Day 3
This day was long but pretty uneventful. We were walking through the jungle so I got about 12,000 bug bites, but thank god at this point I was totally healthy and back to normal. At the end of the hike that day we ended up in the teeniest tiniest town I have ever seen. There were 3 main streets and you could basically walk the entire place in 10 minutes. Most of our group took a bus to thermal baths for a few hours that night but Jessica and I decided to stay in the town and have a look around. Having not showered since the day before we started hiking we paid a little under a dollar for a hot shower.
Day 4
Finally the last day of hiking! We woke up and started our walk through the jungle and were told that we would be taking a cable car across a river. For some crazy reason when I heard cable car I pictured some fancy electric contraption. Of course I was wrong. The river was roaring, full of crazy rapids and rocks, and the ¨cable car¨ was basically a basket attached to a cable. We got in it 2 at a time and basically pulled a rope attached to the cable in order to make it across. After that we walked for a very very long time. Finally we arrived at our lunch where a set of train tracks began. We had lunch and then were given 2 choices. Either we could take the train to aguas calientes (the town you stay in before going to machu pichu) or we could follow the train tracks for 2 to 3 hours to aguas calientes. Jessica and I, along with most of rest of our group, chose to follow the tracks. All of the guys in the group decided to walk really fast in order to make it to the town to watch some football game so Jessica and I basically walked the whole way on our own. At a few points we heard the whistle of a train and had to get off the tracks. After about 2 hours we reached a tunnel. There was no one ahead of us and no one behind us and we were really confused as what to do. Going through a tunnel with train tracks didnt seem like the smartest of ideas but there was no other way to go. We ran through, scared out of our minds, and made it to the other side. A few minutes later we saw our guide doing the same thing...ah Peru..About 45 minutes later we finally arrived in Aguas Calientes, finally done with the trek. My feet hurt worse than I could ever imagine and I was pretty sure that 4 of my toes needed to be amputated. (Sadly Nina, none of those toes were the pinky toe)
The next day we saw Machu Pichu and that was that. We made it back to Cusco with a little more drama I wont bother sharing, and then took an overnight bus to Puno. I used my sleeping bag trick where I sleep in the bag and put all valuables in the bottom, which turned out to be a good idea, as some traveler on the bus had his camera and passport stolen. From Puno we caught the bus to Copacabana, from there a boat to Isla del Sol, and I´ve already told you what happened there. Oooh, I also met a nice German girl, Melanie, and a Canadian guy Owen who I spent the last few days with.
I arrived at the hotel where my classmates are a few hours ago. I have my own room with tv and and private bathroom for 16 dollars a night (rather expensive considering I stayed in a hostel the last 2 nights for 2.50).
Well thats it for now. Peace in the middle east!
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Monday, May 28, 2007
Living to tell another tale
I´ve gotten way behind on my blog. Right now I am in La Paz. Jessica has left and I´m chillaxin on my own.
Anyway, before I get into Day 2 of my Inca Trail Trek, I have to write about what happened to me yesterday. After our Trek Jessica and I decided to go to Copa Cabana on the Bolivian side of Lake Titikaka. About an hour and a half boat ride into the lake is an island called Isla Del Sol. We had a wonderful time there. The island was beautiful, the people were nice and it was all in all a good time. On the way back we used a different boat company than the one we had taken there since we needed to catch a bus to get to La Paz so that Jessica could make her flight. As we we got on the boat to secure our seats I said to Jessica ¨this is the most ghetto boat I have ever seen´. As we waited the boat started to fill with people, too many people. The boat, which probably fit 30 comfortabley was crammed with about 60 people, mostly tourists. The ride back started off very nice. Jessica and I chatted while two hippies sat on the floor of the boat playing the banjo and singing songs. After about an hour a south american woman on the boat interrupted the happily singing hippies to point to a puddle forming behind them. At this point everyone looked over and we noticed that the boat was filling with water. At first it seemed like a little leak but then it started pouring in quickly. A group of locals took control filling buckets with water and throwing them over the side. At this point I was sure we were going under and I was trying to figure out how I could avoid getting my camera wet. Considering we were pretty far off shore this should have been the least of my problems, but Jessica assured me that we would be able to make the swim (she later said that if we went under she expected me to drown in a fit of craziness). Luckily, we didnt go under but instead made an emergency landing on a nearby island. We were later rescued by another boat and made it back in time to catch our bus to La Paz. Now back to my trek:
DAY 2
I woke up that morning feeling a lot better but well aware that I couldnt make the hike. I psyched myself up and said today is the day I get over my fear of horses, and thank god it was. The ride was really nice. My horse was great and we made it to the top (4600 meters) with no problem. There were snow covered mountains all around and it was quite cold. Having paid for the horse I was pretty sure when we got up there that that was it for the day. I figured they knew I was sick so the horse would just take me to the camp site. Boy was I wrong. After my horse left me and my group arrived we began what turned out to be a 7 hour hike through down the mountain and into the jungle. Luckily I was feeling 100 percent better but by the end of the hike I, along with everyone else, was exhausted. We finally arrived to our camp site and threw ourselves down on the ground ready to crawl into our tents and go to sleep. But where were our mules? where were our tents? Where were our bags?! Turns out all of our horses became ¨sick¨and our bags would not be arriving until later that night. We built a camp fire and waited. One hour, two hours, three hours, no mules. At around midnight it became evident that our stuff was not coming. We were piled into the storage house of a local family on a dirt floor with dirty blankets to lie on and teeny blankets to share between 2 people. Jessica and i froze to death all night, and slept about an hour each.
Day 3 coming soon!
Anyway, before I get into Day 2 of my Inca Trail Trek, I have to write about what happened to me yesterday. After our Trek Jessica and I decided to go to Copa Cabana on the Bolivian side of Lake Titikaka. About an hour and a half boat ride into the lake is an island called Isla Del Sol. We had a wonderful time there. The island was beautiful, the people were nice and it was all in all a good time. On the way back we used a different boat company than the one we had taken there since we needed to catch a bus to get to La Paz so that Jessica could make her flight. As we we got on the boat to secure our seats I said to Jessica ¨this is the most ghetto boat I have ever seen´. As we waited the boat started to fill with people, too many people. The boat, which probably fit 30 comfortabley was crammed with about 60 people, mostly tourists. The ride back started off very nice. Jessica and I chatted while two hippies sat on the floor of the boat playing the banjo and singing songs. After about an hour a south american woman on the boat interrupted the happily singing hippies to point to a puddle forming behind them. At this point everyone looked over and we noticed that the boat was filling with water. At first it seemed like a little leak but then it started pouring in quickly. A group of locals took control filling buckets with water and throwing them over the side. At this point I was sure we were going under and I was trying to figure out how I could avoid getting my camera wet. Considering we were pretty far off shore this should have been the least of my problems, but Jessica assured me that we would be able to make the swim (she later said that if we went under she expected me to drown in a fit of craziness). Luckily, we didnt go under but instead made an emergency landing on a nearby island. We were later rescued by another boat and made it back in time to catch our bus to La Paz. Now back to my trek:
DAY 2
I woke up that morning feeling a lot better but well aware that I couldnt make the hike. I psyched myself up and said today is the day I get over my fear of horses, and thank god it was. The ride was really nice. My horse was great and we made it to the top (4600 meters) with no problem. There were snow covered mountains all around and it was quite cold. Having paid for the horse I was pretty sure when we got up there that that was it for the day. I figured they knew I was sick so the horse would just take me to the camp site. Boy was I wrong. After my horse left me and my group arrived we began what turned out to be a 7 hour hike through down the mountain and into the jungle. Luckily I was feeling 100 percent better but by the end of the hike I, along with everyone else, was exhausted. We finally arrived to our camp site and threw ourselves down on the ground ready to crawl into our tents and go to sleep. But where were our mules? where were our tents? Where were our bags?! Turns out all of our horses became ¨sick¨and our bags would not be arriving until later that night. We built a camp fire and waited. One hour, two hours, three hours, no mules. At around midnight it became evident that our stuff was not coming. We were piled into the storage house of a local family on a dirt floor with dirty blankets to lie on and teeny blankets to share between 2 people. Jessica and i froze to death all night, and slept about an hour each.
Day 3 coming soon!
