1) The Plaza de Armas in Arequipa.  Arequipa is also known as “the white city” because many of its buildings are made from a white volcanic rock called sillar.  The city rests in the Andes around 7,800 feet above sea level and is the second most populated city in the country (around 904,900 residents)

2) Our wonderful hosts; Alberto (who works with Charlie) and Rosa.  Along with letting us stay in their house, they showed us around our first day in Arequipa and Rosa prepared breakfast for us every morning!

3)  Yummy Arequipena cheese in the market.

4)  The city is filled with colonial-era Spanish style churches made from sillar.

4)  We visited El Monasterio Santa Catalena.  A photographer’s dream, it is enormous and often described as a city within a city.  Founded in 1580, it originally only accepted nuns who came from rich families who could pay a significant dowry.  Although it was traditional for rich, upper class Spanish families to send their second child to serve God in chaste poverty, in this case the nuns each had between one and four slaves and had frequent parties inviting musicians from town.  They lived it up in the style to which they were accustomed.  After 1871, the Pope got word of this and sent a strict nun to whip things into shape.  She fired the slaves (although some stayed on and became nuns), and sent the dowries back to their families.  From this point on, the nuns were not allowed to venture outside the walls of the monastery.  Currently around 30 nuns still live in a newer section where they have no interaction with society outside of the monastery.  To their credit, it didn’t seem all that bad there.  There were lots of beautiful courtyards and the nun’s chambers were spacious and comfortable.  Each nun had their own “cell”  with a bed, a praying area, and its own kitchen.

5)  The place is filled with beautiful courtyards and brightly colored flowers.

6)  Praying in one of the nuns cells.

7)  Charlie cooking in one of the nun’s kitchens.  To his credit, I begged him to pose for this picture.  He would not have done it voluntarily.

We were in Arequipa during Carnival time.  As far as I can tell, they celebrate Carnival in Arequipa by throwing water balloons and spraying each other with foam.  We got nailed by several water balloons and I was not happy about this.

9) Here we are in another one of the brightly colored courtyards we found throughout the city

10) We took a four-hour bus ride from Arequipa to our hotel in Colca Canyon.  It made several stops along the way.  A lot of the ladies selling their crafts had baby alpacas with them….a well planned strategy; I was much more likely to buy a sweater from a lady who had a cute baby animal I could pet.

11) A great view of Mt. Misti from our bus ride.

12) Another great view of the mountains with some alpacas grazing in the field.

13) View from the road above of the beautiful Colca Lodge and Spa where we stayed in Colca Valley.  Complete with thermal springs, and an incredibly friendly catering staff, this was a wonderful place to stay.

14)  View from our cabin.

15)  A bbq style lunch was prepared for us each day with three different types of meats of our choice, served to us at riverside.

16)  We went horseback riding in the canyon on one of our days there.  Twice as deep as the grand canyon, Colca Canyon is said to be the largest and tallest canyon in the world.

17) A local woman from one of the nearby villages farming with her mule.

18)  The happy couple and their horses.

19) Another view of the canyon.

20) Part of the Colca Valley.  This does a nice job of showing the terraced gardens they use here.

21)  The happy couple at the condor overlook.  The condors fly very close to the walls of the canyon so it’s a very popular spot for tourists to come and look.  We didn’t get any great pics of the condors, but did see a lot of nice views of the canyon!

-Posted by Danielle L. Krautmann,  11 March, 2010

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My alarm clock goes off at five. It’s been about four hours since I fell asleep. I’ve woken up to go to the early-morning festivities for a neighborhood circumcision ceremony which is locally and collectively referred to as one of several Uzbek “weddings”. I have been a Peace Corps Volunteer in a small provincial town in Uzbekistan for more than a year now. The people of my town are exceedingly friendly and known to be the most festive in the country. If there’s a wedding to go to, it will be a neighbor of mine pouring the vodka and cracking jokes for the table.

An Uzbek man can reasonably expect to be the main participant in four “weddings” in his life. There’s the bishek-toi (new baby wedding), the sunnat-toi (circumcision wedding for boys), the niqoh-toi (marriage wedding), and the final funeral celebration. All of these are pretty similar in the arrangement. Neighbors and friends and recent companions and new acquaintances and coworkers and their families all come out for the bash. Part of the wedding which is limited to men only is the morning plov ceremony that I have woken up so early for.

We can hear the horns before we can see the house. Big bellowing long trumpets announce the opening of the wedding. Guests arrive streaming onto the street. It’s been blocked off to cars and set with plastic tables and chairs. Most everyone is wearing their skullcap with the local evil-eye preventive charms sewn on. The hosts are leading people in, and everyone exchanges head-nods with their hand across their chest in the wonderful Muslim greeting. It expresses piety, modesty, honor and deference all at once.

Once a table is filled, the serving and eating begins. One man pours the tea the requisite three times, another opens the vodka, young boys run around handing out tomato and onion salads. Older boys quickly follow them with plov, the steaming rice, carrot, and meat dish that is ubiquitous in this part of the world. The word is the root for English “rice pilaf”.  Legend states that Alexander the Great’s army chef was puzzled over what to cook with such simple ingredients. Plov, it became, and apparently the soldiers took to it heartily because there’s not a celebration in Central Asia without it. The dish is slightly different every time you have it. Or so I’m told. Plov is like fine French wine, far wiser people than I can detect the subtitles of cooking it in different ways. I just enjoy it and don’t bother with the shades of distinction.

