What a FANTASTIC day.
(Note: the space bar on the computer in the lobby is broken so I'm again attempting this on the iPhone, please excuse the forthcoming typos)
I slept in before finally getting up for breakfast around 9 and started asking Edwin at the hotel how to get back to Cuzco. For 90 sols (~ $40) I could get a private taxi to take me the whole 1.5 hours back. Easy enough, but I wasn't in a hurry to get back since I hadn't found much of interest to do in Cuzco on my own. Colca Canyon was too far to be realistic. The archeological site at Moray did look interesting though and was sort of on the way so I asked if it was possible to stop there. Si, a taxi would probably take me there too for about 150 sols.
Then I asked about buses. Si, to Urambamba about 1.30 sols, then take another bus to Chinchero for about 2 sols but tell the driver you want to get off at Maras. Then maybe you find a taxi there to take you to Moray. Then get back to the highway and catch the next bus to Chinchero, comes every 20 minutes or so, for 2 sols. Then one more bus to Cuzco, about 2 sols again "I think".
Hmm, a bit more complicated, but definitely cheaper. Sounded like it might be an interesting way to travel. My curiosity was peaked.
"Just locals though. No Tourists. Only Spanish, no English."
"oh?" Stakes just went up a bit there. "is it safe?" I asked.
"safe... Safe? What does this word mean, safe?"
"Uhm... Will I get robbed?"
"ah, no no. Cuzco Cuzco, maybe cuzco, but not here. Just Uh.... How you say, attento?" motioning to his pockets.
Gotcha. And sold.
So off I went, armed only with a 2"x3" inch conceptual map of the sacred valley region and a general idea of what i was doing to travel with the locals and "no English". Brave? Perhaps. Stupid? Si! But I was in the mood for some adventure and wanted to make the most of this trip still so I went anyway (after sending a note to the family in case I disappeared). I had the time of my life.
First leg to urumbamba was indeed 1.30 sols. The "bus" was a falling-apart white van that would normally seat about 8 or 9 in Canada, but I counted 17 heads as we pulled away from the square, not counting any babies I couldn't see from the back, where I sat with my legs twisted up and going numb underneath both my backpacks. True to edwin's word, "only locals, no tourists". I was loving it.
5 minutes out of town we picked up 2 more, somehow, and continued on with people getting off or on at seemingly random spots along the highway, arriving in urumbamba about 30 minutes later. It was much bigger than ollantaytamba, which I wasn't expecting, and had a proper bus station (in developing world terms) where I disembarked to try to find the next bus. Aside from 2 other backpackers who spoke Spanish, I was definitely the only non-local there. Finding the bus wasn't too hard though. I can peice together a guy shouting "Cuzco Chinchero" means the cusco bus going through chinchero, not Pisac (where I'd already been with the group) and him pointing at me and waving left saying "bolletero" meaning I needed to go buy a ticket from somewhere over there first.
The only thing that made it difficult was all the taxi drivers chasing after me trying to get me to go with them. Again, they didn't speak a word of english but that didn't stop them from continuing to talk to me as if I understood anyway. I did get the gist. Taking a taxi was smarter as they'd take me right to moray. I really wished I'd asked Edwin how to say "I know this is dumb, I'm doing it for fun, go away".
This bus was quite different than the last as it was an actual bus this time, albeit just as packed. Some older farmer looking guy was sitting across the aisle holding half a kitchen in his lap, trying to explain to me that my bags were taking up his wife's seat and laughing hysterically when he realized I didn't understand a word of Spanish. Eventually I figured it out and we all laughed while I apologized and moved my bags. In the exchange he figured out I was going to to Moray and would later point out the stop to me when we got there. Was not the only kind soul to help me on my way today. All part of the experience, and I was grateful for it.
The Maras/Moray bus stop is a small, semi-open concrete, um, "structure" at a t-intersection in the middle of nowhere on the highway. There was only a few people standing around and as I was getting my bearings, one approached me to offer me a ride go Moray. I didn't understand how much the cost was, but it turned out he spoke a little English which by this point was a welcome relief.
So I piled into his hatchback. Just me, him, the three full grown males in the back seat, and the one other guy in the hatchback. Sensing a theme yet? :). The other guys all got out in Maras, a town of about 3000 and one of the highlights of my trip thus far, even though I only drove through. Stone and mud construction everywhere. Most streets too small for cars, and many just dirt. Donkey trains carrying hay. Farmers ushering their herds of sheep up the road. There was only 2 hotels, both for locals. This was the most authentic Peru I'd seen yet.
