The craziness never ends!

Back on the Amtrak - refreshed and re-energized

It's official: cc made it back to the states alive, barely.

I was a traveling public transportation fiend the last 30 hours of my time in Peru:
Bus - Huaraz to Lima, 9 hours
Taxi - bus station to airport, 30 minutes
Plane - Lima to Miami, 5.5 hours
Foot - US Customs, 2.5 hours
Plane - Miami to LA, 5 hours
Bus - LAX to Union Station, 45 minutes
Amtrak - Union station to Santa Ana, 1 hour
Car (hitchhiked) - Santa Ana to Anaheim Mariott hotel, 20 minutes

Whew! And yes, hitchhiked. After 1 month of traveling in Peru and never getting lost or getting into compromising situations, it had to come to the first day when I set foot back on US soil. lol. In my exhausted stupor, I got the wrong directions to my dad's hotel in anaheim and got off at the seedy Santa Ana station accidentally. Lucky for me, the one person I asked for help saved me from a night of catastrophe. Andrew was his name. He happened to live 1 block from the station, let me use his internet, and actually drove me 20 minutes to the Mariott. I couldn't have been more thankful of his kindness and generosity and for the fact that he wasn't a serial killer or kidnapper.

Culture shock is the motto of the week. I can't believe I can take unlimited hot water showers, have flushing toilets, soap, shampoo, AND conditioner, clean clothes that don't smell mildewy, not needing to avoid dog crap on sidewalks, needing to call a cab (by phone), and above all, actually understanding what the hell people are saying! And now, I'm finally heading home to San Diego. I need a vacation from this vacation.

With this sight, I knew I was definitely back in the US of A.

Fast and Furious

Risked the overnighter to Huaraz

Catching breakfast at Cafe Andino

Boonies in the hills of Huaraz

3.5 days later and I´m back in Lima, enjoying the hospitalities of Jorge Chavez Internationale one last time. It was a whirlwind tour to Huaraz, yet another small mountain town on my trip. 3.5 days was enough to get to know Huaraz like the back of my hand. I can tell you where all the grocery stores are, where the good restaurants to eat are, who the reputable mountain outfitters are, where some good climbing places are (I wish I brought my shoes!), and most importantly where the cheapest coca tea places are (a life saver when you jump in at 3090 meters). It was surely enough time to see the sights in and around the town, but not enough time to actually trek the highest peaks in all the Andes...that´s for the next trip. And the mountains were glorious. Huascaran is the highest peak, clocking in at 6768 meters, high enough to scare me just looking at it. Since I didn´t have too much time, I actually (gulp) signed up for a tour to take me around the area. It´s a sore subject for me, doing a tour that is, because I just can´t stand the type who would do such a thing (and I guess I´m one of those types now). But I was tired. It´s the end of the trip and I´ve barely slept in the last week (you´ll notice the progression of baggy eyes in the pics to come), my feet hurt, and I wanted someone to hold my hand and tell me where to go without the worry of muggers or kidnappers. I experienced my first tour group, which ended up being surprisingly tolerable, simply because I could only understand about 20% of what everyone was saying (a saving grace for my patience!). We stopped at all the little towns north of Huaraz to Carraz (Carhuaz, the new and old Yungay (hit by a devastating avalanche in 1970 that killed thousands and thousands of people), Mancos, etc), which was great since they were all recommended by my trusty Lonely Planet. The highlight was undoubtedly Llaganuco Lake, about 80km north of Huaraz, and one of the most beautiful lakes I´ve ever seen - shimmering turquoise green and blue water with a backdrop of snow-capped peaks - peaceful, pretty, and simply lovely. We had an hour at the lake and naturally I ditched the group and hiked all around the lake (it´s amazingly easy to ditch a group...you just need to walk 10 feet away! lol), up the hills, and enjoyed my time there.

