Goodbye Children

This particular blog is only to show the pictures of "my children" and me saying goodbye to them, a few days before leaving Ecuador and going back to Holland. I still miss them every day.

Junglefever

Hello people, I'm back. In Holland however. I haven't been keeping up my stories for you to read but I've had other things on my mind and therefore found it difficult to concentrate on writing. . I hope you don't mind that I am writing from my safe office in Holland (and believe me, I know how to distinguish the fine lines between safe, safer and safest by now). Well, after my time in Ambato I decided to go to the Jungle for 4 days. It seemed a good idea at the time....Mmmm, but after a friendly struggle with a tame boa constrictor and a sleepover of at least 30 big cucarachas (cockroaches) and a black scorpion, not to mention the warnings from the guide (that lived much further down the road by the way, so I was completely alone) to watch out for snakes, tigers and bears, I was quite ready to go home (or anywhere else for that matter) again. Imagine spending the nights in a cabaña (a cabine without windows and a roof that's meters higher than were I wanted it to be - so open goal for all my more than two-legged friends). But home was not an option, in the middle of the rainforest, where there was no electricity, no people, no water....

However, it wasn't suffering the whole time, I've seen the heart of the rainforest, going through it with a machete, I have been swimming in waterfalls, I have been golddigging, making my own bracelets from the seeds of fruit. All and all it was very interesting, scarey and lonely. Even if you're very adventurous I wouldn't recommend a trip like this on your own ;-)

Don't worry, I'll be back

Dear readers, I still have so many stories stored in my memory that are nog on this blog yet. But today is my last day in the Don Bosco project and I will have to say goodbye once again to a lot of people. I especially thread saying goodbye to the children. I've grown so fond of them. And as this evening also is my last evening in Ambato I don't want to spend it behind a computer. I want to share these last hours of this day with my family and later with Susanne and Markus, that became very dear friends by this time. Every time when you go away you leave a peace of your heart in beautiful and special places, with beautiful and special people....At least I do. Beautiful suffering I like to call this.

Anyway, tomorrow I will go to the Jungle (Amazone) for a couple of days.
Quite excited about this and a bit scared as well. Spiders and snakes...... After that I will fly back to Holland, so I don't know if I will have the time or opportunity to write or respond before I go back. There are still some subjects I'd like to share on this page for those who are interested. Conclusions of this wonderful trip. For example facts about Ecuador, the difference between Ecuador and Peru, cultural aspects, behaviour, aspects of every day live, differences between Europe and South-America, etc. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to put them as comments on my blog. They will be definitely answered.
See ye soon and take care everybody.

Wednesday morning, walking through the park

A woman begging, a man without legs.

Buying a banana, a hungry face, a grabbing hand, giving away the banana,

Wednesday morning, walking through the park,

buying an apple, to give or to eat?

for how many apples and bananas can you buy

for the dispair to dissapear.

Couldn't I buy a whole park full of apples and bananas?

would that be enough, will it ever be enough?

For the hungry eyes and grabbing hands,

there are no more apples nor bananas

and there within lies the sadness.

Wednesday afternoon, working in the project,

a boy shouting, a girl crying,

giving away love and affection

the most precious parts one posseses.

It's still not enough, but together with the apples and bananas,

it adds up to something,

and there within lies the beauty,

And than... for one small moment,

it all makes sense again.

Beautiful Children....

Children, children, what can you say more about them then that they are beautiful, innocent and not to blame...Look at them on the pictures with their open beautiful faces and their smiles. Who can see they have to bare so much pain and carry it within.......................................
Working almost 5 weeks now in the Don Bosco project I am really hung un them. It's not an easy job at all, I can tell you. But I feel so good with the boys and girls. In the beginning they had to get used to me ofcourse, they didn't ask me to help them with their homework only when I offered. But now when I come in the studyroom, a lot come running to me to hug and kiss me and tell me all kinds of stories, and show me their candy, their new playthings, their schoolwork, while they hang on one of my legs or tickle me. At my table are the most difficult boys and sometimes its almost impossible to maintain peace! They shout, hit each other, throw everything on the floor and in each others faces. Sometimes it's very funny as well. At 14.30 hours we always start with singing very holy songs about Maria, Jesus and God...and really they couldn´t care less, of course, but they have to sing and clap with the nons and us volunteers (Yes, me too, I know my share of holy Spanish now). And they hit eachother while singing how much God loves them and they have to love God, and then bang...., another slap in the face, lalalalala te quiero mi Dios, my Jesus, and then they start to sing really loud and funny to molest the nons, and hit each other some more and then the nons shout at them and they are silent for a minute or 2 and again the whole thing start from scratch........Complete chaos....every time again. Sometimes it's not so funny when they get really angry with one another and they fight really tough. But 5 minutes later they are friends again, sharing sweets and pencils. I have learned that it is almost impossible to teach them anything. For example, I have been working with this girl to get her to learn the table of 1 and 2. She is 10 years old and after 3 hours she still said that 1x0 = 10. They don't write their own language good, they show no interest in learning it themselves. I have chosen to make their homework for them now, after 3 weeks, because as I already explained, their lives exists out of moments and when I make the homework with them and finish it with and for them, their happiness is priceless in that moment. I have tried in the beginning to learn, explain and teach them Mathematics, English, words etc. The interest in the material is so little, there is no beginning nor end. As I found out that they will hardly learn anything or use what they have learned, I decided that it is better to give them their moments of happiness by me showing them how to do something, instead of teaching them by repeating and repeating. I just doesn't work. I rather give them these moments of happiness because I don't know if they will come back the next day (the abuse here is incredible) by being very sweet, understanding and cuddly. I know it's probably not very educative, but it feels much better to do it in this way. Hopefully it changed something somehow in their little innocent lives..... I do love them and hope the best for whatever future they have.....