Nuel, the taxi driver, and I exchanged some English and Spanish lessons for the rest of the trip, his several hundred English words trumping my few dozen Spanish ones. It was quite enjoyable actually. The scenery was stunning, and Nuel was very good company. I was glad to be driven by someone who was could provide some local info and was genuinely friendly too. He pointed out Mount Peronica (sp?) and struggled to explain it's 5800 meter height, which looked incredible in the distance. He also explained some of his Quechuan background. And He waited patiently in the car while I took some pictures of the Moray site, and then told me about the salt mines near by I'd never heard of which he could show me for another 20 sols. Turned out to be another beautiful site and I considered myself incredibly lucky to have met this particular taxi driver as there were several others who didn't speak any English and I never would have known about the mines otherwise. In the end, over an hour of his time and more than 30 kms later, the memorable experience cost me only 50 sols (~ $18). and one mild heart attack when he started his engine with one of my bags still in the car after I entered the mines.
Just turning it around. Phew. :)
Waved down and jumped on the next bus, after trying to waive down a bus of school children to the delight of the Spanish locals at the bus stop. Another local gave up his seat for me and climbed into the front with the driver, then turned around to talk to me the entire 30 minutes to Chinchero. Or at me. Him and his brother. That was about all I could understand they were saying. Not that that stopped them from trying to keep talking anyway.
From Chinchero, I decided that was enough adventure for one day. I piled into a taxi, a station wagon with 4 ladies and a kid in the back seat, 2 more kids and a man in the trunk, and myself and the driver up front. For some reason the locals always insist I take the front. And for some reason I never seemed to hesitate about getting in a car full of locals I don't know and heading out into the highway. It dawned on me how crazy that was about half way back to Cuzco.
Oh well, I'm back now, and it was jolly good fun.
As for Machu Picchu, I won't say much. It was equally as great a day, but I'll let the pictures do the talking when I can post them. Till then, adios amigos!
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Off-course in Ollantaytambo
I hit ¨publish¨on my last post and then went straight to bed for what would prove to be the worst night of my life since the night I swore off teen burgers 3 years ago. I spent the entire night curled up in the fetal position, simultaneously sweating and shivering, wondering whether I should sleep in the bathroom and which end I should point at the toilet, with a pounding headache too boot. The headache I´m sure was curteousy the altitude, several others in our group said they had the same thing their first day in Cuzco or La Paz or wherever else they had been previously, and swore it would clear up in a day or two. The rest was possibly due to something I ate, too much sun, or just the misfortune of catching a nasty flu bug. Not sure, just know it was very unpleasant.
Everytime I managed to drift to sleep, I´d awake a few minutes later with a big gasp for air. Apparently my body didn´t think I was getting enough oxygen or something. I´m surprised I had that rough a time as I´ve been higher than Cuzco before with no problems. The inability to sleep gave me lots of time to think about what I would have to do in this condition. Do I try to push through? Do I stay in Cuzco? Do I try to get medical attention? A few moments were bad enough that I even considered whether I´d just have to head to back to Lima and fly home.
In the end I decided my best option was to hope this was just altitude sickness and catch the bus down 1000 feet to Ollantaytambo with my gap group in the morning and see if it cleared up. A few pills and some coca candies and I managed to make it that far feeling not too terribly.
We made a couple stops along the way, for the first time getting off the beaten path and getting a real feel of south america. One was at a community that Gap is sponsoring as part of their Planaterra program, where we watched the local women turning raw sheep and llama wool into spun threads, and knit into all kinds of handmade textiles. Even had a national geographic moment watching a llama get mounted (yes I have it in HD video), so one could say we literally saw the entire end-to-end process of wool making! :)
The next place was Pisca where we toured our first Incan ruins. As impressive as it was, I was more drawn to the small town we passed through. Unlike modern Lima and touristy Cuzco, this was authentic Peru, albeit with a local trinket market and a few tourist necessities like hostels and ATMs. But motorcycle rickshaws, cattle grazing in backyards, and school children playing in the run down and obviously poor streets and buildings were incredible to behold.
After a couple hours driving around, I finally realized the fields here have a very distinct difference with those from Canada. There´s no straight lines running up and down through the crops. It´s all hand sown. And hand harvested. There are thousands and thousands, if not millions, of acres of farm land all along the river valley, and the amount of manual labor involved in that undertaking, twice a year, is mind-boggling.
The tour of the Pisca ruins included a hike up about 100 stone steps that left me seriously questioning whether I was going to be able to pull off the hike still or not, and inspite of a good lunch that managed to sit well, I was in pretty rough shape again by the time we arrived in Ollantaytambo. While the rest of the group went to the local ruins and out for dinner, I wandered to main square on my own hoping to find something that would appeal to my non-existant appetite. Leaving the hotel courtyard and stepping into a dark and abandoned street by myself at night was a bit of a scary feeling, to say the least, but I figured our guide would have mentioned something if I shouldn´t be going out on my own so off I went anyway, strolling with the stray dogs and trying to stay very aware of anyone walking too close by. There´s very little light pollution in these small and simple towns, so the stars were out in full force and I got to see the southern cross again, which was a real treat.
