Questions Answered

Thanks James and Michele for your questions. I’ll answer them as best I can.

1. Where are you heading to after South America?

Here are my plans for the near future, in brief:
After Brazil, I plan to ride the “death train” across the pantanal and into Santa Cruz, Bolivia. I know I’ve been to Bolivia multiple times already, but there’s still some more adventurous stuff I want to do there. Yes, Bolivia is that great of a place to visit.

When I’m done with Bolivia, I’ll head past Lake Titicaca and into Peru for the fourth time (Peru is another great country to visit). There’s a couple highlights there that I still haven’t gotten a chance to do (most notably the Huayhuash Circuit).

Next, I’ll go north to Ecuador, where I only spent a week last time around. During my time there, I plan to go to the Galapagos Islands. When I get back to the mainland, I’ll cross through Colombia and Venezuela and go all the way down to Angel Falls, which will complete a near circle of most of the continent that I started when I went to Roraima in Venezuela last November.

After that I will probably jump over to Cartagena, Colombia and get a boat around the Darien Gap and into Panama. From there, I’m just a hop, skip, and a jump (through eight countries) from the US!
I don’t really know how long all of this will take, but I almost certainly won’t be back in the US until 2008. Of course, these are just plans. Who knows, maybe I’ll end up on a yacht to some remote Pacific island. After this trip, I don’t have any major plans other than to get a job and start saving money again.

2. I’m very interested in traveling and want to do pretty much exactly what your doing. How do you even start about doing this?

For starters you need money. I’m sure you’re quite young since you’re in high school, which is a good thing in this case because you have lots of time. I know it sounds way too simple, but the key to saving money is to spend less than you make. When I graduated from college I had almost nothing, but soon I got a job that paid good money. Saving was no problem for me because my lifestyle was simple so I didn’t spend much. When I thought I had enough money to take a few years off, I quit.

If you want to go to college, you’ll probably have to put off traveling for awhile (unless you study abroad – an excellent option), but you should be rewarded when you graduate with a higher-paying job than you would have had if you didn’t go. Either way, eventually you’ll have a job and will be able to start saving.

Your friends will be in the same situation as you, but they’ll probably start buying big houses, fancy cars, expensive clothing, etc, but if long-term travel is really your goal, you shouldn’t do any of this (one possible exception is buying a house – maybe). Don’t go into debt, start putting aside whatever money you can, and eventually you’ll have enough to go. While you’re doing this, doing some research will help keep you motivated to save.

3. Did you just buy a ticket, fly down there, and that was that?

Pretty much, yes. But looking back, I wish I would’ve done a little more research on some specific destinations. For the most part, I got my timing right by hitting Patagonia in the summer, but since then I’ve done some major backtracking that has cost me time and money. The reason I didn’t do any research was because I wanted to be spontaneous, but I guess there has to be a balance between spontaneity and knowing where you’re going. You should at least try to get to your destinations at the right seasons.

The good thing is that if you don’t know much about where you’re going until you get there, you’ll probably meet a lot of people who will give you good info once you get started. Everywhere I go, the locals and other backpackers tell me where they’ve been and what’s good to see and do there. This is a better source of knowledge than any book can give you.

4. I’m very interested in Africa-do you suggest that to be a good place to travel around?

I think anywhere is a good place to travel around. I haven’t been to Africa, but I’ve met a lot of people who have gone there and enjoyed it. Many people rave about countries like South Africa, Madagascar, Kenya, Morocco, Tunisia, and Egypt just to name a few. I recently met a guy from Gabon and his surfing photos looked amazing. It will be a good idea to learn some French if you want to go there. French is widely spoken in 29 countries in Africa.

A lot of people will tell you that Africa is too dangerous, and of course there are some countries that are so war-torn you definitely shouldn’t visit them (Sudan, for example). The problem I have with taking other peoples’ advice about visiting another country is that in most cases, that person has never actually been there. Almost everyone at home told me South America was dangerous, yet most of those people have never even left the US. Most of the places I’ve visited have been very safe, and even the more dangerous ones can be safe as long as you use your head. To figure out where exactly you want to go in Africa (after all, the continent has over fifty countries), I’d start reading travel books and web sites based on African travel.

