't want to get it out unless we have to.

So about 100 of us stood in line to jump off the boat and make a swim for it. There was nothing to rest on except if you swim to the side you can hang onto a jagged rock. And there was one flat rock in the middle that you could stand on. But after 10 minutes of floating on my back, turning over and swimming, turning over onto my back to rest, I was tired. I didn't ever make it all the way into the springs because it was just too far without anything to rest on. Hopefully the other tours don't have such lax safety procedures.

After the springs, we went to Thirasia, an island that broke off from the rest of the island during the earthquake and tsunami. There was a small town at the port, or you could walk up a winding footpath and get to the main town. I just stayed at the bottom. At the tavernas there, you could see men barbecuing fresh fish. I checked one place out and it was around 9 euros for a kebab of octopus, squid, and swordfish. Since fresh fish was so exorbitanly priced everywhere else, I thought I'd splurge and go for it. It was the best meal I had in Greece. The grilled octopus was amazing! And the sauce that the potatoes came in was mouth-wateringly perfect. We had to kill 2 hours there, then went by boat back to the port where we boarded buses to Oia (pronounced ee-ah) which is the best place to watch the sunset. This was a very cute town, similar to Fira, but smaller. Hordes of people were lined up along the pathways for sunset. But there were low clouds in the sky, very unusual for Santorini this time of year, and the sunset was gobbled up by a thick grey cloud. Nothing exciting here.

Arriving in Santorini

2011-07-04T11:00:00.000-07:00

Coming off the ferry, you look up to a clifflike wall of rock. You can see the geology of the rock clearly. There are layers of grey, layers of red, layers of black, then towards the top layers of compacted sand and small rock. I was getting ready to get into a taxi, not imagining a city bus would be there and while haggling with the taxi driver over the cost (15 euros), I asked, "do those buses take anybody and where do they go?" The driver didn't want to waste a trip on one person so he told me yes, they take you to the bus station in town. Perfect! 2.20 euros is much better than 15!

So a convoy of buses took off up the S-curve road to the top of the cliff area. We then went gently down the other side, through a valley. Grape vineyards grow on the side of the road but they look completely different than ours here in CA. Their plants are very low to the ground, and the vines themselves are very slight and skinny, not like our gnarly old vines. This evidently is due to the lack of rainfall. Plants need to stay low to suck in whatever dew they can.

At the bus station again, I approached a taxi driver and he said it's only 20 meters to my hotel. He was actually right on the distance; it was only about 20 meters so no taxi fare! This makes me so happy. By the way, a meter is about 3 steps. So I arrive at my hotel, Nissos Thira, in the town of Thira (or Fira) which is right on a busy street. My room the first night was on the street and I had to deal with wall-shaking sounds of motorcycles and 4 wheelers whining down the street, along with all the cars and buses. I immediately asked for an inside room, and they did this for me for the second 2 nights. My second room was great.

After checking in, I walked up the winding streets to the caldera edge to check it out. This is where the postcard pictures are taken; a walking path lines the edge of the caldera which was formed by possibly the biggest the volcano explosion in history, in 100 BCish. It created a tidal wave that was about 350 meters high, wiping out thousands of people on the islands. The circular island also partially sunk at that point. Some say that the sunken portion is really the buried city of Atlantis.

Walking along the caldera walkway, I checked out menus at the many restaurants, one after the other. There will be a doorway that appears to go to nowhere but on further observation, you will see a set of stairs that start right below the doorway that lead to a restaurant or bar. The prices are outrageous along here! The typical meal is 25 euros or more. A mojito at one place was 10 euros -- that's $15!

There is couple after couple taking pictures of one another, hugging each other, some making out along the footpath. The views are amazing. You can see the shape of the island and the volcano island made of lava in the middle. Cruise ships dot the bay, along with smaller tugs and yachts. It really is breathtaking.

Hints, Tips, and Advice

2011-07-02T09:52:00.001-07:00

Here are some random things I learned on my trip:

Greek drinks
Beer: Mythos is the local beer, along with Fix, Alpha I think. It's 5%, tastes a little icky but passable for me. Along with Amstel and Heinekin, they're around 2.50-3 euros
Ouzo: Licorice-flavored but not really sweet like I'd thought. Served over ice, I add water to dilute it. I like it for sipping. Makes your mouth numb. Only 2 euros
Raki - moonshine. The only one I tried had honey and cinnamon so it was OK but strong.
Local white wine - OK, similar to a sauvignon blanc. Reds weren't so good here. Wine is very cheap, 2.50 euros for a 1/2 liter.

Weather in June on the islands
average 27 celsius; 82 Farenheit daytime; nighttime drops to 22 C or 72 F. You need a sweater, esp in early June
Very dry; no humidity (this surprised me). It's 10 degrees cooler in the shade, especially with a breeze.
It can be very windy. In Paros, we had 30 mile an hour winds the whole 4 days I was there which was annoying. I got sandblasted at one beach.
There are no crowds in June -- it could have been more lively. I'd though shoulder season would be more busy but then again, locals told me it was an unusually slow June.

Restaurants
-Lots of pizza/pasta places. Pasta is a budget option, 5-7 euros; pizza is around 7-9 euros but if you have a fridge can last a couple of meals
-Tzatiki - yogurt, cucumber, garlic dip. Varies from restaurant to restaurant. Some are thick like cream cheese; some more runny. They put this on gyros. I like the more runny version myself.
-Greek salad - available everywhere for about 5 euros. Like our greek salads, only they top it with a slab of feta cheese. There's not much dressing, just olive oil with a little vinegar.
-Moussaka - just like if you go to a Greek festival here. It's ground beef, onions, potatoes and spices, topped with a cream thing which I scraped off.
-Sausage as in sausage omelette = hot dogs. Ick

Your food comes really fast. I think everything is pre-prepared a lot of times, which makes me nervous. Some places have their mousakka, stuff tomatoes, stews in a window that you can look at. It looks kind of old to me though, and I wonder how long it's been sitting.

They automatically bring you bread and charge you for it. Most of the time there is no butter. It's around .50 average. Just refuse it when they bring it if you don't want any.

They often serve you a glass of water. I believe it's tapwater so if you're concerned, drink bottled water. Everyone seems to be fine though and I never once had any digestive problems. But then again, I didn't drink the water. I did use their ice cubes though which are made from tapwater.

To eat on the cheap, have appetizers or salads and a mineral water or wine. For lunch, go to a bakery and get a spinich pie or sandwich. American style breakfasts are expensive, 10 euros = $15! Omelettes are cheaper than bread and coffee. But once you add your coffee it's around 7-8 euros.

Nobody goes out to eat until 11-12:00 pm. I went at 9:00 and the places were all empty except for a few tables. Also, June is slow.

Be sure to pack:
Long sleeve T shirts or shirts covering your shoulders for days when you rent scooters or 4 wheelers.
Sweater or light jacket
Beach shoes
laundry detergent for small wash-ups
sunscreen - it's VERY expensive there
money belt for any subway trips
hat, sunglasses

Greece Facts
Men are rude and gruff
Tourists are French, German, Greek from Athens; very few tourists that prefer to speak in English
Nobody knows details of anything
20 meters = 100 meters. I actually tested this out by counting 1 meter per each 3 steps
400 meters = 200 meters.
Pedestrians have no right of way. If they hesitate, it's not for you so don't take a chance.
The ocean water is cold in June

That's it!

Naxos Hotels and Restaurants

2011-07-02T09:26:00.000-07:00

OK, here are the hotel and restaurants I visited. I found Naxos to be the most reasonable island I visited. Remember, this is early June and prices will be higher in July and August.

Hotels
Birikos Apartments, Agios Prokopios, 40 euros. No website but can be booked through Aegean Thesaurus Travel. Extremely friendly owners, free ferry pickup and dropoff, very clean and cool rooms, nice pool, 5 min walk from beach area.

Restaurants
Golden Beach Restaurant, Agios Prokopios waterfront - breakfasts 5 euros. It's like a gourmet breakfast, best on islands.

Colloseo, Agios Prokopios waterfront - lunch and dinners, reasonable prices. Mousakka and greeks salads around 5 euros, for an idea. Friendly waiters, live bouzuki music, fun return crowd, free beach chairs in the daytime.

Exploring Naxos island by 4 wheeler

2011-07-01T14:22:00.000-07:00

I took the local bus to Hora. Leaving every hour on the 1/2 hour and costing 2.20, it meets on the corner of the road you take to the beach and the waterfront road. After I got to Hora, I headed uphill to the Kastro, which is the old town. Like all Kastros I saw in Greece, it's a labyrinth of winding, tiled alleys along which very white homes are seen. This is the place of blue doors. There were cracking, faded blue doors, newly painted blue doors, even a few green doors. And the cats laying around. It was postcard perfect here. Near the top is a castle and an old Venetian fortress which is now a museum.

Then I walked down the hill into Hora for dinner. I explored but it was just taverna after taverna along the waterfront. I chose one with a fish special. You'd think Greece would just be full of fresh, cheap fish since the islands are all surrounded by a big sea. But no, fish in Greece is SUPER expensive. It's sold by the kilo normally, around 60-90 euros per kilo. So a kilo is 2 pounds; 1 pound would be 30-45 euros; the smallest portion one person could get would probably be 8 oz. so 15-22 euros = $22-33 for dinner! And that just gets you fish!!! So anyway, I saw a sign for 7 euros, fish, salad, and potatoes, and a glass of wine. I should have known this was too good to be true. Turns out the fish had been frozen and cooked while still frozen. It had a mushy, spongy texture and I left most of it on my plate and filled up on french fries and salad. The wine burned a hole in my stomach so I left that too. So careful on ordering specials and always ask if the fish is fresh. I find that A LOT of their fish is frozen. They import their calamari for frying from Monterey, CA, for God's sake!!!

Anyhoo, another day I rented a 4 wheeler for 14 euros plus 10 euros gas, which pissed me off because I returned it with a full tank still. To save money, figure out how many litres the tank holds, then get 1/2 tank. So the 4 wheeler I got was old and very wobbly. It swayed from side to side, and you had to take some time to figure out how to counter-lean so you don't topple over off the road and down the mountain. My destination was Filoti, a village in the mountains. It took about 30 minutes to get there. It was a very peaceful place and had the best gyros of anywhere on my whole trip. There was a cafe called Platanos which is listed in Lonely Planet. Good for coffee and small snacks. I then followed my map past Filoti to the Cave of Zeus. Once you park, you have to walk 5K. The path starts out very nice and smooth. Then it disappears and you find yourself walking over boulders, stepping up thigh high. It was exhausting to get up there! Inside, it's just a little cave with a cement doorway that someone built. Not really too exciting unless you're into caves. One thing to watch on 4 wheelers: get a properly fitting helmet. Mine was too big and a big raked me across my face, then lodged itself inside my helmet next to my ear. I almost swerved off the road, trying to dig it out. It had a thick body and I'm glad I didn't ever see what it was.

So to burn off some of the gas I paid for, I went back to town, then followed the road to the other beach towns of Agia Anna and Plaka Beach. Agia Anna was very nice, with some cloth South Beach style lounges on the beach. The road to Plaka Beach turns to dirt and there were lots of campers around. St. George beach is closer to Hora and seems to be the place to be. You get city and beach. I wish I'd have checked that out more.

Hanging at the Beach in Naxos

2011-07-01T13:45:00.000-07:00

People say that each island has its own personality. Naxos is one of laid-back ease. Vendors and restaurant people aren't particularly obsessive about getting your business like they are in, say, Thailand. The Greek men are gruff and the women won't talk to you but they're friendly enough.

Naxos is the largest and most fertile of the Cyclades islands. It was a very powerful place in the 6th century BC.

My pre-booked hotel was in the town of Agios Prokopios, about 5 km from the main town of Hora. (Hora is the main town of each island, as I think it means capital or something like that.) When I got off the ferry, I started looking around for taxis but right away I saw a man holding a sign that said, Birikos Apartments which is where I was going to be staying. I went up to him to see if I could get a ride. He said yes, he was waiting for me and another couple. I was especially surprised when we got to the apartments that there was no charge. The owner had sent him to pick us up! And we were so warmly greeted by owner Maria. There was no filling in of paperwork, no credit card deposits. Maria simply walked me to my room which was very large and cool.

The apartment is a 5 minute walk through town to the beach. There is an infinity-style pool which was refreshing after a day of walking around. Right away, I was happy to be in this quiet, peaceful location.

So the first night, I went walking along the 7 or so restaurants along the waterfront and stopped at one called Colloseo. There were 2 Greek men playing guitar and singing bouzuki music. Very cute. This was the only lively restaurant, by the way. While eating, the English man said, "It's nice to see you with clothes on." I was a little shocked at first, then realized he must have been the guy at the pool yesterday. So we started up a conversation along with the Scandinavian couple I had been talking to. Both couples were staying at my hotel. The English couple invited me next door to have a beer (or three) whenever I finished my 1/2 liter of wine for 2.50 euros! No, the wine isn't excellent but it's passable. I did, by the way, have a Greek salad (4 euros) to go with the wine. Another English couple stopped by to say hi to my neighbors. They all know each other because they return year after year to the same place.

Hung over, the next day I went to the beach. They have free lounge chairs below the Colloseo. The others charge a fee. The water in Greece was surprisingly cool. I had always imagined hot summer nights and super warm water. The top layer of water is warmer but the bottom layer is 10 degrees cooler, and the farther out you go, the cooler it gets. Refreshing, yes. The beach here was nice and sandy, not extremely common for a lot of the Greek beaches I encountered.

Here is the Greek I've learned: Kalimera is good morning; kalispera is good afternoon, and kalinicta is good night. Ya-sas is hi, ya-mas is cheers and efharisto is thank you.

Naxos is a good place.

Riding the ferries to the islands

2011-06-30T09:37:00.000-07:00

Eager to get out of Athens and to the islands, I had a ticket for the Saturday 7:35 am ferry from the port of Piraeus to the island of Naxos. (By the way, I used a great agency based in on the island of Sifnos -- Aegean Thesaurus Travel. They booked all my hotels and ferry tickets. I booked way back in February, all via email. Georgio was responsive and helpful.)

