This is the first entry of the trip, though it has been a few days since we arrived here in South America. Joe and I landed in Lima, Peru late on Thursday night, pretty beat. We had taken SpiritAir, which left something to be desired. Let´s just say I had to basically sit cross-legged in order to not be constantly kicking the person´s seat in front of me. Guess that´s the price you pay for such cheap international tickets. Can´t really complain all in all. We took a taxi through some very shady parts of town to our hostel in Miraflores, one of the "upscale" neighborhoods in Lima. We checked into our hostel and got some food at a local eatery. Decided to play it safe tonight and got a grilled cheese sandwich and some corn'bread.

Plaza de Armas - Cusco

The next morning we woke up early and got a taxi back to the airport to fly to Cuzco. It´s kind of a bummer we didnt get to spend any real time in Lima. It seems like a bustling city with a bunch of things to do. But we´re on a tight time frame and Peru just has to much to offer to stick around.

We decided to fly into Cuzco (a nice 1hr flight as opposed to the 20+ hr bus ride!!), and arrived late morning. I was struck with how dry, clean, a crisp the air was, until we actually started walking around the city...where buses constantly spew unfiltered smog onto the sidewalks. Overall, Cuzco is really a pretty city.

Cuzco from Sasquaywaman

Our Hostel in Cusco

The high elevation and thin air here makes for some extreme climate changes during the day. The sun is very strong, and when in it, it feels like the temp is mid-70s to 80s. But when you step out into the shday the temp drops a good 15 degrees. At night, we´re talking Northeast winter temps that hover in 30s. Good thing I brought a winter hat (also bought some 2 dollar gloves at a market). We explored the Plaza de Armas, the center of town that has some old cathedrals and monuments (pics to be posted later).

Today we´re going to check out some big ruins on the outskirts of town and then go to an orientation for our trek tomorrow.

Sasquaywaman

Adios!

Side note: Sitting in this internet cafe I´ve confirm my suspicions that people just about all over the world people are completely obsessed with Michael Jackson, moreso than in the US. Right now I´m listening to a spanish'dubbed version of "You are not Alone," and last night at dinner, the entire time they were playing jazzed-up versions of MJ. Pretty funny. I actually haven´t heard any music hear yet that isn´t American, although after having traveled to other places around the world I´m really not that surprised. No matter what happens to the U.S. economy at least we´ll always have Lady Gaga and Jonas Brothers.

written by  bhkann on August 7, 2010 from Cuzco, Peru
from the travel blog: Peru 2010
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Basecamp - Day 1

There's some delay going on with the bus and the guides are arguing about a taxi or something. The sun is now starting to rise, but unfortunately our view is obstructed by the gas station we are stuck at.

We jolt forward. That's better. The scenery looks gorgeous now with a little sunlight. There are towering snow-capped mountains appearing off in the distance. Maybe that's where we're going.

10pm: Sitting in our tent now after a long day of hiking. Around 8 hours of it. We started off with a nice breakfast in a mountain town called Mollepata and then continued by truck to the start of our trail. The truck ride was crazy - we were loaded on the back of the pickup and it rocked up and down a cliff side dirt road for about 30 min. Once we almost hit a pack of donkeys, and about 10 minutes later almost hit another truck full of donkeys barreling down the same single track road. Yikes. Then we started the hike. Today was mostly a flat hike day, and we are told tomorrow is by far the toughest - basically all uphill for 9 hours! The scenery was gorgeous, we hiked alongside a mountain that overlooked a giant valley/canyon with a stream running underneath it. Off in the distance we began to see the snowcaps. It was warm and very sunny throughout the day. We stopped for lunch and had a great 3 course meal prepared by our tour's cook. Then we continued on and finally turned a corner and saw the might Salkantay in the distance.

Salkanty - Savage Mountain

Happy to report that I feel completely acclimatized at this point. We finally reached basecamp #1 as the sun began to shy away and the temps dropped. We have a tent that was set up by our porters, which is pretty nice if a bit snug. We've got a happy hour in a few minutes with tea and popcorn, and then dinner a bit later. Tomorrow we start at 5am for the long ascent up to Salcantay pass.

written by  bhkann on August 8, 2010 from Mollepata, Peru
from the travel blog: Peru 2010
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5am wake up - to coca tea served at our tent. Very nice. We braved the cold and wind and made our way to the breakfast tent. After a nice breakfast of eggs and toast we set off for the most difficult part of our trek - the ascent to Salkantay pass. For the next 3-4hrs the hike was basically all uphill, but the scenery was still gorgeous.

Before the Ascent

From the Top

The View from Salkantay Pass

View from Salkantay pass

At Salkantay Pass

Descent into cloud forest

Descending

From the Top

Descent into cloud forest

Descent into cloud forest

Today's trek followed a path alongside the base of mountains and a river. We crossed many bridges and even a few waterfalls. We got a chance to see some interesting wildlife too - different kinds of birds and insects, plus a Lizard and some ferret-like thing. We passed by a passionfruit grove and the fruit-pickers dropped us fresh passionfruits from the trees above. Very tasty. We finally reached our destination in the village of Lucacamba. Since the Salkantay route has increased in popularity (over the last 5-10 yrs) villagers along the route have set up kiosks catering to trekkers needs like water, Gatorade, and candy. At our campsite at Lucacamba, they also had a bathroom with shower! I've never appreciated soap and water! Another nice thing about this campsite was that there was an actual toilet. For the past two nights our toilets consisted of holes dug in the ground with a small privacy tent surrounding them. Let's just say late night trips to the great dung hole in 20 degree weather were not so fun! After taking the best cold water shower I've ever taken, we capped off the night with a great meal prepared by the tour's cook and a few beers.