Another option if you really want to go to Africa but don’t have money is to join the Peace Corps. It’s a big commitment, but I’ve met many workers who have enjoyed it. And after all, Africa probably needs more help than any other region of the world.

Email me if you have more questions. Considering the amount of time I’ve spent traveling, I obviously think it’s a good thing, and am willing to help you reach your travel goals as well.

1. What one thing you wish you had brought from US?

When I first started my trip, I wished I had brought some warm clothes. I figured Peru was near the equator, so it would be hot all the time there. I didn’t even bring a long sleeved shirt. That plan backfired bigtime. Most of my time in the country was spent at high altitude, where it got really cold at night, so I had to buy a bunch of warm clothing while I was there. Still, I think I only spent about $15 for a shirt, gloves, hat, and scarf, so it wasn’t that bad.

Sometimes I wish I had brought some camping gear, but then I realize that I would only have used it for maybe two weeks out of my whole trip, so it wouldn’t have been worth it.

This list is small, which taught me an important lesson about traveling: I can easily buy just about anything from anywhere in the world without much trouble, and other than electronic equipment, it will probably be much cheaper than in the US. Therefore, it’s better to start out with only the stuff you know you’ll use and acquire the little things you didn’t think to bring after you’re there and you know you’ll use them.

2. What things you should not have brought?

Luckily, this list was really small for me too. I was surprised to find that I didn’t use my binoculars at all. I thought they would come in really handy, but every time I wanted to see something far away, I just used my camera’s telephoto lens. The other thing I regretted bringing was my walking stick/monopod. I never used it as a monopod because I found that the best time to use a monopod is when shooting sports, which I haven’t done yet. I almost never used it as a walking stick because it didn’t seem to help me much, although I must point out that a lot of other people find using one or two sticks very useful when trekking. I ended up sending both items back home after I was gone for three months.

3. What one thing are you most glad you brought?

Of course I’m glad I brought some underwear, but that’s probably not what you meant. For items that I considered leaving behind but still ended up bringing, I’d have to say my laptop and my SLR camera. I know that’s two items, but I just can’t see my trip being even remotely similar to what it’s been so far without either of them. I use my laptop nearly every day to update my blog and look at photos. I don’t use my SLR camera quite as often, but I’ve taken around 15,000 pictures with it since leaving, many of which simply would not have been possible with a small point and shoot camera.

4. Night scene?

Argentina easily has the best night scenes I’ve ever experienced. Restaurants don’t even open until 8:00 PM here, and most people don’t eat until 10. Steak seems to be the national religion here. You can get a huge cut of whatever type of meat you want at any restaurant, and it has a reputation for being the best beef in the world. The best part is that a steak meal in a restaurant can cost as little as $5. Red wine is almost always served with dinner, and it’s some of the best wine in the world. I think the only reason Argentine wine hasn’t gotten a better reputation is that the local people drink so much of it that there isn’t much of a need to export it.

The culture is so laid back here that people don’t go out to clubs until 1 or 2 in the morning. I don’t even know when they close here yet because I usually want to go to bed by 7:00 AM, when the clubs are still going strong. The other thing is that anyone from 18 to 70 can go out at all hours of the night and have a good time without feeling too old or young.

5. Smoking?

One downside of Argentina is smoking. I think everywhere I’ve ever visited, people smoke more than in the US, but it’s taken to another level here. People smoke in bus stations, shopping malls, Internet cafes, beauty salons, and basically wherever else they want to. Cigarettes only cost 63 cents per pack here, so I guess I can see why it’s so popular. It’s definitely not a good place to go if you want to quit.

6. How are bars, clubs,disco (Whatever they call them there)

This goes along with the night scene question, but the clubs, discos, or boliches (people use all 3 names, but the last one is the funniest because it means “bowling alley” in Mexico) are great. They don’t get going until 2:00 AM and stay open until everyone leaves, which seems to be never. Drinks are usually expensive ($2-3 per mixer), so most people just go there to dance. The drinking age is 18 here, just like most of the world, which means that a lot of young people go out late. Still, people of all ages go to the clubs here.

