Puno and Beyond

I´m amazed at how much time we ended up spending in Cusco.  Looking back, most of our time was spent in or around that one town.  It was my favorite place we´ve been so far in terms of the people, the city itself, and the surrounding countryside.  Easy to hike up into the hills for a day as well as walk and walk and walk deep into the heart of the city.  As a local said to me, there is the Cusco that the tourists know and then there is the REAL Cusco.  Except for the one night spent near the Plaza de Armas, we mostly stayed outside of the overly touristy areas...with the exception of the days where we craved greasy British food.

We did eventually leave, though.  Three Kiwis recommended a tour bus service for Cusco to Puno that offered guided tours in English and a buffet lunch along the way.  However, they got their tickets at a steal and Peter and I agreed that paying full cost didn´t quite make the ride worth it.  I did enjoy the arch sites though!  I´ve been doing self-guided tours through all the places we´ve visited, and it was nice to hear about the history of some of the ancient Inca sites.  It´s amazing to see just how much tourism supports many Peruvians.  EVERYWHERE you go, people are trying to hawk their wares or sell you water or are just begging for change.  I´ve never felt like more of a walking money bag.  My skin color is a dead giveaway that I´m a tourist and I can see people beeline for me, although I think Peter sometimes gets it worse with his blonde hair and blue eyes.

Puno was really interesting!  Coming down into the city, I wasn´t sure what to expect.  From the bus depot, two women offered to grab us a cab and it turns out that they work for the hostel we were trying to get to.  A large group of about 15 kids had snagged all the rooms though, so they recommended us to another hotel close to the central plaza.  The room itself was one of the nicer and cheaper places we´ve stayed, although we came to realize at about 9 PM that it´s adjacent to a karaoke bar and the walls were a tad thinner than one would hope.  Earplugs were on my essentials list while packing, so I was set.  Poor Peter was woken up a couple times, but luckily they shut down relatively early.

The next morning, we boarded a boat tour for the floating islands of Uros and a large island out in the main part of Lake Titicaca (Tierces?  I´ll have to double-check).  Out of at least 30 people, Peter and I were the only English speakers and Peter was the only one who didn´t understand any Spanish.  Thankfully, two Italians who had lived in Ireland for awhile also asked to hear the tour in English so Peter was able to understand the guide.  Such an awesome experience!  They went over the construction on the floating islands, the reasoning for the culture to move out onto the lake itself, and social aspects of the culture.  Forester nerd moment: they used a crosscut saw to shape pieces of sod which support the base of the islands.  Definitely a new way to use a crosscut that I hadn´t seen before.

The big island was gorgeous. Imagine California wine country paired with Italian countryside on an island in a sapphire blue lake.  We walked the length of the island and it was amazing to see one side of the lake that belonged to Bolivia and the other side which was Peru.  White peaked mountains teased us from the Bolivian side; everyone who has traveled around the lake told us that the Bolivian area is much more impressive.

Something that´s bothered me a lot this trip has been authenticity.  I am constantly wondering how much of what I´m shown is true Peruvian culture and what is blown out of proportion for tourists.  This is the main reason why I haven´t done many guided tours.  Walking on the outskirts of town and looking out of the windows on long bus rides has given me a good idea though.  The day Peter and I sat on the wall overlooking the fields of Pisac has still been considered one of my favorite afternoons, mainly because nobody treated us like foreigners or acted differently.  More recently, when we were driving by some fields in a tour bus, I noticed some farmers standing around grouped up out in the field.  As we got closer, they started frenzily working.  As we passed, our guide pointed them out.  I don´t know the connection between the tour companies and locals, but this was just too weird to me...

But yes!  Puno was awesome.  Met some Germans, Aussies, and another American after our tour and had a fun night of drinking Pisco and playing Jenga and card games.  I guess the Germans had just been taught the game President (or King in their case) and Asshole and insisted on playing for hours; brought back a lot of good camping memories for me!  Peter and I boarded another (non-tourist, thank god!) bus for Arequipa yesterday and rode for 6 very long, sweltering hours.  We´re staying at the sister hostel to the place we loved in Cusco, and so far, it´s living up to expectations.  Cheap, clean, and includes breakfast!  Probably only staying for today and leave for Nazca tomorrow.  We only really stopped here so that Peter can visit his bank; he lost his ATM card the day we left for the Sacred Valley.  Between cash his parents forwarded him at a Western Union and me spotting him, he´s been good up until we could make it to a city where his bank is...which was either Arequipa or back to Lima.

We´re so close to the end.  I happened to glance at my flight info the other morning, which was good, because I guess I´m flying out really late Tuesday night rather than early Wednesday morning...  This doesn´t change our plans very much with the exception that we might get a bus to Lima on Tuesday and then I´ll go straight to the airport that evening rather than getting a hotel.  Should be landing around 9:45 AM in SFO; it´ll be nice to not lose a day.  Have packing and moving to look forward to upon my return.

