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Day 3: Rafting and Hiking in Manuel Antonio

2007-07-14T16:11:00.000-07:00

Today, we had the most amazing time on our rafting trip with Iguana Tours. This rafting trip started out like previous rafting trips, they come to your hotel early in the morning to pick you up, then drive you out into the middle of nowhere, throw some boats in the water and you´re on your way.

Except, today was more fun than previous rafting trips because it was in one word, exciting. Today´s rapids were a little larger and faster moving than normal due to all the rain in the area. As a result, two of our fellow rafters were thrown from the boat within the first two minutes.

Within the first ten minutes, another boat within our party, filled with a Dutch family capsized, throwing everyone including the guide overboard. Within seconds the guide had reoriented his boat and was back aboard. It was amazing to watch him pull each passenger back aboard.

Minutes later, another raft from our party managed to throw two more rafters overboard, we were fortunate enough to be near her and I was the hero who pulled one of the two girls out onto our boat.

Alin and I were having a blast with all this mayhem. Our guides spent a great deal of time in the beginning telling us what to do in various scenarios and tried to temper fears by explaining that going overboard was unlikely. Apparently the Gods didn't agree on this day.

By the end of our trip, another boat had been glued to a giant boulder from the heavy current with it's remaining passengers hanging on to dear life from the very same rock. There were likely countless others who went swimming with the fish further upstream that we weren't a party to.

Fortunately, Alin and I survived the rafting excursion with a head full of exciting memories and only some minor scrapes and bruises. It was a great trip.

After the trip, we had a second tour lined up which left shortly after. Unfortunately, it appeared that no one told our bus and our guides were halfway back to our hotel before we asked them how we'd get to our second tour.

Fortunately, our tour bus was near behind us and was able to pick us up from the side of the road without delay. This second tour, a hike through Manuel Antonio's national reserve was a touch less heart pounding but gifted us with some amazing photographs.

Our guide, Micheal, brought a small telescope for spying on birds, monkeys and other critters hiding in the trees above. This telescope, when coupled with our digital camera led to some of the best pictures Alin and I have ever been able to take. I'm talking National Geographic material here.

The hike took us through the mangrove forests and passed three gorgeous, pristine beaches. When we arrived at the last beach, our guide gave us all 10 minutes for ciesta. I decided to head near the shore and got pounded by a wave when I wasn't paying attention. The rest of my ciesta was spent washing the sand and beach water from my shorts so I didn't end up at home with chaffed legs.

In the reserve, we were able to catch photos and glimpses of lizards, howler and white-faced monkeys, birds, and cousins of the raccoon. The monkeys were of course the most interesting due to their intelligence and courage in interacting with the human visitors.

After our two hour tour of the reserve, we ended up back in Manuel Antonio for some quick refreshments. Shortly after, the tour dropped us off at home and Alin and I decided that it was time for dinner.

We changed into some more comfortable clothes and hopped in the car to head back to Manuel Antonio. On our way, we noticed that the restaurant we tried to visit the day before, Agua Azul, was now open. So naturally, we decided that this is the best place we could have our dinner.

Alin and I, both starving from our hike, decided that it'd be best if we both ordered what they called the "Big Ass Burger." When it finally arrived, we indeed were blessed with one such burger.

I barely finished it and poor Alin made it through about half of the thing. With food in our bellies and a tired body, we made our way home. That wraps up another night.

Ciao.

-s

Day 2: The day we did absolutely nothing.

2007-07-14T15:48:00.000-07:00

Boy, was it a great day 2. Alin and I woke up at noon on day 2 in our soft and warm bed. We had mosquito netting over our bed which made it feel like the tents you made as a kid on your parents bed.

We managed to crawl out of bed and started our day. First order of business was to check out this "private beach" that our hotel claimed they had. It was down the drive way and roughly 500 steps down the hill side to a small cove. The shoreline was rocky with patches of smooth sand. Locals appeared to be enjoying a dip in the ocean, their kids playing and splashing as we arrived.

Alin and I quickly secured our belongings to a nearby tree and hopped in for a dip. We swam around for probably 30 minutes, playing and taking pictures all the way. After the thunder and lightning started in the distance, we thought it best to return to higher ground.

About this time, we decided to head down to Quepos and take care of a few loose ends. We made our way to the local bank to exchange some money, then walked over to Iguana Tours to make a reservation for rafting and a hike on the next day. We met up with Jorge, my guide from a previous trip, unfortunately he didn't remember who I was :/ I guess I can't blame him, he sees thousands of faces a year in that business. Nevertheless, he was incredibly nice to both Alin and I and when he found out that we were newlyweds, he felt compelled to give us a gift. Alin is now the proud owner of a size M Iguana Tours "Specialist" employee T-shirt, awesome.

Jorge also recommended a nearby eatery called Agua Azul for lunch, on our drive back to our hotel we stopped in but it was closed so instead, Alin and I whipped our Lonely Planet and found another place called "El Mono Loco" in Manuel Antonio a few miles down the road.

The food at El Mono Loco was delicious and the wait staff very friendly. After we squared away the bill, they even offered a parking spot for today and tomorrow free of charge, which we really appreciated.

After lunch, Alin and I toured the local vendors and then made our way out onto the beach. The beaches in Manuel Antonio are quite beautiful. The sand is soft and smooth, the shoreline long, and the waves large and playful. It was low tide at the time and Alin and I just lazily walked along the shore, dipping our feet in the water as we passed the time. Very relaxing.

After our little excursion, we decided to head back to the hotel to catch some pictures of the sunset. We went to a viewpoint that we stumbled across and took a dozen photos, with nothing looking very striking. Sweating from the heat, we decided to make our way out to the pool. We were extremely lucky to see the last moments of an even more amazing sunset. We decided to jump in the infinity pool and take some silhouette shots of us against the sun. The photos came out amazing.

After some play time in the pool, we hopped out and grabbed a small bite to eat at the poolside restaurant. Within an hour we had finished our appetizer dinner and decided to retire for the night. It was a wonderful day of just lounging around. I wish I could do this every day.

-s

Alive and Well in Costa Rica

2007-07-11T20:12:00.000-07:00

That's right. We made it. We got hitched on Friday in the Fresno heat. We were grateful to be in such wonderful company. To see our friends & family surround us, and share one of our most important moments with us. It was very heartwarming.

In hindsight, both Alin and I wish it had all lasted longer. It all seemed to happen so fast. We both remember the ceremony, with every detail committed to memory. However, once the ceremony was over, it seemed that the reception zoomed by with us hardly having time to relish in it. Nevertheless, it was a wonderful night and we were both happy with the results.

On Monday night, Alin and I made our way to the airport after a calm day of preparing for our trip, running last minute errands, and the like. Our flight left from San Francisco at 10:40PM to fly all the way to Charlotte, North Carolina. From there, we had a connecting flight to San José, Costa Rica with a four hour layover. It seemed that the hours moved at a snails pace. Alin and I had a chance to eat a small breakfast and even nap before the flight.

Our flight was long and not as comfortable as we would have both liked. We decided to use miles to fly on "first class" which ended up being more like business class on US Airways. Alin tries to console me on the fact that the plane was of a smaller type and so the accommodations aren't as great. I'm still annoyed that the seats didn't recline while providing foot rests. I'll get over it, some day. :)

When we landed in Costa Rica, the weather that we'd been reading so much about lived up to expectations. By this, I don't mean beautiful sunny weather, I mean lightning that blinds and thunder that reverberates through your body. We were both kind of caught off guard by the first strike. Clueless on how to get to our rental car, we waited outside the airport for a shuttle, waiting nearly 30 minutes and fumbling through a little Spanish to figure out what to do next.

Once our shuttle showed up, this couple, seemingly a son and her mom, showed up late to the shuttle, after it was filled with other eager passengers. The mother made a huge fit and kept our shuttle waiting while the poor staff tried to figure out how to please her. She held up the shuttle until a SECOND shuttle could arrive from the rental place to take her. Of course, it pulled in front of us and she was able to zoom to the rental place well before we all got there. It was frustrating to have to stand behind her in line after all that. I really wanted to give her a piece of something, mind, foot in her ass, anything.

