A Bit on Sleeping in South America

Breathing at 12,000 feet is one thing, trying to breath with 800 pounds of llama blankets crushing your chest throughout the night is another.

It is cold here in Copacabana, Bolivia. It was cold in Cusco, Peru. It was really cold in Lima. But what is it with these hostels in South America and the 7 layers of thick llama byproducts that are inhabiting every bed that we sleep in? I am not kidding, we frequently wake up, fantically trying to move, but unable to free even one limb under the crushing weight (which is quite comparable to a small herd of llamas). Moving is not an option unless we make it a team effort. I guess the fear of not being able to breath throughout the night is a small price you pay to stay warm in the unheated, bone-chilling hostels.

A word on Copacabana, Laid back.

It is really beautiful here on the Bolivian side of Lake Titicacca. We like it much better than the Peruvian side. It is much cheaper living as well. We splurged and got a room on the beach with a sitting nook for 12$ a night. Yeah! It is a little warmer here in the days (but the food is aweful!). We are touring one more island in Copacabana and then heading to La Paz to firgure out our next plan.

The Last Stop in Peru

We have a long way to go on buses...a long way, and they can be brutal. More on that some other time though.

After a 7 hour ride from Cusco we made it to our final destination in Peru--a small, grey bustling city called Puno, on the shore of Lake Titicaca. Like most cities/towns in Peru this one consisted of many shanties and small run down earth-colored mud brick houses, as well as one main strip designated to tourism commerce (i.e. travel agencies, restraunts etc.).

The reason for this stopover though is Lake Titicaca, the birthplace of the Incas and home of the Uros floating islands. After reading in our trusty Lonely Planet book that the tourism industry had slightly jaded the visits to these islands, we decided to go against our adventurous spirits and book a tour through the hostal we were staying in. It proved to be somewhat of a fallacy as all the things the book said were completely true. At 6:45am we were picked up by the bus, which then collected about 30 more people of all shapes and sizes from all kinds of different places. We knew right away that we had not chosen our preferred method of sightseeing--besides being the youngest people in the tour (except for a young girl with her parents) we just felt strangely out of place, away from the backpacker crowd we had been surrounded by for the previous few weeks. I hope that doesn´t sound snobbish...it was just weird, that´s all. Anyway, after everyone was loaded onto the boat and introduced to the ´guide´, Bruno from Puno, we made the slow, slow journey towards the Uros islands.

The islands themselves are amazing and made the entire day worth it. There are a series of them, 45 or more, that are all made of reeds growing in the lake, and are then anchored to the bottom so they don´t float away. Entire communities of the Uros people still live on the islands today. Their houses, their crafts, and their livelihoods all come from the reeds...pretty incredible. This is where the toursits start to get exploited...just like the book had warned. After a small demonstration on the island we stopped at, the native people circle around everyone, obviously staged, and sew, knit, husk reeds--busy doing their day to day tasks....then the ´guide´tells us to support the people by purchasing some of their handmade crafts...some of which are ceramic bowls, clearly not made on an island made of reeds. After haggling with a Uros woman, Shanon and I bought a flute. Awesome. One of us will need to learn how to play it.

Afterwards they load all the people on the tour onto a big reed boat and paddle you to another island across the channel. Pretty amazing, but again, they want 5 Soles from every person on the boat for the short 10 minute ride. Besides the feelings of exploitation, they islands are impressive without a doubt. It´s amazing that for centuries people have sustained a great deal of their culture while floating just off the shores of an ancient lake--and also adapted thier lifestyles just enough that tourism is a critical part or their livelihood. Next up...life in Bolivia.

Accomplishing a Life Goal

For years and years I´ve wanted to come to Peru and see the most famous of the Inca ruins, Machu Picchu. As we approached the gateway town of Aguas Calientes after a 4 day trek through the Andes we heard stories of the way Machu Picchu was a mere 7 years ago. Back then the crowds were minimal, the tour buses didn´t drive up and down the mountain all day, and people were actually allowed to camp in the ruins. Much has changed since then...at 5:30 am we got in a long line that had formed on the main street in town and waited for the buses to arrive. The procession of tourists continues all day long, and I have to admit I felt a little disheartened to see the eager mobs.

After a 30 minute bus ride that carved its way up the mountainside and a quick 10 minute hike to the first lookout, all those feelings of dought and animosity had disappeared. This is a place that photographs really cannot do justice for (even though we probably took 50+ photos while we were there). In fact, I won´t even try and describe how it felt to stand there as the sun came up because it will probably bore you, and it it might make me cry--kidding of course. All that needs to be said is that it was an amazing experience in a remarkable setting, and one we will never forget.

After a tour of the main complex we hiked the famous mountain, Wayna Picchu, that is in the background of the photos. The hike itself was 35 minutes of the steepest trail/staircases I think I´ve ever entountered. Perched at the top were ruins clinging to the edge of the cliffs that I didn´t know even existed. How this place was ever concieved and constructed is hard to imagine...the Inca people were scientists, engineers and mathmaticians who were decades ahead of their time. (Analogy...Inca is to civilization as Pink Floyd is to rock and roll.) Anyway, I could ramble all day about the overwhelming beauty, but everyone should see it first hand...and soon, before the human impact (which is thousands of people every day) is too great for the ruins to endure.

