Thursday, November 29, 2012
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Don´t go to the capital, it´s too international and boring - or?
First a small story from yesterday. I was walking home around 7pm when I hear someone yelling my name. It was Mark. Mark is a guy who I met this friday at the housewarming. He is from USA and travelled in South America 6 years ago. Now he moved to Ecuador to work. We talked a lot at the housewarming and he was one of the guys who I walked with for half an hour after the party to find cab.
Mark was going to a bar with a friend and they asked if I wanted to join. We talked over a beer and then we walked to an irish bar. Here I met Stefanie who I was at the basilica with this saturday. I had a great evening, meeting people from Austria, Germany, Ecuador, UK, Spain and USA. We talked and had a few drinks. It was quiz night at the bar and we entered. Even though we didn't know the answer to most questions, we had fun. Great way to spend your evening when you were just planning to go home.
Now to the actual post:
Sometimes when I travel, I realize how globalized the world is. Many larger cities around the world can seem quite similar to each other, depending on how you travel. Quito is the capital of Ecuador, a popular tourist destination and I am living in the middle of "gringolandia/mariscal" which is the touristic part of Quito filled with international foods, bars, hostels and internet cafes. Despite all of this, I still think Quito is a very interesting city which definitely shows you some Ecuadorian culture.
Mark was going to a bar with a friend and they asked if I wanted to join. We talked over a beer and then we walked to an irish bar. Here I met Stefanie who I was at the basilica with this saturday. I had a great evening, meeting people from Austria, Germany, Ecuador, UK, Spain and USA. We talked and had a few drinks. It was quiz night at the bar and we entered. Even though we didn't know the answer to most questions, we had fun. Great way to spend your evening when you were just planning to go home.
Now to the actual post:
Sometimes when I travel, I realize how globalized the world is. Many larger cities around the world can seem quite similar to each other, depending on how you travel. Quito is the capital of Ecuador, a popular tourist destination and I am living in the middle of "gringolandia/mariscal" which is the touristic part of Quito filled with international foods, bars, hostels and internet cafes. Despite all of this, I still think Quito is a very interesting city which definitely shows you some Ecuadorian culture.
Every time I have been in the "El Ejido" park, I have seen between 40-60 locals standing around one guy. I am not sure what he is saying, but he is kind of a comedian/storyteller. Sometimes it seems that he is talking about more serious subjects, while other times he is running around, acting, telling a long story and everybody is laughing while a few is dragged into the circle to play a role. I loved how he was able to gather so many locals every day. I believe that most people in Denmark would be too busy getting home after work and doing nothing, instead of taking their time to enjoy this. This happens more places around the city. Another popular place was at plaza del teatro where there were even more people gathered every day.
You will also see grown men lying in the grass or standing on street corners playing cards for money.
On the streets you see kids walking around trying to sell candy. It is not teenagers, but kids! Some kids in the age of 6-7 years walking alone selling candy all day or polishing shoes. All around town you see men, women and kids trying to sell different stuff. The craziest "job" I have seen so far, is a man who stands on the street every day with a weighing scale. He earns 15 cents for every time someone wants to know their weight, which don´t seem to be very often.
The busses here are incredibly cheap (25 cents for a ride, no matter how far it is, unless you change bus) and you will never be hungry or thirsty on a bus! Most busses drive with the front door open and people just jump onto the bus while it´s driving. There will be sellers coming in and out of the bus all the time, selling beverages and foods/snacks.
Lunch is the main meal of the day. You will find set lunches for different prices, but i´ve heard that the cheapest ones often are the best. You can get a great soup usually followed by the main plate with rice, chicken/beef/fish, vegetables and a juice to drink. All of this for just 1,75$!
I think Quito is a great city to visit and 2-3 days wont be enough! I have been here for almost 3,5 week and I could stay much longer. I have plans though and therefore I will take a bus tonight to the border between Ecuador and Peru, from where I will try to find a bus to Lima. I will spend two days in Lima before flying to Iquitos. Iquitos is the largest city in the world that can not be reached by road. From the I will have travel half an hour by car and boat to get to Padre Cocha where I will live for one month and volunteer.
I think Quito is a great city to visit and 2-3 days wont be enough! I have been here for almost 3,5 week and I could stay much longer. I have plans though and therefore I will take a bus tonight to the border between Ecuador and Peru, from where I will try to find a bus to Lima. I will spend two days in Lima before flying to Iquitos. Iquitos is the largest city in the world that can not be reached by road. From the I will have travel half an hour by car and boat to get to Padre Cocha where I will live for one month and volunteer.
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
People are nice - housewarming, basilica, concert, El Panecillo & thanksgiving
This weekend I was not sure what to do. My last weekend in Ecuador and there is still so many places to see. I might return to Ecuador and I decided to spend this weekend staying in Quito and exploring. In school we went to a great museum - my teacher, another teacher, her student and I. After school I tried to find a shop that sold batteries for my camera. I entered an internet cafe which sold some electronics and the lady working there told me to go upstairs and ask if they had the batteri. Upstairs two men were sitting behind each their computer. I asked one of them and he told me they didn´t sell the batteri. Then he asked me to sit down and we ended up talking for 10minutes about many different things. In the end he looked through a lot of papers and found a shop for me that sold the batteri and he drew me a map on how to get there :)
In the evening I went to "la ronda" which is a long street with a lot of restaurants and entertainment in the weekends. I found a cafe called "buen gusto de Joel" and I decided that I had to go in and try their speciality which was a "grande" empanada. I was expecting a empanada a bit bigger than normal, that´s not what I got. I got a empanada that was huge! Impossible to finish it all. Afterwards I walked around and saw some different entertainers on the street. I returned tired to the house around 10pm. Here I was met by Bianca, Louisa (two of the american girls that lives in the appartment) and their ecuadorian friend. They were going to a housewarming and invited me.
The housewarming was great! Both a lot of gringos and a lot of ecuadorians and argentinians. I got some contacts in case I would return to Ecuador. One of them was offering me to come work at his organic farm and stay for free for some time, this I have to do if I return! I socialized and danced all night. At some point the stereo was shut of and then people started playing instruments instead. A guy on the drumset in the livingroom, two guitars and another kind of drum, while I was breaking a bit :) Around 3:30 we were 10 people left, drinking argentinian herb tea in the kitchen, talking and listening to music.
The housewarming was in a very quiet and beautiful neighbourhood, which was great - but it also meant that I had to walk with two other guys for at least half an hour uphill to find a cab (we tried calling on several numbers, but no one answered). It was a nice walk though and we had a good conversation.
