Wrapping up sabbatical in Cusco

March 29, 2017

I spent the last few days of my sabbatical hanging out in Cusco eating delicious Peruvian food, buying plenty of souvenirs, and soaking up some more Incan history.

I arrived to Cusco from Machu Picchu around 9 PM, and got dropped off at my hostel, El Grial, in the San Blas neighborhood. I was dirty and exhausted, but decided to grab a quick bite next door at La Bo'M, which had delicious crepes. Then I proceeded to shower and sleep for 11 hours.

Day One

The next morning, I was in the mood for some American-style breakfast (so tired of bread and jam at this point!) so I had a delicious scramble at Jack's Cafe. From there I headed over to the San Pedro market, which is an interesting blend of local and tourist stands. They have lots of cheap food stands, as well as ones selling meats, cheeses, flowers, fresh juices and more. It's also the best place to pick up your cheap typical Peruvian souvenirs; you can get a llama sweater for $10 (which EVERY gringo in town was wearing), blankets, scarves, bags, hats, gloves...it was a bit overwhelming!

Did not bring any cheese home as a souvenir :(

After exploring the market for a bit, I joined a free walking tour. It had great reviews, but I thought it was just okay. After having been in Peru for nearly 3 weeks, I already knew a lot of the info he was sharing!

We met these alpacas on our tour, aka my spirit animals who love sitting around pigging out.

A highlight of the tour was meeting two nice American girls- one from San Francisco! We all enjoyed a late lunch (linner?) together at Morena, a spot they'd heard was good- and it was! Delicious and beautiful to boot.

Causita (little Causas) and ceviche at Morena, yum!

After saying goodbye to my new friends, I decided to get a massage. There are TONS of ladies offering massage in the streets, but I opted for a place that had good reviews on Trip Advisor called Anja. A little more pricey than the random street massage, but totally worth it.

On my way there, I'd noticed a sign at the Teatro Municipal advertising a free concert that evening. I didn't have any other plans, and the timing after my massage was perfect, so I got to check out a free concert from the Cusco Symphony Orchestra!

It was one of my favorite things I did in Cusco because it was one of the few things that didn't feel made for tourists; I was one of just a couple foreigners in the audience. The symphony played some classical music, and then some traditional Peruvian songs that the audience clapped along with.

After enjoying some music, I had a small late dinner at Pachapapa, near my hostel. Turns out my Canadian friends from Machu Picchu were right up the street at La Bo'M, so I popped in to say hello/goodbye to them.

Day Two

I decided that my second day in Cusco would be my main day to pick up some gifts for my family. I headed to the Center for Traditional Textiles, which was not a great place for me to pick up gifts because it's extremely expensive ($45 for a placemat!) but was still well worth the visit. They have a small exhibit on the history of textiles in the area, and weavers demonstrating the process. I love the bright colors and intricate designs of Peruvian textiles, and this was a great place to learn a little more and see the craft in action.

Exhibit showing traditional weaving. It's incredible the beautiful designs they create.

Weavers demonstrating the process for visitors.

I headed to the Artesanal market next, which was a more budget friendly place to do my shopping. The market had pretty much the same souvenirs for sale as the San Pedro market, at the same prices, so it wasn't really worth the trip out there. I was looking for a specific style of purse for my sister, which I'd seen in the San Francisco plaza the day before. I didn't see anything that fit exactly what I was looking for for her, so ended up trekking back to the other plaza to buy it. Way too many souvenir shopping options in Cusco!

After my shopping trip, I enjoyed some delicious seafood at Barrio Ceviche, a bright and western style restaurant in the main plaza. Even though Cusco isn't near the ocean, the fish there was fresh and flavorful. Fun fact: Peruvians don't eat ceviche after 4PM, because it should be made of super fresh fish (they also probably wouldn't eat it in Cusco at all, since it's far from the sea).

I figured I should probably visit a museum or two so I could say I saw something in Cusco other than just souvenirs! So I hit up the Museu Historico Regional. It was similar in many ways to the Larco museum that I'd visited in Lima, with a nice collection of pre-Incan pottery, and some gold, silver and shell artifacts as well. It was nicely organized with good information, and there were only a couple of other people there- which I always like in a museum!

Beautiful shell bracelet. Shells were considered more valuable than gold and silver to ancient Peruvian people.

I'd planned to hit up another museum, but on my way there it started pouring rain! I had my $1 plastic poncho, but it was raining too hard to even walk a few blocks without getting soaked. So, I ducked into Museo del Cafe for what has to be the lamest cup of tea I had in South America. It had one tiny leaf in it! But they had a fireplace, and I had a book, so it was a good place to chill out and wait for the rain to subside.

The rain drove everyone out of the main plaza and under cover, so it was a great time to grab a photo!

Maybe you should not order the tea at a coffee place.

By the time I finished my tea, the rain was starting to clear up, so I was able to walk to Museo del Pisco! I'm not sure if there actually is a museum section of the place, because I was mostly just interested in having a drink at the bar, a Pisco Spritz, yum! They also had a tapas menu that sounded good, but I was saving my appetite for dinner at Organika, a place recommended to me by the American girls.

A great place to spend time if the weather isn't so nice

Day Three

My last day in Cusco was also the final day of my sabbatical! Wahh! I spent the morning getting all my stuff packed, and somehow all my new purchases miraculously fit into my pack.