Until next time!

Over the Hump

So, to be expected, plans slightly changed.  On Saturdy evening, I met two locals who were also planning on vacationing in the jungle for 5 days.  They invited us to join rather than go off by ourselves to Santa Teresa, which they commented as not being the best introduction to the Amazon anyways.  I told the guys that I would run the idea by Peter and see if he wanted to spend half of our remaining time in the Amazon Basin with two strange guys I just met.  After exchanging contact info, I met back up with Peter and asked him what he thought.  He agreed we should at least check if the guys were still interested, so we delayed our departure and sent an e-mail.  Either I copied their e-mail down wrong, they didn´t check their messages, or they decided they didn´t want to bring along 2 gringos after all, because we haven´t heard back.  So nevermind about that whole jungle thing.  It´ll have to wait until my next South American trip!

To be honest, it worked out for the best that we stayed an extra day in Cusco.  Peter and I both woke up rather homesick and burnt out yesterday.  As anticipated, the ´´hip´´ hostel downtown drove us up the wall so we returned to the quiet, simple hostel up on the hill in San Blas.  We refreshed our spirits with some food from home, courtesy of Jack´s Cafe, and sat down with a young French couple last night to watch a movie.  Too funny to have to change the language from Spanish to English and put on French subtitles.  Taking a day to just sit and relax was needed and much appreciated.

Homesickness is a feeling I´m used to, but I never understand why I get it.  It makes sense why it happens; your body and mind miss the familiar.  But especially when I´m on these relatively short trips, it irritates me that my mind can´t get on board with the fact that the scenery is different only for a brief time.  It was comforting to know that Peter´s hit at the same time and that a day was sufficient to say how much we miss our families and talk about what we´ll do when we return home.  For the two of us, it was sad to miss Thanksgiving at home, especially since both our families wrote us saying what a good time was had.  We´ll just have to make up for it during the December holidays I guess!  Plus, I wouldn´t trade that day on Machu Picchu to be back home; there will be many more years of spending time with family and friends, and this year was remarkably special.

Today, we´ll be finding a bus to take us south to Puno on the edge of Lake Titicaca.  Should be a long ride, but Peter and I brought plenty of reading material.  The drive is supposed to be beautiful too, although very cold when going over the mountains.

Until next time!

The Sacred Valley

From Cusco to Ollaytaytambo to Machu Picchu to Pisac and back to Cusco; it´s been a busy few days.

Peter and I took a collectivo taxi/bus into the Sacred Valley and stayed in Ollaytaytambo for two nights.  A very quaint tourist town, it features Inca ruins on the two hillsides bordering the square.  Our first afternoon in town consisted of booking train tickets for Aguas Calientes (the gateway town to Machu Picchu) and locating a hostal.  We ended up staying in a hotel run by two brothers and an English girlfriend.  In order to get up early for our train in the morning, we slipped off to bed shortly after dark.  However, another group of VERY noisy travelers were up at 4 AM and woke up the entire establishment.  By the time that Peter and I were ready to head out for the day around 5:30 AM, we realized that we were locked in.  Unbeknownst to us, the place was locked and completely closed off every night until the brothers woke up in the morning.  Gently knocking on windows, we shyly awoke our host to let us out to the street.  Great start to the day, right?

While Machu Picchu is completely worth the money and time to get to, it has definitely become the ultimate tourist trap.  There is an expensive entrance fee on top of an expensive train ride to Aguas Calientes on top of another fee if you take the bus to the entrance rather than hiking the 1/2 mile straight up...which if you plan on doing ANY hiking on the mountain, you´ll be wanting to take the bus.  Luckily, we met an American couple (Kim & Matt) the evening before when we were booking our train tickets.  Between the 4 of us, we were able to get over the language barrier and figure out where the hell we were supposed to be and what we had to do next.  All of us also bought a further expensive on the entrance ticket by getting the `Machu Picchu Mountain`add-on.  What an amazing hike!  Straight up for an hour and a half (at a slow pace with frequent stops), you end the hike on a peak overlooking the city and the Temple of the Moon.  Literally at cloud level, you can see every direction around for miles.  Peter and I shared a lunch of bananas, mandarins, and empeñadas at the top and shared our bounty with the other two who had been warned by the guidebook to not bring food (or extra water).  Luckily, we brought quite a bit of extra food just in case.