Friday, May 25, 2007
The ups and DOWNS of the alternate Inca Trail
So I survived the hike, though only by a little....
Night before day 1: We were told to be ready by 4am on the morning of our 1st day of hiking. At around 10 pm I realized I had a major crisis with registering for my classes in Bolivia. I went downstairs to the internet cafe to work it all out, and despite feeling fine all day I started feeling a touch of altitude sickness. I figured it would go away and went to bed at around 11pm. A few minutes later I started feeling sick and broke into a cold sweat.
Day 1: I woke up at 3:30am having only slept a few minutes and still feeling pretty sick. Jessica and I were picked up by a taxi at 4 am and brought to what we assumed would be a bus station to meet our guide and group. At around 4:15 we arrived at the ¨bus station´ which was actually a street corner filled with locals gawking at us. Luckily our group showed up about 15 minutes later. The bus ride was 3 hours long and I began feeling sicker and sicker as we got closer, and thus higher, to the starting point. We (well everyone but me) sat down to breakfast and were informed that day 1 would include 11 hours of hiking. As we started to hike I felt noticabley better, and despite a lot of walking uphill I was able to hold my own. After 6 hours of hiking we stopped for lunch at which point I started seeing white spots and feeling as if someone had smashed me in the head repeatedly with a hammer. I couldn´t eat lunch and could barely move so my guide urged me to take a truck with the cooks the second half of the day. I really didn´t want to but I didn´t want to hold up the group so I agreed. My group left and I went with the cooks to the truck, which was by far the scariest vehicle I have ever seen. It looked as though someone had set it on fire. Before I sat down the driver lifted up my seat to expose the engine and told me he was pouring cold water on it to cool it down. The driver, a local woman and me piled into the front of the truck and 8 guys got on top of the roof. The moment we started driving I realized it was a mistake. The roads were narrow and steep and the drop off to our side seemed to go on forever. On every curve the driver would comment to the woman how dangerous it was an how many people had died there. At one point, during a particularly steep curve, the truck stalled and the 8 men on top jumped off and started to push. I am truly amazed that I made it out alive. We finally got to what I thought was our camp site and I was releaved to see an obviously American girl sitting on a rock amongst a group of random men and women dressed in very traditional Peruvian clothing. It turned out she was sick too and was about to leave on a horse to another camp site, meaning I would be left alone amongst the locals. Thats when things got a little crazy. The driver started asking me for money and having none on me and refusing to spend any more money than I already had, I played dumb. The group of locals knew I was sick and pretty much forced me to rub pure alcohol from a soda bottle on my forhead whilst calling me ´Mami´. Then one of the local women started hysterically crying for no apparent reason and the group offered the same alcohol I had rubbed on my head for her to drink. Then out of nowhere one of the guys in the group, who was drunker than anyone I´d ever seen, passed out face first onto the floor. The rest of the group laughed and told me he was dead. AT THIS POINT everyone except me disappears leaving me alone in a field horrified, confused and feeling much sicker. Then one of the cooks appears and tells me to follow a random man to where we would be camping. Against my better judgement I started to follow him until I realized he was leading me uphill into a forest. While the man continued walking I walked back to the field I had been at hoping to see my group in the distance. I didn´t but I did see another guide that I recognized and ended up following him up the hill to the campsite. Having had such a stressful experience and having just walked 15 minutes up a hill with altitude sickness I arrived at the campsite and basically passed out. When my group finally arrived and the tents were pitched I dragged myself to my tent truly positive I might be dieing. I could barely open my eyes from the pain in my head, was nauseas beyond belief, was freezing cold and at one point had a nose bleed. I was pretty sure my brain was bleeding and I was on my last leg. My guide came to my tent and offered to hire a horse for me to ride the next day causing quite the catch 22. On the one had I knew for a fact that I couldn´t walk for 12 hours the next day, but on the other hand, as most of you know, I am truly terrified of horses. Since I was so tired and sick I finally agreed to rent the horse fpr the next day though I pretty much decided there was no way I was going to ride it.
Day 2 and pictures to follow...