Anywho, I sweated through the night again and decided that the only thing worse than being sick in a foreign country was camping and hiking while sick in a foreign country, so I got up for breakfast with the group and told the guide I wasn´t going to be able to keep going. He gave me a 5 minute speil on where things were in Ollantaytambo, including the train station in case I decided to try and go to Machu Picchu on my own, gave me my ticket to the ruins the group had toured the day before and the phone number to Gap´s local customer service, then bid me adieu. It was a strange feeling watching the bus pull off and realizing I was completely on my own for the next 4 days. But honestly, there are far worse things in life than being stranded in the heartland of the Peruvian Andes.
I went back to bed for 5 or 6 hours, then got up to go exploring. I found the tourist information center in the main square and got an idea of how to go about getting to Machu Picchu, then found a cool little restaurant called Heart´s Cafe which is run by a NGO and all the profits go to education and nutrition programs in the poorest highland communities. I then crossed the river and spent a couple hours exploring the local ruins. Hundreds of steps up, dozens of planted terraces, and many different buildings, none of which I had any idea what they were but was none-the-less enthralled by. It would be difficult to over-state the beauty of this place. Picture Banff, but smaller and poorer, filled with peruvians, stray dogs, and history, cobble stone streets and just enough tourist amenities to get by, and surrounded by mountains that are just as large and impressive but covered head to toe with grass instead of rocks. I could stay here for days and not get bored. But alas, I won´t be.
I made the 15 minute walk to the train station and purchased a ticket to Machu Picchu for 7:30ish tomorrow. I´m told once I get there, there will be bus companies I can buy tickets from to get up to the actual site, which I hope is true cause I don´t know if I could make it up by foot in my present condition. I also paid for a ticket back so tomorrow is all covered in terms of what I´m doing with myself. After that I have to figure out how to get back to Cuzco on my own where I´ll rejoin the group on Friday. I´m hoping I´ll be able to get there early on Thursday and try to arrange a day trip to Colca Canyon to watch the Condors. It was something I´ve heard is an absolute highlight of Peru but I couldn´t fit it in with the Inca Trail Hike before, so now that I´ve got some extra time I´ll see if I can make it work.
In short, despite getting sick, today has been the best day of the trip thus far. Hanging out on my own and trying to find my own way without being the slightest bit prepared to do it has been a lot of fun, and quite frankly, probably a better experience than the hike would have been. At least I´ll keep telling myself that until I hear all the stories about what I missed on Friday. But I´m looking forward to continuing the adventure solo for now, hoping I stay out of trouble, and enjoying every minute in this place. For example, even now as I sit in this Internet cafe, a little girl has wondered in and started going around talking to people in what I assume is Quecha since I don´t recognize a stitch of it (I´ve picked up enough Spanish words to get by in the meantime) and even just came over to smile and talk to me for a bit. Having been here a few days now, my comfort level is increasing and it feels safe enough that I think I´m really going to enjoy this.
Ciao for now,
Greg
PS. One of the best moments today was surfing over to tsn and finding out Chicago is 1 game away from pulling off one of the biggest comebacks and upsets in NHL history. Couldn´t happen to a better team :)
PPS. If this had happened in Europe I´d be contacting my mortgage broker to figure out how to finance this detour, but everything is so cheap here I think I might actually be making money. Well, not quite, but close. The very nice hotel is only $20 a night. The meals are around $5 or $6 each. Even the expensive stuff like train tickets is only $64USD one way for a two hour trip, and that´s for first class. I could have gone for half that price, but figured it was worth upgrading for brunch, audio information, leather seats, and panoramic windows.
Everytime I managed to drift to sleep, I´d awake a few minutes later with a big gasp for air. Apparently my body didn´t think I was getting enough oxygen or something. I´m surprised I had that rough a time as I´ve been higher than Cuzco before with no problems. The inability to sleep gave me lots of time to think about what I would have to do in this condition. Do I try to push through? Do I stay in Cuzco? Do I try to get medical attention? A few moments were bad enough that I even considered whether I´d just have to head to back to Lima and fly home.
In the end I decided my best option was to hope this was just altitude sickness and catch the bus down 1000 feet to Ollantaytambo with my gap group in the morning and see if it cleared up. A few pills and some coca candies and I managed to make it that far feeling not too terribly.