Saturday I met up with Stefanie (one of the girls I met at the bar my first weekend) and her friend. We went to the basilica - a huge Roman Catholic church in the center of Quito. We climbed all the towers in the church and had some great views. Afterwards Stefanie´s friend went home, but we continued and went a bit north to an outdoor event hosted by the french alliance in Quito. The event was called "antes de que se acabe el mundo" which means "before the world ends". It had a market, different food stands and a big scene with bands playing from 5-10pm. We went for some food and returned to enjoy a great concert!
Sunday I decided to go to the big statue "Virgen de Quito" which is located on the top of the hill El Panecillo. Some different tourists/travelers have told me that walking to the statue is very dangerous, even during daytime. I have been told about many scams and dangers in Quito and I thought that they were exaggerating. I took the trollebus to the historical center of Quito and started walking up. When I crossed the last big street and came to all the small streets and stairs, I met some local people who told me that it was not safe to walk up. The minimum that could happen was that I would get robbed. They adviced me to go back down and take a cab - and so I did. My cab driver was so nice! Sergio Acosta, a man trying to find the city in Ecuador where he want to live for the rest of his days. Quito was just temporary to earn some money. When we reached the top he asked me to stay in the cab for a second. He went to the trunk, got a pack of chewinggum and gave me two pieces, one for now and one for later. What a nice guy :) Talk to your cab drivers, it makes the trip a lot nicer!
The statue was even more beautiful when I got closer to it and the view over the city was amazing! I layed in the grass, enjoyed the fresh air and the view over the south of Quito. I took a bus back down which was a lot cheaper!
Bianca and Louisa is in Quito to become certified english teachers. They are studying with 8 other americans. This sunday they had invited them over to celebrate thanksgiving and I was invited to join as well :) After visiting the statue, I returned just before the guests arrived. Everybody brought a homecooked dish and we spend most of the afternoon and evening talking and drinking beer. If this is how every thanksgiving is, I should start celebrating it :)
In the evening I went to "la ronda" which is a long street with a lot of restaurants and entertainment in the weekends. I found a cafe called "buen gusto de Joel" and I decided that I had to go in and try their speciality which was a "grande" empanada. I was expecting a empanada a bit bigger than normal, that´s not what I got. I got a empanada that was huge! Impossible to finish it all. Afterwards I walked around and saw some different entertainers on the street. I returned tired to the house around 10pm. Here I was met by Bianca, Louisa (two of the american girls that lives in the appartment) and their ecuadorian friend. They were going to a housewarming and invited me.
The housewarming was great! Both a lot of gringos and a lot of ecuadorians and argentinians. I got some contacts in case I would return to Ecuador. One of them was offering me to come work at his organic farm and stay for free for some time, this I have to do if I return! I socialized and danced all night. At some point the stereo was shut of and then people started playing instruments instead. A guy on the drumset in the livingroom, two guitars and another kind of drum, while I was breaking a bit :) Around 3:30 we were 10 people left, drinking argentinian herb tea in the kitchen, talking and listening to music.
The housewarming was in a very quiet and beautiful neighbourhood, which was great - but it also meant that I had to walk with two other guys for at least half an hour uphill to find a cab (we tried calling on several numbers, but no one answered). It was a nice walk though and we had a good conversation.
Saturday I met up with Stefanie (one of the girls I met at the bar my first weekend) and her friend. We went to the basilica - a huge Roman Catholic church in the center of Quito. We climbed all the towers in the church and had some great views. Afterwards Stefanie´s friend went home, but we continued and went a bit north to an outdoor event hosted by the french alliance in Quito. The event was called "antes de que se acabe el mundo" which means "before the world ends". It had a market, different food stands and a big scene with bands playing from 5-10pm. We went for some food and returned to enjoy a great concert!
Sunday I decided to go to the big statue "Virgen de Quito" which is located on the top of the hill El Panecillo. Some different tourists/travelers have told me that walking to the statue is very dangerous, even during daytime. I have been told about many scams and dangers in Quito and I thought that they were exaggerating. I took the trollebus to the historical center of Quito and started walking up. When I crossed the last big street and came to all the small streets and stairs, I met some local people who told me that it was not safe to walk up. The minimum that could happen was that I would get robbed. They adviced me to go back down and take a cab - and so I did. My cab driver was so nice! Sergio Acosta, a man trying to find the city in Ecuador where he want to live for the rest of his days. Quito was just temporary to earn some money. When we reached the top he asked me to stay in the cab for a second. He went to the trunk, got a pack of chewinggum and gave me two pieces, one for now and one for later. What a nice guy :) Talk to your cab drivers, it makes the trip a lot nicer!
The statue was even more beautiful when I got closer to it and the view over the city was amazing! I layed in the grass, enjoyed the fresh air and the view over the south of Quito. I took a bus back down which was a lot cheaper!
Bianca and Louisa is in Quito to become certified english teachers. They are studying with 8 other americans. This sunday they had invited them over to celebrate thanksgiving and I was invited to join as well :) After visiting the statue, I returned just before the guests arrived. Everybody brought a homecooked dish and we spend most of the afternoon and evening talking and drinking beer. If this is how every thanksgiving is, I should start celebrating it :)
Friday, November 23, 2012
The great trip to Baños
This weekend 16th-18th of November I was planning to go to Baños. Well, I was actually planning to go to Otavalo, but something made me change my mind just an hour before departure. I packed a small bag and got on the trollebus south against the big bus terminal Quitumbe. Getting there is easy but far! Just take a trollebus from a 10 de Agosto headed south and get as far as you can, then you will reach Quitumbe - you might have to change the bus one time. From Quitumbe I got a busticket, 3,5$ and I was ready to go.
The bus was more or less comfortable and I got a window seat to enjoy the view since it was only 4pm and there was still at least 3 hours of sun left.
The buses here always takes longer than planned since they do a million stops! They stop random places on the street and pick up more people. They never close the front door and the ticketguy (there is a busdriver and a ticketman) screams out "Baños, Baños" hoping for someone to run after the bus. Besides picking people up, street sellers also get on the bus all the time trying to sell fruits, dinners, beverages and so on. You will never be hungry or thirsty in a bus in Ecuador :) One guy came onto the bus and started talking about three different chocolates he was selling and described each of them. He claimed that one was without sugar for diabetics. Then he handed out one of each chocolate to everyone. Here I read on all the chocolates and of course sugar was the main ingredient in all three ;) He then started talking about his family and prices of the chocolates and in the end he tried to get money from people or the chocolates back. Funny little scenario.
After about about 45minutes a girl came on the bus and sat next to me. I could see the sun was bothering her, so I pulled the curtain. From then on we started talking. 17 year old Adriana. She lived in Quito during weekdays when she studied to be a dentist, and on weekends she went home to her parents, her 12 year old sister and her beloved dog. We talked for an hour in spanish until she had to get off. It made the trip a lot faster and I got to practice my spanish.