And now I´m back in Lima. Barely. I was 30 seconds from missing my bus in Huaraz (woops...had to get one last coca tea fix. lol.) and the 9 hour bus ride was nauseating (overnight is definitely the way to go in the future). I´m about to roll out my Big Agnes one last time in Lima airport, set my alarm for 3:30am, and hope to god that I´ll hear my watch beep. If not, Peru will have me for one more day. And to be honest, if my dad wasn´t visiting the states, and if my mom & sis weren´t visiting SD right after, I´d probably change my return ticket date and hop on a bus to Argentina. But that´s for another day. I´m looking forward to a real bed real soon and NOT wake up to the sound of roosters at 5:30 in the A of M each and every single morning. Amen.

Llaganuco Lake - one of the most beautiful lakes I've ever seen

Milk Shop in Caraz

The almighty Huascaran mountain, the tallest peak in Peru clocking in at 6768m

Yungay memorial for the 1970 avalanche 

disaster that demolished the town

A Dunkin Donuts, a Starbucks, and a Batman movie later, I´m ready to rough it again!

IMO, one day in Lima is all anyone needs. I had my fix of western society, participating in all the evils of the corporate world in one day. heh. I must admit, I had the guilty pleasure of enjoying my DD donut, SB mocha, and all that the cinema had to offer (and screw holidays for price inflation). It was like getting a fix after coming out of a month long rehab. Simply sinful!

I spent the morning in Lima hunting for a bus ticket to Huaraz - normally an easy feat, but Independence day(s) in Peru made it quite challenging (2 day holiday - what gives?). First, most tickets were sold out, and second all the businesses were closed. Thanks to one helpful hotel concierge guy, he helped me find one bus station that still had a ticket. I ended up catching a cab halfway across town to central Lima, to some little office ticket, in a seedy part of town (why are bus stations always in sketchy areas?), and put down 35 sol ($12) to travel 400km. Luck must have been on my side again because not 3 days prior, tickets were selling for 50 DOLLARS - not bad I say. Thank you spirits again!

I spent a good part of my day walking from Barranco (the artisan district in Lima) to Miraflores (a bustling, happening, hip part of town where I stayed at). I meandered along the upper cliffs overlooking the ocean, making the walk incredibly pleasant, scenic, and relaxing...and on top of it, the weather was gorgeous. On my hunt for lunch, I ended up bumping into a german girl who stayed at my hostel and sat down with her. Not moments later, a random german girl joined us bc there were no other free tables. Opportunities just keep falling in place for me on this trip, and just as I was wondering how I was going to spend an entire afternoon in Lima! And it´s rather odd that I keep hanging out with germans! We all walked to the cliffs, hung out, then hibernated inside for 3 hours for the movie. (FYI, it´s one of the best batman movies I´ve seen in a while! Going for Heath Ledger was worth the $$ itself! w00t w00t!)

I then took my first overnight bus ever to Huaraz - with no incidences other than sleep dep, most likely from 9 hours of oxygen shortage and cramped spaces. Arrived in Huaraz just as the sun rose above the horizon. Sunrises are becoming my favorite time of the day - and certainly extra special when I see them from staying up all night! Reminds me of BM, my favorite holiday week.

Lima smog cover.

Houses in Barranco

Man reading

Stairmaster 1500 A.D.

Simone contemplating in Ulrike's Cafe

The market takes over the entire town on Sundays

Ruins in Pisac

The adventure continued with 2 nights in Pisac, a tiny, tiny TINY town nestled in a beautiful valley surrounded by mountains on all sides, just 33km northeast of Cuzco. Pisac (I kid you not) only had a total of 9 streets, 6 restuarants (3 of which we ate at), and 4 hotels (2 of which we stayed at). The first hotel we stayed at was creepy - it had a weird vibe, the hippie-new-age-heal-with-meditation-energy vibe where everyone there had the eerie ¨love one another¨surface calmness that only serial killers have. We were first greeted by this character named grey, ¨like the color¨(a phrase he repeated to us at least 3 times within 10 minutes), who was decked out in hippie attire with bleach blonde hair, and who seemed high as a kite. The other guests were just as weird and distant. Suffice to say, we bolted the very next day.

On our first night there, we walked the entire town in less than 15 minutes at a slow snail pace, walking by houses that consisted of 4 mud walls, a muddy floor, with 1 table and 1 bed (and one house had a freshly killed pig splayed out on the 1 table)...all the necessities of life, really. We came across the town by word of mouth from several people of a fantastic crafts market that livened the city every Sunday and a huge network of ruins on a mountain overlooking the town. We spent the day at both.

