PERU - Oct-Nov 2008

After being home for a few days, I have come to the realization that it is completely impossible to regurgitate in a coherent manner the past two weeks that I spent in Peru in written form. That said, I will proceed to hit some highlights and a few overall points.

Let me begin with the incredible dinner party we kicked the trip off with. Mike went lobster fishing the day before and caught 7 huge lobsters. No joke – the tails alone were almost as long as my forearm. We grilled lobsters & steaks, drank wine and chatted with a few friends – a perfect send off to a great adventure!

Arriving in Lima is a bit of a shock. Anytime you land in another country, you are ripped out of your snuggly little bullshit American-ness and tossed out of your comfort zone. It takes a day or two to acclimate to the newness. Once acclimated, it’s a much more interesting world – outside the states.

We finally arrived in Cusco after a very early flight from Lima. We absolutely LOVED Cusco! It’s a bustling little high altitude town that serves as the launching area for all treks to Machu Picchu and numerous adventure sports. The day before our trek, we went whitewater rafting on the Urubama River. This was so much fun!!!!! I had never realllllly been whitewater rafting and although it was really mellow, it was a nice introduction. Enough for me to realize that I want much more of this sport! What better way to see the canyon than to paddle through it?

Peru is beautiful. The land is rich, verdant, green, vibrant and lush. The people are friendly, sometimes shy, sometimes curious, polite. The food is FANTASTIC! The wine is best from Argentina (sorry Peru) and sometimes Chile. The prices are cheap, the service is pretty good, and the handmade crafts are one of a kind.

The trek was the best part of our trip. The hardest thing I’ve ever done (so far). We did not do the Inca Trail. We did the Lares Valley Trek. We were after something harder, more remote, less populated and less touristy. We got what we wanted. The day we started, it was drizzling, just a little bit. We pulled on our rain jackets and shouldered our 30lb packs. We could have gotten porters to carry our stuff, but we really wanted to try to do it the hard way. Plus, Mike & I are in training for a good chunk of the JMT so we definitely need to get used to the weight.

When it rains on dirt trails, it becomes muddy. Increasingly muddy. When animals run around on trails, they shit. So you end up hiking in muddy shit. Which is okay. When it drizzles really hard, it becomes rain. Rain makes you wet and cold. Rain jacket makes me over-heat. Overheating makes me want to barf, so it’s a delicate balance of ventilation and coverage. That too is okay, it’s just what it is. High altitude is difficult to breathe in. To hike in, it is downright painful. We started our hike at 12,139 feet. If you ever want to know what it would feel like to have your heart threatening to rip out of your own chest in a desperate attempt to keep beating, start on that muddy shitty uphill goat trail. You’ll find out, every 5 steps, as you have to stop to gasp for air.

We stopped for lunch near a lake. We were stunned at how unbelievably good the food was. Multi-course meals and they were some of the best food we’ve ever had. We kept hiking…Finished up at our night camp. Broke out the Jack Daniels (thank you Mike) and had it with our dinner & tea.

We woke up to blue skies and cold, cold air. We took off, feeling stronger and more capable. At least the shock value had worn off and we were feeling prepared for a day of hiking. We were doing great until lunch. It started clouding over. Putting the packs back on seemed painful. I felt off, tired, done, and my stomach was not feeling right. Regardless, we set off still optimistic about the blue in the sky. I remember crossing a river, and thinking we couldn’t be far off yet. We hadn’t yet reached the 14,763 foot high pass that we had to get through when it started to rain. Hard rain, cold rain, pelted our faces as we scrambled to cover ourselves with our ponchos. I had decided to forgo my rain jacket and just tie my poncho over. We pulled on wet gloves and kept going. I was having a really hard time. Rachel and I kept swapping leading each other. One of us strong while the other lagged. Mike kept waiting for us at the top of each hill or the corner of a curve. Encouraging us, keeping us moving. I remember it started hailing – and I just couldn’t believe it. Pea sized hail nailing me in the face. Covering the muddy/shitty ground with slippery white pebbles. I mean, really? Hail? Must we?! So swearing not so quietly, we kept going. I remember reaching the top of some hill. Barely. Thinking that it was the hardest thing I’d ever done. Thinking that I was done. Mike telling me that all I had to do was get up that hill and then it would be fine, easier, better somehow. I turned away from them as I got tears in my eyes. I was so pleased I had made it, so tired, so defeated but proud. Stupidly thinking, “Well, the hard part’s over”.