Alin and I decided that, given the time of day, by this time about 4:30, it would be safest to get a GPS with our rental. What a life saver. With it there to guide us, we were able to get to our first destination, Manuel Antonio within 4 hours. It was nightfall by the time we arrived at the hotel and while I vaguely remembered Quepos, we would have certainly been lost without it.

Our hotel, called Makanda by the Sea, was a small private resort consisting of 10 or so cabinas, featuring their own kitchens, bathroom and walk in shower. Ours had an amazing view of the ocean from our huge folding glass French doors. It lacked privacy but made up for it in seclusion.

Poor Alin was caught a little off guard by the whole bug situation in Costa Rica. If you haven't been, you'll learn that much of Costa Rica is jungle, and with jungles come BIG bugs. Even the ants are like 3x the size of regular ants. She's been a great sport so far and making the best of things.

With that, that's the end of day 1.

The new Apple.com

2007-06-12T02:14:00.001-07:00

One of the coolest things to come out of Apple today was something that barely got any coverage at all, which is the new redesign of the site.

It's actually amazing that they were able to get the entire site updated and looking great. It feels a lot simpler, modern, and focused.

It's been long in the making but they finally did it.

I personally love the fact that I can now search for music right from Apple.com search. Awesome.

-s

T-minus 2 months and counting.

2007-05-07T01:06:00.000-07:00

Alin and I are getting married in 2 whole months. Where has the time gone?

How fun and scary to be taking not a step, but a giant leap into adulthood. Pretty amazing if you ask me, especially since I struggle so hard to stay a kid :)

It's a pretty amazing experience. The wedding is proving to be a right of passage. Not the actual event per se, but the path to getting there. I've been fortunate enough that Alin's put most of the planning onto her shoulders, only bringing me in for my opinion and specific tasks. She's wonderful and I need to do more to show her how much I appreciate her.

In any case, even with my reduced role, it's still proven to be quite the project. It's a mix between coordination, budgeting, politics and God knows what else. I appreciate how much she's gone through these past few months and love her more for the patience she's shown. I'm coming to the realization that this day is more of a test than anything else. By the time our special day arrives, we're probably both going to be so happy that it's over :)

Fortunately, we've got a wonderful honeymoon planned to help us forget the heartaches.

I know, that time heals all. Only the good will remain come to mind when thinking of that day.... The bad will fade into silly stories we'll reminisce about with first our parents, then our friends, and some day our children.

Here's to growing up.

What am I doing up at this hour.

2007-05-03T01:37:00.000-07:00

This whole Facebook thing is pretty cool. I find that I am spending more time checking out what's going on on Facebook than MySpace. MySpace is just this huge mess. It reminds me of what AOL used to be like in the early days, completely out of control.

Give people an inch and they turn their profile into a giant fucking neon sign of crap and loud annoying music.

I've also been using iLike pretty much non-stop for a few months now. Probably the most compelling capability of it is keeping tabs on what my friends are listening. I've found a few times where some of my friends are listening to stuff that I've never heard of and generally like. It's a pretty neat experience to have that kind of visibility into your friend's tastes in music.

Alin and I are making our way down to LA the week after next. We're going to visit for mother's day, which should, in theory, be nice. We'll see if that's how it pans out. :P

I don't know what else to blab about. I should probably just go to bed.

-s

Honeymoon in Costa Rica and Belize

2007-04-16T01:00:00.000-07:00

Part of the fun of getting married is going on your honeymoon. Alin and I decided that we're going to make our way to Costa Rica and Belize for our little getaway and I am SOOO looking forward to it.

We've both been planning our trip for about a month now and are making a lot of progress. We have most of the places in Costa Rica figured out with only the rent-a-car and a single city remaining to be planned.

As for Belize, Alin has put together an itinerary that will be absolutely awesome. She's so wonderful that way. We're trying hard to balance our love for activity with our need to relax, I'm really looking forward to this trip and I just hope, that by the end of it, I'm not so thoroughly relaxed that I don't want to come back.

We'll see, I'm sure.

As for our plans, we're going to do the things that all the tourists do in those countries, you know, hang out at the beach, go zip lining, jump off waterfalls, hike, sleep, eat, go scuba diving, island hop, and the like.

If you've got any great suggestions, please don't hesitate to share. We're always looking for great ideas.

Good night, and farewell.

-s

Not Enough Ways to Play My New Music

2007-04-16T00:53:00.000-07:00

OK, so the world is quickly coming to embrace the genius that is iPod. However, has your music collection reached the point where it's growing faster than your ability to consume it?

Last month, I tallied up all of the receipts that I received from the iTunes Store and it totaled a whopping $180.00. Yes, that's a fuck load of music. I have yet to listen to most of those songs even once, but I'm working on it.

Part of the problem is that the iPod doesn't really offer a great way to find those songs that you've recently added. Sure you can create a new Smart Playlist, perhaps one called "Fresh Tracks" or something the like, but unfortunately, there's no way to easily find where one album begins and another ends.

That can be pretty frustrating if you're anything like me, a fan of the album, not the song. I really hope that this problem is solved, some day. The iPod is amazing, even life changing, but I just need it to do one or two more things before I'd call it perfect.

That's my 2¢ and I'm sticking to it.

Peace out.

Been a while

2007-04-07T02:17:00.000-07:00

Okay, it's been a while. Where to begin. First, I got engaged in February. I'm really excited about it. The date is in July and we've picked neutral territory, otherwise known as Fresno. Yes. We know, it will be hot.

In other news, today is my birthday. Happy Birthday to me. The big Two Seven. Getting old know, I guess. One more year to live (and die) like a rock star.

Why is it everyone messes with you on your birthday? I got to work today, and although my cube was decked out with birthday-related paraphernalia, Camille decided that it'd be a good idea to cover my floor in little white cups all filled with water. I suppose, it's better to be messed with than forgotten.

I'll get you back Camille.

Tonight, Alin, myself, and most of the old Nullsoft crew decided to go catch Grindhouse. Wow, what a violent movie. :) Entertaining, but definitely not for all audiences.

Has anyone found a good Blogger dashboard widget? The old one from Blogger no longer works.

-s

Is American Idol Lost?

2007-02-21T23:04:00.000-08:00

What is going on with American Idol this season? Why do so many of the male contestants look like Lost impersonators? Eerie.

2006-11-24T13:08:00.000-08:00

I have to say, after Thanksgiving sales are absolutely ridiculous. Today, we went to Best Buy, Khol's, and Home Depot and all three places were mad houses.

If you actually look at the items they sell on sale aren't that great deal. The savvy shopper can find these same items on sale on the web everyday.

Back into the fray. Help us.

-s

2006-11-23T23:35:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Alin and I are in Fresno for this joyice holiday.

We drove down here this afternoon in record time. Something like 3 hours or so.

Last night, Alin's brother Ara came over and we ended up playing Gears of War on the XBox 360 till 4am. That game seroiusly rocks. Quite possibly the best shooter game, ever. It almost makes paying for a 360 a worthwhile investment.... Until you realize it's $400.

Tonight, I played the Wii for the first time. I must say, it's a lot of fun. A totally different kind of gaming. It's like a new class of gaming. I think these things are going to sell like hot cakes.

I also got my projector hooked up in HD. Time to get my hands on one of those HD Tivos and switch over to cable. I had no idea my projector can do 1080p. What a wonderful thing.

I'm trying this whole blogging thing from my phone. I'm using this software called Vagablog, so far so good. Let's see how well it works when I hit publish.

I've been decking this Treo out the past few weeks. I picked up a new version of the Seven email app that works with Apple mail. That's been pretty huge. I've also gotten my hands on some other nifty tools like Invisible, which hides apps from the Palm launcher. That's a must have.