Proposals on the bus to Cuenca and everywhere else for that matter...

I realized after a weekend well spent in Cuenca, that eventhough I'm 34 years old, I will always stay a bit naive somehow. Last weekend I went to Cuenca, apparantly the most beautiful town of Ecuador. This is 8 hours to the south, by bus. I arrived friday night and found this very nice hostal/restaurant/bar. It's quite difficult to stay alone or without a companion in South-America when you're alone and in Cuenca this proved to be completely impossible. After 5 minutes sitting by myself I got invited to this party in a discotheque, a painter introduced himself and decided to tell me all about his life...and on and on..After an hour or so I got bored and looked a bit around and what do ye know....I saw Philippa, this Scottish girl I met in Cusco.....3000 km further, different country, again I'm meeting someone that I met before!! Wauw...don't know if you can understand how weird that is. Well, we went to a disco, with a bunch of her friends and I danced like Ginger did with Fred, and like Miriam does all the time. The painter (he came as well) obviously wanted a bit more than to paint that evening, but I suggested that painting would suite him (and especially me) much better. His companion then took a shot at me with his dancing abilities, quite good I must admit. Well, I had a very nice time and went home around 04.30 in the morning by cab. The taxidriver asked me if I wanted to be his friend (had to sit in the front), and if we knew eachother better we could get married. I politely declined and said that if I would change my mind I would contact him. In my hostal the guard (every hostal has a guard because it's very dangerous otherwise for the tourists) asked me if I wanted to smoke a cigarette with him (it's a horrible lonely job), so I decided to talk with him for a while, After 3 minutes he told me that he really liked me and that I had beautiful toe-nails with the painted colour. He found my red nails very provocative. I quickly told him that it wasn't red but some kind of pink, but the damage was done; if I wanted to be his girlfriend, he not only liked my nails but everything about me. After I again politely declined he told me that he had no toenails. I thanked him for that information and said that I was really tired and had to go to sleep. He walked me to my room while telling me how he lost his toenails and then I could go to sleep safely..I tried to understand all these funny things and these open man with their needs and I felt I was not bothered nor offended by their proposals at all because it was so funny and kind of sweet that I felt rather touched by how they behaved. Next day, same thing, while visiting the beautiful center of Cuenca (so many nice buildings)...I was offered farms by policeman, marriage by the waiter from the icecreamsalon and more and more... Don't worry, no ring on my finger..In the evening I went out with Philippa again to this very nice cafe with live Cuban music and...dancing, dancing and dancing...Next day had breakfast at T...no twelve with Philippa and a really enjoyed my weekend in Cuenca. I was good that I left on Sunday because after 1 weekend everybody knows how you are if you have been dancing like I have been dancing. Cuenca is really small in that way. On the bus once again I was invited friendship and probably a bit more, I had to change seats this time because he didn't stop. It became harrasing. Even when I changed to another seat, he followed me with notes and (yes, really) with his photo...This time I had to shout a bit : Deja me en paz = leave me alone. Which worked thank God.....After 8 hours of Ecuadorian busdriving I arrived exhausted at 1.30 in the the night in Ambato. Then you have to be really careful which cab you take, if it is a cab in fact....02.00 I was overthinking all these strange offers.......I understand it, but it's still strange, well they are ....South-American man. Goodnight.

The really tough stuff...

Monday, week 3 in the project. Afternoon, helping with homework like every day. Nothing indicates that this day will end differently, for me that is. 16.00 ' o clock..a woman walks in with a boy, Leonardo, that I hadn't seen that day. He normally sits at my table with his brother. I didn't pay much attention at first to her conversation with another volunteer (woman from Ecuador). After I heard the words "hospital, and nearly dead" I couldn't help wanting to know what it was about. I wish I hadn't. The boy lifted his t-shirt and this moonlandscape on his back was available for everyone to see. Mutulated from the beginning till the end of his back. Aparantly his mother had thrown a pan with boiling water over him, without this being an accident. I froze, got nacious and felt really sick. It was the most awfull thing I've ever seen. What hit me the most was that nobody seemed to care much. The other children became a bit more agitated, but the volunteers and teachers didn't give it another thought....After the woman and boy left, everybody went on with their business as usual, like he had just shown his new shoes. I found myself in sort of a shock. I proceeded as well and finished helping this girl with cutting words with gi, ga, gu, gui, ge from a magazine (we also do this) but I lost myself in thinking of the boy. I saw the tears dripping on the white paper on the table with the cutted g-words. I pretended I had to go to the toilet and lost control..The pain he must have felt, not just from the burns, but from the act in itself. I don't want to judge, I don't know what happened, but his own mother...Later I tried to talk about it with the staff but they said that as horrible as it was I had to get used to this. And they went on with cutting little red hearts for Valentine's, the next day. So I started to cut little red hearts as well without feeling what I was doing, and my own heart told me that I should never get used to something like this. I don't ever want to think of this as something normal eventhough I know it happens all over the world. But seeing it from so close up is not the same as knowing. This tiny little body already mutulated for life, his big eyes on my faces while lifting his shirt. Just another monday in Ambato. Happy Valentine tomorrow...

