First 2 years of retirement...in a nutshell

10/10/10 Retire!

October - Boston 

November- Thailand 

  Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Hua Hin, Chumpon, Koh Tao, Khao Sok, Krabi, Ao Nang, Koh Phi Phi

December- Thailand, (Visa run to Myanmar!), Malaysia, Singapore 

  Thailand- Phuket Town, Kata Beach, Kai Islands, Trang, Hat Yai

   Malaysia- Georgetown, Penang, Kuala Lumpur, Taman Negara

   Singapore - Singapore

January 2011 -Indonesia

   Jakarta - Bandung, Yogjakarta,

     Bali- Kuta, Pedangbai, Ubud, Dreamland- Uluwatu

     Lombok - Gili Air,  Kuta 

February, March - San Diego

April, May, and June - Mexico 

 Puerto Vallarta (Conchas Chinas)

July - Mexico

 Guadalajara, Tonala, Tlaquepaque, Ajijic, Guanajuato, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico City

October- St Maarten

November- Puerto Rico 

 Isabela - (Los Jobos, Las Dunas),  San Juan 

December- San Diego

2012

 January, February - San Diego

 March, April, May, June- Ecuador, Peru

  Ecuador - Quito, Otavalo, Las Penas, Llano Grande, Papallacta, Mindo, Tena, Banos, Cuenca 

  Peru -Tumbes, Cuzco, Machu Picchu, Lima (Miraflores) 

July - California Road Trip

  Coalinga, Vallejo, San Francisco, Berkeley, Sonoma, Sacramento, South Lake Tahoe, Monterrey, Santa Cruz, San Luis Obispo

August, September, to 10/10/12 - San Diego

Miraflores Malecon

Inca Tern

Miraflores is the coastal area of Lima, our "home" for the month of June.

malecon park

walking the malecon

Surf Peru

lighthouse

Shops, restaurant

Crabs

Inca Terns

shopping mall Larcomar

sunset

What's for lunch?

In Ecuador it's "almuerzo", in Peru it's "menú"- in either place it's a great deal! For about $2 USD in Ecuador, less than $3 in Peru, you get a large bowl of soup, a drink (usually fruit juice), choice of a main plate, and sometimes even a dessert!
 A couple of my favorite dishes are tallarines verdes - spaghetti with a spinach and basil pesto sauce, and lomo saltado - like chinese beef stir fry, served with french fries, over rice.
 Another of my favorite foods is causa rellena - mashed potatoes with a layer of avocado and a layer of chicken (or tuna) salad - sound weird but tastes great!

Typical Restaurant with Menú sign

soup

Tallarin Verde / Chuleta

lomo saltado

causa rellena

Machu Picchu - Inca Trail

There are several ways to reach the Lost City of the Incas, Machu Picchu- we chose the 45 km, 4 day, Classic Inca Trail trek, along the paved roads and steps laid by the Incas over 500 years ago. The scenery was amazing, the weather was sunny, our group was great, the food was delicious and plentiful, and our guides  were excellent. And yes, it was a tough hike, but unforgettable.

locals

view on bus ride to trail

The Group

"The first ruins encountered is a circular, walled complex with typical Incan niches inside. This beautiful Incan ruin is called Runkuracay ("Pile of Ruins") and is located at 12,139 feet (3.720 M) of elevation. The circular ruin is thought by archaeologists to have been a "tambo" which was a resting station for couriers traveling along the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. Runkuracay  contains an area for sleeping and a stable area for their pack animals (generally llamas)."

"Patallacta is located between the Cusco and Machu Picchu on a stone-paved Inca highway, part of the Royal Road that climbed and twisted more than 5,000 miles through the Andes. The town, with its 115 dwellings guarded by a hilltop fortress, probably served as "a pit stop for Incas traveling between Cuzco and Machu Picchu," according to Ann Kendall, a British archaeologist who has spent 13 years studying the site. Agriculture sufficient to support perhaps 5,000 people flourished at 8,000 ft. above sea level, on the high slopes of the valley of the churning Cusichaca River.

Patallacta was burned by Manco Inca Yupanqui, who destroyed a number of settlements along the Inca trail during his retreat from Cusco in 1536 to discourage Spanish pursuit. In part due to these efforts, the Spanish never discovered the Inca trail or any of its settlements.

Today the land around Patallacta is powder-dry and barren. Fifteen families barely scratch a living from the soil, and almost nothing can be grown for the entire five-month dry season."

campsite

group, cooks and porters

Inca Tunnel

 Inca stone trail

Machu Picchu

Our guide Yamil in a burial niche

mountain Huayna Picchu

llamas everywhere

10 de Agosto Market, Cuenca

 Wherever we go, one of my favorite things to do is wander the local markets...

Canyoning in Banos

slide

They call it canyoning, but what it really is - rappelling down waterfalls. Kinda crazy, but lots of fun! It's a series of 5 waterfalls - and the bottom of the last one is small, so we just slid down it on our bottoms...

going down

That black dot below is Manuel

long way down

almost there

Here I come....

A Blast in Paradise

following the stream

 On the second day of our 2 day jungle tour, we followed our guide through paradise, down a beautiful stream into caverns, through bat filled caves (or at least they were before we got there- the bats flew out en masse when we invaded their space), over logs, shimmying up crevices - getting muddy, soaked, scraped up - and having a blast!!

Our fearless leader

going in...

up and over

bat cave!!

tight fit (no comments, please)

following the leader...

lunch on the river

Our River Transport

Tilapia

Lunch stop (view from above)

Quinoa

The Beach

We booked an overnight trip into the jungle- part of the adventure was floating down the river in inner tubes and stopping for lunch by the side of the river. Lunch was tilapia cooked over a fire in banana leaves, quinoa, yucca, and lemon grass tea, with leaves from the jungle as plates. Yummy.