So, I never really finished the post on my trip to Peru. And at this point, should I even bother?
Here's the quick wrap-up:
Day 2 on the trail was RIDICULOUS and raining all day. But we made it up and over Dead Woman's Pass, ahead of schedule and without needing oxygen. woo!
Day 3 on the trail was AWESOME. We had amazing weather, gorgeous views and were (again) ahead of schedule, giving us plenty of time for sightseeing and historical stories. We arrived at camp ahead of all other groups and settled in for the afternoon, eating candy bars and drinking local beer and enjoying the day and our hiking group. The Andes Mountains are truly majestic and gorgeous.
Day 4 started WAY before sun-up. I don't generally like to wake up before God wakes up and turns the lights on, but it was kinda worth it. We arrived at the highly lauded Sun Gate in time to see the sun rise over the ruins at Machu Picchu. At least, that's what we would have seen if not for the pea soup-like fog surrounding us. So we kept hiking and made it to the entrance to Machu Picchu in time to see the fog rise from below us and dissipate. The rest of the day was gorgeous as we dragged our tired, aching, sore, pained, exhausted bodies around the ruins and had a great time. After touring around, we headed into town for lunch and bevos (yay!) then took a dip in the natural hot springs and slept in a bed for the first time in many many days.
The next day, we tooled around Aguas Calientes, ate some delicious pizza and took the train back to Cusco.
Train ride: hilarious. We had snacks and a fashion show.
Commute from train station: bizarre. We arrived ahead of the other groups and our bus driver arranged a car for us. We piled in and rode the 45 minutes back to town at breakneck speed, up and down a mountain on a barely paved road with no lanes, with the gas gauge on E the entire time. Fritha thought she was going to die the whole time. Queenie, Midori and I were in the backseat, largely oblivious and having nice chats.
The rest of the time in Peru included dinner at Hilbert's resturant, birthday shenanigans for Fritha (ask her about the gift we got her) and an outing to a Peruvian night club, where we danced A LOT with Pixie, our new Irish friend. (ask Queenie or me to show you Pixie's signature dance move).
Delicious breakfast buffet at the swanky hotel in Cusco, followed by some time in the sun and last minute shopping and we were on our way home.
It was an AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME trip and I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone.
The end.
Showing posts with label Midori. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Midori. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Maybe this will help explain the "do-overs"
ok, so I jacked this list of questions from one of the blogs I read. Kinda fun to answer and think about:
1. What did you do in 2008 that you'd never done before? Hiked the Andes Mountains in Peru
2. Did you keep your New Years' resolutions and will you make more for next year? Um...I dont really remember last year's resolutions, so I doubt I kept them. I'll probably make more and forget those too.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Yes! B and wife have a beautiful baby girl!
4. Did anyone close to you die? Sadly, yes: Aunt Staci died in October.
5. What countries did you visit? Peru and Canada
6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008? more time at the beach
7. What date from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? Well, it's not so much dates as whole weeks. Like mid-May, early September and early October.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Hiking the Inca Trail
9. What was your biggest failure? Oh dear. How to pick just one...there were a number of dating failures, then there was getting kicked off an account by my client and then there's my bank accounts, my hair color and a couple of REALLY bad outfits.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Contracted some bizarre eye infection (which, upon examination led my doctor to comment, "ugh! that looks angry!") and had my wisdom teeth removed
11. What was the best thing you bought? Not to sound stupid, but I did buy some jeans that I absolutely adore. Wearing them makes me happy. Also, the battery-operated pepper mill I gave my grandmother for Christmas....it's totally BA!
12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? There were a few and most of them were born in 1975.
14. Where did most of your money go? Away
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? My trip to Peru!!!!!
16. What song will always remind you of 2008?
17. Compared to this time last year, are you: Happier or sadder? Thinner or fatter? Richer or poorer? Happier (I guess),Thinner, Richer (maybe)
18. What do you wish you'd done more of? skiing
19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
20. How will you be spending Christmas? I spent it in the Carolinas with my family
21. Did you meet/date anyone special in 2008? mmhmm
What the hell happened to 22?
23. How many one-night stands? Depends on your definition of "one-night stand"...either two or zero.
24. What was your favorite TV program? Dexter - it's stinking awesome!
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? Nah, I hated her this time last year, too.
26. What was the best book you read? Dunno...but I did read a few that were disappointing: The Kite Runner, Eat Pray Love
27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
28. What did you want and get? a black pashmina
29. What did you want and not get? a dishwasher
30. What was your favorite film of this year? If I had been sober enough to remember it, I'd probably say Sex & the City
31. What did you do on your birthday and how old were you? I turned 26 and I went to a local Australian bar for pub trivia and good eats with good friends. I had a great time!