Everyone eats. The plov is packed into spoons or palms and slid into the mouth. Neighbors mutually implore each other to eat. Vodka, tea, soda, and melon are passed from hand to hand to hand and finally to mouth. The plov portion is just finishing up as the young boy of honor is brought out in his turban and robe made of velour and gold trim.

The grandfather holds up his grandchild—today a man. Speeches are made and countless people wish the young lad success, health, and a large family. One of the elders has had a bit more vodka than he should have, and expresses his hope that “what the mullah made short today, may it be much larger in the future!” Great laughs come from the men at the tables, great sighs from the ladies looking out from the doorways.

People begin to finish their meals and work their way into the adjacent park. Today’s wedding is even more noteworthy because there is going to be a ram fight. The hosting family has spent about $10,000 on the prizes for the winning rams.  For perspective this largess is spent in a country where a person pulls down an average monthly salary of $80. All local ram owners have been invited. As such, there’s quite a crowd waiting around the field when we arrive.

As we walk in, we see the rams tied up and waiting for their moment. A few are banging their head against the trunks of trees. These are the berserkers, the ones given their due space. Other rams are congenial enough to be petted. They all have nicknames. Tornado, Gypsy, Super, and several Tysons are all ready to win their masters a rug or maybe the championship prize of a camel.

The park fills up over the course of the hour. The camel is terrified, frothing at the mouth, and difficult to control. Dust piles up around its stamping legs and passersby futilely try to keep their pants clean while inspecting the beast. The musicians have turned the music more upbeat and a costumed girl dances for small notes from the bystanders.

Finally our host comes out and takes the microphone from the band. There are yet more speeches. People are beginning to get tired and are itching to see some action. The rams peacefully look on, grubbing for grass. One man speaks for ten minutes, repeatedly answering his own rhetorical questions. The sun begins to beat down and the vodka fades. I desperately wish for a ram to dash across and butt him off the field. Finally it’s over and the crowd roars relief and satisfaction as the first two rams are brought out.

Someone notices my camera and urges me forward for a better shot.  The aggressive hospitality of the crowd has pushed me right out onto the edge of the field for a front-row view. I’m an honored guest, but having about a thousand people stare at me as I stare at the rams doesn’t feel so honored.  As the rams are squared up, I feel eyes lift from the foreigner to the real sight.

The rams break free of their owners and the heads of the animals smack together.  It sounds like fencing with logs. My unease at watching the fight disappears in the rush of the moment. The rams shake, back up slowly, and run towards each other again for a mighty smack. They back up again, but they’re not walking backwards in perfectly straight lines. They are backing up slowly but surely in my direction. Smack, another shake, another move towards me. I start to look anxiously at the ditches, benches, and speakers blocking me from an easy exit.

Smack, they crash again and one of the rams bows out. The crowd gives its solid approval at the performance, the beaten ram runs back…. towards me. I snap a picture of imminent impact and scramble to get across the ditch. Dust billows up as I try to cross over the side of the field; the shamed loser is scared and looking to get past or through me. I hop up onto a ledge full of people, the ram stops short and nonchalantly strolls in the other direction. I laugh at myself along with the rest and decide that I’ll enjoy the following matches as a local would—on the sidelines.

The other rams are brought out in pairs and steadily the rugs and other prizes are passed out. It comes time to give the camel off. A monster is led onto the field. It’s huge, at least waist high on a tall man and I can’t begin to guess how much it weighs. The horns curl back under and over its ears and the gray wool shines in the sun. He’s the reigning champion. The speaker entreats someone to challenge him. Minutes pass as the speaker assures that the loser will also get a consolation prize. It’s still a while before a smaller ram is led out. The excited owner pulls it by the horn; it’s not as willing.

The animals are arranged in the middle of the field. The speaker calls for the American guest to come out and watch. I’m pushed out to the field again. The large and imposing ram is even more so from close up. Suddenly the white challenger makes a dash at the large one. Smack. Perhaps he can pull it off…they back up, the owners, a few feet away, encourage their beasts with clapping and cursing. Smack, and they bounce off each other. Both shake, back even farther up, and run at it again. Smack, the white ram’s legs buckle but he regains.

The champion doesn’t even appear winded. They hit and retreat again. The white ram backs up, backs up, backs up, and people start falling down as he backs into the crowd. The rams start to dash towards each other from sixty feet away. Simultaneously they both dive into the air. The champion has the mass and the advantage and blows down the smaller ram.

It’s over, the white one turns and runs. For added glory the black champion encourages the flight with a hit to the rear of the failed challenger. The crowd heartily approves. The cheers could be from anywhere and from anytime.

