Kathmandu

I'm sitting here trying to figure out how to start my post and the sound of flutes, drums, and singing from a street festival reaches my ears. The sounds filter in even as I am inside of the hotel in the old town of Kathmandu where we are staying. Since we arrived 4 nights ago I have been aware of the constant commotion all around. Kathmandu is a wild city that took me totally by surprise even after reading about it's eccentricities in the guidebook before we got here. 

Our flight got in at 10pm and we negotiated the on arrival visa situation with some bleary eyed difficulty having been awake for something like 35 hours. Our taxi flew through the dark streets, generally on the left side of the road (steering wheel on the right) without care for traffic signs and signaling it's proximity to pedestrians, stray dogs, and cows eating trash by honking incessantly. We arrived without incident to our guesthouse and slept. 

We emerged the following morning in search of breakfast with some nervous excitement based on our experience in the cab and were greeted with further madness. The shop-lined streets are one lane wide with gutters but no sidewalks and the traffic goes in two directions. There are taxis, large vans, motorcycles, water trucks, bicycles, and rickshaws competing for the space along with crowds of people traveling on foot on both sides of the road. There are traffic rules but none are followed even in the presence of the police. Vehicles weave in and out of traffic going both directions on both sides on the one lane road. Walking is an exhausting exercise in vigilance so as not to be run over while trying not to step in the plates of food offerings that people leave in front of their shops and while deterring a barrage of hawkers peddling tiger balm, miniature chess sets, musical instruments, and drugs. The taxis slow down in front of you, blocking your path in order to try to convince you that you need a ride and the rickshaws pedal slowly next to you asking where you are from, thinking it will entice you in. And the honking never stops!

Despite the chaos, Brad and I managed to find a delicious rooftop breakfast so we could observe the streets from above (through an immense jumble of electrical wires) and plan our next move. We made our way to Durbur Square, the heart of old town Kathmandu, passing an array of Hindu temples and shrines and people making offerings to them. Some shrines are covered in marigolds, others receive a smearing of orange vermilion paste, and others are rewarded with a bowl of grains. Durbur Square is a huge complex where the city's kings were crowned and from where they ruled so it is an opulent mixture of white palaces and Hindu temples, some dating from before the 17th century. As we toured the palace museum the power went out (a daily occurance in Kathmandu) and nobody reacted. They just leaned closer to the exhibits in order to see them without light!

The first full day here was extremely overwhelming and I went to sleep that night wishing we could leave the next morning for our trek. But the next day I was less tired and more capable of smiling at the impossibility of the wild streets and noticing colorful details around me. I especially love the incense wafting from the shops and the smell of cardamom steeping in tea and cumin simmering in curries. 

We are currently in a holding pattern in Kathmandu because Brad has a bit of a cold and we figure it's best not to start a trek under the weather. While he has been resting, I have been exploring and I am even enjoying the treacherous wandering. And I haven't been run over yet! I do appreciate the rooftop terraces atop almost every building that allow escape from the noise and a bit of breeze after breathing the dusty air. The Himalayas are mostly hazy but every once in a while they show a bit and it makes me excited for the days to come!

Love Anika

Countdown to Nepal

About 2 years ago, over coffee and breakfast at Juniors cafe in Portland, Brad and I made a somewhat nebulous pact to strike out on an extended travel adventure. Only one aspect of this pact was definite: we would leave before the younger of the two of us turned 31. And that's how we find ourselves today, one week before my 31st birthday, with our bags meticulously packed, anxious to leave in less than 24 hours.

Our impending trip has evolved somewhat in the last couple of years but not much. For starters, we have a destination: Nepal! We have a departure date: March 17th. We have booked our first 2 nights in a Kathmandu guesthouse. But that's where reservations end. Of course we have ideas about our next steps including a trek in the Annapurna range of the Himalayas, lots of aimless wandering (my favorite activity) among temples and city streets, reading (Brad's favorite activity) on rooftop porches, and eating delicious Nepalese food. A bit further along, we hope to make it to SE Asia, probably beginning in Thailand or Vietnam. And we'll probably end up back in Portland sometime in June, just in time for summer!