As I mentioned in my last post, it was easy to walk from the Attalos Hotel to the Monistraki subway station. Down 3 flights of stairs, get your ticket in the machine (1.40 euros), validate your ticket in another machine (be sure to do this or it's worthless), and get on. It drops you right across the street from the ferries (although I now know that the first time I got off at the wrong stop around the corner). You walk on the pedestrian overpass and look for your ferry. If you don't have a ticket, there are places everywhere to buy a ticket. It's all very high tech, and they even have a live map of where each ship is so you know of any delays right away.

So I got on the Blue Star Naxos ferry which is one of the largest. It was very nice, with 2 covered areas to sit outside, air conditioned inside dining tables, and airplane type seats. I joined a table near the edge with 2 others outside on the 3rd floor (less smoky than the 2nd floor). It was a little cold, as this was early June. I needed my sweater the whole time and drank coffee to keep warm.

Here's something I wish I would have known the first 2 times I took the ferry: you can leave your luggage on the bottom floor when you board. Not realizing this, I dragged my rolling suitcase and backpack up floors and floors of stairs.

The cost of the ticket to Naxos was 55 euros for economy class and it took 5 1/2 hours. In general, the ferries are very efficient. They leave ON TIME or even 5 minutes early so don't wait till the last minute. If you ride at night, even later in June, it gets quite chilly outside so be sure to bring your jacket.

Other ferries I rode were the Agios Georgios to Sifnos, a ferry that everyone said was a small, slow ferry. I was imagining goats and chickens and a hard box to sit on but it was just as nice as the Blue Line and with the same facilities, just a little smaller. I also rode the Aqua Jewel from Sifnos to Paros which was also very nice. In fact, I preferred the smaller ships because they got in and out of port very quickly.

Food on the ferries is very expensive, outside of coffee and water. So buy a sandwich in a bakery or cheese and bread at least, before you get on.

Wired and Tired in Athens, Greece

2011-06-29T15:18:00.000-07:00

6/8/11: I was a little nervous about arriving at midnight in Athens, considering I had been planning on taking to bus to Syntagma Square (where all the protests have been happening), then a taxi to my hotel. Luckily, while searching for the bus I ran into 2 girls from Sacramento who wanted to share a taxi, splitting the fare 3 ways. Yeah! $20 US instead of 55 euros = $80 US (oops, I think I underpaid, as that's not 1/3 of 80).

So when the driver warned me to be careful walking around this neighborhood at night, I became a little disillusioned. And when I entered the Attalos hotel (70 euros which is not within my budget but Athens is more expensive), the overpowering scent of bugspray instilled a vision of cockroaches just barely being contained, ready to come out once the lights are out. As usual, I checked cupboard, drawers, under the bed, around the shower. And I woke up and turned on the lights quickly to see if any of the critters were to scatter. I don't know why I do this to myself; I am freaked out by them, and if I do see one, I FREAK.

So the next morning, after 3 hours of sleep and no cockroaches that I know of, I went off to explore. First off was the market. There's a meat market area and a fish market area. In the meat market, there were skinned goats, dead pigs, rabbits with the furry parts still on their feet (to identify them as rabbits?), and anything else you could imagine. The fish market area had all kinds of ugly, smelly fish, and the floor was drippy and wet. No flip-flops in here unless you want fish juice all over the place.

Then I walked down towards Monistraki Square, where you can find tavernas, shops, and then the Roman Agora (picture on this entry). Shops include leather sandals, clothing, and tacky souveneirs. Some of the sandals hanging on the outside racks are pretty good deals (10-15 euros) but may be defective like the pair I got in which the center strap slides off to the side. The ones inside are the same as what you'd pay in the U.S. Same with clothes, except there are no deals at all. I found all shopping to be very expensive in all of Greece.

Anxious to get my bearings, I then walked to Syntagma Square where there were police with riot gear. I quickly made a U-turn, not wanting to get involved accidentally in any kind of rock-throwing or gun firing. The protest at that time was peaceful but since I got home 2 days ago, people are getting killed.

After that I went through the Plaka which everyone says is the best place around. I didn't find anything special about it; just a residential neighborhood with lots of expensive tavernas. I ate at one of these tavernas, the Vizanto Taverna, which was average. A tzatsiki (yogurt, cucumber, garlic) dip cost 3 euros and bread was 75 cents. Most appetizers in Greece are 3-5 euros; main dishes start at 8. Beer is 3 euros; wine is 2.50. Often you can get a 1/2 liter of wine for around 3 euros, in which case, you can't afford not to drink.

Athens Hotels:
Hotel Attalos on Athinas Street, 2 blocks up from the Monistraki subway station, 70 euros. attaloshotel.com The Monistraki subway gets you easy access to Piraeus, where virtually all ferries to the islands leave from. Recommended.

Pros: better breakfast than most continental breakfasts -- included hardboiled eggs, salami, real fruit as well as the normal bread, cheese, coffee, juice; clean; good A/C; good shower with huge showerhead; easy walk to subway
Cons: insecticide smell, near bad area but not quite "in" bad area

Economy Hotel behind City Hall on street parallel to Athinas, 50 euros, about 8 blocks further away from the Roman Agora than the Attalos. economyhotel.gr Not recommended due to location but good budget option if you're not bothered by prostitutes, sex shops, and people following you.

Pros: Clean hotel and rooms, helpful staff, good A/C and soundproofed double doors
Cons: Horrible area, sex shops, prostitutes. I was warned to take a taxi and not walk alone at night. But when I did, the taxi driver scammed me and charged me 23 euros because he said I gave him a 5 when I gave him a 20. Pissed me off! Second night, a man followed me, yelling to me to come talk to him from his car window. I think he thought I was a prostitute.

I've heard that Cecil Hotel right near the Attalos is a good alternative to the Attalos.

Restaurants
Most restaurants (tavernas) in Athens are pretty much the same. I liked them all about the same; nothing stood out as special or better than the other. Cheap lunch eats are gyros. They're everywhere, and they're about 2-3 euros. Good, filling lunch. You can also go to a bakery and get a square of pizza or spinach pies for around 2 euros for lunch.

Sights and Tours
- Acropolis is the hill that holds the Parthenon. Acropolis ticket is 12 euros and gets you in to some of the other smaller sites. Great site to see!
- Acropolis museum 5 euros. This is a great new museum and has an ongoing excavation under the glass you stand on as well as cool finds from the Acropolis area.
- Archaeological Museum, 7 euros. This is the best museum I've ever seen! Lots of marble and bronze sculptures
- Temple of Zeus and Hadrian's Arch, 2 euros or included in Acropolis ticket. This was a cool site to walk around. I visited it on the Hop On/Hop Off bus. It's near the Acropolis.
- City Tour which you can get from your hotel is 67 euros and only includes the Acropolis and the Acropolis Museum, as well as a bus tour of the city of Athens. This is convenient because it picks you up at your hotel and includes the Acropolis and museum entry, but too expensive for me.
- Hop On/Hop Off Tours, 15 euros. These are those dorky buses that allow unlimited access. They stop at each place each 30 minutes. There's a schedule and map that's easy to follow. I did this because it was cheaper. But you have to pay for all your own museum charges. I was able to get across town easily this way.

Suggested itinerary if I were to do it again

2010-07-19T15:35:00.000-07:00

1. Fly into Lima, stay 3 nights. Book this ahead with a hotel that has airport pickup (San Antonio Abad).
2. Take a bus to Nazca/Ica/Paracas, stay 2 nights. Go to Islas Ballestas. Go to viewpoint for Nazca lines or do flyover.
3. Overnight bus to Arequipa (or fly). Stay over 2 nights, book trip to Colca Canyon [This will help you to acclimatize for Cuzco.]
4. Colca canyon tour 2 nights
5. Fly to Cuzco, spend 3 nights (Hostal Marani has free airport pickup and is $25 per night)
6. Book your Sacred Valley tours, hotels, and your Machu Picchu tour and hotel from an agency in Cusco. Go to Maras, Pisac, Salinas, Ollyantaytambo, Urubamba. I would try to stay maybe 2 nights in Pisac or Urubamba and 2 nights in Ollyantaytambo
7. Go to Aguas Calientes by train from Ollyantaytambo, stay 2 nights and visit Machu Picchu while there. I felt like 4 hours was plenty.
8. Train back to Cusco (which you would have already booked as part of your package when you were in Cusco)
9. Fly to Piura from Cusco. Then get yourself to Mancora. This is a place I didn't get to go but it's a beach town; warm and swimmable at this time of year due to its proximity to Ecuador and the Equator. Stay 3 nights.
10. Fly from Mancora to Iquitos to see the Amazon Jungle. Stay 4 nights.
11. Fly back to Lima to go home.

This is how I would redo it. Hopefully that helps

General notes on Peru

2010-07-19T15:24:00.000-07:00

Just a few things to remember:

In Cuzco in their winter, bring hard-soles slippers!

Bring wool -- sweaters, socks, hats. I wore a sleeveless fleece, a regular fleece, and a softshell thing. As long as you were walking uphill I was warm enough but it was bulky and a pain with all the layers.

Keep your small bills and coins. They NEVER have change, even for a 20 sole note which is $7.

Bring a power converter. Not just the metal things that fit; you need to use something to convert from 110 to 220 volts. I bought one there for $5 and it was called a step-down. So it converted the incoming electricity from 220 to my camera with 110.

Don't go out to the bars or restaurants till around 8:00 at least.

Pizza, soup, and menus del dia can all be had for around 10 soles or less day or night. Food is very cheap here!

$30 is a good amount to budget for a moderate hotel.

Peruvians sense of time: "it'll be 20 or 40 minutes" Not 20 or 25. They tend to underestimate time it seems. Same with distance walking. They'll say something is 5 blocks straight ahead when it's only 2.

On traveling solo: Travelling solo is great but if you don't happen to run into the right groups of people, it can be extremely lonely. Solo travelers also get the worst room, the worst table, and are ignored by waitstaff because we're invisible. What's one person? We don't count.

The best way I found to keep my sanity when I haven't spoken to another human for days on end is to go to a bar. The bartender's usually good for a little conversation. If you go early so you're his only customer, you'll definitely get a conversation going. And he'll take care of you for the evening. At lunchtime, it's always good to have a book open so you have something to look at other than the wall straight ahead of you. Happy travels!

Aguas Calientes/Machu Picchu recommendations

2010-07-19T11:19:00.000-07:00

Aguas Calientes was hit hard in the flood last February. It is still rebuilding right along the train tracks in town. There are empty hotels, stores, and homes. You can just imagine how devastating it must have been for an already poor country.

When I was there, the train tracks still hadn't been fixed between Cusco and Piscacucho. I have heard that everything has been fixed now. To be sure, check perurail.com for the status.

In general Aguas Calientes is very expensive for Peru. You can still find cheaper hotels (my our booked me at the Presidente for I think around $40 but when I got there, was told to move to the Andina, much nicer! But it was still on the railroad tracks and I was awakened at 6:30 am by the horn and rumble of a choo choo train.

When going to Machu Picchu, it's best to take a tour instead of just arriving and trying to figure it all out. There are lots of little odds and ends to consider, like the Machu Picchu entry ticket, the tour guide, the train ticket (and bus if the train's not running). And if you're hiking one of the trails, you need to go with a guide and porters. If I'd have been in better shape, I would have done the hike. I'm so disappointed in myself that I'm out of shape right now and wasn't able to do it. Next time! Be sure to bring your insect repellent even if you just take the train up. It's a highland forest so it's still buggy. I got bit by a bunch of sand flies that left nasty, itchy welts for a week. And shorts were fine for the daytime. Just wear sunscreen and a hat, as the sun is very strong at this altitude.

Have fun and enjoy!!!

Puno and Lake Titicaca

2010-07-16T21:21:00.001-07:00

Puno is an icky town. I really didn't like anything about it other than Lake Titicaca nearby. The houses in Puno are all a brown mud adobe so the place looks like a dusty western town from cowboy times when you're coming into it. It's FREEZING here, 26 at night. If you go to Puno, do the Lake Titicaca tour for a day (some agencies let you spend the night on the island -- that might be fun) and get the heck out of there.

The Incan Express bus leaves Cusco around 7 am and takes 10 hours but stops at many cool places along the way and includes a lunch buffet. Good shopping prices in the little towns and interesting ruins. The cost is around $30 one way.

Lake Titicaca
The lake is HUGE! We went due east (I think) for 3 hours and only got 1/3 of the way across the lake, and that's just width. The Bolivian border cuts right through the lake. We went to the Uros Floating Islands -- something to see -- amazing! And Taquille Island. We had to walk up to the top of the island, then walk down 500 steps to the bottom of the other side. It was very pretty and felt like you're in the middle of the ocean because the lake is so darn huge!

Restaurants in Puno
I stayed at the Mosoq Inn around $30 but on the outskirts of town. I wasn't sure how safe it was at night so I asked the hotel staff and they said not to worry. I had an uneventful pasta dinner at Ukukus and can't remember the name of the other place I ate.

Bars
The Kamizaraky Rock Pub was a neat little place I could've hung out in but a creepy guy kept talking and spitting all over me and I left, pretending to be tired. I peeked in Ekekos and there was a small group of people dancing together. Positive Vibrations is now called the Positive Bar and is a hard-core reggae place. If you like reggae, this is the place to go. Nice bartenders, They're all cool in a hippie reggae way.

Cuzco Recommendations

2010-07-16T11:04:00.000-07:00

Cuzco is such a unique place. I'll never forget the feel of it, with its steep uneven hills, narrow sidewalks, and Incan stones placed throughout town. In their winter, it's nice during the day -- it was between 65-75 when I was there to 35 in the middle of thenight. So you need mittens and hats along with your jacket. Buy some of their handmade alpaca wool items. Handmade alpaca socks are about $4 and make great Christmas presents.

It's very easy to get lost in Cuzco walking around, as the streets are all at strange angles to one another, and they change names. Half the time there is no name. I got lost my first 3 days there. My second 2 days, I had it down. Practice and bring a map. And do watch the cars. The sidewalk gets extremely narrow and cars don't watch out for you.