It took us 40 minutes (1.5 hours according to Lonely Planet...are people really that slow???) to hike up what seemed like an endless number of stone steps. Seems to be the theme of the week, especially after Machu Picchu. My quads and calfs are now seriously shot and I might need that massage afterall (didn´t have enough time to indulge in Cuzco). But the climb was worth it for at the top, we got a spectacular view of the Sacred Valley, with mountains surrounding us on all sides. It was so very calming and peaceful at the top that I decided to meditate, but that was short lived bc I end up falling asleep, as usual. After nap time, we explored the ruins, which permeated the entire top mountainside. Everywhere you looked, more ruins popped up. At the end of the day, we opted to take a little adventure and instead of taking the normal path down the mountain (and mind you, it was probably 500m climb), we decided to decend via a valley along what appeared to be a semblance of a trail. Little did we know that this trail would consist of bushwacking our way through, climbing down 20 foot rock faces (thank god for my climbing skills!), sliding down steep dirt paths, and praying most of the way that we would actually make it out of there before sunset without injuries (neither of us had headlamps). And to top it off, I was barefoot in Tevas, thanks to my inflated purple pinky toes from the MP trek. Probably not the smartest plan, but we made it out alive...eventually. It sure did make the day super fun and adventurous!

Yesterday was Independence Day in Peru and we witnessed how Pisacians do it up. Seemed like all the kids in town marched on the square, with singing and out of tune bands...all quite charming in it´s simplicity. I get so used to the perfection and highly choreographed productions that we see on tv in the western world. Suffice to say, we outstayed our visit in Pisac and eventually made it back to Cuzco on a local bus that cost only $1 without mishap.

All in all, a good venture, but now I´m all ruined out. I´ve had my fill of ruins for the trip and am ready for something new.

Simon decided to head back to the states early, so now I´m on my own for the rest of my trip. We made it back to Lima and parted ways last night. Sad to think that the trip is coming to an end. I found myself a cheap dorm room hostel in the Miraflores area of Lima, which is quite a happening section of town. And as it so happened by coincidence, Hamilton & his mom were in Lima too. (I have to admit that this trip has been full of coincidences and shear good luck...to the point where I don´t believe in coincidences or luck anymore) I must say, it´s been great seeing them throughout our journey (we met up with them a few times in Cuzco too while they were on vacation) - seeing familiar faces while you´re in a foreign place is a real godsend when nothing is the same 2 days in a row. AND, they were so awesome as to let me shower in their ¨fancy¨hotel, equipt with a hot shower AND bath tub (haven´t seen one of those in 3 weeks!). I used an entire bottle of shampoo and was finally able to get that semi-permanent crust of dirt out of my hair (thank god I have short hair!). It´s sad thinking that I won´t get to see them again, but life goes on. I did get the invite to go back to Blue Morpho anytime I want, and that time might be sooner than later.

For the last 5 days of my trip, I´ve decided to head up to the high Andes again, this time near a town called Huaraz. The area supposedly has over 22,000 foot mountains and gorgeous glacial lakes. Today´s mission is to somehow find myself a bus that will get me there. The thought of traveling on my own is a bit daunting, but I figure that I´ve got a good head on my shoulders. I left all my stuff in a locker at the Lima airport and am equipt with only 1 small (tiny) pack, my lonely planet guide, a few clothes items, and a positive attitude for yet another adventure.

Salkantay Trek

The great Salkantay 

Sunrise at Machu Picchu. Simply beautiful.

