The South America trip is off to a chilly and sleepy, but fun, start. After checking into my hostel in the beautiful neighborhood of Miraflores in Lima early in the morning on Sunday, I struck off to explore. The Pacific coast was only a few blocks away, and I found a nice walking path that led to a swanky mall right on the coast. Upon arriving, I immediately realized how much colder it was here and that I had not brought enough pants. I bought a pair at the mall and then had a delicious brunch by the sea of egg and avocado and fresh-squeezed camu camu, orange, and pineapple juice.
By the afternoon, the jet lag was really setting in badly. I broke one of the cardinal rules of traveling by taking a 4 hour nap between 2 and 6pm–finally having a proper bed after flying for 2 days was too tempting! I then woke up, hung out in the hostel’s common area for about 2 hours and made some friends, and fell back asleep at 8pm. Big mistake! I awoke to the sound of Sarah’s arrival in our room at midnight, and it was so good to see her!! We caught up until about 2am, when she fell asleep and I found I could not go back to sleep, even though I tried. I spent the next few hours catching up with friends in Europe, and went to a local cafe shortly after sunrise to get a coffee. Once Sarah woke up, we got ready and walked to the coast to enjoy another coffee with a beautiful view, then caught a cab down to the Lima historic district. Our cab driver dropped us off at the Plaza de San Martin.
This is when it got interesting. Sarah and I had been warned that Lima is a dangerous city, so we were already a bit on edge. We also noticed several locals were leering and making comments as we passed by. We tried to ignore and kept walking through the plaza. All of the sudden, a man quickly approached us with a blue card in his hand and started shouting. “No gracias,” Sarah and I both said, and kept walking. I thought he was trying to sell us a map, while Sarah thought he was trying to give us a flyer to a club. He shouted at us again and continued to wave the blue card. “No gracias!” we repeated, a bit more assertively, and continued to walk. All of the sudden, I heard Sarah say, “He’s following us.” I turned around to see he had, in fact, been following us across the plaza. As we started to freak out and walk faster, Sarah said, “Wait!” She turned around and took the blue card from the man–her birth control packet had fallen out of her purse, and the man was trying to return it! We apologized profusely and he shook his head at us, and we began to laugh hysterically!! It helps to be cautious of strangers, but it’s more important to make sure essential items remain in your bag at all times! 🙂
After this hilarious encounter, we proceeded on to watch the changing of the guard at the palace in the Plaza de Armas at noon. It was a grand affair with a full brass band and lots of flags and marching. After this, we got lunch at a local restaurant and tried Inca Cola (we did not like it!) and cancha (we liked it! It is like edible unpopped popcorn). We then walked around a bit more, then decided to take advantage of the sunny day and find a rooftop bar.
Leave it to the 2 girls from NYC to try to find a rooftop bar in a city where there are hardly any at all! After searching for about an hour (even with the help of TripAdvisor), we found a sufficient one just a block away from our hostel in Miraflores (haha). We ordered 2 pisco sours, the national drink of Peru. After serving us our drinks, the bartender told us one ingredient is raw egg white, and we freaked out a bit. We did try one sip, and decided it wasn’t for us. The bartender sympathetically then made us 2 margaritas at no extra charge! The rooftop had comfortable couches, and as the jetlag started to set in full force, it took all my willpower not to fall asleep on them. I am so happy Sarah was there to hold me accountable!
With no nap, we went to an early dinner at my brunch spot from yesterday, where I had a delicious quinoa, egg, and shrimp dish. We then went back to the hostel, where I got a solid 10 hours of sleep! I’m hoping the jet lag is defeated now!
The next morning, we boarded a Cruz Del Sur bus for Paracas. This ride was much more posh than we expected, and Sarah and I had very comfortable seats! The bus had an attendant that served drinks and snacks, just like an airplane. After 3 hours, we arrived at Paracas National Reserve. 
Paracas was absolutely beautiful and was very surprising, as I really had not researched it before arriving. Our tour picked us up from the bus station, and we stopped at several vistas and overlooks along the coast. We also saw lots of flamingos and fossils. I felt like I was on another planet! I found myself soaking up the views, and comparing what I saw to what I had seen in Vietnam just days before, particularly in Ha Long Bay. It is incredible to me how much natural diversity our planet has, and how so many places can be so beautiful in their own unique ways.
Paracas is a protected space along the coast of Peru, and only a small number of fisherman are permitted to fish along its coastline. For lunch, our guide took us to a restaurant on the reserve that serves fish caught in Paracas. Here, I had the best meal I have had since I left New York–fresh ceviche (raw fish, squid, and scallops marinated in lime) served with sweet potato chips and crisps (my favorite!). We enjoyed watching a sea lion play in the water right in front of our table during lunch. 