When I reached Baños after 4,5 hour (it was supposed to take 3,5) I found an internet cafe where I looked up a good hostel. I went directly to the hostel, checked in to a dorm room and then went out to see the town. The town is beautiful, but very touristed! Most of the food was pizza, sharwarma and other international foods. The rest of the buildings where internet cafes, hostels, adventure companies and very touristic shops with clothes and bags. An old south american guy with a younger (maybe around 40) woman stopped me on the street asking me where I was from. The guy knew a few words in danish and he spoke english. We talked for around 20minutes about everything and nothing, it was very entertaining :)
After saying goodbye, I went on a food hunt, trying to find Ecuadorian food. I found a nice place with great food. Though I could only eat half before I started feeling weird.
- Earlier that day I had been feeling a bit weird and on the bus I had been switching between sweating and freezing. I was thinking that I might have got the flu.
I went back to the hostel where I met James in the dorm room. He was a young solo traveler from Australia. We talked for a bit before he went out and I went to bed. I did not sleep much that night! I kept waking up, sometimes because of noise, but sometimes just out of the blue. It was the longest night ever! This was also the case for my 3 roomates though. Two of the roomates got out of bed pretty easily and left the hostel early. James and I couldn't get out of bed. I tried several times, but it took me hours to get out and I was feeling even worse this morning. James was feeling worse than me though. He had nausea and had to go to the bathroom every other minute.. We decided to go get some breakfast on the roof, before they closed down the kitchen. Up there the view was beautiful. On one side you had a great view of the town and on the other side you had a big waterfall. We got some breakfast and tea and went back down to the room. James told me he was taking a bus to the center of Quito at 2pm. There was only one bus a day that went to the center of Quito, the rest stopped at Quitumbe terminal - I didn't know about this before he told me.
I decided to join him on the bus since I figured it wouldn't be much fun to be sick for another day in a hostel and then go home sunday to reach my classes monday. If I went today I also got to talk to James in the bus to make time fly.
James went to the pharmacy to get something for his stomach and he returned with two kinder eggs\suprises - one for each to make us happy :) He also provided me with a few Ibuprofen in case I was gonna feel worse. We went on the bus together, talking and sleeping all the way to Quito. The bus stopped at Quitumbe and everyone else got off. One girl told us it was the last stop. When everybody had left the bus, I asked the driver how we would get to the center and he said we should should stay in the bus. That's what we did and the busdriver stopped just 2 blocks from my appartment and not very far from James hostel. All of saturday and sunday I was just sleeping, going to the bathroom and sleeping some more..
Being sick with diabetes is a bit of a challenge. I had to take much more insulin than I usualy do and I had to take insulin several times without eating. What doesn´t make it easier is that you have to eat white pasta, rice, white bread etc. when you have an upset stomach. After this diet and a lot of insulin, I was finally feeling better wednesday and in the evening I decided to go to Juan Valdez cafe and drink something without caffeine. I chose a hot chocolate with whipped cream - that was the best hot chocolate I have ever had! (It might have something to do with the fact that I didn´t drink one for more than a year and last time I drank one, it was powder cocoa and hot water) I have never enjoyed a hot chocolate that much! Unfortunately I forgot about the consequences of eating/drinking dairy products while having stomach problems. That hot chocolate made sure I woke up a lot of times to run to the bathroom during the night, great!
Well thursday I was feeling a lot better though and now I feel that I am back to normal and i´m able to eat normal food. I even ate indian food yesterday. Good timing since it will allow me to enjoy my weekend :)
I will upload some pictures soon. Have a nice weekend :)
Diabetes on Rucu Pichincha - No excuses
Since I arrived in Quito, I have had a hard time telling when my blood sugar level was to high or low. Most of the time it has been fine, but those few times where it haven't, I have not felt it as fast as I would normally do. Maybe it is the altitude?
Anyway, I was going to hike Rucu Pichincha. If you read the other post about this topic, you will know I was not very well prepared. In the morning I ate a big bowl of oatmeal to get some energy for the day. For this I took just two units of NovoRapid because my blood sugar level was 4,2 mmol\l when I woke up. After about an 1,5 hour I reached the top of the Teleferiqo, around 1000metres\3300ft higher than where I came from. Here my blood sugar level was down to 2,5mmol\l. I should be feeling really dizzy, but all I felt was a faster heartbeat which I though had something to do with my blood sugar level. I took two grape glucose tablets to get the bloodsugar up.
After around an hour of walking, my blood sugar level was 4,1 mmol\l. Usualy my blood sugar level will get higher if I haven't been taking NovoRapid the past 2,5+ hours and I do something physically hard. It was around 2,5 hour ago since I took the NovoRapid, so I thought that if I continued walking, it would probably stay or go a bit higher. I was wrong. After 45minutes a was down to 3,5mmol\l. I took a break and ate a good handfull of white crackers. One hour later it was up to 5mmol\l. Again one hour later, when we reached the top, I measured my blood sugar level - 8,0 mmol\l. Now it was starting to go up if I did something physical. I therefore thought that i'd better take some insulin before going down. I have heard that the higher up you get, the more insulin you need. I was in an altitude of 4700m\15500ft. I thought i'd better take too little, than too much. I took 2 units of NovoRapid once again. I drank a few sip's of Gatorade (a beverage with a lot of sugar) and I ate a snackbar. Something with fiber and chocolate, 22g carbs and 8g sugars.
My bloodsugar was a bit high, the altitude was high and I both drank and ate some sugar and I only took 2 units NovoRapid. But later (I don't remember the time) I was down to 3,7mmol\l and had to eat some grape glucose tablets since that was all I had. From then on my blood sugar level was no problem.
I can recommend bringing some more food so you don't have to eat pure sugar - even though I highly recommend also bringing some grape glucose tablets or something similar to get your blood sugar level up fast, it might be necessary on such a hard hike. Fruits like apples and oranges or other foods that is not just fast carbs would be ideal when doing something physical for hours.
Never use the excuse "I have diabetes" unless it is to avoid drinking a liter of coca cola. You can do anything that anyone else can :)
Anyway, I was going to hike Rucu Pichincha. If you read the other post about this topic, you will know I was not very well prepared. In the morning I ate a big bowl of oatmeal to get some energy for the day. For this I took just two units of NovoRapid because my blood sugar level was 4,2 mmol\l when I woke up. After about an 1,5 hour I reached the top of the Teleferiqo, around 1000metres\3300ft higher than where I came from. Here my blood sugar level was down to 2,5mmol\l. I should be feeling really dizzy, but all I felt was a faster heartbeat which I though had something to do with my blood sugar level. I took two grape glucose tablets to get the bloodsugar up.