7. Just curious, have you run into people/back packers from countries other than Western Europe, Australia/New Zealand and US?

You listed most of them, but a few other common ones are Canada, South Africa, Japan (although most aren’t backpackers), and especially Israel. Everywhere I go, I run into a lot of Israelis. In Israel, military service is required for men for 3 years and women for 2, and when they get out, they almost always travel somewhere. It seems like half of Israel is in South America now. They usually travel in large groups, and even though they all speak English, it’s really hard to break into their social circles. At hostels, there are the Israelis and Everyone Else. However, I should point out that the few Israelis I’ve met who were traveling alone were nice and more social with non-Israelis.

I also meet a fair amount of people from other Latin American countries like Mexico, Chile, Brazil, and Argentina. In Argentina especially, I meet a lot of Argentines. They understandably love traveling around their own country, and it’s summer here, so a lot of people have vacation time. In Buenos Aires, I think I met more Brazilians than any other nationality.

9. Are you sick of traveling yet?

No, I don’t think it’s something I’ll ever get sick of. I like to take a few days to relax every now and then, but I always get a feeling of adventure whenever I go somewhere new. In fact, I think I’m just getting started with the whole traveling thing. It might be nice to take a small break and head back home for awhile at some point, though.

10. What is the difference between Argentina and Patagonia?

Patagonia isn’t a country. It’s the name for the area at the south of both Argentina and Chile. Where Patagonia begins is debatable. Chileans usually say that it begins after the island of Chiloe, and Argentines think that it starts around Bariloche, which is much further north. Sometimes Tierra del Fuego, the chain of islands at the bottom of the continent, is considered part of Patagonia, but usually it isn’t. So when I mention Patagonia, I’m really just talking about southern Chile and Argentina, but I don’t want to keep repeating the same words over and over.

11. Machu Picchu – How far did you walk each day on the hike in?

The total walk was about 40 KM and lasted four days. Day 1 was easy because most of it was spent driving to the start of the trail. I think we only hiked for about 4 hours with frequent breaks. Day 2 was the hardest because we had to cross the First Pass, which was at around 4200 meters altitude if I recall correctly. We probably walked for a total of about 8 hours that day. Day 3 took ten hours or so, but it was easy walking for the most part. Day 4 took only about 2 hours to walk from camp to Macchu Picchu and was very easy. Once we got there, we had a walking tour that lasted about 2 hours, but it took about 6 hours for me to see the whole complex.

If you’re asking this question because you’re thinking about doing it and want to know how challenging it will be, it is fairly tough, but very rewarding, and you can probably do it even if you’re not in great shape. The biggest issue is the altitude. It’s very important to rest in Cusco for a few days before beginning the Inca Trail so you have some time to get acclimatized. If you don’t like the idea of carrying 20 pounds of gear with you, you can hire a personal porter to carry your stuff so you’ll only need to carry a camera and a bottle of water. The guides are very patient with people who need extra time, so as long as you are in decent shape, it will be challenging, but not impossible.

Another option to see Machu Picchu is to take the train directly there from Cusco. A lot of the backpackers I met did this because it is a lot cheaper than hiking the Inca Trail. I’m still glad I took the Trail, though. I got to see ruins along the way and learned about the Inca culture from a knowledgeable guide. I think this added to the experience of seeing Machu Picchu because I knew what it, and the people who built it, were all about. It also gave me a sense of accomplishment because after 4 days of hiking, I was rewarded with the biggest and most beautiful ruins site I have ever seen, while the people who took the train didn’t have to do any work to get there.

