#ive lost track of how many times i have still been up past 5am this week

[chronicallyillphoenix]

Tony go the fuck to sleep youre waking up in 4 hours because you are going to actually do shit and enjoy the day like you told your therapist you would. Wake up and go to the fucking farmers market and get your juice you fool

[mysongofpurpose]

August 29th, 2018; I Thought This Would be Fun

The floodwaters are coming. Food supplies are running low. We have lost all contact. I'm afraid sacrifices must be made. The Amish must go. All hope is lost.

Well, it wasn't quite that bad, but this train trip was a bit of a mistake. A bit. A few bits. Many bits. A whole byte. Many megabytes worth of mistakes. We pull up to the Toledo train station at 5am which by the way, looks like it hasn't been in operation since '95. Lady at the desk tells me I can't check bags for my international trip. At first, I'm confused. I'm a million and forty three percent sure that their website said checking bags was allowed on all three of my connecting trains. "Nope, I'm afraid you can't. Your third train isn't even in the system for checked baggage." Now, I'm in a bit of a panic. I am moving across the continent and have just been told that everything I've packed is not allowed to come with me. Then I'm told that I could potentially be allowed to bring those as carry ons if the conductor thinks it's okay. My life can now fall apart at the whims of a man that drives a train. I end up calling customer service and after explaining the situation, the man on the other end confirms that I can indeed check bags on my rides. "So why can't I check my bags?" "Sir, we stop checking bags 45 minutes before departure." Blah, blah, blah, blah. First off, I got here over an hour before my departure time and if the lady at the front desk didn't give me problems for the past 40 minutes I wouldn't be in this situation. Second, their train was running so late it wouldn't arrive until 8 and the earlier train set to depart at 5:25 arrived at 6:30. My train was supposed to leave here at 6:15. I was basically still over 45 minutes early. It all worked out since the conductor was a nice guy who took on the responsibility of taking everyone that would be on the two hour late train and let me put my boxes in an empty car. I thought my problems were over. I couldn't be more wrong.

We arrive in Chicago. At this point, I am running on three hours of sleep that for some reason, I spent imagining people stealing my stuff. It ended up being three hours of phasing through different degrees of consciousness. Long story short, the only thing stolen was my sleep by myself. On the Chicago to Seattle train, I end up sitting next to these three guys that were also on the Toledo train. I try to get my rest and soon I'll be in Seattle and it wil be all merry and 44 hours will be over in a jiffy. Wrong.

At 8pm, in the middle of Wisconsin, we stop. It had been raining for the past few hours and cell signal was getting very very ~~very very very very very~~ unreliable. Offline mobile games were getting boring and watching rain roll down the windows wasn't very entertaining either. It was then that I realized that I was promised WiFi. They told us the trains had WiFi. They told us wrong. We did not have WiFi. Nobody had WiFi. I bet these farmers didn't even have WiFi. Luckily, as soon as we stopped though, signal picked up again and remained at a mediocre rate as long as we weren't moving. I got to know the guys I sat with a little and it turns out we enjoy a lot of the same things so we just played games on our phones for a bit. Then I had dinner with my mom and sister. Now I learn that when they said they had food on the train, it was not like plain food that was covered by your ticket. It meant you had to choose between their highway robbery concessions stand that charged $2.75 for a small bowl of ~~ramen~~ cup noodles or their corporate robbery dining car that served wine and luxurious foods on plastic plates then charged you $25 for a small steak. Everything else on my plate was also public school system serving sizes. Now usually I like my meat medium rare, but I always get them more well done than medium so this time, I ordered rare. I thought I was smart. I am not smart. I ate my extremely rare steak. It tasted okay at best.

I went to sleep at 2am. The train had still not moved.

There's been a lot of Amish people getting on and off throughout Wisconsin and Minnesota. I've never seen them in person besides a few on road trips and the like. I'm not too sure what their lifestyle is exactly, so I'm curious as to how much modern stuff they have incorporated into their lives. Turns out trains are fine for them. So are notebooks and pens. As are personal Digiorno's cheese pizzas. Those hand sized goodies may be found at Amtrak concessions stands for a cheap cheap price of $7.25. The Amish seemed like kind people. I saw one of them chatting it up with another passenger. They kept to themselves and definitely were not as nosy as I was though. It was definitely interesting to see how the modern world incorporated into their olden ways. I always drew my pilgrims holding turkeys and not family sized bags of Doritos.

Since I slept so much at odd intervals out of boredom, I was awake at 6. I spent most of my time in the observatory car staring at trees that never moved when I wasn't sleeping or playing on my phone. At around 11, the crew announced that we all get a complimentary lunch due to the delay. I sat with my three new aquaintances and we all had a measly amount of beef stew and rice. It tasted okay and was free so I'm not complaining. Halfway through the meal the train finally started moving again. Then it stopped again shortly after. We had sat in the same place for 16 hours. My layover in Seattle in only 9 hours and I'm pretty sure the train to Vancouver runs only once a day so it looks like I'll be spending an extra day. Nobody really knew what was going on, but I heard stuff about tornado warnings, flooding, laying new track, and something about repairing a bridge. I spent the rest of the day getting to know the three guys.