As the prize camel is brought onto the field, the owner beams and the host makes generous gestures. He’s too far on to the pitch to speak into the microphone but it’s not needed. We’ve heard the same lines a thousand times today. The proud winner stands by its owner, avowed champion again. The camel suddenly jumps and spits, the startled winning ram turns tail and runs off the field followed by its owner. The crowd enjoys this sight as much as the fight. Old men turn grinning to each other. “There’s always someone bigger!” they mutually confirm.

I pick my way through the crowd, past the spitting camel, and exit the dusty field. Another wedding, another memory, but this isn’t one I’ll soon forget.

Jett Thomason was a TEFL volunteer in Uzbekistan from 2002- 2004 in the United States Peace Corps.  Since then, he’s worked in Afghanistan and Iraq and traveled extensively throughout Asia, Europe, and the countries of the Former Soviet Union. He lives in Washington, DC.

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The Jinshaling section of the Great Wall of China is located in a mountainous area 125 km northeast of Beijing.  We spent the afternoon hiking the 10.5 km along the wall to Simatai, passing 67 towers, five passes and two beacon towers, much of wall rubble beneath our feet.  This section was built about 1570 during the Ming Dynasty.

Text and photo by Stephen Bugno

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Culture shock refers to feelings of anxiety, depression, or confusion that often go along with adjusting to life in a foreign country.  The process of adjustment can be broken down into three stages:  The Honeymoon Stage, The Negotiation or Frustration Stage, and the Understanding or Acclimation Stage.

The Honeymoon stage generally occurs when you first arrive in your new country with vigor to experience a new culture.  “Symptoms” include an eagerness to learn the language, a love of the food, pace of life, habits, architecture, etc., and an excitement to experience as much as possible of the new country.  Why can’t honeymoons last forever?

The frustration stage can be expected to set in within weeks of your arrival as the initial enthusiasm begins to wear off.  During this stage, you begin to resent characteristics about the culture that you originally found appealing.  You may also feel homesick or become frustrated with the process of learning the language.  Mood swings and feelings of depression are not uncommon.  You may realize that you’re actually very lonely when your husband is away at the mine in Cajarmarca and wrongly resent him for it.  Some people have been known to have difficulty keeping their regular blog.

During the frustration stage, you might be so preoccupied with your feelings of sadness and loneliness that you get lost on your way to meet your friend, and then forget your apartment keys in the taxi you took to help you find the spot.  You might even sprint four blocks after the taxi, pushing people out of the way, crying and screaming in English “STOP!  MY KEYS!  MY HUSBAND IS IN CAJAMARCA!  I DON’T HAVE A SPARE!” only to have the taxi continue to drive away leaving you looking like a crazy person, crying hysterically on the sidewalk blubbering “I hate Peru!”

DiversityAbroad.com assures readers that the frustration stage occurs to millions of people and offers suggestions for coping.  It recommends that you try not to blame your host county (or husband) for your frustrations and to remember that adjusting to a new environment takes time.  The best way to handle it is to try your best to stay positive and focused on all of the new people, food, and experiences you’re having.  It also suggests keeping a journal…hmmm….or blog?

Fortunately, eventually most people who study, work, or travel abroad reach the Acclimation Stage.  This is when you begin to feel more comfortable functioning in your host country.  You build up a network of friends and have a better understanding of the language.  You feel relaxed in your environment and are able to compare both the good and bad of your native country with the good and bad of your host country.

Posted by Danielle L. Krautmann on 4 March, 2010

I have receive more than 30 messages via email and Facebook over the past two weeks asking me what happened to my blog.   I’m sorry I haven’t written much lately.  I’ve been in a slump.   I intend to resume more regular entries and look forward to telling about my Spanish classes and our recent vacation in Arequipa and Colca Canyon.  Stay tuned!

-Danielle

Related posts:

1. Kissing in Peru

By Joy Suthigoseeya

San Francisco is a city where residents have historically lived by their own set of rules and is brimming with an unflinching independent spirit. Where else can you find zombie flash mobs, public pillow fights, an enthusiastic bike and skate culture, a great music and arts scene, more hipsters and gays than you can shake a stick at, and limitless options for amazing food on any budget. Oh yeah, did I mention hippies? Lots and lots o’ smelly hippies.*

San Francisco is famous for the Golden Gate Bridge, cable cars, its hills, the summer of love, the zodiac killer, the Beatniks, and that brilliant car chase scene in that movie “Bullitt” starring Steve McQueen. 

But it should be famous for its endless taquerias and its mucho quirkiness. San Francisco is like that weird girl you were afraid to make friends with but was always secretly attracted to and would probably make your girlfriend if you didn’t go to the same school. But as it were, you’ve gots a rep to protect.

All the tourists rush to Fisherman’s wharf and Pier 39. And they take a cable car to get there.

But you shouldn’t leave without seeing…Any self respecting “tourist” would NOT skip the Golden Gate Bridge, Union Square, North Beach, China Town, Baker Beach, Golden Gate Park or the museums and gardens–notably the Japanese Tea Gardens, or Laughing Sally, who currently lives amongst the relics that make up the oldest penny arcade in the city.

Its original location was by the Cliff House close to the Sutro baths ruins, but in recent years has moved to Pier 45. If you are an early riser you’ll probably enjoy the farmer’s market at the Ferry building where you can get an eclectic sampling of California cuisine at its finest. Finally, if you’re gay you’d be a fool to miss out on SF’s vibrant gay nightlife in the Castro. See moms? There’s something for everyone!