Economy:

1. What do most local people do for a living?

It seems that three out of every four people are entrepreneurs. Some have restaurants, others have general stores, still others have Internet cafes. I even met one lady who wanted to make some extra money, so she set up a grill at the door to her house and started cooking hamburgers. Other than in rich neighborhoods, almost every house has some sort of business run out of the front area, which is why everything is so available. In the US, we have residential, commercial, and industrial zones. These zones can’t be combined, so it is impossible to sell, for example, eggs, bread, and milk from your living room. However, in Latin America, this is done all the time, so everything you need is within walking distance. The entrepreneurs seem to make up the middle class here.

Rich people tend to work for big companies, just like in the US. They drive to work and oftentimes live in gated communities. Poor people are farmers, housekeepers, home builders (building a house barley requires any skills because the houses are so simple here), and similar occupations. Note that when I say “rich” and “poor,” I’m talking about their standards, not ours. According to our standards, almost everyone is poor.

2. Do people leave tips?

Tipping is almost never done, except in nice restaurants and on guided tours. Even when you do tip in a restaurant, it’s not a standard 15% like it is in the US. Rather, you usually just give them the change. For example, if a meal for four people costs 48 boliviano’s, you might just give them a fifty and tell them to keep the change. You never tip taxi drivers, bar tenders, or anyone else for that matter. I think tipping in general is only something that is done to any great extent in the US. Even in Europe, it’s not common at all.

Odds and Ends:

3. What is the weather like?

The biggest factor that seems to determine the weather is the altitude. Out of the first eight weeks of my travels, I spent seven weeks above 2000 meters, six weeks above 3000 meters, and three weeks above 4000 meters. At 2000 meters, it gets pretty chilly at night, at 3000 meters, it’s time to break out the sleeping bag because a few blankets won’t do, and at 4000 meters, the temperature at night hovers around 0 degrees Celsius (32 degrees Fahrenheit). Go much above 4000 meters, as I have done a few times, and it stays below freezing, even during the day. If you ever go to 5000 meters, as I have for a total of about two days, the temperature is permanently below freezing. I was completely unprepared for this when I started my trip. I figured I’d be in the tropics, so it wouldn’t get too cold. I was way off. I have bought a winter hat, gloves, scarf, and long sleeve shirt since leaving. When you go to a high altitude, it’s going to be cold, even if you’re on the equator.

4. What did you like better about Peru than Bolivia and vice versa?

Peru has a lot more archaeological sites than Bolivia, including Machu Picchu, which I think is the most amazing one in all of the Americas. Peru also has much better roads than Bolivia. The only time I road on a non-paved road in Peru was from Arequipa to the Colca Canyon. In Bolivia, where dirt and gravel roads are the norm, you should count your lucky stars if the road you are on is actually paved. On the same subject, the buses are much better in Peru. Some of the buses can be pretty bad, but if you pay just a little bit more, you can have a nice, comfortable ride, with little chance of breaking down. In Bolivia, it’s impossible to get a nice bus between most cities, no matter how much money you pay. Not only that, but the buses break down and have Bolivia’s much more frequently.

The main thing I like better about Bolivia is how much more adventurous it is. When you get on a bus that’s supposed to take an hour, it could take anywhere from thirty minutes (if he driver has a death wish) to six hours (if you have a Bolivia or run into any road blocks or riots). Tours are often organized at the last minute, so the entire itinerary can change at a moment’s notice. Small towns generally have no modern-day conveniences like electricity or running water. You just never know what’s going to happen next until it happens. Bolivia is also much cheaper than Peru, which itself is a very cheap country.

Possibly the best thing I like about Bolivia over Peru is the quality of the napkins. In Peru, the napkins are tiny little pieces of paper, barely visible to the naked eye. If you have more than one micro liter of material to clean from your face, they are completely useless. Not only that, but it takes a lot of begging and pleading to get a second one. However, in Bolivia, the napkins are almost as good as the ones in the USA. It’s like when Peru opened their napkin factory, they were too lazy to manufacture their own napkins, so they just bought a bunch from Bolivia and started shredding them up.

5. What’s the deal with coca leaves?

I often talk about drinking mate de coca or sucking on coca leaves. Some of you probably think I’m a drug addict now. The thing is, when Americans hear the word “coca,” they immediately think “cocaine.” While coca leaves can eventually be combined with other chemicals and reformulated to make cocaine, the leaves themselves are a far cry from the drug.

