Mama en Peru!

As many of you may already know by now, my lovely mother just arrived into Cusco yesterday morning!  After much anticipation and waiting, we were thrilled to see one another.  Unfortunately, her luggage did not make it with her right away, but I am glad to have her here.  First things first, we went to a local café and got some coffees and breakfast breads.  After enjoying our little meal, we walked to the historical center of Cusco and introduced my mother to the grandeur that is the Plaza de Armas.  We hung out for a while, then decided to join in on a free walking tour of Cusco.

I was pleasantly surprised at the walking tour.  The tour guide, Eric, was energetic, informative, and very friendly.  He regaled us with legends and stories of Cusco, including that Tupac Amaru (the namesake of the legendary rap artist).  We walked around the Plaza de Armas, up to San Blas, and back down again.  Eric recommended quite a few restaurants, cafés, and bars for us to visit, and also took us to a Luthier, or music instrument makers shop.  The Luthier was very neat and included a musical presentation by the instrument maker himself.  Eric also gave us some tips on how to get into famous sights, like the Catedral del Cusco and Sacsayhuaman, for free.  We finished the tour at a local bar and were all treated to free pisco sours (famous peruvian cocktail) and got to learn how they are made.

After the tour, we decided to grab lunch at El Paisa, a restaurant recommended to me by my friend Nate.  The restaurant itself was huge, like an airplane hanger, and specialized in food al norteño and ceviche.  When we got their, the place was pretty packed but we were able to find a table.  There was also live entertainment happening on a big stage which included music and dancing.  We ordered some tamales and papas a la huancaina for a starter and then got a big plate of ceviche to share.  It was a good meal, and we both enjoyed to entertainment (except for the lackluster bongo player).

Later on, we returned to the hotel so that Dena could take a short nap before going out again at night.  We walked around the plaza some more, all lit up by lights at this time of night, and just got accustomed to Cusco's crazy streets.  We nearly went into a local bar, but the presence of cigarette smoke made mom not want to go inside.  We decided to call it a night and head back to the hotel room once more.

Today, we woke up early to eat breakfast, and mom called the airport to see if her bag had been located yet.  They told her it had, and promised to bring it by our hotel in 30 minutes.  However, after an hour or so of waiting the bag had still not shown up.  Growing tired and frustrated of waiting, Dena called the airport again and learned the apparently the driver had gotten lost on the way (not sure how that happens in your own city).  I myself had promised to meet my friend Juan, who had just gotten back from Machu Picchu, at the San Pedro market.  I decided to go ahead and planned to meet mom at the plaza around 1:30.

It was good to see my Venezuelan friends Juan again, and to hear all about his time at Machu Picchu.  We grabbed a bite to eat at the market, which happened to be all outdoors because they were cleaning the complex.  Then, he returned me Simon's tent that I had loaned him and we said goodbye again as we went our separate ways.

When I went to the Plaza de Armas at 1:30, my mom was no where in sight.  I waited around until it started to rain (about 20 minutes) then went back to the hotel to see if she was there, still waiting for the suitcase.  When I got back, mom was not to be found but her luggage had apparently made it back.  Shortly after, I got a call from her wondering where I was.  I asked her the same.  Apparently, we had been on opposite ends of the Plaza and could not see one another due to the large fountain with and Inca emperor on top.  I headed back there to meet up with her.

Mom, in a moment of weakness, needed a good cup of coffee to fight off her headache so I begrudgingly went with her to the overpriced Starbucks on the square.  After getting Starbucks, we went to the local supermarket, Orion, to pick up some insta-coffee so that such an occurrence would not have to happen again.  At Orion we also picked up some coca hard candies and Quinoa cookies (we must really be in Peru).  Right about this time, we both had grown hungry so we decided to grab lunch.  I took her to a local favorite of mine and the locals, La Chomba.  It a neat little restaurant tucked away from the tourists that draws an almost homogenous crowd of peruvians.  For lunch, we ordered two frutilladas (chicha with strawberry juice), mote con queso (corn with cheese), and Lechón, or slow cooked pig with a side of tamale and potatoes.  The meal was delicious and the portions were huge, so much so that we were both stuffed by the end and could not finish all of our mote con queso.  The best part is, the whole meal only cost 35 soles with tip, or about 13 US dollars.  You can really eat like royalty here in Peru for next to nothing!

Right now, we are both back in the hotel room relaxing while journaling/blogging.  Our plans are to buy the tourist ticket that gets you into lots of sights in and around Cusco and spend our time visiting them.  Tomorrow is forecasted to be a rainy day, so we might spend the day indoors at museums and such.  Our end-goal is, of course, to make it to Machu Picchu, wonder of the world and the second one that we will have visited together (the first being Petra).

Look forward for more exciting blog posts and  more picture uploads to Facebook!  Until then, Chao!

Cusco: Take 2

Well, I can honestly that I'm quite happy being back in the old Inca capital.  It is perhaps one of my favorite cities that I've ever been in, despite its very touristy nature.  It has some real charm, with it's colonial buildings and cathedrals built over the old Inca houses.  In fact, they recently excavated one of the streets near the Plaza de Armas and rediscovered an old Inca aqueduct, which they used to move water out of the city.  This city is filled to the brim with cultural and historical heritage, as well as travelers from all corners of the Earth.  The people that live here are also very special in comparison to other Peruvians, all though some can be quite pushy salespeople.

On Sunday, I visited with Nate and his cusqeñian wife, Kerly, and hung out with them for a bit.  We first went to the San Pedro market and ate some wonderfully delicious lechon, or slow, clay oven cooked pig, with tamales.  Next, I went with them to pick up supplies for Nate's upcoming expedition starting the following day (that guy never quits the mountains).  Lastly, I returned back to their apartment with them, and Nate gave me advice for good restaurants and hotels to go to and stay at in Cusco.  I thanked them both warmly, and wished Nathan good luck in the mountains.

