Neurotic As Hell

September 24, 2014

in Bolivia, Latin American Adventure, Round the World, South America, The Amazon, travel

The Bolivian Amazon: The Madidi Jungle

It didn't matter if my eyes were open or closed. Everything looked the same either way. I had to trust that my guide was still in front of me. That if I lifted my arm, it would graze his back. Of course, he was there. If he had moved I would have heard him. The crunching of dead leaves below his boots. The snapping of twigs. That was exactly why we'd turned our flashlights off and were standing, still, in the darkness of the Amazon jungle. Earlier, in the daylight, we'd seen capuchin monkeys swinging through the trees, wild pigs stampeding, a...

Llama fetus at the Witches' Market in La Paz, Bolivia

September 22, 2014

in Bolivia, La Paz, Latin American Adventure, Round the World, South America, travel

On finding balance when traveling. (In La Paz, Bolivia.)

I have trouble concentrating on more than one thing at a time. It's not really in some ADHD way, but it's that I get so into something that it consumes me. I get my mind on something and I don't want to think about anything else, do anything else. It's all I can focus on. Sometimes it's work. Sometimes it's partying. Sometimes it's watching a series on Netflix in one sitting. It's hard to find a balance. To want to do more than one thing at a time. When I arrived to La Paz, Bolivia, I was struggling with that balance. I...

September 16, 2014

in Bolivia, Copacabana, Lake Titicaca, Latin American Adventure, Round the World, South America, travel

Bolivia: Copacabana and Lake Titicaca

I hadn’t planned on going to Bolivia. Proof in point that I should never try to make plans. I had thought I’d fall in love with Cusco and want to stay while I got some work done. But, after a couple of weeks, I grew tired and ready to move on. You can’t plan for the places that will capture you. So, I decided to head towards Bolivia and spent my first couple of nights in Copacabana, taking a tour of Lake Titicaca from the Bolivian side. A day tour isn’t much time to see anything. But as I keep...

September 5, 2014

in Lake Titicaca, Latin American Adventure, Peru, Round the World, South America, travel

The Floating Islands of Lake Titicaca, Peru.

It was a two-day, one-night trip to the floating islands of Uros and the islands of Amantani and Taquile on Lake Titicaca in Peru. First, we visited Uros, the floating islands of Lake Titicaca. Uros is a strange little area of home-made islands built on compounds of mud and sticks. Those "sticks" were actually totora reeds interwoven to form the ground. The surface is constantly rebuilt from the top up (the bottom, the part exposed to the lake, rots just as constantly). The flooring is buoyant and so, with every step, you feel a slight spring, a slight give, as if...

September 3, 2014

in Latin American Adventure, Peru, Puno, Round the World, South America, travel

Sillustani tour in Puno, Peru.

There isn't much to do in Puno, Peru other than await your trip to Lake Titicaca and Taquile Island and run around getting the American dollars and the passport photocopies you need after deciding to head to Bolivia (Americans have to pay $135 and provide copies of their passport at the border. No one else, mind you. Just Americans.) And so, I decided to spend one afternoon in Puno on a Sillustani tour. Sillustani is an archaeological site and pre-Inkan burial ground just outside of Puno, Peru, on the shores of Lake Umayo in South America. Every tour office in town...

September 1, 2014

in Latin American Adventure, Life List, Machu Picchu, Peru, Round the World, South America, travel

Life List #120: See Machu Picchu.

I had written it there, I swore. "See Machu Picchu," was on my life list. I was sure I had added it at some point but, as I scrolled through the list on my phone, as I googled my web address and "Machu Picchu," it wasn't showing up. Had I imagined it? It took a few times skimming through the list to find it. Not, "See Machu Picchu," but, "Hike The Inca Trail." "Hike the Inka Trail," I read, sitting an a hostel in Aguas Calientes, otherwise known as Machu Picchu Pueblo. I hadn't hiked the Inca Trail to get there. I hadn't hiked...

August 23, 2014

in Cusco, food, Latin American Adventure, Peru, Round the World, South America, travel

Would you like fries with that? What to eat in Cusco, Peru.

Do you want to know what to eat in Cusco, Peru? Fries. All the fries. I love fries. I really do. A good fry is heaven. Crispy on the outside, velvety soft on the inside, a touch of salt. Perfection. But in Peru they are always just greasy and limp. Disappointing. And, when eating in Cusco, Peru, fries come with everything. Everything. I never thought I’d get sick of fries. But I also don’t need them twice a day...

August 20, 2014

in Cusco, Latin American Adventure, Peru, Round the World, South America, travel

Cusco, Admittedly.

In all honesty, this is how I spent half of my time in Cusco, Peru. I know. I know. But hear me out. I have both a major freelance project and a major personal project to work on (plus my blog and photos and all that). And Starbucks, most places in the world, has reliable wifi, big cups of coffee, and is a place I don't feel guilty sitting for four hours after only ordering a coffee. Also, I swear the Cusco Starbucks has more outlets than any place I've ever seen. Also, I would be much more willing to go to local coffee...

August 14, 2014

in Colca Canyon, Latin American Adventure, Peru, Round the World, South America, travel

What’s your mule? Trekking Colca Canyon in Peru.

This is what 4am looks like when you're at the bottom of a canyon that cuts off power for the night. It's what 4am looks like when your group, the "slow group," starts its ascent. It's what 4am looks like when you're trekking Colca Canyon in Peru. Black. It looks so black you can't even see a foot in front of you. But, if you look up, there will be stars. More stars than you've ever seen. So you turn off your flashlight, and stand, for a moment, staring upwards, wishing you knew more constellations, any constellations, before turning your light...

August 7, 2014

in Arequipa, Latin American Adventure, Peru, Round the World, South America, travel

Arequipa, Peru: I’ve been here before.

"This is Antigua." That's all I could think when I entered the main square in Arequipa, Peru. Both were surrounded by walkways of arched columns where touts would constantly hassle you to book a tour, eat at their restaurant, buy some sunglasses. Both were flanked by a giant church. Both centered around a park, and a fountain, where women in traditional garb tried to get you to buy traditional souvenirs, eat some ice cream, or, in Arequipa's case, take your photo with an alpaca. Arequipa was bigger than Antigua, but so eerily familiar that I often forgot where exactly I was....

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