Patience, contemplating and what else...yeah...more patience

Pfff.....what a week and there will be more weeks like this to come. I'm having a bit of trouble in getting my act together. Meaning, nothing really changes here in the sense that you feel like something matters. How to explain this? Futurewise there are like no expectations for the children in the line of work I'm in for the moment. I'm not talking about myself, I'm talking about the children, their parents etc.

There are just moments. Everything consists out of moments. If you use these moments well, you might be able to create future. If not, they just stay moments. Nice moments, good moments, horrible moments......but just moments. Nothing more. Do we need more? I don't know the answer to that. I guess in Europe we do. Here, well if you survive a moment that, at times, is already something, a gift maybe. Life doesn't count that much here in the way that people are upset by death or illness as such. Did I know this, yes I did, but you never know your feelings and reactions towards experiences you didn't have before. So I'm allowing myself some time to inhale it all- Patience...

By the way, who wrote the beautiful anomynous comment on my Don Bosco piece? Answer provided on the phone this morning...My fantastic mother did!

Baños

I went to Baños last weekend. Baños is a small town 45 minutes from Ambato, but it's like another world. Very small town, but very touristic. The same thing that happened in Peru happened to me again. I met the couple (from Austria - see photo) that work in the same project as I do in the streets of Baños. Normally I wanted to go to Cuenca, but decided to go to Baños. They were going to Puyo but eventually decided to go to Baños.....I think I have this angel on my shoulder that doesn't want me to spend my free time on my own..We went to visit the virgen on top of the mountain surrounding Baños. On every mountain top in South-America (slightly exagerating) you'll find either a Jesus or a virgen statue to watch over the village. Very impressive nature again. In the evening we had a lovely dinner (they know how to treat a tourist here :-) and went out in the night to this discotheque that could have easily passed as a sauna. It was so humid that the smell was almost unbearable. So we had to get really drunk to shut down all our smellorgans, but that didn't work. I had a lovely time, dancing with 22-year old boys. And Susanne and Markus are very nice company! Sunday evening we went back on the bus to be dutyful the next weekagain.......

Don Bosco

Monday morning, 8.30 'o clock. Walking to Don Bosco (almost half an hour). I start working at 9.00 'o clock so I'm right on time.. I have no idea what will I'll be awaiting. At nine 'o clock I walked in the door and there was hardly anybody. Later some children arrived and I presented myself and they accepted me helping them with their homework. Joceleyn this lovely 8-year old girl seemed particulary fond of me and we got along real fine. Later at 12.00 we all went down to the kitchen (gaarkeuken). And this was from a complete different order....Al the children that work as bootblackers (schoenpoetsers) and other workers came to get food. I worked in the kitchen from 12.00 till 14.30 and at least 80 children came to get food. Heavy language, already adults with faces of a child, hard but beautiful features, hunger, pain but laughter too. Later after everybody had eaten, at 14.30 the children that came from school in the morning stay untill 17.30 hours in this project to do their homework. This is more or less the procedure : At 14.30 one of the nons comes down (not from heaven but,) from her office and we all have to pray and sing songs about Maria and Jesus. This is all quite new to me, but hé I know songs about Maria now in Spanish. It is rather funny at times, I can see myself singing these songs and it seems quite natural, like I've been doing this a lifetime already... Anyway, after this we (the volunteers) help with the homework of all of the children (about 55). This is quite a hard job, because there is no disciplin whatsoever, the children are shouting all the time, they don't really want to make their schoolwork. They hit each other, they pull the hair of the one setting next to them. They throw everything on the floor without picking it up, they fight and they fight hard. They steal each others things etc. I doesn't really bother me, I didn't expect real disciplined children, as I knew they are abused, hit, screamed at by alcoholic parents and by, god knows who....It's not an easy job but I like it. At the same time they are very sweet and very small also, to me and to each other. All kinds of behaviour will be shown. They hug and kiss me in the same time as they spit on somebody else. And it's all very natural. I was not apauled nor angry, nor suprised. Sometimes I have to shout or to get really angry as well, because there is just no other way. I know that nothing will change by helping, but that's never a reason not to help. I hope it doesn´t sound to hard, but the lives here won't change just because you decided to be this mother Teresa. Their ways are too different, they don't really wont or really need the help either in this way. Still, we have to, because we have everything and they don't. I doesn't affect me either that it is the way it is and that makes me able to help better than if I would feel sorry all the time or if I would feel proud. I don't. I'm there, I do what I can and that's all their is, nothing more, nothing less and that's just good enough. For now....I have been doing this for a week now and I'm quite tired but satisfied in the same time. I deserve a weekend out of Ambato. Going to Baños.....Tell you all about this later on. Comments on working with the children are very welcom !! If anybody has any other ideas, please do not hesitate....