High Peaks and Low Forests

Wow, we made it! I think we figured it out to be about 45 miles, and it was beautiful! We hiked through the high Andes mountains, rainforests and everything in between. The highest pass we did was at 4600 meters (or for you fellow Americans who, like me, don´t know what this means it was about 15, 091 feet). This is the highest point I have been so far... The altitude was a little breath taking but fortunately we had horses to carry most of our stuff, fantastic!

Our favorite part of the trip was the first 2 days which were in the high alpine regions and absolutely beautiful. The nights were freezing cold and the mornings were brutally crisp. The rainforests were hot, humid and amazing as well. We got eaten alive by the sand flies (those buggers take skin chunks with every bite and they itch like mad; our legs now look like some sort of diseased, chicken pocked mess). We soaked in some hot springs on the 3rd day, also fantastic! Oh yeah, we ended up in Augas Calientes (aka, town below Machu Picchu).

Our group was "a little roudy" but great none the less. It consisted of two guys from England, a couple from Ireland (living in Bermuda), one lady from Wisconsin and Ray from SLC (crazy eh?) and us. Our guide was great, Jason. He grew up in a small (tiny) Peruvian village in the Amazon. He studied tourism in college and wants to open his own tour company in a few years. Oh ya, he also speaks English, Spanish, Quechuan, and Italian.

A food update: I am officially sick of oregano (or whatever spice the Peruvians put in every stinking dish here). I did good though, on the trek. I ate strickly peruvian food for 5 days (minus the Gatorade or snickers that we had packed ourselves). This included among other things, trout lasagna, yucca, coca tea, and soup at every meal (which all tasted like oregano) and some sort of chicken pattie. The food, surprisingly, was pretty good the whole time but toward the end, I was ready for some pasta.

Fresh Air in the Andes

Happier! That is good descriptive word for us at the moment. Away from dreary Lima and up at 10K feet in Cusco, we feel rejuvinated. More English, more sunshine, and of course more gringos. In the middle of the city is the Plaza de Armas which was built by the Spanish after they overthrew the Incan empire. The church itself is actually built on perfectly symmetrical stones that remained from the Inca structures that were not completely destroyed by the tyrant Spaniard invaders. In other words, the arcitecture here is amazing and there is a constant buzz of activity that never ends.

Cusco itself is a much bigger place than we had imagined, so yesterday we escaped on a local bus to a small town called Pisac about an hour north. The Sunday market goes on for blocks, and they sell everything from jewelry and alpaca (llama) clothing, to fruits, vegtables and mysterious meats. After an hour in the market we hiked a steeeeep hillside to a series of Inca ruins (only to find out later that we could have taken a taxi up the backside and gone from the top down). It´s hard to describe the feeling one gets in a place like this (the words mind-blowing might describe it). The ruins, agricultural fields and irrigation systems were built with amazing precision and perched high on the mountain ridge lines. Wow!

The bus ride back to Cusco was a good indication of how public transportation works here in Peru. The bus sat maybe 50 people, but they don´t stop when the seats are full. Instead, they load the center of the bus with as many more people as they can pack in. Luckily we got on in time to get a place to sit, but something about the belly or butt of a nice Andean woman in my face for an hour was less than appealing.

Lastly for this edition, we met our group this morning who will be on our trek to Macchu Pichu starting tomorrow. It includes two British chaps, an Irish couple, an older woman who was by herself (not sure where from), and....another solo traveler from SLC, Utah. Small world, eh?

Today we´re running around getting final preparations for the trek, which ends on Saturday evening--snacks, sexy long-johns for Shanon, etc. I´m sure we´ll have great photos and a few good stories when we get to a computer again. Pray to the Sun Gods that it doesn´t snow on us at 14,000 feet. ¡Salud!

A Hike and Small Women

Now that we have finally made it out of Lima, just let me say the the first 6 days of our journey were slightly chaotic! Lima is very fast, crowded and full of pollution. The taxi rides along are enough to raise the blood pressure. We spent more time in Lima than we wanted due to the bus schedules. We took a bus to Huaraz from Lima and the drive was about 7.5 hours. The sites were amazing as we drove out of Lima (never ending) through the slums and into the high Andes regions (beautiful!). The above pictures are from our bus ride through Lima and along the small villages in Peru.

We didn´t have much time in Huaraz since we had to be back to Lima (aghhhh) for one more night before our flight to Cusco. Huaraz is an outdoor adventure meca with all sorts of trekking, climbing and biking but unfortunately we didn´t have enough time to do any trekking or climbing.

We did manage to take a day hike just outside of the city to some ancient ruins. The hike wound through many small Andean villages and it was amazing. Most of the gringo´s take a bus to the ruins but we found a ¨map¨ of the trail. Ah, the map. The source of many moments of wonder and curiosity that left us hoping that we were headng in the right direction and not down some deadend village road. We did make it to the ruins and back with not much help from the ¨map¨, and not much excitment for the ruins; but the highlights were the small villages and people that we passed along the way.