After around an hour of walking, my blood sugar level was 4,1 mmol\l. Usualy my blood sugar level will get higher if I haven't been taking NovoRapid the past 2,5+ hours and I do something physically hard. It was around 2,5 hour ago since I took the NovoRapid, so I thought that if I continued walking, it would probably stay or go a bit higher. I was wrong. After 45minutes a was down to 3,5mmol\l. I took a break and ate a good handfull of white crackers. One hour later it was up to 5mmol\l. Again one hour later, when we reached the top, I measured my blood sugar level - 8,0 mmol\l. Now it was starting to go up if I did something physical. I therefore thought that i'd better take some insulin before going down. I have heard that the higher up you get, the more insulin you need. I was in an altitude of 4700m\15500ft. I thought i'd better take too little, than too much. I took 2 units of NovoRapid once again. I drank a few sip's of Gatorade (a beverage with a lot of sugar) and I ate a snackbar. Something with fiber and chocolate, 22g carbs and 8g sugars.
My bloodsugar was a bit high, the altitude was high and I both drank and ate some sugar and I only took 2 units NovoRapid. But later (I don't remember the time) I was down to 3,7mmol\l and had to eat some grape glucose tablets since that was all I had. From then on my blood sugar level was no problem.
I can recommend bringing some more food so you don't have to eat pure sugar - even though I highly recommend also bringing some grape glucose tablets or something similar to get your blood sugar level up fast, it might be necessary on such a hard hike. Fruits like apples and oranges or other foods that is not just fast carbs would be ideal when doing something physical for hours.
Never use the excuse "I have diabetes" unless it is to avoid drinking a liter of coca cola. You can do anything that anyone else can :)
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Mitad del Mundo - The middle of the world & more
Today (Sunday, November 11) I woke up after just a few hours sleep and decided to go to Mitad del Mundo. A small touristic area which claims to be on the Equator. By doing a little research, you will find out that the small "city" is not located on the Equator. The calculations are wrong. It is only a 2 dollar entrance and it is fun to see the place. It has a lot of overpriced food, touristic souvenirs and some people who dresses up and does some dance. There is also an insectarium and a few other things to see. All in all not a very impressive place, but it is just 65cents to get there and 2 dollars entrance. If you want to go the Ethnographic Museum, it will cost you 3 dollars extra. I found this to be the most (and only) interesting part of Mitad del Mundo with a great but small museum inside and a nice view from the top.
Just a 5 minute walk from Mitad del Mundo, you can find another museum called Intiñan solar museum. Before I went to Mitad del Mundo, I read about this place. This should be the place where the actual Equator line is! Calculated with some army GPS that is more precise and something something :) I did believe this while I was there, but then I found out that some different groups of geography nerds have brought their own GPS and proved that it is again a wrong calculation. They also come with a good point - why would the army help calculating the Equator for a private tourist buisness.
Anyway, this museum is so much more interesting! The entrance was 4$ and then you get a guided grouptour. It's an outdoor museum and the area itself looks a lot better (and less touristic) than Mitad del Mundo for my taste.
They tell you about animals of the jungle, how the indigenous people used to shrunk the heads of their rivals and wear them on a necklace and much more. They used to build big cabins where a family could live in each corner. The cabin would have two openings and be lowest in the middle. Then when it was raining, the water would go to the middle of the cabin and the two doors would make sure that the water could get out of the cabin, without the family being affected by it. You also get to do some entertaining things like trying to make an egg balance on a nail. Don't go to Mitad del Mundo without paying this museum a visit as well :)
During the weekdays here I spend time in school, exploring town and making homework. As mentioned, I live in an appartment with 6 other people, so there is always something to do or someone to practice your spanish with :)
Claudio and Hannah from the appartment invited me out for coffee to practice my spanish and show me a nice cafe. They following night the cooked me dinner :) They always let me borrow their computer so I don´t have to pay for one at the internet cafe.
I usualy eat dinner at the same time as Robert and we have some nice spanish conversations in the kitchen. Yesterday he even cooked me food - chickenbreast topped with bacon, vegetables and homemade fries. I kind of felt at home :) I get invited to many different events by my flatmates such as a soccer game and thanksgiving dinner. I haven´t been able to go though, but the invitations are great to get!
Today I´ve been out for lunch with a guy from couchsurfing. We had a great indian lunch - his treat. He is half ecuadorian and half american. It was nice to have a long decent conversation in english :) We also talked about each others travels, and i got a few ideas on where to go from him. Now it is time for homework.
- If you are travelling alone and staying in a city for more than a week, you should try to rent a room. At hostels people will usually only stay for a few days and party all day every day ;) I've started to feel at home and really get along with all the people in the appartment.
Just a 5 minute walk from Mitad del Mundo, you can find another museum called Intiñan solar museum. Before I went to Mitad del Mundo, I read about this place. This should be the place where the actual Equator line is! Calculated with some army GPS that is more precise and something something :) I did believe this while I was there, but then I found out that some different groups of geography nerds have brought their own GPS and proved that it is again a wrong calculation. They also come with a good point - why would the army help calculating the Equator for a private tourist buisness.
Anyway, this museum is so much more interesting! The entrance was 4$ and then you get a guided grouptour. It's an outdoor museum and the area itself looks a lot better (and less touristic) than Mitad del Mundo for my taste.
They tell you about animals of the jungle, how the indigenous people used to shrunk the heads of their rivals and wear them on a necklace and much more. They used to build big cabins where a family could live in each corner. The cabin would have two openings and be lowest in the middle. Then when it was raining, the water would go to the middle of the cabin and the two doors would make sure that the water could get out of the cabin, without the family being affected by it. You also get to do some entertaining things like trying to make an egg balance on a nail. Don't go to Mitad del Mundo without paying this museum a visit as well :)
During the weekdays here I spend time in school, exploring town and making homework. As mentioned, I live in an appartment with 6 other people, so there is always something to do or someone to practice your spanish with :)
Claudio and Hannah from the appartment invited me out for coffee to practice my spanish and show me a nice cafe. They following night the cooked me dinner :) They always let me borrow their computer so I don´t have to pay for one at the internet cafe.
I usualy eat dinner at the same time as Robert and we have some nice spanish conversations in the kitchen. Yesterday he even cooked me food - chickenbreast topped with bacon, vegetables and homemade fries. I kind of felt at home :) I get invited to many different events by my flatmates such as a soccer game and thanksgiving dinner. I haven´t been able to go though, but the invitations are great to get!
