Emoliente
Emoliente street vendor
Emoliente street vendor
A stranger on a street energetically removes pulp of a plant
resembling aloe. His swift and graceful hands adds some mysterious extracts
from bottles arranged in a row. Then he scoops a cup of hot herbal brew out of a
massive pot and starts blending all the ingredients with a spoon.
Yet still the drink has to reach a desired consistency. This is done by pouring
the content from one cup to another many times. The more spectacular way the
better. In the end, with a smile on his face he hands me a glass filled with a
light-brown liquid of thick consistency. In fact it is quite unique drink. It
is called emoliente.
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Guinea pig
Peruvian cuisine
Peruvian cuisine
Once in the Peruvian province of Amazonas I decided to look for
traditional Peruvian cuisine . Half-intentionally half-accidentally I find a restaurant
called Sabores del Peru in the town of Chachapoyas.
A welcoming chef and the restaurant owner
Señora Violeta invites me and my friend
Camille to her kitchen. We are able to take a close look at how a guinea pig
is prepared.
While I would discourage sensitive people or vegetarians to continue, on the
other side, all sort of exotic culinary journeys enthusiasts
are welcome to proceed with the article. Today as a main
course our chef recommends "Cuy borracho en salsa de nogal", which
directly translating means "Drunk guinea pig in a walnut sauce".
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Amazonas in Peru
A resident of Tingo village
A resident of Tingo village
The crowds go wild, there are fireworks
(but more modest than in other parts of the world) and the loud music is coming from
several different sources. The countdown begins: diez, nueve, ocho, ... tres, dos, uno!
New Year has just reached a Peruvian town of Mancora. We take off our clothes and run into
the warm
Pacific Ocean to enjoy splashing waves and to see the celebrating crowd of tourists from Peru and other parts of the world
ashore.
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Notes from Ecuador
The panorama of colorful Las Peñas and central Guayaquil
The panorama of colorful Las Peñas and central Guayaquil
Traveling through Ecuador I visit some interesting places. Guayaquil
is a vibrant and modern city, which despite its size (its bus terminal could
easily compete with many international airports in Europe) has a few nice spots
captivating with ambience. One of which is Parque Seminario, a
full of iguanas park next to the Basilica in the city center.
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Surfing in Ecuador
Montañita
Montañita
I see vast desolated areas and complete desert. This is a coast of Ecuador. I
get to know a few fishermen and observe how an everyday life looks like in a
fishing town Manta. I spend the afternoon in a bar trying to understand a bunch of drunk Ecuadorians
and it is not easy.
I encounter a peaceful beach of Santa Marianita a bit out of town, but in
fact, the best is yet to come. A small tourist village Montañita
is at first glance an idyllic and a bit calmer variety of Lao town Vang Vieng,
arguably the craziest town on the planet.
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A white city in Colombia
A girl dancing on a street, Popayan
A girl dancing on a street, Popayan
Popayan is a small town perfectly capturing the atmosphere
of Colombian province. The mild climate has attracted merchants and sugar cane plantation owners, who settled here looking for a quiet place
away from overpopulated and sweltering Cali. The city started to develop in sixteenth century and has maintained its unique colonial character
up to date. A major landmark is a square called
Parque Caldas and from there on you can get nearly everywhere else on foot.
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Pablo Escobar and his empire
Escobar had the biggest private zoo in the world
Escobar had the biggest private zoo in the world
The head of the world's biggest cocaine cartel in Medellin, a local patriot
and philanthropist, but also a ruthless criminal. This is Pablo Escobar, a drug baron, who
publicly sentenced to death politicians having
intentions to curb his power. He always kept his word and often
personally killed inconvenient individuals. He even caused a plane crash
with over a hundred victims on board just to get rid of one particular person.
The cartel carried out numerous bombings and a series of armed operations.
I visit Hacienda Napoles, a 20 square kilometers private property of Escobar
to find out more about this legendary man.
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Snapshots of Colombia
A colorful group of street musicians
A colorful group of street musicians
There are some questions at the Venezuelan-Colombian border. "You speak
Polish in your country, right?" - I nodded - "So where did you learn Spanish?" - "By
traveling and reading books".
Questions become less formal, "How do you say "Buenos Dias" in Polish?" - I answer
that "Dzien Dobry", the employee tries to
repeat and then with a smile on his face he stamps my passport saying
"Welcome to Colombia!". Thinking about the flourishing smuggling of
Colombian cocaine and almost free gasoline in Venezuela, one can say
that this border crossing is completely unsecured. It is only thanks to
my good will that I carry out all the border-crossing paperwork.
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The Northern Andes
A resident of the Apartaderos area
A resident of the Apartaderos area
I arrive to Merida, an Andean city of southwestern Venezuela.
Currently there is temporada baja, which means low season. In fact, there
are nearly no tourists at all.
This encourages exploring the area on your own, but still it is very difficult
to try a more demanding hiking trail. To climb most of the peaks around you need
at least a party of few, including someone who knows the route. Merida is a starting point and mid-sized city, a fairly extensive
one because of low housing. Vibrant life is focused
in the area between the streets of Calle 20 and Cale 28.
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Venezuelan cuisine
Arepa and perrico
Arepa and perrico
I take a look at Venezuelan cuisine and do my best to experience it. Luckily
most of the time I stay with people who are natural-born enthusiasts and experts
in
this field. Altogether including some extra street culinary experiences, I would
like to present a sample menu. It is a list of things that every
hungry or thirsty traveler will sooner or later come across while visiting Venezuela.
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