So, from mountains to beaches and lots of anticipated in betweens means we had to pack for all the different conditions. We've done our best to prepare but I know we'll end up throwing stuff out and acquiring more useful items along the way. Here are our bags:

I'm excited to get started and see what's out there! Though Brad and I have some experience traveling together from our time in South America, I'm sure this trip will be entirely different. I anticipate a large challenge will be the language barrier. Both Brad and I speak Spanish so South America could be decoded to varying degrees from communicating what we needed to understanding the culture we were seeing and experiencing. I am nervous that I will feel much more isolated in countries where I won't be able to understand the spoken language let alone even recognize the lettering on signs. I will try to be patient, open, and curious and hopefully that will be enough!

We'll miss you!  Write to us!

Trip Stats

Countries visited: Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Canada(for a few hours).
Total # of days: 203
Most days in one country: 62, Argentina
Fewest days in one country: 10 Columbia
Most days in one place: 18 La Luna, Otavalo, Ecuador
Highest point: Chachani summit, 6075 meters(19,931 feet)
Most elevation gained in one day on foot: (Only Anika) 1935 metes (6348 feet)-Piedra Grande camp to summit of Vallecitos (5435 meters or 17,831 feet).
Longest bus ride: 34 hours, Ushuaia to Puerto Madryn, Argentina.
Sick days: Brad-6 Anika-2
Pairs of shoes worn out: Brad-3 Anika-0
Sunglasses lost or broken: Brad-3 Anika-0
Total number of cups carried: 1, Lost in Quito(day 32) and never replaced.
Modes of travel used: Feet, bike, taxi, van, bus, train, airplane, tram, ferry, hitch hiking, subway.
Total Number of taxi trips: 7
Longest trek: Torres del Paine loop, 102km (63.4miles). 6 nights 7 days.
Total number of different overnight treks: 11
Most distance covered on foot in one day: 28km (17.4miles) 1st day of Torres trek.
Total number of nights spent in tent: 85 (41.9%)
Most consecutive days in tent: 22
Night spent at highest altitude: Chachani base camp 5300meters (17,388 feet)
Nights spent on transportation: Bus-17 Train-1 Airplane-2 Total 20 (9.9%)
Bus ticket purchased furthest in advance: 5 days. Easter Sunday bus ticket to BA 2 days before our flight leaves for home.
Number of MP3 playing devices broken: 2
Sample list of products containing beef lard: Wheat crackers, scones, oriental flavor top ramen, vegetable empanadas, vegetable broth cubes, chicken broth cubes, dry vegetable soup mix, croissants.
Days before Anika realizes this: 195
Number of books read by Brad: 48
Books read per week: 1.66
Number of Books read by Anika: 36
Total number of pages: 11,894
Average number of pages per day: 58.6

Books read by Brad:
1. Walking Across America
2. Bel Canto
3. The Old Man and the Sea
4. Left for Dead
1st 100 pages of Marching Power
1st 100 pages of The End of Mr. Y
5. Journey to the Center of the Earth
6. The Yearling
7. Starship Troopers
8. The Martian Chronicles
9. Animal Farm
1st 75 pages of Patagonia, History, Myths, Legends
10. The Three Musketeers
11. Dune
12. The Da Vinci Code
13. To Kill a Mocking Bird
14. Dune Messiah
15. Congo
16. The Joy Luck Club
17. Sphere
18. The Clan of the Cave Bear
19. The Green Hills of Earth
20. The River Why
21. Lord of the Flies
22. The Chosen
23. Of Mice and Men
24. Stranger in a Strange Land
1st 100 pages of Oliver Twist
25. Gates of Fire
26. Around the World in 80 Days
27. The Silmarillion
1st 300 pages of The Green House
28. Narcissus and Goldmund
29. Last 250 pages of Marching Powder
1st 100 pages of Walden plus Poems
30. The Autobiography of Malcolm X
31. The Red Tent
32. Tai-Pan
33. Pirate Latitudes
34. The Way West
35. The Last Step
36. The Three Daughters of Madam Liang
37. The Cat Who Walks Through Walls
38. The Good Earth
39. The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
40. The Book Seller of Kabul
41. An Elegy for Easterly
42. Eva Luna
43. The Journey to the East
44. The Dragon in the Sea
45. The Sea Wolf
46. The Perfect Storm
47. Water Method Man

48. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
First 300 pages of the Mater and Margerita