Ambato

Friday the 27th I arrived late at night in Ambato, a town two hours under Quito. De hours don't correspond with the milage. You can imagine that the roads here are not as well paved as in our "fancy Europe". So 30 kilometers is probably an hour of driving, in the mountains, that is. Anyway, I met my new family, who live about 30 minutes walking outside the centre of Ambato; la Señora Fanny, el Señor George and the daughter Soledad (29). First they stalled me in sort of a cellar below the house, very big but without windows and kind of smelly, and after my encounter with this very big spider I decided to ask for a room in the house. This seemed to be no problem, so now I'm safe from anything with more than 4 legs...The next day I had a meeting at 8.00 'o clock in the morning (on a saturday!) with the main sister (moeder overste - non) from the streetchildrens centre to which I will refer to as Don Bosco, because this is the name of the centre. She wasn't there but another non was and we went through my schedule and my tasks. Later I walked a bit in the center and Fanny and Soledad showed me around. Ambato is a town without any tourists therefore no late night sessions....Everything is dead after 22.00 hours. I don't know how I'll manage after Cusco but I will. Sunday we went to Puyo, a town near the rainforrest, so a bit warmer then it is here in the mountains. I really have traveled through all the temperaturezones this journey, seen all kinds of countrysides, from 12 degrees till 45 degrees, from cold and high mountains till hot and dry desserts, sometimes in one day and this is a very akward feeling. Puyo has a few nice sites but I'm not completely smitten by Ecuador yet. Maybe I'm still full of Peru which is an amazing country. But it was a nice day. The other daughter of the family lives here and we barbecued and laughed and I tried to settle in like before in Peru with the family. On the way back to Ambato we got this horrible news about the cousin dying in the car accident in Quito (previous message) and everybody was very upset and sad. Later that evening mother and daughter went to Quito for the funeral the next morning and at the same time there were like 15 members of the family who were visiting the family that night (had nothing to do with the accident), so it was a very strange and straining day, especially for the family. So I tried to console the daughter and helped a bit in the only way that you can when you just know somebody. By beeing understanding and helpfull. Well so far for that weekend....

Something completely different

After having shared a lot of happy stories and adventures, I'd like to take the opportunity to enlighten for your information also the darker side of this continent. Some horrible facts:
- the same night (08-12-05) I arrived at the airport of Lima, a female Japanese tourist was murdered for money on the parkingplace where probably my taxi was waiting for me as well.
- a French lady (francoise) was robbed of her camera, all her money and more valuables, while they were holding a knife to her throat in Colombia, the Peruvian guide (Frank) in Lima was robbed of all his belongings in Bolivia, an Australian guy that a talked to on the beach was robbed of all his precious fotos, passport and everything else in Bolivia, today I heard that the Austrian couple (work in the same orphanage as I do) were robbed of everything as well in a bus coming from the market in Otavalo (Ecuador). I left out the million people that I don't know..................
- while I was in Cusco, three girls were raped in or around the discotheques that I frequented almost every night for the last three weeks. I even know the guy by face how commited one of these rapes (saw his face in the newspaper).
- a German guy was murdered in a cab in Cusco near the orphanage were I worked.
-every day the televison shows busaccidents and I'm not making this up, every time when I read it in the newspaper or see it on the tele, it happened in or around the town I just came from or that I am going to.....
- Sunday last, when I was visiting with my family from Ambato, (I live with them now for the coming 5 weeks) the town of Puyo, on the way back we got this telephone call that the cousin (daughter of the sister of the mam) had died in this horrible car accident in Quito. She was only 20 years old.

So people, considering the fact that I have been travelling nearly 2.800 km in the last few weeks and for my time in Cusco, I'm still safe and doing quite well. Don't let all this news keep you from travelling to this magnificient part of the world, neither did I tell you this to scare you or be more worried about me. Just know that my eyes are open at all times. I apalogize for the 10 days you didn't hear anything, I understand it might have troubled you a bit but queens don't just dissapear you know. Be sure I know what I'm doing. I know the dangers and loosing my camera was not one of them. You can't be more alert than I've been this whole trip. Furthermore I don't think my time has come yet. I still have so many things to do and the world hasn't had enough of me yet...By saying this, I don't mean any disrespect to all who suffered by loosing someone or something, or for any other reason in the story mentioned above. My thoughts and deepest sympathy are with you for your loss and your suffering.
Thank you all, to my readers, for watching me and for your support, for your lovely comments, for your warmth that I carry with me....I feel that it helpes me to keep safe on on this extravagent journey....with a lot of love from your friend Miriam