I got one last dose of Inca history at Qorikancha, which was the most important temple in the Inca empire. However, the Spanish destroyed much of it and turned it into a church, so today it's a mix of both parts of Peruvian history. I decided to "splurge" on a $10 guide to learn more, since I'd visited a lot of other Inca sites on my own. It was a really interesting place to see one of the best examples of Incan architecture; they reserved the highest quality building and stone cutting techniques for their religious sites, and the bricks are carved such that they interlock perfectly.

Incan stonework and symmetry- looking from one of the temples through to the others.

The Spanish destroyed most of the Incan walls and used the stones to build their church on top of the temple.

After the temple, I checked out a vegan restaurant called Green Point. They had a bargain $5 lunch deal that included a salad, soup, main, and dessert. It all tasted pretty good, but, as always with vegan food, I was still starving afterwards, so I also had one of their more filling smoothies.

I made one more stop by San Pedro market to buy some last souvenir gifts on my mind, and then made my FINAL FINAL stop to Incan stuff at the Museo Inka. The museum wasn't that great- it looked like it got the leftovers from the better museums, but it was an okay way to spend an hour before leaving for my flight.

The Incas didn't have a written language, but communicated important information with a system of knots like this one.

After that, it was time to say my goodbyes to Cusco...but not quite yet to Peru! I had a seven hour layover in Lima, so I stowed my bag in airport storage and took an hour-long taxi ride to Maras restaurant for a delicious dinner of grilled ceviche and pork cheeks with corn ravioli (plus a couple of pre-flight cocktails).

I returned to the airport nice and full and ready for my trip home.

So...I guess this is the unceremonious ending to my sabbatical blog! It was an unforgettable 3 months, and taking some time away from work, especially to travel, is something I'd recommend to anyone. Now I can start looking forward to my next trip!

Magnificent Machu Picchu

March 27, 2017

Not many people visit Peru without a visit to its #1 attraction: Machu Picchu! I knew I wanted to do a hike there, but timing-wise, it would have been difficult to do one of the 4 or 5 day treks. I also was not sure I wanted to camp and hike that many days in a row! So the 2 day/1 night option, where you hike part of the Inca trail and then sleep in a hotel seemed like a good compromise.

It was more difficult than I expected to find a trek going during the window of time that I needed. That's a downside of visiting in the low season, though the upside is you can book a few days in advance instead of months in advance! Alpaca Expeditions had a group going, so I was able to join them.

I stayed overnight in Ollantaytambo, which meant I got to be picked up at 5:45, instead of the 4 AM Cusco pickup. Hooray for "sleeping in!" We got on a train, and hopped off at Kilometer 104, which would be the start of our hike.

My group consisted of myself and two families, both with teenage kids. It was a great education on what it’s like to travel with teens (I think it requires a lot of patience :)! For the most part, everyone was well behaved (or just absorbed in their smart phones), but one of the families completely skipped the second day, where we visited Machu Picchu, because the kids didn’t want to wake up early! I ended up making great friends with the Canadian family, and now I have the offer of a place to stay if I ever visit Vancouver!

The Inca trail scenery was much more jungle-y than I expected. It was lush, humid, and there were tons of orchids and a couple waterfalls along the way.

Scenes from the trail (I actually dropped my phone right before this but my guide was able to retrieve it! Luckily I didn't drop off a steep mountainside)

After about 3 hours, we reached some ruins known as Wiñaywayna or “Forever Young,” featuring the terracing and stone houses that I’ve become quite familiar with after a few days in the sacred valley.

We had lunch nearby, at a camp set up for those doing the longer trek. The lunch was prepared by chefs in a tent, and was amazing- those guys can cook better in the middle of nowhere than I can at home!

After lunch, we encountered rain for about 30 minutes. My worst nightmare was that it would rain the whole time and I’d be miserable. I even bought (cheap) pants and a jacket just in case, but all I ended up needing was my $1 poncho. Luckily the rain stopped pretty quickly and we enjoyed dry weather for the rest of our hike.

After hiking a couple more hours after lunch, we reached the Sun Gate! This is where we got our first glimpse at Machu Picchu from afar. After doing just a short part of the Inca trail there, it was incredible to see the ancient city nestled in the middle of the mountains- its truly incredible that they managed to build it there!

Yay we made it, and had to take a picture with our company's sign to commemorate the ccasion. (That one kid totally ruined this photo)

We took some photos, and then headed down for a closer look at Machu Picchu. We didn’t go into the city (that would have to wait until tomorrow), but got a lot of great pictures from nearby. The ruins were almost empty at that hour, about 4 PM, so we were able to not have 500 tourists in the background of our photos.

Worn out from our early wakeup call and 8 hours of hiking, we headed down to Aguas Cliente, aka Machu Picchu Pueblo, to check in to our hotels and enjoy some dinner. I have to say, I was pretty content with the hotel option and happy not to be sleeping in a tent!

The next day it was another early wakeup call- we met up at 5AM to catch an early bus up to Machu Picchu. Our guide was the last one to show- after 5:30, and seemed a biiiit hungover from the night before. There was a big Peru vs. Venezuela football match on, and he seems like he enjoyed himself watching it! When we arrived, he gave us a 2 hour tour of the site (still good, whether he was hungover or not). I thought the benefit of going early would be to visit when it was relatively empty, but there were TONS of other groups there. It didn’t bother me too much, you kind of have to expect that at one of the world’s top tourist attractions.

What I loved about being there so early was the morning mist and clouds on the mountains- it made the whole place feel more magical and mysterious.

