AUTUMN’S ADVENTURES

For my friend’s birthday and for my host mom’s bday I made what I initially thought was bailey’s but realized like a dumbass later that is was more Irish coffee.  Below is the recipe with photos! Enjoy! It’s really delicious! Read the rest of this entry »

I had an absolutely amazing time in Peru.  Getting there and back was time consuming but it was worth every shitty bus ride to get there.  If you read the two previous posts you can see the route I took and just how long it took me.  Getting through Bolivia wasn’t so hard but it did take 2 days to get to Puno, Peru.

We stopped in Puno for the night before heading on to Cuzco. In Puno we found a sweet reggae bar that had a loft with pillows lining the walls and low tables.  We immediately took over the whole space, playing jenga, dancing to the awesome reggae and playing a drinking game called shoulders.  The bartender was friendly and often came up to chat with us and play jenga.  He tried to play shoulders but it was a complicated game that we could barely explain to him in Spanish.  Before we left he took us behind the bar for a group picture and thanked us for visiting Puno. Read the rest of this entry »

This post is for travelers who are looking for an alternative route to get to Machupicchu, instead of taking the train directly.  I took the longer and cheaper way to get to Machupicchu and my experiences are noted below:

Cuzco, Peru > Santa Maria, Peru
Ticket: 15 Soles / U$D 5.00
Method of Transportation: Bus
Duration of trip: 5 hours (8:30am - 1:30pm)
*To find these minibuses you do not go to the main bus terminal.  You need to go to the smaller terminal.  Ask your taxi driver to take you to the terminal for Santa Maria.

Santa Maria, Peru > Hidroelectrico, Peru
Ticket: 8 Soles / U$D 2.67
Method of Transportation: Minivan (seats 12, fits 17…)
Duration of trip: 3 hours (1:30pm - 4:30pm)
*There was a stop in San Teresa to change to another minibus that charged 3 soles but was included in the 8 soles prices.
*Make sure when you stop in San Teresa you ask the driver to let you out to buy your ticket for the train in Hidroelectrico.  If you do not do this you will not be able to take the train or buy your ticket at Hidroelectrico.  I am not sure why this is the case.  I did not buy my ticket in San Teresa and me and my friends ended up walking for 3.5 hours along the train tracks with our backpacks (half of the time in the dark) until we reached Aguas Calientes.  Walking is your only other option if you do not buy a train ticket in advance.  Because I didn’t take the train, I don’t know how much it costs.  I believe it may only be 8 soles.

Machupicchu

Getting up there:
There are two options to get up to Machupicchu.  There is a bus that goes up for 21 soles each way (U$D 7.00).  The bus takes approximately 5-10 minutes.  The other option is to take the stairs straight up the mountain.  This takes about 1 hour depending on your endurance.  My friends and I decided to walk up the stairs at 4:30am in order to get to Machupicchu right as it opens.  It was pitch black and only a few of us had cell phone lights or head lamps so if you decide to go this route make sure you have a flashlight of some sort.  I’m not gonna lie, the stairs were hard, especially in the middle of the night.  We arrived to Machupicchu at 5:30am and there was already a line.  The reason to show up early is because some people want to climb Mount Huayna Picchu to see a different view of Machupicchu.  This mountain is free to climb but you have to get a ticket once you are inside Machupicchu otherwise you cannot climb it.  They only allow 400 people a day on the mountain; 200 at 7am and 200 more at 10am.

Buying tickets:
You will need to buy your ticket before going up to Machupicchu.  You can buy the ticket in Aguas Calientes near the lower plaza.  If you have a student ID you can get a discounted rate of 62 Soles / U$D 20.67.  You will need to present your student ID card up at Machupicchu along with your passport.  In Aguas Calientes they tell you that you need to have a date stating when your ID expires otherwise you need to be 23 or younger in order to get the discount.  I am 24, my ID had no date on it whatsoever and I got in without any questions.  I may have been lucky because they were busy.  Feel free to take the same chance.

Here is a video I made of getting to Machupicchu, just for fun.

The normal ticket costs around 124 Soles / U$D 41.00.

Bringing things into Machupicchu:
In the brochures that you get when you buy your ticket it tells you that you cannot bring certain things into Machupicchu like food or large backpacks.  Don’t listen to the brochure.  They did not check our bags and we saw multiple people with large backpacks in Machupicchu.  If you don’t bring sufficient water and food you will pay out of your ass in one of the 2 restaurants at Machupicchu.  For example: 1 small water costs 8 Soles, 1 sandwich with no sides costs 22-30 soles.

