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You are here: Home / Archives for Journey / Food

Necessito ir a Banos

August 3, 2009 By Jillian

Alive and happy after Danny’s second attempt on the river, and after overcoming the worst of my stomach bug, we took a very bumpy ride through the jungle back into the mountains to get to Banos. A lovely mountain town, famous really for its hot springs, but also a number of adventure activities from mountain biking to whitewater. Advised against kayaking in the nearby rivers due to pollution, and after seeing the “mountain bike” path (the curvy, heavily traveled mountain road), we decided to just spend some time relaxing.

Heading to the hot springs our first night, we were shocked to find them crowded, no, really they were overflowing with people. Packed in like sardines into two small pools cut into the mountain the setting was relaxing but the atmosphere was anything but. Turns out the hot springs are extremely popular at night and after about 10 minutes we couldn’t take the crush of people any more and headed back to the hostel for dinner.

Taking it easy, we spent the next day hiking through the mountains (really easy at 2000m in altitude!) from view point to view point. After about 3km, we came across a beautiful cafe high above the city. Accessible only by foot or mule, cafe de cielo was part of a luxury spa and resort complex. Very affordable, just not on a backpackers budget, we sprung for two hot chocolates instead. Continuing on our path, we climbed through cow pastures and farm land before reaching the highest viewpoint. Thwarted by clouds, we could only see the bottom third of the volcano.

Heading down to a viewpoint overlooking the city, we came across a shaking tree. Giggles from the tree tipped us off to the children inside before they offered us some fruit. Asking their names and sharing ours, Danny inquired as to what they were playing. We are monkeys they replied in laughter and you are a cow. Not processing what they said, Danny smiled. They called you a cow, I said to him. What? Danny said as he turned to the children. They erupted in laughter and we continued up the path.

Banos was relaxing and delicious. Apart from finding real pizza, we also found the first Ecuadorian chocolate bar that we liked. Unsatisfied with just one bar, we bought four to last us until Lima where hopefully we can restock. Although our packs might be small, somethings are just that important. 🙂

With Banos, our time in Ecuador had come to a close. Instead of 9 days we could have spent 90. This is a country just filled with outdoor activities and culture to go with it. Although we got some river time in and the all important equator, there is a lot we didn’t get to do in Ecuador like biking to indigenous villages or visiting the pacific coast at all.

The big thing we really missed out on was the the Galapagos. We had hoped to find a last minute deal while in Quito but the last minute deals were virtually non-existent because it is the middle of high season…which corresponds to the U.S. school year. Given the timing and the cost we figure that we can book a Galapagos trip sometime during their low season and fly from the USA for cheaper than we could do the trip for now. Since it is so close to the US we’d rather save our “big-ticket” money for things that are farther away and more difficult to return to….like Antarctica!

Filed Under: Ecuador, Food, Hike, South America Tagged With: children, chocolate, hiking, hot springs

San Gil es Perfecto

July 20, 2009 By Danny

Before I say anything else I think it is of the utmost importance to recognize the fact that someone here turned 26 (not me, I’m already 27) on Friday when we arrived in San Gil, the self-proclaimed adventure capital of Colombia. To commemorate the occasion in style we celebrated with juicy steak, delicious cake, and exquisite Chilean wine. This was of course AFTER we set up our whitewater excursion for the next day. Priorities.

The water level was, as seems to be the case with us 100% of the time, low. As we prepared for our first river trip without a kayaking guide, just following after a raft, and without any staff that could speak English, we noticed that the equipment was a little subpar. By subpar I mean that my paddle was missing a 1/3rd of its surface area…another first for me. The river was a strong (the water was surprisingly pushy for the low water level) class II river with a couple of III’s thrown in there. Thankfully this made it the easiest river we’ve done yet and so we don’t have any stories of blood and gore for a change. On the other hand, the poor condition of our equipment allowed us each to save the other when upside down for the first time. Nevertheless, we had a great time on the Rio Fonce.

Finishing the river early in the day we headed for the nearby towns of Barichara and Guane. We had hoped to walk back (about 6k along a “delightful” trail) from Guane to Barichara but as the bus left Barichara for Guane and began its rather steep descent into the valley below…we were less than pleased with our chances of making it back before nightfall. While in the Guane museum – filled with hundreds of fossils and pieces of colonial history from the area – we were more concerned with the amount of time it would take to walk back than with the new dinosaur skeleton discovered in the valley a mere nine months ago.

With three hours to do it and being told that was the most it would take, we started the trail and finished in less than half half our allotted time…silly us for being worried. The path itself was created by a German some years ago to commemorate the trail the indigenous used to “commute” in the time of the Spanish conquest. We passed many fossils in the rocks, we could identify some fish and clams, as well as a couple of still alive gringos and a man on a mule. When we finished, way ahead of schedule, we celebrated with some delightful grilled meat purchased from a street vendor (cost $1) and then warmed up with some yummy hot chocolate.