After the tour, my Canadian friends left to relax back at their hotel, but I’d signed up to hike Machu Picchu mountain. It’s not as popular as Wayna Picchu (the big mountain you can see behind the ruins in all the photos) but I’d heard that one is not good for people who afraid of heights, so I went for the less scary option.

The hike was not that impressive to me. It was all stairs, for an hour and a half up, and an hour down. The scenery along the way was not that different from the Inca trail, and the view from the top was nice, but not all that different from what we saw at the Sun Gate. The trekking company I used charged $75 for the ticket to the mountain (the actual price is only $15, so I wasn’t thrilled about the markup, but it was the only way to buy it)….and I don’t think it was worth the price! For someone who hadn’t hiked the Inca trail, maybe it would have been more rewarding.

Didn't enjoy the hike that much, but still took a pic at the top!

After hiking the mountain, I had to meet my guide at 1:00 in town, so I grabbed some quick lunch to go and found him. I was really annoyed to learn that a) my train back to Ollaytaytambo was not until 4:30 and b) everyone else in the group was on an earlier train. NOT COOL, since there is literally nothing to do but buy stupid souvenirs in Aguas Caliente.

I ended up meeting the Canadians at their hotel, where they had a nice free lunch buffet, and ate a second lunch. Then I just sat in their hotel lobby and used the Wifi to do some Cusco research.

I paid extra to upgrade to the "Vistadome" train, which was not worth it. The regular train cars have windows on the roof too and the extra money doesn't buy you much. However, in Vistadome we were treated to a small pizza snack, and some kind of local dance/costume which was terrifying:

It's easy to see why Machu Picchu is one of the wonders of the world and attracts thousands of visitors a year!

Exploring the Sacred Valley: Salineras, Moray, & Ollantaytambo

March 26, 2017

The Sacred Valley is filled with interesting Incan sites to discover. Two of the ones on my list were in Maras: Moray and Salineras. Maras is sort of, maybe, not quite, in between Pisac and Ollantaytambo. I thought it'd be easy to find a tour that would take me to these sites, but ALL the tours begin and end in Cusco, after visiting the sites for a few hours. So instead, Janny (from my hotel) helped me hire a taxi that would pick me up in Pisac, take me to visit the sites, and then drop me in Ollantaytambo, where I had a hotel booked for the next night for about $50. It would have been nice to have a guide, but luckily there is Wikipedia, so I read up before visiting!

First stop was Salineras, which consists of 3,000 salt pools that have been in use at least since Incan days. The pools are fed from a natural warm salty spring, which flows through manmade channels and is directed into shallow pools. Then the water channel is blocked so the water in the pool can evaporate, and then locals harvest the salt. Each pool is owned by a different family, and it's all organized by the community.

It was really impressive to see how ingeniously the Incan people set up a system to harvest salt. These days we are pretty spoiled by just going to the grocery store!

Next up were the Incan terraces at Moray. Historians don’t know exactly what these terraces were used for, but the commonly accepted explanation is that they were a laboratory of sorts for testing crops at different climates/elevations: Wikipedia tells me the the difference between the top and bottom is as much as 27 °F (but you’re not allowed to go to the bottom).

There is one that is very well restored and maintained in the photo above, and two others that have not been extensively restored, giving you an idea for what they may have looked like when discovered (they were also probably covered in vegetation).

One of the less well restored terraces, with mountain views!

After checking out Moray, I got dropped off in Ollantaytambo at my hotel, La Casa del Abuelo. Ollantaytambo has been continually inhabited since the Inca days, and many of the streets and buildings date back to that time. Unfortunately a lot of the charm is lost due to a very touristy center, but if you wander slightly away from the main plaza you can stroll peacefully and pretend you're an Inca (or just appreciate the absence of souvenir shops).

That evening I had dinner at La Esquina, where I had an AMAZING salad and some really not amazing carrot cake, then I went back to my hotel which had strong Wifi (so rare) and watched a little Netflix for the first time during my trip!

The following day, I woke up pretty early, and headed to the ruins which were less than a 5 minute walk from my hotel. My plan was to hire a guide there, since I was told that there are usually a bunch of guides for hire hanging around the entrance. Unfortunately, it was international water day, and there was a little celebration going on, so none of the guides were there! I was a little disappointed, but one of the ticket checkers gave me a short overview in Spanish, and I had the site map with a bit of information. There were a lot of tours there, and I thought about asking to join one, but they were all really old people who could barely climb the stairs (no offense to old people), so I ditched that idea and just gave myself a tour.

The ruins are best known as the site of one of the few Inca victories against the Spaniards. They managed to hold back the conquistadors, and flooded the area below, stopping their advance. The victory was short-lived, thought, and Ollantaytambo was soon captured by the Spanish.

It was only about 10:30 when I finished up at the ruins, so I decided to do a short hike before lunch, up to some...you guessed it....RUINS!

Final destination (as seen from the top of the other ruins)

The Pinkuylluna ruins/houses up on the hill were used as storehouses. I have no idea why the Incas would have stored stuff in such a difficult to reach location, but it was a nice way to get some exercise and also offered great views of Ollantaytambo.

Following the hike, I enjoyed another salad at Hearts Cafe, and then I was kind of out of stuff to do, since the only other activities there are more, longer hikes. I ended up going to a cafe near my hotel where I had a tea and a cookie and read a book. Then I just walked around some more, watched some more Netflix, and started getting packed for my trip to Machu Picchu.

Overall I think I spent a bit too much time in Ollantaytambo, but I liked the experience of staying longer in the Sacred Valley villages than most people do. Now that I am in Cusco and I see how hectic it is, it was nice to have a couple of relaxing days and get in some day hikes.