Aguas Calientes

Food:
At first glance Aguas Calientes can seem a bit charming.  After about 5 minutes of being there you realize it is a stupid tourist trap and everyone who lives/works there knows you have to pass through Aguas Calientes in order to get a good spot in line for Machupicchu.  For this reason the town is plagued with shitty restaurants along the main street that offer “tourist menus” of 12 - 15 soles which include an appetizer, main dish, drink and dessert.  Don’t be fooled, though. The dishes aren’t good and the drinks and postres are small as shit.  Every restaurant offers the same exact menu with the same exact food excluding the one vegetarian restaurant but even they kinda sucked.  Also, the people working in the restaurants are annoying as hell when the scream all of the things on the menu to you as you walk by, sometimes they even stop you which is even more annoying since the hill is steep as shit.  I avoided the main street as much as possible.

To eat decently for a decent price you can always ask for the local farmer’s market.  I bought avocados and other cheap vegetables to make guacamole.  If you cross the bridges to the other side of Aguas Calientes you will find restaurants for the locals that have more authentic and better food.  I had “Arroz a la cubana” and “Palta Rellena” for about 6 soles and it was damn good.

Water in restaurants isn’t free so if you order water expect to pay about 4 to 5 soles for a bottle.  You can buy water for 1 - 2 soles in any convenient store.

Thermal Baths/Hot Springs:
Hot water is hard to come by in the hostels in Peru so when arriving to Aguas Calientes all I could think about was the warm water.  The actual hot springs were not that hot (not as hot as the hot springs in Iceland for sure).  The water is filtered into square pools and the last pool is the coldest.  The cost is 10 Soles to enter and 1 Sole to store your stuff in a locker with a padlock.  You can rent towels and bathing suits all over Aguas Calientes.  I had mine so I don’t know prices.

Ollantaytambo, Peru
To get back to Cusco from Machupicchu you can take the same route via Hidroelectrico/San Teresa/Santa Maria or you can take the train.  Often times, people will take the train to Ollantaytambo and then take a bus from there because it is cheaper.  I ended up staying in Ollantaytambo for 3 days because it was so nice.  The town is all cobblestone and has moats lining the streets with water flowing constantly.  It was very relaxing and very quiet after Aguas Calientes.  I highly recommend taking time to stop here for at least one night.

Aguas Calientes > Ollantaytambo
Ticket: 78 Soles / U$D 26.00
Mode of Transportation: Train
Duration of trip: 2 hours (9:30 am - 11:30am)
Via Hidroelectrico: 8 soles for Train from Aguas to Hidro, from Hidro to Santa Maria it was 3 soles or more,  and 15 soles for a comfortable minibus for tourists from Santa Maria to Ollantaytambo (total 26 soles)
Duration of trip: 7-8 hours (12:30pm - 8:00pm)

Ollantaytambo > Urubamba
Ticket: 1.20 Soles / U$D .40
Mode of Transportation: Combi/Minivan
Duration of trip: 25 minutes (comes every 15 minutes)

Urubamba > Cusco, Peru
Ticket: 3 Soles / U$D 1.00
Mode of Transportation: Bus
Duration of trip: 2.5 hours

This blog post is for travelers looking for an accurate route from Jujuy, Argentina > Cusco, Peru and from Cusco back to Jujuy.  I did countless hours of research online trying to find the best and cheapest route to Cusco from Jujuy and I didn’t find much so now I am adding my own experience here in hopes that it will help other fellow travelers.

I encountered multiple strikes on my way to and from Cusco so this route is only by bus as all trains were not functioning in Bolivia when I was passing through.  I went up through Bolivia to get to Cusco and went down through Chile to get back to Jujuy.

At my time of travel the exchange rate was roughly this below:

USD 1 = 3.79 Pesos = 7.02 Bolivianos = 3 Peruvian Soles = 537 Chilean Pesos (6/26/2009)

San Salvador de Jujuy, Jujuy, Argentina > La Quiaca, Jujuy, Argentina
Ticket: 35 Argentine Pesos / U$D 9.24
Company: Jama Bus
Duration of trip: 4.5 hours (6:00 am - 10:30 am)

You will cross the border by foot or taxi to reach Villazon, Bolivia.  If you are a US citizen you will need a visa to enter Bolivia which costs U$D135.  You are able to apply for a visa at the border but you will have to make a copy of your passport and provide 2 passport photos.

