Cusco

I made it to Peru. After 3 flights, a stopover in a different country, and little sleep, I arrived in Cusco. I negotiated a taxi ride into the city and was finally seeing my sisters, aunt, and friends. This part of my trip was different from other parts. First, it's been on my list since the beginning. Second, there was a good amount of planning done. There was a group of 8 of us meeting up to do the Lares Trek and Machu Picchu. At first I thought it was just going to be my sisters, Ambreleah and Alysia, and myself. But then our Aunt Sally decided to come. And then our friend Audrey. And then three more people. I hadn't met them before Cusco, but by the end of the trip, we were all friends. It was a good group of people and enough to make our own tour. 

I arrived at the hostel and found that my aunt hadn't arrived yet. She was supposed to be there hours before me. There was a little mix up and apparently she was waiting for me at the airport. I was too excited to see everyone that I rushed out of there, having no idea she was still there. Fortunately she arrived shortly after. We were all together now and anxious to get food. 

We walked towards Plaza de Armas and immediately we were targeted. I know better due to all my traveling, but not so much everyone else. Whenever there is a puppy nearby, my sisters just gravitate towards it. Imagine a baby llama? It was pretty cute. So here we are paying for a photo with local Peruvian women, children, and animals. There would be more of this for sure.

Getting suckered.

We went in search for the Lonely Planet recommended restaurant and got so much food. Ceviche, palta, rice and pollo, and much more. We got a little bit of everything so we could try multiple dishes. Most of which I've forgotten the name of. And of course we got pisco sour. This was my first one in Peru. There is a debate with Chile and Peru on who takes credit for this tasty and refreshing drink. Unfortunately since I was in Chile too long ago at this point, I can't tell you which one was better. Although I think they were pretty similar. 

Peruvian pisco sour.

Later that evening, we checked in with our tour company to pay the balance, and ask any questions we had. We scheduled our full briefing for the following night, where we would get our duffle bags to pack and finalize any last minute details. 

So I had one full day in Cusco before starting our trek. And of course we decided to do a hike. They don't recommend eating certain foods, drinking alcohol, and doing any strenuous exercise beforehand. Well we listened to 2 out of the 3 recommendations. We are all in pretty good shape, so going on a short hike wasn't going to kill us. So off we went. 

However, once we started going up stairs, we definitely felt the altitude. We were at 3,399 meters (11,152 feet). And we started breathing heavy very quickly. Good thing for scenic stops for photo opportunities. 

Working for the view.

We eventually made it up all the stairs and some dirt trails to see Cristo Blanco up close. You would think we were in Rio. But we were not.

Cristo Blanco.

The view down below was pretty amazing and worth the hike up. 

Cusco.

After our hike, we headed back down to find food and rest. I mean, we were starting a 4-day hike the following day. Too bad we couldn't reward ourselves with a cervesa or pisco sour. Once we got to Machu Picchu we would though. 

Plaza de Armas.

Later on, we had our briefing, received our duffles, and had a low-key meal. Of course most of us were up all night getting ready, and the 5:30am pick-up came too quickly. But we were ready to get started. And even though I was a bit sleepy, I was pretty excited to get started. 

Packed and ready to go.

Back to Buenos Aires

Before Sandra and I left Argentina, we returned to Buenos Aires to see and do few things we didn't get a chance to do when we first arrived. We planned it that way since it's a large city, and we had to do some planning when we first arrived. 

After our flight got in, we headed to our airbnb spot. It wasn't as good as our place in Bariloche, but we got breakfast and met some locals. We walked around a bit, got on the subway, and went to see the Obelisco. The obelisk was pretty standard, but the large BA nearby was pretty cool.

Big BA.

Someone had mentioned that Casa de Rosada is lit up at night, so we decided to go check it out again. However, it was either a fluke or the lights were out because Obama was in town (and apparently inside the building). Yeah, he hadn't made it to Bariloche yet. There was still hope of seeing him. I thought it would be cool to see him in a different country. Although I've never seen him at home either. Only on TV.

Argentina and the US.

While we were walking around, we noticed the signs for the public holiday which was the following day, Día de la Memoria por la Verdad y la Justicia. It was the 40th anniversary of the coup d'état of 1976 that brought the National Reorganization Process to power. With Obama in town, there were definitely mixed feelings. Some people are still upset with the role of the US in the dictatorship back then. I wasn't alive, and am no expert on what happened, but I hope that everyone can begin to move on. The perception of the US globally is really complex and I do wish more people back home understood what it's like. I don't even fully understand it, but meeting people and learning about other cultures and politics, helps me begin to.