Coca leaves have many uses: they help with altitude sickness, they can be used to suppress one’s appetite, and they can be combined with water to make a tasty beverage to share with your friends. This is why people use them so often when trekking through the mountains, working in the mines, and socializing on a Friday afternoon. Just about the only thing they don’t do is get you high.

It seems to me that Americans think coca leaves are cocaine because the government wants them to think that way. Americans use about half the world’s supply of cocaine, so the government has tried to eradicate the problem at its source. Countries like Bolivia grow lots of coca leaves, so the American government pays the Bolivians to destroy their crops. Of course, that just makes the problem worse because the Bolivians see that growing and destroying coca crops will make them big money, and more crops pop up than there previously were. Then, the worst thing happens: Bolivians think, “Wow, I was just selling these leaves to the local people for next to nothing, but if I can figure out how to make them into cocaine, I can make a lot more money.” Because of this, the “war on drugs” that the American government has started has not only not fixed the problem, but it’s made it worse, not just in the US, but in other countries such as Bolivia as well. Getting Americans to stop using so many drugs, a solution that might actually work, is something the government hasn’t been successful at. So no, I’m not on cocaine, and coca leaves actually taste pretty good when mixed with a little sugar.

6. Does the sky look different there?

Thanks, Paul! You were the first person to ask me that question. I have been blown away by how different the sky is here. When I started my trip, I was near the equator, so the sun moved directly overhead during the day. My whole life, the sun was always in the south at around noon; here, it’s right over me. In fact, if I look down and see that I have no shadow, I know it’s noon. The days don’t get much longer or shorter throughout the year, either. There are about twelve hours of daylight every day, year round.

The sky looks different at night, too. I’m not an expert at this, but a few of the constellations from the northern hemisphere, such as Orion, are still visible here. However, most of them, including the Big Dipper, can’t be seen. Instead, the most famous constellation in the southern hemisphere is the Southern Cross, which isn’t visible from home. Another big difference is that the moon fills in differently here. In the north, the crescent moon is on the side, but here, it’s on the bottom.

It seems that most people don’t notice these things, so when I point them out to other travelers, they just give me a blank stare like I’m crazy, especially if they’re Australian. Still, now that I know that at least one person cares, I’ll put it here.

7. Have you thought in Spanish?

Yes, that happens more and more often now. I think in Spanish, I dream in Spanish, and sometimes, I even talk in Spanish to people I know only understand English. Still, my Spanish isn’t perfect. I thought it was coming along quite well until I got to Chile, where the dialect is so different, it might as well be its own language. It’s also not a good idea to stay in a hostel where everyone speaks English if you want to learn Spanish. Or write your blog in English. For these reasons, I’ll probably never be completely fluent in Spanish, even after traveling for a year through Latin America.

8. What’s up with all of these people you keep meeting?

I meet people from across the globe almost ever day here. A few of them are students at nearby universities, some are on holiday for month or so, others just finished college and are traveling for as long as they can before needing to get a job, and still others are people like me who saved money and quit their jobs.

People who travel are of a very wide range of ages. The youngest person I have met was 20, and the oldest was 70. The majority of travelers are in their 20′s, but a lot of older people travel, too. The strange thing is that nobody seems to care how old other people are. I guess normally, being the same age as someone else is the main thing people have in common to break the ice, but here, it’s sharing the experiences of traveling, so age doesn’t matter as much. In fact, the most interesting people I have met have been those who were decades older than me and had been all around the world.

The people I meet are generally from Western Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada, but I also meet a few from Asia and other South American countries as well. It’s not unusual for me to hear people speaking Spanish, English, French, German, and Australian on any given day. The only people I don’t meet very often are fellow Americans, which brings up another interesting question…

9. Why don’t more Americans travel?

I think there are several reasons why Americans don’t travel more often, the biggest being the lack of vacation time in the US. In Europe, most people get at least a month of vacation every year, and having six to eight weeks off is not uncommon. In the US, two weeks is the standard. In fact, most people want to take off the last week of the year to spend the holidays with their families, so that only leaves one more week for the entire year to travel somewhere. You can’t go to South America in a week. That’s not even enough time to get to know a big city, let alone a country or an entire continent. So, most Americans never venture too far from home.