Anyway. I'm going to head back. Later!

-s

Wow! No Comments?

2006-10-31T23:36:00.000-08:00

I just noticed that my readership must be down, probably because I don't write on this blog as much as I used to. I've received no comments from my friends or family. How exciting. That in fact makes me feel more comfortable.

Looks like there's no bowling this week. Justin's in England for a wedding, DB is moving, Newton is down so maybe we'll do something. Wonder if Brennan or Rob Mayor will chime in.

I've recently been using iLike and I have to say... I like... I'm quite fond of the iTunes app integration. I find it most useful to keep tabs on what my friends are listening to. I also love the compatibility meter. That I find to be quite excellent as well.

I've been recently watching the show Heroes on NBC. It's a pretty cool concept, not your traditional super hero story. Definitely been tuning in every week, hopefully this won't be canceled next season. That's one of the many bummers of broadcast television. A show comes on for a season and if it doesn't perform as the network expects, wham, gone. For us viewers that discovered it, tough shit. It's really quite a shame because some the shows that get canceled are quite good.

On that note, so long Scrubs, it was great having you around.

Now, I suppose it's time for me to go on my way. Have a good night folks.

Happy Birthday to you.

2006-10-16T02:00:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Justin, for those of you who didn't wish him one, that was 2 days ago. get on it.

Saturday, we had a grand ol' time at the Garage to celebrate. It was a reunion of sorts and we all enjoyed eachother's company. There were activities, such as darts, to keep us busy as we all talked, drank, and celebrated the man of the hour.

Alin and I had a great time, so thanks Justin. :)

-s

Google-ing You Tube.

2006-10-10T01:25:00.000-07:00

It's official, after days of speculation, Google acquired You Tube for a whopping $1.65 billion. Unbelievable. A site that hasn't existed for more than a year managed to become one of the fastest growing websites on the web. They also, in that time, managed to grow to become one of the leading sources of streamed video on the Internet. Simply stunning.

They did all this on the backs of their users. They made it incredibly easy to submit, publish, and share videos on the web and with their friends. This simple concept propelled You Tube from a nobody to a leader in just 1 years time. It's amazing how much things can change if you build the killer application.

In any case, they're now all becoming Google employees. Good for them. It's a good fit.

-s

Bah Humbug.

2006-10-05T02:08:00.000-07:00

It's approaching that time of year, quickly.

It rained today for a few hours, sporadically throughout the day. I simply hate it when it rains. In LA, raining was a great thing because it came so few times a year... In the Bay Area, it's a curse.

It starts to rain here in October and doesn't like letting up until April. Fortunately, we've got a clear weekend, at the moment, but I hope the winter doesn't aim to come early this year.

In other news, I'm still working on wrapping up the details of our trip to Peru. It'll get there, it's just hard to find time to do it.

Anyway, I really should be sleeping right now. I might just take my own advice for once :)

Good night everyone.

-s

Day 13: The Bus Ride from Hell.

2006-08-21T20:07:00.000-07:00

This day sucked. I believe it's safe to say that this was definitely the worst day of our trip. Allow me to elaborate.

As expected, Alin and I got up at about 8:00AM for a short breakfast with time to wrap up a few loose ends and make our way to the bus station. As expected, at around 8:45AM we rendezvoused with our driver on the street near our apartment. He was waiting patiently for us, reading a news paper in the morning light.

Once we made eye contact and established that he was indeed our ride, he helped us with our belongings and made our way to the station. We arrived at the station at 9:00AM on the dot. With our possessions in hand, we made our way to our bus counter. There appeared to be a small crowd forming outside the small office. The people staffing the businesses appeared to be concerned and speaking very fast in Spanish. After 5 minutes of standing patiently and being ignored, we decided to try and understand what was going on. After a few failed attempts, we were finally able to ask him what was happening.

He was dealing with a bit of a crisis at the moment. Apparently, our very comfortable bus with reclining chairs, built in TVs, and music had broken down on it's late night return from Puno. Our bus operator had no bus for us to take to Puno. They scrambled trying to secure a means of transportation for us, with various members of their staff coming and going from their booth.

After about 45 minutes, they finally revealed their master plan. They had apparently negotiated a deal with one of the competing bus operators, securing us tickets for our trip. Alin and I were provided two consecutive tickets which we used to board our bus. When we got on, we realized we had been screwed. WIth no kick-backs or reimbursements, we were put on a an aging bus with broken seats, no TVs, no form of entertainment of any kind. As we arrived at our seats, we realized that our assigned seats were split across two rows and we'd be sitting on opposite sides. I headed back out to talk to the bus operator and he took our tickets and gave us a new pair that he guaranteed would be good to go.

Back on the bus, we made our way to our seats only to find that one of our seats was being occupied by a local. We tried to talk to her and she didn't seem to have any interest in understanding. We went back out and the bus operator came back on board to help us. He gave us new seats and we were finally able to get seated.

After the bus finally boarded, about 30 minutes later, we finally headed out. About 5 minutes outside the bus station, our bus stopped and picked up some locals. It appears that these locals could board the bus for a reduced fee and were required to stand. This family with three kids boarded and headed to the back of the bus. Trouble ensued. The mother and father struggled to hold the kids while standing. For over an hour, they stood there with restless kids, kids that were struggling in my personal space making my ride uncomfortable.

Finally, some people stepped off and a few of the locals were able to sit down behind Alin and I. Unfortunately, Alin had some how managed to break the restraint on the seat back and the seat was reclining, completely consuming the personal space of the person behind us. They mother and her child were jammed into a corner with Alin's seat back leaning right against the mother and child. Finally, annoyed, the mother confronted us and asked us to straighten our seat. Alin insisted that it wasn't intentional and that the seat was broken.

About 2 hours into our 6 hour journey, our bus stopped off and picked up a few more people. One of these people appeared to be a traveling salesman. He spent over 45 minutes trying to sell us on the positive attributes of his fizzy mineral powder. I was not having it and was going to lose control.

Just when we thought we had reprieve from the salesman, our previous salesman hopped off and a new one hopped on. This one selling more crap that no one was interested in. I was furious. We paid good money for what was supposed to be a comfortable and luxurious bus. Instead, we were put on a decrepit bus with hostile locals, broken seats, and infomercials.

After some time, Alin and I grew quite hungry. Unfortunately, we stupidly packed our food inside our bags that were now under the bus in the storage compartment. We held our hunger as we made our way down south.

As the further we got from the major cities, the roads became more and more hazardous. The roads were littered with pot holes and our bus would bump, vibrate, jump, and swerve for hours at a time. At one point, our bus came to a complete stop. Upon further inspection, we found that the entire road was backed up for over a mile due to some unknown reason. Nevertheless, we made the best of the situation. We stepped out, stretched our legs and picked up some food from some local vendors who came on board to sell their wares.

After 30 minutes, our bus decided to take action. Our driver rode up onto the embankment and made headway off into town. When he finally got there, he swerved, turned, and charged forward through back-streets and alley's to avoid the bumper to bumper traffic. Within an additional 30 minutes, we were clear of the congestion and back on the bumpy and uncomfortable road.

After 7 and a half hours on this bus, we finally arrived in Puno. The Puno bus station appeared to be far from the city center with no clear instructions on where to go or how to get there. We made our way to an information booth to pick up some details on local hotels and took a taxi out to the city center. He took us straight away to the Mercado Central, which was conveniently located in the middle of several highly rated hotels. We checked out a few places and settled on the Santa Maria Hostel.

We settled in and made our way out to go explore. I picked up some Doritos for Alin because she was craving them on our bus ride to Puno as we made our way to the major tourist street. We walked up and down this street, looking for a place to eat dinner. We decided that we'd share a wonderful dinner at a reknown restaurant called Ukuku's.

It's a small restaurant, situated on the second floor of a building, in an unlikely ally. For dinner, we each had a glass of Sangria, I ordered alpaca saltado, and Alin had the chicken with pineapple. Both were delicious.

