Some Photos of South America

#BancheeAtHome Reminisces over #BancheeAbroad

This summer, I traveled with my best friend to South America, specifically: Argentina, Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador.  While I work on a blog post about my first week in Kitimat, I thought I would post some of my favourite photos from my trip.

So, without further adieu, here they are:

I like this photo because it's the first one we took when we arrived in Buenos Aires, Argentina.  We'd gone through a significant amount of hurdles to get into the country, and we were basically delirious from being in transit for about more than a day.

However, that night we met up with my brother, put on the best hot girl disguises we could muster up, and partied at the strangest nightclub we'd ever been in (everyone was high and danced the exact same). It was our first stop, and we stayed there for 8 nights. It was insanity, which is displayed pretty accurately in this photo.

This is a photo of the inside of Argentina's National Theatre, La Theatre Colon.  We were fortunate enough to get three free tickets from a friend of a friend of Ting-Ya's.  We saw a two-man piano concert, and it was melodically beautiful... so much so that I'm pretty sure all three of us (Ting-Ya, my brother and myself), were all lulled to sleep at some point. It was spectacular.

This is Puerto Madero in Buenos Aires.  One of the biggest reasons I like this photo is simply because it looks cool.  However, while we were here, my brother told me something quite striking about the river.  He said that at one point, the city decided they would try to clean the river because it was so polluted, but eventually decided against it because they were dredging up too many dead bodies.  These bodies, likely of people who disappeared during the Dirty Wars, will forever rest in this river. Sad, no?

 This photo is cool because it was taken at the Rock Hostel KM0.  It's where Ting-Ya and I lived for the week we were in Buenos Aires. I'll always remember the people I met there, along with the crazy nights and the lazy days. I cant even imagine what would have happened to us if we'd stayed at a "party hostel."

 This photo was taken at the Igauazu Falls.  Now, I understand that this is not an actual photo of the falls, but this photo stands out among the rest I'd taken.  I'm not really sure why... but there's something about the recently flooded falls that are drowning these trees that reminds me how powerful and awe-inspiring nature is. Sometimes I forget how amazing this world we live in is, and for whatever reason, this photo reminds me to appreciate it.

 Taken in Salta, this photo is a fluke.  I wish I could take full artistic credit for it, but unfortunately I cannot because it was an accident.  However, I am still proud of the shot, and it remains one of my favourites from the trip. This was during our horseback riding excursion, for which I was equally excited and terrified.  By the end of the trail ride, I was cantering like nobody's business, and felt like a real "gaucho."

This photo, taken on the Lares Trek in Peru, is particularly amusing, and is one of my favourites for one reason: the Llamas and Alpacas.  These creatures are hilarious, and I took photos of them at every chance I got.  My friend Jessica loves Llamas, and so this goal of snapping as many shots of these animals was partly for her... but it gave me a good distraction to the incredible altitude sickness I was feeling.  Also, look at Ting-Ya's face. Amazing.

This photo was taken at the end of our 8 hour hiking day of the Lares Trek.  I was sick from the altitude because I decided I would be a hero and crew coca leaves like a native Peruvian rather than take the prescribed diamox that I'd paid for.  Though that was a stupid decision, I was still able to push myself enough to finish the hike, and not give up.  This photo is special because it shows how happy I was to be done, but it also reminds me of what my body and mind are capable of.  

The next week was hell.  I seriously thought my calves would never work properly again, and that my toenails would turn black and fall off.  Luckily, neither of those things happened, and I lived.  Machu Picchu.  These ruins are everything I'd heard them described as and more.  They're mystical and mysterious and absolutely breathtaking.  When we first got there, the entire place was covered in a thick layer of fog.  We were in a dense jungle of clouds.  However, as the sun began to rise over the mountains opposite us, I could see the fog literally lift, and these amazing ruins and mountains appeared before me.  It was like nothing I had ever experienced, and likely will never experience again.  It was such an incredible honour to walk these ruins and touch part of a primitive civilization. 