We made a couple stops along the way, for the first time getting off the beaten path and getting a real feel of south america. One was at a community that Gap is sponsoring as part of their Planaterra program, where we watched the local women turning raw sheep and llama wool into spun threads, and knit into all kinds of handmade textiles. Even had a national geographic moment watching a llama get mounted (yes I have it in HD video), so one could say we literally saw the entire end-to-end process of wool making! :)
The next place was Pisca where we toured our first Incan ruins. As impressive as it was, I was more drawn to the small town we passed through. Unlike modern Lima and touristy Cuzco, this was authentic Peru, albeit with a local trinket market and a few tourist necessities like hostels and ATMs. But motorcycle rickshaws, cattle grazing in backyards, and school children playing in the run down and obviously poor streets and buildings were incredible to behold.
After a couple hours driving around, I finally realized the fields here have a very distinct difference with those from Canada. There´s no straight lines running up and down through the crops. It´s all hand sown. And hand harvested. There are thousands and thousands, if not millions, of acres of farm land all along the river valley, and the amount of manual labor involved in that undertaking, twice a year, is mind-boggling.
The tour of the Pisca ruins included a hike up about 100 stone steps that left me seriously questioning whether I was going to be able to pull off the hike still or not, and inspite of a good lunch that managed to sit well, I was in pretty rough shape again by the time we arrived in Ollantaytambo. While the rest of the group went to the local ruins and out for dinner, I wandered to main square on my own hoping to find something that would appeal to my non-existant appetite. Leaving the hotel courtyard and stepping into a dark and abandoned street by myself at night was a bit of a scary feeling, to say the least, but I figured our guide would have mentioned something if I shouldn´t be going out on my own so off I went anyway, strolling with the stray dogs and trying to stay very aware of anyone walking too close by. There´s very little light pollution in these small and simple towns, so the stars were out in full force and I got to see the southern cross again, which was a real treat.
Anywho, I sweated through the night again and decided that the only thing worse than being sick in a foreign country was camping and hiking while sick in a foreign country, so I got up for breakfast with the group and told the guide I wasn´t going to be able to keep going. He gave me a 5 minute speil on where things were in Ollantaytambo, including the train station in case I decided to try and go to Machu Picchu on my own, gave me my ticket to the ruins the group had toured the day before and the phone number to Gap´s local customer service, then bid me adieu. It was a strange feeling watching the bus pull off and realizing I was completely on my own for the next 4 days. But honestly, there are far worse things in life than being stranded in the heartland of the Peruvian Andes.
I went back to bed for 5 or 6 hours, then got up to go exploring. I found the tourist information center in the main square and got an idea of how to go about getting to Machu Picchu, then found a cool little restaurant called Heart´s Cafe which is run by a NGO and all the profits go to education and nutrition programs in the poorest highland communities. I then crossed the river and spent a couple hours exploring the local ruins. Hundreds of steps up, dozens of planted terraces, and many different buildings, none of which I had any idea what they were but was none-the-less enthralled by. It would be difficult to over-state the beauty of this place. Picture Banff, but smaller and poorer, filled with peruvians, stray dogs, and history, cobble stone streets and just enough tourist amenities to get by, and surrounded by mountains that are just as large and impressive but covered head to toe with grass instead of rocks. I could stay here for days and not get bored. But alas, I won´t be.
I made the 15 minute walk to the train station and purchased a ticket to Machu Picchu for 7:30ish tomorrow. I´m told once I get there, there will be bus companies I can buy tickets from to get up to the actual site, which I hope is true cause I don´t know if I could make it up by foot in my present condition. I also paid for a ticket back so tomorrow is all covered in terms of what I´m doing with myself. After that I have to figure out how to get back to Cuzco on my own where I´ll rejoin the group on Friday. I´m hoping I´ll be able to get there early on Thursday and try to arrange a day trip to Colca Canyon to watch the Condors. It was something I´ve heard is an absolute highlight of Peru but I couldn´t fit it in with the Inca Trail Hike before, so now that I´ve got some extra time I´ll see if I can make it work.
In short, despite getting sick, today has been the best day of the trip thus far. Hanging out on my own and trying to find my own way without being the slightest bit prepared to do it has been a lot of fun, and quite frankly, probably a better experience than the hike would have been. At least I´ll keep telling myself that until I hear all the stories about what I missed on Friday. But I´m looking forward to continuing the adventure solo for now, hoping I stay out of trouble, and enjoying every minute in this place. For example, even now as I sit in this Internet cafe, a little girl has wondered in and started going around talking to people in what I assume is Quecha since I don´t recognize a stitch of it (I´ve picked up enough Spanish words to get by in the meantime) and even just came over to smile and talk to me for a bit. Having been here a few days now, my comfort level is increasing and it feels safe enough that I think I´m really going to enjoy this.