I was really glad I stayed overnight in Ollantaytambo the day before my Machu Picchu trek, because it allowed me to get a lot more sleep than if I'd left from Cusco. You can read about my visit to Machu Picchu soon!

Exploring the Sacred Valley: Pisac edition

March 21, 2017

The last leg of my trip is upon me! The Cusco area is where I'll be spending my last week of sabbatical. I took the night bus from Puno to Cusco, but decided to head straight to the Sacred Valley, in order to take my time exploring the sights and villages there. The Sacred Valley is about an hour or so from Cusco, and has beautiful scenery and plenty of ruins to explore. It's most common to take day trips from Cusco to visit the sights, but I thought it'd be nice to stay overnight in a couple different places to get a better feel for it.

Stunning Sacred Valley! (not taken at 6 AM)

I hoped in a taxi to Pisac, and arrived to Hospedaje Kitamayu at about 6 AM. The delightful owner, Janny, greeted me with tea, and had a room ready to go, so I promptly got into bed and slept for a couple more hours. I woke up nice and refreshed and enjoyed a breakfast of scrambled eggs- a rare treat in Peru where breakfast is usually just bread and jam. Then I set out to see the main attraction, the Incan ruins.

The ruins cover a lot of area on a mountain, and usually you can either hike all the way up/down them. However, right now the middle section of the trail is closed, so the choices were to take a taxi to the top and hike down a bit, or to hike up from the bottom; the latter is what Janny recommended to me. Of course, I started off the hike by going the wrong way for about 20 minutes. A local guy was walking along the path, and helped me find my way back to where the trail ACTUALLY started. I seriously should not be allowed to hike on my own, I get lost EVERY TIME.

The trek takes you up a mountain with some beautiful views, and the opportunity to see some Incan agricultural terraces. Along the way, there are various ruins that you can explore.

Incan terracing near the beginning of the hike

When I reached the last hike-able part of the trek, I met a German couple who had come down from the top. They told me there was an alternate trail and pointed it out, so I started hiking on it hoping to make it to the top of the ruins. But….the trail just looped back on itself and brought me right back to where I’d met the Germans. Grrrr!

I was kind of disappointed (and tired from now having hiked even more uphill), but all things happen for a reason! When I got back to ruins where I met the Germans, I was surprised to run into one of my friends from Spanish school in Medellin! He was there with his girlfriend, and we ended up making plans to have dinner together that evening, which was a great time.

After my hike, I enjoyed some lunch at Mullu in the town square, and visited the Pisac market. The market essentially takes up the entire town square, and is filled with typical Peruvian handicrafts and souvenirs. It was very touristy, but I love Peruvian textiles and the prices were pretty good, so I left with quite a few things!

The next day I didn’t do much in the morning. I was starting to get worried about my lack of waterproof clothing and the high chance of rain predicted on my upcoming 2-Day Inca trek, so I ended up buying some gear from some local shops in Pisac. I picked up a pair of pants and a Colombia knock-off jacket for a total of $34: a low price to pay for peace of mind knowing I’ll be dry on the trail. Well, unless my cheap crappy clothes are not in fact waterproof!

That afternoon, I continued by Sacred Valley trip by checking out more Incan history at Moray and Salineras de Maras on my way to Ollantaytambo. More to report on that soon!

Floating around Lake Titicaca

March 19, 2017

Hello from the highest altitude lake in the world! I am currently at a homestay in Lago Titicaca. Without Wifi, of course (or electricity, or running water for that matter), so I’ll post this when I get back to dry land.

Today we arrived in Puno a few hours behind schedule, due to our bus being delayed by the flooding in Lima and the central coast. Most of the people on the Peru Hop bus are staying in Puno and down a day tour on Lake Titicaca, but I thought it could be an interesting experience to stay on an island on the lake. Some people I met in Arequipa mentioned an amazing experience they had at a lodge here, but it was all full (and very expensive) when I tried to book it, so I found a somewhat random alternative on hotels.com: Titikala Uros.

I booked my stay online, but the lodge doesn’t have a website or email address, so I had my hotel in Arequipa call them to figure out the details. I wasn’t quite sure it would work out, but here I am! I waited around in Puno for a while until Hernan, who seems to be running the show, came to pick me up and take me to the island. On the way to the boat, we walked through a huge street market. Once a week, on Saturdays, lots of people come from islands and villages to do their shopping in the streets of Puno. You can buy shoes, school supplies, food, and even chickens! (I did not buy any chickens)

After our brief stroll through town, we got into a small motor boat for a very chilly ~20 minute ride to Uros, accompanied by an English-speaking guide/native of the islands (I forgot her name, but I think it was something like Sintra). The Uros islands are manmade with reeds that grow in Lake Titicaca. There are about 90 (I think) small islands, with a few families living in small huts on each one. The little island I’m staying on is called Santa Maria, and I think it's one mainly for tourist purposes.

I am a little confused about how this experience is supposed to be working- I think the family was supposed to be here when I arrived, but there was an important meeting of some kind in Puno for the islanders, so it was just Hernan, Sintra and myself when we got here. Sintra suited me up in some traditional clothes, which are in fact very warm, and then Hernan took me on a kayak ride around some of the islands. The lake was really peaceful and it was an interesting way to see things!