Hotels:
I stayed at the Amaru II in San Blas for around $35 per night including a very nice breakfast made to order. It was really nice, a few blocks from the action but not far at all. My room was downstairs, in a sort of basement. There was very little light but the advantage was that it stayed warm with the heater I requested (no extra charge) running. Inside the room there is a stone wall that reminds you of ancient buildings, although this was a reproduction I'm sure. The Amaru I nearby looked very nice too and actually has slightly better reviews than the Amaru II.

The other place I stayed was at the Hostal Marani. I booked this on on the internet before I left at $25 per night including a buffet breakfast (which they ended up charging me for somehow). The nice thing about this hotel is that the location is perfect, right next to San Blas Plaza, and that they pick you up from the airport for free. I had flown in from Juliaca after visiting Puno and they were right there with their sign and smile. I had an upstairs room at the end which was high-ceilinged. It was FREEZING in there. 62 with the heater on was the warmest it got. I would recommend a bottom, inside room between other rooms in the winter. The place was just fine but they overcharged me when I left, giving me 3 different bills all with different totals. I argued a little but it ended up being $10 difference.

Restaurants
San Blas area - I was looking at a menu for another restaurant and some guy put the menu for his restaurant in front of me and said mine is cheaper and better. Hearing the magic words, I looked and followed him through a store and upstairs into a great spot called El Batan del Inka. It's near Jack's in San Blas. Everything was so beautifully presented and at a very good price. I had quinoa risotto with roasted chicken. It was excellent. Jack's which is across the street is a great place if you're craving some down home food like a huge burger. Their burgers are HUGE! and expensive for Peru. They have all kinds of smoothies as well. La Taberna San Blas has Spanish tapas like tortilla, papas brava,... The music is great -- very cool place. Sumac on Siete Angelitos has a great menu and good food. I had one of their menus del dia which came with a pisco sour or glass of red wine. It was very good. For coffee, I went to Buen Pastor as recommended in LP. Their baked goods looked excellent. My problem was that I can't figure out how to order a coffee in Peru. The first time I ordered a cafe con leche (coffee with milk). They brought me a huge cup of hot milk and a tiny pot of cold concentrated coffee to add to the milk. The second time I explained that I just wanted a little milk and more coffee. They told me to order a cafe cortado which I did. They ended up bringing me exactly the same thing! And at another place in Lima I ordered a cafe cortado and they brought me a capuchino! So maybe just order a capuchino. I don't know..

Bars
On Tandapata above San Blas Plaza are all the cool bars. The Muse has couches and cool music. Good place for sipping tea or coffee or a drink drink. Mellow. Km 0 is a cool bar that has live music nightly. It has an upstairs too if you want to be able to talk. Better yet is a bar right around the corner uphill called Nuna Machay. I loved this place for live music. The bartenders are very friendly and easy to talk to. The band the night I was there played 60s like Aerosmith, the Doors, Led Zeppelin,...awesome!
I also went into Siete Angelitos on the street of the same name. This would be a good bar to go to if you're with a group since there are many different little rooms off the main room when you walk in.

Shopping
You are accosted constantly in Cuzco by people trying to sell you stuff or draw you into their restaurants. Ladies with alpacas or llamas stand in the street and ask if you want to take a picture (give them one sole if you do). But I found a little street with great shops with great prices. When you're walking downhill towards Plaza de Armas and you're on Hatunrumiyac (goes right by Jack's), right before the Incan wall to the left is a street with really good prices. Ignore all the street vendors in this area. They're expensive and pushy. If you let your eye drift to their stuff even for a second, they're onto you like glue.

Tours
Either book a city tour through an agency or buy a Boleto Turistico (around $50). My city tour included Sacsayhuaman (a must-see), Tambomachay, Pukapukara, Q-enpo, Tipon, and Quoricancha. These are mostly on the outskirts of town and are very interesting. And like I said earlier, book your Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu trips in Cusco.

Sacred Valley Recommendations

2010-07-15T11:46:00.000-07:00

The Sacred Valley was my favorite part of Peru. The weather is absolutely perfect in the daytime. Sandals, shorts, and a tank top of Tshirt will do just fine. At night it cools down but is not freezing. Jeans and a sweater are perfect. Everywhere I was in the valley felt very peaceful. If you come to Cuzco, go directly to the Sacred Valley first to acclimatize. The elevation is about 2,000 feet lower here than in Cusco and I think that by spending 2 nights in Ollyantaytambo and one night in Aguas Calientes, I was ready for Cusco at 11,000 feet, then Puno at 13,000 feet. Here are some of the towns I visited:

Urubamba: a very real, untouristy town. The people are super friendly and nice, and if you want a taste of what a true Andean town is like, this is it. The ladies dress in the flowy skirts, long knee socks, white shirts, and little bowler hats perched on the tippy top of their heads. I stayed at the Amaru Valle for $35 which was a beautiful little mountain type lodge. They treat you like you're at the Ritz here. They ask what time you'd like breakfast, and when you arrive at your stated time, they bring a cooked to order egg, mate de coca tea, fruit, yogurt, and bread. The place is small and intimate so they know you by face once you check in. The rooms are A frames, very quiet. I felt like I was in the Swiss Alps.

The hotel is on the uphill end of town at the end of a gravel and dirt road. The motorcycle taxis (they have a back area like a chariot for you to sit in) barely made it up the hill. Mototaxies, by the way, are 3 soles (or $1) wherever you go in town. And they're fun to ride in! One restaurant I really liked that I can remember the name of was Misky Song's. They had an excellent panini type sandwich.

Pisac: I only saw the shopping part of this town on market day which is Sunday but it's very historic. The market is very big and has everything, including some of the 40+ types of potatoes in Peru spilled onto the ground in big mounds. I think the prices are somewhat inflated here but it was the beginning of my trip so I can't be sure. I would have liked to stay a few days here.

Maras: This was part of my tour but can be arranged from Cusco in combination with Salinas for probably around $30. Maras is where the Incans created terraces for agricultural experimentation. It is a series of concentric circles that taper inward to the center. Each terrace has rock steps built into the wall that you use to descend or ascend. The Incans would test crops at different altitudes, and they would acclimatize vegetables by moving them up to the next level year after year. It was an interesting place.

Salinas: This is a series of salt pools. A warm, salty stream naturally flows out of the mountain and is diverted into thousands of salt pools. Each pool is owned by a family; some families have more than one pool. The water flows through the pools, and when they shut the flow off to a particular pool, the water evaporates, leaving salt at the bottom. This is harvested and sold. Small bags are for sale for around $1.

Ollyantaytambo: Since the floods of February 2010, the train tracks from Cusco to Machu Picchu have been damaged so at the time of this writing, you have to take a bus to Ollyantaytambo's train station, then a bus/train setup into Aguas Calientes.

In June, the rails had still not been fixed so everyone had to come through Ollyantaytambo to get to Machu Picchu. It was crazy busy but I loved it! The town is just beautiful, complete with Incan irrigation ditches that still carry water through the town. There are tons of stores, restaurants, and hotels. Just behind the town are some amazing Incan ruins. The Incans abandoned this project before it was completed so you can see some of the techniques the Incans used to move rocks. This is a place I'd really like to have spent a few days as well.

Lima Recommendations

2010-07-13T13:21:00.000-07:00

The weather in Lima was overcast and chilly, night and day. It felt like a very cool day in San Francisco in the summer. I think it was slightly colder than normal when I was there. It even drizzled one night, unusual for the dry season. Jeans and a sweater are the clothes to pack for Lima.

You can get around Lima on city buses very cheaply. There's a guy hanging out of the bus calling out the destination. He's helpful if you're not sure. Just say where you're going and he'll either say yes, come in or no. It's around 1 or 1 1/2 soles for a busride. Taxis in town are also cheap. Like I said, Barranco was 8 soles each way ($3), and it's about a 15 minute ride.

I didn't feel the least bit unsafe in Lima. There are police officers everywhere.

For handicrafts go to the Mercado del Indios. It's a series of fairly priced little shops with good handmade stuff like the socks you forgot to buy in Cusco.

Tours
I had very limited time in Lima so in the way of tourist activities, I only got to visit the Huaca Pucllana which dates back to 300-700 AD. Very interesting. You can see how the Incas borrowed on the ideas of the earlier people in the way they angle their mud bricks. I didn't get to any museums or anything, unfortunately. I've heard that the Museo del Oro is good, and the Museo de la Nacion.

Hotels
Miraflores is a great area. It reminds me of the Marina District in San Francisco. Barranco looks like it would be a very nice area to stay in as well. I stayed at the Mariel Hotel in Miraflores (around $50-80) my first night. But since I arrived at 10:30pm and left the following morning at 6:00am, I can't speak for the quality of the hotel other than first and last impressions. It seemed very nice. The staff were very professional; the room was cute, and it was in a quiet area.

On my return to Lima on the back end of my trip, I stayed at the San Antonio Abad in Miraflores ($55 with free airport pickup) as recommended by LP. It was a great hotel. Ask for an inside room, away from the street, as the street-facing rooms were cold and loud. Not that you'd want to see it, but just down the street from this hotel is Atlantic City Casino, the place Vandersloot met that poor Peruvian girl that he murdered.

Bars
At night I checked out O'Murphys bar (Lonely Planet recc) and they had a 30 sole cover charge = $10! No way , thought I, so I went to Treffs around the corner. Uuber cool if you like European beers at an exorbitant price. You could also get local beers for a normal price. Nice pub.

One night I went to Barranco for dinner and drinks. On the bar scene, I went to Cafe Ekeko (LP recommended) to listen to music but they had a cover charge and hip hop music. Not the Bohemian hideaway described by Lonely Planet. So I went to Kahuna's, nice bar with outside terrace and dancing inside on a few different levels. It seemed like most patrons were locals.

Restaurants/Food
The world-famous ceviche in Lima is served on a huge plate, not like the little sundae glasses we get here in the states. There must be a pound of fish quivering before you. The pieces of fish are cut into HUGE cubes (maybe 1 inch square) so if you don't like raw fish, it may gross you out since the center doesn't get "cooked". The flavor was fantastic though. I managed about 1/3 of it before the texture got to me. I had my ceviche on the Plaza de Armas at a place with the word Atlantic in it. (Sorry, can't remember the rest) but I wouldn't recommend it. Lonely Planet recommended lots of cevicherias -- I wish I'd have done that because I understand you can choose many different varieties of ceviche at these specialty restaurants.

Just down the street from the San Antonio Abad, I found a place called Smutis. Like many restaurants in Peru, they had a Menu del Dia. This is the best and cheapest way to eat a meal here. Menus del dia are all around 10-15 soles for lunch or dinner. At Smutis, it was 10 soles for a tamale, fried fish, rice, and potato, along with an apple juice. Very good, homemade quality. I had another Menu del Dia meal in Cuzco in some random little place. It consisted of soup (excellent, as are all Peruvian soups), charbroiled trout, rice and potatoes. They like their starches here.

The night I went into Barranco, I stumbled upon a restaurant called Las Mesitas on Ave. Grau. It was very good but had a randomly priced menu. The waiters are dressed up like they work in a super fancy restaurant; The hostesses have little nurse hats on. Funny! I had arroz con pollo for 9 soles = $3 but the pisco sour was 18 soles or $6! And it was a knock you out of your seat double or maybe even triple which I didn't ask for. I got goose bumps every time I took a sip. The rest of their menu was varied, both in dish and in price. You could get what sounded like pork n beans for 5 soles = $1.50 or seafood dishes for around 30 soles.

While in Lima don't miss Larcomar. It's a shopping plaza built into the cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The only unfortunate part was that it's full of American chain restaurants like Tony Romas, TGI Fridays, and all the fast food joints. But aside from that, it's a beautiful spot. I chose locally owned Cafe Cafe for a coffee drink overlooking the ocean. They must have heated up the alcohol because the drink stayed very hot the whole time even though it was chilly outside. They have heatlamps in case you're easily chilled like I am. Awesome view.

I wish I could have stayed in Lima longer. :(

Booking your trip advice (agencies, internal flights)

2010-07-12T14:59:00.000-07:00

I found that I ended up paying A LOT more by going through an agency rather than going on my own. The reason I did this was to try and meet other travellers but since the agency is on the smaller side, I ended up going on most tours by myself with a guide.

Agencies
I went on the Cultural Immersion 10 day Lima/Machu Picchu/Puno tour. This company offered good service for couples or families but I wouldn't recommend for solo travellers unless you just want to spend time alone and meditate or something. Their reps in Cuzco were good but not so much in Puno/Lake Titicaca. Their prices were average on the internet.

I used Peru Gateway for my trip to Puerto Maldonado in the Amazon. They took a little longer to respond to emails than did Cultural Immersion but they came through and are dependable. Their prices were better than many others on the internet.

I also research the following:
Peruforless: single supplement makes it very expensive
Amazingperu.com they had a good trip to Arequipa/Colca Canyon moderately priced
peruvacationtours.com very responsive, average prices
go2peru.com wouldn't respond, doubles only
enjoyperu.com won't respond
peru-expeditions this company has good prices and is responsive but seemed to have very basic accommodations and lots of
overnight bus trips.
LatinAmerica4Less - this agency was recommended to me by a friend and I wish I'd have used them prices include
international air. My problem with them was they they were not responsive to my emails
Intrepid good, responsive, has gotten very expensive though. Short trips are not guided.

Tours
What I learned was that you could easily book tours from Lima or Cusco for much cheaper than doing it through an agency or from home on the internet. I talked to 2 ladies that booked a trip to Manu for $200. Everything Manu on the internet was $600 at least. Iquitos was the one to book out of Lima and seems much deeper in the Amazon. Machu Picchu tours were around $300 for 2 or 3 nights I think. You could book city tours right there in Cusco. You could also get minibuses to the towns in the Sacred Valley for very cheap or day tours to areas like Maras, Pisac, or Salinas. I would find the agencies, tell them you want to think about it, research them on the internet and then buy. I have heard of a few scam artists posing as travel agencies there.

