So I finished my final night in Urubamba at the restaurant I became a fixture at. Miguel (¨Mickey¨) the chef made my final hot chocolate and graciously made it on the house. Got up at 4:45am this morning to catch a collectivo back to Cusco for my flight, then spent the remainder of the day in Lima. Did some shopping, some eating, some looking around. It{s not such a bad place. And, just like my last day in Hanoi last year, I went in for a haircut (which I will probably need to get recut), manicure (probably picked up some bacteria from the undisinfected tools), and pedicure (I have pretty pink toes now). But all for less than $15. Anyways, my time sadly is up. My final task at hand it to perfectly spend all of my leftover soles without having to change anymore money. Wish me luck.
General comments:
1. I remember coming home from Vietnam last year and having to make a conscious decision to only wear socks for one day before washing. When I got to Peru it all came back to me. How comforting it is to wear my hiking socks (or any item of clothing for that matter) for multiple days before doing laundry.
2. I discovered avocado on this trip. Can{t say I had ever bought one in Canada before. What a delicious fruit/vegetable. I love everything con palta!!
3. Peruvians are really nice people.
4. Peru is a really beautiful country.
5. I hate smoking. I rarely saw any Peruvians smoking. Most smokers were tourists.
6. My scrubs (hailing from 99/00 in Dene) that I wear for pajamas and during laundry while travelling are almost worn through, particularily around the butt. I can{t wear them in public anymore.
7. I don{t like pink all that much.
8. Diarrhea can and should be a regular topic of conversation (well, while travelling anyways)
9. I found out that there is a special tool that skims off the tough skin around the corners of my fingernails that I usually just bite off.
10. I have mastered going to the toilet with a backpack on both my front and my back, while having to squat over no toilet seat, and pulling toilet paper out of my pocket.
11. Foreign folk music, whether from Thailand, Indonesia or Peru, sounds the same. A woman singing with an irritating high pitched voice, sometimes with a many shouting randome phrases in the background.
12. I love pancakes.
13. There were a lot more thoughts that I thought today, but under pressure of super expensive internet, they evade me now :)
Until the next country......
Trina
Saturday, October 7, 2006
Friday, October 6, 2006
solid poos for 3 days and counting
So left Urubamba early in the morning to catch a combi to Ollanta....I happened to read in my guidebook the night before that train tickets to Aguas Calientes (the village to Machu Picchu, which is for the most part only accessible by train or hiking) were not available there, but I was hoping for my luck to pull through, and it did. As the combi approached Ollanta, I though, ooh, this is a neat little village (all old stone building and streets etc). And then we pulled into the main plaza. It contained only tourist cafes and souvenir shops. Bleh. I went to try to get a haircut instead, but the señora was out. The train ride was nice. I was on a car with three tour groups, and I happen to be sitting beside a tour guide whose clients weren't really interested in her, so I got a nice guided train ride with plenty of explanations. Aguas Calientes was even more disgusting than Ollanta. Every single shop was either a tourist cafe/restaurant or souvenir shop, which staff outside trying to lure you in with calls of ¨would you like a drink? happy hour four for 1.... we have pizza...spaghetti?¨ The cafes charged ¨tax¨ or ¨servicio¨ ( I hadn't seen that in Peru yet). My OK room I bargained down to $25. I was planning to spend two nights but after my introduction decided on only 1. I think I was fortunate to spend as much time as I did in the north. The people are so much more genuine. Anyway, for the afternoon I checked out the other side of town, where the people actually live. Coming out of a shop, I had taken a picture of a street, and a little girl who was with an older girl (turns out her cousin) was pointing at my camera, so I sat down and we chatted, and took pictures of things which she could then see on my digital camera. It was fun. She laughed as I counted spanish numbers incorrectly (on purpose, learned that one to tease kids with from my Dad), and as I incorrectly conjugated verbs (totally not on purpose).
Got up at 4:45am the next morning to have breakfast and catch a 5:30am bus up to Machu Picchu. It was covered in fog. After passing through the gates, I started walking, following the signage that I could see (visibility about 5-10m). I thought it was only about a 5 minute walk from the gate to the ruins, so after walking about 1/2 hour in the jungle, I was suspicious. But I couldn't see anything. And I would hate to turn around if the trail was leading somewhere important. I had no idea. There were very few people on the trail. Each person I pass or who passed me was thinking the same thing - where are we and where is this taking us? Eventually I stopped and hung out with two other lost souls, waiting for the clouds to clear. We were h oping for a great view over the ruins. After about 45min, the guy gave up, then after another 10, the girl left. Just 5 minutes later it all cleared (who knew I had this much patience!) Beautiful. I was hoping for a moment of awe, and I got it. I stay up there in peace for quite a while, the only life around me were the birds cutting through the air around me, and pink and blue butterflies the size of my thumbnail fluttering around. Turns out the trail was leading up a mountain, and I had another 45min to go. I went back down instead, walked around the ruins, listened in on tourgroups' guides explanations. I have to say that for me, the sense of awe I got from the ruins was so much greater when I was able to see the whole area as opposed to individual walls and buildings. It's not like Angkor Wat, where there are intricate carvings on so many of the walls. For me the sense of wonder was from the fact that the Incas built this whole complex on the crest of a mountain. So I climbed to the top of a mini peak near by, and enjoyed the view once more. Found a peaceful spot and just took it in. I took it in so much that I fell asleep for an hour (I said it was peaceful!). After heading back down the treacherous ¨stairs¨ (I wonder how many Incas dies during construction by falling off cliffs) I looked around a bit more, then headed back down to the train station, and eventually back to Urubamba. This place is a much nicer place to hang out for a few days.