At one point, I found out they had these little goody bag sort of things similar to airplane snacks. The best part? They were free. I've been mainly sustaining myself off these things. There are two small cookies, a small bag of pretzels, and a miniscule amount of trail mix in each pack. I think I've had seven. Besides those, Ive also had two large Twix bars, a cinnamon bun, and this weird rolled up pizza pretzel thing that tasted a lot like a rolled up half cooked slice of pizza. At the discounted price of a dollar, it wasn't too shabby. I bought the Twix and cinnamon bun because they've got the most calories per dollar spent. I can only eat so many free pretzels before I get sick of them. I've tried not to eat and drink too much because the bathrooms are nasty and passing the terrible food I've eaten does not sound good. It's not looking so hot after getting stuck on the train an extra 16 hours though. Right now, I developed a bit of a cold because I dressed for the terribly humid Troy weather we had when I left then got completely blindsided by the ridiculous amount of air conditioning on the train. Now I usually am not one to be cold, but I am cold. To top it all off, a stomach ache has settled in. It kinda hurts, but isn't really the "gotta go" kind of ache. Main suspects are the rare steak, half cooked pizza, and full pretzel diet. Hopefully this goes away overnight.

Another thing I've noticed is that everyone's starting to smell. I know, it sounds horrifying. It isn't necessarily a terrible smell, but the lots of living things have been here kind of smell. I would say live livestock, but those just smell like poop. Maybe more of a lots of dogs sort of deal? It's a bit like a locker room exxcept for the reeking of old sweat ordeal. Actually, the best comparison would probably be a full laundry basket except every article of clothing carries a different persons fauna and odors. I can definitely feel that I am releasing a little too many aromas than to my liking. It really doesn't help that all of us spend a majority of our time sitting and laying in these seats. The 16 extra hours are also not helping in any way. Honestly though, it's not as bad as I made it sound.

All in all, a long distance train ride is not something I'm looking to try again. Especially with a rail system nowhere as developed as Europe and Asia.

[travelinghermit]

Trek to the Quilotoa Volcanic Crater

After a fairly intensive full four day hike through the interior of Ecuador, across some of the most stunning Andes mountain views I have seen, I arrived back into Latacunga yesterday afternoon. Away from wifi, away from my bike, away from everything really except me, myself, and I and a few necessary items in my daypack. It felt truelly good to be cut off from modern technology for a few days and just spend some time hiking in the wilderness, breathing that fresh air. No guide, no companions except the rare few you cross paths with along the way.

I intended to depart Thursday morning but I woke up with very slight cold symptoms such as a runny nose and a very slight cough. Which is barely holding on as I write this. So I took the day preparing a bit more like walking to the bus terminal and confirming bus times, going to the bank, buying snacks. It wasnt a complete waste of a day but I did spend the majority eating fruit and resting in bed to get rid of this thing for good before I was off early in the morning.

I woke up at 5am the following morning and was on the bus to the village of Sitchos by 5:45am. The two hour bus ride was a slow ride up the winding narrow mountain passes. It was a beautiful morning in the mountains with the sun shining. I of course didnt bother with sunscreen. I packed all my rain gear and layers thinking it would be miserable, cold, mountain weather and of course over the three day duration I was lucky or perhaps unlucky with amazing weather and no rain yet my face is still recovering from it all.

By 830am I hit the trail. No map or the slightest indication of where I was supposed to go to the next village Isinlivi. The Quilotoa loop as its called is a popular trek among travellers mostly because of its inexpensive cost and well for me atleast it was the adventure aspect of being out there by yourself with no guide for a couple days roughing it. The loop is made up of a series of day treks from village to village. Most start at the village Isinlivi but there was an early bus to the town before that and I read the trail truelly started there so I went for it. There was one other group of Americans on my bus but other than that we were it for the day.

Within an hour I was already lost. I followed a sign to an abandoned house ontop of a hill and I mustve spent forty five minutes trying out each direction and all I came up with was barbed wire fences and dead ends. So did what anybody would do I saw a road bellow down the hill so I walked down, climbed over two barbed wire fences and I was back on the right track seemingly as I walked the dirt road. This first day was easily the most difficult of the days as I guess the official loop didnt start at Sitchos so the markers along the trail did not start until the following village in Isinlivi. After three and a half hours I arrived in this peaceful village at 12:30pm and was the first person to arrive at the Lulu Lhama Hostel. I was incredibly surprised at the quality of this hostel. Amazing mountain view patio at back, with a cozy living room and fire place and the star attraction a huge Saint Bernard dog lying around. I didnt bring anything to do no book or anything. I sacrificed my book in order to make space for my rain gear which I didnt use at all but lucky me there was half a book of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S Thompson with the beginning ripped out and seemingly missing. Ive read it before so it didnt really bother me. As time went on more and more people arrived at the hostel and suddenly the hostel was full. I talked to a Norwegian or was he Swedish? Well he was from one of those places who volunteered there. He told me of a nice and quick trek to the top of a hill he pointed too in the back. I still had tons of energy and nothing to do so I went for it. When I reached the top I had a 360 degree view of the beautiful mountains with low hanging clouds cutting the tops off and best of all I had it all to myself.