For those with inclinations towards the offbeat, no trip is complete without a stroll down Upper Haight towards hippie hill in Golden Gate Park where you will run into all manners of colorful (smelly) peoples and shops. Don’t worry though, even though the area has been historically sketch it is nowhere near the sketchiness of the Tenderloin, where crack addicts and street hoes adorn many a-corner. Upper Haight just plays host to your standard run of the mill runaways who are in reality harmless, albeit moochy suburban kids.

The Upper Haight could aptly be described as a retail district. There are specialty clothing boutiques, vintage clothing stores, great shoe stores, plenty of smoke shops, tattoo shops, resale shops, and quite a few restaurants and cafes. Not to mention it’s where you’ll find the Haight-Ashbury corner: the epi-center of the 60’s free love revolution. Pick up your Grateful Dead tie dyes here and put the fear of god in your grandmamma with all the free-wheeling liberal ideas you picked up during your visit to SF. If you are into music, make sure you find your way to the end of the Haight Street for Amoeba music, the quintessential music nerd’s wet dream. Sometimes they even have free shows, so be sure to check the local music listings for bands that might be playing there.

If you crave the nitty gritty and want to see where all the “cool” kids live, go to the Mission. The mission is known for its divey bars, street art (notably Clarion Alley, a side street full of murals from the Valencia end to the Mission end), cheap tasty morsels and shopping in specialty boutiques, indie shops, and thrift stores. Two key stores on Valencia and 19th are the Pirate Store, founded by Dave Eggers, which serves as a front for a children’s writing workshop and Paxton’s Gate, a taxidermy shop and art gallery right next door.

Museums anyone…Check out SFMOMA for modern art, the De Young for contemporary art, and the newly renovated California Academy of Sciences. For a cheaper visit to the academy, try going to Nightlife on Thursdays when they feature prominent SF DJs playing for partygoers from 6-10pm. The music changes weekly so check their calendar for more details.

Best park… Definitely Golden Gate Park, with Dolores Park in a close second for people watching and Alamo Square Park in 3rd for city views. Unfortunately they are currently remodeling Dolores Park and it will be closed until Sept 2011. So stop by Alamo Square Park for a snapshot of the Painted Ladies, made famous in the opening credits of “Full House”. The fourth runner up is Buena Vista Park which has great views of the city as well and can be a lovely, but semi-strenuous jaunt to the top. If you are taking your aging mother, it may be a little too much for her to climb, so keep to the lower paths.

Most visitors don’t know that there are bison in Golden Gate Park and hidden slides called the Castro slides in duh, where else, the Castro! They also don’t know that during the summer there are lots of activities such as free street festivals, free music every weekend at Stern Grove or GG park, or that they show free movies in Dolores park once a month.

Best bar in town…A grungy neighborhood staple, Zeitgeist in the Mission is perfect if you want to enjoy a beer garden atmosphere while chumming it up with the locals. The beers are reasonable, they have pitchers and decent bloody marys and you can get some of the best damn cheeseburgers and potatoes in town for only six bucks. The downside is that they only have two bathroom stalls and three portapotties serving peak crowds of 200+ on a busy night. I’ve witnessed those fill up fast with all the beer-a-flowing, so if you’re a girl, beware because that can spell trouble if you’ve broken the seal.

Beer Bar – Toronado in the Lower Haight, which by the way, is a neighborhood worth visiting if just for a few of the art galleries and cafes within its three block radius.

Cocktail Bar – Want tasty drinks? 15 Romolo in North Beach is a great bar that serves some of the best drinks I’ve had. If you are looking for swank, try Bourbon and Branch. Modeled on the concept of the speakeasy, this is your bartender’s bar, the one where they go to when they aren’t serving you. The drinks are expensive, but what do you expect from one of the best bars in America. You need a password to get in, which you can retrieve through their website. They even have a secret library room that requires a password as well.

Wine Bar – I’ve only been to a handful of wine bars in the city since I didn’t really get into wine until recently. Be forewarned that if you are wine snob you best skip my recommendations and do a yelp for the closest wine bar in the neighborhood you are staying in. Bar 821 is the only real wine bar I’ve frequented out of a few in the city and would say I like it for the ambiance and not so much for its wine. Not to say they don’t have an adequate wine selection, I’m just not comfortable recommending the wines having never looked at their menu. They do serve well made Soju drinks, but ambiance is really the key winner for me at this bar.

Dive Bar – Delerium for rockin’ out. It’s close enough to other bars in the neighborhood if you get tired of hanging in one place for too long. Head over to Casanova for a change scenery or bounce between Kilowatt and Gestalt. But stay away from this area on the weekends. It seems all the bridge and tunnel folk like to hang out in the mission then, so you won’t get as an authentic experience if you come during the week. Other great divey bars that are worth mentioning are the Beauty Bar, The Attic, The Knock Out, Uptown, and the Phone Booth. If you’re lucky you might run into the tamale lady at one of these joints and when you do you HAVE to order a tamale. I don’t care what it is. Just get one. If you do miss her, don’t worry, you’ll get a second chance at the late night drunken food game. When you walk out that door let your nose direct you immediately towards the exquisite smell of bacon and grilled onions. Listen for that sizzling sound and feast your senses upon the bacon wrapped hot dog cart that will soon become the saving grace of your night. Try it with mayo, grilled onions, and jalapeños. It may very well give you a tonguegasm or a stomachache if you are lame.

