One part party, one part the essence of Route 1, two parts amazing, with a dash of scary

So far so good for this white girl in Peru.  I had a bit of good luck to start my trip.  I sat next to a great Peruvian woman from San Antonio, Sabrina, and her son on the plane ride into Lima.  After our flight landed at 10:30pm, I ended up going with Sabrina and Jason and their cousins to another one of Sabrina´s cousins´60th birthday party.  It was awesome.  They sang, they danced, they sat around in a circle and told jokes, and they served awesome food.  It was a good thing to see the Peruvian culture first-hand from the get-go. Very nice people; it was refreshing to see such a large group of family members gathered together, having fun, being close.  I was super tired when I finally got to my hostel after 3am. 

Manuel´s bday - Lima

Manuel´s bday - Lima

Thanks to my new friend Nadia who took pictures

 

 

 

 

Bday party

Bday party

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
I spent Saturday exploring Lima and preparing for my 16 hour bus ride.  Lima is okay, not the place I was looking forward to seeing most, and so I´m not bummed that I didn´t adore it.  It´s a whole lotta city and not a whole lotta charm.  Good and cheap food, though! 
 
I checked out of my room in enough time to take a cab to the bus station to get my bus. I fell asleep as soon as I could in my seat, and when I woke up at 6am on Sunday morning, I looked out my window, and about two hundred feet away from me I saw huge waves breaking and folding up onto the beach.  What a great surprise to wake up to!  I spent the next three hours looking at the window at the water, on a road that quickly reminded me of Route 1 near Carmel, but with higher cliffs, closer drop-offs, worse drivers, and some breathtaking valleys.  Those three hours of viewing that alone were worth the bus ticket.  By the time I arrived Arequipa, mid-day Sunday, I was glad that I made it alive and glad that I got to see that part of Peru that I wouldn´t have if I hadn´t taken a bus.
cliffs o´death

cliffs o´death

Yes, this was taken from my bus window.

spraying his crops

spraying his crops

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Arequipa is exactly what I envisioned a beautiful, tranquil, old town in South America to be.  Most of the buildings are spanish colonial, and the monastery I toured yesterday was built in the 1500´s.  On top of that, in Arequipa´s backdrop stands three volcanoes, all of which are over 20,000 feet.  It´s Peru´s second largest city, so there are a lot of restaurants, people, and nightlife.  Some of which caters to tourists, although there aren´t that many tourists here now, but not enough where it doesn´t keep it´s natural feel.  This is a place I would live, and I want to stay longer!  My hotel is the former home of an archbishop, and it´s lovely. 
Arequipa hotel entrance

Arequipa hotel entrance

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

View from center of town

View from center of town

On Adventure

There is something to be said for people who have the wanderlust.  I can only speculate on where the itch comes from that gives a person the travel bug.  Some of the factors that fuel my urge to explore:  great adventure, meeting people from other cultures, seeing their struggles and seeing what makes them smile, and overcoming obstacles.  It helps being a dreamer, envisioning that whatever trip you’re going on next will be the most amazing experience of your life and will change you forever.  Of course, this doesn’t always happen.  Sometimes there are bad experiences that make the trip a flop, a waste of money, and give you the feeling of “it’s good to be home” when it’s over.  Despite knowing this, though, we still take that risk.  We still choose to throw all caution to the wind, fill up a backpack, hop on a plane alone to South America, and the only plans that we make are to figure it out when we get there.  Exactly why some get the hunger to go go go differs in all.  But something that doesn’t differ is that once you catch the wanderlust, it never becomes un-caught.  For those of us who travel in search of something within ourselves, this doesn’t mean that we never find it; it just means that we have more than one thing to find.  So for all of the risk takers, dreamers, and adventurers:  let your wanderlusting continue, and climb that mountain, swim with those sharks, ski that slope, and never cease your journeys of discovery.