It’s like I’ve traveled back in time – alarm goes off at 7:45 every morning, then breakfast and off to school… CRAZY :)
The school is pretty nice though, 4 teachers for about 12 students. The last 2 days I even had private lessons. Nevertheless it’s quite hard. All this grammar I never completely understood in German or English…
Also, there are 3 Germans which make talking Spanish to them even harder :)
I also got to know the local food already. I ate something unidentifiable (like the famous meat sticks) at the mercado two days ago and this meant I had to spend the whole afternoon in bed. Every movement made me sick – weak European body!
Need to get used to it sometime :)
Today we went to Mitad del Mundo or the equator. And for those how don’t believe in the coriolis force, I saw an impressive example today…
In between of just 6m the water went down a sink clockwise on the northern hemisphere, then straight on the equator and counter clockwise on the southern hemisphere. They also said you can’t balance an egg on the equator – I seriously doubt I can do it anywhere :)
Last but not least, especially for Philip and Thomas:
Got sunburned today :)
cheers,
alex
Donnerstag, 7. Juli 2011
Sonntag, 3. Juli 2011
Day 2 - Bienvenido a Quito
Sunday morning, alarm goes off at 8:30 and everything is ok…
Yeah, I know, doesn’t sound like me, does it? ;)
But I can assure you, nothing strange is going on - 8:30 + 7 = 15:30 (and all that without „Mathe 3“ (insider)) and that’s a perfectly normal time to get up :)
First things first… I have a very nice host family who luckily speaks a bit “ingles” even when they refuse to do it so I start learning Spanish. I have got a very nice room and the house is on a hill with a great view over the town. Didn’t take any pictures of the room and the view yet and can’t be bothered right now because I’m too tired…
All I did the whole day was wandering around town playing tourist. And I need to admit even though it is really cool to have this nice view, the last thing you want to do at an elevation of 2800m is going up yet another hill :)
But so it be – need to prepare myself for La Paz anyway…
Beside the toughened conditions up here, the day was really nice. It is the start of a cultural week (or maybe month) in the old town, so there were a lot of musicians and street performance and again a lot of people! The streets were closet for traffic and so everybody got his bike out of the shed and drove it around the narrow streets like crazy. It was great to see how the always present police tried to get order into a heap of people who aren’t known for the organization skills – but then again, it worked out pretty good :)
And because pictures say more than thousand words, here they are…
The eagle in Ecuador
Simon Bolivar
Plaza Grande
Plaza Grande
Altitude
Plaza Grande - shoe shine boys
La Basilica
La Basilica
south Quito
La Basilica
Cruz roja? -> Cruz blanco or Switzerland
Tomorrow my day will start at 7:15 and I need to be at school! at 8 – déjà vu
See ya
Yeah, I know, doesn’t sound like me, does it? ;)
But I can assure you, nothing strange is going on - 8:30 + 7 = 15:30 (and all that without „Mathe 3“ (insider)) and that’s a perfectly normal time to get up :)
First things first… I have a very nice host family who luckily speaks a bit “ingles” even when they refuse to do it so I start learning Spanish. I have got a very nice room and the house is on a hill with a great view over the town. Didn’t take any pictures of the room and the view yet and can’t be bothered right now because I’m too tired…
All I did the whole day was wandering around town playing tourist. And I need to admit even though it is really cool to have this nice view, the last thing you want to do at an elevation of 2800m is going up yet another hill :)
But so it be – need to prepare myself for La Paz anyway…
Beside the toughened conditions up here, the day was really nice. It is the start of a cultural week (or maybe month) in the old town, so there were a lot of musicians and street performance and again a lot of people! The streets were closet for traffic and so everybody got his bike out of the shed and drove it around the narrow streets like crazy. It was great to see how the always present police tried to get order into a heap of people who aren’t known for the organization skills – but then again, it worked out pretty good :)
And because pictures say more than thousand words, here they are…
The eagle in Ecuador
Simon Bolivar
Plaza Grande
Plaza Grande
Altitude
Plaza Grande - shoe shine boys
La Basilica
La Basilica
south Quito
La Basilica
Cruz roja? -> Cruz blanco or Switzerland
Tomorrow my day will start at 7:15 and I need to be at school! at 8 – déjà vu
See ya
Day 1 - The way to Quito
After a long and exhausting journey from Vienna to Quito I finally have the time to tell you about the what, why and how.
All begins in Vienna, where Harald was celebrating his belated birthday and I wanted to wish him my best – I have to be at home until midnight, I told myself.
Actually I just could stop writing right now, because everybody can imagine what happens next…
So let’s just leave it with – I didn’t make it home until 3:45
Luckily though, that was a really good timing. It gave me just enough time to finish packing my backpack and take a quick shower before I hoped into the taxi. I don’t want to start imagining what could have happened if I have had the time to take a quick nap… :)
Apart of the fact that I was tired and hung over, the first leg to Madrid went really smooth. In Madrid I ran into troubles with Iberia, because although I booked the flight by Iberia it was operated by Lan Ecuador. So they wouldn’t print me a boarding card at their “Customer Service” desk where at the time being just 2 of 6 employees were working while the others chatted over a cup of coffee…
To get to the Lan Ecuador Check in, I had to leave the security zone of the airport, then wait in line with people who check in luggage 3 to 4 times their own weight and pass the security controls again.
Then I realized that Madrid has got a huge airport – it took me 25min to get to the right terminal including a 4min train ride.