Last part of travelling in the time machine

Where were we? In Trujillo by the beach. I remember this beautiful sunset while I was eating my ceviche (this is a beautiful seafood dish, raw! with lemon). Again I was accompanied by this Peruvian guy, that I didn't know :-) Very funny, they just come to sit at your table. I make sure that they know I'm not for the taken and then I don't mind their company. Like this, I learned a lot about the country, customs and their ways, their needs, sense of humor..everything. I know they probably want more if possible but I've always gained their respect and I had the funniest conversations. I a bustrip a few days ago, my neighbour told me that I was the first foreigner he ever talked to in his life! Imagine that..Well, I left Trujillo in the evening to take the night bus to Tumbes. From 21.30 - 06.00 in the morning. What a horror...All these sleepnoises + the busdriver decided that I had slept enough around 03.30 and turned the radio full blast..When I asked him if he could turn it down a bit he started to shout and scream, so the whole bus woke up...really, I decided better leave him in his misery and try to see the fun of it, which I did. When I arrived in Tumbes, this youngster (later on known as Leonardo) came up to me and told me that I had to be really careful in this busterminal because of the robberies. He was with his mother (Yolanda) and aunt (Maria de Pilar) and her son (Eric). They were from Quito, Ecuador and they invited me to drive with them to Quito instead of taking busses. So at 06.00 'o clock in the morning we went to the car that was parked just on the other side of the border in Ecuador. In the little town where we changed countries they sold just about anything. Somewhere in the middle of a shop was the border between Peru and Ecuador. In one half, you pay with Per.NeuvoSoles and in the other half you pay with hard cash, American Dollars that is..The temperature here was at this time in the morning already 35 degrees. We washed a bit by the car, like we knew eachother a long time. Brushing teeth together, standing almost in your underware...It felt after half an hour as if I been travelling with them for ages. Strange isnt'it. I had a lot of these encounters here. During the first minutes feeling so at ease that you don't have to work hard to make it work. Mostly it takes some work to make it work but here, I just had to be me...good enough. I really changed during this trip. I'm very relaxed, very cool about everything. They have this beautiful word for "cool" here. Chevere...and I heared it a lot lately, so I'm very "chevere". I don't try to make everybody happy anymore. They already are (okay or happy that is) and they seem to like it when I'm around. Makes me happy and smilish :-) It has probably always been like this, just had to come to South-America to discover how to be "chevere" to me!! Okay, back to the trip.....no sense in getting too arrogant and emotional, right..So we were with 5 in the car and we crossed the whole of Ecuador. I drove as well for a while in this beautiful part of the world. Then we missed a big road and found ourselves in this mountainenvironment (really not so chevere for me). It was getting dark and misty and high and cold and rainy and scarey....I drove on sense and feeling cause I didn't see anything anymore. After 4 hours, finally Quito was in sight..They asked me to stay with them untill I had to leave for Ambato. So I did.....Isn't that nice. Just like that. Without knowing me, fully trusting me. Next day I drove the ladies to all sort of appointments in Quito. Imagine that, Miriam in this big capital, driving around like a professional. It went really smooth, they laughed their heads of because of my driving style (most of you know what style that is), and my shouting at the other cars. It was like I've been living there for years...funny and cheerful day that was. In the night the showed me the Historic centre, which is amazing. 7 Corners with churches and a Basilic in the prettiest colours you've ever seen. Next day I had to leave for Ambato, so cheerio again. Maria del Pilar, the sister really cried a lot when I left and than of course, so did I. So many goodbyes, so many hearts feeling something.....So far for Quito...but the witch will return to this lovely family.

Choices - travelstories or children suffering?

At this moment this page contains more stories of my traveladventures than my experiences in the orphanage in Cusco. This may seem a bit weird or of, because the main goal was to help the streetchildren and the orphans. I could have written endless stories of how I changed dipers of the youngest orphans, how I fed the baby and sang him to sleep. I could have dragged you through the motions of my playingactivities with the niños. Of me swinging with David. Or how Mathilde fel from the toboggan (glijbaan), consoling her, or eating oranges on the swingmill with the lot. I decided not to...I wouldn't come out the same as how it was for me. But to assure you, I have been with these children for more than a month and the moments with them were more precious than I can let you understand just by typing black letters on a white screen. This is not because you won't understand but because I don't know how to express these profound emotions from deep within. Maybe I just don't want to because they are mine and for this moment solely mine...
Today I started to work in Ambato in the orphanage. I'm on a break now, but I go back in the afternoon. I will tell you about this project later on, in a day or 2. Will finish the travelling stories first and I want to orientate. So, bare with me...