Clubs – There is a club scene for everyone in SF. Keep in mind that the best way to chase down a good party is to know your promoters. Obviously in this case, it is hard if you are a visitor so the next best thing is go to the nearest music shop, look for flyers according to names you recognize and see who is throwing that party. More than likely they will be throwing other parties you might like and if you end up going to one you will find flyers for other parties probably within the same musical vein. If you are just looking for any old club to dance in, head to Soma (11th and Folsom) where quite a few late night clubs are concentrated.

Note on SF nightlife: all bars stop serving alcohol at 2am so most people start their evening relatively early compared to cities like NY or Chicago, which very often don’t start until after midnight. Once the bars/clubs close there are almost always after-parties that serve alcohol in secret locations or not-so secret locations around the city. But you have to know who to ask or where to look.

And the best coffee/coffee shop… Nestled between buildings on a hidden side street in Hayes Valley you’ll find Blue Bottle Café, which serves up some of the best coffee in the city. But if you’re looking for a place to sit, you won’t find it here as it’s only a coffee stand. For excellent coffee and ambiance visit Ritual Coffee Roasters in the Mission. Bring a laptop and don your Urban Outfitters best and you’ll blend right in with the Mission hipsters that keeps this place hoppin.

Best place to see live music… Bottom of the hill, The Independent, Café Du Nord, The Great American Music Hall, Bimbo’s, Slim’s and for bigger acts The Fillmore, and the Warfield. For local bands the Makeout Room and Thee Parkside or Bottom of the Hill are a safe bet. The best way to find out who’s playing where and when is to pick up a free SFweekly at one of the numerous red newspaper boxes. You can also pick a SF Bay Guardian which has a more political bent rather than entertainment. If you are fan of the interweb go to sfstation.com or going.com to find out what is happening on any given night. laughingsquid.com is good for burning man and anarchist type activities and if you are way into art, fecalface.com is a the guide to the bay area arts scene.
Best place for cheap grub… Rosamunde in Lower Haight for the best sausages in the city. Five bucks gets you their homemade specialty sausage (think wild boar, duck and fig, or the old standby beer sausage) with any two toppings. Head next door to Toronado to wash down your sausage with a beer from a selection of the over 100 microbrews on site. If you’re hankering for Mexican, go down to Mission and take your pick from one of any of the great taquerias that line 16th and Mission. For cheap Vietnamese, Tu Lan in the Tenderloin is a rite of passage. Their claim to fame is that it was Julia Childs favorite place. Yes that’s right, Julia Childs loved this little hole-in-the-wall and as proof they’ve got a fairly close facsimile of her face on the menu.

And for sit-down meal at a good value… Little Star Pizza in Nopa and the Mission has great pizza and has been a favorite among locals for the last half decade. For authentic Chicago style pizza you can’t beat Paxti’s in Hayes Valley. After lunch take a stroll down the block for some great boutiques and designy type shops including Huf shoe store and Timbuk 2 bags or get a delectable cupcake at Miette and enjoy it in newly built Octavia Park.

For vegans/vegetarians or hippies, Café Gratitude is one of the best raw/vegan restaurants in the city. If you’re less concerned about health and more about taste, Golden Era Chinese also serves up a vegetarian-only menu. As a meateater, I’ve never been much for vegan or vegetarian fare, but this place is amazing, especially with their meat substitute dishes! A word of advice though, if you are prone to being easily brainwashed and like to join cults you might do well to avoiding this place since it’s been said that the people that run the place are a cult.

And a meal to spend some money…San Francisco is known as foodie town so it’s extremely difficult to narrow it down to just one restaurant. If I were to mention one, I would recommend Delphina, where you can get amazing pizza in the pizzeria or Italian cuisine in the restaurant section. This is place is the buzz of trendy locals, so more often than not you’ll find the dining room bustling on any given night. Forget about ordering “authentic” Italian in North Beach. Locals know that North Beach is for tourists. For other cuisines go to Dosa for Indian, Sushi Bistro for sushi, Nopa for new American, Bar Crudo for raw seafood, and for the ultimate foodie experience, French Laundry in Yountville for French (reservations recommended).

Best specialty dish of your city is…The white clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl or Cioppino which is an Italian seafood stew. If you want to really get a sense of SF cuisine go for the taquerias, any of the food carts, or Asian cuisine in the Inner Richmond.

I know it’s a cliché…but you can’t leave without hanging out in Dolores park for a day to soak up some sun and people watch, buy some pot truffles or beer and then head to bi-rite creamery on the corner for a delicious scoop. They make homemade ice-cream and I promise you it will be the one ice cream experience you’ll be telling your great-great-grandkids about.