The best birthday present ever

# Days: 5
Forms of transportation used: 4 (bus, back of truck, train, feet)
Distance trekked: 70km
# blisters: 0
# purple toes: 2
# passes crossed: 2
# hot showers: 1
Highest elevation reached: 4600 meters
Spectacular views: priceless

We got back from our Machu Picchu backpacking trek late last night for a total of 5 days and 4 nights. It was by far one of the most gorgeous, scenic, and varied terrain treks I´ve ever been on, and the fact that it ended in Machu Picchu, on my birthday, was incredible. We started at 4:30am taking a 1.5 hour bus ride to a nearby town called Mollepata, traveling through a gorgeous valley, with a view of the snow covered Salkantay peak the entire way. We were a group of 8 in total for the entire trek. Next up, we were all put on the back of a farm truck, and herded like pigs up a mountain on a dirt road. Once at the trailhead, we loaded up all our packs and started the trek. Of the 8 in our group, only me, Simon, and a German named Jans had full packs (well, two thirds loaded up for me at 25 lbs). The rest hired porters (which was also and extra $40). The tour group was relatively organized...they cooked hot meals for us twice a day and set up our tents. I have certainly never felt so pampered on a backpacking trip...and felt a bit guilty that someone else was feeding me and providing shelter. Can´t complain, I suppose. But I definitely want to avoid the group backpacking trips in the future for there´s something about being completely self sufficient in cooking and choosing your own campsite, campmates, and adventure.

But I digress, the entire trek was full of spectacular views, especially of the great Salkantay mountain. We passed by snow peaked mountains, hiked across beautiful mountain plains, then switched altogether through the high jungles of the Andes, then through valleys, following riverbeds (which of course were mosquito laden...still recovering from some gnarly bites), up more mountains, down more mountains, and through little moutain towns and farmlands. It was all very spiritual with all the specatular views. And of course, with a grand finale at Machu Picchu...which so happened to fall on my birthday!

Machu Picchu was incredible, and you´ll just have to see the pictures when I post them. I was stunned at how the city could be built on such a steep mountain side. During my day in MP, I also hiked up a neighboring mountain called Waynapicchu, which was 500 meters above Machu Picchu, so yes, I got an amazing view of Machu Picchu from afar. The whole affair getting onto the trailhead was a feat in itself. They limited it to 400 people a day, and unfortunately when I got there, the capacity was already met. But I think the spirits were on my side that day because I waited for an hour, hoping that some miracle would happen (either by bribe, or pulling the it´s-my-birthday line)....I waited, and a miracle did happen. The gateman took pity on us or something and let us in! And it was surely awesome! For one, we could escape the countless tourists (man o man, were there a lot of annoying tourists!) and second, the view at the top was even more stunning than being in Machu Picchu itself. We were one of the first in the second group to go in...and were so excited to get in that practically we ran up the trail. It took us 30 minutes (which takes normal people 1 hour)...meaning we got the peak to ourselves for half an hour. the trail itself was up and down scary steep incan stone steps, with bold dropoffs just inches from the steps. We opted to take the trail less traveled.

All in all, the best birthday present ever!

Yesterday was spent in complete relaxation, sleeping in, eating copious amounts of food, showering luxuriously. We´re off to Pisac tonight and from there who knows!

Countryside Cruise

We decided to rent a motorcycle for the day and tour the country side of the Andes. Cuzco is situated in the valley between mountatin ranges and a 10 minute drive will put you in the most breathtaking and amazing views...think rolling grasslands, snow capped mountains, lakes, small towns, panoramic valleys. We found some amazing terraced salt farms in the mountain (pictures to come) that are still very much in use today. We also stopped by in a town called Chinchero just outside of Cuzco and saw Incan terraces that still had the original stone walls intact. The locals still make use of a few of these terraces to grow potatoes. The precision in which the walls were built were unbelievably precise. Each stone fit seemlessly together as if they were part of a jigsaw puzzle.

I am now armed with a bag of coca leaves and am ready to hit the Salkantay trail up to Machu Picchu. We leave bright and early tomorrow at 6am. I think I´ve finally acclimated to the altitude (dealt with a horrible horrible stomach ache all day yesterday) so hopefully the 15,000 foot pass won´t decimate me!

Drive by shooting right outside of Cuzco

Salinas, salt farms from incan times still in use today.

150 kilos of salt per pool per month.