After dinner, we made our way back towards our hotel and stumbled across an internet cafe. We decided to step in and check up on email, family, and the rest of the world. While there, Alin looked up the details on a nearby resort, where we'd be staying for our 1 year anniversary. Alin shared some pictures of our trip thus far with her sister and mom while we all laughed at how silly we looked. After an hour or so, we grew tired and decided it'd be best to head back to our hotel.

Once we got back, we took turns taking a much needed shower. After that, we curled up in bed and went off to sleepy land.

What a dreadful day that was.

-s

Day 12: So Long Cusco

2006-08-20T22:04:00.000-07:00

It was so wonderful to wake up and not have anything to do. That morning back in our apartment, we slept in more than any other day during the entire trip. When we finally got out of bed, we decided it was high time to go and get our hands on some tickets to our next stop, Puno.

We decided that we'd walk down to Jesus' travel office on Avenidas El Sol, about a 30 minute walk from our apartment. Finding the place ended up being more challenging than I thought. As we made our way down the avenue, we realized that that the street numbers don't actually work like other modern cities? What's different? Well, in Cusco, it appears that they don't believe in having each city block represent a block of 100 addresses. So you could have 802 and 305 right next door to each, followed by 402 and 848 following right after. Peru was just full of surprises.

When we finally arrived at our destination, we found a two story shopping center filled with small businesses offering various services such as dentistry, travel, hair cuts, and more. As we made our way inside, a local asked us where we were off to. Alin and I were able to explain that we were in search of a particular travel agent. She was instantly familiar but told us that they won't be open until 1:00PM. Intent on seeing this for ourselves, we made our way upstairs to find that most of the shopping center appeared to be closed for business. Unfortunately, the lady was right, we'd get no help until 1.

Alin and I decided to head out and get some food. It was about 11:30 and we were starting to get hungry. We walked back up the street a few blocks to arrive at a small Italian restaurant. I was desperately craving that pesto pasta we had the other night at the Plaza de Arms. Alin decided to order a small pizza and we split the lunch between the two of us. After lunch, we headed back for a second try. Rats, still closed.

A few doors down, there was another agency which appeared to be open. She let us know that they are actually in there, but are have the doors locked and the signs closed. Apparently the use this day to work on paperwork. With a few knocks we were able to get a response.

We sat down with Jesus and our other bud from the night before. After a few moments of catching up, we got down to business. Jesus made a few calls and came up with a quote for $20 to take a bus to Puno. We were gracious and let Jesus know we'd call him back. We decided to head back out and try our friends at SAS travel to see what they could come up with.

Along the way, stopped into a photo lab and backed up all of our photos to CD, we did some shopping and picked up a few items for family. Alin picked up some clothes for Logan, a sauce tray for us, some small trinkets for Chris and Salpi and mama and papa. I was intent on finding a photo album to fill with our memories of this trip, but I wasn't able to find one at the price I was looking for so we moved on.

When we finally got to SAS, we spent 30 minutes haggling with our favorite sales consultant. She finally sold us on a pair of tickets on the direct route bus leaving at 9AM, with a free pick-up from our apartment. We ended up spending $25 a person with the ride.

After picking up the tickets, we did more shopping and then headed back to our apartment for a good night's rest. When we got back to our apartment, we spent 30 minutes packing up our belongings and leaving just what we needed for the next day out and about.

For dinner, we decided that we'd dine in tonight, finishing our left overs from the afternoon lunch. We laid in bed while we ate and watched TV programming all dubbed in Spanish. It was great, I started to really understand what was going on in the conversation, a marked improvement over the weeks prior.

After an hour of minding numbing, it was time for bed. We'd have a long day tomorrow and we needed our rest.

-s

Day 11: Machu Picchu

2006-08-19T08:28:00.000-07:00

That morning, we woke up and were already in a hurry. Willie called our hotel room asking where we were. We had to be downstairs, done with breakfast, no later than 5:00AM. By the time Alin and I got downstairs, it was already 5:10AM and now breakfast was out of the question.

Alin and I enjoyed a couple of Powerbars as we began our short hike up to the top. We walked out of town and on to the dirt trail towards the train tracks. We passed all the tourist buses, filling to the brim as they began hauling all the lazies up the mountain.

We got to the foot of the rock trail that would lead us to the top.The trail consisted of rock steps that varied in size up the mountain. There was an occasional break as it intersected with the road. Already weak, we made our way up. After the first few hundred, I was sweating and tired. After a thoustand, I was in pain and began to complain. After 1500, I was cursing and became short tempered. As we neared the top, Alin remained positive, encouraging me, and pushing me onward. I was in pain and exhausted, and most inappropriately snapped at Alin, asking her to just stop. I felt bad immediately and regretted it. Alin told me that she´d forgive me if we got to the top before sunrise, otherwise she´d break up with me. I wasn´t entirely sure she was kidding.

After 1787 steps, we arrived at the top. Alin and I were wiped out. We quickly checked our walking sticks and made our way to the entrance. Alin and I each received Machu Picchu stamps in our passports as we entered the ruins. Willie introduced us to our guide for the day, his name was Oraciou. He told us to enter the ruins, make a right and he´ll meet us at the only house with a roof. When we got in, found ourselves confused. There were a total of 5 hours within sight that had roofs on it and we had no idea where to go.

The ruins were glorious. We sat on one of the terraces as the sun began to rise. It was a cloudy morning and we never really got to see the sun until the afternoon. We had a quick snack as we waited till 7. 7 became 7:20 and our guide was no where in sight. At this point we agreed that he either ditched us or we were in the wrong place. We felt we´d give ourselves a tour so we started exploring. Picking up pieces from other tours and recalling from our own memories, we shared what we knew as we walked through the Incan city.

We checked out a few key buildings, took lots of photos, and made our way down to the llamas for a quick photo opp. I tried to get one to eat from my hand, but it wouldn´t have it.

After another 30 minutes, we were all getting a little hungry so we picked out a little spot out of sight and Alin, Dom, Lisa, and I sat down for some snacks, oranges, and water. We talked about the state of the world, 9/11, 7/7, the death of Princess Diana, and the Royal Family. Quite educational, I must say.

After lunch, we hiked some more around the ruins were finally ready to head back to Aguas Calientes.

We took a bus down back to town. The bus was comfortable and offered free water. We got off at the main street in Aguas Calientes and decided to head to the restaurant where we were to meet Willie and Kiki for lunch. Willie was already there eating so we joined him at his table. Soon after Kiki arrived and we all shared our final lunch together as a team.

We laughed and commiserated about how difficult the trek was. We all agreed that the experience was well worth it and were greatful to make each others company. After lunch, the train had arrived. We picked up a few refreshments and all hopped on to the train for our ride home.

The train was filled with many familiar faces. The Israelis sat immediately to the left of Alin and I while the Swingers sat to our front. It was like a reunion.

After 3 hours, we got off at a small town called Oyamtambu. There, a small tourist bus sat awaiting us. Our bus driver decided to pick up a few more tourists to earn a little extra cash. The other tourists were also from London, so Kiki, Dom, and Lisa had plenty to talk about on the drive to Cusco.

When we got to Cusco, we all parted ways. Alin and I checked into our hotel and spent the next hour trying to figure out how we were going to do laundry. Our receptionist called a few places and called some lady over who picked up our clothes and said she´d have it done by morning. Alin and I only had some shorts, t-shirts, and our thin Anoracks, and flip flops to keep us warm. Our clothes didn´t do much to help us with the cold Cuscan air.

Alin and I had an hour to go get dinner, so we walked over to Chez Maggy for some pizza and Nachos Especiales. After dinner, we met the gang in the Plaza de Armas so we can go out of cocktails. We met Kiki, Dom, and Lisa, but Willie was no where in sight. Freezing, we made our way over a near by "Irish" pub for some cocktails. Dom spotted Willie and his gang and fetched them from the Plaza.

