El Yunque!

Puerto Rico



    

Our stay in Puerto Rico was short but packed... We took a tour that combined the El Yunque forest and bio-bay kayaking in La Laguna Grande. The waterfall on the right is the La Mina Falls. It is so green there and you'll feel you're really in a rainforest because of all the gigantic ferns and various plants that I don't know the name of... hehehe! Of course, since we were in a rain forest, it did rain while we were there. How fitting! =)



    



We took a short hike and there, we got to another waterfall that you can swim in! The water is cold though, so I just took photos! Hehehe!





Our next stop, was the Yokahu tower. We saw an ylang-ylang tree on our way to the tower! So fragrant! Our guide told us that one of their top exports, is, pharmaceuticals! Pharmaceuticals, you say? Yes, he said, pfizer, etc, gets their ingredients from the rain forest there in Puerto Rico! Did you know that you can use impatiens on your wounds? (Now, don't try it at home since I don't know if I remembered correctly what our guide said about the impatiens! hee-hee!)


    



We climbed to the top of the tower, and what a view!

Remember I mentioned we took a tour to go to El Yunque and paddle the bio bay in Fajardo at night? Well, I got no photos of the biobay... It was too dark for my camera and I have no clue how I would capture the bioluminescence... Hehehe! Well, if ever you are in Puerto Rico, don't miss the bio bay! It was just amazing! When you let the bay water run through your fingers, the water just sparkles!!! It was like there was a million stars in the water! While we were paddling, you could see our kayaks sort of glowing!!! Wherever our paddles touched the water, it just sparkles! Look it up, the biobay, and you'll be amazed at the photos! Of course, nothing beats experiencing it yourself! The paddle itself was enjoyable, we went through a mangrove using flashlights (don't worry about tipping over, the water is really shallow! hehehe!) We saw an iguana who was hanging out on one of the tree branches there! Once we got a bit close to the bay, you could already see some bioluminescence in the water! Everybody was really excited! Once we got to the bay, all our lights was turned off, and, you could see fish swimming in the water because they are illuminated! hehehe!

Bienvenidos a Puerto Rico!

Old San Juan, PR




Around Old San Juan

The first thing we did when we got to San Juan was to try to get onto one of those segway tours around old San Juan (Is going on segway tours too dorky? mwehehe! I just really wanted to use a segway!) Unfortunately, no one was picking up when we called, so, we just went to their office in old San Juan and of course, no one was there. So we ended up just taking a walking gps tour... Which was also pretty neat, since it was giving us directions and giving a narrative about what we are seeing at different areas! If you walk back, it's able to determine your position, and start the corresponding narrative for that place! It was a Dell, the gps thingy, unfortunately, I don't have a photo of the device... hehehe!



     

It's a big ship isn't it? And no, we were not taking a cruise... We just wanted to see Puerto Rico! =) Maybe next time. One thing I remember when we were walking around old San Juan, it was really hot!!! I think it was the humidity, my friend said I looked like I was dying from the heat (in December) and we had to make a bunch of stops wherever there's shade!




     

Here's a view of Fort San Felipe del Morro... We were cheapskates and didn't want to pay to see the inside of the fort so, we just took photos on the outside. Hee-hee! =)
Here's a description of Fort San Felipe del Morro(lifted from wikipedia):
"Fort San Felipe del Morro —or El Castillo San Felipe del Morro in Spanish— is a sixteenth-century citadel which lies on the northwestern-most point of the islet of San Juan, Puerto Rico. Named in honor of King Philip II of Spain, the fort, also referred to as "El Morro" or "promontory", was designed to guard the entrance to San Juan bay, and defend the city of San Juan from seaborne enemies."




     

Here's a few more photos around old San Juan. It's a charming place, isn't it? The photo on the right is the city hall all decked out for Christmas! They had tons of lights on the trees around the area and my friend mentioned how weird it is to see a palm tree decked out with Christmas lights! It was pretty festive!

Machu Picchu At Last!

Aguas Caliente, Peru


Here we are at Aguas Caliente! We're now just a bus ride away from Machu Picchu! Hehehe!



Have you noticed a lot of places here in Peru have stairs/uphill!



    
Here's our first glimpse inside Machu Picchu! We were lucky that morning since it wasn't too foggy and we had a clear view!


    
The sunrise was amazing! You can see the sun's rays slowly lighting up the ruins. The photo on the right is the guardhouse, and yes, we climbed up there! That's where you'll get more beautiful photos of the area!


    

    

Isn't the stonework here just amazing? Can you imagine being the first person to rediscover the ruins as Hiram Bingham did? It was covered by the jungle but to suddenly see very fine stone work underneath all that would have been, just wow!



Here's some photos around Machu Picchu:

    

    
Can you see the llamas? Those llamas have free reign at the area! Everybody was oohing and ahhing when we saw a few of them walking with people on the paths at the ruins! The photo on the right is the side showing the terraces built as the foundation for Machu Picchu... It's just amazing that people of old was able to build such structures without heavy machineries, in the middle of the jungle, on a mountain!!!




Tada! Isn't the view just amazing? One nice thing about the trek was, every night, our guide was telling us the story of the Inca's, what happened when the Spaniards arrived, what may have happened in Machu Picchu. Our guide mentioned, that some people believes that the Inca king is still alive, and is living in the Amazon forest, protected by the Amazon people. What do you think?


    

    
Here's a few photos on our way to the Inka bridge. I was expecting a bridge that's suspended... what do you know, the bridge we saw was quite interesting... It was tree logs put across the gap on the cliff (The bottom right photo is the bridge)! They were in the process of restoring it at the time, but you can walk up to where the bridge starts. I walked up to the bridge, and it was pretty hairy! Have you noticed that there are no rails or anything on the cliff side? The good thing is, there's a rope you can hold onto while walking, which gave me a little bit of comfort! Hee-hee!




Isn't the llama cute? Hehehe!



Look at how big the steps are in some areas there! My friend was saying, why are the steps at the ruins so big, when the local people that we see there were not tall at all! Hahaha! She's got a point though. The steps were really big at the ruins, even in Cusco! =)



Alas, we have to say goodbye to this magical place!


    
Yes, we took the train back to Cusco... hehehe! I don't think we've got the energy to walk back to Cusco... =D