Cartagena

Hello! I'm Isaac now--a 22 year-old undergraduate at Yale majoring in political science. Since 2014 I have transitioned from female to male and, broadly speaking, now identify as transgender. My life has changed drastically since 2014 in so many different ways--to articulate all of them in this one blog post would be very difficult. But for one, I've visited Jordan a lot, as my Mom works at the embassy there. It was pretty tough going to Amman as transgender this past January, but so it goes.

In any event I was just watching Al Jazeera on my dorm room TV and thought about how I should channel my love for travel through writing again. This past year--full of a social transition from female to male--has been really grueling and I feel like I deserve some mental-treat-yourself time.

For New Year's, my twin sister Helen and I have decided to go to Cartagena, Colombia. Cartagena is an old colonial city on the Caribbean coast with plenty of historical treasures and white sand beaches to frequent. We're really lucky and will actually be flying to Colombia from Wyoming, where we'll spend one week skiing in Jackson Hole. It'll feel refreshing to be a cosmopolitan wanderer again with no school or medical appointments or activist endeavors to think about. For the first time abroad I'll hopefully just feel like a relaxed guy.

Right now Helen and I are focused on saving up money, finalizing hostel reservations, buying flight tickets, getting vaccinations, and maybe learning some rudimentary Spanish. We'll operate on a shoestring budget but still find time to explore small gems outside of the city, such as an eco-friendly island and volcano with mud baths.

I promise to make my writing accessible but a little higher quality than in this post--it always feels fulfilling to craft sentences that are not too fantastical in their fiction yet not too stringent in their fact. People say that Cartagena is a city of magical realism, so that can hopefully infuse my paragraphs with just enough splendid touch to make historical trivialities stand out. I look forward to describing my adventures with Helen, my encounters with other travelers, and my observations of this enticing Latin American country.

Snapshot: Red Square

A picture of my friends and I posing in Red Square around 8th/9th grade:

Map of Peru Itinerary

Here's my current itinerary for my Peru trip, decided to map it out. Unfortunately we'll only get to explore the south, which makes up the "Gringo Trail"; the north is more off-the-beaten-track.

I wish that the route would be a more perfect circle, but I'm perfectly content with what we have right now. As a 3rd world country Peru still has a rough domestic transportation network; buses are the most reliable form of transportation next to planes. Trains run only in the south.

Eurotrip 2015?

Next year I might be in Amman, Jordan living with my Mom on the U.S. Embassy compound. This is awesome. It means access to Israel, North Africa (i.e. trekking Morocco), the Mediterranean, the Red Sea, and last but definitely not least, Europe!!!!!! I'll be on a tight budget, so basically, flying from Amman means finding a cheap trip to a European airport, preferably in the very east of Europe or the ver west, because I'll want to make an arch from coast to coast. Here are some sample itineraries:

1. Barcelona --> Bordeaux --> small French town --> Amsterdam --> Berlin --> Munich --> Venice --> Croatia --> Athens

Quintessential European route. 

2. Jerusalem --> Tel  Aviv --> Istanbul --> Athens --> Berlin --> Hamburg --> Amsterdam --> Munich 

Exploring less countries but soaking them in more- getting a taste of Israel and Turkey as well.

3. Barcelona --> Bordeaux --> Paris --> Munich --> Berlin --> Amsterdam 

This route takes advantage of the Eurail Select 4 Countries Pass. Basically, you can travel by train between 4 bordering countries for a good price. Another quintessential European route, albeit smaller than the first itinerary's. 

Backpacking

After taking this Peru trip in the summer I might take another semester or year off from school... gap years are addicting. If I do then I want to invest in a great backpack for Latin America, Europe, you name it. For Peru I'll hike the Colca Canyon for 3 days without (insofar as I know) the assistance of any mules/horses or porters, meaning everything, excluding tents and food, will go into a backpack. For the second and longer trek in Peru (5/6days) we'll have horses and mules to carry our load. I've just gotten in to the backpacking business and am fascinated by all the options, itineraries, etc... A 40L backpack will do just right for Peru, but what if I want to go to Europe for a month by myself? That'll might require some more space, but then again it might not! That's the beauty of backpacking: light is always better. Also, I might want to take a small duffel along with a 40L to Peru, but I kind of want to just pile everything into a backpack to say that I did!

When it comes to retail stores REI does it right. They have a huge selection of Deuter, Osprey, Gregory, you name it. I'm leaning towards a Deuter 40+10, which essentially means that 10 more liters of storage space can be opened up by extending the top of the bag. Here's a picture:

Snapshot- Agra, India

On our dad's shoulders at the Taj Mahal in Agra, India. 