Another reason Americans don’t leave the country often is because it is so big and there is so much to see there. New York City, San Francisco, Miami, the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone Park, Alaska, and Hawaii are just a few of the major tourist destinations that our country has. Not only that, but it’s easy to get there. Other than Alaska and Hawaii, Americans can drive there, and they don’t need to worry about getting a passport or visa, learning another language, or dealing with culture shock. With only week a year to travel somewhere, you could easily spend your whole life just getting to know the United States.

Finally, Americans don’t travel much because of the live-to-work culture that exists there. Amazingly, one out of every three paid vacation days in the US doesn’t even get used. People are worried that if they leave the office, they’ll fall behind with their jobs. I hate to say it, but they’re right. Back when I had a job, whenever I went away for a week, I spent my entire first day back answering emails. Then I spent the rest of the week catching up with all of the work I missed so I could still make my deadlines. It’s even common for Americans to take their laptops with them on vacation so they can check their email when they are gone. That doesn’t sound like a vacation at all. It’s actually more stressful to leave the office for a week than to stay, so a lot of people choose to stay and not to use their vacation time.

I even tried to take a leave of absence from my job, but was denied. I was told that it wasn’t in the company’s best interest. Here I was, a talented young software engineer who wanted to take some time off and broaden his horizons, and it somehow wasn’t in their best interest. What did they have to lose? I wasn’t asking for money. It only would’ve cost them a few dollars to maintain me in their records. Instead, they lost me forever. When I get back, I’m going to have countless business contacts from all over the world, and I’ll have a deep understanding of Latin American business and culture. The experience and knowledge I will have gained will translate into major earning potential for myself and whoever I end up working for. The worst thing is, if I had said that I was burned out from all of the stress of my job (which would’ve been a lie), I easily would’ve gotten a leave of absence. Companies in America are used to hearing that they have worked their employees to the brink of insanity. They are not used to hearing that someone who works for them might actually want to have a life outside of work. (Sorry for the rant.)

10. Why didn’t you buy a Round-The-World ticket?

Of the people I meet who are traveling for more than a few months, most have round-the-world (RTW) tickets. These tickets usually can be purchased for around $2000 and allow you to fly to four or five continents and take several flights within each of the continents. They are fairly flexible in the dates you can fly. You just have to get to a city a few days beforehand, let the airline know that you want to fly, and they’ll fit you on a flight that still has room. The standard length for an RTW ticket is a year, but some people go for as few as six months or as many as sixteen.

I thought about buying an RTW ticket, but decided against it because I didn’t want to be in too much of a hurry. You’re probably laughing now and thinking that you could easily see everything in the world in a year without being in a hurry. Well, you can’t. In fact, our lifespans aren’t long enough to see everything. You have to pick and choose your destinations, RTW ticket or not.

The thing is, people with RTW tickets really seem to be in a hurry. They never want to take a day off and just relax because it would be a waste of time. They won’t ride buses during the day for more than a few hours because they don’t want to waste that day. I barely sleep when on overnight buses and end up walking around like a zombie the whole next day because I’m too tired, so I don’t mind so much taking the bus during the day. I can easily travel for two or three weeks while moving fast and not sleeping much, but beyond that, I crash. I don’t enjoy having to move so fast.

The thing that finally told me that an RTW ticket wasn’t for me was the fact that I wanted to see the whole continent. People with RTW tickets generally only get to spend three months or so in South America, so they only see three or four countries, and only travel around the big cities because they have to catch another flight every few weeks. I wanted to see Machu Picchu, Ushuia, Iguazu Falls, Buenos Aires, etc, and there’s no way I could have seen all of them on a RTW ticket.