And if you’ve got kids… Regrettably I don’t have many friends with kids, being the consummate single I am, but if I were to suggest some places to take them I would say Golden Gate park is a great place to start. There are plenty of things to see and do in the park that are lowcost to free. Not free is the California Academy of Sciences, but it has great hands-on exhibits with 3D shows and a giant indoor atrium filled with butterflies as well as the Exploratorium by the Palace Fine arts.

Pier 39 has great entertainment options such as a Carousel, Magawan’s mirror maze, Ripley’s Believe it or Not, the wax museum, street performers, and your choice of bay cruises. Up until this winter we had a population of sea lions that live at the pier but they’ve since disappeared and no one knows if they are coming back. I’d say don’t bother with the zoo, you’d be better off going to the botanical gardens or Ghiardelli Square for the ice cream sundaes and free chocolate samples.

Best nearby attraction or city for a day trip… Marin headlands on the other side of the bridge. Mount Tamalpais for a beautiful drive through redwoods and gorgeous views of the bay area. Muir woods for easy hiking and up close and personal encounters with California Redwood trees.

Berkeley and Oakland have a culture onto themselves, so if you want to get a feel for what it’s like over there, it’s an easy 20 minute Bart ride over. You don’t need a car and it’s fairly easy to get around. If you are into wine, of course no visit would be complete without a trip to Napa or Sonoma.

How to sound like a local…Don’t ever call San Francisco: Frisco or San Fran. Locals refer to San Francisco as “SF” or “The City”.

Hella – Use hella in place of “really” or “very” when describing something.

This city guide is taking a hella long time to write.

NorCal – a way to refer to northern California.

SoCal – a way to refer to southern California

Additional Links

San Francisco Festival & Events – list of festivals and events throughout the year

Yelp.com – business reviews site that is popular with bay area residents

SFstation – city guide to entertainment and the arts

Fun & Cheap SF – listings for free or cheap events in and around the city

Fecalface.com – comprehensive bay area arts guide

Laughingsquid.com – coverage of lesser known alternative events in the bay area.

Craigslist.org – free classified ad listings for the bay area and beyond.

*I was actually kidding about the hippies. They have all retreated into the woodlands of NorCal and Oregon after being chased out by yuppies and replaced by hipsters.

Joy Suthigoseeya is a freelance graphic designer living in San Francisco. She attributes her love for travel to her parents who towed her and her sisters around on dozens of family roadtrips across the US as kids. She just recently completed a 6 month around-the-world trip in 2008. When she’s not traveling she can be found blogging at designchick.tumblr.com or creating artwork for her online portfolio at designchick.net.

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After changing trains in St. Moritz, I rode through the Bernina Pass and chugged slowly down into Italian-speaking Switzerland. I enjoyed an espresso and a short stroll through the town of Poschiavo and snapped this photo while hanging out of the train window as we returned up the steep grade to the alpine pass.

Photo and text by Stephen Bugno

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By Stephen Bugno

Sailing with my couch surfing host in La Rochelle, France

I want to address the fact that, although GoMad Nomad readership is primarily budget, independent travelers, they are NOT all broke twenty-somethings. So I want to talk about the Couch Surfing Project, and how it’s for all ages. It is, however, only applicable for people who are interested in meeting other people.

Am I not too old for this?

No, you aren’t too old. Although only 3% of couch surfers worldwide are between the ages of 50 and 69 (72% are between the ages of 18 and 29) it still adds up to 48,000 participants over 50, as the total number of worldwide couch surfers is almost 1.7 million. And with 75% knowing English, you shouldn’t have a problem finding a host whom you can communicate with.  When you perform a search looking for a host, you are able to narrow your search by age or gender. And if you are reading this post, you are computer savvy enough to register for couch surfing and fill out your profile.

But I don’t like sleeping on couches

The second issue: sleeping on couches. After three years couch surfing around the world, I’ve only slept on actual couches a few times. Sometimes I’ve had my own bed, my own room, and I’ve heard stories of couch surfers having their own house! In Amman, Jordan, our host put a friend and me in a new, furniture-less apartment he hadn’t moved into yet. Every situation is unique. When reading a person’s profile, you’ll be able to see what kind of accommodation they are offering: futon in a private room, sharing a bed in their bedroom, or whatever the case maybe.

What do I owe my host?

couch surfing in the Welsh countryside

You aren’t required to give your host anything. And they are not expecting any remittance. You may want to show up with a bottle of wine, treat them to dinner or a drink, or cook for them. There have been certain times traveling when I was financially inadequate and could only offer my in-kind contribution of making their house/apartment cleaner than I found it.

On the other end of the spectrum, you shouldn’t expect anything of your guests except common courtesies and respect of your living space and lifestyle.

Do I have to host?

You don’t have to host visitors, you can only host, you can do both. It’s up to you. You are able to set your status on your profile. If you can’t host, just change your profile to “no”, “meet for coffee or a drink”, or “traveling at the moment”

I prefer to sleep in hotels

Fine. Stay at a hotel. Couch surfing is still useful for you. You have the option of searching people who can’t host or would just like to meet up. I’ve met a guy in Tomar, Portugal for a coffee, several couch surfers in Stockholm for evening drinks, and spent the entire São João festival in Oporto, Portugal with a couch surfing group meetup.  In Bordeaux, France a young Bordelais lead me around the mostly 18^th century city, for a tour. The possibilities are endless. Maybe you want to do a language exchange or meet people to play music; just include that in your search terms. I know of a blacksmith and a bookbinder who recently left for Europe looking for Europeans who did similar work. I suggested couch surfing to them. Register, fill out your profile including a picture, set your status, and start surfing.