Today, it being my last day in the Peruvian country side, I slept in (just a bit!) and tried once again to get to the salt fields. I was given a decent explanation by the chef in the restaurant I have been frequenting, so felt optimistic. Well, I missed the turnoff, and had to catch another combi back, but this time I found it. Hundreds of little pools filled with evaporating salt water. Very cool. Continued walking to another place where there are concentric sinking circles built for agricultural purposes (hard to describe in words); ended up paying for a taxi part way once the roads started. Now, it's been said these pits are a bit spiritual. Now I'm not much of a spiritual person, but as I descended into one of the circles, I started to cry. It was very strange. Perhaps I have come to the realization that my time here is almost over?
I finally got back to Urubamba following some debauchery with how much change I had left (I had cut it close after buying a weaving near the pits). Now I am spending the evening packing my bags so that I can spend the day in Lima as I have 15 hours between flights. (Side note: After an e-mail from a friend, I realized that the dates in my first entry do not share the date I am actually coming back - my original flight was cancelled: back in Salmon Arm Saturday, in Vancouver Monday night). And having a great dinner. Pancakes perhaps? The place I go to makes the best hot chocolate. Mmmmm.....
On another note, I got my mark back from the Marketing course I had been doing before I left for Peru (many people can attest that other than work, that was pretty much all I was doing). Now that it's after the fact (I got an A!) I will share that I actually was unable to finish the course before I left Canada, and fired off 2 portions by memory in an internet cafe one night in Huaraz before my deadline (which my prof graciously extended by a few days). I was one percent below an A+, perhaps because I was so cheeky to finish the course in Peru? Well, relief is all I can say.
I'll probably fire off one more commentary in the Lima airport (what else can I do waiting for a 2am flight?) Looking forward to seeing everyone back in Salmon Arm or Vancouver.
Got up at 4:45am the next morning to have breakfast and catch a 5:30am bus up to Machu Picchu. It was covered in fog. After passing through the gates, I started walking, following the signage that I could see (visibility about 5-10m). I thought it was only about a 5 minute walk from the gate to the ruins, so after walking about 1/2 hour in the jungle, I was suspicious. But I couldn't see anything. And I would hate to turn around if the trail was leading somewhere important. I had no idea. There were very few people on the trail. Each person I pass or who passed me was thinking the same thing - where are we and where is this taking us? Eventually I stopped and hung out with two other lost souls, waiting for the clouds to clear. We were h oping for a great view over the ruins. After about 45min, the guy gave up, then after another 10, the girl left. Just 5 minutes later it all cleared (who knew I had this much patience!) Beautiful. I was hoping for a moment of awe, and I got it. I stay up there in peace for quite a while, the only life around me were the birds cutting through the air around me, and pink and blue butterflies the size of my thumbnail fluttering around. Turns out the trail was leading up a mountain, and I had another 45min to go. I went back down instead, walked around the ruins, listened in on tourgroups' guides explanations. I have to say that for me, the sense of awe I got from the ruins was so much greater when I was able to see the whole area as opposed to individual walls and buildings. It's not like Angkor Wat, where there are intricate carvings on so many of the walls. For me the sense of wonder was from the fact that the Incas built this whole complex on the crest of a mountain. So I climbed to the top of a mini peak near by, and enjoyed the view once more. Found a peaceful spot and just took it in. I took it in so much that I fell asleep for an hour (I said it was peaceful!). After heading back down the treacherous ¨stairs¨ (I wonder how many Incas dies during construction by falling off cliffs) I looked around a bit more, then headed back down to the train station, and eventually back to Urubamba. This place is a much nicer place to hang out for a few days.
Today, it being my last day in the Peruvian country side, I slept in (just a bit!) and tried once again to get to the salt fields. I was given a decent explanation by the chef in the restaurant I have been frequenting, so felt optimistic. Well, I missed the turnoff, and had to catch another combi back, but this time I found it. Hundreds of little pools filled with evaporating salt water. Very cool. Continued walking to another place where there are concentric sinking circles built for agricultural purposes (hard to describe in words); ended up paying for a taxi part way once the roads started. Now, it's been said these pits are a bit spiritual. Now I'm not much of a spiritual person, but as I descended into one of the circles, I started to cry. It was very strange. Perhaps I have come to the realization that my time here is almost over?