Sarah and I also met some interesting people during our tour. We shared lunch with a British girl our age who is spending 4 months traveling solo through South America. We also got to know our tour guide very well–a friendly guy from Holland who visited Peru and has never left since. He also randomly decided to open up to Sarah and me about all of his baby mama drama, which was quite interesting!
After the day-long tour, it was time to head back to the bus stop for the hour-long journey to Ica. We are only two days in, and already feel like the adventure is well underway. We are excited to see what the next few weeks hold!
We said our “see you laters” in Doha around 11pm, as he was continuing back to London that evening. I was so happy to learn that Qatar Airways would provide me with free 5 star accommodations for the night before my 8am connection to Dallas. This was by far the “poshest” accommodation I’ve had yet on the journey! Thank you Qatar Airways! While I had initially been nervous to spend the night alone here, everyone in Qatar was extremely hospitable, helpful, and nice. I highly recommend Qatar Airways! After showering and catching a few hours of sleep in a big, fluffy, clean bed, I returned to the airport for my 16 hour flight to Dallas.
We stopped at several interesting places along the way, including a Japanese bridge, the Tu Doc tomb, Bunker Hill, an incense shop, a coliseum where elephants and tigers would fight in front of the king, and Thien Mu pagoda. We also stopped at the Citadel that surrounds the Imperial City on the way back. 
The Tu Doc tomb was also interesting. The king who was buried here apparently had 104 wives but 0 children, and his exact location of burial on the grounds is unknown so as to thwart grave robbers. The Chinese symbol for longevity appears throughout the complex.
The next day, I chose to sleep in instead of visiting the Citadel (being a tourist can be exhausting and I need to pace myself!), and then our group set off for a 14 hour train ride from Hue to Hanoi. The stay in Hue was a little too brief for me, but I’ll hopefully visit again at some point! 
Then, we arrived at the Ba Hang lagoons and went kayaking. You can only reach the lagoons by kayak and it was really peaceful! Then, we hopped back on the junkboat and went to the Thien Cung cave. Our guide explained all the legends around the rock formations and the shadows. Apparently, the legend is that a dragon prince married his bride in the cave and all the animals in the jungle attended the wedding (you can see them in the rock formations…really cute!)
Hoi An absolutely swept me away. It’s a beach town in central Vietnam, but the main attraction is the “Old Town,” which consists of several preserved houses and temple, shops, tailor shops, bars, and restaurants along the Thu Bon River. The charming bridges and architecture and cultural vibrancy of Hoi An reminded me a lot of Florence, Italy. After arriving the first day, I relaxed by the pool for a bit before joining my trip friends for a walk through the Old Town. 
After the miracle of meeting up with my group in time for the train ride to Nha Trang, I had my first overnight sleeper train experience. While it was cold and dirty, it was also a fun experience and somehow the best sleep I’ve gotten in awhile. Maybe I was just so exhausted from a few long nights and then the craziness of trying to find my way alone through Saigon traffic that night, but I crashed hard, despite the conditions on the train. There are only two temperatures on the overnight trains: extreme hot or extreme cold. I had extreme cold for my first ride. Also, I definitely used my sleep sack as the sheets had several sketchy stains. The train brought all 10 members of our group together into a tiny cabin to play games and chat, until we all returned to our 4 person cabins for sleeping. I’d say you really get close to people when you’re together in a sleeper train cabin. 
Then, I and a few trip friends checked out the War Remnants Museum, which documents the “American war.” I was definitely prepared to read about the war from the communist Vietnamese perspective, but as an American it was still really hard to see and learn more about the atrocities committed during the U.S.-Vietnam War. In particular, I learned about how the use of Agent Orange is still affecting many Vietnamese today. It really struck me to see a picture of a girl my age who was born with several birth defects because of her parent’s exposure to the chemical weapons, yet who maintains a positive outlook on life. I had learned about this in high school, but not in this level of detail.
Early the next morning, we went to the floating market on the Mekong River. The floating market is comprised of vendors on their boats in the middle of the river, with customers weaving through on their own boats and then hitching to whichever boat they want to shop from. The boat shops display what they are selling on tall bamboo canes on their boats (like a flagpole). The first boat to approach sold Vietnamese coffee, and it did not disappoint! We then hitched to a pineapple boat, where a lady cut and sold fresh pineapple. I learned the vendors live on their boats 24/7 until it’s time to go back to the farm to work and restock, after which they return to sell on the boats. Most locals visit the markets a few times a month to shop for food. It was a really unique place. 
a southern yankee abroad 
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