Night before day 1: We were told to be ready by 4am on the morning of our 1st day of hiking. At around 10 pm I realized I had a major crisis with registering for my classes in Bolivia. I went downstairs to the internet cafe to work it all out, and despite feeling fine all day I started feeling a touch of altitude sickness. I figured it would go away and went to bed at around 11pm. A few minutes later I started feeling sick and broke into a cold sweat.
Day 1: I woke up at 3:30am having only slept a few minutes and still feeling pretty sick. Jessica and I were picked up by a taxi at 4 am and brought to what we assumed would be a bus station to meet our guide and group. At around 4:15 we arrived at the ¨bus station´ which was actually a street corner filled with locals gawking at us. Luckily our group showed up about 15 minutes later. The bus ride was 3 hours long and I began feeling sicker and sicker as we got closer, and thus higher, to the starting point. We (well everyone but me) sat down to breakfast and were informed that day 1 would include 11 hours of hiking. As we started to hike I felt noticabley better, and despite a lot of walking uphill I was able to hold my own. After 6 hours of hiking we stopped for lunch at which point I started seeing white spots and feeling as if someone had smashed me in the head repeatedly with a hammer. I couldn´t eat lunch and could barely move so my guide urged me to take a truck with the cooks the second half of the day. I really didn´t want to but I didn´t want to hold up the group so I agreed. My group left and I went with the cooks to the truck, which was by far the scariest vehicle I have ever seen. It looked as though someone had set it on fire. Before I sat down the driver lifted up my seat to expose the engine and told me he was pouring cold water on it to cool it down. The driver, a local woman and me piled into the front of the truck and 8 guys got on top of the roof. The moment we started driving I realized it was a mistake. The roads were narrow and steep and the drop off to our side seemed to go on forever. On every curve the driver would comment to the woman how dangerous it was an how many people had died there. At one point, during a particularly steep curve, the truck stalled and the 8 men on top jumped off and started to push. I am truly amazed that I made it out alive. We finally got to what I thought was our camp site and I was releaved to see an obviously American girl sitting on a rock amongst a group of random men and women dressed in very traditional Peruvian clothing. It turned out she was sick too and was about to leave on a horse to another camp site, meaning I would be left alone amongst the locals. Thats when things got a little crazy. The driver started asking me for money and having none on me and refusing to spend any more money than I already had, I played dumb. The group of locals knew I was sick and pretty much forced me to rub pure alcohol from a soda bottle on my forhead whilst calling me ´Mami´. Then one of the local women started hysterically crying for no apparent reason and the group offered the same alcohol I had rubbed on my head for her to drink. Then out of nowhere one of the guys in the group, who was drunker than anyone I´d ever seen, passed out face first onto the floor. The rest of the group laughed and told me he was dead. AT THIS POINT everyone except me disappears leaving me alone in a field horrified, confused and feeling much sicker. Then one of the cooks appears and tells me to follow a random man to where we would be camping. Against my better judgement I started to follow him until I realized he was leading me uphill into a forest. While the man continued walking I walked back to the field I had been at hoping to see my group in the distance. I didn´t but I did see another guide that I recognized and ended up following him up the hill to the campsite. Having had such a stressful experience and having just walked 15 minutes up a hill with altitude sickness I arrived at the campsite and basically passed out. When my group finally arrived and the tents were pitched I dragged myself to my tent truly positive I might be dieing. I could barely open my eyes from the pain in my head, was nauseas beyond belief, was freezing cold and at one point had a nose bleed. I was pretty sure my brain was bleeding and I was on my last leg. My guide came to my tent and offered to hire a horse for me to ride the next day causing quite the catch 22. On the one had I knew for a fact that I couldn´t walk for 12 hours the next day, but on the other hand, as most of you know, I am truly terrified of horses. Since I was so tired and sick I finally agreed to rent the horse fpr the next day though I pretty much decided there was no way I was going to ride it.
Day 2 and pictures to follow...
Saturday, May 19, 2007
5 day hike eeeek!