We sat enjoying Pisqueñas, another signature Peruvian cocktail. After thoroughly getting smashed, we began playing the drinking game Big Booty, first in English, than in Spanish. It was no good. After an hour, we were trashed. The rest of the gang wanted to go out dancing, but Alin and I wanted nothing to do with it. We were cold and tired and just wanted to go to bed.

We exchanged emails, hugged, and parted ways. It was the last we´d see of our group. We all felt like we bonded on this trip and had a great time. It was sad, but c´est la vie. Alin and I speed-walked back to our room and went to bed.

And that was that. It felt as though our vacation was over. But a whole other week remained.

-s

Day 10: Aquas Calientes

2006-08-19T08:05:00.000-07:00

We woke up the next morning stiff as a board. The cooks had breakfast ready at 7:00AM and we struggled out of our tent. We chowed down and hit the road by 7:30. Within minutes, we were in the down of Santa Teresa. It was a small town that appeared to be under a lot of development. There were sidewalks being put into place, and fresh roads being surfaced. Merchants were selling their wares all around us.

This morning was by far the most painful for my weak knees. I needed both walking sticks to manage. After walking through town, we arrived at what Willie called the "cable car." A queue of 20 people were waiting as a little metal cart flew over the river by a single metal cable. The car was pulled from side to side by the next in line for the car. A worn rope was tugged and pulled, attempting to bring the car back to each side. It was scary that this was the primary way to get across the river.

After about 20 minutes, it was our turn. First Dom, Lisa, and Kiki hopped in with all of their stuff and made their way across. Alin took a photo of them as they zipped over the river. Then it was our turn. Alin, Willie and I hopped in and with a gentle push, we were flying over the river. Using Alin´s camera, I took a video of the whole thing. Scary, scary, scary. We got to the other side, took a quick break and made our way out on to the dirt road.

The rest of the group took off as Alin and I limped along as best we could. We arrived at a little river, where the gang was waiting as they drenched their heads and clothes in river water to cool off. Soon after they were off again and Alin and I played catch up. It was as though we were hiking through a desert. It was dry, hot, and very much sunny. A few locals sprinted passed us, then followed by some trucks flying down the road way too fast for anyone´s comfort.

After a couple of hours, we arrived at a metal bridge, where Willie sat waiting for us, meditating. We asked him where we were stopping for lunch and he told us a place called "Hydroelectrica". It was a nearby dam that a few local merchants set up shop next to the railroad. We walked on for thirty minutes before arriving to a huge waterfall, shaking the ground as it passed under the road. It was all down hill from here, we walked on until we got to the lunch spot.

It appeared to be a local restraurant, which our cooks had anexed a portion of of the space to cook us their meal. We sat, listening to 80s pop songs and relaxing in the shade. Lunch finally arrived and we enjoyed some Inca Cola with soup, rice, tuna fish sandwiches and pasta. We topped it off with some ice cream bars we bought from a little shop next to the restraurant.

Within the hour, we were back on the road. We hiked up a well manicured rock trail to the train tracks above. We followed these train tracks for hours on end, as it led us to the town of Aguas Calientes. We caught up with Kiki and spoke about the differences between the U.S. and Brittain, politics, the war, and other topics.

After a few hours, tired and strained, we finally got to our town. Aguas Calientes was a tourist haven. Nestled inside the mountains, there were relatively ritzy shops, restraurants, wine bars, internet cafes, and anything else the wealthy tourist could desire. We checked into our hostal, the Machu Picchu Inn and got settled in our rooms. Alin and I were SO excited. It was the first time we could take a shower in 4 days. We both showered to only return to our dirty clothes. Nevertheless, we felt and smelled clean and that made a world of difference.

Alin and I had about an hour before we had to meet everyone, so we walked around town, took some photos, checked our email. We met everyone at a nearby restraurant called Apu Salkantay. The cooks were now gone so we resorted to restaurant fare. Alin and I each had soup and a small pizza. We drank beers as Willie enjoyed his Pisco Sour, a local favorite.

After dinner, we all made our way back to our room for a good nights rest in a warm bed. We were to get up at 4:30 the next morning for our 2 hour hike up to Machu Picchu.

Alin and I slept better than we had in almost a week. We were so happy.

On to day 5....

Day 9: The road to Santa Teresa

2006-08-18T10:43:00.000-07:00

Now, three days into our trek, we were to hike on to Santa Teresa. We woke up to relatively warm weather; a first since our trek began. Willie graciously allowed us to sleep in until 7AM this morning. We heard birds chirping and the river roaring. It was just what our team needed.

As ususal, breakfast was awaiting us. This morning, we were greeted with a fresh fruit ¨cereal¨ coupled with strawberry yogurt as milk. It was really delicious, the breakfast of champions, I think.

We hit the road that morning, headed towards some natural hot springs in a nearby town. We continuted to follow the river along the mountain-side, climbing higher and lower like a rollercoaster as the trail hugged the mountain. Today, my right knee was incredibly stiff and sore, it was difficult to walk and I had no idea how I was going to make it through the day.

About an hour into our morning hike, we arrived at the campsite we were supposed to stay at. Thank god we didn´t stay there. It was full to the brim with other trekkers which would have left us with no privacy, less security, and no room for comfort. Hiking on, the trail rapdily decended to a giant waterfall, where a rope suspension bridge connected us to the other side. This morning, with Alin and I both in a lot of pain, we decided to take it easy, giving the rest of our team a great photo opportunity. We caught them on film waiving to us from the middle of the bridge with the giant roaring waterfall crashing behind them. They were kind enough to wait for us down below so Alin and I could get our photo on the bridge as well.

After crossing the bridge, we hiked on for another 45 minutes, climbing higher and higher as we reached the town that was home to the hot springs. The town was situated on a plateau, directly across the valley from the campsite we passed earlier. We watched the rest of our group from a distance enter the town and go to the far end, entering behind a building. When Alin and I finally got there, all we found was someone´s small farm where children were playing, chickens were clucking, and cows were eating. At the end of the farm stood Willie, waiting for us.

At this point, we hiked down a new trail that led us to a small hut below, next to the river. It took us about 20 minutes to traverse this portion of the rocky trail.

We reached the hut, where two locals sat collecting an entrance fee to make use of the springs. Apparently, a few locals discovered the springs and built a pool with the rocks around it. The springs filled the pool, then spilled over into the river it stood next to. To get to the springs, we had to cross a hand made bridge that consisted of three logs tied together covered in mud.

Once we got to the otherside, Alin and I began hunting for a place to change into our swim clothes. We climbed down a giant rock to position ourselves below the bridge. A local came by and yelled something in Spanish which we understood as you can´t get dressed there. We later found out that she was warning us for falling rocks caused by the mules passing on the trail above. All throughout this exchange with the locals, I caught a whiff of what smelt like human feces, but I couldn´t find it anywhere. That´s when I realized I was standing right on it. Someone decided to relieve themselves and cover it with a few leaves, lucky for me, I stepped right into it.

Alin and I made a B-line straight to the river where we could wash off our shoes and get dressed. After a few minutes, we were ready to hop right in. The water was hot, not scaulding, but hot enough to relax our aching muscles. It smelt of sulfer and the entire pool was coated in a thick layer of clay. The clay was said to replenish the skin, so Alin and I proceeded to cover our bodies with it. Unfortunately, no one told us to not let it dry. After about 20 minutes, the clay on our face appeared to prove resistent to water. We scrubbed, scratched and exfoliated with some smooth rocks, the clay would not relent. We finally gave up, hoping it would come off later in the day, it did.

As we were socializing with our fellow team mates, another group arrived. They were about our age, thin, and appeared good natured. They hopped into the springs and one of them climbed up to where the springs flowed and posed for the camera as a male model. The girls were disgusted. The others of their group sat back. One girl came and sat next to Alin and I and I tried to strike up a conversation. She gave short answers in a condesending tone. I asked her where they were from, how long they were staying, where they were off to. The girl said they were from Israel on the same trek as us. I didn´t think much of it, but this ended up having some relavence later on in the day.

