ipod note writing on a bus

On a bus from Cusco to La Paz. Nude by Radiohead. One step up from a greyhound for a fourteen hour drive.

Hope we have enough food

hope I don't have to use the bathroom

hope no one steals my stuff while i sleep

hope I sleep.

Superfluous concerns. So what if the guy at the bus terminal sold us a super cama with seats that recline to 180 degrees, hot meals and pillows? So we over-payed. So what there were 30 puppies in a tiny wooden crate bound for a six hour bus ride?

Not "so what".

They probably won't make it alive.

So what there's no toilet paper.

They were beautiful, soft, melting together in a drugged heap. Could they even breathe?

Am I really just supposed to ignore the fact that one of them lifted his head out of the wooden planked-prison, chewed on my fingers and became mine? He would sell them all to me for 100 dollars. The price of 30 puppies freedom from the stifling and inhumane crate.

What will I do with 30 puppies?

Can I walk away?

No, i can't. I absolutely cannot. their paws are still soft and pink and fragile. Absence of a plan creates the facade of an escape route, the shirking of responsibility by excuse of powerlessness. So now part of me is on a bus, heading into Bolivia worrying about bathroom conditions and theft of possessions but still unable to walk away. A hundred dollars is burning a hole in my conscience, teeth marks on my finger and "so what" resounding angrily in my mind. Ballad of Distances Part I by Stars of the Lid.

I don't forecast any sleep on this ride but the stars are bright and I don't think i'll run out of mountains; maybe just batteries on my ipod and different positions to contort into on a bus seat. The Spanish movie is so loud I can hear it through my ear plugs and Ipod music (Secos y molhados by Os Mutantes). They always play violent movies on buses, probably as an effort to compensate for the extreme lack of action within the bus but serving instead as a frequent wakeup call with a side of a heart attack as you're roused from slumber by an AK47 dispensing multiple rounds into a (deserving? I haven't been following the plot) victim, which is a welcome relief once you realize the bus is not being hijaked. They're all deserving in my books.

I should invest in some noise-cancelling ear phones, I think that they would radically improve my life. I could walk around with them on, cord tucked into my pocket, bobbing my head a bit and giving off the erroneous illusion that I'm just your average hipster listening to music. Little would people know I would actually be achieving peace of mind by cancelling out gratuitous ruckus and concentrating on my prolific thought processes (oh, noise-cancelling headphones will also render my thought processes prolific. So it's a good investment.) I wonder how the world would feel silent; a perfect way to gain control of it by turning it into a silent movie with my own internal dialogue and soundtrack, the sole audience member and simultaneous director of my own hushed production. I would also be able to sleep better on long bus rides.

Next on my list of potential investment should be pins. they are an efficient and artistic means of conveying messages. For example, I met a very interesting fellow from australia on a train who was sporting a pin that said "I am not gay" so i didn't even need to ask, avoiding a potentially awkward situation. when attending a dinner party where i'll be obliged to introduce myself numerous times, I'll simply don a pin detailing my pertinent personal information (that which is relevant to the particular social construct) and when i tire of repeating myself i'll simply ask my new acquaintance to kindly refer to the aforementioned pin. The advantages are endless, really, and I can color coordinate them with my new Alpaca wardrobe. From now on i will be clad entirely head-to-toe in Alpaca.

Bolivia. What is there in Bolivia? Is the traveler searching or observing? Are all these Alpaca-clad backpack-toting wanderers looking for something? Is it always the same? Wisdom in distance and growth in experience? what is there in bolivia?

There is a road block 15 k from the border with peru. There are rocks barring entry by way of vehicule. There is an angry mob of farmers potentially blocking entry by means of pedestrian transportation. There is a bus that does not have super camas or hot meals parked at the side of the road, full of confusion, the prediction of the protest lasting two days and certain young traveler really hoping that we don't have to walk. This is what there is in bolivia thus far.

no molestarme, cusco!