Books read by Anika:
1. Middlesex
2. Bel Canto
3. Marching Powder
4. The Famished Road
5. We'll Meet Again
6. The Bell Jar
7. The Three Musketeers
8. To Kill A Mockingbird
9. The Joy Luck Club
10. Congo
11. Sphere
12. The Clan of the Cave Bear
13. The Lord of the Flies
14. The River Why
15. In the Time of the Butterflies
16. Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
17. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
18. Women in Love
19. Narcissus and Goldmund
20. The Red Tent
21. The Autobiography of Malcolm X
22. Gabriel Garcia Marquez Short Stories
23. La Hija de La Fortuna (in Spanish)
24. The Last Step
25. The Three Daughters of Madam Liang
26. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
27. The Good Earth
28. The Bookseller of Kabul
29. Eva Luna
30. The Water-Method Man
31. Journey to the East
32. The Perfect Storm
33. The Catcher in the Rye
34. Robinson Crusoe
35. The Sea-Wolf

36. Elegy for Easterly

Buenos Aires, Iguazu and Salta

It´s Saturday morning in Salta, Argentina, a long way from where I last posted in Puerto Madryn! We´ve traveled a long distance since then as well and we have seen a huge variety of climates and landscapes. First, we spent about 4 days in a cute little mountain town called Sierra de la Ventana. I´m not entirely convinced that it is a legitimate mountain town since most of it´s surroundings are beautiful grasslands, fields of sunflowers and rolling hills but the closest thing in the Buenos Aires province to a mountain, the 3,720 foot Cerro Ventana, is also nearby. Of course, since I´m always looking for the views, I climbed up the steep rocky slope to the large hole in the rock face known as the Ventana that opens up amazing vistas to the countryside.

Next stop, Buenos Aires, by way of a very cheap, very interesting train. Brad and I decided to be super cheap and go with the first class tickets in order to have reclining seats but no other services. The train itself was marked by grafitti and had no numbers to describe the cars or the seats so we made our best guess as to where we needed to sit and spent a very long night trying to sleep under ever blaring flourescent overhead lights and beside windows with a film of dirt so thick that even when the sun rose it was hard to tell. But it was fun! And we made it safely to Buenos Aires and Meghan was waiting for us at the train station to take us back to her cute, comfortable apartment in a very neighborhoody area of the massive city. I know I have mentioned before that big cities are sometimes a bit difficult for us as travelers but when you have friends who can also be tour guides, big cities are made much smaller and much more attractive! Meghan and her boyfriend, Pablo, created space in their packed work and study schedules to show us all of the best corners of Buenos Aires and of course the sights that all tourists must see as well. The center of the city choked with cars, buses and a mix of business suited men and women, tourists, students and protesters milling about in the famous Plaza de Mayo and the tree lined streets shading adorable sidewalk cafes was frenetic and exciting. The shopping streets in the trendy neighborhoods of Palermo and Villa Crespo were fun to explore and a great place to observe the beautiful fashionable people who live there but actually making purchases was out of the question because prices were high! I fulfilled my long standing desire to actually buy things by visiting outlet stores along Cordoba and Corrientes streets and among the street vendors at several outdoor markets. The weekend was a whirlwind of activity that ranged from wandering the relaxed hippie market and the famous Recoleta cemetary where Evita is buried (Brad and I somehow stumbled upon her very simple, unassuming tomb) to discovering antiques and clothing by young designers and street performers dancing the tango in the bohemian San Telmo area of the city. Thursday evening found Brad, Pablo and I at an important River vs San Lorenzo soccer game at the huge stadium where fans shouted and sang their devotion to the team for hours until River came out victorious in the end. The weekend nights started late, usually after a 7pm nap, a 10pm dinner and then drinks or dancing at hidden jazz clubs or techno clubs which kept us out until the sun came up and we found our weary selves on a bus back to Meghan´s apartment and to our beds until at least 2pm! We had fun visiting with some friends that Meghan has made in the city and we spent Sunday evening at their apartment having a large and delicious asado with meats, salads, breads and famous Argentine wine.

Buenos Aires is so huge and there are so many people who live there that activity and action are on every corner at every hour. I definitely could spend more time there especially hanging out more with Meghan! This wish will be granted because on April 5th, Brad and I are hopping on a flight bound for Vancouver BC (the cheapest destination close to home) that leaves from Buenos Aires. So we will definitely try to return to the city a couple of days in advance to spend every last minute possible with Meghan and Pablo and to do a few more exciting things in the capital. It feels funny putting a cap on our trip that for so long has be indefinite but it also feels pretty good to be thinking about heading home to be back in Portland just as the good weather is rolling in (hopefully)!