Soon after, another group arrived. The group consisted of an older couple in spandex leggings and appeared to be sick. There were three others in their group, a short brunette who appeared to be their daughter, her asian boyfriend, and perhaps their son. We came to know the older couple as ¨The Swingers¨. I´m not exactly sure how they got that name, but a few others in our group became highly suspicious of them and feared being propositioned.

After about an hour in the Springs, we got dressed, had a quick snack and headed back out on our trek. This stretch of the trek took us through jungle-like flora and thousands of mosquittos. I came to hate them so. Alin and I drenched ourselves in bug repellent and apparently, it was simply not enough. By the time we got to our first rest spot, I was literally covered in bites. My legs ridden with red spots dripping with blood. The little buggers practically feasted on me.

About an hour of hiking, being passed by hordes of porters and their mules we arrived at our rest stop. It was a green field with a single hut, set beside a nearby river. There were dozens of other trekkers taking a break while enjoying the sun. The hut was like a variety store, selling fruits, sodas, etc. Willie got us a bag of passion fruit that Dom, Lisa, and Kiki seemed to enjoy very much. Alin and I were disgusted by the appearance of the fruit inside the skin, it looked like brains but apparently tasted very sweet. I bought an Inca Cola and sat beside Alin to share. After about 15 minutes, we were back on our trek.

As we started back up, one of the guys from the Israeli group asked Dom where he was from. Dom replied he was from London, and the Israeli said "Australia"? "No, London" replied Dom, then the Israeli said "South Africa?" Finally Dom gave up and walked off. The Israeli began singing some song about being from Londontown and we all just shrugged and walked off.

We marched on for another 45 minutes before arriving at our lunch site. Similar to the rest spot, this place was flat, green with grass, and situated near the river. This area had better shade due to the large trees that provided a sort of canopy over parts of the field. We were all very tired and thirsty. We all piled into the tent look for shelter. The cooks brought out some juice to cool us off. It didn´t last longer than 10 seconds as we swallowed every last drop in an effort to quench our thirst.

For lunch, the cooks brought out an two huge plates of food. The first was skinned Avocado halves stuffed with creamy potatoes and other veggies. The second plate was fried zukeni stuffed with avocado and assorted veggies. It was unlike anything we had eaten before on the trip and everyone seemed to love it. The cooks had an amazing talent for wowwing us with every meal. Each meal became something to look forward to at the end of each leg of our trek.

After lunch, we all laid back, lazily in the shade near by. We could hear a stream trickling through the field on it´s way to the river. A couple of dogs stopped by for a quick sip of water before continuing to play in the sun. Willie gave us till 2:45 before leaving.

When the time came, we quickly packed on our bags, drenched our selves in bug spray and made our way back on the trail. This time, we were to walk for three hours before arriving at our camp site. The camp site was called "La Playa" but had nothing to do with a beach. Alin and I were both tired and in much pain. We were tired of hiking but had no choice. We decided that we´d like to try and shorten the pain, so at every point where the trail slopped down we ran to the next crest. It was still painful, especially at the points where the downslopes were quite long, but it paid off. Willie had joined us for the time being and said we were making excellent time. After some time, we found ourselves about 25 minutes ahead of the rest of our group. That´s when Willie decided to wait for the rest of them and told us to go on ahead.

Alin and I continued on the trail, running and walking, all the way. We got to the town that the camp site was near within 45 minutes. When we got there, we weren´t exactly sure where to go. The town consisted of a few dozen houses along side a dirt road. Kids were playing futbol while horses stood eating in the fields beside them. We continued through the town, looking for any sight of our camp site.We finally got to a white sign that said "La Playa Campground". After a few more minutes, it was clear that the campground wasn´t within sight. We arrived at a little restraurant where I asked if they knew where the campground was. The local had a difficult time understanding my Spanish but finally pointed behind me and said La Playa. As I began to walk towards Alin, she screamed "watch out! Bear!" I thought "bear?" and turned around to find Willie trying to scare me. I couldn´t help but laugh since that´s all Alin could come up with to distract me.

We had finally arrived. We were well ahead of the rest of our team and Alin, Willie, and I sat waiting. Three little kids were intruiged by my digital camera and began to pose. We laughed and took pictures. Finally the other team mates arrived and Willie gave us two options. Camp here, or take the bus down to another site. We all agreed we´d rather go elsewhere.

When we realized the bus was a giant truck with an open bed, filled with more than 40 people, we started to have some second thoughts. Nevertheless, we all hopped in and to our great surprise, the Israeli kids were already there. Perched on a bench at the front of the truck bed, they sat there laughing and singing. The locals all standing in the truck, some old, some young stood there as we watched them having a good time.

They began asking the locals to wave to the camera as they took pictures and acted like we were all their entertainment. They asked their guide to sing them a song in Spanish, unamused, their guide tried to distract them with some U.S. pop songs. By looking at Willie, you could see he was becoming annoyed. The Israeli´s kept insisting, that´s when Willie jumped in. He told them that most of these people only speak Quechuan and that he´d sing a song for them. He began to sing a short verse and everyone in the truck began to laugh, everyone except for the Israelis. The Israelis didn´t say anything for the rest of the trip.

We took the truck for almost an hour, down the bumpy mountain side. We got to our site and hopped out. Within minutes we had set up our tent and had started a fire in the nearby camp fire pit. We sat around laughing, exchanging stories with some fellow trekkers also staying at the site, while drinking beer and sharing popcorn.

Our entire team was curious as to what Willie had said in Quechuan to the Israelis that shut them up. He explained that he had said a few words that the locals would enjoy while putting the Israelis in their place. This is when Alin and I learned that apparently Israelis have a bad reputation when traveling. When in groups, they carry with them a sense of arrogance and ignorance that does disservice to their families back home. Their flaunting of expensive clothes, speaking only in hebrew, and taunting of locals is supposedly reknown. It was the first time I had such an experience, and of the hundreds of other travelers I met on this trip, this particular group of trekkers was by far the worst. I only hope that they were the exception and not the rule.

We spent the next hour exchanging some humiliating stories from each of our pasts, while laughing at each others misery. Finally, dinner was served. Chicken fingers, rice and other side dishes filled our bellies. Shortly after, we were all off to bed as we had a very very long day and were exhausted.

More to come later. Ciao.

Day 8. The hardest day of our lives.

2006-08-16T17:27:00.000-07:00

Ah yes, the surprise. So remember how I said it was raining the night before? Well, when we stepped out of our tents that very next morning, there was snow all around us covering every inch of mountain. Within 1 hour, we were to set off on the longest and hardest day of our trek, not to mention the highest point, with tons of snow to wade through to get there.

We had warm tea waiting for us at 5:30 in the morning, giving us 30 more minutes before breakfast so we can pack for our incredibly long day. At 6, we all stumbled into our dining tent, where we were served vegetarian omelettes and Coca tea to help us cope with the altitude.

At 6:30 we were on our way. We began the hike by a brisk walk through the foothills. We walked for 30 minutes before reaching the first checkpoint. At this checkpoint, it was expected that we pay 150 soles each to pass. Fortunately, Willie set them straight and we went on through for free.

At this point, we began walking through the rolling hills. Up and down we went as it began to lightly snow. Alin took lots of photos of me along the way. We encountered a few feeding cows but nothing to write home about. Finally, we reached a second gate, this time no checkpoint. The gate opened up into a huge valley. The valley was covered in snow, with fresh laid tracks of other trekkers pointing the way up the side of the mountain.

We followed these tracks, crossed a stream, and began our slow, long journey up to the highest point. On our way, we ran into a friendly couple from Holland who had been left behind by their guide and porters. They had had no tea, guidance, or support from their team which consisted of more experienced trekkers. We asked if they would take our photos in exchange for taking one of them, they agreed. We even shared some of our Coca tea before heading back out on the road.