This photo, is my favourite from Machu Picchu.  The colours are vivid, the ruins and the surrounding mountains are captured, and there is still a little bit of cloud coverage to give it that mysterious and spiritual feeling.  This is actually the lock-screen image on my iPhone.

This is a photo of the floating islands, something that is unique to the Peru side of Lake Titicaca. These man made islands are constructed from dried reed-roots, with the reeds which grew from them piled on top.  Although these islands were pretty cool to see, and the boat ride was rather relaxing, the town you have to stay in to get there, Puno, is a shit hole.  If you can help it, don't stay overnight here. Arrive early in the morning, take a quick tour, and then get out before the borders to Bolivia close at 5.

 This is one of the few photos I was able to take in La Paz, because I had an unfortunate lost phone incident.  Thankfully, I had my phone for this occasion to take this gem.  Ting-Ya, another fellow Canadian and I decided to go rappelling down a hotel.

This photo is an example of Ting-Ya's inhuman ability to get SICK air with little room to prepare herself, and my ability to capture her awesome jump shots.  Unfortunately, I do not take glamourous jumping photos, and I deleted most of the evidence of that.

 I like this photo for a few reasons. First, because My hair is pretty on point, my smile is good, and I look really happy. Second, I am wearing my red alpaca jumper, and it looks pretty rad.  Third, I'm double fisting a Mr. Pink and a Mr. Blue at Loki La Paz's Tarantino night.  The double fisting thing is a running joke between Ting-Ya and I... it's kind of hard to explain, and is probably best left for another post where I can show all of the photos together.

Anyways, this night is one that I will remember fondly, because we painted ourselves in body paint, downed an obscene amount of alcohol, and danced around two of the hottest [Kiwi] boys I have ever seen in my entire life.

I miss Loki.

Okay, I know I said before that I deleted most evidence of jumping photos... however, this is one I decided to keep because it is likely the only one that is decent.  For starters, I am fully off the ground; that usually doesn't happen.

This photo was taken along the Death Road bike excursion in La Paz, Bolivia.  It was easily one of my favourite things we did on the trip.  It combined the perfect amount of danger and excitement.  Also, the van ride to and from the hostel was particularly note-worthy... as myself and a couple British girls jokingly bragged about how awesome the commonwealth is, and I think we made our American mate a little uncomfortable.  Oh well.... COMMONWEALTH! 

 I like this photo quite a lot.  It was taken in Banos, Ecuador, at the end of our hike to La Casa Del Arbol.  It was wet and muddy from the rain the night before, and I was in no mood to hike.  Nevertheless, hiked I did.  And, although some of the photos from the swing are pretty spectacular, this photo is one of my faves.

Banos is known as an adrenaline junkie town, and all of the activities are super cheap. So, Ting-Ya and I paid $25 American each to go white water rafting.  After our SUPER shoddy 5 minute lesson on how to raft, we decided to take an "if we die" photo. The experience was invigorating, and I even had the guide try to kiss me afterwards.

 A scenic photo of the river we rafted down.

I took this photo in Montanita, Ecuador.  It's a beach town which is famous for it's "cocktail alley" which is pictured below.

This is another classic jumping photo of Ting-Ya's.  The best thing about this is that we took another photo right after this one, so there wouldn't be people in the background, and it looks like a photoshopped version of this one.  I like attempt 1 better. 

This is the group of us at Cocktail Alley. We'd met the two boys (Hannes and Josh), and the Chilean girl (Karina) in Banos, and all travelled to Montanita together.  This night was full of interesting events, including a balmy (naked) dip in the ocean. One more thing I got to cross off the bucket list.

Finally, this photo was taken in Quito, of the St. Fransisco church.  It was one of the most beautiful placed I'd seen on the trip, and I feel like this photo really captures it.  Everything was gold, with these amazing colours to accent it.  We spent quite a while in there before leaving.

Well, that's all for now.  I wish I could share more, but it's 0240, and I have some things to do tomorrow that include, but may not be limited to:

- sitting in the only coffee shop Kitimat has and doing some more blog prep;

- going to the employment office to see what jobs I haven't applied for;

- do some grocery shopping for the recipes I saw on pinterest and want to try.

xx Banchee