For the first time it was a pleasant night out weather-wise, due to being at a relatively low altitude and I finally got a decent night of sleep.

written by  bhkann on August 10, 2010 from Aguas Calientes, Peru
from the travel blog: Peru 2010
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Machu Picchu is really breathtaking. One of those places that lives up to all the hype. It is easy to see why it is packed with tourists every day. There is such demand to see it, that the Peruvian government sets a limit of 2000 visitors each day - slots that are pretty much sold out throughout the year.

We woke up at 4am again, yay, and caught a bus that took us up to the Mountain on which MP sits. We walked up the rest of the way by dirt path and finally reached the top. The site itself is massive, but it is really its surroundings that make it so awe-inspiring and memorable. Cue the pictures...
Another nice thing about MP is that there is are relatively few guard rails or roped-off sections. You can kind of explore freely and there is no set path. We spent a little over 5 hours there and then headed back to Aguas Calientes to catch our train to Cuzco, and then night bus to Arequipa.

written by  bhkann on August 12, 2010 from Aguas Calientes, Peru
from the travel blog: Peru 2010
tagged Peru and MachuPicchu
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We then walked around the main plaza and stopped for a drink by a cafe. We were sitting there enjoying ourselves when a few locals began hassling the waiter for a table, a few minutes passed and next thing we knew Martin's backpack was gone. Stolen right in front of us! I had read about this type of distraction theft but didn't think it would happen at noon in broad daylight. Luckily, Martin had all his important documents and wallet in his pockets so only lost some clothing and a few other things. Some crazy welcome for him to Peru though...

We checked into our hostel and then went out to explore the city again - this time extra careful with our belongings. We visited some markets, got lunch, and planned our excursion to Colca Canyon for the next day. Arequipa celebrates the day it was founded on August 15th every year - perfect timing for us. We hope to catch some of the festivities when we return to the city on the 15th - but we will tomorrow day and night in the canyon.

written by  bhkann on August 14, 2010 from Arequipa, Peru
from the travel blog: Peru 2010
tagged Peru and Arequipa
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We then walked around the main plaza and stopped for a drink by a cafe. We were sitting there enjoying ourselves when a few locals began hassling the waiter for a table, a few minutes passed and next thing we knew Martin's backpack was gone. Stolen right in front of us! I had read about this type of distraction theft but didn't think it would happen at noon in broad daylight. Luckily, Martin had all his important documents and wallet in his pockets so only lost some clothing and a few other things. Some crazy welcome for him to Peru though...

We checked into our hostel and then went out to explore the city again - this time extra careful with our belongings. We visited some markets, got lunch, and planned our excursion to Colca Canyon for the next day. Arequipa celebrates the day it was founded on August 15th every year - perfect timing for us. We hope to catch some of the festivities when we return to the city on the 15th - but we will tomorrow day and night in the canyon.

written by  bhkann on August 14, 2010 from Arequipa, Peru
from the travel blog: Peru 2010
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I haven't had enough time to upload pictures here, so instead have been putting them all in a Picasa album here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/BHKann/BKPeruSummer2010#

AND here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/BHKann/BK2010#

written by  bhkann on August 16, 2010 from Arequipa, Peru
from the travel blog: Peru 2010
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This morning we hopped a taxi to the docks for our tour of the islands of Titicaca. As I mentioned before Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world, and largest in South America. It sits on the Peruvian/Bolivian border, though we will only be visiting the Peruvian side. It is also believed to be the sport where the Incas originated - specifcally on one island on the Bolivian side of the lake.

Our first stop was at these amazing man-made floating islands made solely out of reeds. The about 2,000 Uros people have lived on these islands for thousands of years and literally make everything out of reeds by hand - huts, boats, furniture, and like I said, even the islands themselves! It was a really crazy feeling walking around the squishy, forgiving reed - ground - it was kind of like a giant haystack. We walked around the islands and took a reed-boat to another. Martin opted for a half day tour to get on a nicer bus back to Arequipa.

On my own now, I'm continuing on to the island of Taquile which is another 2.5 hrs from the floating islands. There are two main indigenous cultures that inhabit this area of Peru - the Aymara and Quechua - each with different languages. These are pre-Inca cultures that have retained their traditions for thousands of years. Taquile is primarily a Quechua island, and about 6,000 people live there. They have their own sets of laws, and are isolated from the rest of Peru. The town square is situated at the top of the island as requires about a 25minute hike up, which is no fun at this altitude. The top of the island has fantastic views of the surrounding lake and mountain ranges in Bolivia. I decided to skip lunch (well I had no money) and ate a tangerine, banana, and Snickers I had brought along the way. I'm perched up on top of a cliff overlooking the lake now, and the view is spectacular. The lake is very peaceful and quiet. After this stop, we get back on the boat and head back to Puno.

Tomorrow morning I head back to Lima for one more day, and then it's back to the U.S.

written by  bhkann on August 17, 2010 from Puno, Peru
from the travel blog: Peru 2010
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