When we got back, it was dark, and the solar-powered electricity was not working! So I helped Sintra, mostly in the dark, cut up some things for dinner. Sintra told me that the lodge was created to help the local families earn money, and they rotate which family tourists stay with when they visit. So when the “family” arrived back, I was a little confused as to whether they always live on this island, or just come here to visit with tourists. I may never know! I also put family in quotations, because there are two older women and one middle aged man, and I don’t think they are related to one another. So maybe it’s just a random group of locals assembled to entertain me?

Anyhow, once the family arrived, Sintra and Hernan left, so it was me, my lousy Spanish and three islanders! The Uros people mostly speak a local language called Aymara, but they also speak some Spanish. I exhausted all my Spanish pretty quickly and they didn’t really ask me many questions, so dinner was a little awkward. It feels kind of like I’ve paid some people to hang out with me/to intrude on their lives. They also served me so much rice and french fries at dinner and I felt like I had to eat it all even though it was way too much food! Carbo loading continues!

Home sweet hut (taken the next morning when it was less cold)

So now I am in my room: a small but nice hut, and it is FREEZING. I’m wearing two pairs of pants, a shirt, sweater, jacket, and another jacket, and a hat, and have 3 blankets on me. I am also strategizing how I’m going to wash my face using only bottled water.

I realize I probably sound kind of negative about the experience, but temperature and awkwardness aside, it is really interesting to actually see more close up how people live on the islands and to have the opportunity to observe some of their day to day. I think if I were to do it again, I would have organized my plan a little earlier so I could stay at a homestay that’s a bit more established and well recommended. But for now I am going to enjoy living/freezing like a local.

Back on dry land now- the next day I woke up, and enjoyed a huge amount of bread for breakfast (seriously, I can't eat any more bread). Then, the tourist boats started rolling in! That made me really glad that I visited the islands in the evening and stayed overnight to experience them in a much more peaceful way.

I hoped aboard their boat in Uros, and we sailed about 2 hours to Isla Taquile, which is natural (not man-made like Uros) and where the people still practice a very traditional lifestyle. We snapped some photos at the beach and then walked about 40 minutes to a part of the island where people live.

Textiles are huge in Taquile, and these crafts were recognized by UNESCO in 2005. The men all do knitting, and the women weaving, and they have different hats and clothing to indicate whether you're married or single. Their weaving is really beautiful, intricate and colorful- you can see some of it in this photo, where they're doing some traditional music and dance.

Following the explanation, we had some tasty lunch of fresh trout from the lake, and then headed back to our boat for the trip back to Puno, during which I took a great nap.

Overall I thought the islands were a worthwhile stop on the way to Cusco- and now I can say I've been to Lake Titicaca, the highest, and most ridiculously named lake in the world!

Trekking the Colca Canyon

March 19, 2017

One of the key reasons to visit Arequipa is to visit the Colca Canyon. The Colca Canyon is one of the deepest in the world. I’ve heard some conflicting stats- either that it’s the second or third largest. In either case, it’s super deep: twice as deep as the Grand Canyon.

There are a few different ways you can see it depending on how much time you have and your appetite for hiking, so I opted for a three-day trek. The bus picked us up at 3 AM for a four hour drive to the start of the hike. Along the way, we stopped for breakfast (it was lame- just bread and jam in a freezing restaurant) and at a viewpoint where you’re supposed to be able to see condors, but we didn’t glimpse any. It still offered some great views though.

At about 8:30, we got going on the trail. Our group had eight people in total. Myself, Trace (a girl I met on the Peru Hop bus), a Belgian couple, an Australian couple, a guy from the states named Jason, and our guide, Giancarlo. Giancarlo decided that our group would be called The Pumas, and our catchphrase was “Hakuna Matata.”

The first day we just walked down, down, down for about 3.5 or 4 hours. I thought going downhill was easy, but it was actually pretty rough on my butt!

We hiked allll the way down to the river in the middle of this photo

Once we reached near the bottom of the canyon, we stopped at Familia Gloria, our rustic homestay for the night.

We were all pretty hungry for lunch, which unfortunately turned out to be a pretty small portion of lomo saltado. For the rest of the afternoon we just chilled out- figuratively and literally- it was really cold down there! There was of course no Wifi or TV or anything, but luckily someone brought a pack of cards so we played a few rounds to kill time. Dinner was a small vegetarian meal, so we all went to bed a bit hungry :( Breakfast was a little more filling, and much cuter:

The next day was another 3.5 hour hike to “The Oasis” - it was more of a mix of uphill/downhill and flat, and we started at 8:30, not 3 AM, so I was in much better spirits! The Oasis is truly that, a small lodge with green grass, fruit trees, and even a pool! It wasn’t super warm, but we all jumped in anyway to celebrate making it to the bottom of the canyon (and, at least for me, to wash the sweat and dirt off myself!).

For those that do the trek in two days, they walk all the way to The Oasis in one day; I was really glad I’d opted to do the longer, slower version of the trek. The lunch portions were similarly small, but at this point we’d come to have lower expectations for the food on this trip. After lunch some of the guys played soccer, I read a book, and then took what ended up being a super long nap! The Oasis had some games, so we played a little Jenga. Then our guide Giancarlo but on some Peruvian music and taught us a dance, which seemed to mostly consist of jogging in place with an occasional kick. It got our heart rates up, that’s for sure!

For dinner, we finally had a big plate of pasta to prepare us for the hardest part of the trek the next day! We started the hike at 4:30 AM, and it was 3 hours of an unrelenting uphill climb. We all took it at our own pace, and even though I was one of the slower hikers, I finally made it to the top, with the help of some podcasts on my cell phone to distract me. Once we reached the top of the canyon, it was another 30 minutes of walking on flat ground to our breakfast destination (yes, we did that whole hike BEFORE breakfast, but don’t worry we all had snacks).

