freein the flops

How can we begin to describe our feelings towards Ecuador? Welp, to put it bluntly, it´s a shithole. Things all started to go downhill on our all-terrain train ride to the Narriz del Diablo (nose of the devil) when we were left behind for the devil´s nose, and then ran into a bunch of angry ecuadorians blocking the tracks on the way back. the end result was a 4 and a half hour, 30 km walk through rain and snow to a town with no hotels where the only people nice enough to put us up for the night were the police. Guess our St. Patty´s day turned out the only way a good one should...with a night in the police station.

all-terrain train riding! sick!

one of many roadblocks. we moved the boulders from the tracks and 2 minutes later they put them back. grrr

the cozy little town of riobamba, the best part of the ¨train incident¨and our last pleasant night in Ecuador

Getting all decked out in riot gear before going to force our way through some ecuadorian road blocks.

This is our new friend Suiza the Who from Whoville. Who new Dr. Suess wrote non-fiction?

We finally crossed the Peruvian-ecuadorian border giddy with excitement to be leaving the shitshow that is Ecuador and to discover the glory, the majesty, and the wonder that is Peru. No, seriously, Peru is a lot sweeter than ecuador. We spent a few days on gorgeous beaches watching old-school surfers ride some waves on these caballitos de tatoro. Not sure exactly what that means, but they´re these cool little fishing boats pictured above. There were millions of them on this beach, and only two gringos -- ed and jer.

Next up, the ruins of chan chan. and boy are they in ruins, let me tell ya! basically just lots of big mud piles that used to be walls and houses in the middle of the desert.

I think this used to be a kitchen. Or a burial room. Either way it still had that nice homey feel you get in a house made of mud.

We spent a long afternoon of drinking chicha - a local mooshine made from corn - with our buddy Loco and his amigos, and as you can see, things got just a little crazy. La la la la la bamba!

This is a reenactment of what´s becoming one of our favorite pasttimes in Peru, a little QT with the porcelain gods. This particular photo was taken on the main strip of the market in Chiclayo. They sure do love their toilets.

Peru is a rather large, somewhat undeveloped country with tons of cool stuff to see. That means lots of long busrides on bumpy roads through remote areas. The plus side is some spectacular views, driving above and below ginormous cliff, through tunnels, etc. The downside, is uh, lots of long bumpy busrides. Fortunately there are lots of local farmacies where you can find sleeping pills at the low, low price of 10 for 30 cents!

yummy

We checked out some ancient burial sites and some hot springs while in Cajamarca, up in the hills. This guy obviously spent too much time in the water.

Kuelap, an amazing pre-Incan site way up in the hills with lots of Alpaca and really big walls. We wandered around for hours and only saw three other tourists. very cool.

a little nap at our Kuelap breakfast nook

mmm, alpaca. looks tasty

hardcore rock(wall) climbing. they really are that big

we began our voyage in seach of adventure and truth, and bonus, we found Jesus!

tuk-tuks rule

The peruvian jungle is awesome. we borrowed a canoe from some locals on the shores of Laguna Azul, and spent the next few days paddling around the lake, camping, foraging for oranges and peppers in the forest, digging freshwater clams, and trading our goods for fish and coconuts to make some of the most scrumptulescent meals ever seen on this side of the equator.

the campsite

some jungle lawnmower engineering
street salons.the river crossing to laguna azul powered by the flow of the river

I finally had to say goodbye to my sandals. you´ll be missed guys. 100 bucks for anyone who sees them in Brazil

and finally, more splunking. we love splunking and saying splunking. splunking.