Will I save money by couch surfing?

Couch surfing may save you money. But do not use couch surfing only because you want to save money. Most of the time your host will introduce you to friends and you may go out for the evening and spend more money than you planned. Couch surfing is about meeting people, connecting, sharing similarities, celebrating differences, learning, enjoying life. If you couch surf in a place like Olso, Norway or Tokyo, Japan, you are bound to save money. But use couch surfing with the intention of meeting new people.

Is it safe?

There are some checks in place in order to make couch surfing as safe as it can be, namely an identity check and location verification. Listed on a person’s profile are the references that every couch surfing member can leave after meeting, hosting, or surfing with another member. There is also a vouching system in place. In almost 50 couch surfing experiences, I haven’t had one that I would consider not safe.

Give it a try

Couch surfing has enabled me to meet some amazing people and have experiences I wouldn’t have had otherwise.  I’ve sailed with a host who is a skipper in La Rochelle, France and stayed in a hamlet in the Welsh countryside. And you don’t always end up with a host from the country you’re visiting, which can really add spice to your travels. I’ve stayed with a New Zealander in London, a Brazilian in Portugal, an American in Syria, and a Hungarian in Berlin. 

I’m not the type of traveler who can show up in a strange city, pop into a bar and walk out with five friends two hours later. Couch Surfing helps me have a new friend in town the moment I arrive. 

CouchSurfing is an international non-profit network that connects travelers with locals in over 230 countries and territories around the world. Since 2004, members have been using the system to come together for cultural exchange, friendship, and learning experiences. Today, over a million people who might otherwise never meet are able to share hospitality and cultural understanding.

Stephen Bugno has couchsurfed his way through Europe and beyond simply to see how people are living.  His writing has appeared in The San Francisco Chronicle, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Seattle Times, and Transitions Abroad magazine. He blogs at: Blog of a Modern Nomad 

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After a day of cycling and walking through a cold, rainy, gray December day in Copenhagen, a friend and I ducked into this cozy cafe for this artist creation of a sandwich. After an hour of trying to talk over rowdy, drunk English football fans in town for a match, we got back on our old bikes and continued pedaling through the old cobblestone streets.

Photo and text by Stephen Bugno

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By Scott Homan

In the San Blas Islands Photo credit: Noam Fein

When planning your trip between Central and South America, whether you’re a backpacker or a luggage puller, Darien National Park must be discussed and crossed. The Darien is an infamous stronghold of the Colombian revolutionary group, FARC, who have inhabited this national park region for more than three decades. Their presence is still a major threat to safety in the forms of extortion, kidnapping and death. It is not recommended to enter the area. Although there are groups and individuals who attempt to cross every year, the vast majority of travelers hedge their bets on boats and airplanes where kidnapping is not common and survival is the status quo–not a question mark.

A few ways to make the crossing

There are a number of ways to cross this region including direct Panama City to Cartagena flights or by a series of Kuna water taxis to the first border town. The option I chose was to sail from Panama to Colombia through the Caribbean Sea. The San Blas region consists of 385 protected tropical islands which are the highlight of this adventurous route. Visiting the San Blas on a tour costs roughly $150 from Panama City. Because sailing includes an intimate tour of the region, it can be an economical way to circumnavigate the Darien. These areas have a long history of Spanish and pirate influence; colonial fortifications with cannons exist as well as stories of Spanish conquest.

If you are traveling through Central America staying in hostels, undoubtedly you’ll run into some backpackers who’ve made this sailing trip. They’ll have a wide range of stories varying from their favorite all-time experience to a week of sea sickness during a storm. Not one person I talked to would have changed that segment of their trip and flown. It’s exciting to plan, makes memories that won’t soon fade and forges friendships in a way that is very different from even the most exceptional week in a hostel.

Sailing the Darien

A Kuna woman in the San Blas Islands Photo credit: Marc Veraart

Highlights for me included: jumping overboard and swimming to tropical sandy beaches; snorkeling and figuring out how to open fresh coconuts for a snack; getting dropped off in a strong current to snorkel and then getting picked up thirty minutes later down current; catching a shark for dinner; visiting local Kuna on their islands and observing their ways of life; cooking from midnight until 4:30 am chopping veggies and boiling noodles for the next three days of open water sailing in rougher seas; enjoying clear, starry nights on deck while everyone else is sleeping; watching flying fish buzzing over wave after wave and dolphins jumping and swimming on all sides of our boat, climbing up the mast ladder to help the captain navigate reefs based on water color changes, experiencing two days at sea feeling very small and then seeing land for the first time.