After a hearty (well, for Peru) breakfast, we hopped on a bus back to Arequipa. We stopped along the way at a restaurant with a lunch buffet. The guys in the group went crazy eating everything they could after our meager meals over the last few days. I took it a little easier than they did :)

After lunch we stopped at some hot spring pools, which felt AMAZING after three long days of hiking. I didn’t feel sore the next day, and I definitely credit the pools for that!

The hike was challenging at times, especially with the early wakeup times, but it was definitely one of the highlights of my trip so far. The views were amazing, I got to push myself physically, and I loved the people in my group. There’s nothing like accomplishing something together, and a lack of technology, to bond with new people. I had a great time getting to know them, and we all hung out again once back to civilization.

Back in Arequipa, Trace and I shared a hotel room back at Casa de Avila, where I enjoyed the longest shower ever, and then we treated ourselves to a nice Italian meal before collapsing to bed after our big hike!

Arequipa: The White City

March 19, 2017

Greetings from the Peru Hop bus (actually not really that’s just where I drafted this)! We are in the middle of our journey between Arequipa and Puno, slightly delayed because there is currently massive flooding in the north of Peru, where our bus came from. Luckily, it’s been a smooth ride so far.

I spent a total of five nights in Arequipa, a beautiful city that also serves as the base for visiting the Colca Canyon. The first day, our bus arrived at about 4:45AM from Huacachina, and I paid my hotel $10 extra to be able to check in early: money well spent! I was able to go back to bed for a few hours, and wake up rested and ready for some sightseeing. I stayed at Casa de Avila, a pretty reasonably priced place with AMAZING service. Shoutout to the night receptionist, Juan, who made our stay extra pleasant.

After catching some more shut-eye, I went on a free walking tour, where our hilarious guide Karo told us more about this history of the place and we got to see some of the highlights. Arequipa is known as “the white city” for two reasons: first for the stone that their most prominent buildings are made from, and also, Karo told us, because the people are have more white skin due to intermarriage between hispanic and indigenous people.

After the tour, I went to lunch with Allana, another American girl who I met on the Peru Hop bus. We went to a “picanteria” called La Mundial, a local eatery where we enjoyed some HUGE portions of potatoes and rocoto relleno, a stuffed pepper

One of the most popular local goods in Arequipa are alpaca sweaters, hats, blankets, and more. So we went on a short walk to Mundo Alpaca, a store recommended by our guide to find authentic and good quality baby alpaca items. Baby alpaca wool doesn’t actually come from baby animals, but rather refers to the wool from the first shave- it’s extra soft, and very expensive! I was in the market for a hat to wear on my trek, and a baby alpaca one would have cost me about $60. Instead I bought something lower quality and cheaper in a less nice shop in town.

It started thunder-storming during our shopping trip, so we quickly walked back to our hotel, where we’d booked a cooking class. The class was led by another woman with a great sense of humor, and we learned how to make causa, a potato and chicken salad tower, and lomo salted, beef cooked in pisco and soy sauce with onions and tomatoes, served with rice and fries (Peruvians know how to carbo-load!)

Then it was off to bed early because we both had a 2:30 AM wakeup call for tours to the Colca Canyon. Read about my three-day trek HERE. I’m going to keep all the Arequipa info in one place, instead of being chronological, since I’m writing this all after the fact anyway!

After returning from the Colca Canyon trek in the evening, I took the longest shower ever, and Trace (my friend from Peru Hop and the trek) and I went to an Italian restaurant, Il Fornellino to treat ourselves to lasagna, cake, and a tasty bottle of Peruvian Malbec (I didn’t know they made wine in Peru!)

The next day, I needed to do some planning for the last week or so of my sabbatical (WHAT? How am I already in my last days??), so I set up camp in an amazing coffee shop called Palacios Coffee a short walk from my hotel. While enjoying an iced mocha I figured out an itinerary and lodging for my time in Cusco and the Sacred Valley.

Trace did the walking tour that morning, so we met up afterwards and visited the Santa Catalina monastery, a huge monastery in the center of Arequipa. We opted to pay an extra $3 each for a guided tour, which was WELL worth the cost. Our tiny guide Susy took us around for about an hour, and explained the history of the convent, which dates back to the 16th century.

I was surprised to learn that it was common for upper class families to send their second daughter to become nuns, and that there was even a social hierarchy among the nuns based on how wealthy their families were. The families paid for small apartments to be built for their daughters, so the more wealthy the family, the sweeter the apartment and they even had servants to do the dirty work for them!

The monastery is still functioning today, but nuns have to practice a more austere lifestyle, without big private apartments or servants, and visitors aren’t allowed in the part where nuns are actively nun-ing.

We enjoyed some lunch at Crepisimo, a crepes place, continuing my trend of eating mostly non-Peruvian foods in Arequipa. There, we met up with some of the other people from our trekking group, and made a plan to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day that evening.

I headed over to the market, which we first visited on the free walking tour. It’s relatively small for a marketplace, but well organized, with different sections ranging from fruits to hats to herbal remedies and even things like llama fetuses for practicing certain rituals.

I wasn’t in the market for any llama fetuses, but wanted to return to try some fresh made juice- I had a smoothie made of strawberry, passion fruit, mango, and orange juice. YUM!

