Ruined

I finally have a chance to update the blog. Internet connections and time are hard to come by these days. Now we're in Puno, Peru, and we just returned from an overnight trip to three islands in Lake Titikaka. I'm going to back up a bit and post photos from last week, including our Inka Trail trek.

Our home away from home: The Pariwana Hostel in Cusco, Peru. In total, we stayed five nights here. By the last day, we knew about half the people at the hostel.

Overlooking Cusco. The Plaza de Armas is in the lower-middle part of the photo.

A day trip to the Saqsaywahman (pronounced "Sexy Woman") ruins just outside of Cusco.

This school group wanted to take a photo with us. Little did we know it was going to turn into a half-hour photoshoot with different combinations of people wanting individual shots with us. At one point, I was handed a baby. At another point, a little girl started crying. Monica asked why and she said she was just so excited.

I believe this is white granite, the material the Inkas used for their stone walls.

A day trip to Tipon to see more ruins. This was a worthwhile trip. The ruins consist of twelve or so terraces and an intricate irrigation system that still works today. Above is one of the stone canals that delivers water to the lower terraces.

Enjoying the view at Tipon, surrounded by mountains.

Every day in Cusco and the surrounding areas it would be sunny and warm until about 2:00 p.m. when--all of a sudden--the air would get a cold chill and the wind would pick up. Most of the time it would start to rain lightly for an hour or two.

Tipon is known for the local Peruvian delicacy, cuy (guinea pig), so we decided to try it with some other visitors. The Austrian 19-year-old we ate with was fascinated with the animal and started playing with his food. Pictured here is the guinea pig hand holding its own eyeball. This was the first and last time we will have guinea pig.

And so it begins: The four-day, three-night Inka Trail (Camino Inka).

The first of more ruins (day one).

The first day of the trail was different from the rest because we saw domesticated animals (donkeys, horses, chicken, dogs, etc.) and there were locals using the trail to pick up items from the small stands that sell basic foods and drinks.

A local woman heading home.

Magical valley.

Puppies playing at our first campsite.

Morning of day two. We were brought tea around 5:00 a.m., delivered to the tent.
Here we are drinking coca tea, a local staple item.

Day two was the most challenging day and it was split up into two parts. The first part was tolerable: I put in my headphones and blasted some music to get me going. Then we stopped for a break. I ate a ton of snacks and started feeling dizzy and getting scared about the second half of the hike up the mountain. Sure enough, I was feeling the effects of the altitude. I could barely take ten steps before I was out of breath and my heart felt like it was going to pound its way out of my chest. My stomach hurt on top of all of that, and I really had to concentrate and give every ounce of energy I had not to pass out and fall of the side of the mountain. I was struggling along with an Australian couple in our group, so at least I was not the only one hurting so bad. It's funny (looking back on it) that the pass is called "Dead Woman's Pass," I was trying not to think about dying as I was scaling up to 4,200 meters (13,800 feet). After two hours, I finally made it to the top where the rest of my group was waiting to take a group photo. I didn't have my camera out for the group photo, nor did I really take many pictures at all on the second day. Perhaps Monica will post some of hers...

Day three: Flora on the trail.

Our guide, the "Cocaman," pointing something out across the valley. I had trouble understanding him a lot of the time, and I think this was one of those times...

More ruins...

Day three was sunny and hot, then it was chilly and foggy, then it was wet and a bit muggy. It was the best!

Ruins...

More trail...

And we made it to the jungle.

Everything was damp and lush, thick and vibrant.

The third day was the longest. We hiked a total of 15 km with lots of ups and downs.

A resting spot.

More ruins...

Another resting spot.

Our final campsite.

More ruins: A 15-minute walk from our final campsite. Monica had had enough, so she stayed behind and chatted with the porters in Spanish while I went on to see more ruins.

Classic photo of llama with ruins and mountains. Here's your postcard from Peru, if you haven't gotten one yet!

We really had a mental bond. He was thinking about grass.

And finally we arrived at the Sungate, the first viewpoint of Machu Picchu. I hate to say it, but it was actually not that impressive. I think we had just seen too many ruins by this point.

Monica, me and the Cocaman.

Close-up of part of Machu Picchu. It was really huge and much more impressive when we were inside the "city."

Amazing stonework.

Castle?

This tourist was a great source of laughs. Can you see how white his face is?
I think he wanted to be ready for his clown gig later that night.

Tourist and guide.

One last photo...

The Inka Trail turned out to be not so much about Machu Picchu as it was about the journey getting there. It was challenging, and there were moments when I asked, "Why did I do this to myself?" but looking back on it, I have fond memories and I think I'll soon forget the struggles. We've had other adventures since then, but I'll have to post about those later because it's getting late and we need to watch an episode of "Curb Your Enthusiasm."

Peru: Lima and Cusco

We arrived in Lima on schedule and the taxi driver was waiting for us with a sign that read "Monica Semergiu." It couldn't have been any easier to get to our hostel--well, besides the insane Lima drivers. I've never seen anything like that. It was the most aggressive driving I could imagine. We walked around a bit and did some exploring, though Monica had been to Lima before. That night we did what has become our usual routine: Went to bed early and watched a TV show on my laptop with the headphone splitter. We are talking about renaming our blog to "Two old grandmas."

See my car? It was the only volvo I've seen in Peru so far.

The chillest mascot I've ever seen.

There he is in real life! Look at those eyes ... so chill.