So I completely need the 3 hours in between flights…
The flight itself was great – yes, ok… 11 hours, but the plane was pretty new, with touch screens and all that stuff and most important my headphones were able to block all those annoying noises :)
After the flight to Ecuador, which brought me to Guayaquil, I had again 3 hours until my 40min flight to Quito. Luckily I met a really nice Cardiologist who was travelling back to Quito from a conference in Paris. We past the time with stories about travelling and he also gave me some useful tips for the stay in Quito.
Finally in Quito, I was not the only tourist to arrive… It took me one and a half hour to clear Immigration and when I came in the luggage claim area, they already cleared the conveyor bands for the next flights and so hundreds of pieces were spread throughout the area!
No problem, I found my backpack rather quickly and was really happy that it has arrive with me :)
The arrival area was packed with people trying to find somebody. A lot of them got a really exciting expression when you finished reading their sign, but none of them said my name… I stepped outside the airport, where it still was packed with people when I finally found the sign with my name on it – sure, the whole experience wasn’t as glamorous as I hoped, but I was really happy to find Maria :)
All the best
Alex
PS: don’t even think that every post is going to be this long and detailed ;)
All begins in Vienna, where Harald was celebrating his belated birthday and I wanted to wish him my best – I have to be at home until midnight, I told myself.
Actually I just could stop writing right now, because everybody can imagine what happens next…
So let’s just leave it with – I didn’t make it home until 3:45
Luckily though, that was a really good timing. It gave me just enough time to finish packing my backpack and take a quick shower before I hoped into the taxi. I don’t want to start imagining what could have happened if I have had the time to take a quick nap… :)
Apart of the fact that I was tired and hung over, the first leg to Madrid went really smooth. In Madrid I ran into troubles with Iberia, because although I booked the flight by Iberia it was operated by Lan Ecuador. So they wouldn’t print me a boarding card at their “Customer Service” desk where at the time being just 2 of 6 employees were working while the others chatted over a cup of coffee…
To get to the Lan Ecuador Check in, I had to leave the security zone of the airport, then wait in line with people who check in luggage 3 to 4 times their own weight and pass the security controls again.
Then I realized that Madrid has got a huge airport – it took me 25min to get to the right terminal including a 4min train ride.
So I completely need the 3 hours in between flights…
The flight itself was great – yes, ok… 11 hours, but the plane was pretty new, with touch screens and all that stuff and most important my headphones were able to block all those annoying noises :)
After the flight to Ecuador, which brought me to Guayaquil, I had again 3 hours until my 40min flight to Quito. Luckily I met a really nice Cardiologist who was travelling back to Quito from a conference in Paris. We past the time with stories about travelling and he also gave me some useful tips for the stay in Quito.
Finally in Quito, I was not the only tourist to arrive… It took me one and a half hour to clear Immigration and when I came in the luggage claim area, they already cleared the conveyor bands for the next flights and so hundreds of pieces were spread throughout the area!
No problem, I found my backpack rather quickly and was really happy that it has arrive with me :)
The arrival area was packed with people trying to find somebody. A lot of them got a really exciting expression when you finished reading their sign, but none of them said my name… I stepped outside the airport, where it still was packed with people when I finally found the sign with my name on it – sure, the whole experience wasn’t as glamorous as I hoped, but I was really happy to find Maria :)
All the best
Alex
PS: don’t even think that every post is going to be this long and detailed ;)
Sonntag, 5. Juni 2011
The preparation already started
Finally I got time to travel the world again. It already has been 2 years since my last big vacation (I know, you working folks are gonna hate me for saying that, but big vacation is considered >= 4 weeks :) )...
My 3 month trip to South America will include Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina. The flight to Quito - Ecuador is already booked and I'm ready to leave good old Austria July 2nd...
Right now I'm working on my route along the Andes. I'm just worried that most of the "planning" will be a waste of time - have had problems to follow my own plans lately :)
But as long as I reach Buenos Aires on time I don't mind being flexible...
Besides getting to know the scenery, people, the flora and fauna in this part of the earth, I'm also very excited to meet up with a few familiarly faces.
Caro, Eva, and Lukas are going to volunteer in Arequipa for a few weeks and I'm "planning" to meet them there...
As always, I hope you gonna enjoy reading my blog and being part of my adventures - please comment frequently so I don't stop keeping you up to date (you know, I'm a lazy bastard :-))
At this point I also wanna thank all those who let me be part of their trips throughout the world (Lari, Lena, Harry, and all you others...)
So, hope to read from you in July - when the action begins :)
alex
My 3 month trip to South America will include Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina. The flight to Quito - Ecuador is already booked and I'm ready to leave good old Austria July 2nd...
Right now I'm working on my route along the Andes. I'm just worried that most of the "planning" will be a waste of time - have had problems to follow my own plans lately :)
But as long as I reach Buenos Aires on time I don't mind being flexible...
Besides getting to know the scenery, people, the flora and fauna in this part of the earth, I'm also very excited to meet up with a few familiarly faces.
Caro, Eva, and Lukas are going to volunteer in Arequipa for a few weeks and I'm "planning" to meet them there...
As always, I hope you gonna enjoy reading my blog and being part of my adventures - please comment frequently so I don't stop keeping you up to date (you know, I'm a lazy bastard :-))
At this point I also wanna thank all those who let me be part of their trips throughout the world (Lari, Lena, Harry, and all you others...)
So, hope to read from you in July - when the action begins :)
alex
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