Like good foreigners, we put on our green clothes to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day at a hostel called Wild Rover, a chain famous for its party scene. They didn’t disappoint! They had a cover band playing American songs, the bar tenders were dressed all in green, and they even had a bunch of festive accessories and face painting. They also had Guinness, but it was $7 a can, super steep for Peru, so we stuck with the local beer. It was really fun to get our little hiking group back together and hang out for one last time before we had to go our separate ways.

The next morning, some of us, including me, boarded the bus to Puno, which is where I’m headed now, to explore Lake Titicaca for a day, and then onwards to Cusco!

Hopping around Peru: Paracas, Huacachina and Nazca

March 19, 2017

To get from Lima to Cusco, I boarded the Peru Hop bus, which makes a bunch of stops along the way, and you can stay as may or as few nights in each place as you want. First stop: Paracas. Well, actual first stop, an old mansion somewhere on the way to Paracas. What is now a beautiful hotel used to be a plantation home which had secret slave tunnels for sneaking slaves into the house without paying taxes on them. We got to walk down in the tunnels, and at one point all turned off our flashlights to feel what it would have been like to try to navigate the tunnels as a slave. Unpleasant, needless to say.

Paracas is a small beachside town without much going on besides a bustling tourism industry based on the nearby Ballenas islands and sand dunes. The first day we arrived, I had "lunch" (I guess that's what you call it at 4 PM) with some people from the group and then stretched my legs with a walk along the beach after sitting in the bus for almost 11 hours.

I stayed at the Kokopeli hostel, and have no idea why I booked it because I imagine the reviews I would have read would have mentioned that it was a total party place. They had a loud party going on until about 4 AM, so I didn't sleep very well that night! The next morning, we boarded a boat to visit "the poor man's Galapagos" - the Ballenas islands.

The islands are famous for being covered in bird poop, which is apparently so valuable there was actually a war over it! Today, small boats take tourists there to see the birds and sea lions. We were lucky to visit during summer, when the sea lions have their babies- we passed by one beach that was completely covered in sea lion moms and pups. So cool! The island are also supposed to have penguins, our guide pointed one out, but I'm not totally convinced it was a penguin.

It's impossible to tell, but the beach is covered with sea lions

After the boat tour, we hopped back on the bus for a short tour of the Paracas National Reserve. I had no idea what to expect from the reserve, but was surprised to see it was a really striking landscape where the desert meets the ocean.

After snapping all of our photos, we carried on to Huacahina, just an hour or two from Paracas. Huacahina is a little oasis town in the middle of the desert. Like Paracas, it felt a bit just built around tourism, which isn't my favorite atmosphere. The main tourist activity there: riding a dune buggy to go sandboarding! I'm pretty much just signing up for all the activities offered (especially since they're usually $15 or less), so joined up on this tour as well, once again not really knowing what I was in store for.

The dune buggies are TERRIFYING. Or really fun if you love feeling like you're going to die in a desert car crash at any minute. It's like a roller coaster, but in an open dune buggy. The drivers, who I can only hope are experienced, drive like maniacs, racing up and down hills and skidding to a stop inches from selfie-snapping tourists.

Once we reached our destination, it was time for sandboarding. Well, it was time for that for everyone but me because I'm a chicken. Sandboarding is kind of like sledding, but in the sand. Most people go down on their stomachs because it's too dangerous for novices to go down standing up, except on the smallest of the hills. I pretty quickly remembered that I hate going fast down things, so instead volunteered to take everyone else's photos. No regrets! Check out one of the girls from my group:

After the main event of sandboarding, we had a crazy drive up to a quiet spot to watch the sun set and take some epic photos.

It was actually super windy, that's why my hood is blowing over my face

That night I stayed slightly off the main tourist drag at a place called the Upcycled Hostel. It wasn't one of the partner hostels of Peru Hop, which I actually really enjoyed. It was nice to get away from the group for a little bit and meet some other travelers. The owner of the hostel was amazing- he chatted us up and made us feel at home. Plus I had a super comfortable room, so I made up for the bad sleep the night before!

The next morning it was up early again to check out the famous and mysterious Nazca Lines. The lines were made by a pre-Incan society, but nobody has definitively discovered their purpose or how they were made, as they can only really be seen from the sky. Peru Hop doesn't officially go there, but they helped some of us set up the tour. I took the local bus with 3 other gals about 3 hours to Nazca, where the small airline picked us up.

We arrived at a tiny airport, which only serves the purpose of flying tourists over the site in teeny tiny planes. First we all had to get weighed- which I don't recommend after two months of eating indulgently every day. Then we went through "security" and boarded the six-seater plane (plus two seats for the pilots).

The planes fly at a fairly low altitude over the lines, and to give you a view of them, they basically tilt at 90 degrees so that your window is looking directly over the lines. Even though I knew that it was probably safe, when your plane is parallel to the earth, you can't help but feel like it's going to crash. So once again, TERRIFYING. It's really common for people to be sick on these rides, luckily I held in my breakfast, but one guy did throw up on my flight. After this and the dune buggy ride, I think I've had my fill of adrenaline for the month!

A heavily edited photo of the Nazca lines so you can see them more easily. In real life, they're very faint and tricky to spot.

After the Nazca lines trip, we still had a good six hours to kill before the bus swung through to pick us up, so we went to one of the tourist offices to see what we could do to kill time. We ended up going on a tour to the Chauchilla cemetery, about a 30 minutes' drive from Nazca.