Of course, the advantage of having an RTW ticket is that you get to see much more of the world, whereas I’m only going to get to see one continent. Years from now, I’ll have lots of stories about traveling for a year, but I sill won’t have been to Australia, Asia, or Africa. If you’re thinking about buying an RTW ticket, the biggest question you have to ask yourself is “Do I want breadth or depth?”

About a week ago, Rohit asked some interesting questions. I don’t think everyone will see the answers if I responded by commenting, so I’ll create an entry just for the answers.

1) what people(hostel and places you visit) think of US of A?
Generally, most of the travelers I have met don’t have a problem with Americans. They understand that it’s a very big country with lots of people, and they don’t judge you by where you’re from. I’ve learned to do the same with them.

Local people seem to like us too, but of course, we also support them with tourist dollars. However, I don’t think they differentiate much between western cultures, either. I have a really hard time convincing them that I’m not rich, though. They see someone who could afford a plane ticket so South America and assume that they are made of money. Still, it’s a touchy subject. In many ways, we are rich. We have so much more than most people I meet. People just don’t understand how expensive our country is and that most people in the US are barely getting by.

The thing I don’t like is how a lot of people dress up in traditional clothes just to try and make a living when tourists take pictures of them. I worked hard at a real job for several years to save up for this trip, and a lot of people think that I somehow owe them money just because they are dressed a certain way. I actually have caved and payed off a few of the people in some of my pictures, but usually I avoid taking the photo altogether. Once again, it’s a touchy subject, one that I don’t normally discuss with people I meet, but most tourists seem to resent paying for photographs when so many people here work so hard doing real jobs.

2) What people think of George Bush
This may come as a big surprise, but most of the locals I have met don’t really talk about him one way or another. They’d rather talk about their own country’s politics.

The few who have talked about Bush have said that he’s crazy. One taxi driver in Arequipa told me that a private company in the USA was contracting with Peruvians to go to Iraq and help out. They were offering work Visas in the USA if they stayed in Iraq for a year. A lot of local people were killed because of the temptation of a better life. Of course, a lot of it might not be true, but it was still an interesting discussion.

The travelers I talk to, including the Americans, almost universally hate him. It’s almost become such a given that he’s a horrible person that it doesn’t even come up in discussions often. The only thing that bothers me is that a few people I’ve met have said that they won’t travel to the USA anymore because they don’t agree with the politics there. Of course, they still are willing to go to Peru, where Fujimori, the country’s last president, is now in exile in Japan after getting caught stealing millions of dollars. I just don’t see how you can exclude ever going to a country simply because you disagree with its politics.

3) Iraq war comes to discussion?
The answer is almost the same as the Bush answer, except there is more of an “I told you so” attitude among the Europeans I talk to. The Brits sometimes say something like “What’s done is done, leaving now won’t help,” but almost everyone I talk to is against it. This doesn’t exactly mean that everyone in the world is against it because I haven’t met a microcosm of the world. People who travel to South America for several months at a time generally have a more hippie-like attitude towards world politics than people in general.

So generally, the answer to the first three questions is that most people don’t have a problem with Americans in general, but they do hate Bush and are very against the Iraq war.

4) Any regrets, yet
I wish I would have started in Ecuador instead of Peru. Apparently, Ecuador has everything Peru has, and it’s in a lot smaller area. Also, I completely missed out on the northern part of Peru, which still has a lot to see and is less touristy than the south. Still, I had a good reason for choosing to start with Peru: I had to be in Cusco a month after I started my trip for the Inca Trail. I didn’t want to be too far away and risk missing the deadline, so I started in Lima to be safe.

I also wish I would have visited Ica between my visits to Pisco and Nazca. I thought it was just a desert town without much to see, so I skipped it. However, everyone I’ve talked to who has been there has loved it. Riding the dune buggies and going sandboarding have been the highlights of most peoples’ trips. I guess you can’t do everything, though. Or, maybe I’ll still get a chance to do those things at the end of my trip.