Travelling through time and comprehension

Lima, Trujillo, Tumbes - FRONTERA ECUADOR - Quito.
Ladies and gents, the girl is back. I'm in Quito now, but I'll start from where I've been leaving you alone and that was in Lima. Lima is something that you don't really like at first but I guess it grows on ye. Just like a friend said. I found a backpackers hostal in Miraflores (which is by far the most touristic place in Lima), but you really don't want to wonder of on your own at night in a town called Lima...A girl from Israel, a guide from Peru (Huaraz) Frank and a guy from the States, Marco, were there. All together we went out that evening in Lima, full of live. At 02.00 hours no more music, no more live so we decided to go back to the hostal to drink some more in the lobby. It's a very easy, cool place to be, this hostal. Unfortunately, the supermarket didn't sell anymore beer (from 23.00-06.00) so we just drank weird booze from the fridge in the hostal. I ended up having this real profound conversation with Marco untill 04.30 in the morning (check out this wonderful page: http://bubbler.wordpress.com ) and then I did internet till 06.00. Time is of no importance so it seems. Next day I decided to relax one day in Lima before travelling more up north. Woke up 10.00 am, 4 hours of sleep, but it's frightening how good I feel. Walked by the beach, went to a commercial center that quite famous, icecream, coffee, sand, sun = fun. The temperature is like 30 here which is really nice. Miraflores is by the beach, but high up so you look down on the beach which is different and I like it a lot. I talked, while eating my icecream, with a Peruvian lady (she must have been around 80) who tried to convert me to some religion right there on that bench :-) I promised her that if I would find the time I would visit her church. Don't hate me for this, sometimes people feel better with white lies...When I went back to the hostal I realized I forgot where it was and I didn't have the name of the street, just the name of the hostal. Thankfully a passenger on a bycicle had all the time in the world to help me....That's something that amazes me still, untill now. Everywhere I've been and go, I haven't been able to be alone for that long. There was always somebody to help or to talk, to guide, to advice. Thank you for that. Well, with his help I found my hostal en we ate some fresh fruit. Later that evening (he had a car as well, very wel equipped in the transport area for Peruvians) he took me out to show me some more of Lima, which was very friendly. Next day, bus to Trujillo, said bye, bye again to my friends in the hostal and off I was again. In the bus I met two ladies (mum and daughter) from Costa Rica and we talked the whole trip. The mum was ever so nice and very warm, tender. I can hear and see a difference now between people from South and Middle America, so we talked about that. Later we went to the same hotel and this was a really good hotel for the first time. . Thank god that I didn't like Trujillo that much in the night. My book says about Trujillo that it has the most beautiful Plaza de Armas of Peru, which is absolute bullocks. There's nothing to do in Trujillo, after 22.00 = dead. So I slept early and like a queen. Next day went to visit something by the beach. Can't remember the name but it's a small fishersvillage. There are some beautiful ruines as well, but I knew that ruines again would ruine me....You can only take that much stones, can't you? I know, I'm bit of a culture barbare but hey, they really look the same and I've seen a lot of them....
So I went to this beachplace, which was really relaxing, talked with Peruvians, with an Australian guy, and hey, I saw a couple again that I saw in the orphanage in Cay-Cai, like a million years ago....I had the same experience in Arequipa, I saw this French lady (Francoise) again, that I met in Cusco....That's one the big mysteries of South America I guess. Meant to be? Coincidence? Who knows, but it's making you shiver and happy in the same time...I'me leaving you with this for now (I could say, to make you overthink this mysterie a bit, but really I have to go to the loo....). There's much more to follow soon....Ah, bought a camera, so hopefully fotos again soon....See ye

Leaving Cusco, entering Puno, lago Titicaca, Arequipa, Ica, Paracas, islas Bullestrias --Lima

Sunday and Monday last I came back from visiting islands in the lake of Titicaca (this is the highest situated lake in the world). It's % Peruvian and 40% Bolivian. I decided not to go to Bolivia because this is just 1 day and it's just another town totally the other way that I have to go. So I have go come back some day to visit Bolivia and see it more than just 1 day. I arrived in Puno (a town by the Titicaca lake) the day before yesterday. I left Cusco 3.00 hours last saturday. I said goodbye to friends and to the children in the orphanage. I was horrible. The "mamita" cried, I cried, the children didn't understand but gathered in the small room to kiss me goodbye. Completely confused I went to pack my bag and Sandra and I decided to have a good farewell breakfast the next day. In the night we "celebrated" my going with some friends in various bars. It was a sweet farewell but one friend decided to go with me for a while on my travel which was very good news for me. The next day more crying when I had to say goodbye to Sandra. I left with my a Peruvian friend for Puno. We arrived in good shape arount 20.00 o'clock. Like al backpackers we found a hostal and went to check out the town. Next day we went to visit the islands on the lake Titicaca, which is so beautiful. We were in this small boat with other tourists from various countries. We slept on an island on the lake, an island with no lights in the evening, hardly electricity, very pure and simple. In the night we had to dress like the locals and we went dancing with the island people and Ricardo (my friend) turned out te be a very good dancer of these typical dances, so he taught me how to be an Indigena ;-) The people who live there are Indigenas and they speake a different language. Next day we visited ruines and other islands, the sun was shining and it was really lovely on the lake. Completely new to me. So worth visiting. Very quite and different from the other sings I've seen. Then we were of to Arequipa (the white city) which was also very nice. We spent 2 days here and visited as much as possible. The folowwing day Ricardo had to go back to Cusco and I had to move on to Ica-Paracas. With pain in my heart again we said goodbye at the bus terminal and we went our own way. I know, backpackers, this is the way to do it, but for me it's really hard. I had to travel for 12 hours on a bus, again on very small roads and this time completely alone. Apart from the bus leaving without me once (I had to go to the toilet) and me running behind the bus in this small village with all the townpeople shouting to the busdriver, everything went well. The countryside was once again beyond comprehension at certain points. I saw dessert, and dessert and mountainsites again, all in the same voyage. Arrived in Inca at 22.00 hours, tired, broken, a bit sad on my own, but I decided to go out alone. Found a very cheap hostal on the Plaza and had fun in the evening. Slept around 4.30 and had to leave for this small oasis (Huacachina) the next morning. As I'm used to not sleap to much I felt horribly good the next day. The trip was weird, but probably because oasises are weird, aren't they. In the middle of nowhere you encounter this wonderful green place that shows up behind very high dunes. After this I took another bus (collectivo, small local smelly bus) and arrived in Pisco. From there to Paracas, a small fishersvillage. Visited islands in the Pacific the next day, again a pleasure like . I'm like in this dream constantly, seeing incredible sights, experiencing unimagenary things. These islands provide housing for thousands of birds, seals and sealions. What a magnificient day again, in a speedboat, dolphins around us......please tell me that I'm not dreaming....And there was much more, I went to a national park as well but it's getting to much to explain. I will continue another day and I will make this blog more fun to read, because right now it's like a sommation of facts. I have to do it like this, because during traveling it's almost impossible to keep up with the experiences of every day, as I'm in the bus most of the time. Or doing incredible fun things. I'm in Lima now and had 1 day of rest so I could write a bit. Hope it's still informative and fun to read. I will make it nicer though....Just bare with me untill I'm in Ecuador. Bye for now, and I'll be back in a couple of days, but then from Ecuador......Be safe in the meanime. Love ye...