Ciao for now,
Greg
PS. One of the best moments today was surfing over to tsn and finding out Chicago is 1 game away from pulling off one of the biggest comebacks and upsets in NHL history. Couldn´t happen to a better team :)
PPS. If this had happened in Europe I´d be contacting my mortgage broker to figure out how to finance this detour, but everything is so cheap here I think I might actually be making money. Well, not quite, but close. The very nice hotel is only $20 a night. The meals are around $5 or $6 each. Even the expensive stuff like train tickets is only $64USD one way for a two hour trip, and that´s for first class. I could have gone for half that price, but figured it was worth upgrading for brunch, audio information, leather seats, and panoramic windows.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Cozy in Cuzco
Cuzco is just like I imagined it would be. Smaller and more quaint than Lima, incredibly picturesque and great for aimless wandering. It´s the former capital of the Inca empire so very rich in history and culture. We flew here bright and early this morning, met our guide and got a quick tour of the city center after dropping things off at the hotel.
Because there was only 5 of us he was able to take us through the market first which was a treat for all the senses except taste... it left me very sad I can´t sample the local cuisines and live to tell about it. I´ve realized the disadvantage to using a real camera is that I can´t upload pictures as easily as I could from my phone, so alas, I can not share anything just yet, but I promise there´ll be some good ones for y´all later. For now, just close your eyes and imagine rows upon rows of street vendor food and trinkets, fresh breads and produce, more varieties and colors of corn and potatoes than you ever knew existed (purple corn anyone?), and meats that varied from live frogs to guinea pigs to alpaca and cow heads sitting in piles. For sale. For food. As our guide said ¨we are a poor country, we cannot afford to throw out any part of the animal¨. Yum.
After a very quick stroll through the main square Katherine and I found a restaurant with a view we could eat at. Apparently she´s an even more adventurous eater than I, and she dove into the guinea pig much quicker than I did. The skin tastes very much like chicken, albeit with a different smell, and the meat is a bit unique but still tastes like meat, and not altogether unpleasant. I can cross that one off the list though and feel no desire to repeat the feat. The alpaca steak was much better, but kinda like a dry, tough, steak. The mashed yams were awesome though and we both agreed the fresh made lemonaid (made from mini green lemons) was the best we´d ever had.
Otherwise today has been a very slow day. Acclimatizing to the altitude has been more necessary than I thought. I´m extremely sluggish, a bit dehydrated, and had a pounding headache all day. Muscles are a bit achy and tummy is making some funny noises too. Hopefully I´ll sleep this off tonight and be good to go tomorrow. We´ll be back down to 8000 feet in Ollantaytambo then, where as Cuzco is 9000 and we basically went straight from sea level to here so it´s a system-shocker.
Oh, and we met our group tonight. Quite young crowd, and I´m pretty sure I´m the second oldest, behind only my roommate Lazlo from Sweden, and he´s pushing 60. Tonight´s entertainment consisted of everyone trying to pack for hike. We have a 6kg limit, which includes the 2kg sleeping bag and duffel bag, itself weighing in at 0.6kg. Add in the inflatable thermorest at 1kg I opted for and you are basically limited to 2.5kg for a 4 day hike. It was quite amusing to watch everyone packing and repacking their bags, throwing them on the weigh scale, and then repeating the process until they were under limit. Strategies varied widely, with some sacrificing the thermarest, others warm clothes for the night times, and some, like me, deciding to forgo the recommended pair of shoes for the campsite and mandatory flip-flops for the hot showers on day 3. By that time I figure I´ll stink enough it won´t matter for one more day, but at least I´ll be warm and sleep well in the meantime.
This will likely be my last post until we get back to Cuzco on Friday or maybe even Saturday. Until then, I guess I´m now off to the races...
Because there was only 5 of us he was able to take us through the market first which was a treat for all the senses except taste... it left me very sad I can´t sample the local cuisines and live to tell about it. I´ve realized the disadvantage to using a real camera is that I can´t upload pictures as easily as I could from my phone, so alas, I can not share anything just yet, but I promise there´ll be some good ones for y´all later. For now, just close your eyes and imagine rows upon rows of street vendor food and trinkets, fresh breads and produce, more varieties and colors of corn and potatoes than you ever knew existed (purple corn anyone?), and meats that varied from live frogs to guinea pigs to alpaca and cow heads sitting in piles. For sale. For food. As our guide said ¨we are a poor country, we cannot afford to throw out any part of the animal¨. Yum.