There are about a dozen graves from the pre-Incan peoples, with some fairly well preserved bodies (mummy feet, eeek!) Grave robbers have stolen most of the items of value, and also scattered bones around the site. What was insane to me was that the graves were completely open without any security. I guess maybe the bodies aren't very valuable? But I think something like that in the states would be a little more closely watched....if any of us had wanted to we could have easily climbed into the graves and taken stuff out! It was also really strange to me that they left the site littered with bones. There was just a random femur sticking up near the path in one section.

After the cemetery visit, we made a couple of short and interesting stops to learn about traditional ways of making pottery and textiles. I think they take us there to buy stuff, and we did buy stuff, so, I guess it worked out for everyone!

Dude has been making pottery his entire life

At about 7 PM, the Peru Hop bus swung through Nazca, and we hopped on for an overnight trip to Arequipa, which is where I'm writing this post!

Lima in a day

March 10, 2017

My introduction to Lima was a terrible traffic jam from the airport! I thought Bay Area traffic was bad, but this was about 10 PM, and the traffic was so stopped that my driver just turned off the car. We finally got moving, and I made it to my hostel, Miraflores House, which is run by the friendly and enthusiastic Francis. I headed straight for bed, but the next morning he spent a good 30 minutes with me going over the sights and tons of amazing restaurants.

He also explained to me the taxi system there, which is basically as follows: There is no meter. Ask the first taxi for the price, they will quote you an extremely high price because they see your blonde hair and therefore think you’re a millionaire. Make a big NO sign with your hands, and go to the second taxi in the line. That guy will also give you a way-too-high price. Wave NO again, and go to the third taxi who will by now see you know what you’re doing and give you the normal price.

Oh hi there would you like to get ripped off?

That all sounded a little too challenging, so instead I just called an Uber to take me to the historic center :) I put in the Gold Museum as my destination and after a 40 minute ride in a 90 degree, high humidity, no air-conditioned taxi (yes, I called an Uber, which ended up being a taxi….) we pulled up to….definitely NOT the historic center. Apparently there are two gold museums and I’d put in the wrong one. So, the guy agreed to take me to the town center for a fairly high price, but I didn’t exactly have a lot of options. So another 45 minutes of hot, sticky taxi ensued.

When I finally got to the town center I was sweaty and cranky, but it did feel pretty good to get out of that cab. I strolled around a little bit until it was time to see the changing of the guards in front of the presidential palace. The ceremony is accompanied by a great marching band, so that was pretty fun to watch.

After watching the band play, I went to get some lunch at a restaurant recommended by Francis. I had a tasty ceviche, and then did a little more uninformed sightseeing in the center. Then it was time to try my taxi negotiation skills to get to a museum on the other side of town. It didn’t quite work as described, and I think I still got ripped off, but at least getting ripped off in Peru only costs you about $3.

The Larco museum houses a nice and well-explained collection of pre-Incan artifacts, including a whole exhibit of “erotic pottery” (definitely for adult eyes only!). The building is also a beautiful little oasis from the chaos of Lima. After the museum I headed back to the hotel to rest a bit before the main event of the day- dinner at Central.

Central is one of the top restaurants in the whole world, and probably the best one in Peru (though that’s very subjective of course!) It’s usually recommended to book weeks in advance, but I put myself on the waiting list and got a table for one. Score! The theme of their tasting menu is altitudes, since Peru has such diverse altitudes from sea level to towering mountains. I enjoyed 17 small tastes from different regions of Peru, each with its own poetic description like “Forest Cotton” or “Marine Soil.” Each course had vibrant flavors and interesting textures, and was a very cool way to sample (a high end interpretation of) Peruvian cuisine. I actually enjoyed having that dining experience on my own (and without any cell phone/wifi) because I was able to totally focus on the experience of the food. It may have cost more than a week’s lodging in hostels, but well worth it, I think :)

My Lima writeup would not be complete without sharing one of the highlights- the AMAZING GROCERY STORE. The grocery store had a huge selection of gourmet greek yogurt, and American delicacies such as peanut butter and Ritz crackers. I was extremely excited to stock up on some snacks for the next few days.

I'm sure the chefs at Central would be horrified by this photo

The next day it was up early for the next leg of my trip. I can’t say I left feeling much love for Lima. The food is great, but it’s hot, crowded, ugly, and the traffic is terrible. I was glad that I only spent one day there, and glad that I don’t have to return (except to fly out of the airport). Next up, I am trying something different on the Peru Hop bus.

Planning three months of travel is a lot- think about how much planning you do for a week’s vacation, and multiply that by 12! The Peru Hop bus seemed like a good way to see a lot of the places I want to see without having to figure out all of the details. The idea is similar to those hop-on-hop-off busses in big cities, but you can hop on and off in different towns on the way to Cusco (from Lima). They suggest how long to stay in places, but if you want to stay longer, the choice is yours. They also can help you with booking hostels and activities along the way. The reviews I read also said that it’s a great way to meet other solo travelers!

I just wrapped up my first day on the bus and so far so good. It’s definitely a very different style of travel to get used to. Even though it’s a lot of work, there’s a certain amount of pride in figuring things out for yourself. On the bus everything is as simple as “Want to do this activity? Okay just sign up and meet at the designated time.” I’ll still have a week in the Cusco area to plan on my own, so I think I should let myself just sit back, relax, and enjoy someone else taking care of this leg of the trip!

Welcome to my blog!

South America...and beyond!

In early 2017, I took a 3 month sabbatical from work to travel in South America, and blogged about it along the way. Since then, I’ve taken a few more noteworthy trips, and am sharing my experiences with you here!

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