5) Any light bulb or aha moments? something like intresting thats what they do because….(I agree may be I overread some of this, but some stuff you run into that is just different and you will remember)

The biggest thing I’ve noticed is how labor-intensive this culture is. What I mean by that is that a lot of stuff that would be automated in our society is done manually here. For example, in the bus-vans they have here, there is always one guy driving and another guy shouting where they are going out the window and collecting money. This guy wouldn’t exist in our culture, but labor is so cheap here, you might as well have him.

Another example is the number of police officers whose only job is to change the traffic lights from red to green or even to stand still and watch people walk past them. The only times cops direct traffic in the US are when the traffic lights fail and at very busy intersections during the busiest time of day, but here they are everywhere, all the time. I don’t think it has to do with crime, either. Sucre, Bolivia, where I’m writing this, feels as safe as anywhere I’ve been in the US, but there are still traffic cops all over.

A final example of human labor being important is doing laundry. There are no laundromats here; there are only “lavandarias.” Instead of having a big room with lots of washers and driers, there is just a lady who has one washer and one drier who does your laundry for you. All you have to do is drop off your clothes, and the next day, they are washed, dried, folded, and neatly put into a bag for you. All of this only costs about $1 per kilo, too. Of course, you have to wait up to a day to get your clothes back, but you don’t have to do any work, either. Once again, I think it comes down to cheap labor. In the First World, we’d rather cut back on labor costs by automating jobs, but in the Third World, automation would mean less jobs available, and it wouldn’t save much money because labor is so cheap.

Now that I’ve answered those questions, I’m going to take the liberty of asking and answering a few more questions.

6. What is your favorite part of the culture you are in?
I love how available everything is. On every block in every city I’ve been to, there are at least two general stores, one restaurant, and one Internet cafe. When I need something, I can almost always find it quickly. And if I need to go further away, taxis are everywhere. I’ve never had to wait more than thirty seconds for one, and I rarely have to pay more than $1.

7. What is your least favorite part of the culture you are in?
There are two things that I equally can’t stand. One of them is the difficulty in changing money. When I get money from an ATM, it gives me all 100′s, and maybe a few 50′s if I’m lucky. Then I try to buy a bottle of water:

Him: “That’ll be one sol.”
Me: “Here’s fifty.”
Him, with disgusted look on his face: “I can’t change that.”

My business has actually been turned away several times because the cashier couldn’t make change. I’ve even had trouble paying with a ten sol note a few times! It’s also very difficult to spend flawed money, especially in Peru. If there is even a small rip, crease, or smudge in the bill, it becomes worthless. That goes for American money, too. Spending money has become such a problem that every day, I go through a painful guess-and-check process of trying to spend my worst bills first.

Me: “Will you take this perfect, crisp, new 100 sol bill?”
Him: “No, I don’t have change.”
Me: “How about this slightly used fifty?”
Him: “It’s barely in good enough condition, but I still don’t have enough change.”
Me: “How about this twenty with a tiny tear on the bottom?”
Him: “I can change a twenty, but I won’t take that one.”
Me: “Fine, take my last five sol coin. Now I’m completely screwed for the rest of the day.”

Luckily, this problem is not nearly as bad in Bolivia as it is in Peru, mainly because the Bolivian 100 is only worth $13 or so, and because Bolivia doesn’t have as big of a problem with counterfeit notes as Peru has.

The other problem I have here is that it seems like every doorway, table, and chair are designed to destroy my head and knees. I can’t enter a room without having to duck considerably. I’ve hit my head on doorways countless times. Tables almost universally have a bar underneath them whose sole purpose is to break my kneecaps when I sit down. Seriously, you could remove the bar and the table would be just as stable. And buses are the worst. On almost every bus I’ve ridden on, my knees are already pressed against the seat in front of me, even under the best possible conditions. But that’s not enough. The seats all recline, and everyone takes advantage. I either have to put my knees in the isle or press them against my face, but they still end up getting smashed. This society has a secret hatred of tall people.

The runners up for the award of “Things I Don’t Like Here” include how loud it is, and how the concept of standing in line has not yet emerged.

So, what other questions do you have for me? I’ll try to answer anything you ask as I get time to do so. Just post a comment in this, or any future blog entry.