Today I´ve been out for lunch with a guy from couchsurfing. We had a great indian lunch - his treat. He is half ecuadorian and half american. It was nice to have a long decent conversation in english :) We also talked about each others travels, and i got a few ideas on where to go from him. Now it is time for homework.
- If you are travelling alone and staying in a city for more than a week, you should try to rent a room. At hostels people will usually only stay for a few days and party all day every day ;) I've started to feel at home and really get along with all the people in the appartment.
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Rucu Pichincha & afterparty!
Saturday morning I decided to go to Rucu Pichincha - a vulcano next to Quito with an altitude between 4700-4800metres (around 15500ft). Lauren wanted to ride with the Teleferiqo so she joined me (the Teleferiqo is a lift that takes you from around 3100metres to 3900metres up and you take this to get to the vulcano). We went on a bus (my first busride in Quito, just 25cents) and changed to a small shuttle bus for free. We got of at the vulcano parc and from here we took the Teleferiqo. It is a beautiful view from inside the Teleferiqo and even better when you get out on the top.
I said goodbye to Lauren who didn´t want to do the hike and I started walking. It is a very beautiful hike, but also hard. I came to a spot where i wanted a picture, so I asked the two young ecuadorians (25-30years) who were eating lunch, if one of them could take my picture. They were really nice! I then decided that it was time for a break. I sat next to them and we started talking (they knew english! :) ). Cilia and Fernando, two friends who had known each other since they were 10 years old. We did the rest of the hike together. Sometimes it got really hard, but we supported each other which helped a lot! It got more and more cold the further up we got. I didn´t know anything about hiking and didn´t plan the trip at all. I only brought my sneakers, a warm fleece and regular pants. Luckily Cilia had an extra hat that I could borrow to keep my head and ears warm. :)
After 3 hours we reached the top! There was almost no view because of the fog and clouds, but at this point we were so happy that we reached the top that we didn´t care. We had a lot of great views on the hike. Being on the top was just amazing and really quiet! We took some photos and stayed up there for a while. On the way down we met two young guys who were going up, they were the only two people we saw on the way back. We must´ve gone up a bit late.
On the way down it began to hail. Shortly after, this changed to rain. At first it was alright, but it got worse and worse. What i am about to write will sound awfull, but actually, even though we suffered, it was a great experience!
Our shoes and pants were soaked! My fleece as well - they had jackets. We were freezing our asses of. We had to walk slow to make sure we wouldn´t slip and fall into the mud. This was not only a physical challenge, but also a mental challenge. It was a long trip, but in the end we reached the Teleferiqo. Here Cilia and Fernando changed clothes (again, I was not well prepared) and I just took off my fleece and tried to heat up. There is a building at the Teleferiqo with a cafe and a shop, unfortunately it was not very hot in there.
We decided to get some tea/hot chocolate and food. When I got my tea, I was about to faint. I thought it was my blood sugar level that was low, so I tried really hard to measure my blood sugar. It took a while, but I suceeded. To my suprise, there was nothing wrong with my bloodsugar. I then remembered that I only ate a portion of oatmeal for breakfast at 9am and had a cup of tea. Then on the hike I had been drinking 0,5liter of water since it was not possible to get water after the Teleferiqo. Besides oatmeal, I only ate a snackbar and a few crackers. My guess was that my body was going out of "survival mode" and i was about to dehydrate. Cilia gave me some water and shortly after I was feeling a lot better - still very cold and wet though!
Fernando had a car at the end of the Teleferiqo and offered to drive me home! First we dropped of Cilia and then I got dropped of right in front of the door to my appartment.
I would´ve never made it all the way to the top of Rucu Pichincha or found my way down (it was quite confusing, not just a regular path to follow) without the company and support from Fernando and Cilia! I can recommend going to Pichincha, but you might wanna bring more water and food than I did, maybe also some gloves, a hat and waterproof clothes. ;)
When I came home, I walked straight into my room, changed to thermal clothes and layed down in my bed! A few hours later, Robert came and invited me into the kitchen where he was hanging out with some friends and cooking dinner. I was a bit suprised when I came into the kitchen. There was around 10-15 people, 2 bolivians, 3 americans (the girls who lives in the appartment) and the rest were ecuadorians. There was a lot of beer and even more meat!
- Besides working in a bar, Robert also works for the president. Most of the guests this night was his colleagues. One of them was pretty wealthy. He had bought a lot of beer and even more quality roast beef!
All night I talked to different people (they were all very good at making me practice my spanish - and they all gave me compliments for how fast I was learning :) ). Two of the men cooked roast beef all night and kept serving them to us and at the same time, they were making sure that our glasses were never empty!
Every now and then when a good song came on, everyone started dancing and I learned how to dance as an ecuadorian :b
At some point I asked what the time was (I wanted to do a daytrip the following morning and I was a bit tired) and I got this answer "Why? It doesn´t matter what time it is. What matters is what you´re doing and if you´re having fun". It only took me a second to realize that he was right and so I continued dancing, socializing, drinking ecuadorian beer and quality tequila for hours.
I will try to make a small post about how my diabetes reacted on my trip to Pichincha asap. Remember that comments and questions are more than welcome :)
I said goodbye to Lauren who didn´t want to do the hike and I started walking. It is a very beautiful hike, but also hard. I came to a spot where i wanted a picture, so I asked the two young ecuadorians (25-30years) who were eating lunch, if one of them could take my picture. They were really nice! I then decided that it was time for a break. I sat next to them and we started talking (they knew english! :) ). Cilia and Fernando, two friends who had known each other since they were 10 years old. We did the rest of the hike together. Sometimes it got really hard, but we supported each other which helped a lot! It got more and more cold the further up we got. I didn´t know anything about hiking and didn´t plan the trip at all. I only brought my sneakers, a warm fleece and regular pants. Luckily Cilia had an extra hat that I could borrow to keep my head and ears warm. :)
After 3 hours we reached the top! There was almost no view because of the fog and clouds, but at this point we were so happy that we reached the top that we didn´t care. We had a lot of great views on the hike. Being on the top was just amazing and really quiet! We took some photos and stayed up there for a while. On the way down we met two young guys who were going up, they were the only two people we saw on the way back. We must´ve gone up a bit late.
On the way down it began to hail. Shortly after, this changed to rain. At first it was alright, but it got worse and worse. What i am about to write will sound awfull, but actually, even though we suffered, it was a great experience!
Our shoes and pants were soaked! My fleece as well - they had jackets. We were freezing our asses of. We had to walk slow to make sure we wouldn´t slip and fall into the mud. This was not only a physical challenge, but also a mental challenge. It was a long trip, but in the end we reached the Teleferiqo. Here Cilia and Fernando changed clothes (again, I was not well prepared) and I just took off my fleece and tried to heat up. There is a building at the Teleferiqo with a cafe and a shop, unfortunately it was not very hot in there.