Hotels
You can book hotels a day or two in advance on the internet or just walk in. None of the hotels I stayed at were full. Hotels in Peru are cheap; $30 per night gets you a nice hotel with hot water, a heater you can rent, and free breakfast. The ladies I met had a room for $10 with hot water and breakfast. They had just walked in. This may be the best way to do it. I will cover specific hotels in another post.

Flights
For flights within the country, I really liked StarPeru. They had good pilots and newish planes and their prices are far superior to LAN. Remember there is a departure tax at each airport, about $5 for internal flights. The Lima tax is $33. You can book other cities from travel agencies in Cuzco or Lima for cheaper than what is listed on the internet. And there are limited time special on offer too, for about 1/2 the price of what I paid.

For your flight from your home city, I recommend buying your airline ticket from your home city to Cuzco or Lima (or into Lima, out of Cuzco or vice versa).

That's it for now.

Lima

2010-07-04T08:32:00.001-07:00

Lima weather is exactly like San Francisco in the summertime. Foggy, drizzley, around 60 Farenheit. Kind of icky compared to the rest of Peru´s weather. I wouldn´t recommend coming here in June-July-August. I did find a cool bar with European beers as recommended by Lonely Planet called Treffs. For a price (kind of high) you can get tons of different German and other European beers. A Peruvian beer is the same price as everywhere, around $2 US.

It doesn´t feel dangerous here to me at all. There are police officers everywhere. I´m off to see some pre-Columbian ruins, then to Plaza de Armas then to the Monasterio de San Francisco to see the tombs.

The San Antonio Abad is a reallynice hotel for $55 per night. The first room I got was on the busy street and cold. I asked for a different room and got a MUCH nicer room. What´s great about this hotel too is that they pick you up from the airport. Nice for your first time to Lima.

Puerto Maldonado and the Amazon Jungle

2010-07-03T14:10:00.000-07:00

I just returned from the Corto Maltes Jungle Lodge on the Madre de Dios river in the Tambopata area, east of Manu. I really liked the lodge. It had very cute natural bungalows, fully screened, with mosquito nets and hot water. One thing I hadn´t realized was that it gets cold at night there, being that it´s their winter. It was 63 one night, enough for 2 wool blankets. So if you go during June, July or Augst, be sure to bring a pair of jeans, closed shoes and a warm sweater. It does get hot on hikes during the day, as it is humid but it only got up to 82 one day.

This lodge is fairly close to town so you may not see as much wildlife as if you go farther into the jungle. But some lodges are a 7 hour boatride from town which eats up a day coming and a day going. I´ve heard Manu is better. You can book trips to Manu directly from travel agencies in Cuzco for about $200. They´re $600 on the internet. I saw deals for flights into Puerto Maldonado too in Cuzco, for around $80. I paid around $120. There´s a very cool parrot named Lola. She´ll fly around and land on your shoulders. You can pet her, turn her upside down, carry her around, she´ll let you do anything. There is also a very friendly red macaw but his beak scares me. I feel like he´s just waiting to peck out my eye.

This morning when I was leaving the river, it looked so beautiful with the sun rising and fog sitting in wisps on the water like smoke. Smoke on the water...and fire in the sky. OK, who sung that (can´t find the question mark) The driver stopped for 4 different white caiman sunning themselves. I got one really good picture. There were also pigs, cows, and goats grazing on the side of the river. Very cool.

Right now I´m in Lima. Arrived at 1230, was whisked to my hotel. The San Antonio Abad is a nice basic hotel and they pick you up at the airport, included in the price. It´s really nice to see your name on a sign when you get off the plane, especially if you´re travelling alone. It´s foggy and cold here like San Francisco on a summer day, 63 degrees or so. I´m off to finish exploring. Until later

Cuzco

2010-06-29T15:12:00.000-07:00

The dogs are getting wild around here. They are running down the street and chasing cars, then fighting with each other. One guy kicked at the dog who was barking and another dog bit him in the leg! The dog who bit him was growling with his teeth showing --scary. I saw him another time the same day growling.

When you travel alone, there´s nothing to do but shop, read, eat, or drink. Or go to internet cafes. I´ve already seen all the sights. So I guess I´m going to go to one of the English pubs to have a beer or two, then a bite to eat, then go to bed.

Today the sun came out for awhile so it´s warmer. I´m hoping that lasts longer into the night than lastnight.

Cold in Cuzco

2010-06-28T17:27:00.001-07:00

When there are 4 heavy wool blankets on your bed, you know you´re not being a wimp if you´re cold. It is 57 degrees in my room with the heater I rented on full blast. It is cold here! I am wearing longjohns, top and bottom, jeans, a fleeze zipup with sleeves, a fleece zipup w-o sleeves, a scarf, hat, mittens, and softshell thing. More for later when it drops down to the low 40s.

Note to travelers; bring slippers with hard bottoms, bring longjohns, and lots of sweaters.

My new hotel is the Hostal Marani right off of San Blas Square. It´s really nice and cute but the room is too cold. It´s pretty inside too.

Off to the bars...

Puno and Lake Titicaca

2010-06-27T19:22:00.001-07:00

I´m not all so keen on Puno. The people aren´t as friendly here, it´s very dry so your eyes dry out and your nostrils dry out and your lips need constant lip balm. There are only a handful of bars and a creepy guy insisted on escorting me home lastnight in a taxi which was safe and all but I didn´t want to see him so I´m staying in tonight. And it´s COLD here! The daytime is fine but at night it´s very cold. I checked the average low for June and it´s 26 Farenheit.

Lake Titicaca is cool but I wish I would have known to bring a book on the boat. You´re on the boat for 5 hours with nothing to do. The lake is so big, you just see the brownish hills and islands around. Pretty for awhile but not 5 hours.

The Uros Floating Islands are a one of a kind thing to see. Be prepared for salespeople though. When you walk on the reeds, you sink down a little and I was worried I was going to fall through. They let you look into their homes which are extremely basic. They must handle cold very well. Everything is made of reeds -- the ground they walk on, their houses, their boats. It´s wild to imagine that people can life like this.

Taquile Island is what takes forever to get to, 2 hours each way after Uros. You walk up one side of the island through beautiful countryside with baby lambs making funny little bleating sounds. We had lunch halfway up as part of our package, fresh trout. It´s a lot of uphill. Then you go down the opposite side of the island, down 540 stone steps. The knees get a workout on the way down, that´s for sure. There are some archways you walk through, very beautiful. It´s a good spot to snap photos of kids chasing chickens, etc.

My hotel is the Mosoq Inn. Very friendly staff, nice inside. Ask for a heater! But it´s a little ways away from the central part of town and I wasn´t completely comfortable walking home tonight but it was early so it´s OK. Late night after drinking -- take a cab for 3 soles, or $1.

Maras, Salinas, Aguas Calientes, Machu Picchu, Ollyantaybambo

2010-06-26T17:18:00.000-07:00

I haven´t had access to a computer for a few days so here´s an update of what I´ve seen:

Maras is that place where the Inkas used terraces for experimenting with agriculture. They also acclimated crops to different altitudes. You could walk down to the bottom by these little steps that are longer rocks stuck into the rock walls. Very efficient. It was very warm and dusty there.

Next was Salinas which is where they "grow" salt. The source is a little stream that comes out of the dirt. It´s warm and very salty. My guide told me it´s from inside the earth, volcanic somehow. You walk down these little paths between the pools of salt that are evaporating. Families are out there scooping up the salt to sell from the dried pools. The Inkas started the first pools at the top. The town used to be very rich because salt was so valuable but now it´s a very poor town. Most houses are mud adobe.

Then we went to Ollyantaytambo, a walled city which the highway (cobblestone road) runs through. Huge trucks would come through and maneuver around tiny corners without hitting anything. They don´t have one way streets or anything so cars have to go forward, back up to let someone go by, jump out...it´s amazing there aren´t fender benders. The people do not have the right of way here in Peru. The car will practically run you down. But this was a really cool town, wish I could have spent more time here. There are still the Incan water channels that work to deliver water throughout the town. There are nice ruins on the hill too. The Incans had to stop building this site for some reason so you can see how they approached things. This was the craziest town, trafficwise, I´ve been to yet. But sooo cute! Little stone buildings everywhere.

The Macchu Picchu train is still not fully operational. The tracks between Ollyantaytambo and Piscacucho are not fixed yet. If you remember, there was a huge flood in February where tourists had to be helicoptered out. The damage was major. So what you do is go to the Ollyantaytambo train station, take a bus to Piscacucho, then get on the train. It takes 3 1/2 hours. What was scary was looking out the window on the bus, down at the river below, the one that flooded. You can see chunks of land missing and I was afraid the land was maybe giving way under the tracks. Scary!

Aguas Calientes is the town at the base of Machu Picchu. Tons of restaurants, bars, shops, hotels are out of business from the flood. You can see them rebuilding everywhere you look. But they are really set up for tourism, considering what they´ve been through. I didn´t have much time to discover the town which has 2 rivers running through it and bridges you have to walk across. Don´t go to the touristy street though. Restaurants charge 25% service charge!

If you´re not on a tour to Macchu Picchu, you have to buy your entry ticket and bus ticket in Aguas. If you don´t have a guide, there are tons of guides offering services for a fee at the entrance. For walking around the site, you need sturdy shoes -- tennies will do as long as they have thick soles. Bring insect repellent! I got nailed by about 9 sand flies and have nasty red welts about an inch in diameter that itch like crazy. It´s very cool. I wish I could have done the Inca trail. People I talked to did it without training. I can barely make it up the hills!

Hotel: I was booked at the
Cuzco is a very hilly, confusing city. The streets have all these diagonals thrown in that are REALLY confusing. Plus the names change every block. They´re completely different and don´t match the maps!!! I got lost the first day every time I went anywhere. A police officer walked me to my hotel one night but he took me the wrong way and got me even more lost.

I went on a city tour which I recommend because you get to go to the major archaeological Incan ruins including Sacsaywoman (pronounced sexy woman). It´s nice to have it all explained to you. Mine was part of my package but I don´t think it´s very expensive to just buy one. There are travel agencies, money changers, photo shops, everything you can imagine all over downtown Cuzco.

The Inti Raymi Festival was happening while I was there. I was too lazy to follow the procession all the way to Sacsaywoman so I went to a bar called Paddy´s which had a balcony overlooking Plaza de Armas. It was great but get there around 10. I got there too late and missed most of it. There are lots of pubs in the area.

Hotel: Amaru II nice but don´t get the basement room. Hot water in shower but not in sink.

Cuzco in general smells like fireplaces, a nice smell. The streets are narrow and the sidewalks, jokingly narrow. In some places they´re about 2 inches wide, not enough for one foot. And cars whiz around corners so keep your ears open and stay on the sidewalk when you can fit. I almost had my left tit taken off by a side mirror on a car flying by.

It wasn´t that freezing like I´d thought it would be. Cold, yes. You need a coat, hat, mittens and a scarf. But when you walk uphill you get warmer.

I am now in Puno, a very brown town. Brown, brown, brown. The buildings are brown, the landscape is brown. We´ll see. I´m going to meet the 3 Germans I met on the bus here. Will update later.

The Sacred Valley: Pisac Market, Urubamba

2010-06-21T19:38:00.000-07:00

What a beautiful country this is! The people are so nice, respectful, and polite. There has not been one leering glance thrown my way, something that is annoyingly common in most Latin American countries.

After a hellish trip out of the US (cancelled flight, sent home, was told I´d be called by the airline, wasn´t called, people at the main number didn´t know what was going on, arrived 24 hours later at SFO to be told my flight is now 7 hours later at 6:30 am, slept at SFO on couches, threw up on plane, lost 1 1-2 days of my trip).

Anyhoo, I am with a tour company called Cultural Immersion Tours. This is the first time I´ve done an organized tour. I was picked up at the Lima airport and taken to the Mariel Hotel (very nice) as promised, then picked up the next morning, taken to the airport, flown to Cuzco (by a plane, not a person ha ha) and picked up in Cuzco by a tour guide. We went directly into the Sacred Valley which is a great way to acclimitize, by the way. Cuzco is at 11,500 feet, much of the Sacred Valley is around 7,000 feet.

What I´ve seen of the Sacred Valley so far I´ve really liked. We stopped at an animal rescue sanctuary maybe 20 miles before Pisac. There were animals that were found abused or abandoned. I got to see those rat-looking things (can´t remember the name), parrots, a hairless dog family (their skin is like black leather but they have little mohawks), an Andean condor family (very endangered -- HUGE birds!) Then it was off to feed and pet the llamas and alpacas along with a lesson on the different types. This is a great place to visit. And the weather is surprisingly nice in the daytime, upper 70s. It cools off at night but isn´t freezing by any means.

Then we went to the Pisac market which takes place on Sundays. Smaller markets are on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It´s postcard perfect with the backdrop of the mountains behind the booths. Prices are reasonable, lots of alpaca wool items, jewelry, just about everything. The vendors are not aggressive. "No gracias" means NO here. There was even a food market just like you see on TV with bags of potatoes spilling onto the ground. My tour guide recommended a strange looking green fruit with squares all over it. I´m going to try it with breakfast tomorrow morning.

I was dropped off in Urubamba, a nice little Andean village. My hotel is called the Amaru Valle Hostal and it´s on the uphill end of town after the road turns to dirt. It looks like nothing but when the security gate opens, it´s Shangri-la. Little A-frame Alpine-looking cottages with beautifully arranged grounds. There are birds tweeting and huge ants crawline around. It is extremely quiet but there are only 3 rooms rented. I guess high season starts in 2 weeks.

Some of the ladies here still wear traditional dress with those strange little hats sitting on the tops of their heads. (What do they do anyway? Not protect from the sun.) The streets are narrow and there are little mototaxis buzzing around everywhere. Lots of chicken and pizza places to eat. Prices are low here. I just had sopa criollo which has pasta, beef and a huge fried egg in it and a Sprite for about $5. Lastnight I went to a little pizza place and got a small pizza and beer for abut $5. The only size they had was the huge 24 oz. one. The lady was so sweet and cheerful!