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? more chick-fil-a
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008? A little more colorful that previous, slightly edgier, but still kinda the same.
34. What kept you sane? friends. and booze.
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Michael C. Hall....he plays a sympathetic serial killer and it's HOT.
36. What political issue stirred you the most? meh.
First 22 and now 37 is missing?
38. Who was the best new person you met? Midori...although technically we had met briefly once in the backseat of Fritha's car, we had a fab trip and I'd do it again anytime!
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008. Guard your heart.
40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year. It's more than a feeling!
1. What did you do in 2008 that you'd never done before? Hiked the Andes Mountains in Peru
2. Did you keep your New Years' resolutions and will you make more for next year? Um...I dont really remember last year's resolutions, so I doubt I kept them. I'll probably make more and forget those too.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Yes! B and wife have a beautiful baby girl!
4. Did anyone close to you die? Sadly, yes: Aunt Staci died in October.
5. What countries did you visit? Peru and Canada
6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008? more time at the beach
7. What date from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? Well, it's not so much dates as whole weeks. Like mid-May, early September and early October.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Hiking the Inca Trail
9. What was your biggest failure? Oh dear. How to pick just one...there were a number of dating failures, then there was getting kicked off an account by my client and then there's my bank accounts, my hair color and a couple of REALLY bad outfits.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Contracted some bizarre eye infection (which, upon examination led my doctor to comment, "ugh! that looks angry!") and had my wisdom teeth removed
11. What was the best thing you bought? Not to sound stupid, but I did buy some jeans that I absolutely adore. Wearing them makes me happy. Also, the battery-operated pepper mill I gave my grandmother for Christmas....it's totally BA!
12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? There were a few and most of them were born in 1975.
14. Where did most of your money go? Away
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? My trip to Peru!!!!!
16. What song will always remind you of 2008?
17. Compared to this time last year, are you: Happier or sadder? Thinner or fatter? Richer or poorer? Happier (I guess),Thinner, Richer (maybe)
18. What do you wish you'd done more of? skiing
19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
20. How will you be spending Christmas? I spent it in the Carolinas with my family
21. Did you meet/date anyone special in 2008? mmhmm
What the hell happened to 22?
23. How many one-night stands? Depends on your definition of "one-night stand"...either two or zero.
24. What was your favorite TV program? Dexter - it's stinking awesome!
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? Nah, I hated her this time last year, too.
26. What was the best book you read? Dunno...but I did read a few that were disappointing: The Kite Runner, Eat Pray Love
27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
28. What did you want and get? a black pashmina
29. What did you want and not get? a dishwasher
30. What was your favorite film of this year? If I had been sober enough to remember it, I'd probably say Sex & the City
31. What did you do on your birthday and how old were you? I turned 26 and I went to a local Australian bar for pub trivia and good eats with good friends. I had a great time!
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? more chick-fil-a
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008? A little more colorful that previous, slightly edgier, but still kinda the same.
34. What kept you sane? friends. and booze.
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Michael C. Hall....he plays a sympathetic serial killer and it's HOT.
36. What political issue stirred you the most? meh.
First 22 and now 37 is missing?
38. Who was the best new person you met? Midori...although technically we had met briefly once in the backseat of Fritha's car, we had a fab trip and I'd do it again anytime!
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008. Guard your heart.
40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year. It's more than a feeling!
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
LLAMAS! Part #2
After sleeping in a tent in a parking lot in the middle of nowhere Peru and a delicious breakfast, complete with eggs, toast and coca tea (mmmm), we began.
Queenie, Fritha, Midori and I took "before" pictures as we began and set a few goals for the hike: 1 - Be "the fun girls". Take every advantage to have a blast, enjoy each other and keep up the spirits of ourselves and our group. Oh yeah, and make sure that everyone in our group thought we were as much fun as we did.
2 - Earn "street cred". Demonstrate hiking prowess and earn the respect of our group by flaunting our athletic abilities, stamina and outdoorsmanship. Or expert-looking outfits, pretty hair and fancy (matching) backpacks.
3 - Survive.
By lunch on day one, we were making solid progress on all 3 goals. We spent most of the day in the "chasing pack" of the group and got comments from our group members on how professional we looked in our outfits. Check.
Lunch on day one was AMAZING. Or maybe we were just starving by the time we got there. Either way, it was awesome. Our totally BA porters carried the food, the table, the stools, the equipment for cooking up the same mountain up which we carried our sorry selves. To say we were humbled would be quite an understatement.
