Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Hats off to Ecuador


After the lengthy boarder-crossing process, unfortunately we only had 3 days to spend in Ecuador. Someone at our hostel in Cusco had just finished her semester abroad in Cuenca and the city came highly recommended to us, so we decided to spend our first two nights there. Cuenca is a beautiful small city with gorgeous architecture, a temperate climate (at least while we were there), and is apparently the number 1 place for retirees from the U.S. and Europe to settle. 

Friday, May 25, 2012

Packing List: Part 2 - The Clothes

Ok, that's probably it for gizmos, onto clothes. The winner of the best clothing item we brought is....


Shoes: Keen's Newport H2 [Link to Keen's website]:
These super versatile shoes have been our everyday shoes for 5 months! They're light, have lots of ventilation and don't smell for a while. Also, if you combine them with Smartwool socks they'll help you trek many cold cities (i.e. La Paz). I used to be a Teeva guy, but I've loved the full toe protection (save me from many rocks and other potential cuts).




Thursday, May 24, 2012

Mancora to Cuenca is Bananas... B-A-N-A-N-..


Sadly it was time to leave the beautiful beaches of Mancora, the warm weather of Huanchaco and the sights and tastes of Peru behind. Little did we know how much of an adventure it would be to cross the border into Ecuador and get to Cuenca.

Friday, May 18, 2012

Everybody go Surfin', Surfin' in Peru

After we left Lima, Sam and I spent the following week traveling a lot  on buses and being beach bums on the coast of northern Peru. One can get used to living on the beach and reading and relaxing all day!

Friday, May 11, 2012

Packing List: Part 1 - The Gear

We've only got a few more weeks of the trip to go, so I figured it's a good time to start putting up our packing list. By now all of our stuff has been tried and tested, so hopefully it'll be a good resource for people going on a similar trip in the future. The list isn't exhaustive, but I'll cover the major things: http://www.flightofthefeldmans.com/p/packing-list.html

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Lovely Lima


Before we got to Lima, everyone we met was so negative about the city. "You don't need more than 2-3 days" "It's a big South American city" Over and over we heard how Lima just wasn't worth any of our time. So we took their advice and planned in only 2 nights in Lima. But boy were they wrong about Lima. What an awesome city!

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Conquering Machu Picchu

The main reason there were so many gringos in Cuzco is of course the famous Inka temple of Machu Picchu. There are two ways to get there, the 4-day grueling trek or the beautiful 3-hour train ride. However, regardless of whether you get there smelly and exhausted or refreshed just having had quinoa salad Machu Picchu makes one hell of an impression. You're left wondering: how the hell did they build this damn thing here in the mountains??


Sunday, May 6, 2012

Who Would've Thought I'd be Teaching in Spanish?


Sam and I just spent a week and a half in Cusco, Peru, during which we went to Machu Picchu and actually went on two pretty strenuous hikes (more about that later), took a Chocolate-making class, Sam took more Spanish classes, and I volunteered at an afterschool program (where, yes, I taught in Spanish) and took a traditional weaving class. It was an incredible time, and probably my favorite part of the trip.