Today is evidently the anniversary of the town´s founding. They had a big old band on the steps of the church and the town square was full of little carts selling candy and drinks. They were selling lots of chicha which is yucca root that ladies chew and spit out, then they ferment it. There are little plastic chairs set up on the sidewalk around the square with a tarp covering. A lady is there selling huge beers and almost all men are sitting there drinking it.

Since I´m on my own today, I´ve just been people watching and taking pictures. So this fiesta was the perfect opportunity to do just that. I sat down to watch the band and have a small beer I bought in a store. One guy was so drunk he was hugging this monument thing. He kept trying to focus and would squint his eyes hard, then hiccup and lean on the thing with his eyes closed. Another guy in front of him was playing an air guitar. A man asked me to dance but nobody was dancing and I felt funny so I said no thank you. Then was the embarrasing part: four American tourists. Why do American tourists have to stand out like a sore thumb, I ask. They had to all run up to the band, stand beside the singer and have their pictures taken, two at a time. Then one lady started dancing typical white person style. It´s all nice and all but the Peruvians must have thought they were aliens.

Tomorrow I´m off to Ollantaytambo with my guide, then Aguas Calientes which is the town at the base of Machu Picchu to spend the night. Buenas noches.

Janette's Santo Domingo Blog

2009-08-30T21:51:00.000-07:00

www.colonialzone-dr.com

South Lake Tahoe

2009-08-08T20:36:00.000-07:00

I went to South Lake Tahoe last weekend, en route to the lovely town of Fallon, Nevada, to see my dad. Every time I visit South Lake, I fall in love with it again. There's something about coming around the corner at the top of Echo Summit when you see the valley appear before you.

I highly recommend The Beacon Bar and Restaurant at Camp Richardson on Highway 89 just past the Y. They have live music on summer days from Wed-Sun. You get to dig your feet right in the sand, order a Rumrunner ($8, thanks a lot) and groove away. If you get hot, simply pad down to the beach and take a dip in the lake. Or you can set up your lounge chairs and picnic stuff outside the Beacon on the beach. They even have a water taxi which takes you from the Marina at Ski Run Blvd. so if you're hotel is near there, take the water taxi over and back, no need to drive. They also have a cute cable car-style trolley that goes overland.

I highly don't recommend The Elizabeth Lodge at Pioneer Trail and Hwy 50. $66 and I had to leave the lights on for fear of cockroaches coming out of all the gaping holes from dried up caulking peeling away from the wall. Ick.

Reflections on the DR, now that I'm back

2009-07-24T20:30:00.001-07:00

My overall impression of the Dominican Republic is that it's a fair place to visit. I personally think the best way to go is to go to one of the all-inclusives. The reason I go to developing countries is that I get to spend more time exploring because it's normally cheaper. But in the DR, anywhere I went, I felt ripped off. It seemed like a struggle just to pay normal prices for things.

Taxis were at least as expensive as what you'd pay in San Francisco area; meals were also expensive. There's a whopping tax and service charge amounting to about 20%! Even drinks weren't all that cheap, around $3 which is what you can get at home on a happy hour.

It was also hotter and more humid than I thought it would be.

Vendors were pushy, maybe because it was slow season and there was a hint of desperation in the air. They also initially quoted prices that were ridiculous. I paid $5 for a coconut candle, down from $8 but saw them in a little store later on for about $2. I paid $5 for 2 cigars, could have gotten them WAY cheaper. Go to the grocery stores for things like candles, spice sets, Mamajuana (the male aphrodisiac cocktail). They even had those little things you crush spices in in the grocery store for far cheaper than what they sold for in shops. If you do go into the shops, bargain hard. You have to be heartless just to get an OK price where you don't feel completely ripped off. This is one of those things that annoy me wherever I go. At least in Thailand you actually got a deal after pushing people off of you.

Buses were reliable and safe in the DR, although as I mentioned, don't use their bathroom. Taxis usually look like the door is going to fall off any minute so I feel at least as safe in an air conditioned big bus.

Flying in to San Francisco, I glanced out at our brown hills and felt a strong feeling of love for my country. A lady from New York behind me said, "it looks brown to me," and I just smiled. The next best thing to seeing what the rest of the world lives like is coming home to appreciate all that we have here too.

The memories of cockroaches, dripping sweat, mosquito bites, and lonely dinners staring at nothing will soon fade and all the good memories of the DR will remain. Happy travels...

2009-07-24T20:13:00.000-07:00

Dominican Republic - Cabarete's Cool Beach Bars

2009-07-22T12:30:00.000-07:00

Cabarete is on the north coast of the Dominican Republic. It's known for kitesurfing and windsurfing. It really is a great base for exploring the DR. There are plenty of tour companies in town that can take you on a myriad of excursions. Iguana Mama is supposedly the king. They're the only company that takes you to all 27 waterfalls in Damajagua. Other tours include white water rafting, hiking, and snorkeling tours, to name a few.

I stayed at the Hotel Alegria which I booked online before I left. They weren't set up for credit cards so I was a little nervous that my reservation wasn't going to be there. It was though, no problems. I don’t recommend this hotel though, mostly because it’s located at the far end of town. You have to walk about 1/4 mile each way to get anywhere.

The first room I was shown seemed clean enough but had a lot of mosquitos flying around. I asked if they had a room with AC and they did, for $5 more -- well worth it! It was clean and the sheets smelled just like my grandma’s used to. I did see one big huge cockroach in the bathroom on my last night when I came in. I killed it and threw it in the toilet only to watch it not go down the toilet. Four flushes later and fairly freaking out, I went to get the hotel guy to get it out of there for me. He came and picked it out of the toilet for me. Ick!

On to better topics: What's nice about eating or drinking in Cabarete is that you get to dig your feet into the sand and watch the sunset while eating or taking in a cold beverage.

The beach scene at night is VERY cool, aka South Beach Miami or LA. Some places have beanbags on the sand; some have cool white canvas lounge chairs. All restaurants and bars have candles flickering away in bamboo, ceramic, or coconut candle holders. My favorite beach bar/restaurants were Onnos and Bambu Bar. They both play chill music which adds even more to the atmosphere. There was another restaurant/bar with an Asian theme that looked very nice as well. In fact, all of the hip bars are right there next to one another. This area would be a really fun place for a group of good friends.

One slight annoyance is that there were a LOT of prostitutes (they outnumbered tourists, or came close to it) hanging around in these areas at night. If you're not bothered by it, it makes for interesting people-watching.

I would recommend spending at least 4 days in Cabarete. I would definitely come back here if I'm ever in the DR again.

DR: Christopher Columbus' Footsteps in Santo Domingo

2009-07-22T12:16:00.000-07:00

On the way back up to the north side of the island (after Bayahibe), I went to Santo Domingo for one night. It wasn't nearly long enough. Santo Domingo is a very interesting town. The sights are amazing and you can imagine Christopher Columbus and Sir Francis Drake running down the very street you're walking on, looting, raping, and burning churches. (Evidently, Sir Francis Drake burned almost every Catholic church in town, as he hated Catholicism.)

I stayed at Casa Dona Elvira ($60 for the loft, including tax and breakfast), an absolutely beautiful hotel in an old brick building. You lift and drop the knocker on the huge wooden door from what feels like a sort of isolated street. A man opens the door like it’s his own home and when you enter, you feel safe and in a different world. It's peaceful, quiet and beautiful inside. The small pool is gorgeous and very cool and refreshing. For rooms, after my little hiccup which follows, I don't recommend the loft, although it's adorable in a treehouse sort of way. The stairs are very very steep, like a ladder. Fine for me but if you have any issues.... don’t try it. There was an AC in the upstairs part of the loft which didn't reach the downstairs very well. I was completely in love with this hotel until -- I felt something in my hair in the middle of the night so I reached back and thought I had left a bobbypin in my hair. I forgot about it for awhile until a little while later, I felt something moving around up there. I turned on the light and there ran a HUGE cockroach from my head to under the pillow, then back into the recessed brick wall at the head of the bed from which it evidently came. I screamed, shaking my head over and over. There never was a bobbypin in my hair. It must have been the darn thing's leg the first time I felt it. This all freaked me out so much I ended up sleeping on the small futon downstairs wrapped in my sarong for the rest of the night.

Santo Domingo is home of the first operating church in the New World . There are many interesting museums, and the oldest military fort in the New World sits on the banks of the river. There are lots of restaurants everywhere. I ate at the Meson d'Bari, very nice creole food.

I met a girl at the bar of the above restaurant named Janette who is from Mars. Mars, Philadelphia. She says is like that on purpose to make people do a double-take. She helps out travelers with her website, www.colonialzone-dr.com which has a lot of information about the DR.

She introduced me to the Supercolmado, a mini market/bar/scene where locals hang out. Supercolmados, or just Colmados, are all over the Dominican Republic. Evidently, car washes are party spots as well in this country. Janette also showed me an after hours bar that I don't know the name of, or if it even had a name. Very hip. It was a house, basically, with sitting rooms and an outdoor patio. There's even a pole (as in pole-dancing pole). You have to ring the doorbell when you arrive and it makes you feel like a moviestar.

If I come back, I would definitely like to spend more time in Santo Domingo.

Day One of Trip to DR: Food Poisoning

2009-07-22T12:13:00.001-07:00

At the beginning of my trip to Dominican Republic, I had a Radelism. Radelisms are strange, uncanny, outlandish things that only happen to me. I got food poisoning. Not from the lukewarm chicken, not from slightly undercooked eggs at breakfast, not from the restaurant with the rat turds in the bathroom. Not even in the DR.

I got food poisoning from Burger King at LAX while leaving the US of A. Yes, my friends, this is typical. I had just settled down for a long winter's nap (wait, wrong story) ... I had just taken 1/2 an Ambien so I could sleep on the Red Eye from LAX to Puerto Rico, the 2nd leg of my flight. In my window seat, I suddenly did three of those burps that have substance, you know, where you have to swallow quickly. My stomach was really starting to hurt and I thought uh oh.

About 45 minutes later, I had to wake up my 2 seatmates and run to the bathroom at which time I threw up about 3 times and had diarreah. I was all sweaty and hot. The next episode happened about an hour later. Half asleep, staggering down the aisle, bumping into all those nice people trying to sleep, it was hell. Then I got the chills for about an hour.

I told the flight attendants and they asked if they needed to land the plane. I said no don't be silly, it's not swine flu or anything. In the back of my head, though, that was exactly what I was thinking. Luckily, it passed and the next morning, I was weak but fine. Whew!

2009-07-21T17:36:00.000-07:00

This one's for Anthony Bourdain

DR: Bayahibe, Snorkeling, and Sanky Panky

2009-07-21T13:16:00.000-07:00

I decided to make the long journey to Bayahibe based on Lonely Planet forum's advice and the LP book's statement that snorkeling in this part of the country is not to be missed. It takes 8 hours each way with 3 different busses each way so this was a bit of a sacrifice on my part. But as long as I had excellent snorkeling, it was all going to be worth it. And there's a cave with Taino drawings and a natural pool that I really wanted to see. These were the goals that drove me to do this extra trip.

I took the Caribe Tours bus (interesting experience in which you pray your luggage will still be there when you arrive). It took 4 hours to get to the capitol, Santo Domingo, then you have to get off and walk to a gua gua (smaller bus) headed for La Romana for 2 more hours. Note: Don't eat or drink water on the Caribe Tours bus. You don't want to use the bathroom. Men evidently twirl their you-know-what in circles while peeing. Pee is EVERYWHERE.

Then when you get off the Caribe Tours bus, people run up to you and stick things for you to buy in your face. One guy kept lightly tapping me on my back with a can of Pringles every 30 seconds while I was trying to buy a bag of peanuts from some other guy. I kept thinking maybe another tourist was politely tapping on my shoulder to ask a question or tell me I'm about to be hit by a bus so each time there was a tap, I stopped what I was doing and turned around. But it was the same Pringles guy every time. After about seven taps, I finally yelled NO! to him. Cars were swerving everywhere, then some guy grabbed my suitcase and stuck it on the bus I was standing by. Luckily it was the correct bus and everything turned out OK.

The gua gua to La Romana was fine, had A/C which I was very happy about. Then in La Romana, I had to walk across the street and get on a little 70's VW van-looking thing which is another form of the gua gua. The driver wanted me to sit in the front seat so we could talk. He was very nice in a fatherly way, and I got to practice my Spanish the whole way.

Bayahibe is very small. Dirt roads, only a few hotels. I stayed at Hotel Bayahibe ($37 including tax and breakfast). It was fine, had AC, clean. The breakfast was good -- eggs or pancakes, fruit, break, coffee, juice.

The first night, I went out in search of a restaurant. I found a good place, Bamboo Bar and Restaurant. The French speaking owner and I had a tough time communicating but it worked out. I had fresh shrimp -- awesome! But afterwards, I was walking and this Dominican man was sitting on the corner. He stopped me and wanted to talk. Being the nice person that I am, I talked with him. He offered to show me around so I said OK. But towards the end of the night, I wanted him to leave and he wouldn't. He said he loved me, he wants to spend time with me. I said no. He tried to get me to let him go to my hotel room with me. I said no. I told him I need to go to sleep. He asked if I can meet him tomorrow night at 7:00? I said OK just to get him to shut up. But the next night he found me when I was walking around the town. He said he was hurt that I didn't meet him at 7:00. (I had accidentally on purpose forgotten.) Then he kept wanting to stand by the beach and talk like we're lovers in some serious relationship or something. He kept saying that if two people love each other, they should be together. I said what!? I don't even know you, and I for sure don't love you. He said I love you though. I can't stop thinking about you. Bla bla bla... I finally went in to my room at 9:00 pm pleading fatigue just to get away from him.

Note to women traveling solo in the DR: Do not be nice to the local men. There is something called Sanky Panky, evidently. Local guys think we're down there looking to get laid. They're hoping to get something going and maybe eventually you'll take them back to the states with you or at least they'll get a free dinner out of you. They are very persistent and will not leave you alone if you give them any attention. Plus, a lot of these guys speak a combination of French and Spanish and you can't understand a single word they say. So steer clear, girls!