After lunch we encountered some rockier terrain and several other hiking groups, but we kept traversing onward and upward (literally) and made it to camp ahead of schedule. And I smelled. The trail was hot and dusty and despite the dri-fit shirt and zip-off shorts, we were pretty sweaty. First order of business, wash up. Fortunately our totally BA porters had set up camp already and had bowls of warm water waiting for us when we arrived.
We then led group stretches and headed to happy hour, which consisted of coca tea, hot chocolate, popcorn and cookies. We had a great time chatting with our group members and snacking until dinner. We continued bonding with our group members over dinner and beyond, until bed time. Which was approximately 6:30pm. It was dark and quiet and we were tired, so at 6:30pm we brushed our teeth with bottled water, crawled into our tents and went to sleep.
Early the next morning (by early I mean CRACK of dawn, like 4:45am) we got up, did group stretching and began to prepare for the hard day.
To be continued...
Queenie, Fritha, Midori and I took "before" pictures as we began and set a few goals for the hike: 1 - Be "the fun girls". Take every advantage to have a blast, enjoy each other and keep up the spirits of ourselves and our group. Oh yeah, and make sure that everyone in our group thought we were as much fun as we did.
2 - Earn "street cred". Demonstrate hiking prowess and earn the respect of our group by flaunting our athletic abilities, stamina and outdoorsmanship. Or expert-looking outfits, pretty hair and fancy (matching) backpacks.
3 - Survive.
By lunch on day one, we were making solid progress on all 3 goals. We spent most of the day in the "chasing pack" of the group and got comments from our group members on how professional we looked in our outfits. Check.
Lunch on day one was AMAZING. Or maybe we were just starving by the time we got there. Either way, it was awesome. Our totally BA porters carried the food, the table, the stools, the equipment for cooking up the same mountain up which we carried our sorry selves. To say we were humbled would be quite an understatement.
After lunch we encountered some rockier terrain and several other hiking groups, but we kept traversing onward and upward (literally) and made it to camp ahead of schedule. And I smelled. The trail was hot and dusty and despite the dri-fit shirt and zip-off shorts, we were pretty sweaty. First order of business, wash up. Fortunately our totally BA porters had set up camp already and had bowls of warm water waiting for us when we arrived.
We then led group stretches and headed to happy hour, which consisted of coca tea, hot chocolate, popcorn and cookies. We had a great time chatting with our group members and snacking until dinner. We continued bonding with our group members over dinner and beyond, until bed time. Which was approximately 6:30pm. It was dark and quiet and we were tired, so at 6:30pm we brushed our teeth with bottled water, crawled into our tents and went to sleep.
Early the next morning (by early I mean CRACK of dawn, like 4:45am) we got up, did group stretching and began to prepare for the hard day.
To be continued...
Thursday, October 30, 2008
LLAMAS! Part #1
Now that I've been back in the States for about a month, I'm FINALLY posting about my trip to Peru.
The short version: it totally rocked! I highly recommend it!
The long version: We had the best time! Everything was stellar, from the first (of many) flights to the food to the trail guides to the llamas.
After a panic-inducing passport check on the way to the airport, Fritha and I left Seattle on an overnight flight and thanks to a tiring work week and some Valium, we arrived in Newark somewhat well-rested and PUMPED for our trip. Queenie and Midori arrived a couple of hours later and after hugs and squeals (we're such girls) we began the official wait for our flight to Lima. We bought journals, exchanged currency, ate lunch, browsed make-up and jewelry stores, contemplated pedicures, naps and made final phone calls. Then we got on the plane.
8 hours later, we arrived in (less than glamorous) Lima. We drank Pisco Sours and went to bed, got up early and went back to the airport. The Pisco Sours were the highlight.
Cusco, on the other hand was much better. We arrived to a chilly, clear, sunny morning with bright blue skies and big mountains. And thinner air. And we felt it as soon as we got off the airplane. That altitude thing was TOTALLY weird.
Arriving at our hotel (the Torre Dorada) we instantly fell in love: with our hotel, with Cusco and with Peggy, the hotel owner. She poured us some tea and sat down with us to go over our itinerary for the week while others carried our luggage upstairs for us. She showed us maps, gave us advice, booked us on a private tour of the Sacred Valley and basically rocked our faces off. After settling in, we headed into downtown for lunch and exploring. Between the altitude and the travel and the jetlag, we needed a nap after lunch, then headed back downtown for a lovely dinner and then early to bed. The next day we got up pretty early for delicious breakfast with Peggy, then off to the city! We saw the main square, did some shopping, visited a temple, saw llamas and really had a blast. Our definition of "blast" included caipirinhas and the best. guacamole. ever.
We went to bed early and got up pretty early the following day for our private tour of the Sacred Valley. Victor, our guide, drove us around and played classic american rock in the van. We hiked around some ruins at Pisac, guided by the lovely and talented Ruben, shopped at some markets, ate at a buffet lunch and got back to town in time for our orientation meeting for the hike.