Thunder cracked behind us, and lighting a little too closely behind it. We looked at each other with a touch of panic. Being exposed on a trail in the middle of the Andes in the hail, carrying metal poles in a lightning storm is not the best idea. So we hauled ass. Our goal was to out run the lightning. Beating all possible odds, we did. I recall coming into camp, seeing our tents vaguely. Mike steering me towards ours. Seeing a kid selling beer on a woven rug and pointing at it wildly to Mike. We were soaked. I went into the tent and took off all the wet clothes and sat in my underwear and a dry beanie drinking my beer and trying not to cry while Mike and I unwound a second.

That night we celebrated with the rest of the Jack and laughed and joked and had a marvelous time! Our group was 7 girls, Mike and our guide Roberto. Mike, Rachel & I, Lori from Seattle, Sara from Canada, the Irish Girls (who should have their own comedy show), Rose who was deathly ill the whole trip from England?, and Roberto from Peru. A really good group of people!

We wrapped up the last day with much less adventure and hopped on the train to Aguas Calientes – the base for Machu Picchu. We proceeded to get wasted that night. Not drunk, not inebriated, but ragingly stupidly fucking drunk. It was a beautiful use of tequila and beer. I’d like to blame someone else, but I think Mike suggested the tequila and I was a heavy supporter of the shots. I don’t know how or when we got home, but it was a little too close to our 4:45 am wake up call.

Machu Picchu. Better seen when not hung-over, I’m sure. It looks just like the postcards. It’s beautiful. Magnificent. Majestic. Yet…it’s kind of like when you lose your virginity – just not everything you thought it’d be. In comparison to our journey to get there, the destination just could never have compared. It’s a tourist attraction, not a source of magic or power anymore. Still – it’s amazing…

Onward to Puno & Lake Titicaca!! Lake Titicaca is the largest high altitude lake in the world. There are numerous islands between the Peruvian side & the Bolivian side. There are also the floating reed islands of Uros. They construct these islands themselves out of reeds. In fact, they construct everything out of reeds – houses, boats, huts, roofs, and they even eat the reeds and use them for medicine. These people loved their colors and were exceedingly friendly. We also visited Taquile – a beautiful island with shy, sweet inhabitants who were extremely talented weavers. They made us a delicious lunch and performed a traditional dance.

Our nights in Puno were exceptionally nice. We spent each evening drifting from bars to restaurants sampling wine and tapas-style appetizers (ham, olives, bread, cheeses, etc…). Over much wine and good conversation, we passed a few nights in Puno collecting ourselves and enjoying our own company.

From Puno we got on a 6 hour bus ride to Arequipa (the 2^nd largest city in Peru). Things just didn’t work out as planned and we showed up there on Halloween with shifty plans to stay with the cousin of a friend who had a girlfriend who didn’t want us staying there…blah blah blah. Long story short, Mike got violently ill from Chifa (Chinese food) and we hopped across the alleyway to stay the rest of the trip at a Castle/Hotel a Dutch man built when he married his Peruvian wife. We really wanted to get to Colca Canyon, but due to Mike’s unfortunate fate with the chifa, we didn’t have enough time. We aren’t really city people so we were going stir crazy.

Rachel & I had a lovely evening the night Mike was recovering and treated ourselves to a girl’s night out and a nice dinner! We went to the Santa Catalina Monastery which was well worth the short trip. Bright colors, vivid blues, stonework…. Really, just a good backdrop for awesome pics of ourselves =) haha! We spent that evening with a friend of a friend and ended up dining in a Trattoria in the monastery. We had intensely satisfying food & wine. I admit, I had too much wine. There, admitted it. I was a bit of an ass and barely escaped being chucked in the dirty pool by Mike. Anyways, moving right along…. We also had a great dinner at ZigZag and ate Alpaca (delicious).

Our final night in Lima was the night of the elections! We dressed up in our finest and headed out to La Rosa Nautica – a beautiful restaurant set out on the end of the pier with waves crashing around the pilings. This was a perfect evening. We dined on (again) some of the best food, best wine, and had marvelous conversation. We were dying to catch the election news so we hurried back to our hotel and broke open more wine, more beer and continued to have our night made by Obama becoming the president elect!! Everyone in Peru (locals and foreigners) was thrilled by the decision of America!!!!!

So now, we are home. I practiced patience – in many ways. I focused on being here & now. I broke myself down and kept going. I feel like I peeled off a few more layers of the outside of me, to get down to the root of me. The trip reaffirmed that the only thing that matters is where I am at, the company with me and how fully I feel I am living. That the only thing that I own is my time. That the accounting of my time is what I need to be checking daily, not the accounting of my money, my stuff, my shit, etc…I realized that I am very happy. That I don’t need anything that I don’t have. I learned that what I need will be in my life when I need it, how I need it and that I can’t force my hand in things. I learned that I am in no hurry for anything, because I am right here, and right here is a beautiful place to be.