I finally got back to Urubamba following some debauchery with how much change I had left (I had cut it close after buying a weaving near the pits). Now I am spending the evening packing my bags so that I can spend the day in Lima as I have 15 hours between flights. (Side note: After an e-mail from a friend, I realized that the dates in my first entry do not share the date I am actually coming back - my original flight was cancelled: back in Salmon Arm Saturday, in Vancouver Monday night). And having a great dinner. Pancakes perhaps? The place I go to makes the best hot chocolate. Mmmmm.....
On another note, I got my mark back from the Marketing course I had been doing before I left for Peru (many people can attest that other than work, that was pretty much all I was doing). Now that it's after the fact (I got an A!) I will share that I actually was unable to finish the course before I left Canada, and fired off 2 portions by memory in an internet cafe one night in Huaraz before my deadline (which my prof graciously extended by a few days). I was one percent below an A+, perhaps because I was so cheeky to finish the course in Peru? Well, relief is all I can say.
I'll probably fire off one more commentary in the Lima airport (what else can I do waiting for a 2am flight?) Looking forward to seeing everyone back in Salmon Arm or Vancouver.
Tuesday, October 3, 2006
finished my northern explorations
Terra and I left Chacas on a 7am bus that left at 8:30am. The ride back to Huaraz was quite possibly the most amazing ride ever. At first it was heading near a glacier, which was exciting enough. And then even closer. And then even closer until we were right beside it an able to see into the morraine and catch a glimpse of an amazing turquoise lake at the end of ever switchback. The locals must have been highly amused at the flurry of pictures I was taking during concentrated turns. After the first glacier, we headed underneath another, and again went up and up until we had a pee stop between two more glacial lakes. I remember looking up at some peaks high above one of the lakes, and noticing a weird horizontal topped rockslide (hard to describe in words) between two minor peaks. Because of the switch baks it was really hard to tell where the road was headed next, and eventually I realized it was heading to that rockslide bit. That was the 4800m+ pass to get us to the otherside of the Cordilleras Blancas. I was giddy with glee it was so exciting. The otherside was fantastic too...more snow capped peaks with intense glaciers, but this time we could see the switchbacks below us. I have some great pictures of that. Just a really great bus ride. Back in Huaraz we took the necessary showers and did the urgent laundry. Terra had been sick the night before in Chacas, so we were trying to get better through excellent hygiene, charcoal pills, and clean water. We had quite an appetite (me for pancakes ofcourse, can't get enough of them whilst on vacation) and ordered 3 huge breakfasts between the 2 of us for dinner. We didn't quite make it through, but it was a great effort overall.
The next day I was trying to decide between going back to the cool ranch I stayed at in Carhuaz for a peaceful night, or up to the smoky lodge where although it would be, yes, smoky, I would get to party with some great people I had met in Huaraz, before heading on an overnight bus to Lima in order to fly to Cusco. I ended up doing the social thing. A bit of wine on a healed digestive system, some dancing, and general socializing at a pirate-themed party ended up being a great way to send off Huaraz. Due to a 2am egging of the lodge owner, I once again did laundry in the city the next day, followed by watching some movies with some key people from my stay in Huaraz.
And then I was off. Night bus to Lima, trying to fall asleep next to an middle aged overweight man (you couldn't create a better snorer prototype if you tried). Taxi to the airport. When I checked in for my 9am flight (all paper and pen with this airline) they aksed if I wanted to jump on the 8am flight instead. I did. Arrived in Cusco. Grabbed a local bus to Urubamba. And now here I am. Did a bit of exploring today, trying to find some salt terraces via a combi (I swear 3 different people confirmed that the van was going to where I wanted to go) but was unsuccessful. Found some great food. Off to Aguas Calientes tomorrow on a train, and then I'll be able to do the standand Peruvian tourist destination - Machu Picchu. Can't go to Peru and miss that. I can't believe I'll be back home in less than 5 days!
The next day I was trying to decide between going back to the cool ranch I stayed at in Carhuaz for a peaceful night, or up to the smoky lodge where although it would be, yes, smoky, I would get to party with some great people I had met in Huaraz, before heading on an overnight bus to Lima in order to fly to Cusco. I ended up doing the social thing. A bit of wine on a healed digestive system, some dancing, and general socializing at a pirate-themed party ended up being a great way to send off Huaraz. Due to a 2am egging of the lodge owner, I once again did laundry in the city the next day, followed by watching some movies with some key people from my stay in Huaraz.
And then I was off. Night bus to Lima, trying to fall asleep next to an middle aged overweight man (you couldn't create a better snorer prototype if you tried). Taxi to the airport. When I checked in for my 9am flight (all paper and pen with this airline) they aksed if I wanted to jump on the 8am flight instead. I did. Arrived in Cusco. Grabbed a local bus to Urubamba. And now here I am. Did a bit of exploring today, trying to find some salt terraces via a combi (I swear 3 different people confirmed that the van was going to where I wanted to go) but was unsuccessful. Found some great food. Off to Aguas Calientes tomorrow on a train, and then I'll be able to do the standand Peruvian tourist destination - Machu Picchu. Can't go to Peru and miss that. I can't believe I'll be back home in less than 5 days!
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