Exploring Peru

I'm way too excited for my trip to Peru in July and August. I'll be spending four weeks there- the first two by myself, solo-ing it in Lima, the Amazon jungle, and Colca Canyon. Here's a breakdown of what I have in mind:

1. Arrive in Lima, fly to Iquitos. Brief background on Iquitos:

• located in the Amazon basin
• located in northern Peru, in the east
• used to be a wealthy city due to a thriving rubber industry
• the famous Belen market is on a floating island
• Iquitos can be reached only by plane or boat (boat trip can take 3-7 days)
• in fact, it is the largest city in the world that is inaccessible by car
• its main industry is tourism
• close to 1,000 species live in or around Iquitos

2. Amazon jungle tour: I'll take a four or five day tour through the Amazon. Groups usually start out in Iquitos then boat two hours away to neighboring lodges. From each lodge travelers usually go on hikes through the jungle, bird watch, observe various species, swim with dolphins, catch fish, and take pictures with monkeys. Sounds fun to me. 

3. Fly from Iquitos to Arequipa. Spend two days in Arequipa acclimating. Brief background on Arequipa:

• known as the "White City"
• home to Peru's Constitutional Court
• second most industrialized city in the country
• UNESCO World Heritage Site
• home to 14 churches or temples, four chapels, five convents, and three monasteries
• starting point for Colca Canyon trek

4. Embark on Colca Canyon trek for three days and two nights: Colca Canyon is Peru's third-most visited tourist attraction, laying 100 miles north of Arequipa. It is more than twice as deep as the Grand Canyon. Hikers are picked up at 3 am from their hotel to travel to the valley. After lunch they begin a 4 hour descent to the floor of the canyon. Then hikers interact with the locals, enjoy dinner, and usually stay in a local family's house. On the second day hikers trek to the Andean village of Tapay. They then descend to the Cola River, arriving at an oasis. On the third day of the trek hikers embark on a three hour walk starting at 4 am. At Cruz del Condor they have the chance to admire the majestic flight of the Andean condor birds. Hikers travel to Chivay where they have the opportunity to visit the thermal baths of medicinal waters. Then hikers return to Arequipa. 

5. Take an overnight bus from Arequipa to Cusco- meet with my friend there. I'll finally meet with my friend Trevor in Cusco, the Inca capital. Brief overview of Cusco:

• in southeastern Peru next to the Andes mountain range
• UNESCO World Heritage Site
• historical capital of Peru
• surrounded by Incan ruins
• travel hub for adventures to Machu Picchu and related treks
• home to a magnificent Plaza de Armas
• rests at 11,000 feet

6. Hike the Salkantay trek (refer to my previous blog post)

7. Take an overnight bus from Cusco to Puno, the hometown of Lake Titicaca. Here's a brief overview of Lake Titicaca:

• on the border of Peru and Bolivia (Bolivian mountains can be seen from the lake)
• largest lake in South America by volume of water
• highest navigable lake in the world, resting at an elevation of 13,000 feet
• home to 44 artificial islands built by the Uros people
• the people of the Uros live on these islands
• artificial islands were built on bundle totora reeds
• islanders still maintain the bundled reeds, adding necessary amounts
• the Uros initially built the islands to prevent attacks from their neighbors, the Incans and Collas
• 
  

8. Fly from Juliaca (next to Lake Titicaca) back to Lima. Spend three days in Lima. We'll hopefully visit the Nazca lines, take a day tour of the capital, and stay in a fun party-atmosphered hostel to celebrate our grueling excursions down south. The Nazca lines are a series of ancient geoglyphs located in the Nazca Desert about 6 hours by car from Lima. They were designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994. The arid plateau stretches more than 50 miles between the towns of Nazca and Palpa. Scholars believe that the lines were created by the Nazca culture between 400 and 650 AD (when airplanes did NOT exist!!!). The hundreds of individual figures range in complexity from simple lines to stylized hummingbirds, spiders, monkeys, fish, sharks, orcas, and lizards. Scholars differ in interpreting the purpose of the designs, but in general they ascribe religious significance to them. 

Here's a brief overview of Lima:

• capital of Peru
• largest city in Peru, home to 9 million people
• in the central coastal part of the country overlooking the Pacific Ocean
• fifth largest city in the Americas
• founded by Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro 
• around one-third of the Peruvian population lives in Lima's metropolitan area
• Limas has developed a huge tourism industry, characterized by its historic center (a World Heritage Site), archeological sites, nightlife, museums, art galleries, festivals, and traditions

After three days in Peru's capital we'll fly back to DC!! Can't wait to see what surprises Peru has in store for us. If I'm lucky enough to actually go, I'll be the first in my family to visit South America. Exciting stuff.