We spent the following morning walking around Palermo Soho, not far from where we were staying. I had to get my laundry before it closed for the holiday, so we couldn't go too far. Luckily, we were pleasantly surprised with what we came across. The neighborhood was super cute. There were murals everywhere, fun shops, and lots of restaurants. We sat down at a Mexican place, got some lunch and margaritas, and enjoyed the nice weather.

Palermo Soho.

After picking up my laundry, we went to explore the colorful neighborhood of La Boca, and especially Caminito, the pedestrian street where tango dancers perform. It was very touristy, but still fun looking at all the colorful buildings. And we got a little tango show. We spent a good amount of time exploring. Once we thought we had enough, we hopped back on the bus and headed to the San Telmo neighborhood. 

Surrounded by color.

San Telmo was another neighborhood famous with a tango connection, as well as it's colonial buildings. 

Colonial San Telmo.

We walked around a bit, and got a sneak peak of where we were watching tango the following night. 

Viejo Almacen.

The following morning, we decided to go see the Torre Monumental, a gift from Britain. It totally looks like it belongs in the UK, or at the very least in Boston. 

Torre Monumental.

After getting some hot chocolate, which consisted of melting a piece of chocolate in hot milk, we paid another visit to Cementerio de la Recoleta. We saw some things we saw before, but went to some unexplored areas. I'm glad we went again and again, I could have spent hours wandering. It's just so cool walking up and down the narrow alleys full of tombs. 

Back to Cementerio de la Recoleta.

Later on, it was time for tango. Sandra and I headed back to rest up before dressing up to watch tango at Viejo Almacen. We waited for a while for our pick-up, but finally made it to the show. We had no idea what time it started, so worried we would be late. But these drivers are experts. I guess since safety is a concern, a pick-up comes with every purchase of a ticket. Good for us since it was on the other side of town. And they dropped us off at the end of the night. 

Waiting for the show.

When we arrived, we were pleased to find out seats were not too far from the stage. There were still some poles in the way, but for the most part, it was a good spot. We got our glass of champagne to enjoy while we waited. 

Paid complimentary glass of bubbly.

The show was pretty cool. I'm definitely amazed with how they can dance so well. This is with most types of dances of course. I like to say I can dance, but not in the traditional sense. I can't follow choreography for the life of me. As much as I was impressed, I still found the performance forced at times. After talking with Sandra, who is more of an expert, she mentioned that since it's more of a show, and not an impromptu performance, this is why I felt like that. Which makes sense. I'm still glad I got to see some real-life tango.

Tango.

I spent the following morning doing one last run in Argentina. I wanted to go longer, but wasn't feeling up to it. However, I still managed to get in over 7 miles, so that was a positive. This was going to be my last run for at least a week. I was headed to high elevation in Peru. And I would be trekking for a few days. No runs for a while. 

Amazing running paths all over. 

Sandra and I spent our last day wandering the parks.

Ell rosedal. 

And getting lunch in the Palermo SoHo neighborhood.

Palermo Soho artwork.

We eventually headed to the airport and said farewell to Argentina. I had a long night of travel ahead of me, so of course I had to have one last glass of Argentinian red before leaving the country. I was excited to head to Peru to meet family and friends. I got to see and do a lot in Argentina, and I am looking forward to a future visit. 

One last glass of red.

Bariloche

We made an impromptu decision to go to Bariloche, in Patagonia. We arrived at the airport in Iguazu and booked a flight onward from Buenos Aires. Since we had already checked our luggage, when we arrived in Buenos Aires, we were rushing a bit. Our flight was delayed coming in and then we had to wait forever for our baggage. I think there may have been only one person loading all the luggage off the plane, transporting it to the carousel, and then unloading. Sandra alerted someone that we were were coming since we had to go through security again. We were sure they weren't going to leave without us, but we definitely ran a bit through the airport. We got on our plane and settled in for the short flight. Despite all the rushing at the airport, we were very pleased when we arrived. We didn't have much time to do anything after getting into Bariloche, but we did walk along the lake for a few minutes, and then grabbed some food and beer.

Patagonia beer.

For the first night, we stayed in a hostel since we weren't able to book anything, but the following morning we headed to where we were staying for the next few nights. And we were glad we were switching. Not only was the price comparable, but the apartment was amazing with great views of Lago Nahuel Huapi. 

Airbnb view.

We went for a run along the lake, which was precarious at points. There was a sidewalk for a little bit, but then it was all road. Normally that wouldn't be a problem, but it was a heavily trafficked road. That afternoon we spent some time exploring the town and checked out the Plaza Centro Civico. The town is very reminiscent of Switzerland or parts of Germany. German immigrants settled there, and there was a town redesign so it could resemble a European alpine town. I think they were successful. 