We decided to get some tea/hot chocolate and food. When I got my tea, I was about to faint. I thought it was my blood sugar level that was low, so I tried really hard to measure my blood sugar. It took a while, but I suceeded. To my suprise, there was nothing wrong with my bloodsugar. I then remembered that I only ate a portion of oatmeal for breakfast at 9am and had a cup of tea. Then on the hike I had been drinking 0,5liter of water since it was not possible to get water after the Teleferiqo. Besides oatmeal, I only ate a snackbar and a few crackers. My guess was that my body was going out of "survival mode" and i was about to dehydrate. Cilia gave me some water and shortly after I was feeling a lot better - still very cold and wet though!
Fernando had a car at the end of the Teleferiqo and offered to drive me home! First we dropped of Cilia and then I got dropped of right in front of the door to my appartment.
I would´ve never made it all the way to the top of Rucu Pichincha or found my way down (it was quite confusing, not just a regular path to follow) without the company and support from Fernando and Cilia! I can recommend going to Pichincha, but you might wanna bring more water and food than I did, maybe also some gloves, a hat and waterproof clothes. ;)
When I came home, I walked straight into my room, changed to thermal clothes and layed down in my bed! A few hours later, Robert came and invited me into the kitchen where he was hanging out with some friends and cooking dinner. I was a bit suprised when I came into the kitchen. There was around 10-15 people, 2 bolivians, 3 americans (the girls who lives in the appartment) and the rest were ecuadorians. There was a lot of beer and even more meat!
- Besides working in a bar, Robert also works for the president. Most of the guests this night was his colleagues. One of them was pretty wealthy. He had bought a lot of beer and even more quality roast beef!
All night I talked to different people (they were all very good at making me practice my spanish - and they all gave me compliments for how fast I was learning :) ). Two of the men cooked roast beef all night and kept serving them to us and at the same time, they were making sure that our glasses were never empty!
Every now and then when a good song came on, everyone started dancing and I learned how to dance as an ecuadorian :b
At some point I asked what the time was (I wanted to do a daytrip the following morning and I was a bit tired) and I got this answer "Why? It doesn´t matter what time it is. What matters is what you´re doing and if you´re having fun". It only took me a second to realize that he was right and so I continued dancing, socializing, drinking ecuadorian beer and quality tequila for hours.
I will try to make a small post about how my diabetes reacted on my trip to Pichincha asap. Remember that comments and questions are more than welcome :)
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Getting there, studying and socializing
My trip went great. On the first long flight from Amsterdam to Atlanta I
sat next to Christian. Christian was a very talkative retired biologist
who was headed home to New Mexico after a trip to Turkey and north of
Iraq. He was on the trip because of his love for photography. Interesting guy who made the flight a bit faster - the movies also helped a bit ;)
On the next flight I sat next to Sofie from Wisconsin. We talked for hours about many different subjects. After three hours we found out that she knew the owner of the appartment, that I was going to live in - so weird!
Anyway, I came to Quito airport, got my backpack and got hustled by a cab driver. I had to pay 10$ to get to the appartment. I knew this was almost double the normal price, but I was too tired and didn´t bother to bargain or to find another one of the official cabs. I got a nice welcoming from Robert (the owner of the appartment) and Lauren (My friends friend who got me the appartment and lives in it as well).
The appartment is on the 6th floor in the mariscal area (touristic area) and we have a beautiful view over the northern part of the city. When someone showers, the light dims in all of the appartment :)
A few days after i moved in, two american girls moved in. We are now 7 people living here. Robert (the owner), Lauren (the girl from USA who got me the room), Louisa and Bianca (the american girls), Hannah and Claudio (a couple. He is from Colombia and she´s from France) and I. The 4 rooms are divided between us guests and Robert now sleeps on a mattress in the livingroom.
My room is a perfect size and it contains everything I need - a chair, a bed and a bedside table with drawers :)
I am studying spanish from 8:30-12:30 monday-friday. I have private classes, a great teacher and the school is walking distance from where I live. Every day there is a break with free coffee, tea and some cookies. The people working at the school are all very nice and helps me practicing my spanish. Some days it is a bit hard to stay focused. It is 4 hours of a foreign language. It takes a lot of energy to focused for that long (it is 1 on 1 classes, so you can´t just daydream like in highschool ;) ). Sometimes my diabetes also makes me a bit tired, but luckily I have both my insulin and the cookies from the school which makes it easy to control my blood sugar level.
After school this friday, I went home and made tea. Robert came into my room and told me that he was working on a bar tonight and i should go. In the evening i was invited to warm up with Robert and his ecuadorian friends in the livingroom.
We were 7 people drinking Ecuadorian beer and talking. It was really nice even though I didn´t understand most of what they talked about ;) When they left, Robert and I went to the bar.
At first he tried to introduce me to different people, but it was a bit hard since i didn´t have much spanish and everyone was there with a friend. After a while of just sitting by the bar and looking on people dancing, I spotted two girls - a blonde and a brunette. They did not look very local.
I very often think "Hey, you got nothing to lose, give it a shot!" but it is very rare that i actually act on this thought. This time I did!
I went down to their table and asked if they spoke english, luckily they did. The blonde was Cecilie. Cecilie is from Sweden and have been in Quito for a month, studying spanish and volunteering. She had one week left before she was going to the Galapagos islands to volunteer. The brunette was Stephanie from Washington. She was studying abroad for one year in Quito. Later on some of Stephanie´s friends joined us and we all talked and danced while Robert was providing me with free drinks throughout the night. Not a bad first night out :)
Today i met up with one of the girls in the city for a cup of coffee and a good talk. I will update again soon about hiking "Rucu Pichincha", being at a private party with Ecuadorians and visiting Mitad del Mundo which is where the Equator line is.
On the next flight I sat next to Sofie from Wisconsin. We talked for hours about many different subjects. After three hours we found out that she knew the owner of the appartment, that I was going to live in - so weird!
Anyway, I came to Quito airport, got my backpack and got hustled by a cab driver. I had to pay 10$ to get to the appartment. I knew this was almost double the normal price, but I was too tired and didn´t bother to bargain or to find another one of the official cabs. I got a nice welcoming from Robert (the owner of the appartment) and Lauren (My friends friend who got me the appartment and lives in it as well).
The appartment is on the 6th floor in the mariscal area (touristic area) and we have a beautiful view over the northern part of the city. When someone showers, the light dims in all of the appartment :)
A few days after i moved in, two american girls moved in. We are now 7 people living here. Robert (the owner), Lauren (the girl from USA who got me the room), Louisa and Bianca (the american girls), Hannah and Claudio (a couple. He is from Colombia and she´s from France) and I. The 4 rooms are divided between us guests and Robert now sleeps on a mattress in the livingroom.