By this point, we were making great headway. I was leading the pack, apparently feeling the best out of the bunch, just marching up the mountain. I have to say, it was probably quite selfish, as Alin was struggling. Fortunately, Willie was there to help her as best he could, offering Alin the mule to help her up the mountain. Alin steadfastedly refused.

At around 12:30, we finally reached the top. It was glorious. We were surrounded by three huge mountains, all so close it felt like you could touch them. Each one, covered in snow and glacial ice. We stood around, congratulating ourselves, sharing a small snack and taking lots and lots of photos to prove we had done it. We were exhausted, but our journey would not be over for another 6 hours.

We headed down the other side of the mountain, towards a small campground located in a vast valley. This part of the hike was probably more difficult than the actual way up. We were already tired and the downhill did a number on all of our knees. Alin and I were especially hurting.

Hiking on and on, first through the snow, and now through the rain, we made our way down. Alin, at one point, almost started to cry because she first slipped and got mud in her shoes, then she slipped near a cliff and caught her self in the mud, soaking her mittens in mud. Hiking on and on, I did not make it unscathed, I also slipped and some how got snow, up through my jeans, and into my shoes. I would have been more angry if I wasn´t so surprised at the sheer physics of how snow got where it did.

At around 3:30 we finally made it to lunch. We were tired, wet, and totally pissed off. When we reached the valley we came upon a red tent, we were hopeful that it was a new tent to replace our rainsoaked one from last night, alas it belonged to another team. Our tent, was at the far end of the valley, another 15 minute away.

When we finally got there, another warm and delicious soup, this time it was Tomato soup, was awaiting our arrival. After soup, we had chicken with rice. After an hour of rest, we had to journey back out into the rain to walk another 3 hours to campsite. As we followed the river from above, we could see waterfalls caused by the melting snow from the mountains we just trekked through. They were a sight to see, it was beautiful. As we hiked further and further, the rain stopped, the sun poked through, and we began to feel the warmth again. We got to our camp site at around 6:00PM.

Because it took us much longer than expected to complete the first part of the day, Willie chose an altnernate campsite about an hour closer. We were thrilled, not because we were done walking, but because we were the only ones at this campsite. It consisted of three terraces with the sound of the river off in the distance. We setup all of our tents on the first terrace and Willie started a camp fire for us to enjoy. Unfortunately, we ended up using the fire to dry off all of our wet clothes, sleeping mats, and sleeping bags. Oh joy.

Alin managed to burn two of our four pairs of wonderful wool hiking socks. I wanted to get mad, but it was pretty damn funny, and I knew that Alin was feeling pretty miserable about the whole thing.

At around 8:30, we sat down to enjoy our 2nd dinner together. For dinner this evening, we had spaghetti and fajita strips. Shortly after dinner, with all of us in pain, we headed off to our tents to go to bed.

That´s when the going got tough. I surprised Alin with a tent that might have been considered a disaster area. The place looked like a tornado had blown through and unpacked all of our belongings and strewn them across our tent. To top it off, one of our two sleeping bags was slightly moist and that threw Alin over the edge. She refused to let me help clean up the mess, only asking me to point the flash light here and there as she collected the mess I left behind. I could try to defend it by saying I was searching for the flashlights so we could finish setting up camp, but THAT apparently doesn´t fly. I´m sorry Alin, I should have been more considerate.

After about 45 minutes of cleaning, we were finally ready for bed and sleep we did.

Day three comes tomorrow. Hasta mañana.

-s

We Did It! almost

2006-08-13T16:29:00.000-07:00

We´ve finally arrived in the town of Aguas Caliente, just down the hill from Machu Picchu. What a journey it was. Alin and I are completely and utterly exhausted. I wish I had an opportunity to write about each day as it came, but unfortunately, most of our time was spent out in the Andes mountains, with no water, electricity, or toilets.

I´m going to have to break up our little journey over the next few updates, just so that I don´t overwhelm you and myself as I write it.

We started our little journey in Cusco at 4:30 AM. Willie, our guide, came in a van with his hired help to come pick us up from our respective hotels. His crew included Rodrigo, our head cook, his assistant, whose name we can´t seem to remember, and the horseman, whose name we can´t remember either.

The trekkers included Alin, myself, Dominick, Lisa (his wife), and Kiki. We all headed out in the van at the crack of dawn out to Mallapata, a small town in the mountains about 2 and half hours away.

Most of us fell asleep in the ride there, but when we arrived, we were greeted with beautiful sunshine and a small little restaurant, underneath a house, with the choice of American or Contintental breakfast, both of which were strangely labeled given what came out of the kitchen.

After breakfast, our trek started almost immediately. We took a couple of quick photos of the gang, picked up walking sticks for 2 soles, and walked straight out of town. Our destination for the day was Solepata, about 8 hours away.

We walked through the foothills of the mountain ranges we were about to enter, trekking onward and upward. We had no idea what any of us had gotten ourselves into.

We hiked from about 8:00AM till noon, curving up the hills, passing locals, cows, and lots and lots of horse poop. When we got to the lunch place, we were all tired and sweaty. Willie´s crew had packed some mules and made it up to a tent village, halfway to our destination. Lunch was on it´s way and we all spent 15 minutes trying to catch our breath.

Willie split off to talk to one of the locals and Alin and I went off to find a nearby stream to wash our face. We found Willie enjoying a small cup of Incan beer called Chicha, which was hand brewed by one of the few people who lived in the little village. He graciously offered us a cup, it stunk of corn. Alin didn´t like it very much but I thought it was quite refreshing and zingy.

They served us a three course meal, the first of many. Each meal started with a warm bowl of soup, in this case Tomato soup. Followed by fried fish, potatoes, and a plate of rice. Carbohydrates was a theme in every meal as we burned thousands upon thousands of calories over the next 4 days.

After lunch, we continued on our hike, this time through the mountain-side. The dirt roads were wide and well traveled. We were occasionally passed by other trekkers, mules, and locals. We hiked on this road, our feet blistering and our stomaches running on empty. Alin was in a lot of pain on this leg of the trip. She didn´t know quite what to expect, none of us did.

At around 4:00, we arrived in Solepata at around sundown. It was basically a parcel of flat land with one toilet in the middle of a grove of trees and a hut that sold water and other treats. The camp grounds were situated in a valley surrounded by 3 huge mountains around us at about 3800 m above sea level. The most impressive mountain laid directly ahead of us, capped with snow at high altitudes.

Rodrigo and co. had our tents all setup, food on the burner and warm tea awaiting our arrival. We all checked into each of our tents and made our way into the dining tent. Our feet and muscles sore, we laughed and talked about all that we saw during the day. Willie joined us soon after as dinner was served.

For dinner, we had a hot soup, chicken, potatoes, rice, and macaroni. We spoke of how grand it might be to have a deck of playing cards and Willie delivered. All throughout, we saw flashes of lightning and thunder crashing as the backdrop for our first meal together. Soon after dinner, Willie returned with an old beat up deck of cards that he borrowed from a fellow guide.

We spent the evening playing a card game called Spoons. As we played, the thunder and lightning turned into rain. Before long, our tent began to teeter left and right in the wind of the storm. Finally, parts of our dining tent would collapse as the pegs were torn from the rainsoaked ground.

As the night drew to a close, Alin and I returned to our tent to grab our rain gear. Alin and I had not gone to the bathroom in hours and the single toilet was too far, so we decided to go el natural nearby, in the rain. Alin is so brave to attempt such a feat, but she didn´t disappoint.

We finally got settled into our tent. The storm was blowing outside and the entire time we were wondering if our tent would be blown away. Lucky for us, we were spared. We went to sleep that night, cuddled in our sleeping bags, holding onto each other for warmth, but nothing helped. We were frozen by morning. I´ve never woken up from being cold before, it was insane.

The surprise we awoke to tomorrow was something to behold. But that´ll have to come later.