Highlights: Kristin's nosebleed, alpaca petting zoo, good shopping, Ruben hit on Sara, Victor, "You guys know this music is in Spanish, right?"
After our tours, we arrived back in Cusco in time for our trial orientation meeting. Our orientation meeting was supposed to be informative and introductory. It turned out to be shocking and panic-inducing. Our guide comes in, introduces himself and says he has bad news. He proceeds to tell us that there are protests scheduled for the city the next day and we need to leave for the hike earlier than expected. Like that night. Like in 2 hours. We were not packed, had not showered and had not eaten dinner. Given that we'd be camping and hiking for the next 4 days, we desperately wanted hot water, good dinner and well-packed bags. But being the industrious adventurers we are, we made a plan and got it handled. We showered, packed, purchased and ate dinner, checked out of the hotel, said goodbye to Peggy and got to the hike bus early enough to play the name game with our group members before loading up.
A LONG bumpy ride later we arrived in the parking lot where we'd be spending that night. We got up the next morning, paid to use the bathroom, to which we brought our own water for brushing teeth, washing face, washing hands and flushing the toilet. Yes, we paid to use a toilet that required us to provide the water after sleeping in a tent in a parking lot.
Then we started hiking.
More on that later....
The short version: it totally rocked! I highly recommend it!
The long version: We had the best time! Everything was stellar, from the first (of many) flights to the food to the trail guides to the llamas.
After a panic-inducing passport check on the way to the airport, Fritha and I left Seattle on an overnight flight and thanks to a tiring work week and some Valium, we arrived in Newark somewhat well-rested and PUMPED for our trip. Queenie and Midori arrived a couple of hours later and after hugs and squeals (we're such girls) we began the official wait for our flight to Lima. We bought journals, exchanged currency, ate lunch, browsed make-up and jewelry stores, contemplated pedicures, naps and made final phone calls. Then we got on the plane.
8 hours later, we arrived in (less than glamorous) Lima. We drank Pisco Sours and went to bed, got up early and went back to the airport. The Pisco Sours were the highlight.
Cusco, on the other hand was much better. We arrived to a chilly, clear, sunny morning with bright blue skies and big mountains. And thinner air. And we felt it as soon as we got off the airplane. That altitude thing was TOTALLY weird.
Arriving at our hotel (the Torre Dorada) we instantly fell in love: with our hotel, with Cusco and with Peggy, the hotel owner. She poured us some tea and sat down with us to go over our itinerary for the week while others carried our luggage upstairs for us. She showed us maps, gave us advice, booked us on a private tour of the Sacred Valley and basically rocked our faces off. After settling in, we headed into downtown for lunch and exploring. Between the altitude and the travel and the jetlag, we needed a nap after lunch, then headed back downtown for a lovely dinner and then early to bed. The next day we got up pretty early for delicious breakfast with Peggy, then off to the city! We saw the main square, did some shopping, visited a temple, saw llamas and really had a blast. Our definition of "blast" included caipirinhas and the best. guacamole. ever.
We went to bed early and got up pretty early the following day for our private tour of the Sacred Valley. Victor, our guide, drove us around and played classic american rock in the van. We hiked around some ruins at Pisac, guided by the lovely and talented Ruben, shopped at some markets, ate at a buffet lunch and got back to town in time for our orientation meeting for the hike.
Highlights: Kristin's nosebleed, alpaca petting zoo, good shopping, Ruben hit on Sara, Victor, "You guys know this music is in Spanish, right?"
After our tours, we arrived back in Cusco in time for our trial orientation meeting. Our orientation meeting was supposed to be informative and introductory. It turned out to be shocking and panic-inducing. Our guide comes in, introduces himself and says he has bad news. He proceeds to tell us that there are protests scheduled for the city the next day and we need to leave for the hike earlier than expected. Like that night. Like in 2 hours. We were not packed, had not showered and had not eaten dinner. Given that we'd be camping and hiking for the next 4 days, we desperately wanted hot water, good dinner and well-packed bags. But being the industrious adventurers we are, we made a plan and got it handled. We showered, packed, purchased and ate dinner, checked out of the hotel, said goodbye to Peggy and got to the hike bus early enough to play the name game with our group members before loading up.
A LONG bumpy ride later we arrived in the parking lot where we'd be spending that night. We got up the next morning, paid to use the bathroom, to which we brought our own water for brushing teeth, washing face, washing hands and flushing the toilet. Yes, we paid to use a toilet that required us to provide the water after sleeping in a tent in a parking lot.
Then we started hiking.
More on that later....
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