Villazon, Bolivia > La Paz, Bolivia
Ticket: 80 Bolivianos / U$D 11.43
Company: Expreso Tupiza (I thought the driver was going to tip over the bus)
Duration of trip: ~19 hours (4:00pm - 11:30 AM)

*It is possible to take a train from Villazon to Oruro, Bolivia and then take a short bus to La Paz but during my trip there was a political problem and the trains were not running. There were shitty bumpy roads the whole way there.

La Paz, Bolivia > Puno, Peru
Ticket: 50 Bolivianos / U$D 7.14
Company: 6 de Julio
Duration of trip: 7.5 hours (2:30pm - 9pm [peru time])
*For this bus ride you will disembark and take a boat across Lake Titicaca.  At the Peru border you will walk across the border and get on a new bus.  You do not need a visa for Peru if you are a US citizen.

Puno, Peru > Cusco, Peru
Ticket: 15 Peruvian Soles / U$D 5.00
Company: Power Bus
Duration of trip: ~7 hours (2:15pm - 9:00pm)
*It is possible to take a train from Puno to Cusco but it costs U$D200 roughly.

RETURNING TO JUJUY VIA CHILE:
Cusco, Peru > Arequipa, Peru
Ticket: 60 Peruvian Soles / U$D 20.00
Company: Ormeño S.A.
Duration of trip: ~14 hours (9:00am - 11:00pm)
*We went to Puno first and then went to Arequipa.  This could have been for the strikes and a normal route may be shorter.

Arequipa, Peru > Tacna, Peru
Ticket: 25 Soles / U$D 8.30
Company: Transportes Moquegua Turismo
Duration of trip: ~7 hours (7am - 1:45pm)

Tacna, Peru > Arica, Chile
Ticket: 13 Soles / U$D 4.30
Company: Shared car or “Combi”
Duration of trip: 2 hours (2:30 - 4:30)

Arica, Chile > San Salvador de Jujuy, Jujuy, Argentina
Ticket: 38,000 Chilean Pesos / U$D 76.00
Company: Pullman Bus
Duration of trip: 24 hours (9pm - 9pm)
*There are two buses on this trip. You disembark in Calama and wait for 3 hours in the bus station from 6am to 9am.  From Calama you go straight to Jujuy.
*This bus did not serve any hot meals, only cookies, crackers and juice.  Be prepared to bring your own real food even though you are paying a ridiculous price for this bus.

I am an idiot.  I’m just like every other girl I criticize that has men problems. I am no better and I have finally *really* realized that I sabotage myself almost every single time when I’m with a guy I like.  I think about all of the guys I have had an opportunity to date and how every time things ended I blamed them for being the wrong “guy” or the idiot when in reality from the beginning I was putting an invisible chastity belt on myself without even realizing it.  My friends of course didn’t help me to realize this. For them, it is easier to criticize and blame the guy versus making me feel worse than I already do after being rejected by telling me that it was actually my fault.

I’m so concerned about guys respecting me and about not having “relations” until I have a boyfriend that in the process I scare away every potential suitor.  To them I am not communicating “respect me, I’m worth the wait”, but rather, I’m holding a giant red warning sign that says “watch out, I’m complicated!”  I may know what I want but I don’t have a very good elevator speech for it and in that 11 seconds I normally blow it. “Hi my name is Autumn, I will not have sex with you until you are my boyfriend and I demand your full respect from day 1. I know we just met but please follow these rules before even knowing my last name.”

If a guy wants to have “relations” with me too early in the dating phase I say no without hesitation, without thinking twice.  But the not thinking twice thing is was gets me in trouble because I don’t just stop at the word “no”.  My no is always followed by “because of x,y,z” which guys are not interested in hearing and which is in fact a giant turnoff.  I don’t know why I think I need to defend or rationalize my “no.” No means no. Simple as that.  Guys throw out the sex question because to them it’s like casting a fishing reel.  Sometimes you catch a fish, sometimes you don’t and either way it doesn’t hurt to keep on casting.

This isn’t a new concept to me.  Guys have told me outright that this is the way it is. BUT when a guy shows interest in me and I like him back, I start to think too much about the situation and therefore throw almost all of my rational thoughts and previous “lessons learned” out the window.  I act on my insecurities, my heart is driving my thoughts and my rational brain goes on vacation. It’s just a fact of our biological differences.  No matter how much I want to fight it and think that I can fall in love rationally, I am just like every other member of my gender: Our heart takes the lead and more often than not it fucks us over.  Unless you are like my abnormally rational younger sister who seems to have a better head on her shoulders than I do when it comes to love.