Posing in the Incan terraces at Chinchero

Drying potatoes

Incan walls

Phase Dos

We managed to make it to the next part of the adventure - Cuzco, the ancient Incan city in the high Andes. It´s a dramatic change from the past 2 weeks in the amazon. I pulled out my winter clothing for the first time and am so relieved that I brought poofy, my big down jacket. It´s a trip thinking that just yesterday we took a local river boat taxi near the amazon river, up to a nearby island to check out a kind of peruvian ¨zoo¨. I was glad to make it out of there without getting anything stolen from monkies (yes, they were running around freely and if yoúre not watching, they´ll snatch anything from your hands or in your pockets and run up the tress). We´ve managed to make it around ¨local style¨, walking through the little towns, and learning not to take the first taxi that approaches you since they´ll most likely charge you 5 times more than you need to pay. I´m simply amazed at just how dire conditions that most people in the jungle live in. Their houses are typically four slabs of wood (and concrete if you´re fancy) with roofs made of thatching from dried leaves of some sort. Most people hang out on the square most nights because they can´t afford indoor entertainment like television, which we all take for granted.

But I´m happy to be in a new place that doesn´t kill my lungs from all the soot and motorcar pollution. I can finally breathe and the mountain air is oh so refreshing.

Aboard a collectivo on Rio Nanay

At Pilpintuwasi

A blue morpho pupa

The beautiful blue morpho,

largest butterfly in the world

Watch out for little Tony - 

he'll snatch everything out of your pockets!

Iquitos - Civilization in the jungle

Today marks the 5th and final day Simon and I will be in Iquitos - 2 days prior and 3 days after Blue Morpho. Although Iquitos is the largest city in the northern amazon region (accessible by only plane or boat), it only encompasses about 30 square blocks. Good news for us since it makes it relatively easy to get around. You can either walk everywhere or take the local public transit in the form of motortaxis (think half motorcycles attached to buggy trailer-carts) for only about $1 US per ride. On the outset, Iquitos is a dirty, noisy, polluted city, making sleeping-in difficult from the incessant rumble of motorcycles. But after spending so many days here, we've managed to discover many the little nitches the city has to offer. From local handmade crafts, to markets in the most random places, to finding one of the only bakeries in town, and 3rd world country versions of walmart (stores that carry everything from q-tips to remote control cars to clothes stacked up from wall to wall), to doing laundry (4kg of clothes for only $3, including washing, drying, and folding - pretty good deal considering both Simon & I only brought a combined 4kg of clothes on the trip), to finding random juice bars that serve fresh papaya/strawberry/banana smoothies (Tutti Frutti was our random encounter), to eating at local restaurants (the most expensive ones in town were only $9 US for entire meals). yum! The language barrier makes it doubly adventurous for us considering neither of us speak spanish and few Iquitinians speak english. But we've gotten through it by a lot of pointing, nodding, and charades. It certainly makes me appreciate language in a whole new light and forces you to learn the basics like learning your numbers and saying "I'll have what they're having" or "I'll take that".

And last night I had my first experience that makes me think twice of trusting "friendly" people, who turn out to be not so friendly. I ran into a kid that I had bought a bracelet from earlier in the day and he was a friendly folk, talked about this and that, about how he was born in the jungle, and moved to Iquitos to earn money to send home to his family. He seemed completely harmless and took us to a local bar that was on the river. From watching Rachel Ray, I thought it would be a good idea to get suggestions from locals about good places to go. So we went. He took us to this cool little quaint bar that (hilariously) played a mix of reggae, hip-hop, electronic music. We got some drinks, hung out, and talked. By the time I wanted to leave and we were about to pay, he tried to get us to give him 20sol for him to take his friend out for his birthday, which was completely ridiculous, but I politely said no. Then he tried to get us to give him 30sol for drinks so he'd help us pay at the counter...which was 15 sol more than it should have been, and to top it off, he tried to get us to pay for his drink. We were emphatic about saying no and when he realized he couldn't squeeze anything from us, he bolted out of the bar. Thankfully, the waitresses didn't make us pay and that nothing worse happened (like getting mugged or followed). Thank god it wasn't anything worse. Good lesson to learn early on the trip: Don't trust the local hagglers!

I'm definitely ready to head to the mountains of central Peru, and also to get some fresh clean air.

Iquitos, along side the river before the storm

Plaza de Armas in Iquitos

Yellow Rose of Texas, where Texas 

is the center of the universe, even in Peru

Sunsets were always gorgeous

Cruising around on Hamilton's bike

Bags from the the one-stop shop. lol.