Back to the adventure: If you go to Bayahibe and want to snorkel, do not take tours offered by the Bayahibe Hotel. They lied to me about the Isla Saona trip, saying it was a snorkeling trip. It turned out to be a booze cruise. Because this was my only full day to take a tour and my only opportunity for snorkeling, I was so bummed I almost started crying.

I recommend ScubaFun, owned by an American expat, for trips and tours. He was very helpful and informative. They actually have a brochure which explains trips, something nobody else has. Casa Daniel down the street also does tours but didn't seem as forthcoming with information as ScubaFun.

So that night after the booze cruise, since I had missed snorkeling, I tried to find someone for the next morning to take me out on a boat to snorkel for an hour before I leave town. A guy named Alesandro (I think) in the El Barco Boat Bar said he would do it for $25 (down from $30) but needed prepayment right now. I ran over to Scubafun to ask for advice because I was nervous about going out with one guy alone on a boat and he said the guys here are trustworthy as far as safety but that he wouldn’t prepay. So I went back and told Alesandro I'd be there at 9:00 am with the $25. He said no deal if I don't prepay. I said fine, no deal, and left.

So my last morning before catching a gua gua back to La Romana/Santo Domingo, I hired a moto (motorcycle taxi) to take me to the cave, then to take me to a beach where I can snorkel from. I rented snorkeling gear and climbed on to the back of the motorcycle.

So here I am on the back of a moto on dirt roads w/o a helmet. Everything is fine, we get to the entrance of the park where the cave is, and the guard says we need a permit. So we go back to town to the police and they said it’s closed, there are no permits. They said I can walk to the other cave but it'll take an hour each way.

Since it was so hot and humid (is this Perimenopause?) and I didn't have time considering I needed to get to Santo Domingo that day, I just said forget it. There went my cave opportunity. So I asked the moto driver to just take me straight to the beach for snorkeling. The snorkeling wasn't good at all.

After snorkeling, I was depressed. The moto driver and I were sitting on a rock under a tree on the beach. Under the tree to the right of us, a couple was making out, practially having sex on the rocks. So the moto driver starts saying he wants to be my boyfriend and trying to flirt with me. Newly wise to the ways of the locals, I said it was time to go. Do these guys think we're idiots or what?

As I was leaving my hotel, luggage in tow, the same gua gua driver that brought me to town saw me walking out and stopped me. I told him I was going to grab something to eat, then had to go to La Romana and he said come with me. He took me to a place called Pico Pollo where they make chicken dishes and put it in hot plates behind Plexiglass. You tell them what you want them to put on your plate. The thing is, the hot plates aren't hot; they're just holding the food at room temperature. It makes you wonder how long it's been in there. I was a little nervous so I got some fried chicken thinking fried chicken is OK on picnics, this should be fine. I also got some rice and beans, and I didn't get sick later! Lucky me. Afterwards, off we went back to La Romana in the front seat. There I got into a HOT gua gua packed to the gills which took us to another gua gua that had AC into La Romana where I transferred to another bus to Santo Domingo.

Overall, my Bayahibe experience was one disappointment after another. If I'd have had more time, I could have gone both snorkeling with ScubaFun or Casa Daniel and caving (leaving early in the morning in the cooler weather). Part of it was their their tourism infrastructure, or lack thereof. I need to realize when traveling to these countries that two days doesn't allow for ANY missteps. And there are plenty of missteps when you're in a new place and don't know the ropes.

Dominican Republic All Inclusive

2009-07-21T13:14:00.000-07:00

I stayed at an all-inclusive for a week on Playa Dorada near Puerto Plata called Grand Oasis Marien. It was nice and all but not a good place for singles; better for families and couples. The buffet food got boring REALLY fast but there were four specialty restaurants available that had better food. The entertainment was low to average. I was one of a few Americans there. Lots of Germans, English, and Scottish people.

The best day of my trip is when I went on a tour to the Damajagua Waterfalls. This excursion was SO FUN!!! The only drawback is that we only did 5 of 27 falls. I would’ve been happy with 10-15 falls. But the waterfalls are so beautiful, they're not to be missed. Guides pull you up through the falls. They're very good and know the nooks and crannies to put your feet in. Coming down, we got to slide down limestone slides or jump off cliffs. Super fun. On the way back in the truck, I heard all this hooting and hollaring coming from a Scottish family and an English family. They had been partaking of the rum and coke that was being passed around and were yelling at passersby. I moved to the back of the truck where they were and we all hung out the rest of the day, having a blast.

I booked this trip through some guy at the pool named Samuel who was much cheaper than anyone in the tour office. The tour office, by the way, caters only to groups like Thomas Cook, Apple Vacations,... So if you book independently by internet, you're out of luck unless you find some random guy at the pool like I did.

On another day I did the Sosua snorkeling trip which was just OK. They dumped us off in 30 feet of water in a bay and drove the boat away. Good thing nobody got a cramp. The water was deep so you didn't see anything but great big blue water unless there was a big rock underneath.

And on yet another day I went with a couple I had met to the Brugal Rum Factory. (To be honest, I didn't like Dominican rum so much. Nicaragua's Fleur de Cana is by far superior.) The rum factory was HOT HOT HOT and we just got a little shot of rum afterwards. You can buy a frozen rum drink for $2 afterwards which we did to cool off, mostly. Then we went to an old fort and took pictures.

All in all, I would say all-inclusives are good for about 4 days, especially if you're traveling alone. After that I get too ancy and need to move on.

Photos Spain

2008-07-23T09:15:00.000-07:00

You can find my photo album online at http://picasaweb.google.com/radelswank

Enjoy and happy travels!

Hotels/Restaurants for Barcelona

2008-07-23T09:13:00.000-07:00

I found a college dorm that is rented out over the summer to tourists. It's called Residencia la Cuitadella. www. resa.es It's right across the street from Parc Cuitadella, about a 15 minute walk to the Metro and a 15 minute walk to the beach. The room is an individual, has bathroom ensuite and maid service. There is no TV or A/C but there's a fan which does the job nicely. No breakfast either but there are cafes nearby that you can go to. It's very secure; you get a key to the main entrance, take an elevator up to your room, then go into your locked room. Cost is 40 euro. There's not a lot going on in the area so it's a little far out but as long as you don't mind walking, you can get anywhere on the Metro. One thing about the Metro: it closes at midnight so if you find yourself far away, you have to taxi it back. Also, it's not air conditioned in the metro station underground. It gets extremely hot and stuffy down there, especially if you're dragging your luggage around.

There were lots of restaurants in Barcelona. I noticed that prices are a little higher here in general. One pinxtos place I found was called Txapela (pronounced chapela -- tx is pronounced like a ch in Basque.) It's just north of Plaza Catalunya on Passeig de Gracia. This was the best pinxtos place I had been to in Spain! The prices were great, under 2 euros per pinxto. They had these little baby hamburgers with carmelized onions, they had prawn skewers, I had swordfish on a piece of bread, ... Everything was great.

There is so much to see in BCN, I didn't have enough time. You really need at least 5 days. I didn't get to spend time at the beach which looked really nice, but I walked down to Port Olympic one night to look for a place to eat (don't try the Mexican place on the marina unless you want cold liquid cheese squeezed into a four tortilla, have it called a quesadilla, then pay 7 euros, or $10 for it.) There were lots of clubs but they weren't open, even at 10:30, maybe because it was the beginning of the week. One cool bar is the Icebarcelona. It's an ice bar. You pay 15 euros to go in and have a drink in a freezing cold room with ice sculptures. They give you a coat, hat and mittens. Great photo op if you're in a group. For daytime, the beaches looked really nice.

There are so many museums. If I had only known that they were all closed on Mondays, I could have actually gone inside. Bummer. The ones I wanted to see were the Picasso Museum and the Natural History Museum which has a Roman town that has been excavated inside. I did get to go to the La Sagrada Familia which is amazing. You can easily get there via the Metro. I would have liked to go to Montjuic and the Gaudi park. I would have liked to take some day trips up the Costa Brava too.

One trip I did go on was a tour through the Tourist Information Center at Plaza Catalunya (they can even make hotel reservations). It was to Montserrat and Sitges, and it cost 66 euros. We stopped at the Torres wine cellar for a tour and wine tasting first, then went to Montserrat where we had 4 hours. It is absolutely breathtaking. There's a monastery built seemingly right into these strange rock formations that stick up into the air. There are 2 cable cars you can take from there, one to the very top, and one down to the cave where they found the Black Virgin, which is a major draw here. There was a very long line to go up to the Black Virgin in the church and touch her. There's also a round circle on the ground that's supposed to be a spiritual energy center here. You're supposed to stand in it and raise up your hands. There's also a museum, movie about a monk's life, and restaurants here.

Then we went to Sitges, a very cute town on the coast. It's all whitewashed buildings and windy cobbled streets. It seems to be a very artsy town. There was a girl playing a harp in one square being helped by a coach. Around the corner, there were 4 girls practicing a modern dance. The beaches are beautiful, and there are restaurants near the beach where you can dig your toes in the sand and have a cocktail (my idea of a vacation). Next time, I would stay here for at least 3 nights.

Hotels/Restaurants for San Sebastian

2008-07-23T09:12:00.000-07:00

This is a beautiful place. There are mountains all around. The feel is more European and/or French than Southern Spain. There are bike paths everywhere like in Amsterdam, and people use them. And the weather is much cooler. If you arrive by train, there is a very helpful Tourist Information booth right at the train station.

It was difficult to get a room here, even 5 days in advance so I ended up in a hostel. I stayed at the Urban House which has 4 different buildings. They were acommodating and the vibe is cool and laid back. It was fine, especially since I had my own room for 3 nights, until I got 7 male Australian roommates. The only complaint was that the water was shut off on our floor for 2 days so you had to go up 2 flights of stairs to go to the bathroom or take a shower. And by the last day, all the showerhead mounts had broken off so you have to hold the showerhead while you shampoo your hair with the other hand. But overall, it was a good hostel. They charge 23 euros early in the week and 33 towards weekends (a little steep).

Pinxtos (pronounced pinchos) are the Basque form of tapas, and San Sebastian had tons of pinxtos bars to choose from. Compared to tapas, there is a lot more variety of pinxtos, and they are a bit more filling. They usually come on a piece of bread and are usually stacked high with various cheeses, fish, and meats. They place pinxtos on plates all over the bar, like if you're at a party and there's a table of hors'duevres. You ask for a plate, fill it up, they can heat stuff up for you if you want, you eat, drink, then pay on the honor system. They ask how many you had, what you drank and take your word for it. I found it refreshing. If you're watching your euros, the most filling pinxtos is the tortilla, which is an egg and potato quiche served on a roll like a sandwich. You can easily fill up on one of these for about 2 euros. The local wine is called Txakoli (pronounced Choc-o-li). It's poured from high into the air so it bubbles up like a sparkling wine. It's good.

I found a really good gourmet-ish place called A Fuego Negro. (This was in LP as well.) Prices are a little higher here but they had a variety of salads and long square plates with small portions like you'd see in a Japanese restaurant. They had a great wine selection, from different regions of Spain. I discovered the Rioja Crianza which is I think the varietal. It's like a cabernet sauvignon, only better, and all for only 2 euros! All of their wines were very reasonable and of high quality. It's depressing to be back home and pay $8 for the same amount of wine.

Another good pinxtos bar was the Giroki Taberna.

If you're hungry for a English style pub food or a hamburger, there's a place called Bideluze. One is on Plaza Guipuzcoa and the other is on c/Garibay. I wish I'd have stopped into the one on Plaza Guipuzcoa at night but I only discovered it the day I was leaving. It looked like a hopping place.

While in San Sebastian, visit the beaches, which are beautiful. There are 2 and, I liked both. One is a surfing beach called Playa Zorilla, and the other is the city beach, Playa Concha. Playa Zorilla is more open and has surf. Playa Concha is inside the bay and much calmer.

The Cider House tour was organized by my hostel, Urban House. The Cider House was up in the hills, and you drink hard cider directly from a spigot on these huge barrels. You need to hold your glass far from the tap so it bubbles up, then you drink it fast while it stays a little bubbly. The tour included a multi course dinner which was really good, with all the cider you want. Whenever you want more, you just go out to one of the barrels and pour some more in your glass. The dinner was chorizo and bread, then eggs with bacalao which is salted cod. It's scrambled together like an omelette and is a pretty common food of the Basque country. I know, it sounds gross but it was really pretty good. Then we had flash-fried bacalao which was good. Then we had these huge steaks but they were cooked too rare for me. For desert we had some local cheese made from sheeps milk, walnuts, and a little jellied square of some kind of fruit. You're supposed to stack these 3 items and eat them together. They were very good. Two of the guys on our tour decided to try cracking walnuts with their foreheads and they ended up with big red bumps for the rest of the night.

San Sebastian is good base for day trips to other towns. Pamplona is an hour and a half away by bus. It was 6 euros each way. You can also go to or Hendaya, France (30 minutes), Biarritz (one hour?), and there are fishing villages along the Spanish Coast that looked interesting: Pasai Donibane, Hondarribia, and Getaria, all 30 minutes to one hour away. I was going to go one day but it was raining and dreary.

The weather is unpredictable. When I arrived, it was about 75. The next afternoon it dropped to about high 60s and the next 2 and a half days it rained and was in the low 60s. I felt like one of those San Francisco tourists I usually laugh at, in my shorts and sandals when it's 63 degrees. I had to bundle up in my baggy travel clothes and look like a homeless person for 2 and a half days. So if you go, bring warmer clothes.

Hotels/Restaurants for Madrid

2008-07-23T09:10:00.000-07:00

Since I was only staying one night on the way to San Sebastian, I booked the Cat's Hostel, as recommended by Lonely Planet. It was OK, typical hostel stuff like waiting an hour to get checked in, the locker key not working. The room was dark and without a window and the A/C (once we figured out that you have to have it turned on at the front desk) leaked all over the wall and got on the mattresses. The showers have one temp, hot, and you have to push the button to turn the water on every 30 seconds. OK, maybe I am too old for hostels. What was nice was the price: 17 euros. It also had a very pretty interior patio with a stained-glass ceiling. There's a cool cave-like bar downstairs with free internet.

