Latest Articles
- $7,035.57 = How much it costs to travel around the world through nine countries over five and a half months
- Revisited: How to pack for an independent traveler with no set return date
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- Beijing to Ulaanbataar Mongolia: The nitty gritty of independent travel
- How to get Chinese and Russian visas as a United States citizen: My experience
- Writing assignment: "Inside The Candelaria Festival of Puno, Peru"
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- Legendary Vagabonder Rolf Potts with priceless advice on travel
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Latest Destinations
- Romania: WWOOFing in Transylvania and back to the US
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- Istanbul, and a few tips on curing impotency from the Hittites
- Giant carved heads, incredible valleys, camping on the Mediterranean, and a heavy dose of Roman ruins
- Lessons from a Kurdish-Swede rapper about Kurdistan, and finally getting my hands on an AK-47
Peru
The Lost Photos, and gastrointestinal deluge in the Peruvian Andes (Huaraz)
Written by Tyler Cole | 01 August 2010
A few months removed since returning from my trip from Peru to Michigan overland, I realized that I had a gap in the photos from my time there: Huaraz. Although it was a stunningly beautiful part of Peru (about 9 hours by bus north of Lima) set in the Cordillera Blanca, one of the highest parts of the Andes, my enjoyment there was limited by a fairly severe bowel assault by bacteria. I was staying in a comfortable guesthouse owned by the aunt of a young guy who I met on the bus to Huaraz, and he finagled a private room at a rock bottom price of about 3 dollars a night, so I was in no hurry to leave. However, only a day and half into being there the intestinal hoopla began.
I was only able to explore some ruins from the Huari culture called Wilcahuaín a bit north of the city, take a hike to some hot springs, and venture up to a lagoon in the mountains. I don’t recall the name of the lagoon since that was when the fever and chills began and my concerns drifted.
Last few days in Peru: Sun and mountains
Written by Tyler Cole | 14 March 2010
After departing from the south of Peru, there were a few places I wanted to visit on the way up toward Ecuador. The first stop was in the jaw-dropping Cordillera Blanca in the town of Huaraz, which I only got a quick peek at before I got a pretty nasty stomach infection as well as an infection on my flash drive and lost all of my pictures. A few days in bed and a few antibiotics later I got over to Trujillo, and old colonial town on the coast where I Couchsurfed with a colorful girl from there (lost pictures from there too, minus a few). I next hopped up to Máncora, an overrun and overpriced beachtown that I got out of after a failed attempt at surfing and staring at too many ridiculously tanned tourists. The next and final stop in Peru was another, more tranquil beach town called Zorritos where I pitched my tent and got some R&R on a deserted beach before skipping to Ecuador.
Salcedo, home of the Childrens´ Village/Orphanage
Written by Tyler Cole | 14 February 2010
As part of some field reconnaissance with Project Suyana, I took a day detour to Salcedo to visit an orphange. A few minutes´ ride from the Puno, the orphange was located in an idyllic valley. There were also some ancient carvings (pinturas rupestres) from the Tiwanaku culture that I visited in the area, and the pictures of the orphanage and the carvings are below.
Huañuscuro, the beautiful bellybutton of the Peruvian countryside
Written by Tyler Cole | 14 February 2010
Venturing away from the Old Folks´ Home in Chucuito, I found myself in the small village of Huañuscuro along the Peruvian countryside with my host Julio (the link is to his "A glimpse in the thoughts of...") doing a bit of field research to gauge community interest in clean-burning stoves for Project Suyana (check out the site for the health and social justice reasons we are pursuing sustainable, clean-burning stove technology). Nestled along the fertile Lake Titikaka pampa, I had wanted to visit the Peruvian countryside for a while now and was not disappointed. The name of the village comes from the Aymara word for bellybutton, cururu, which was given to the village since it´s hills resemble an umbilical cord emerging from the Andean plateau into Lake Titikaka.
Puno, and the jaw-dropping Fiesta de la Candelaria
Written by Tyler Cole | 09 February 2010
Over the past few weeks, Puno has been a kind of home base for my work with Project Suyana. Known as the folkloric capital of Peru, it certainly didn´t let down in that respect during the celebration of the Virgin of the Candelaria. I asked a few people what exactly the Virgin did, and I mostly got vague responses related to her protecting the city in a war with Bolivia and curing illnesses. In any case she is religiously important for the syncretic Peruvian Catholics and presents an opportunity to dance in the streets in elaborate costumes and get blindingly drunk, which most of the people dancing in the parade and waching the parade very much were.
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