Filed Under: Colombia, Food, South America Tagged With: Birthday, hiking, whitewater kayaking

Hot Chocolate a la Colombiana

July 15, 2009 By Danny

The only thing you might remember from Oaxaca, Mexico is Jillian’s famous grasshopper video. Besides crunching on bugs, we’ll always remember the delicious hot chocolate.  Steaming and slightly cinnamony it was the perfect start or finish to a day. From street vendors in the morning to cafes in the evening everywhere in Oaxaca there was hot chocolate. Imagine my surprise… no delight… when I found delicious, creamy, sweet hot chocolate in Bogota.

Only in Bogota, one needs to add cheese to the equation.  Yes, that’s right, cheese. Our first morning here in Bogota our CS host Marta took us for a walking tour of downtown and ensured that we tried a proper hot chocolate…lets just say I’ve made it my mission to sample as many as possible.  So far,  so good.

In case you are wondering, here are the steps to drinking delicious hot chocolate in Colombia.

Step 1: Order your hot chocolate with cheese. For those of you trying this at home, you’ll best be served by a soft (think mozzarella) Mexican type cheese. If it comes pre-shredded all the better as this will save you valuable time.

Step 2: If it does not come pre-shredded, chop your cheese up into bits and pieces to be placed in your magical drink. Use your fingers or your silverware, doesn’t matter which.

Step 3: Put the cheese in the chocolate. As you put the cheese into your mouth keep in mind that the cheese is better in the chocolate and if you eat all of it then you will be missing out. Also be sure not to drop the cheese from a high altitude as this will send some of the chocolate onto your shirt…forcing you to do laundry prematurely and wasting valuable chocolate.

Step 4: Drink the chocolate. If you’re cheese is fluffy enough it won’t all sink to the bottom and you’ll be lucky enough to slurp little pieces of semi-melted cheesy bliss in your chocolate filled mouth.

Step 5: Eat the remaining cheese at the bottom. You should use either a fork or a spoon otherwise you risk embarrassment. The cheese will be softer but it shouldn’t be a melted mess, you will likely find the exact same sized bits you chopped up, only chocolatier.

Really, I was skeptical. This is good, I guarantee it!

Filed Under: Colombia, Food, South America

Grasshoppers? Oaxaca!

April 12, 2009 By Jillian

Molé, Chocolate and Grasshoppers. When our bus pulled in at 5am the station was abuzz with travelers, but once we left the station the roads were dark and quiet. We made our way downtown stopping for our first Oaxacan hot chocolate (it was yummy!) and prayed that the hostel would let us check in at such an early hour. We were in luck and spent the next two hours warm in our bed catching up on much needed sleep. What awaited us when we awoke was not the same sleepy Oaxaca we walked through two hours before but a city very much alive with color, noise and movement.

Oaxaca is a big tourist destination, our first since Baja, and we were a little surprised at the number of gringos wandering around. We knew we were in trouble when the restaurants had menus in English, and lets just say when the bill came we found that we had eaten the most expensive eggs and beans on the planet. Nevertheless, Oaxaca was a site to see. We wandered through the city, taking in the markets (if there is ANY DVD you want – in theaters or out on DVD – it’s in Oaxaca), and the energy that is in Oaxaca. No matter what time you were there (except maybe at 6am, but even then there were people out), the main square or Zocalo, had a carnival like atmosphere. Candy sellers, balloon sellers, ice cream vendors, shoe shiners, musicians, clowns, mimes and florists wandered the Zocalo day and night selling their wares or performing for the crowd. To say it was a shock after being in completely non touristy areas is an understatement. We had clearly entered the tourist circuit and were unprepared. After being in quiet cities and towns without gringos, the carnival atmosphere and nightly cultural performances sponsored by the state really made us feel overwhelmed. We spent hours in the Zocalo just trying to take it all in, and just when we thought we’d gotten a grasp of the place a new musician or a new vendor would come by. It was a whirlwind of a place.

Outside the city we took a day trip to ancient Zapotec capital, Monte Alban (white mountain), our first ruins in Mexico. Pretty much deserted on the day we were there, Monte Alaban is perched on a hill overlooking Oaxaca. The “two” lane road leading up the mountain is barely passable by two sedans let alone tour buses so we said a prayer when we made it to the top. I’ve only been to the ruins at Tulum (yes, it was a spring break trip to Playa del Carmen, yes we’ll leave it there) and I’d never even heard of Monte Alaban so I was a meso-american neophyte to say the least. Monte Alban was not at all what I was expecting, it sits atop a hill where the land is clear of almost all vegetation. The ruins are closed for security and preservation purposes, so we weren’t able to climb through any tunnels nor up several of the towers. Needless to say, we were uninspired by the ruins and headed back down the mountain before our allotted time.