After exploring the city with hundreds of other tourists, we caught our return bus to Aguas Calientes and enjoyed a well earned beer and hearty lunch.  After a couple hours of chatting, we walked around the town to kill some time before our evening train.  While passing beneath a bar, three people leaned out and told us that the happy hour deals were worth it and to come join them.  With a request like that, how can you pass it up?  Up we went, and to our delight and surprise, found that the three were LA residents and two were from Paris orginally.  With a cheers or two to Thanksgiving and our loved ones back home, we enjoyed Pisco Sours as the sun set and chatted about places to check out.  Kim, Matt, Peter, and I bade our goodbyes quickly as we realized our train had arrived at the station and rushed down to hop back on for a dark ride back to Ollaytaytambo.  Definitely a day to remember.

Since Machu Picchu, Peter and I have spent our time hiking old Inca ruins next to towns in the Sacred Valley and just enjoying the countryside.  Yesterday, we found an old stone wall on the outskirts of Pisac and spent hours just talking and observing the locals walk and work through the corn fields.  We both commented on the fact of how strange it is to travel; seems like most of your time is spent just walking, sleeping, and eating.  We`re both REALLY enjoying the vacation, although in typical Williams fashion, I look forward to a productive routine when I return home.  In order to keep my idle hands happy, I´ve been dragging Peter along on long hikes every morning.  Today, we explored all the hills behind Pisac.  Que bonita!  The views of the Andes are definitely nothing to scoff at.

And now we´re back in Cusco for the night.  To mix up the style of lodging and lodgers, we´re staying at one of those tragically hip hostels close to the central plaza.  We´ve both commented on the fact that this will probably be the only night where we can tolerate the loud music and young crowd.  Tomorrow, up to Santa Teresa to get a taste of the jungle and locate an impressive hot springs complex.  Despite a horrible sunburn on the back of my neck from Machu Picchu, I plan on wearing a bathing suit at least once this trip.  After that, we´ll be quickly making our way south and working back towards Lima.

Scary to think we´re already half-way thru our trip.  Still have to see Lake Titicaca, Nazca, and Arequipa.  Soon enough, I guess?

Still happy and healthy and so psyched to try my hand at making empeñadas at home!

¡Until next time!

Cusco

Cusco was exactly what was hoped for.  Snuggled in a valley with meandering streets that seem to go on forever, it´s a very sweet town.  When we first arrived, we were greeted by blue skies and beautiful cummulus build-up beyond the mountains.  Both nights so far have impressed us with EPIC lightning storms. Just after sunset, you can watch the southern sky grow black and flickers of lightning start moving towards the city.  The first evening we were lucky to make the trek up the hill to our hostel just in time before the rain began to pour.  Yesterday, knowing the look of the sky, we booked it as soon as the clouds began to darken.  A good thing too!  Hail the size of BB´s accompanied the rain and found all the cracks in the roof of our lodging´s 3rd floor sunroom.  Even the old manager of the hostel was impressed.  I helped him go around finding leaks in the ceiling and placing buckets underneath the worse spots.  I think this is one of the few places where I´ll be thanked for being tall enough to reach the ceiling...

As a matter of fact, the size difference between the gringos and locals has really impressed me.  I´ve caught myself many times making way for someone I believe to be a child, just to notice that it´s a middle-aged woman with a baby bound to her back.  The local women are incredible athletes, for the record.  Running up and down the hills and stairs, often with a 20 lbs child strapped on, while pulling along a grumpy alpaca.  Yesterday, I started my day with a solo hike up the small hill next to town to check out some ruins.  However, after reaching the top, the hilltop opposite the overcrowded tourist trap looked much more appealling.  No gringos, no noise, and a great view overlooking the ruins and the small valley below to boot. Two local women came and sat with me for a bit, exchanging smiles and attempts at conversation.  After they moved on, a friendly group of dogs came by and begged for attention I was more than happy to give.  Exactly the kind of Zen I´ve been missing.

In terms of adjusting to the altitude, we´ve been ok thus far.  Peter is definitely struggling with all the stairs, but he´s making a valid effort to explore despite empty lungs and a light head.  The hike up the hill yesterday left me seeing stars at one point, but a quick rest and a slower pace set me right again.  Hiking all summer definitely paid off; I´m thankful that my muscles haven´t cramped with all the walking and my lungs are staying clear.

One of my favorite parts of traveling is getting insight into other´s mindsets.  During the storm last night, a group of us sat down for the show and discussed the end of humanity over beer and Pisco.  The difference between two Americans, one Aussie, and a Peruvian opinion was really refreshing.  Everything from complete pessimism to a hopeful future.  Our host had a surprising comment last night: ´´Many of the mental diseases and problems that afflict your people haven´t come here yet.  They´re starting to be more common, though.´´  It was very ironic (and true) to me that he associated wealth and a high standard of living with traits such as depression, social anxiety, and general social ineptitude.  He said the way that people hide away in their homes up north is not at all common here in Peru.  The idea that someone couldn´t do their own grocery shopping or hold a simple conversation is a completely foreign idea here, whereas I can think of many examples of people back in the States who deal with these issues everday.  A common topic of conversation amongst us gringos has been ´´what does it take to make a person happy?´´  Seems like a logical train of thought considering many of us are taking these trips just to escape life back home or change lifestyles that just don´t seem to offer enough in terms of personal fulfillment.  You can guess that the stereotypical idea of a house, kids, and nice car aren´t on the list for most of us...or we at least agree that you can´t judge your life based on whether or not you´ve acquired these things.  And yes, I´m qualifying kids as ´´things´´ in this case.  My apologies to my potential future offspring.