7, 8 and 9th day, Machu Picchu

Second day...I slept beautifully, thank God. I shared a room with Sandra but I had no trouble sleeping at all. We woke up at 05.00 o' clock in the morning (yes, I know, It was me that had to wake up that early.) You can see on the pictures how that lookes...We had breakfast and then we started walking with our backpacks through bushes and we had to climb for about 2,5 hours. This was quite heavy, but since I slept really good I hardly felt tired and I enjoyed the climb. At the top we ate fresh fruit and thank God, Juliano had dental floss..he probably read my blog some days ago :-) It's really rare and exeptionnal to experience things like this funny little place up in the mountains with some animals, this beautiful little girl with the fresh fruit and natural toilets. I cherish these moments because it is not every day that you go through live in this manner. After this we kept on walking and walking. This day we have been walking for about 8 hours, we been in the back of a truck (which was really scary, because he was really driving on the egde of very high curves in the mountains), we ate in litt le villages, we saw again amazing nature scenes and I was just out of it, of joy. This changed a bit, later that day when we arrived to a road which was so high and small attached to the mountains (this was not in the bush anymore), with a horrific steep abyss that I lost my breath for a moment. My body started to tremble allover and they had to hold my from collapsing on the spot. Vertigo all the way. After sniffing some alcohol I slowly continued this way for 2 hours. I can't really explain how high it was (believe me when I say high, it's high). The guide held my hand almost all the way (thank you Hugo..) and I overcame my fear at the end. I was really proud of myself and later that evening we all drank to overcoming fears...the drinking went on for some hours and we didn't go to bed untill 02.30 I guess. It was in a little village Santa Teresa, and at one point in the night all the lights of the town went on the blink (uitvallen). We were with three other Peruvian guys that we encountered during the first and the second day. They kept ordering beer and we drank Pisco sour (the national alcoholic beverage of Peru), and with no lights, just some candles it was really special again...I knew the next morning wouldn't become me, nor the others for that matter, because we all got a bit drunk..
07.00 hours third day. Oh, surprisingly no headache, but really tired from the night before, we pulled ourselves together to get trough the next day...wich was not so easy. First we passes some bridges (not too solid), and with the river heavily flowing underneath I firmly decided not to be scared and waggled over the bridge with newfound courage :-) Then we arrived at this river that we had to cross by cable...Yes, I loved it, sitting in this small box, people pulling on the rope to get you to the other side. Adventure all the way. Later we kept on walking by the river and it was a lovely day again. We also bathed (the day before), in hot naturale medicinale waters, we walked on edges, we saw parrots, and so much more, I can't describe it all. In the evening we arrived in this completely touristic village just Agua Calientes which is the stop before Machu Picchu. Here also we couldn't not leave the booze alone, but we didn't stay up that late because....next day: Machu Picchu..
This experience I can't describe. We left the next morning around 6.30 hours in heavy rain. We had to climb a very beautiful road for 1.45 hours. You can't do this without stopping every 10 minutes, due to various reasons. You loose youre breathe while climbing at this altitude, and secondly, the scenery is so surreal that you have to pinch yourself when you look around. You walk totally abandoned (well just us three) in the clouds and you see the mountains through the clouds, which is so very mysterious and magical that it's like you're in one of Shakespeare plays, a dramatic scenery mixed with your emotions in a very moist atmosphere. When we arrived at the end, which is the beginning of Machu Picchy, there is this very touristic place, totally misplaced after this quiet and lonely trip up. Here we went in the magic surroundings of M.P. Slowly the sun came out, with still these enormous clouds ambrazing the mountains, A little later I was witness to the clouds slowly making their way to another world, while I was in this ancient other world. I couldn't believe what I saw, neither can I write it down. So I leave you with your own imagination to picture this. It was and is by far the heaviest and most impressive experience I ever had, naturewise. Photos will be provided soon.