Little Switzerland.

The following morning we got up and made our way to Llao Llao. We got on one of the local buses that ended at the Llao Llao Hotel, apparently one of the nicest hotels in all of Argentina. We wanted to scope it out, but they seemed to guard the door pretty heavily. Too bad. So we only got a glimpse of the outside. I'm sure this is where Obama stayed when he came to town. 

. 

Llao Llao Hotel.

We got going with our hike and made our way along the road to the trail head for Cerro Llao Llao. It wasn't too strenuous of a hike and soon we got some more stunning views of Lake Nahuel Huapi and the surrounding mountains. We were only at the edge of Patagonia and it was amazing. I can't imagine what it's like further south.

Cerro Llao Llao.

We took a break for lunch and just enjoyed the view. 

Another view of Lago Nahuel Huapi.

After eating, we headed back down to check out the lakes up close. We first came up on Lake Nahuel Huapi, the only lake we've seen so far. I had wanted to go swimming, but it was a little chilly and I didn't have my suit with me. 

Too chilly for swimming.

We continued on our hike and had a pleasant walk along Lake Moreno and through the forest. Once we finished, we waited for the bus. Which was going to be interesting since we didn't have enough money on our Sube card and apparently no one in this remote area has the ability to fill it. Luckily there are nice people that let us use their cards. Otherwise, maybe we would have gotten a free ride? 

Lago Moreno.

We made it back to town and decided to check out the ice cream and chocolate scene. Besides the beautiful scenery, Bariloche is known for it's chocolate, and Argentina for it's ice cream. And as a lover of ice cream and chocolate, I needed to investigate. We got some ice cream right after our hike and it was pretty damn good. Later on, we checked out the chocolate. With Easter approaching, the window displays were all decorated to the nines. I got some different samples at Rapa Nui that night, but over the next few days, we checked out a few others chocolatiers in town and stocked up. 

Rapa Nui Chocolates.

Since we hiked the previous day and had enough time in town, we had a little bit of a low-key day. I did get another run in and it was a longer one at it. Which included some brutal hills. I am signed up for the Broad Street 10-miler in May, so I wanted to get some longer runs in, along with some speedwork. I got the long run in, but the speedwork would have to wait. 

Running hills to get the view.

We hopped on the bus again and headed to Blest Brewery. Now with enough money on our Sube card. 

Blest Brewery.

It was such a nice day that we sat outside while I drank my sampler. The beer is pretty good in Argentina. Like back home, there are some not-so-great beers (which I still tried), and others that were great (I kept drinking those). 

Sampling it up.

We had one last full day in Bariloche and before we started a fun-filled day, we got an amazing view of the sunrise. Watching the sun rise is so much easier in your pajamas, and not far from your bed. 

Beautiful sunrise.

Sandra really wanted to go horseback riding and it was something I was interested in. But I was trying to determine whether I should, given the cost. And then I figured, why not. We made a point to not eat all our meals out, so that helped with my budget. So we took the bus to Cabalgatas Tom Wesley and rode horses for the morning. 

Riding caballos.

Now I haven't ridden a horse in who knows how long. I know I did as a kid since my mom had horses. But it wasn't something I did frequently. Since I've ridden other animals on this trip, and horses are way smaller, I got used to it quickly. But of course at one point, I found myself on a runaway horse. Just like in the movies. We didn't really get a lesson on how to handle the horses, but I figured it out. My horse was finally convinced to go back to the trail to rejoin the others. It was a fun little excursion. 

We rode up one of the nearby hills, and then back down. We trotted to Lake Moreno, where we were the other day, but in a different spot to relax and take a break. From there, we galloped back to conclude our morning of riding. 

Sandra horsing around.

We had a decent group with us, including a bunch of Americans. After talking to them for a bit, we suspected they were there for Obama. He was currently in Argentina and was headed to Bariloche in a day or so. At first we joked that they were there for him when we first met since a lot of people assumed that Sandra and I worked for Obama. We obviously don't. After trying to actually get to know the group of guys, their lips remained sealed in regards to their job. They know each other from work, but are from all over the country and are only in Argentina for 5 days, most of whom were out of the country for the first town. Not suspicious at all. We continued to encounter a bunch of Americans who were probably in the secret service, the Army, or some other branch of the government. Top secret business. 

After our ride, we headed to another brewery to get lunch and relax. The food was actually pretty good and we were definitely feeling good after a few beers in the sun. 

Berlina Brewery.

We ended our stay in Bariloche with a nice steak dinner at a local parilla. And it was pretty damn good. They weren't joking about how good the steak is in Argentina. I was waiting to splurge on a really good piece of meat, and it did not disappoint. 