The people are amazing. The women are still found in their traditional clothing which consists of a short, colorful, layered skirt, nylons and loafers, and a large felt hat perched a top of their head. Their hair is always long and in a braid or ponytail and they are always carrying vegtibles, or goods in a wrap swung around there shoulders. One more thing, the women are short. Very short. For me to say this must mean something, but they short. and beutiful. and hapy.

We got a few glimpses of the towering Andean peaks (the highest mountain range outside of the Himalayas) while in Huaraz, but a lot of the time they were covered in clouds. The best views were on the bus in and out of the city. Cusco is up next.

Say What?

With America being the melting pot of all cultures, most of us have encountered someone who doesn´t speak English, and the often frustrating conversations tht ensue while expaining the most simple things to a non-english speaker. ¨How much cost?¨, they might ask. ¨Where I find taxi?¨.

Although I was not always amused in trying to figure out what people were talking about, I was always amazed that somehow the communication seemed to work. However, since being in Peru I have concluded that what I thought was clear communication on my part to people who didn´t speak English was probably jibberish, and after smiling and walking away they were no better off than when I started talking to them.

Indeed, in Peru we have become that broken language visitor who communicates more with single words, broken and perhaps incoherent phrases, and lots of hand motions and body language. Even when we know or learn a phrase in an effort to communicate more clearly, generally the response from the friendly local draws the same responses again and again from Shanon and I...

¨Como?(huh?)¨ ¨Que?(huh?)¨ ¨No entiendo(huh?).¨

Occasionaly we understand enough that we´re able to get a general idea of what someone is saying, other times the brief conversation ends with a grimace and a nod, a polite ¨gracias¨, and us walking away no better off than when the conversation began.

The first week in Peru proved to be especially difficult to get anything done because of the language barrier--but, this is the life we chose. It really is strange being the person on the unknowing end of a conversation. We decided to work diligently and learn the language better so we are not the ultimate tourismo gringos. Perhaps Spanish classes next week after Macchu Pichu??? What else do we have to do?

Food update

So I am typing this entry on a spanish keyboard and everything on the screen is in spanish so we will see how I do (I keep typing characters like ç,ñ, and ¿ so just disregard if they show up periodically).

First, I will mention that after 6 days, I have managed to find some sort of bread (or at least that is what they call it here) and cheese to keep me sustained. This has been my main staple so far but I have been increadibally brave at times when Jared orders the Peruvian special, I may try a bite (nibble) depending on how it looks. I fear that I will have to be alittle more bold when we go into smaller towns and the choices are not as good. Lima, Huaraz and now Cusco being larger cities actually have quite a large variety (can´t seem to get away from ¨pizza and pasta¨ which lures the gringos in from far and wide). Again though, this is still some form of cheese and bread. They eat a lot of chicken (whole chickens) and papas fritas (aka potatoe fries) which are good sustainence as well. Already missing the salads. I am on a constant hunt for ¨the burrito¨ but there has been so success so far. I´ll keep you posted.

Another thing I need to mention is this: Inca Cola- What is this stuff. It is everywhere. The locals drink it more than water and you see it at every meal on every table. It glows freakishly yellow, neon yellow, a bit like mountain dew but it tastes like bubble gum. I haven´t quite gotten a taste for it yet, but give me some time.

The Adventure Starts Here

Hola! After a full travel day we are safe (and sound as our nerves will let us be)today in Lima. It could be the most grey and polluted city I've seen in a while. We landed at about 11:00 pm local time last night and took a taxi to the slightly nicer end of town called Miraflores. The hostile we're staying at was voted #2 in Latin America in 1995 so we're feeling pretty high society at the moment--although, our room does carry a mysterious, musty odor that stings the nostrils. There's no question though that we'll be in much dirtier places elsewhere on this journey.

Tomorrow morning we hop on a 7 hour bus ride to a small mountain town called Huaraz, in the Cordillera Mountains (part of the largest mountain range in the world aside from the Himilayas). If it's cold here in Lima we're definately going to freeze high up in the Andes. After a few frigid days up north we'll catch a bus back to Lima for our flight to Cusco on Saturday, and then a 5 day trek to Machu Picchu via a 14,000 ft pass. Brrrrrrrrr! Our hot Utah desert summer is already some 4,000 plus miles behind us.

The first day in a big, strange, non-English speaking city is always intense, and today was definately no exception. However, like good cheese, we will definately get better as time goes by.

Adios Amigos

Wow, here we are with everthing packed and waiting by the door. T-minus 10 hours and counting... Tomorrow holds an early wake up, quick breakfast and then we are off to the airport. Pretty crazy, since neither of us really believed we could pull this off (or did we?). As we have been saying goodbye (or see you in a year) to everyone, we have realized that our people are the greatest! We will miss all of you and wish we could pack you all along, but as I mentioned before, my pack is not exactly large. Luckily, this email/blog stuff makes keeping in touch a cinch!

Love you all. Stay tuned, Peru is up next...

Adios USA!!