As you read this, the korol's are back stateside, at least for the moment. I write this from my flight into vegas and Mu has been in the Bay Area with our family for a few days. Toilets that can handle TP, here we come.
As I am wont to do upon returning from travels, my mind has been churning these last two flights, reflecting, memorizing, and starting the process that thankfully always accompanies our adventures.
A few emerging threads;
- The Spanish differs greatly across the countries
It is tempting to think of the wide swath of spanish on this continent as a monolith, if you get your language skills in order then the world is your oyster. That is not the case, at least for these two gringos. It was frustrating to have competency increase weekly, exemplified by a cool conversation with restaurant owner in Quito about Ecuadorian cuisine, history and the spirituality of being located on/near the equator. Those are the kind of cross-cultural conversations that partially validate the self indulgent travels. However, just a couple of days later, it was like a new language in Colombia and I felt basically lost - blank looks when I talked and then confusion when they talked. What happened?!? I found it easiest to understand the spanish in Argentina, Peru and Ecuador, and hardest in Chile and Colombia. This is probably influenced by my Portuguese knowledge and others might have different hot and cold spots. As a non-native speaker, there will be hot and cold spots. But even some Chileans that we met in northern Colombia confessed to getting blank looks when they talked.
- South America is HUGE
All told, we traveled 9800 kms overland, without a single flight over roughly two and a half months. flight. Plus the flights in Argentina and Chile down and back to Patagonia and the internal flights in Colombia. We covered some serious ground on this trip, and saw an astounding number of beautiful places and fun cities. And yet, there were many places that we had to push off for another time, one prime example being the white city of Arequipa in Peru. South America is huge, the roads are good but still mostly 2 lanes. It is doable to travel by land, it just takes time.
-Taking the temp on traveling in general
We have just crossed that one year barrier on travels, and it seems like a good time to do some reflecting about the endeavor. The first thought is that this year has been incredible, beyond expectations. And those were high expectations. No period of my life has been so dense in memories. Also, This adventure together has strengthened our marriage.
Have there been periods of fatigue? Absolutely, when the travel gets arduous, or I get sick of grunging it up in another jenky hostel. Sometimes I feel WAY too old to be wandering around a city with a big backpack, looking for a good deal. But, then the new day comes and we are often in someplace so cool and beautiful.
One clear highlight of our travels has been the livingthekoroldream blog. We knew that blogging would be a good way to connect with the many loved ones out there, trying to share what we were seeing and thinking. It has been that and so much more. This has alleviated a little the self indulgence that we battle from using our resources of time and money this way, as opposed to more public interest pursuits. Thanks so much for reading, and engaging with, us on this forum, it has sustained us. A few numbers, this is the 111 post since the first one on August 4th, 2012. As of ten minutes ago, there have been 11,384 views across the blog and posts, with the most popular being Mu's post about our time in Santiago, Chile. Thank you.
Where do we go from here? Starting right about now, we will be heading up the west coast over the next month+, mixing it up between outdoor stuff (backpacking and climbing) and visiting friends in the great cities along the way (SF, Portland, Seattle), before a wedding up in British Colombia.
Here are some quick hit 'best of' gems from the last three months.
- Most beautiful spot: this one is insanely hard to pick, i actually just looked through all my pics from the trip to try and spur a choice. My pick? Fitz Roy at Dawn in Argentinian Patagonia.
- Best day hike: all told, we probably hiked/ran about 1000 kms this trip, across the 9 countries. My favorite day hike found us in Park Tayrona along the northern Colombia. It combined so many cool attributes - stunning beaches, dense jungle and ruins.
- Favorite city: this one is absurdly hard, probably the toughest of all the categories. The choice? Santiago, in a slight upset over the favorite of Buenos Aries. We spent the longest chunk of time in the city, we got to spend it with our dear friends Soso and Sergio, we were taken in so fully by Sergio's family and the city is modern and hip.
- Worst moment: Our self inflicted fiasco getting turned aside at the Bolivian border is a clear #1. Also should note that the Ecuador/Colombia border security concerns which had us sacred on the road are flaring again due to the latest solider/FARC conflict.
- Most consistent nuisance: the dogs above are resting comfortably, but 10 minutes before in this little village outside of salta, argentina i had a pack of dogs descend. This was all too common and the only nuisance that pervades throughout south america. These dogs are often rangy, aggressive and nasty. Ugh. Bring your trekking polls, they are great for warding them off.
- Favorite food: for foodies, this continent is ripe for gorging. It is a wonder we did not each pack on 10-15 pounds. The meat of the pampas in Arg and Uruguay are world renowned, and deservedly so. Peruvian fare is some of the both timeless and most modern on the planet. Colombian fare is widely underrated. Perhaps more than any single cuisine, the high quality avaibale throughout our travels has been the best food trend. Especially when compared to my past trips to the continent. The pick? Peru and its seafood wins out, as mu's pescatarian diet was a bit of tough sledding further south. Loved the ceviche along the coast and lomo saldado (meat cooked in vinegar to sweeten it up with onions and tomatoes) is a favorite. The meal we had in aguas caliente after exploring Macchu Picchu for the day, with the woman that was closing up shop in the market for the night but offering to cook us dinner, starting from scratch, was amazing and costs $2 bucks (max).
- Favorite Museum: this is another tough category, as we went to a number of cool exhibits and museums. From the little village sculpture contest and wine tasting in Cafayate, to the Memoria museums in Santiago and Cordoba, to the mesmerizing Salar video at the Modern art museum in Lima, to stumbling across Picasso in rural Argentina. In a bit of an upset, my choice is the Museo del Barro in Asuncion. It combined the two areas most interesting for me, contemporary art and the pre-colombian antiquities. It did in an interesting space, was free and not too crowded. Bonus points for being in a city that i would never have associated with an excellent museum.
Anyone who has read this far and wants to hear any more superlatives, just post in comments here on on facebook and I promise to award any and all categories.
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We miss Santiago!! And our time with you guys!
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