Today by the way, is my last day in Cusco, tomorrow I'm leaving for Puno, and islands in the lake of Titicaca and to Copacabana a town in Bolivia. Yes, my adventures haven't ended yet. I think they've just begun. Bit sad I am, leaving a lot of friends behinde...well, enough said about this.Hope you still enjoy reading my blog. See ye...

Waaaaauwhhhhhhh - day 1- biking (6 enero)

Well, I'm back in town. I don't know how to describe what I've seen. I wanted to write a little bit every day about the trip, because eventhough we were almost in the middle of nowhere there was always this little place with internet. It's quite interesting that they in every street at least 4 little offices with computers and they are always full. Nobody owns a computer here...But I decided not to write because I wanted these 4 days to be as clean from westernity (this is a new word) as could be. It was absolutely amazing. I haven't seen anything like this in my life. The first day on the mountainbike was spectacular in every sense. I never been on a mountainbike before so I had no idea if I could do it. First we went with the bus (08.00 in the morning) to a little village at 4350 m altitud (Cusco is 3330). There we took the mountainbike and cyceled through a landscape that was more or less junglish. Can you imagine me at 4350 m high going down the mountainroads full with curves and stones to approximatively 2500 m with a unimaginable speed. This all alone for 5 hours long. I was with a guide (Hugo) and a Brazilian man (Juliano), (Sandra took the bus, doesn't like bikes) but I was faster all the time. I'm always quite agressive while sporting. I've seen sites high up there standing on the edge and looking down, my eyes following the road that's curving down. It was breathtaking. I never imagened the beauty of it. It was surreal. I didn't even believe it was me there on that road, in that moment with all that beauty. Sometimes we cycled together for a while and then I drove of again. It rained, there was sun, we cycled through rivers, we past by little villages and children waved when we passed by. I felt overwhelmed by all this beauty and didn't know how to filter it in my mind. So I just inhaled it all. I didn't know where we were, what time it was, day, date. Free of charge. The guys were fabulous with me. I had a flat tire and they fixed everything and were very galant. After the four days we became real friends, because you share something very special. You eat together, brush your teeth together. They see you without your make-up, in you underware. For me that really good as an experience. We went out together after the trip. Juliano became like a brother to me. I'm invited to his wedding in Brazil when he gets married. Tomorrow I will tell you more about the rest of the trip, this was just day 1. After 5 hours of biking (and stopping every now and than to check plants and ruïnes on the way) we ended up in this little village of Santa Maria. Here it was like 39 degrees Celcius. Totally change of temperture. We slept in a family house without warm water and the village was without asfalt roads, hardly any lights in the night. I think you know these kinds of villages. TL-light in the small restaurants, rice and chicken and a bottle of Cuscena (beer), that I really started to like, especially the dark kind. Only local peole, lots of dogs barking in the night. We went to sleep like babies, with acking bikingbodies but feeling fullfilled as never before. More tomorrow....

Machu Picchu

Tomorrow morning I'm going to M.P. with Sandra. 4 days of nature and sports. We're not taking the ancient and very touristic route, but a new and alternative route. First day is on a mountainbike descending the mountains. 2nd day climbing for 8 hours....wow, 3rd (waking up at 05.00 hours in the morning) day also climbing for like 6 hours, 4th day also waking up at 5 to watch the sunset over Machu Picchu. I think it's going to be an unforgetable experience and therefore I don't need a camera. Always look on the bright side of life. Much better. Well people wish me luck because it's going te be a enormous strain on the body and we'll suffer like fools. But, hey, it's not for nothing...In 5 days you will know if I survived. I already lost 4 kilo here, I think after Machy Picchu even Twiggy can't compete :-) If you don't know who Twiggy was, look up the 60ies in the United Kingdom. Bye for now.

Forgotten details

I forgot to mention that I moved last Friday from the family house to the centre of Cusco. My family was going to travel to Arequipa for a short holliday (a town south in Peru), so I couldn't stay with them anymore. It's nice to experience both sides, living with a family and living on your own in a hostal. I have much more freedom now, but I don't know if this is a good thing :-) And as Sandra also left her little house in the orphanage to stay with me in a cheap hostal we have been going out a lot...We still work there, it's just that our eyes are smaller each day...But as I'm leaving soon we feel the need to enjoy all the time we have left in Cusco together. We really get along very well. We laugh a lot. It makes me forget the loss of my camera. It's not the camera, it's the 300 photos I lost. Well, such is life...
Today in the orphanage I really felt close to the children. It doesn't really matter if I come or if I don't, but they seem really happy to see me each day and that's good enough. It scares me a bit because I'm leaving soon and I hate saying goodbye. Most of you know I'm "quite" sensitive in this area, and I hope saying goodbye and leaving Cusco won't be too hard. When you travel alone you meet so many interesting and different people and it's really hard knowing that you won't see, most of them ever again. It keeps me awake at night..
Well, before I get to sentimental....to be continued. I think we will go out again tonight to forget this sorrow. I don't know yet what I'm going to do for the photos. I don't feel like buying a very expensive camera again, but I do want to make nice photo's to put on this weblog. We'll see.