My room is a perfect size and it contains everything I need - a chair, a bed and a bedside table with drawers :)
I am studying spanish from 8:30-12:30 monday-friday. I have private classes, a great teacher and the school is walking distance from where I live. Every day there is a break with free coffee, tea and some cookies. The people working at the school are all very nice and helps me practicing my spanish. Some days it is a bit hard to stay focused. It is 4 hours of a foreign language. It takes a lot of energy to focused for that long (it is 1 on 1 classes, so you can´t just daydream like in highschool ;) ). Sometimes my diabetes also makes me a bit tired, but luckily I have both my insulin and the cookies from the school which makes it easy to control my blood sugar level.
After school this friday, I went home and made tea. Robert came into my room and told me that he was working on a bar tonight and i should go. In the evening i was invited to warm up with Robert and his ecuadorian friends in the livingroom.
We were 7 people drinking Ecuadorian beer and talking. It was really nice even though I didn´t understand most of what they talked about ;) When they left, Robert and I went to the bar.
At first he tried to introduce me to different people, but it was a bit hard since i didn´t have much spanish and everyone was there with a friend. After a while of just sitting by the bar and looking on people dancing, I spotted two girls - a blonde and a brunette. They did not look very local.
I very often think "Hey, you got nothing to lose, give it a shot!" but it is very rare that i actually act on this thought. This time I did!
I went down to their table and asked if they spoke english, luckily they did. The blonde was Cecilie. Cecilie is from Sweden and have been in Quito for a month, studying spanish and volunteering. She had one week left before she was going to the Galapagos islands to volunteer. The brunette was Stephanie from Washington. She was studying abroad for one year in Quito. Later on some of Stephanie´s friends joined us and we all talked and danced while Robert was providing me with free drinks throughout the night. Not a bad first night out :)
Today i met up with one of the girls in the city for a cup of coffee and a good talk. I will update again soon about hiking "Rucu Pichincha", being at a private party with Ecuadorians and visiting Mitad del Mundo which is where the Equator line is.
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Diabetes preparations
Before you travel, your diabetes needs to be stable, otherwise you won't get insured. You also need a travel document from your doctor/hospital which allows you to carry your insulin onto the plane.
Then of course you need to figure out how much insulin, teststrips etc. that you are going to need. In my case i decided not to bring as much insulin as recommended (double of what you are going to need) since i am going to be in a village for one month where there will only be electricity 3 hours a day and some days there might not be any at all. This might mean that my insulin won´t be cold enough and therefore ruined.
I had to figure out where/if i could get more of my insulin along the way. Novo Nordisk makes all of my insulin and luckily my aunt works in a department of Novo Nordisk here in Denmark. She tried to figure out if i could get the insulin in Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador or Colombia and i myself tried to call customer service. The answer was "unfortunately you can´t get it anywhere in these countries". We had a hard time believing this and therefore i continued searching. I called the danish diabetes center who said i should contact either the local departments of Novo Nordisk or the diabetes association in the given countries. I wrote an email to a department in Chile and Colombia which was the closest i could find to my destinations. After just a few days a got an email saying that i could get my insulin several places in Ecuador, Peru and Colombia and when i knew what cities i was going to be in, they would help me find the addresses of the pharmacies that sold my insulin. Mission accomplished!
When you travel by air, you need to keep your insulin at the right temperature. If it goes in the luggage it will get to cold and ruined. You need to carry it onto the plane, but to make sure that it won´t get too hot. I looked for different small and practical cooling bags. This was not as smart and cheap as i thought it would be. Instead a bought a thermos that could contain all 10 of my insulin flexpens.
Fill it with water and put it in the fridge the night before you leave. When you leave, put in the insulin and just ask for icecubes when on the plane. I got more ice in the thermos both on a cafe in one of the airports and in two of the planes. This was very easy, handy and cheap. Best of all it kept my insulin at the right degree through 24 hours of travels.
It might also be a good idea to get an extra blood glucose meter in case the one you have brakes or gets stolen. For me this was quite a challenge since my supplier did not sell my meter anymore. They only had the new edition of my meter. Unfortunately it uses different teststrips and i had already got teststrips for half a year to my other meter. I then went directly to the manufacturer who luckily had a few of the old meters left and were willing to give me one for free :) I came to their office and picked it up and the man i talked to said that also the teststrips should be carried onto the plane to make sure that they wouldn´t brake.
Remember that if you change time zones, you have to change the time of when you take your long acting insulin.
My last advice is to look up what kind of food is common to eat at your destination. In Ecuador where i am at the moment, they serve rice and juice with most dishes. You might need more insulin in your destination than at home if your diet changes.
Feel free to ask any questions or leave comments :)
Then of course you need to figure out how much insulin, teststrips etc. that you are going to need. In my case i decided not to bring as much insulin as recommended (double of what you are going to need) since i am going to be in a village for one month where there will only be electricity 3 hours a day and some days there might not be any at all. This might mean that my insulin won´t be cold enough and therefore ruined.
I had to figure out where/if i could get more of my insulin along the way. Novo Nordisk makes all of my insulin and luckily my aunt works in a department of Novo Nordisk here in Denmark. She tried to figure out if i could get the insulin in Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador or Colombia and i myself tried to call customer service. The answer was "unfortunately you can´t get it anywhere in these countries". We had a hard time believing this and therefore i continued searching. I called the danish diabetes center who said i should contact either the local departments of Novo Nordisk or the diabetes association in the given countries. I wrote an email to a department in Chile and Colombia which was the closest i could find to my destinations. After just a few days a got an email saying that i could get my insulin several places in Ecuador, Peru and Colombia and when i knew what cities i was going to be in, they would help me find the addresses of the pharmacies that sold my insulin. Mission accomplished!
When you travel by air, you need to keep your insulin at the right temperature. If it goes in the luggage it will get to cold and ruined. You need to carry it onto the plane, but to make sure that it won´t get too hot. I looked for different small and practical cooling bags. This was not as smart and cheap as i thought it would be. Instead a bought a thermos that could contain all 10 of my insulin flexpens.
Fill it with water and put it in the fridge the night before you leave. When you leave, put in the insulin and just ask for icecubes when on the plane. I got more ice in the thermos both on a cafe in one of the airports and in two of the planes. This was very easy, handy and cheap. Best of all it kept my insulin at the right degree through 24 hours of travels.