Our first meal in Peru: I got the lomo saltado and Monica got a dish with chicken and rice. The Inca Kola tastes like bubble gum flavoring to me. We both agreed that this would be the first and last Inca Kola for us.

This speaks for itself. I found it in a supermarket.

I guess these people help navigate the crazy traffic? What a stressful job.

Monica found the hostel she stayed in last time she was in Lima.

This was a whole rabbit, including ears, head and tail. It was a very tempting purchase, but not very practical for us.

They love creepy mannequins in Peru.

Our second day in Lima, we met up with a friend of a friend of mine, Diana. She is from Lima so she was able to show us around a bit. We even took the local bus a couple times, which would have been very intimidating for Monica and I alone. We went to the Miraflores district and then to Barranca. Both were worlds away from the Lima we had previously seen: Miraflores is one of the fancy, expensive neighborhood of Lima, and there is a path that hugs the cliff looking down into the Pacific. Barranca is a bohemian neighborhood where we ate lunch.

Part of the path in Miraflores.

Diana and Monica with the hose. They keep this area very clean.

Also called "Lovers Park."

After saying goodbye to Diana, we went to catch the bus to Cusco. It was delayed a couple hours due to supposed maintenance, but we just hung out in the cafe upstairs and ate some snacks. The bus took about 22 hours, but it was great! The seats were comfy and reclined, they played movies (American movies dubbed in Spanish with English subtitles), they served us dinner and breakfast, and there were great views out of the huge windows.

Monica settling in for the long ride.

View from the bus. Lots of painted advertisements for products and for politicians mostly.

The scenery got more and more green, lush and mountainous.

A cute hill.

Passing by huge stone cliffs on narrow mountain streets, but we weren't scared.

The juxtaposition of beautiful landscape with less-than-beautiful rundown manmade structures was very common.

Lots of corn and cactus crops. I'm not sure what this one is.

Finally, we arrived in Cusco and shared a taxi to our hostel with another traveler. Cusco sits in the valley between many mountains and is a very touristy city, since it is the jumping off point for Macchu Picchu trips.

This dog posed for me. I love how he's sitting on that step, so civilized.

To prove my point: Another creepy mannequin. I don't know if you can see it, but he has a silver-capped tooth.

In Cusco's Plaza de Armas.

The famous, perfectly formed and placed stone walls.

Close-up of the ingenuity and craftsmanship of the Incas.

It was probably 75 degrees outside--hot and sunny--then, all of the sudden, it started hailing.
It must be the elevation: 3,300 meters.

Grocery store eggs in a bag.

Milk in a bag.

Condiments in a bag.

During the hailstorm, we took cover under an overhang with a Cusquean man. He told us about some off-the-beaten-path places we should check out, all in one area. Then later that night, a girl staying in our dorm told us all about the volunteering she's been doing in some tiny village somewhere. It turns out they were both talking about the same place. I think we are going to check it out this weekend, before we leave for the Inca Trail on Monday.

Posted on 11/26/11 at 8:40 am from the Pariwana Hostel in Cusco.

Pre-Departure Thoughts

"The best journeys answer questions that in the beginning you never even thought to ask." - Yvon Chouinard in 180 South, one of my favorite documentaries.

It has begun and I still cannot believe it. Sitting on our first flight from SF to Miami with Anne taking a nap next to me, I realize this is the first moment of calm and relaxation I’ve had in weeks. I am starting to relax and see the first glimpses of excitement on the horizon.  During the last few weeks, the dominating state of mind was one filled with anxiety, sadness, worry – and not excitement. Everyone I’ve been talking to has annoyingly asked the same question over and over again: “Are you excited?” And my answer was always an evasive and polite “Yes.” Catching up with Anne just now on the plane, she confessed a similar experience, which made me feel more at ease with my bizarre state of mind. 

Taken over Lima right before landing. November 22, 2011.

You see, when you are rooted in a life somewhere, and you have bills to pay, a job and tons of ties to the many things that make your life what it is, putting that life on a shelf while preparing for a new nomad life takes a lot of research and planning. And for that to work out properly, you need your head on your shoulders. And for your head to be on your shoulders, you hardly have energy left for euphoria and excitement. But now that all the stressful planning is behind, let the excitement begin!

This plane is now taking me from my current established life to the new nomadic life.  On a symbolic level, I see this flight as the borderline or transporter between the two. It’s also the first moment of “nothing to do” – what a bliss and strange concept. I am looking forward to moments like this, of “nothing to do”, and the thrill of dedicating them to myself, to introspection, reading, writing, taking notes on the things I did, saw, smelled, tasted, loved, hated and adored during the day. I believe that introspection, time-to-self, time for reflection and meditation is what my old life lacked the most. I was too busy with my day-to-day responsibilities and too tired at night to do anything for myself, to nourish my soul spiritually. 

I am excited to not have a smart phone, to not obsessively check email and Facebook on it every 30 minutes, to not text like a maniac instead of talking on the phone or in real life, to not chat with people who live a few blocks away or in the same house. I am excited to leave technology behind, to not hear people talk about “checking in on Foursquare,” or about some new iPhone app. That may seem ironic coming from someone who has worked for a tech company until a few days ago, but yeah, I think we’re doing the tech thing way too much in San Francisco. We’re too connected, our lives are too much on display online, we’re too compelled to post updates about every single mundane detail. 

Posted from the Miami International airport at 12:54am local time.