After a very quick stroll through the main square Katherine and I found a restaurant with a view we could eat at. Apparently she´s an even more adventurous eater than I, and she dove into the guinea pig much quicker than I did. The skin tastes very much like chicken, albeit with a different smell, and the meat is a bit unique but still tastes like meat, and not altogether unpleasant. I can cross that one off the list though and feel no desire to repeat the feat. The alpaca steak was much better, but kinda like a dry, tough, steak. The mashed yams were awesome though and we both agreed the fresh made lemonaid (made from mini green lemons) was the best we´d ever had.
Otherwise today has been a very slow day. Acclimatizing to the altitude has been more necessary than I thought. I´m extremely sluggish, a bit dehydrated, and had a pounding headache all day. Muscles are a bit achy and tummy is making some funny noises too. Hopefully I´ll sleep this off tonight and be good to go tomorrow. We´ll be back down to 8000 feet in Ollantaytambo then, where as Cuzco is 9000 and we basically went straight from sea level to here so it´s a system-shocker.
Oh, and we met our group tonight. Quite young crowd, and I´m pretty sure I´m the second oldest, behind only my roommate Lazlo from Sweden, and he´s pushing 60. Tonight´s entertainment consisted of everyone trying to pack for hike. We have a 6kg limit, which includes the 2kg sleeping bag and duffel bag, itself weighing in at 0.6kg. Add in the inflatable thermorest at 1kg I opted for and you are basically limited to 2.5kg for a 4 day hike. It was quite amusing to watch everyone packing and repacking their bags, throwing them on the weigh scale, and then repeating the process until they were under limit. Strategies varied widely, with some sacrificing the thermarest, others warm clothes for the night times, and some, like me, deciding to forgo the recommended pair of shoes for the campsite and mandatory flip-flops for the hot showers on day 3. By that time I figure I´ll stink enough it won´t matter for one more day, but at least I´ll be warm and sleep well in the meantime.
This will likely be my last post until we get back to Cuzco on Friday or maybe even Saturday. Until then, I guess I´m now off to the races...
Lovely Lima
I'm at the Lima airport right now, found a free wifi connection so I figured an update was in order. This will be short because (a) I'm using my iPhone and it doesn't play well with blogspot apparently and (b) we board a plane for Cuzco in 20 minutes.
The flight down was, well I've had better. Houston to Lima was nondescript, but Calgary to Houston wasn't great. Small plane with strategically placed overhead bins to ensure any passenger over 5'6" hits their head, and apparently Air Canada assumes if you've booked your flight and checked in with someone, you probably don't want to sit together. We didn't notice our seats were different until we were boarding, so I got stuck right in front of the exit row, unable to recline (but still able to wack my head). I still managed to get a couple hours of sleep, inspire of the Chinese torture chamber they called a chair and the cackling hens across the aisle. I know women talk a lot, but I didn't know it was anatomically possible to not stop for air for over 3 hours. The icing on the cake was the toxic fumes someone was releasing near me every few minutes. I hope it wasn't the petite mom beside me although I'd understand why her husband sat 5 rows away if it was. Or maybe they just got the same air Canada seating plan we did.
Anywho. On to better things. Lima was fantastic! Far exceeded my expectations. We stayed in a very nice little hotel (La Castellena) in the Mria Flores district, which is well known for being the nice area of town. Katherine and I went for a long walk to the, um, beach and walked along the huge cliffs above the ocean for a few hours taking in the sites and beautiful weather. Even managed to see the Easter bunny! :)
We spent the afternoon on a city tour and was again impressed with the other districts I saw. Much more modern and clean than I was expecting, although signs of poverty can be seen behind the facades. There's another tour that goes to the shanty towns which I may do on the way back to see the other side of Lima. In the old city center we toured colonial age buildings and houses that felt just like Europe, except the crowds are decidedly more ethnic. We also toured inside the first church built by the Franciscans, dating back almost 500 years, albeit rebuilt several times since due to earthquakes and what not. The sheer size was impressive and reminded me more of touring the Vatican than a typical cathedral. Highlights were the catacombs with 10 meter deep wells filled to the top with delicately arranged human bones and skulls, and a library straight out of a Harry potter movie.
The evening was completed with a quick meeting with some of our group (we meet the rest in Cuzco I guess) and a dinner of yellow mashed potatoes filled with olives, hard boiled egg and tuna. It was deliciously salty and went great with the Peruvian beer. Oh I also had tuna gellato yesterday, I kid you not. It was fantastic and refreshing! We found a night market on the way back and ate what we think was rich pudding, topped with fig sauce, cinnamon and coconut. Whatever it was it was to die for, which since it was served by a street vendor may actually be the case. I was very apprehensive about the food here and the potential for getting sick but I've already thrown caution to the wind. You aren't supposed to drink anything not bottled or brewed but the fresh squeezed papaya and pineapple juice is irresistible. Oh I also had my first chorros yesterday, stuffed with what I can only describe as liquid peanut brittle. I'm in foodie heaven.
