Note to the Reader

Below are posted pictures from our recent adventure in Peru. The story is, unfortunately, posted in reverse order. My advice to you is to go to the bottom of the blog and read from the bottom up.

Enjoy!

sacsyhuaman and beyond

July 10
- continued rest and recovery (Rian and I are both very sick with colds at this point)
- afternoon taxi to Sacsyhuaman and walk around the ruins and back to Cusco

July 11- Homeward Bound
flight from Cusco to Lima (6 hour layover), Lima to Miami (2 hour layover), Miami to San Francisco... arrive home at 12:00 on July 12... sick, tired and very happy. 

cusco & the sacred valley

July 8
Rest and recovery day in Cusco
1:00 World Cup Soccer (Germany v. Portugal)

July 9- Sacred Valley Tour
8:30am tour pick up for Sacred Valley
Pisac- visit to the outstanding market and ruins
Ollantaytambo- hike the Inca Ruins
Chinchero- sunset and viewing of the Cathedral
6:30pm back to Cusco 

a litte commentary...

I thought I'd write some excerpts from my travel journal about our Lares Valley trek.

The night of our trek briefing, most of our fellow trekkers didn't have porters, but by the end, most did. The air was so crisp, clean and THIN... we didn't have a chance.

On our trek, as we got further and further away from big towns, we took major steps back into history. Andean people still live a life that is the same as it was 200 years ago. Their houses were made of stone with thatch roofs. The houses had doors but, no locks. They cook on small fires using the traditional pots (no chimneys) and the sleep on the floor on alpaca or llama skins. They keep guinea pigs in their houses but eat them only on special occasions.

The men and women all wore hand/home made dress in the Inca style. And, wow, do they work hard. From sun up to sun down they worked. Jose said there are three rules

1. don't steal
2. don't lie
3. don't be lazy

Everyone was always engaged in some sort of work. Some kids went to school but, they had to walk a long, long way to get there (2+ hours).

In camp at night, we were the local attraction for the kids. They weren't accustomed to gringos, so they watched our every move, always hoping for some candy or a treat. The kids played around our camp... throwing rocks and playing hide-n-seek... we were just too interesting to be left alone.

Hiking the pass was extraordinary. It was so hard. My mantra was "one foot in front of the other". I almost thought I couldn't do it... but then, I DID!. What a sense of accomplishment. It was amazing to see the horsemen and men herding the alpacas up the pass at nearly a run/trot pace meanwhile, we huffed and puffed (but still made it to the top).

The food was truly awesome (with hunger the best sauce). Our tents and accommodations on the trek were first rate. That being said, we froze our asses off. Who thought camping in the middle of winter was a good idea? I slept in 2 pairs of pants, 2 shirts, a sweatshirt, hat, gloves, socks and anything else I could find. Morning tea was a very welcome infusion of warmth and it was served into our frozen hands by the kindest porter with a smile on his face (and often a few local kids looking over his shoulder).

day 4: lares valley trek

July 7
- 5:30am bus to Machu Picchu to watch the sunrise over the ruins
- toured/napped around the ruins until 2:00 lunch back in Aguas Calientes
- 4:15 train back to Ollantaytambo then a bus back to Cusco
- 9:30 dinner with fellow trekkers in Cusco 

day 3: lares valley trek

July 6 - Patacancha to Aguas Calientes (Machu Picchu Pueblo)
- 6:30am wake up call (again, with tea).
- trek through Huilloq- Where we handed out pencils, pens and anything else we had to school students- on to Ollantaytambo
- train from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes
- visit to the Aguas Calientes (hot springs) to wasf the smell off ourselves... truly heavenly.
- late night at the bars in town... possibly a bad idea

day 2: lares valley trek

July 5 Huacahuasi to Patacancha
6:30 am wake up call (with tea... all camping should be so civilized)
7:00 begin trek UP Ipsacanca Pass to 4,400 meters (that's 14,435.6956 feet!).
lunch at Ipsacancha Lake then hike DOWN to Patacancha camp 

day 1: lares valley trek

Guides: Jose Luis and Ernesto
Cook: Alberto
Porters & Horsemen: an embarrassing number for a few weak westerners
Fellow Trekkers:
Robin & Mike- students from Georgia
Jared- USC recent graduate from Sacramento
Ramon- So.Cal hippie
Chris- fellow Bay Area boy from San Jose
Amy & Sarah- recent engineering grads from Dublin (on to Bath and France for them!)
Mike- 'the stairmaster' from Chicago
Jared- 'Canada'
Abbey & Diego- a fantastic duo of a Brit and a Brazilian
Zack- on his way home from teaching in Chile
Rian & I- intrepid travellers....

July 4
- 5:00am departure from Cusco to avoid porter strike.
- Breakfast at Calca- We were all freezing cold and not awake yet...
- Trek began in Tortora Canyon
- lunch then bus to Lares (visited the hot springs)
- hike from Lares to Huacahuasi camp

Colca Canyon, Peru

July 1-2 Tour to Colca Canyon
- Our tour drove from Arequipa to Chivay through a wildlife reserve that looked something like a moonscape. We saw lots of vicuna, alpaca, llama, and birds. We stayed overnight in Chivay and visited the hot springs there.
- In the morning we drove into the Colca Canyon to see the condors soaring above this vastly deep (and terraced) canyon. In the afternoon we drove back to Arequipa.

July 3 Flight from Arequipa to Cuzco
- 6:00pm briefing with SAS travel about our trek the next day into the Lares Valley

Peru expedition

The amazing adventures of Rian and Amy took us to Peru this summer.June 29 Fly from SFO to Miami, Miami to Lima, and finally Lima to ArequipaJune 30 We arrived in Arequipa at 8:30 am only 20+ hours after departure (ouch).

- walked the Plaza de Armas
- visited the Santa Catalina Monastery
- dinner: Cuy (guinea pig) for Rian and Lomo Saltado for Amy

 

pagan celebration

This year Sam, Aaron, Rian and I decided on the summer solstice (June 21) that we should properly welcome the summer by watching the sun set over the Golden Gate Bridge. We were going to offer up a baby sacrifice in true pagan tradition but then decided to go out for coffee instead.

tourists in our own neigborhood

Brianna and Brian recently came within striking distance for us to visit them... so, we met them at the Golden Gate Bridge for a tourist day in San Francisco. Brian, shockingly, has never really toured SF so we all decided it was high time to do so. Here are some pictures from our day in the city.