Our Travels to Peru

The picture above is of Machu Picchu-- a place that I consider to be one of the 7 wonders of the world.

My wife and recently went on a 10 day adventure to Peru. We had a wonderful time. We stayed at the Golf Los Incas hotel in downtown Lima. In Lima we went to a mall called Jockey Plaza, which was very modern, they had tons of westernized resturants to choose from. The best part about spending time in the mall was watching all the Peruvians crowd around the big screen TV's to watch the soccer games. From Lima we went to Iquitos, which is in northern Peru, on the Amazon river. We took a ferry boat of sorts and went for a ride in one of the most famous rivers in the world. It was a really amazing experience. Along the boat ride we stopped by some huts that bordered the river and the people there were so kind. They had an exotic petting zoo. Sloths, Tucans, snakes, monkeys...everything! We took pictures with every animal there was. You can't go to Peru without going to Cusco and Machu Picchu. Machu Picchu is such an amazing place! It should be one of the 7 man made wonders of the world. It is awe-inspiring!Cusco is a tourist trap with people following you everywhere you go trying to get you to buy something that you don't really want. They are very crafty actually...from the moment you arrive there are locals taking candid pictures of you...they go and develop them, and then paste them on some postcards that have scenic views. Everyone fell for that gimmick! I don't know-- must be something about being on a post card that makes you want to buy it! Since Cusco has such a high altitude we had to drink some sort of tea made from (I've been told) cocaine leaves. A few seasons back, the Amazing Race had the teams go to Cusco and had to buy one of these drinks, so becuase I saw this I was actually pretty excited to try it out for myself. The taste wasn't bad at all, but I don't know if it really helped with altitude sickeness. We also did other things in Peru that were showcased on The Amazing Race, like getting our shoes shined, riding in motorized rickshaws etc. We had such a good time! When we visited Sacsaywaman (yes, it is pronounced like "Sexy Woman") I got my first case of chiggers. I thought I had some sort of bug bite, but after being home two weeks and still itching my ankles like crazy, I finally broke down and had to figure out what was the cause of all the irritation. I had never heard of chiggers before...but I guess they are common in some parts of the world. Incase you ever get them, the best and cheapest way to get rid of them (instead of buying some perscription or over the counter crap) just smother the irritated area with nail polish. It apparently sufficates the little critters. I haven't had a problem since. If you ever want some advice for traveling to Peru just drop a line and I'd be glad to be of service.

One good thing that we got from the trip was American Airlinesfrequent flyer miles. The tour group we were traveling with flew on this airline, so we thought we should join the program, especially since it gave us something like 8500 frequent flyer miles. So we joined up! To my suprise, the airline that we flew on throughout Peru (LAN Airlines) is a partner with American Airlines and so we got points for flying with them! Sweet! 9500 frequent flyer miles, and only 30,000 to go before we get a free flight to europe!

The Crazy Housing Market

So I noticed the other day on CNN that some realtor association officially declared the U.S. housing market to have changed to "A Buyers Market." I guess that is a good thing, a few years ago when I bought my house, houses would only be listed for a day or two before they were under contract! Of course that just drove up the prices becuase people would have to outbid competitors, and for some unknown reason housing appraisals always seemed to match the offered price. I think the only good thing was the low interest rates. I couldn't even afford to buy a house now! Now that it is a buyers market houses are on the market for longer because buyers have more options. I swear we would get several ads a month in the mail from several fly-by-the-night mortgage company who would be willing to buy our house a lower rate (they would pay all closing costs though), but where are those companies now? CNN also had an article today that compared the housing markets throughout the country. The most inflated place to live in America? You guessed it good old sunny CA, Santa Barbara to be exact. Average home price is something like $567,300.00 and they estimate that it is 86% overpriced from what it should be! It should be $308,000. Still too rich for my blood. Note to self-- NEVER MOVE TO CA! They had several over priced housing markets. Texas on the otherhand had some undervalued housing markets, but who would really want to go move to the land of desolation.

So what does this mean to me as a home owner? Does the value of my home drop becuase I am now involved in a buyers market if I want to sell? I read that some condo constuction sites will be rented as apartments rather than as condos becuase of slower building. Will this lower rent in metropolitan areas? It will be interesting to see what happens.

We've Only Just Begun

So, not that you will find my two cents worth actually worth anything, but I thought it was time to finally get this blog going! I'll write what I like, when I like and how I like!