Flight is about to board so off to cuzco now. More later. Pics when I can get a real computer.
The flight down was, well I've had better. Houston to Lima was nondescript, but Calgary to Houston wasn't great. Small plane with strategically placed overhead bins to ensure any passenger over 5'6" hits their head, and apparently Air Canada assumes if you've booked your flight and checked in with someone, you probably don't want to sit together. We didn't notice our seats were different until we were boarding, so I got stuck right in front of the exit row, unable to recline (but still able to wack my head). I still managed to get a couple hours of sleep, inspire of the Chinese torture chamber they called a chair and the cackling hens across the aisle. I know women talk a lot, but I didn't know it was anatomically possible to not stop for air for over 3 hours. The icing on the cake was the toxic fumes someone was releasing near me every few minutes. I hope it wasn't the petite mom beside me although I'd understand why her husband sat 5 rows away if it was. Or maybe they just got the same air Canada seating plan we did.
Anywho. On to better things. Lima was fantastic! Far exceeded my expectations. We stayed in a very nice little hotel (La Castellena) in the Mria Flores district, which is well known for being the nice area of town. Katherine and I went for a long walk to the, um, beach and walked along the huge cliffs above the ocean for a few hours taking in the sites and beautiful weather. Even managed to see the Easter bunny! :)
We spent the afternoon on a city tour and was again impressed with the other districts I saw. Much more modern and clean than I was expecting, although signs of poverty can be seen behind the facades. There's another tour that goes to the shanty towns which I may do on the way back to see the other side of Lima. In the old city center we toured colonial age buildings and houses that felt just like Europe, except the crowds are decidedly more ethnic. We also toured inside the first church built by the Franciscans, dating back almost 500 years, albeit rebuilt several times since due to earthquakes and what not. The sheer size was impressive and reminded me more of touring the Vatican than a typical cathedral. Highlights were the catacombs with 10 meter deep wells filled to the top with delicately arranged human bones and skulls, and a library straight out of a Harry potter movie.
The evening was completed with a quick meeting with some of our group (we meet the rest in Cuzco I guess) and a dinner of yellow mashed potatoes filled with olives, hard boiled egg and tuna. It was deliciously salty and went great with the Peruvian beer. Oh I also had tuna gellato yesterday, I kid you not. It was fantastic and refreshing! We found a night market on the way back and ate what we think was rich pudding, topped with fig sauce, cinnamon and coconut. Whatever it was it was to die for, which since it was served by a street vendor may actually be the case. I was very apprehensive about the food here and the potential for getting sick but I've already thrown caution to the wind. You aren't supposed to drink anything not bottled or brewed but the fresh squeezed papaya and pineapple juice is irresistible. Oh I also had my first chorros yesterday, stuffed with what I can only describe as liquid peanut brittle. I'm in foodie heaven.
Flight is about to board so off to cuzco now. More later. Pics when I can get a real computer.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
The Next Adventure
As the title of this blog implies, I'm bound for Latin America in 2 days hence. You can tell I've been brushing up on my Latin in preparation for this trip. Or at least my Old English. I think they are more or less the same. They do speak Latin in Latin America, right?
Nailed It.
My specific target destination, assuming I board the correct plane, and assuming the pilot flies the correct route, is Peru. Itinerary as follows:
Friday Morning - 6:00 AM. Board Taxi. Pick up Katherine Sheriff (my travel buddy on this sojourn) en route to airport.
9:00 AM - board plane
9:03 AM - fall back asleep
Friday Night - very late PM. Arrive in Lima, the Peruvian Capital, where we'll have a day to explore/get-mugged before meeting our Gap Adventures group Saturday evening.
Sunday Morning - very early AM. Again. Ugh. Board a plane to Cuzco, the ancient Incan Capital, where we'll have a couple days to explore the scenic city, visit Ollantaytambo and the Incan Sacred Valley, and generally acclimatize to the 9000 foot elevation.
Tuesday Morning - probably very early again, we set off on the Inca Trail to endure, I mean, enjoy 4 days of hiking on an ancient Incan Highway through the Peruvian Andes mountains, cresting on the 2nd day at almost 14,000 feet, before arriving at Machu Picchu. If my math is right, and there's no guarantees it is, we'll arrive Friday morning at said highlight destination. This has been on my bucket list since I first heard about it, and about bucket lists, and is spectacular enough that I decided it warranted finally buying a real camera. Real as in point-and-shoot digital, but at least no more cell phone camera.