Because of this “heart defect” I fall very quickly for someone if things seem to be going well. It is hard to suppress what I am thinking or feeling. I can’t easily go with the flow and see where the wind takes me. I will analyze every single detail of my encounters with a guy I like.  For some reason, talking out my “crazy” with my girlfriends doesn’t get it out my system.  I mean, my girlfriends are supposed to be my crazy blocker but apparently they aren’t blocking enough. Crazy takes me over and tells me that I need to go to the source, the actual dude and talk to him about the things that are silently driving me mad.  Bad idea, heart.

With Dani, he made it clear that he didn’t want a relationship but I still went with it just to see if it would end up differently — I was trying out the “go-with-the-flow” method.  After a month he was still singing the same non-committal tune and my feelings for him were only getting stronger (self-generated, he didn’t really give me any reason to like him more).  I was surprised that I lasted that long without spilling my emo-thoughts all over him but even a month isn’t very long at all.  After 1 month I did the crazy talk and he said we would be better as friends.  About 6 months later I come to find out he is dating someone, probably because she went with the flow and didn’t release her crazy like I did.

With boys in the US…well the same thing would happen.  I’d have 1-month trysts with these guys that I’d really like. I’d hit the 1 month mark and I’d be itching to talk about where it was going and what i expected of them — I just hated wasting time going through the motions of something so uncertain.  I didn’t necessarily set up ultimatums. I didn’t say “you have to be my boyfriend by the end of the month or else.” it was more like “i really don’t want to be in limbo like this if it isn’t going anywhere.”  Which, after a little reflection is actually a really passive aggressive ultimatum — one of the worst kinds.  No wonder none of them worked out.  Had I just kept my giant mouth shut most of them may have turned into something potentially significant.  The guys weren’t bad guys and I still talk to some of them on occasion.  It was just my method that was flawed.

I bring this whole topic up because I successfully terminated another opportunity with a guy in less than 4 days.  I met him Thursday, had lunch with him on Friday, spent the whole afternoon with him on Friday, enjoyed the day so much that I thought about it all Saturday and Sunday, made a bigger deal about it than it was, talked about it on Monday with the guy, talked about my feelings/respect/etc and in the end he said “well then its best if we are just friends so that I do not shame you.” haha shame me. shiiiit.

Another one bites the dust. AHHH it is so frustrating.  My new strategy is to put up a list of “DO NOT DO’s” on my wall to remind me what not to do if another guy comes along that I fancy.  It will go as follows:

1. Just say “no” when they ask the sex question.  NOTHING MORE! If they ask ‘why not’ just say “if you don’t know why then you don’t deserve it anyway” If they keep pressing you, just fucking get up and leave.
2. Do not utter the word boyfriend or girlfriend. Just don’t.
3. Do not talk about respecting yourself. Show it by demanding it without words.

Sounds obvious, right? Just writing them out makes me feel a little bit stupid but I realize now that my brain is back from vacation. Try telling these things to your heart when it is crazy full with butterflies and mixed feelings and it will fight you to the death.

As I was walking to the gym today a little old lady greeted me very friendly-like and started talking to me but I didn’t really understand what she was saying so I kept walking.  She was heading in my same direction so she just kept talking to me and as she got closer to me she realized that I wasn’t the person she thought I was (which was her neighbor’s neice).   When she realized I was the wrong person she put her arm around me, giggled grandma style and gave me a big sideways hug.  She continued walking and talking to me all the way to centro.  She was the cutest and sweetest little thing ever.

When I walked into the kitchen this morning Laila and the maid were in there.  “‘Tevs,” I thought, “I can handle being in the same room as her, no biggie.”  As Laila was on her way out the door she said “Autumn, after you go to Macchu Pichu you need to find a new place to live.”  Damn her — she said it first!  I had been waiting for the appropriate moment to tell her that I would be moving out at the end of the month (not after Macchu Pichu which would be in 2 months) but since we barely see each other at all, at most for 5 minutes each day, finding the appropriate time wasn’t easy.  I didn’t want to do it her way as I walked out the door.

It felt like we were breaking up. Like we both knew we were having problems and we both wanted to break up and it was just a matter of who did it first.  In any type of breakup, you always want to be the doer, not the receiver.  I didn’t want to be “kicked” out of the house, I wanted to gracefully remove myself from it and possibly even part ways amicably.  I think we are past my ideal way of the storybook ending of this situation.