SO Jessica and I met up at the airport with no problem. We arrived in the airport of Cusco at around 11am and went to get out luggage. The last time I arrived in Cusco (alone) I was swarmed by women trying to get me to stay in their hostels. This time, nary a soul came to greet us (probably because its a higher season). With nowhere to go we walked up to an information desk where the woman behind the counter quoted us with ridiculous prices like 30 dollars for a shared room. Of course this was too much money so we decided to just hop into a cab and find something in the center. I ended up having a great conversation with the cab driver and he brought us to a wonderful hostel right by the main plaza with our own bathroom, breakfast and hot water. Obviously he gets commision but we saved money and he is a nice guy so it was worth it.
Tomorrow we are off on a 5 day trek to Machu Pichu so my next post will be sometime next week and hopefully there will be many pictures to post.
peace out
Tomorrow we are off on a 5 day trek to Machu Pichu so my next post will be sometime next week and hopefully there will be many pictures to post.
peace out
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Medias Panties, Israelis and other things I forgot existed...
Not much to report. Spending time with the ol´ family which is really nice. The language barrier has grown quite a bit since the last time I was here. Apparently not speaking Spanish for 2 years has not helped with my command of the language...
Much like my last trip here it´s taking me a while to get used to the way we eat. My stomach has yet to accept the idea of eating a 3 course lunch.
Lima is much as I remembered, though I must say it´s quite strange sans Nili. It´s funny, it´s like when you break up with a boyfriend and everything you walk by reminds you of fun times you had together and it´s a little sad but also happy in it´s own way.
Ok well that´s all the news that´s fit to print. One more day of relaxing in Lima and then off on another adventure.
PAZ
Much like my last trip here it´s taking me a while to get used to the way we eat. My stomach has yet to accept the idea of eating a 3 course lunch.
Lima is much as I remembered, though I must say it´s quite strange sans Nili. It´s funny, it´s like when you break up with a boyfriend and everything you walk by reminds you of fun times you had together and it´s a little sad but also happy in it´s own way.
Ok well that´s all the news that´s fit to print. One more day of relaxing in Lima and then off on another adventure.
PAZ
Monday, May 14, 2007
And I am off!!!!
It's 2:30 and I have to get up at 5 to make it to the airport on time. I'm thinking it probably makes more sense to just stay up all night...
So anyway, somehow I managed to get everything done. It seems as though no matter how much I try the day before a big trip is always ridiculously hectic...Oh well...I'm all ready, sort of.
Here is my tentative Itinerary:
Arrive in Lima 5/15
Leave Lima 5/19
Arrive in Cusco 5/19
Start 5 day trek towards Machu Pichu 5/20
Take train to Puno 5/21 then cross over to Copacabana, Bolivia
5/22 Lake Titicaca, Isla del sol
5/23 or 5/24 head to La Paz.
We don't actually have to be in La Paz until the evening of 5/27 so we have a couple of days to play around with which will be nice.
Anyway that's it for now.
PAZ
So anyway, somehow I managed to get everything done. It seems as though no matter how much I try the day before a big trip is always ridiculously hectic...Oh well...I'm all ready, sort of.
Here is my tentative Itinerary:
Arrive in Lima 5/15
Leave Lima 5/19
Arrive in Cusco 5/19
Start 5 day trek towards Machu Pichu 5/20
Take train to Puno 5/21 then cross over to Copacabana, Bolivia
5/22 Lake Titicaca, Isla del sol
5/23 or 5/24 head to La Paz.
We don't actually have to be in La Paz until the evening of 5/27 so we have a couple of days to play around with which will be nice.
Anyway that's it for now.
PAZ
Monday, May 07, 2007
Update! Update! 123
I have gained me a travel partner! How exciting. Jessica will be arriving in Lima 4 days after me and then we will backpack together to La Paz. It's funny. This time last week I was still planning on staying in NY for the summer. Craziness.
Friday, May 04, 2007
Guess who's back, back again...
Well after much craziness and about a year and a half sans travels I will be off again in about 2 weeks. This trip is more about school and less about crazy travel times, but hey I'll take what I can get. The story is this: My program has a 3 week summer session in La Paz starting on the May 29th. My plan is to fly to Lima on the 15th, spend a few days with the family and then head on my merry way towards La Paz. Hopefully I'll arrive there by the 28th. I'll then do my 3 weeks in La Paz, visiting different parts of Bolivia every weekend and finish on the 21st. I then have about a week to make it back to Lima. WAHOOOO!
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