Travelers along the way raved about the hot chocolate, the molé and of course mentioned whether they’d tried the insects or not. Yes, insects. Oaxacan cuisine is known for these three things and as adventurous travelers we had to try all three. The hot chocolate was easy, no big surprise there. Different than the swiss miss in the US, hot chocolate in Oaxaca has a spicy cinnamon taste to it and can be made with either water or milk.  Either way it was yummy and we bought a block of the cinnamon chocolate just to munch on. 🙂

The molé on the other hand was questionable, made from chocolate and spices, it tasted more like chocolatey barbeque sauce to us than a chocolate molé.  Molé is a bit like bbq sauce actually, every town or village has its own molé recipe and secret ingredients.  We had molé negro, but there are numerous types of molé available in Oaxaca. The sauce we had would hardly pass the first round at a bbq contest in Texas and though not exactly what we were expecting, it went down easy.

The third specialty was the hardest. We spent our days wandering the markets looking for chapulines (grasshoppers) in tacos or quesedillas or cooked in anything. Turns out that you pretty much have to eat them alone. I know, had I stopped to think about it before we bought them it would have turned my stomach.. Like everything though, I thought about it after the grasshopper was already in my mouth. This being Mexico, and the delicacy being insects, we purchased the smallest amount we could (about 50 grams) and made sure they were the kind covered in chili powder. I’ll let the video speak for itself, but I will say they were salty and tasted mostly like chili. Hopefully some of you have tried chapulines. Please don’t tell me I’m the only one!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNPSP1qFQyU

After the adventures of the chipolines, we decided a real adventure was in the cards. We rented mountain bikes through Zona Bici and a guide and headed to the hills surrounding Oaxaca. Although the tour was a complete disappointment in almost every aspect (price, experience, guide, location, etc.) getting out and stretching our legs on the bikes was a welcome break from the hustle and bustle of the city. Thankfully after banging myself up in Jalapa’s whitewater, Oaxaca was injury free and in that sense uneventful!

Not surprisingly although definitely not on account of the insects, we both fell slightly ill in Oaxaca. It’s bound to happen sometime right? After the bike tour the most we could muster up to do was to sit in a french cafe using the wifi all afternoon. Overall Oaxaca was an assault to our senses. Unlike any other place we’ve been to in Mexico, we wandered through Oaxaca enthralled by the sites, colors and sounds, but ready to go once our time was up. It definitely wasn’t our favorite place in Mexico, but it was well worth the trip.

Filed Under: Food, History & Culture, Mexico Tagged With: biking, oaxaca, ruins, tours

Xalapa… are we still in Mexico?

April 4, 2009 By Danny

Xalapa was everything we’ve come to expect in a big city. Cab drivers who honk when you don’t need a cab and cannot be found when you do. Hot dog stands on every corner. Falafel and Shwarma for dinner. Sears was having a sale just down the street from our hostel. Oh, did I mention, we are still in Mexico?

After the surreal gardens in Xilitla we needed a little break and headed further south to Veracruz and Xalapa. To get there we took a two hour bus from Xilita back to Ciudad Valles where we had gone kayaking. Then needed another two hour bus from there (somehow this bus was $1 extra and was “grand comfort” which means it had food, water, half as many seats, tons of legroom, and free wifi) to the big city of Tampico. Then needed an 8 hour overnight bus to Veracruz where we spent the day before getting on another 2 hour bus to Xalapa. Phew, ok we were still in Mexico.

Veracruz port: boulevard (north)On our layover in Veracruz we wandered the Malecon (sea wall, like a boardwalk, but not in New Jersey and made of cement), grabbed some ice cream (yay!), wandered into the   (surprisingly large, cheap, and enjoyable) aquarium, were accosted by English speaking waiters demanding we choose their restaurant, and ultimately made it back to the bus station in one piece.  Veracruz is definitely a tourist destination, we haven’t seen so many signs in English or souvenir shops since… Tijuana?  Needless to say we were glad to be only passing through…

Once in Xalapa it was like we’d walked out of Mexico and back into Washington. The streets were full of unique boutiques, restaurants and cafes.  The crowd was young and we heard multiple languages on the street (English not being one of them!). For dinner we strolled around and happened upon an middle eastern restaurant.   Their Taco Arabe (Shwarma)  was our first truly non mexican meal, not one chili pepper to be seen.   Seriously. And it was amazing.  Coming from a place like DC where there is every time of cuisine imagineable, even from cultures that you don’t expect to have “cuisine”.  As we said before, having mexican everynight has begun to wear on us, thank you el bedouin for reminding us about non-mexican food!!

As Xalapa is home to the best archaelogical museum in Mexico, so we checked it out and learned about the peoples who populated the state of Veracruz, many of whom actually predate both the Aztecs and the Mayans.    We also learned that the river we went kayaking on (our next post) was the same river used by Cortez when he landed in Mexico and started making his way inland to Mexico City. Pretty cool!The museum was full of artifacts from around southern mexico including huge heads from the Olmetec period.  The heads are really famous here, after going to the museum, we saw a replica at the bus station!

Filed Under: Food, Mexico Tagged With: indigenous cultures, museums

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