Weather in Madrid was hot, about 100, but probably normally the same as Seville. (I think a heat wave had ended.)

Hotels/Restaurants for Seville

2008-07-23T09:09:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately, we were not happy with the apartment we booked on the internet before we left through seville5.com. The apartment was on Paseo Correa in the Triana neighborhood which is across the river from the main part of the city. I liked the neighborhood because it was very local and working class but clean and safe. The problems started, though, when we were instructed to meet a guy named Pepe who took us to the wrong apartment (one bedroom instead of 2). Then he argued with us and insisted he was right. Then the A/C didn't work. After a few phone calls, we finally convinced the higher-ups that we indeed had a different apartment which we eventually made it to. This is 8:00 pm and it still hadn't been cleaned and there were no keys for us. So we had to meet Pepe at the bar at 10:00 pm to get the keys and eventually get to our room. On the 2nd day, the AC blew up and started smoking. I tried to get hold of the owner but she was completely unresponsive. The cost was about 85 euro per night for 3 of us (I was with my brother and sister in law here as well).

The cathedral was very interesting and had many rooms. It dates all the way back to 1000 AD. Christopher Columbus' remains are housed in the cathedral. We walked to the top of the Giralda tower which was tiring but neat to experience. This is where all the bells are that you hear through the town. One bell rang when I was up there and it freaked me out because it was so loud. We didn't have time to see the Alcazar, a walled city that's still in great shape. I would do that next time.

The area I LOVED and would like to stay in next time is Barrio Santa Cruz. Its streets and cute, cobblestoned, and windy. Its restaurants are adorable. I went to the Bodega Santa Cruz, as recommended in Lonely Planet and it was an experience to be remembered. Prices are cheap, everything is in Spanish so you kind of wonder what it is you're getting. The bartenders write the price of your order in white chalk on the bar in front of you. If you add on, they just write the next price underneath. When you're all done, they add up your total and after you pay, they wipe your bill off the bar with a wet towel, ready for the next person. The place was packed, seemingly more with locals than anyone else.

Bar Santa Clara was also a good spot for tapas. Cervezeria Giralda (in Lonely Planet) was very expensive and manned by too many cranky old waiters in white aprons. They are probably one of those that used to be good, got too popular, and ruined themselves, unlike Bodega Santa Cruz, who knows what a good thing they have going.

The best flamenco show was in Barrio Santa Cruz. It's in a bar called La Carboneria and was in the LP book. It's FREE, that's right, FREE!!! It's at the end of this little road and has no sign. So you have to ask people walking around, go the way they say, then you pass it without knowing, then ask somebody else, they direct you the opposite way, you pass it again, then ask someone else who points to a door and you go in. In the entryway there's a piano and benches, and the cobblestone floor takes you to the large bar inside. There is also a huge back outdoor area with lots of trees. Drinks are cheap, a beer was less than 2 euros. The show starts at 11:00 pm. They only played 3 songs with about a 20 minute break between each. At one point, a guy with one tooth got up from the audience and started singing. The dancing was good.

Walking home on Calle Aleman near the cathedral, I was drawn by the sound of laughter and general merriment. What else was I to do but stop? The bar was O'Flaugherty's Irish Pub. All the bartenders were great and friendly, and they paid special attention to me because I was there alone. It turned out to be the most fun night of my trip.

One thing I had a hard time finding in Seville was an internet cafe. We spent 2 hours looking one night, then gave up and checked with the Tourist Information Center which is right on the River near the Puente Isabel. The internet place was on c/Adriano 7, near the Plaza de Toros. It's called Internet Multimedia Center. It has great A/C, fast flat-screen computers, and a friendly, helpful owner. Prices were about 3 euros per hour.

Weather in Seville was HOT, about 110.

Hotels/Restaurants for Jerez de la Frontera

2008-07-23T09:08:00.000-07:00

This was the best find of my trip! I found the Nuevo Hotel via hostelbookers.com. www.nuevohotel.com It's in an 1850s mansion and has a secure front gate. This individual room has TV, A/C, maid service, bathroom ensuite, free breakfast and ... get this... the price was only 25 euro!!! It was also in a great location.

There are sherry bodegas all over Jerez, which I didn't figure out until the day before I was leaving. What I wish I would have done was to take the big tourist bus on the tour of the town, for 10 euros. This includes entrance to the famous Gonzales Byass Tio Pepe sherry bodega (which costs 10 euros to enter if you go on your own -- which I did). On the bus tour, you can learn where the other bodegas are and return later on your own. The Gonzales Byass tour was very professional. You take a little train through the grounds. Then you taste 2 types of sherry. I was hoping to try the various kinds of sherry, as well as brandy. In the store, you can request tastes of others but it didn't seem like they normally do it. I felt a little silly asking. But if you plan on buying, by all means, ask!

The weather here was as hot as Seville, about 110.

Hotels/Restaurants for Cadiz

2008-07-23T09:07:00.000-07:00

Cadiz may be the oldest town in Spain, dating back to the Phonecian times in 400 BC. It's also famous because this is where Christopher Columbus sailed out of once he got permission from Queen Isabel to go exploring the New World.

It was hard to find a place in Cadiz, even 3 days ahead of time. I ended up having to splurge but the place I got was great. It's called Las Cortes de Cadiz on c/San Francisco 9 near Plaza San Francisco. www.hotellascortes.com This individual room is in an 1850s mansion and has TV, great a/c, bathroom ensuite, maid service, good breakfast included, and the location is perfect. It was 75 euro.

My hotel recommended the BEST tapas bar I visited on my whole trip to Spain. It's called Meson Cumbres Mayores on c/Zorilla, 4. It has good, filling tapas that are very reasonable, less than 2 euros each.

There are 2 main beaches in Cadiz, Playa Calero which is in a bay flanked by 2 castles and Playa Victoria which is open to the Atlantic and looks much cleaner. I found Playa Calero to be crowded and dirty. It smelled a little and there are lots of rocks offshore. The castle/forts are kind of cool but not spectacular. I wish I'd have gone to Playa Victoria. Note that there are no chairs/umbrellas to rent on either of these beaches. You need to bring your own or roast in the sun.

I went to the heavily advertised flamenco show at La Cava which sounds like a really cool venue. I imagined a dark cave with candles flickering and spooky music but it was just a normal bar. It was expensive (22 euro) and very touristy. There were only 3 couples, me and another solo traveler from Australia. The male dancer was the best I've ever seen; the female was just OK. I don't recommend this place.

The weather in Cadiz was perfect, about 85.

Hotels/Restaurants for Granada

2008-07-23T09:06:00.000-07:00

We booked the Vista Alhambra on Horno de Vidrio online before leaving the States. This is in the Albayzin (old town) district just below the Alhambra. We loved this apartment! There were 3 of us so we got a 2 bedroom for 82 euro per night. Be sure to bring cash, it's payable when you check in. My brother and sister in law were with me so split 3 ways, it's a pretty good deal. It stayed very cool and the owner was very nice and prompt.

For dining in the Albayzin area, check out the covered outdoor seating along the river. There's a nice breeze at night and you can gaze up at the lit-up Alhambra. The seating area is made up of about 5 restaurants so be sure to check the menus posted before taking a seat. Some are VERY expensive, some are much less. El Fuente, about the 4th restaurant down, was very good and not as expensive as the others. (Great sangria!!!)

One of the greatest things about Granada is that it's still customary there to hand out free tapas with drinks at tapas bars. My favorite was Bar RAS right by our hotel. You order a beverage, and they plop down the tapa they happen to have handy. I had a very satisfying glass of Barbadillo (white wine) and an Ensalada Rusia which is potato salad with tuna in it, all for 2 euros! This is my kind of a meal.

While in Granada, go see the Alhambra. Go early though; there are TONS of people walking through and the line just to get tickets was about 45 minutes long at about 11:00 am.

The weather in Granada was hot but not as hot as Seville, around 90-95.

Hotels/Restaurants for Malaga

2008-07-23T09:04:00.000-07:00

I stayed in a timeshare condo called Club La Costa at Las Farolas which is on the highway between Fuengirola and La Cala de Mijas. I didn't like the location because it was on the highway, the beach was rocky, and we had to take buses everywhere. I'd recommend staying right in either Fuengirola or La Cala de Mijas. They're smaller towns and have beaches with restaurants, etc. right there. We had a great dinner in La Cala one night. It was a grill right across the street from Biddy Mulligans which was a very fun place with a live band playing American music for after dinner. This restaurant across the street was a grill. If you order a meat dish, they bring you a hot stone, the raw meat, and rock salt. You cook your meat at your table the way you like it. Very cool.

While in the area, take a day trip to Ronda -- it's a gorgeous town with a really tall bridge that spans a deep gorge! There is the new bridge from the 1800s and the older bridges from the 1400s that you can walk down to. There are also restaurants hanging precariously at the edge of the gorge that you can visit.

Other trips you might want to go on would be Gibraltar, home of the famous Rock. It's interesting because it's an English colony but the Gibraltar people hate the English and they hate the Spanish because Gibraltarans are neither Spanish not English. They have their own currency, the Gibraltar pound which is roughly equivalent to the English pound. The people were pretty rude to us. One woman chased me out of the bathroom because I wasn't a customer. You can take a cable car to the top of the Rock, then walk or ride back down. (Watch your bag around the monkeys at the top.)

Morocco is also a short ferry ride away. There are organized tours available, and that's the best way to go. I understand that you get mobbed by vendors when you get there but if that's not a problem for you, it could be a fun day trip.

Weather was mild on the coast, 70-80. You need a light sweater at night if you get cold easily.

Booking websites

2008-07-23T09:03:00.000-07:00

I found hostelbookers.com most useful for accomodations that are a step above a hostel level. It's easy to navigate and everything including price is right there on the front page. They also have a few higher end options.

Also note that if you choose a "single" or "twin", prices are per person for 2 people so you have to pay times 2. So make sure it's an individual or that you can choose one for number of people when looking at price. Individuals are a little hard to find but it is possible.

Hostelz.com and Hostelworld.com were pains to navigate through but had lots of choices.

Itinerary 3 + weeks

2008-07-23T09:02:00.000-07:00

- Fly into Malaga (small airport, easy to maneuver around); stay 4 nights in the area. Fuengirola was nice. I'd go to Sitges which is about 1 1/2 hours to the south. I think you can get there by train.
- Direct bus to Granada (1 1/2 hours, 9 euro); stay 3 nights. Don't take the RUTA, look for the Directo bus. The train takes longer so stick to the bus for this route.
- Train to Cadiz; stay 2-3 nights.
- Train to Jerez de la Frontera (1/2 hour, 6 euro); stay 2-3 nights.
- Train to Seville (2 hours, 10 euro); stay 4 nights.
- Train to Madrid ( 2 1/2 hours, 75 euro for the high speed AVE train. They told me this was the only choice.); stay 2-3 nights
- Train to San Sebastian, Hendaya line (6 1/2 hours, 35 euro); stay 3 nights.
- Overnight train to Barcelona ( 10 hours, 50 euro for a litera, or sleeper -- well worth it and comfortable); stay 5 nights at least.
- Fly out of Barcelona. You can easily get there using a combination of the metro and local train called the Rodalie for about 2 euro. The #10 goes to the airport. Make sure to allow at least 1 1/2 hours for check-in if you're flying Delta.

If you don't have 3 weeks, you could get by with: Granada, Seville, San Seb and Barcelona.

Radel's Recommendations

2008-07-23T08:59:00.000-07:00

For a 3 1/2 week trip to 8 different cities, averaging 70 euros a day.
My trip was from June 14-July 9

See Itinerary and sections on each town

Monsterrat and Sitges

2008-07-17T11:38:00.000-07:00

I went on a tour with Bus Touristic out of the Tourist Information Office at Plaza Catalunya. It was 66 euros for the tour which included Sitges.

Wow, what amazing places. Montserrat is beautiful, with wierd shaped rock pillars seem to grow out of the monastery that is plunked in the middle of the mountain. The monastery is a working monastery, with about 70 monks living there. There's a really cool energy center that's in the middle of a circle as you walk in. It's one of the earth's main places where you can feel a special energy force. I tried it and did feel something.

Montserrat has a museum (I missed, too little time), and 3 rack and pinion "cable cars" called cremallarias? One takes you up from the parking lot to the town of Monsterrat. Another takes you up a very steep hill to the very top of the mountain; the other takes you to the cave where the statue of the black virgin (which is worshipped here) was found. Great photo ops here!

Sitges is a beautiful little town on the Mediterranean. The beaches are very pretty and the water is much warmer here than it was down on the Costa del Sol. The streets are cobblestone, windy, with whitewashed buildings. There are lots of shops and restaurants near the water. I could've stayed a few days here. Evidently, the nights get wild with a gay crowd.

So that's the end of my trip. I'm home now, catching up on all the nonsense that normal life brings. Where to next???

The Novelty is Wearing Off

2008-07-07T08:33:00.000-07:00

So far Barcelona isn´t exciting me. I don´t know if it´s because Ive been traveling for 3 weeks now and am getting tired or if it´s just because I´m lonely or if it´s because I´m too old to be doing this any more. Maybe it´s time to stick with cruises and Club Meds. Forget all this culture and history.

Barcelona is a very pretty city. It´s really spread out and there are trees all over. The public transportation is really good but like I say below, the Metro station is so hot you can´t stand it. Today I saw the Sagrada Familia, Gaudi´s masterpiece. It really is amazing. You can see how the guy must have been off his rocker a little.

I also tried to go to the Picasso and the history museum with an underground Roman city but they were closed today. Then I went shopping which I´m sick of doing, to be honest. But I wanted to get one or two more things to remember Spain by so I did.

It´s easy to get lost here because the streets go at all different angles to each other. It´s definitely not a checkerboard pattern.

My hotel is right by the Ciutadella Park. Ít´s not too far from the Metro so with the 10 trips for a ticket pass, it´s not so bad. Although I really wish I´d have booked further in advance and stayed in the Barri Gotic. That´s where all the action is. There are only a few restaurants around here and nobody is very nice.