After this last week, I also think I´m ready to do a solo trip in the future.  Everyday here inspires me to improve my Spanish; definitely think I´ll be taking some classes when I get back to the States.  With a little more help with the dialect, I´m confident that traveling alone will be a welcome experience.  After all, what is the point of traveling if not exploring the independence and true freedom of not being tied down to a person, place, or object?  ´´Be here now.´´

In summary, one awesome week down.  Looking forward to the next 2 and taking home the lessons I´m learning.

Until next time!

Forester note:  lots of eucalyptus here...which was not expected.  Not sure if they use them for pulp or just as windbreaks.  Note to self: ask someone ´why all the Euc?´

Lima

So...made it safely to Lima!  The flight down was relatively normal with the minor exception of some heavy turbulence while coming across Central America.  First time I´ve been on a plane where everyone actually screamed from the drop; felt sorry for the two young brothers sitting in front of me.  The younger of the two would cower in his brother´s arms whenever the ride began to get shakey again.  Ironically, I´d been reading about plane crashes moments before the rough air hit...definitely like reading ghost stories right before going to bed.

After landing, I met Peter in the airport and we went through customs with no difficulty.  Peter booked us a hotel room in Central Lima ahead of time and there was an incredibly kind taxi driver from the hotel awaiting us.  He made sure to lock the doors after we climbed in and gave us a late night tour on the way to the hotel.  Pointing out museums, important plazas, and main avenues, he and I were able to trade travel information with our rudimentry english and spanish skills.  The hotel itself is fantastic!  It´s a renovated mansion with many different floors, pavillions, and patios.  Literally only 3 blocks from the central square and palace, we have our own room with an attached bathroom.  The sound of traffic (especially persistent car horns) and peacocks has woken us up every morning.  There are 2 peacocks, 2 macaws, and at least 4 turtles that live on the patio adjacent to our room.  Quite the menagerie!

First day was spent exploring the immediate neighborhood.  Lots of art and religious museums, cathedrals, plazas, and even catecombs.  We have had some english guides, but for the most part, I´ve been trying to translate basic explanations of exhibits for Peter.  So thankful I took Spanish in high school...a little learned has definitely helped a long ways.  Thus far, no major communication hold-ups yet.  I´m able to order food for the two of us and follow basic directions from passerbyers.  However, for some reason, Peter has had somewhat bad luck with food.  Seems like they often forget his food or never even bother to take his order.  Just today at lunch, the waiter asked me for my order and then walked off, leaving Peter to ask `What just happened?`

Yesterday and today have been filled of exploring the neighborhoods of Miraflores and Barranco next to the coast.  Totaled about 8 miles of walking yesterday; decided to jump on a bus to save most of the distance today.  Lots of walking, churros, and taking in the city.  I suppose I imagined more of a Mediterranean-look to the city and, while some parts definitely cater to my preconceptions, most of the city is a gritty realization of poverty and high population.  Beautiful mansions and palaces literally crumbling on crowded, narrow streets.  The smell of sewage and fish so strong in some neighborhoods that it takes you aback.  Political demonstrations in the evening on many plazas.  The strongest impressions though are of the people; so friendly and family-orientated.  Everyone has been very kind so far and we receive many more smiles than frowns.  I hope this understand attitude continues to follow us for the rest of our trip...

Tomorrow we fly across the country to Cusco, tourist captial of Peru.  After scanning Peter´s guidebook, I´m preparing myself for more panderers and aggressive tourist traps.  Can´t wait to see the area around Cusco though!  Big cities are not for me; ready for the peace of mind that comes from being in the forest and open spaces.

On a separate (and slight) note, the antibiotics and steriods I started before flying down have been giving me the weirdest dreams.  It´s very disorientating in the mornings to wake up and have to remember where I am and whether or not my dreams were real.  Luckily, I´m on vacation.  I can take a couple extra minutes without the rush of feeling like I need to get on with my day.

¡Until next time!

Pre-Peru

Next adventure:  Peru.

Travel companion:  Mr. Peter Crosta.

Departure:  T-minus 8 days.  Nov 14, 2012.

Length of visit:  3 weeks.

Excitement level:  Through the roof.


Details to follow.