Adventures and fascinations of Matt Pāz
After two hours of snaking through the mountains that form the southwestern boundary of Lake Titicaca, my bus arrived at the Bolivian border. The doorman popped into the back of the bus, “El Estadounidense?” I raised my hand, and he beckoned me to the front of the bus. … Read more
My flight into Lima, Peru landed at 12:45am. By time I went through customs and exited Chezar Chavez International airport it was 2am. A cabbie approached me on my way out, “Miraflores? Barranco?” Why yes, Miraflores, please. How’d you know? … Read more
The lease on my apartment expired on June 8th, and the time had come to leave Medellín.
After more than two months in the city, moving onward was extremely bittersweet. The prior night, I had gone out with my buddy Jason for one last trip to Café Zorbas (my favorite restaurant in Medellín and the best pizza in South America), and lamented that part of me didn’t want to leave—I had grown comfy. … Read more
The bus ride to Medellín was an irksome experience. I boarded the bus in the Cartagena heat wearing shorts and a T-shirt. Freezing buses are normal in South America, so I was planning to grab a sweatshirt before putting my backpack in the luggage compartment, but forgot and only remembered five minutes into the trip when the AC cranked on. … Read more
My taxi driver dropped me off about 200m before the immigration office on the Nicaraguan side of the border. When grabbing my bags from the trunk a local border hustler tried to help me with my things. There are usually dozens of these types of people swarming tourists at borders, and I usually ward them off. … Read more