I was a little annoyed that she said what she said in front of the maid.  Either she doesn’t consider the maid important enough to have existed and didn’t think what she heard mattered OR she didn’t care to keep the matter private and just between her and I.  I choose the latter explanation because I found out later today that she also called my host mom here in Argentina and apparently “tattled” on me.  I’m not exactly sure what was said, I just know that she has now tried to blacken my name among the people I respect here and who respect me.  How lame.  I mean, I guess I’m doing the same thing by shouting this drama to the rooftops on my blog but I’d like to think that I am telling a story versus blatantly trying to ruin her reputation as a good person.

On top of this morning’s breakup, I come home tonight to find that a French girl has moved in to the spare room while I was away this afternoon.  What the hell?  She only broke up with me this morning and she’s already found somebody new?  She had to be cheating on me…

No but seriously, this woman works quickly.  She didn’t even have the decency to tell me that I would be sharing the house with yet another person.  Good thing I move in about a week.

I told the French girl that we should sit down and have a chat.  I am not going to bash the shit out of Laila like she is doing to me all over town but I am going to let her know of the obvious things in the house that need repair that I have been putting up with for 5 months.  Laila is apparently milking the French girl for more rent than me — 850 pesos a month versus my 750 pesos and frenchie’s room has visible black mold. Ouch.  Unfortunately, there aren’t many places to rent in Jujuy so she will probably be stuck with Laila.  As much as I hate seeing Laila jump right back on the money train, I can’t recommend a better option for frenchie and it is really not my place to anyway.

I’m kind of anal when it comes to my health, especially with my teeth.  I have never had a cavity in my life due to “hard teeth” and a strict brushing & flossing regimen.  The only invasive surgery I’ve had in my mouth was getting my molars removed which I thoroughly enjoyed.  Laughing gas has to be one of my most favorite drug experiences ever.  I actually enjoy going to the dentist as well. It’s like my mouth has been to the car wash and I treated myself to the turtle wax finish.

I have been in Argentina for almost 9 months.  Once I realized this and realized that I normally go to the dentist every 6 months, as advised, I quickly called up my yoga teacher who also happens to be a dentist.

I showed up to my appointment, eager to see how much different it would be from the States.  For starters, the exam room was bright lime green.  Even the exam chair was green to match the walls and the cabinets.  It was amazing, to say the least.  I am fond of the color lime green.  The room was anything but sterilized and organized, with tons of green plants spilling out onto the porch, a bottle of soda on the sink and tools and creams randomly placed everywhere.  This was definitely Argentina’s way of doing dentistry — totally laid back.  He was playing some jazz in the background and wore jeans and a t-shirt.

I sat in the chair as Sergio, my yogi-dentist prepared my cleaning.  He didn’t put a “bib” on me to catch the flying spit, he didn’t wear gloves or eye protection — he just let my mouth juices spray all over his face and my chest like we were having a “wet ‘n’ wild” competition — who could leave the room with more of my spit on them by the end of the exam.  I’d say he won as his face was closer than my chest.  It didn’t seem to bother him at all.

The exam didn’t take long. At the end he pulled out this tube of fluoride that looked like pink hair gel and tasted probably the same (as I’ve never tried to eat hair gel before).  When I was done I paid him the 30 pesos for the exam which is less than 10 USD.  Not too shabby.

My friend Pato asked me if I would cook her a real American breakfast.  I am totally willing to show my spanish friends a bit of my culture, especially since I already make American breakfasts here all of the time.

I was thinking of offering the following menu for them:
-over easy or scrambled eggs (which is more american? I’m a sunny-side-up American)
-american toast, buttered with option for jam as well
-donuts
-bacon (OF COURSE)
-homemade hash browns
-french toast (maybe)

Does anyone have any other ideas? Am I leaving a major American breakfast staple out of the menu?

I woke up this morning and stumbled half asleep to the bathroom.  When I went to plop down on the toilet I saw that SOMEONE or SOMETHING had left a smudge of wet sloppy poop on the toilet seat.  This didn’t look like cat poop and it didn’t look like the cat jumped on the toilet seat with a poopy paw.  This looked like HUMAN shit.  I saw that the bathroom did not have any toilet paper in it.  I wonder if someone decided to wipe their ass on the toilet seat…fucking disgusting.