It might also be a good idea to get an extra blood glucose meter in case the one you have brakes or gets stolen. For me this was quite a challenge since my supplier did not sell my meter anymore. They only had the new edition of my meter. Unfortunately it uses different teststrips and i had already got teststrips for half a year to my other meter. I then went directly to the manufacturer who luckily had a few of the old meters left and were willing to give me one for free :) I came to their office and picked it up and the man i talked to said that also the teststrips should be carried onto the plane to make sure that they wouldn´t brake.
Remember that if you change time zones, you have to change the time of when you take your long acting insulin.
My last advice is to look up what kind of food is common to eat at your destination. In Ecuador where i am at the moment, they serve rice and juice with most dishes. You might need more insulin in your destination than at home if your diet changes.
Feel free to ask any questions or leave comments :)
Monday, November 5, 2012
Preparations
I started planning my trip while i was still in NYC. I knew that for the first month i wanted to learn spanish and the second month i was going to do some volunteer work in a village in Peru (you had to let them know in advance since they only took 4 volunteers at a time). Usually i never plan this much, but learning spanish and volunteering was something that i really wanted to do. After volunteering i will have three months to travel and the only thing i know so far is that i'm going to machu picchu.
I knew i would be in Quito almost for a month, so i began requesting places to stay on Couchsurfing and also looking for hostels. It turned out that my friend who i rented a room from in NYC, had a friend who moved to Quito, Ecuador. I then send her an email and she gave me the details on how to get to her apartment when i arrived in Quito. I could rent a room here which was probably the cheapest accommodation i could find. Until two days before my departure, i had absolutely no idea where to stay for the first night or how to get out of the airport safe at night.
For some reason i had ordered a flight that left Copenhagen at 6am and i would arrive in Quito at 11pm. I don't remember why i did this..
Pretty dumb that i had to wake up in the middle of the night and then come to Quito almost at midnight all alone. Maybe i was tired when i ordered the ticket, maybe i was too excited about finally getting the tickets so i wasn't aware of it or maybe it was just the cheapest ticket.
So i figured out where to start. Then i googled for a while trying to find a good spanish school. Tripadvisor.co.uk is your best friend here! There is a lot of reviews on different spanish schools. I also used Tripadvisor to choose a company for the Machu Picchu trek.
Now that i found a spanish school and a place to stay i tried to plan how to get to the village where i signed up for volunteering. It turns out that i had to fly into Iquitos in northern Peru to get there. Going from Quito to Iquitos and out of Iquitos again can be very expensive. I was just about to order some tickets when i decided to try a return flight from Lima-Iquitos instead of Quito-Iquitos-Lima. This turned out to be almost half price! Only thing i had to do was to take a bus from Quito to Lima an then fly. The bus is cheap and you also get a good view! If you think twice you will have a lot of money to save.
Then it was time to think about what to bring, how long to be in Malaria areas, the size of the backpack and so on. I wont go into details here, but if you have questions, please leave a comment if it is for this post and otherwise leave a comments or question in the guestbook.
I knew i would be in Quito almost for a month, so i began requesting places to stay on Couchsurfing and also looking for hostels. It turned out that my friend who i rented a room from in NYC, had a friend who moved to Quito, Ecuador. I then send her an email and she gave me the details on how to get to her apartment when i arrived in Quito. I could rent a room here which was probably the cheapest accommodation i could find. Until two days before my departure, i had absolutely no idea where to stay for the first night or how to get out of the airport safe at night.
For some reason i had ordered a flight that left Copenhagen at 6am and i would arrive in Quito at 11pm. I don't remember why i did this..
Pretty dumb that i had to wake up in the middle of the night and then come to Quito almost at midnight all alone. Maybe i was tired when i ordered the ticket, maybe i was too excited about finally getting the tickets so i wasn't aware of it or maybe it was just the cheapest ticket.
So i figured out where to start. Then i googled for a while trying to find a good spanish school. Tripadvisor.co.uk is your best friend here! There is a lot of reviews on different spanish schools. I also used Tripadvisor to choose a company for the Machu Picchu trek.
Now that i found a spanish school and a place to stay i tried to plan how to get to the village where i signed up for volunteering. It turns out that i had to fly into Iquitos in northern Peru to get there. Going from Quito to Iquitos and out of Iquitos again can be very expensive. I was just about to order some tickets when i decided to try a return flight from Lima-Iquitos instead of Quito-Iquitos-Lima. This turned out to be almost half price! Only thing i had to do was to take a bus from Quito to Lima an then fly. The bus is cheap and you also get a good view! If you think twice you will have a lot of money to save.
Then it was time to think about what to bring, how long to be in Malaria areas, the size of the backpack and so on. I wont go into details here, but if you have questions, please leave a comment if it is for this post and otherwise leave a comments or question in the guestbook.
Advice:
If you want to volunteer in South America, try to look on http://volunteersouthamerica.net/
Start by pressing "read more" and read it! afterwards you will know what to do. It is a great site with a lot of different volunteer options where they don't rip you off. Otherwise there is sites like http://helpx.net/
http://workaway.info/
http://www.wwoof.org
If you travel alone, couchsurfing is a great way to meet people. It is a community where you get to meet people from all over the world and stay on their couches. Even if you have a hostel, you can still meet up with some local people who might take you out for a cup of coffee, their favorite restaurant etc.
Diabetes:
I have to board my flight soon and therefore i don't have time to write more. I will make a post soon where i will let you know what preparations i had to do for my diabetes.
Am i ready?
Well. I have packed everything, got all the medication i need etc. I should be ready, but right now it seems very surrealistic and weird that i am going to a country where i know no one and don't really speak the language. I didn't really have the time to sit down and imagine what will happen when i'm there. Well, now i'm in the airport waiting for my first flight out of three. I guess i will have enough time to préparez myself for this travel.
Sunday, November 4, 2012
The brief and boring introduction
Hey all!
I created this blog for friends, family, strangers and myself. Hopefully you will be able to follow my travels in South America. I am a 19 year old male from Copenhagen, Denmark. Since i finished high school i have been working for a year and then i dedicated this year for traveling. My plan was to go to NYC from August and the following 2-3 months and then go to South America.
In June 2012 i got Diabetes type 1. I still wanted to travel, but i could not get the insurance to go to NYC in August, i had to wait until my Diabetes was stable. Then i found out that i could get insured in Europe. So i went of with a friend for a hitchhiking trip for 45 days (end of July-beggining of September). When i came home i was finally able to get my insurance and go to New York for 40 days. Next adventure will be traveling in South America.
I feel a bit silly making a blog and a lot like a hipster, lol, but i thought this was the easiest way to let people know that i am still alive and i am (hopefully) having a good time. I will be writing about my experiences along the way and a bit about my diabetes. I will try to update the blog, but it is not a promise :)
Next update will probably be a bit more interesting :)
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