I learned today that you´re not supposed to buy one banana. You have to buy a bunch and if you don´t the store guy will chase you away. Another thing I learned is that if you go to an English style pub and order a beer, it´s 5 euros, or $8. And if you sit on a patio, they charge you much more. I paid $6 for a cappucino the other day.

A strange thing I´ve noticed is that nobody uses fans here. This internet room in my hotel is about 100 degree and theres not even a little floor fan or anything. The Metro is great and goes everywhere but they don´t AC it and its about 100 degrees in there.

Tomorrow I go to Montserrat, on a winery tour, and to Sitges, the gay beach area. (Jealous, Rick?)

I probably won´t update until I get home Wed night or Thursday. Bye

In Search of Americans for the 4th

2008-07-04T09:56:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

Today is the 4th of July and once again, I am without my American compatriots to celebrate with. I know Kathy Fay is having her party on Mission Beach in SD, happy birthday Vickie K. I hope everyone is having a good time.

Im obviously bored. I keep writing notes. I think 5 days days is a little too long to stay here. I feel like a chicken with no feathers or something like that. Im SOOOO out of place with all these 20 year olds. My 5 Australian boy roommates are fine. They all went on a pub crawl lastnight and came in really late. One never came in at all. And he has a little container that says Viagra on it. It must be a joke! But theyŕe all really respectful to me and they try to be quiet if Im in the room. Theyre not sure what to think about the old bag, I suppose.

Its finally warm today. Its beautiful. I went to one of the beaches. Its one of the most beautiful urban beaches in the world, the flyer says. I believe it because on one side of the bay is a Jesus statue on top of a hill and a castle and on the other side is another castle.

It makes such a difference over dreary, cold rain like the last 2 days. And Ive been going around looking like a homeless person because the3 only warm weather clothes I have with me are baggy pants, Tshirts that dont match, Tevas and socks. Not a pretty picture, believe me. I saw my 2 Australian daughters (the ones that called me mom the other night) today. They are so beautiful. One of them could be a model. Must be my genes. ha ha

Yesterday I went to Pamplona on the bus. I think I wrote about this yesterday. But if I didnt, I got buzzed with a Spanish lady. She took me around to 3 bars. She was funny, could have been a lesbo. Im not sure about that.

The hostel is packed. They just put 2 more bunk beds in my room, now its for 8 people! So Ive decided to go out drinking tonight so I can sleep no matter what whenever I decide to fall into bed. Im checking out at 1100 tomorrow, then Im going with a Spanish girl whos traveling here and staying at the hostel to a town called Hondarriba. Its a fishing village, really close to the French border. I am one hour from Biarritz here. I wish I would have gone the other day but the rain kind of put a damper on things.

Until Barcelona... (Im staying in a college dorm there thats been converted to a "hotel" for the summer.) I cant do this hostel thing any more. Cant wait to be able to put my bathroom stuff down and leave it there. And to not have to hold the shower head over my hair when Im shampooing it. They all broke off. Greaaaat.

R

Five male roommates -- aaaah!

2008-07-03T12:13:00.000-07:00

Imagine my surprise when I returned from a day in Pamplona to find a man in his underwear and 4 other guys in my room. Well, it did say Mixed Dorm but Id assumed they would at least try to put girls with other girls. I think theyre messing with me because Im old. Theyre Australians, seem to be nice. Of course theyre in their 20s.

So today I went to Pamplona by bus. It was just an hour away. Theyre getting all ready for the big fiesta which is on Sunday. I took pix of the streets the bulls run down and got a shirt for only one euro because its from a previous year.

I went to a bar and had a glass of wine and started talking to a lady who lives in Pamplona. The communication was a little difficult but it worked out fine. So she asked if I wanted to go to another bar and I said sure so we did. Then we went to yet another bar. Kind of early in the day for so much wine so I fell asleep on the bus back to San Sebastian.

Yesterday it rained all day and was cold. I had to go get an umbrella. I looked for a cheap sweater too but prices are high for clothing here. So I have been wearing my same sweater that I wore out to bars. It smells like smoke though. Ick.

Its 920 pm and Im just getting ready to go have some dinner. Its still light out. It stays light here till about 1030. So its not too bad going out this late. You just get used to it. OK, time to go eat. Until next time...

Cider House Tour -- fun fun fun

2008-07-02T02:25:00.000-07:00

Hola,

Lastnight I went on a tour of an old cider house that the hostel Im staying at put together. Cider is a Basque tradition, and this house originally started with a guy making little barrels and selling them door to door, then they grew and now they even export the stuff. There are huge barrels, way bigger than wine barrels, and you drink right out of them. One guy opens up the tap and you hold your glass about 2 feet away to get air into the cider. Then youŕe supposed to drink it fast while itś still carbonated and cold. We also had dinner with this, starting with chorizo and bread, then an omelette with bacalou which is salted cod. They salt it to preserve it, then they have to get the salt out of it before cooking it. It was wierd to have fish in an omelette but it was OK. Then we had pan fried bacalou which was really good. Then steak but they make it very rare and I couldnt eat it. Then for desert we had local cheese made from sheeps milk (a little strong for me but like a Manchego), walnuts, and a jellied apple slices. Youre supposed to eat all 3 together. Two of the guys tried cracking walnuts with their heads and one was bleeding. They both had huge bumps already. Id hate to see their heads today! The whole thing was a little pricey for me, 25 euros, but that was with dinner and all the cider you want.

Then we went to a bar called Zibabiz or something like that. It was packed with YOUNG people. I felt so old. I started feeling old when one of the girls on the tour couldnt believe I was staying at the hostel (because Im old). Then later one of them told a guy that I was her mom, wasnt I hot. After the pub crawl crowd left, it got a little better but some guy kept pulling down his pants. At 3 in the morning we were all going to another bar by the beach but I left my sweater in the bar and went back to get it. Then I tried to find them and couldnt, went home. Now Im hung over.

Im sitting here waiting for the water to come on so I can brush my teeth. The plumber took 2 days to arrive and Ive had to go to the 3rd floor just to go to the bathroom or use water since yesterday morning. DRAG. But I still have the room all to myself until tonight or tomorrow night.

Theyre having cooler than normal weather which feels like 70 at the most, maybe 68 F. I think its 19 C. Its been cloudy too. It was sunny yesterday when I went to the beach and rented a chair but shortly thereafter, the clouds rolled in. I was actually cold!

So my plan is to stay here in San Sebastian for 5 nights total, then on July 5 Ill take the night train to Barcelona. I wonder if Ill find any Americans to celebrate the 4th with. Well see. Tomorrow Im going to take the train to Pamplona just for the day. Im not going to be able to get a room there and Im too old and uptight to assume someone will rent me a couch.

Thats it for now.

From Jerez to Cadiz to Madrid to San Seb in 3 days

2008-06-30T10:39:00.000-07:00

Aaah, I tired of traveling! The best night was in Cadiz because I actually spent money for a hotel. It was called the Huespedes de Cadiz and it was 77 euros. Wow, way over my budget but one night was really nice. It was in another 1850s mansion. Thatś 3 nights in an 1850s mansion. The beach in Cadiz isn that nice though. Dont go to La Calera. Its packed with people and has what could be raw sewage floating around in it. It smelled too, and there were no chairs for rent so you have to bring your own umbrella, etc. The other beach, La Victoria, was much cleaner and open ocean (abut youĺl need your own chairs and umbrellas there too.)

So I went to a flamenco show there which was a rip off. It was in a place called La Cava for 22 euros and it included one drink. There were only 3 couples, me and another single girl from Australia who ended up sitting with me. It was a little lame. The free flamenco in Seville was better.

Then there was Madrid. Viva Espana! Boy was it rocking lastnight. People were wearing their flags like a cloak and they were all screaming and yelling. I was there for such a short amount of time, I didnt see or do much. I did find out, however, that I am too old for this hostel thing. The room was in an old building with a beautiful plaza inside with stained glass ceilings. But the room. I had to ask to have the AC turned on which ended up dripping all over the girls bed below me. I was on the top bunk, right under the thing. So we had to have it turned off and sleep with no AC. And the room is dark so you can see anything without turning on the light and bothering the other people who are trying to sleep. In the showers, thereś one temp, hot. YOu cant adjust it. And it turns off every minute so you have to keep pushing it to make it go back on. As I said, I am too old for this.

But this one in San Sebastian is a cool one. I have a bunk room but they took the bunks apart and nobody else is coming for 2 days so I get the room to myself and dont have to keep hitting my head on the bottom of the 2nd bunk. Then Thursday, 5 people arrive so theyll have to make another bunk. Anyhoo, I have free internet and breakfast.

Im looking forward to just hanging out for a few days. Ive spent the last 2 days traveling by train. Today was 6 and a half hours - ugh - and I had diarreah while standing over the disgusting, pee-encrusted toilet. Then the toilet seat kept falling over and hitting me in the butt. Icky!

Itś really beautiful here. There are mountains all around as you get to the beach, and itś WAY cooler, 23 degrees whatever that is in Farenheit. I might even need a sweater at night!

Thatś it, time to eat pinxtos.

Boiling to death in Jerez

2008-06-27T09:37:00.000-07:00

Don´t get me wrong, I´m having a good time, just boiling to death. It´s in the 40s here. I´m irritated because I just wrote a really long entry and ran out of time on this prepaid computer just as I hit publish post. So now I´m starting over and have 14 minutes so it´ll be quick.

I came to Jerez de la Frontera because I couldn´t find a room in Cadiz which is on the coast. But I´m glad I came here. It´s nice. Today I went to the Tio Pepe sherry bodega and tasted a fino and another one I can´t remember, an amontillado, and a solera which I bought. I like the sweet ones. At 600 I´m going to go on a flamenco tour so I can find a place to go tonight. Aaah, that´s in 20 minutes!!!

So I found this great room in Jerez called the Nuevo Hotel. It s 25 euros, has AC and a bathroom, plus free breakfast. I highly recommend it.

In Seville, we used seville5.com and didn´t have a good experience. We had to meet some guy named Pepe at a bar. He took us to the wrong apartment and we had translation problems and it took about 30 minutes for him to figure out that this was the wrong apartment. Once we got settled, it was OK but on the 2nd day right after Richie and Jennifer left, the AC blew up. It smelled like electrical smoke and I got really scared but couldn´t get ahold of anyone to let them know.

But I found a great place to watch flamenco for free called Las Carbonerias. It´s in an unmarked building. Inside, the floor is all old and uneven (it´s an old coal yard) with a huge patio. They started at 1100 and did 3 dances but it was great. Then later I was pulled into O´Flaugherty´s Pub where I met the nicest bartenders (hi Juanpe) and stayed out all night. What fun! The next day I had to take a bus and boil to death in the bus station with the drunk beggars for 2 and a half hours on 4 hours sleep and a hangover.

Granada was great, gorgeous. We used Vista Alhambra apartments which you can find online. Great place and it stayed cool. We walked around the Alhambra for about 5 hours. Nice but tiring day. That´s about it for now. To Cadiz tomorrow, then Madrid, then San Sebastian.

Beautiful day in Ronda

2008-06-20T11:19:00.000-07:00

On Thursday we took a tour to Ronda, one of the oldest towns in Spain. It has the oldest and most famous bullring which we missed because we ran out of time. There is a bridge that crosses a gorge which falls straight down about a mile. It is one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen. I can´t wait to show the pictures of this. Past the bridge, we turned left and went down a steep cobblestone street which took us to the other bridges which are a lot older, as old as 10,000. It was very steep and curvy, and cars were spinning their tires to try to get up it (well, the people who didn´t know how to drive anyway). Then we went to have a beer in one of the little restaurants that are next to the top of the bridge. It´s really breezy and you have a great view of the gorge and the bridge. I loved this place! More later.

Barfing on the Bus to Gibraltar

2008-06-20T11:08:00.000-07:00

Yes, it´s true. I threw up on the bus to Gibraltar on Tuesday. And I didn´t make it into any bag or other contraption. I asked Jennifer to tell the driver to pull over, then knew I wasn´t going to make it so I walked to the back bus steps and threw up all over them, twice. Jennifer handed me my sandwich in a baggie and I made it into the bag the next two hurls. Very nice indeed.

Gibraltar was a cool place but the people were mean. The money changer threw our change at us, a lady made me leave the bathroom because I wasn´t a customer, the taxis tried to run us over, and nobody said hi. The Rock itself was beautiful though, I got some nice pictures. I even saw a monkey playing with himself. Icky.

The day before, we went to Malaga and got lost and irritated for not being able to find Old Town. I think we were just 2 blocks away but oh well. We had a mediocre sandwich with the cured ham and cured pork which was like prosciutto (could be the reason I threw up the next morning?)

The Rain in Spain Lies Mainly on the Plain

2008-06-15T08:05:00.000-07:00

We both got here on time yesterday. The flight wasn´t too grueling, I actually slept, with the help of 3/4 an Ambien and 3 20-oz beers at Chilis in JFK airport. I had a great start to my trip, having met a girl from Stockton who is traveling alone to Spain, a guy from Missouri, another girl from DC who just got back from Amman, Jordan, another girl who I can´t remember if she was coming or going and where she was from, and finally a girl from Buffalo who was on a business trip. The bar was closing so she and I almost bought a bottle of wine and sat in the hallway drinking it but we talked the bartenders into staying open for another hour.

All in all, a great start to my trip. The jet lag isn´t bad at all. We took naps yesterday and dozed on the beach today. We´re in Fuengirola, a really cute town which is really more of a city than I thought it would be. Our condo is kind of out of the way, and its beach is rocky. The taxi driver couldn´t find it and got really mad and was swearing to himself.

The place is called Club La Costa at Las Farolas. If anyone were to come to this area, I would recommend they stay in Fuengirola. So anyway we have come to Fuengirola twice already. The beach is pretty here. Today we rented beach chairs and went swimming. The water is much cooler than I´d thought! So next we will search for a supermarket to buy fruit and yogurt for breakfast. Hasta luego!

Spain 2008

2008-06-08T12:16:00.000-07:00

I'm just testing my new blog. I will be posting all my Radelisms, or things that "can only happen to me". Hopefully this trip will be as entertaining as all the rest.