Ciao, it´s time for dinner. I can´t wait. Alin and Steve, signing off.

Hasta mañana.

Day 6: Fun with Rafting.

2006-08-09T19:28:00.000-07:00

Today was notably a more interesting day than yesterday. Yesterday was spent simply, sleeping in, wheeling and dealing with the local travel agents, light walking in Cusco, dinner, and bed. We even spoke with a few fellow travelers, one from Pennsylvania, one from our neck of the woods, Burlingame; one from Australia, and a couple from Toronto. We exchanged travel stories and parted ways. Just as it should be.

I think that Alin and I would have had a better time yesterday if we weren´t still adjusting to the high alititudes. Turning in early was ultimately the right decision, we both woke up this morning feeling much better.

A large part of yesterday was spent trying to negotiate a low price for a rafting trip we took today. There are dozens of travel agencies in Cusco all selling basically the same package. One agency, we were able to lower the price from $35 to $30 without much of a fight. Getting it down to $28 was pretty much impossible. We used all the great tactics used when shopping for a car. We stated our price, disagreed, argued, walked out, walked in, walked out, etc, etc. By the end of the day, we had thoroughly pissed off our agent and he finally said that tomorrow´s tour is cancelled and that he couldn´t help us.

That´s when Alin and I got up, walked down the block to their other office and told the agent that we were promised the deal for $30. She was more than helpful and booked our trip without much issue. We didn´t get the price we really wanted but that´s okay, it´s better than no trip at all. ;)

This morning, we headed out for our rafting trip at 9:00AM. We were set to meet the bus in front of the main office of our agent, and there was the guy we pissed off... AWKWARD. Alin and I avoided eye contact and made it on the bus without a word said.

The drive to the river was beautiful. There was the occasional cow in the road and amazing landscapes to keep us entertained. We made it to the launch point in almost two hours. I was expecting arriving at a house or something, no, we just pulled off the highway and launched out to the river within 20 minutes.

After some brief explanations of the rules for the river, we were on our way. Our boat was filled with our river guide and three bitchy French Canadians (surprise). The entire trip, they spoke nothing but French and gave us leering looks and distainful comments. I know we were being belittled and I didn´t even speak their language.

The river was exciting. There were lots of rapids and they had picked out several points where they basically drowned us in river water while taking photos to document the whole thing. Alin and I had a great time. There was even a point where we were asked to exit our boat because the river was too intense for us... However, when we got to the point where we needed to get back into our boat, we were asked to jump from a 10 foot rock into the freezing river. Alin made me do it first, but it was worth it so I could watch her do the jump her self. She screamed, but not quite as long as the time we jumped into the river from Devil´s Point in Santa Cruz, that time she had enough time to get out a few explitives on her way in.

After about 2 and a half hours of rowing forward and backward and side to side, we made it to the end. Not soon enough, if you ask me, my arms and stomach were tired.

They prepared a lunch for us on the roadside where we were thrilled to sit with our French Canadian counterparts. I could almost hear them critisizing the food in their heads. One of them decided to light up a cigarette, while we´re sitting on a table no more than 3 foot squared. Alin and I promptly left the table.

Soon after, gusts of wind blew down the mountain, as though a sign from god, and drenched the Canadians in dust. I was laughing on the inside.

Alin and I slept on the way back. We got to our hotel, showered and relaxed. At 6, our guide from tomorrow´s trek gave us the low down. After that, we headed out to town to go shopping for a few snacks and beanies and mittens for our trip tomorrow.

We had an excellent dinner at a small "Italian" restaurant. Alin and I shared a plate of spaghetti with garlic and olive oil. "ummm!" as they say here in Peru.

Now, we´re off to bed so we can be full rested for our trip tomorrow. We´re a little scared but looking forward to it none-the-less.

Ciao from Peru!

-s

Off to Cusco...

2006-08-07T16:30:00.000-07:00

This morning, we had a most interesting time getting to Cusco. Alin and I woke up, as we had hoped to do, at 6:30 and were out the door at exactly 7AM. We made our way down to the hotel breakfast, where we grabbed some bread, cheese, and meat for a quick breakfast.

Afterwards, we grabbed our bags and threw them in the back seat of our rental car. I hop in the driver´s seat, put in they key, and turn. Nothing. I turn the key again. Nothing. Panic sets in. The car refuses to start, sitting there lifeless. It appeared that the battery was completely dead and there was no way around it. Alin and I get out of the car and she suggests we go inside and call Budget to find out what to do. The hotel front desk calls a few times, and we finally get through to our English speaking Budget representative.

We explained the situation and asked him for guidance on what to do next. He kept insisting that the rental car would have to come back to the airport to be returned. We kept explaining that the car is not moving and there´s nothing we can do. He asked us to hold on, at which point he made several phone calls and let us know that a tow truck was on it´s way. Unfortunately, that didn´t do much to placate our panic. We were now 2 hours and a half hours away from our flight and no where near the airport.

Fortunately, our flight to Cusco was on LAN airlines. They offered Online Check-ins to their flights, and Alin was able to get our boarding passes printed with the help of our Hotel clerk. About 15 minutes later, the tow truck arrived and confirmed our suspicions, the battery was dead. He was able to get the car started for us, and he graciously offered to follow us to the airport in case the car stalled or stopped along the way.

We were finally on the road. We headed out to the express way, which our tow truck driver showed us, and within 25 minutes arrived at the airport.

As we pulled into the temporary parking area, where the rental agencies stored their cars, the police had set up a baracade and were reviewing each driver´s documents. To our great misfortune, our officer did not speak of lick of English, and to his misfortune, we spoke little to no Spanish. After 10 minutes of gesticulating and uttering words unfamiliar to us, we figured out that he was asking us for my driver´s license. After a quick scan, we were on our way.

We did our once around the parking lot and could not find the entrance to our rental car return. Finally, we pulled up to a closed off driveway, where a guard was keeping watch. With the help of our tow truck driver, we were able to gain entrance. After another 10 minutes or so of inspecting our car for any damages, we were waved on to the Budget counter where we paid our dues and ran off to our gate.

Alin and I were ran off upstairs, found the Airport Tax station, paid our dues, got in line for security and arrived at our gate at exactly 9:25AM, right when our flight was supposed to board.

The flight to Cusco was uneventful. Alin researched places to stay in Cusco while I passed my time with Sudoku. When we landed, we didn´t know what to expect from the altitude change.

As we deboarded, we felt comfortable. The air was noticably thinner, but we were feeling fine. We exited the airport after being harassed by 20 travel soliciters trying to get us to stay at one hotel or another. Alin was able to talk down a taxi driver for a lower fare and he drove us to central Cusco. Along the way, he asked us if we had a place to stay, what we were planning to spend. This seemingly unimportant small talk turned into yet another solicitation. Our driver had driven us directly to the door of a hostel in Cusco.

After a quick tour, we remained unimpressed. Alin and I insisted our disinterest in the rooms and walked off to check out the places on our list of hotels. We found a place within 20 minutes and were checked into our room.

Up until this point, we felt great. But once we had checked into our room, both Alin and I began feeling ill. It was as though something just came over us. For the next 3 hours, we laid in bed, feeling weak, light headed, and dizzy. At 4:00, we forced ourselves out of bed with the hopes of finding a place to grab a light lunch. We walked down the street and found a small pizzaria.

Alin and I shared two small pizzas, drinks, and a slice of slightly stale chocolate cake. Poor Alin remained ill throughout, and is only now starting to feel a little better.

After breakfast, we walked around the main plaza, checked out some of the wares the street vendors offered up. We finally made our way down to a local market where we picked up sandwich fixin´s for the next 2 days.

We´re finally starting to overcome our touch of Alitude sickness, but it´s still a challenge walking for long periods. I´m curious whether we´ll feel more acclimated tomorrow. I hope so, we want to get the most of out of our time in Cusco and the clock is ticking...

That´s it for today. Ciao!

-s