another early wakeup for our flight from lima (again) to Cusco! Most disgusting breakfast to date. no pictures of it because a) it was disgusting and b) I don't even function well enough to walk properly before noon let alone unleash my photographic genius on tuna filled tamales, potatoes and hot dogs. Our flight was relatively uneventful except that we were sitting in front of the most annoying Japanese tourists ever. Which is strange seeing as the Japanese tourist is usually a very pleasant, albeit frenetic picture-taking species. these ones were monstrosities. There were a bunch of empty seats on the plane so i decided that I was going to take the row of three next to us and lie down to sleep, but the Japanese spies overheard my plan and jumped up and ran to the seats before the plane even started moving. one lady took up all three seats and did not even lie down!! Then two of them installed themselves behind us and had the LOUDEST conversation EVER, leaning forward so they were right in my trying-to-sleep-ear, taking pictures and kicking my seat and their friends kept coming over, leaning over me to take pictures of the clouds. very irritating. We pretty much went right to our hotel arquelogo. Pretty cool, our 30 dollar each a night room comprised of a downstairs with a futon, table and chairs and bathroom and upstairs were the beds. It was cozy except jordan hit his head every time he went downstairs, and it was pretty funny listening to him try to make it to the bathroom in the dark without his glasses (funny enough not to turn on the light). There was a large interior courtyard with a covered ceiling and a pretty cool restaurant where the waitors perform opera shows as you eat every single night. they were very talented but it was kinda weird. We met up with Ali in the main square and she was a really great tour guide of Cusco, we had milkshakes overlooking the square (trespassed on private property) and began what would become an obsessive consumption of alpaca products. Overall, although Cusco was pretty it was my least favorite place in Peru because it was overrun with tourists, most of the locals you encounter are incessantly pestering you to buy their product "massaje massaje!" and it gets tiring and annoying very quickly. That being said we still had a great time.

MACHU PICHU - for the quadriplegic

since we had planned on doing crazy hikes in Huaraz (which, I maintain, is the BEST place to go hiking/treking) we didn't alot any time to do a hike in Machu Pichu and the Inca Trail was booked since last year so we opted for the day tour so that we could at least say we saw it. The bus took like 40 hours, then we had to wait for the train then the train took 200 hours and by the time we finally got there it was a bit of a disappointment, so needless to say I'm happy we didn't climb for four days to get the view. Also we had to wake up at 6, which always makes me slightly grumpy. The train ride was actually fun because we sat with a very interesting Australian man and English woman, he has pretty much been travelling his whole life working onn oil briggs, then at a carnival, then installing telephone wires. He told us about his crazy experience in the amazon with a tribal hallucinogenic ritual, so we were kept entertained for the duration. When we actually got to Machu Pichu, it was very beautiful. The mountains are gigantic, the Inca village is slightly haunting and it makes for a gorgeous panoramic but in my opinion it's nothing compared to the snow-capped peaks of Huaraz, plus the view was entirely obscured by hoards of tourists, making it impossible to even take a picture without accidentally incorporating a nose, hat or arm into the frame. After we did the tour we had some time to kill before the night bus back so we decided to check out the hot springs. big mistake. possibly the grossest thing I've ever done.

Hot Springs - not nearly as organic and peaceful as I had imagined. Sure, you can kinda see the mountains but the springs are actually just unchlorinated, murky swimming pools on a block of concrete next to a dirty river filled to the brim with drunk backpackers and filthy asian men twirling their braided beards. did I mention the water is unchlorinated? I had to try really hard not to puke in my mouth as I stood in what was essentially a bathtub with a bunch of hygienically challenged strangers. Unless you're with a group of friends and really feeling the dirty, Bob-Marley hostel scene, and don't mind the idea of sharing lukewarm and unsterilised water with a bunch of strangers, stay away.

Places to go in Cusco:

Green!! on Tandapata street right off the main square (to the right if you're facing the cathedral) it's upstairs. Believe it or not I'm actually raving about an organic restaurant the likes of which I would have refused to enter a few months ago. But it's absolutely amazing and you can eat outside. It's particularly great if you happen to be gluten-intolerant, they have quinoa salad, lentil salad, the best mushrooms I've ever had in my life as well as chicken curry and shephards pie and all kinds of other things. It's really good, I highly reccomend it, pictures shown below. The restaurant below it is also AMAZING but in a much higher price range. The roast beef carpaccio is so good i ordered two and Jordan said his oso buco was amazing (I just take his word for it). Our other favorite Cusco restaurant is Qori Chaska, in a sunny courtyard next to an Irish pub. The special Peruvian chicken dish is soooo good.

aside from eating, walking around with Ali and Machu Pichu we saw some baby Alpacas, bought a TON of their sweater products and whatnot (and had so much fun in those little markets), watched a parade in the main square and did a whole lot of trip planning. If you're going to Peru, i would actually suggest skipping Cusco (gasp) if you're short on time because everywhere else we went felt much more authentic, we really felt a kinship with the people even just being there for a few days and Cusco felt like any big city with a Peruvian theme and a bunch of hagglers trying to get your money. Maybe I've just started disliking backpackers in my old age, but it seems to me we always have the best time in places that are not frequented by drunken adolescents or middle aged tourists who don't speak a word of Spanish and think that yelling in English will help them out. Still had a great time though, the highlight was definitely meeting up with Ali, hope you're having the best time in Panama! (will upload pictures soon, right now I'm in Bolivia and exhausted)

Lima Pictures