Bife de chorizo.

Bariloche was pretty impressive and I highly recommend it on anyones visit to Argentina. Someday I'll come back and go further into Patagonia. 

Puerto Iguazu

One of the first things that Sandra and I wanted to do together was go see Iguazu Falls. And since this was a priority and we found a good deal on flights, that was our next stop. So after spending a couple of days in Buenos Aires, we got on a plane to head north. It was a pretty short flight, but we were definitely in a different part of the country. Our neighbor on the plane mentioned that sometimes pilots fly around the falls before they land. We were hoping for this, but instead we just landed. Although it's still amazing to see what's below (that's why I love the window seat). We were still rewarded and got to see some cool landscape.

From the plane.

We grab our bags, paid for our minibus ticket, and headed into town. It took a while since it was a shuttle and we were apparently staying the furthest from the airport. And the driver missed a hotel so when we got to town, he had to make a u-turn and head back the way we came. We got a nice tour of the area though. We checked into the hotel, which we were pleasantly surprised about. We had a pool and our own kitchenette area. After settling in, we obviously took a dip in the pool. It was way more humid in Puerto Iguazu. 

The pool was a nice welcome.

Before we went to dinner, we took a detour to Plaza Hito Tres Fronteras, the point where Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay meet. Across the Rivers Iguazu and Parana, we could see the corresponding obelisks in the other countries. It would have been great to visit each country since they were so close, but not this time around. The visa for Brazil was too much and the process seemed a bit too complicated for being out of the country. I also want to do Brazil properly, so it would just need to wait. Paraguay would also need to wait. 

Plaza Hito Tres Fronteras.

We grabbed some dinner and of course we were the first ones in the restaurant. A very common occurrence on this part of my trip. I'm not sure how it's sustainable to eat dinner so late every night. The later you eat, the later you have your downtime, the later you go to bed. And then the later you get up. I would be too tired to do this if I had a job. But maybe everyone goes into the office much later? 

The following morning, we got up early in order to have the entire day to spend at Iguazu Falls. We caught the bus to the entrance and we were joined by a ton of tourists. We paid for our entrance fee, and of course our ticket price was more expensive than locals. I wish the US government would give it's citizens a massive discount for our national parks. Unless there's something I'm not aware of, everyone has to pay the same price, no matter where you are from. 

The first thing we did was do the Sendero Macuco trail to the Salto Arrechea waterfall. It was a nice hike in the rain forest, where we got to see a ton of butterflies. They were hard to capture on camera, but we got a few here and there. 

Swimming in waterfalls.

Throughout the hike and all day, we saw so many butterflies. It was amazing. Some landed on us. 

They liked my shoes.

And others landed around us. 

We tried to be quiet.

We eventually made it to the waterfall and by then we were ready for a swim. We did a quick change on the sly, and made our way into the water. It felt so good after that hike. Since this isn't too popular of a spot to visit, there weren't that many people there. Which was great. After swimming around for a bit and playing in the waterfalls, it was time to continue on to the main event. 

We made our way back to the main area and headed down the lower trail. We heard the falls before we actually saw the falls. Once we caught a glimpse, we could see why. As we walked along, our views just got better and better. 

Wow.

After getting lunch, we made our way to the upper path to see more views. Since the sun was out, there were rainbows everywhere. Even some double rainbows. Since it was St. Paddy's Day, it was very fitting. 

Rainbows.

We wrapped up our day by getting on the train to Garganta del Diablo. We were seriously up and close with the rushing water. I kept thinking of all those movies where someone gets caught in a fast-moving river and all of a sudden they are flung over some powerful waterfalls. I kept an eye out for any lost boats or barrels. 

In awe.

The falls were pretty awesome. They totally put Niagara Falls to shame. Even though Niagara Falls are home and will always be something special. I've just added some other spectacular falls to the list. 

One more shot.

After all that hiking around, and dealing with the humidity, we treated ourselves to some ice cream. Apparently Argentina has the best ice cream in the world. Not sure if that's necessarily true but I'm willing to judge. When I get paid to take an ice cream tour of the world, I'll come back to you on that. In the meantime, this was pretty tasty. And since it was St. Paddy's Day and I couldn't find a Guinness in town, whiskey ice cream would have to do. 

Yummy.

We wished we had some extra time in Puerto Iguaza. We heard there wasn't much to do, so only booked a couple of nights. However, the town was actually pretty nice and we could have used a day by the pool for sure. But we had a flight out and it was time to figure out our next stop. Which we didn't actually figure out until we got to the airport the following morning. But not before some more mate. 

Mate.