After spending one week in Buenos Aires Brad and I got an 18 hour bus ride up to the northeastern most corner of Argentina to see Iguazu Falls. The minute we stepped off of the bus and were immediately drenched in sweat caused by the stifling humidity of the rainforest we realized that we were very far from the bustling capital city, the windswept Patagonian planes, the sunny beaches, and the mountainous lakes district that we had experienced in our other Argentine destinations. This part of Argentina is bordered by Brazil and Paraguay and, in fact, there is a park from where you can see all three countries divided by 2 rivers that converge at the junction. The lifestyle is very laid back and slow, appropriate to the oppressive heat. Iguazu Falls is made up of hundreds of waterfalls of various sizes and levels that thunder over grassy cliffs and between gorges in the landscape creating spray so dense that often the bottom half of the falls is not even visable. It was an impressive experience to stand on the catwalks and balconies that are built sometimes directly over the edges of vast cascades and it took us the entire day to get our fill of one of the largest waterfalls in the world. We even got to take a short boat ride to more closely observe a couple of the waterfalls but the main purpose was to get completely drenched when the boat drives directly into the crashing spray! It was a great relief from the heat!

Two days in Iguazu was all we needed and then we were off on probably the last over 20 hour bus ride of the trip. Our destination, Salta, is in the northwestern corner of Argentina and we have been enjoying our time here wandering around the beautiful plazas and ornate churches that characterize this city. But more than the sights, I am loving being back in a more Andean feeling city. We are very close to Bolivia here and it is obvious in the darker skinned residents, the woven artisan crafts, and the hectic mercado central scene packed with musicians, fresh fruit, cheap food stands selling tamales with spicy hot sauces, and odds and ends that keep you entertained for hours. We will spend a bit more time here in Salta and then use our last 3 weeks to make our way down through the central part of Argentina until we end up back in Buenos Aires in time to fly home.

And now my time is up on the computer and I´ve gotta head out!
Love, Anika

Yo te quiero, no importa nada.

Anika and I went with Meghan's boyfriend Pablo to Buenos Aire's largest stadium to watch River play against San Lorenzo. It was an impressive experience; the energy and passion were beyond anything I have seen at any sporting event. The cultural differences were equally fascinating and are on display in the video.

The fans from the different teams are separated by seating section and there was a large crowd for the visiting team as well. The two groups of opposing fans take turns singing insulting songs to each other. In the USA, when have you ever seen tens of thousands of men, sober men (no alcohol sold plus searches and breathalyzers upon entry), singing to each other? Here in the video the home town fans are singing to their team. The text of the song is roughly -

Ole ole ole
Ole ole ole ola
Jugando bien
O jugando mal
Oh yo te quiero
No importa nada

In english: Playing well or playing badly, I love you, nothing else matters.

It must feel good as a team to have tens of thousands of fans sing that to you. Our team, River, won with the only goal of the game coming late in the second half. When the game was over all the home team fans stayed in their seats and waited another half an hour for the visiting fans to leave, to ensure that they do not mix on the streets outside the stadium. I hope the post and video give a small impression of this magical experience.

-Brad

Penguins!!

Wednesday afternoon in Puerto Madryn, Argentina. Two o´clock is right around the corner which means the entire city will shut down leaving nothing open except, if I´m lucky, this internet cafe and a fast food place called Mostaza. More than any other country we have visited, Argentina adheres strictly to the siesta schedule. The small stores along the beachfront street that sell souveniers and excursions to Peninsula Valdes are in the habit of posting a hand scribbled note on their doors noting the hour at which the shop will reopen for business (usually 5 or 6 in the evening) but when the specified hour rolls around, inevitably the store will remain closed until the employees show up sometimes hours late. Brad and I have begun to accept tardiness and we´re trying really hard to adjust to this, in my North American mind, ridiculously impractical schedule. Showing up at 9am to open the store, then taking a 3 or 4 hour break in the middle of the afternoon only to return to work until late in the evening seems like a funny business model. I would much prefer to get all of my work done during the day so that I could go home at night and enjoy my entire evening free. But of course, that´s just me, and Argentina has a very different view of the workday. So here we are at 2pm, getting ready to wait out the afternoon on the beach or perhaps eating softserve ice cream at Mostaza!