Organizing the sea voyage

Organizing the voyage south is very difficult to do without being in Panama City. There are three hostels where you can get all the information that you need to arrange your trip including photos of boats, details about the captain and the experience you should have if you sail with that captain: Hostal Mamallena, Luna’s Castle (in Panama City) and Hostal Wunderbar (located in Puerto Lindo on the Caribbean coast). For those of you who like to arrange things ahead of time, it is now possible to book a few weeks in advance online with Hostal Wunderbar. Making a deposit in person is the most secure way to guarantee a ride. At the reception they list the upcoming sailings, captain’s names, and how many spaces are left. Mamallena is the most helpful for organizing your trip.

The regular cost of sailing for five days and four or five nights is $375 to $400 including your deposit. On top of that you must pay for travel from the city to the port or island where the boat leaves: $4 bus ride or a $25 4×4 ride on rough roads into Kuna lands plus entrance to the park and a few dollars for a launch out to your ship.

Another way to find a boat is simply by making it known to people that you’re looking for a ride. I was actually on my way to catch a bus to Puerto Lindo to catch a last minute boat to Sapzuro which at the time seemed to be the only option due to the windy season starting and consequent rough seas. I bumped into a guy that was trying to assemble a crew leaving in two days for Cartagena, where I really wanted to go. His pitch sounded great, including beds for each passenger and three meals each day. He simply slept at Luna’s Castle and spread word about the trip. It seemed more natural and reminiscent of a method I thought had long evaporated decades or even centuries ago: times when a crew member headed out to bars and inns looking to assemble a crew for a voyage. I couldn’t pass it up.

A toucan in the San Blas Islands Photo credit: Marc Veraart

First person stories I’ve heard vary so widely that I have to mention some of the details here. Rave reviews loosely quoted include: gourmet meals twice a day of fresh caught seafood prepared by a French chef, great party and adventure atmosphere, a bed for each passenger, free beer, high quality snorkel gear and an impressive snorkel spot each day. Less rave and more rant which I heard more often: captain was drunk, hid our rum and tried to fight one of the guys, we were scared of him and there was no dingy so we had to swim to islands and other boats when we had the chance, the bathroom consisted of a pail strapped to the wall that was never dumped out, our crew of six defected to another boat with a sympathetic captain anchored nearby and demanded their money back.”

One crew ran out of fuel, and with no wind, no radio, adrift at sea with food supply dwindling, were put on water rations for a total of 11 days until the wind picked up and they made it to land. There are a few gripes that were unanimous with our crew: lack of cooked food and beds. This drew us closer together and we approached the captain with our issues. He, his first mate and others slept on deck to allow everyone a turn with the beds. We were thirteen on board with seven beds and cushions on the floor. Two people were left each night nearly sleepless or spooning a friend, not quite what any of us expected. The captain had our passports stamped for only 30 days. Most passengers get 60 to 90. In Colombia it costs $34 to renew for 30 more days.

These less than great experiences can mostly be avoided by asking the following questions before choosing a captain:

• How many people can the boat sleep comfortably?
• How many people will be aboard during the voyage?
• Is the kitchen self serve only or will there be a chef?
• Will there be sufficient snacks or should we bring our own?
• What types of alcohol will be aboard and what will the cost be?
• Are there sea sickness medications on board that I will be able to use?
• How long will the trip take?
• How many islands will the yacht stop at in San Blas?
• Are there any animals on board?
• What level of participation is expected or allowed by passengers?
• Also learn where the safety equipment is on-board and how to use it.

If traveling north from Colombia

When traveling from Colombia check with hostels in the Getsemani area of Cartagena such as: Hostal Real, La Casona De Getsemani, Media Luna, and Casa Vienna. Also get online and contact Mamallena or Hostal Wunderbar in Panama for help getting in contact with Captains. It is also worth going down to the marina and asking around about captains that sail to Panama. If you or the hostel staff call a captain they will often arrange a time to meet you.

The trade-winds pick up from December to February, making seas rough. Most captains won’t venture beyond Sapzuro at this time. In hindsight, this would likely be a more enjoyable trip, spending more time in the San Blas islands and less time on the open seas. Mid-December is also particularly busy due to the holidays, so try to plan around these times.

Bon Voyage!

Scott Homan has traveled extensively through Latin America and Europe in the last six years with thirty countries under his belt. An avid hiker and snowboarder, he seeks out national parks and mountains wherever they may lie and loves the unique cultural variation of every locale. For the search, the change and the challenge he’s lived in various states east coast and west, as well as in Spain and Ecuador.  Originally from rural Wisconsin, he enjoys the Rockies of Colorado from a base in Boulder when not traveling.

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This photo of the Armenian Cowboy was taken in Nagorno-Karabakh. Earlier in the day we visited Gandzasar Monastery, a beautiful 13th century hilltop Armenian monastery.  A few miles down the road from the monastery, at  junction in the road, we tried to hitch a ride on a country road north to Dadivank Monastery complex.  After a few hours waiting, no vehicles passed. We gave up and decided to pitch our tent in a nearby river valley. After taking a dip in the river and lighting a fire, this Armenian cowboy came down off the hillside with his cattle.

The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic is an unrecognized, de facto independent state established within the territory of Azerbaijan.

Photo and story by Stephen Bugno

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