That night was really great. With so many people from all over staying at the hostel and no wifi as distractions it made for good interactions. It had been forever since I had some good english conversation so I was a chatterbox asking this English couple a million and one questions about their time in Peru and Bolivia. I also met two girls from France who were fun to talk too aswell. I told them about my Ayahuasca experience in Mocoa and we chatted about how with so many poor child beggars its so easy to wave them off codly, just not wanting to deal with them because of the sheer number. I told them about an experience I had the night before. I was eating soup at a restaurant and a child beggar who mustve been five at least. He came in and walked up to everyone asking for money nobody gave him anything. I didnt either except a fist bump which he deffinitley wasnt asking for. I had been used to so many coming up to me I didnt even think about it anymore. My table was facing the window and I was eyeing the boy as he walked out and past my view and I saw his face. He was on the verge of tears and I think he really did start crying completely oblivious of my view. My heart broke I wanted to run out and give him something but he was already gone. But what can you do? You cant give them all money and its shitty of the parents to put their kids in these situations. These are the tough aspects of travel that leave you powerless in view of the reality of overwhelming economic adversity. Throughout this trip its been the French that has surprised me the most with who I have connected with the most.

That night the cook made a huge Quiche and everyone ate at big tables like a big family. Nobody left the table without full stomaches. Breakfast was my absolute favorite meal fresh fruit, yogurt, granola, and scrambled eggs with juice and coffee. Perfect for a day of trekking. I was the first out the door by 821am but of course even with a map this time I was lost within minutes. After talking to many of the fellow trekkers getting lost on the Quilotoa loop is all apart of the experience. Once I found the right trail I was good for the rest of the day. This time the trek was made a bit easier with red and yellow paint marking the trail. As I was trekking along I thought how cool is this? Just a bunch of travellers trekking by ourselves with no guides through stunning Ecuadorian landscapes. If you do get lost theres always someone coming up behind you (well hopefully) but you always find your way again somehow. These trails werent incredibly easy either sometimes you wont see a paint marker for a long while but once you climb up a large hill and youre not quite sure if its really the right way, and your so tired and suddenly there it is, a red spot on a tree or rock. Youre just so happy you made it and more impottantly going the right way.

I didnt see many people along the way really. On the second night at the Cloud Forrest Hostal there were only four other groups along with me staying which I thought was weird considering how full the first night was but most dont do the full trek I gathered. Third and final day it was the big climb to the crater. Quilotoa is an inactive volcano with a rim circumference of 10km and the last time it erupted was apparently 1280 and it was such a powerful blast the ash reached the Pacific Ocean. This final day was my favorite portion of the hike. The views were spectacular, the trails were taxing and narrow and most of all very diverse. I was jumping over streams, climbing sandy paths up mountains which can barely be called a trail and through tiny mountain villages. I wrote that Jack Kerouac quote last week about fleeing the ocean and running to your desire. As I was hiking along I was laughing to myself as this was exactly what I desired. A challenging hike I can do all by myself over a couple days which ended in a jaw dropping view of the Quilotoa Volcan crater lake. This was exactly what I required.

At around noon I had arrived to the top. It was a gruelling climb that had me going slowly step by step but the view from the top was incredible. Never had I been to a rim of a Volcano, never have I trekked alone for days, never was I about to trek the entire circumference of a Volcano rim, it was surely a day of firsts. The lake that accumulated in the crater of the Volcano was an otherwordly tourqoize green that light up like a emerald when the sun shone on its surface. Absolutley incredible. The colour of the lake comes from the minerals that accumulate. I never seam in the lake but im sure its very good for you. As soon as I reached the top there was time for a slight peanut break but then I was off again treking up and down the hills surrounding the crater. I was all alone up there and this wasnt easy after trekking three hours already just to get there. Seven hours of trekking total on Sunday and by the time I finished the crater loop and found a hostel I was dead beat. The following morning I hopped a bus back to Latagunga and here I am now in a cafe writing this.

I leave for Banos tomorrow after two well deserved rest days. My trekking hopefully doesnt end here. I think I needed a reset from everything, clear my head and reassess my goals. I talked to a girl from Begium who is travelling a year on a $25 a day budget. Made me feel like a novice. I tracked my spending for a week and I saw with no surprise I spend most of my money on snacks. My goal for this week is a $30 budget just to see if I can do it. That starts today we’ll see how it goes. I do love my snacks and yet again the mantra rings “strip away the unessential”.

Pictures might be a diificulty to upload.