Going back a few weeks: After we spent a night in Punta Arenas, Chile, we caught a bus 12 hours south to Ushuaia. In order to arrive in Ushuaia, we had to cross the Straight of Magellan on a ferry to land on the island of Tierra del Fuego. It was a windy, rainy day and we watched black and white Commerson´s dolphins chase the wake of the ferry as we were blown across the famous waterway. The bus continued through a surprising and snowy mountain range which opened up onto the Beagle channel (named after the boat on which Darwin travelled) and the small, hilly city at the end of the world, Ushuaia. Given the blustery weather on the day we arrived, Brad and I wisely decided to stay in a hostel in town, which broke our 22 night streak of sleeping in a tent. It was a bit of shock to sleep in a bed and I could hardly sleep because it was so hot in the heated dorm room compared to the tent! After 2 nights in hostels and taking advantage of being able to use a kitchen to cook a delayed Valentine´s day feast (we spent the real Valentine´s day on the 12 hour bus ride), we moved out of town 3 km to a lovely campground surrounded by maroon colored lupin at the base of a ski run. We did a short hike out to a glacier that the campground host correctly described as nonexistant compared to Perito Moreno and Glacier Grey! It was a beautiful hike, though, with panoramic views down the valley to the Beagle Channel and Ushuaia. It was definitely nice to get out of the touristy center of Ushuaia that seems always to be crawling with older, rich people just in town from the cruise ships long enough to purchase outrageously priced outdoor gear and trinkets and chocolates from the boutique shops. Although the weather improved to reveal pristine blue skies and sunshine until almost 10pm for a couple of days, the wind was still brisk and Brad and I decided it was time to make the big turnaround and for the first time in months, head north.

After busing it 34 hours farther north, though technically we are still in Patagonia, Puerto Madryn, where we have been for 5 days, feels like a tropical paradise compared to Tierra del Fuego. We have enjoyed several days of very warm, though still windy, weather and sun that doesn´t just shine, it actually warms you up too! On Monday we took a tour out to the Peninsula Valdes, which is a protected area teeming with sea lions, sea elephants, penguins, armadillos, guanacos, and whales (though we didn´t see any). I was very excited to finally see some penguins waddling around the beaches and some of them even seemed to mug for my very eager camera! Also in Puerto Madryn, we spent a really great day with some friends, Gonzalo, Luciana, Cynthia and Inés. We had met Gon and Luciana in Washington last summer when we attempted to climb Mt. St. Helens together. They work in marine life research here in Puerto Madryn and we have been looking forward to contacting them for months. They took us to a fun restaurant for beers one night and then helped us get our hands on some bikes so we could all ride out of town to Punta Lomo, a sea lion colony, and some beaches with beautiful deserty backdrops and blue green water. It was a great chance to get out of the city and to practice our Spanish!

Tonight, we are scheduled to take a bus up north to the city of Bahía Blanca, a scant 9 hours of bus time. From there we will decide if we want to visit the mountain town of Sierra de la Ventana or the beach town of Monte Hermosa. When we leave Puerto Madryn we will be out of the Patagonia region for good, heading north for warmer days and sadly, less daylight. At this point in our trip we are going toward Buenos Aires where we will stay with Meghan, our good friend from Portland! I am looking forward to it so much that it is almost hard to want to stop between here and there. Hopefully we will be able to post some pictures from BA if we can find a good internet connection and a few hours to spare! That´s all for now.
Love, Anika

Punta Arenas Cemetery

Today we spent a few calming hours walking amoung the rows of both above and below ground tombs in the old cemetery of Punta Arenas. There was a fasicnating variety of objects used to create individual altars for the family graves. The well manacured grounds have earned it the reputation for being one of the most beautiful cemeteries in South America. I´ve tried to give you some idea of what it was like, but it is hard to improve upon the town´s free English language tourist map/guide:
¨SARA BRAUN¨
CEMETERY
The necropolis of Punta Arenas -capital city of Patagonia- is an open museum full with symbols, art and human feeling, open in 1894.
Here, dreams are memories that goes scrutinizing those who enter this field of peace, where rests she that one that got ahead of us history and that, with its pioneer spirit, colonists and contemporary were building our Patagonian identity.
In this cemetery are the perpetual cradles from each human epic that remebers the time that encouraged their lives.

We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.

-Brad and Anika.