Friday/Saturday - back to Cuzco for some R&R.
Sunday - Off to Puerto Maldonado, where we'll board a motorized canoe (seriously) and head deep into the Amazon Rainforest for some jungle adventures, including piranha fishing (seriously). I recently watched a documentary about the creatures that live in the Amazon river. Until then I had no idea that a shock from an electric eel can actually travel through water and stun a full grown alligator several feet away. Keep in mind that you can't see much in the muddy water, and electric eels are certainly not the worst thing that lives in it. I think if I so much as put a hand in the river, I'll have surpassed sky-diving for stupidest thing I've done. Have no idea what kind of wild life, native tribes, poisonous plants, and creepy-crawling bug things we'll find on land either. Wish us luck!
Tuesday - Assuming we survive the rainforest, it's another flight back to Lima for our last night. We bid farewell to our tour group in the morning, having 1 more day to explore/incite riots before boarding an overnight flight home.
Thursday - noonish. Arrive Calgary.
This will be by far the most rustic trip I've done yet, so I can't say for sure how often I'll get on here to post an update, but I'll do what I can. It's also the most ill-prepared I've been for a big trip, having to move twice in the last 8 weeks was a bit of a distraction. Fortunately, it's only 2 weeks and all just 1 big leg with the same group instead of my usual 4-5 week, multi-leg adventures, so it should be manageable. But I didn't get to do much research and prepare a TODO list like I usually do. Here's what I've got so far:
Nailed It.
My specific target destination, assuming I board the correct plane, and assuming the pilot flies the correct route, is Peru. Itinerary as follows:
Friday Morning - 6:00 AM. Board Taxi. Pick up Katherine Sheriff (my travel buddy on this sojourn) en route to airport.
9:00 AM - board plane
9:03 AM - fall back asleep
Friday Night - very late PM. Arrive in Lima, the Peruvian Capital, where we'll have a day to explore/get-mugged before meeting our Gap Adventures group Saturday evening.
Sunday Morning - very early AM. Again. Ugh. Board a plane to Cuzco, the ancient Incan Capital, where we'll have a couple days to explore the scenic city, visit Ollantaytambo and the Incan Sacred Valley, and generally acclimatize to the 9000 foot elevation.
Tuesday Morning - probably very early again, we set off on the Inca Trail to endure, I mean, enjoy 4 days of hiking on an ancient Incan Highway through the Peruvian Andes mountains, cresting on the 2nd day at almost 14,000 feet, before arriving at Machu Picchu. If my math is right, and there's no guarantees it is, we'll arrive Friday morning at said highlight destination. This has been on my bucket list since I first heard about it, and about bucket lists, and is spectacular enough that I decided it warranted finally buying a real camera. Real as in point-and-shoot digital, but at least no more cell phone camera.
Friday/Saturday - back to Cuzco for some R&R.
Sunday - Off to Puerto Maldonado, where we'll board a motorized canoe (seriously) and head deep into the Amazon Rainforest for some jungle adventures, including piranha fishing (seriously). I recently watched a documentary about the creatures that live in the Amazon river. Until then I had no idea that a shock from an electric eel can actually travel through water and stun a full grown alligator several feet away. Keep in mind that you can't see much in the muddy water, and electric eels are certainly not the worst thing that lives in it. I think if I so much as put a hand in the river, I'll have surpassed sky-diving for stupidest thing I've done. Have no idea what kind of wild life, native tribes, poisonous plants, and creepy-crawling bug things we'll find on land either. Wish us luck!
Tuesday - Assuming we survive the rainforest, it's another flight back to Lima for our last night. We bid farewell to our tour group in the morning, having 1 more day to explore/incite riots before boarding an overnight flight home.
Thursday - noonish. Arrive Calgary.
This will be by far the most rustic trip I've done yet, so I can't say for sure how often I'll get on here to post an update, but I'll do what I can. It's also the most ill-prepared I've been for a big trip, having to move twice in the last 8 weeks was a bit of a distraction. Fortunately, it's only 2 weeks and all just 1 big leg with the same group instead of my usual 4-5 week, multi-leg adventures, so it should be manageable. But I didn't get to do much research and prepare a TODO list like I usually do. Here's what I've got so far:
- Lima - see Mira Flores, avoid violence
- Cuzco - sounds like a cool place to just hang out and stroll the streets
- touch the Amazon River
- Fish for piranhas
- Eat said piranhas
- Eat a guinea pig
- Eat an alpaca
- Drink Coca leaf tea
- Not get sick
- Maybe, just maybe, I'll get lucky and see a Peruvian Condor too, but we're not getting to the spots where that usually happens.
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