Next, I decided to head down into the Sacred Valley to visit some of my other acquaintances I had made my last time here.  My first stop was Urubamba:  I took a tuktuk up to go visit my buddy Jack.  When I go to the place he was staying he was no where to be found, so I decided to walk back down towards town.  As I was walking, a car passed by that just so happened to be transporting Jack and his girlfriend.  They both hopped out and were very surprised and pleased to see me.  As it turns out, they were heading back to Austin, Texas, the following day, so I had caught them both in the nick of time.  After catching up a bit, we said our goodbyes and planned on meeting up again States' side.  Before departing, Jack gave me his key to Llama Pack that he had been holding on to for a while and asked me if I could return it to Coqui for him.  I accepted the task gladly and walked my way over to the hostel.  When I arrived, I let myself in but discovered that there was no one around.  No matter though, I'll visit Coqui, Alejandra, Borja, and the llamas another day.

After Urubamba, I went to Ollantaytambo to go see my friend Elder.  Due to the one lane road that led into the town, there was a huge traffic jam, so I got out and walked to rest of the way.  When I arrived to the camping spot, Elder was not to be found, nor was he at the Gonzo Bar.  I decided to head back because it was beginning to get dark, but I know I'll return later.

By the time I got back to Cusco, my friends from the Huaraz hostel were beginning to worry about me. While I was gone, they had cooked up some crêpes and sold them on the streets, making a nice bit of profit.  The following day, they decided to make their way to Machu Picchu, so I let them borrow the tent that Simon had let me borrow, and we said we'd see each other at the end of the week when they returned.

Yesterday I went around and checked out the hotels that Nate had recommended to me.  After a bit of investigating, I decided upon one called Hospedaje Turistico Recoleta.  It's a nice place that is not too expensive, and 15 minutes away from the center which means calmer environment.  The staff and manager, Javier, were nice and I made reservations for two nights, Saturday and Sunday, as well as organizing an airport pick-up for my mom on Saturday morning.

Well, only 3 and a half more days until she gets here!  In the meantime, I'm going to relax and explore the city some more.

Talk to you all later when mi madre arrives!

Chao!

Huacachina

So, last Wednesday I left Huaraz with 3 buddies I met in El Tambo hostel.  We took the Z Buss to Lima and arrived there early in the morning.  From there, we took another bus to Ica, about 4 hours south of Lima in the desert.  Ica was a busy little city and not much to look at, but about 15 minutes outside of the city there is a tranquil little oasis called Huacachina.  We collectively decided to head there and chill for a day or so.

Huacachina is very small and very touristic (meaning expensive), but it is cool there.  We got a deal for the hotel and then walked around the town.  It's a nice little oasis with palm trees, sand dunes, dune buggies and sand-boarding.  After settling in a bit, we decided to make our way up one of the sand dunes surrounding the oasis.  It was a bit a difficult trek up, but once we made it we had a great view of Huacachina, Ica, and the surrounding desert, which seemed to stretch on forever.  It's amazing to find water in a place as dry as that.

We chilled on top of the dune and watched the sun set into the Pacific.  Then, not having sand-boards on hand, we decided to run full-speed down the dune to our hotel.  Running down the steep dune was a very exhilarating feeling, and we all tripped and ate sand more than once but it was all in good fun.  We got back to our hotel, rinsed off the sand, and then fell asleep.

The next day, we left our little desert oasis and took the 16 hour bus to Cusco (again for me).  I'll spare you the details of sitting in the back of the bus by the toilet with seat that would not recline, but needless to say we were all very happy when we arrived this afternoon.  Now, I'm chilling at the hostel, trying to reconnect with old friends I met here last time.

Exactly one week until my mom gets here!!

Alright, talk to you all later, Chao!

I suppose I ought to make another blog post to let you all know about what I've been up to the past few days...

This last Saturday, I said goodbye to Duncan and Vai as they were headed to Pucallpa in the Amazon.  I feel very blessed to have met these wonderful people and to have been able to travel, climb, and enjoy life with them, and I wish them all the best.  I hope to run into Duncan again on the flipside when we are both back in the grand ol' US of A.  

Besides that I've mainly just been hanging out and relaxing at the hostel in Huaraz.  I've met some cool people and have had some fun times (like the rave party we put on last night).  This is a place that has a lot to offer and I definitely want to return one day at the start of a new season.

I've really enjoyed my month-long stay here in Huaraz, but now it is time for me to return to Cusco in anticipation of my mom's arrival at the end of the month.  The journey by bus is rather long, so I plan on making a few stops along the way to cut up the journey and see more of marvelous Peru.  Some ideal stops would be in the cities of Ica, Arequipa, and possibly Puno on the shores of Lake Titicaca.  Nothing is set in stone, but I have about a week and a half to get to Cusco so we'll see what happens between now and then.

Anyway, my bus leaves at 11 P.M. tonight and I will be arriving back into Lima tomorrow morning, though I don't plan on stopping there any longer than I have to.  Leaving with me are two other guys from the hostal, Hugo from France and Juan from Venezuela, and they are going to Cusco by a similar path.  

I honestly don't know what to expect of these next few days, and perhaps that is for the best, but I know it will be something of an adventure and filled with a fair share of excitement.  I'll try and keep in touch as much as is permitted these next few days, but I hope you look forward to hearing about my upcoming experiences!  

Chao!

Cordillera Huayhuash

Last week, I went with my friends Duncan, Vai, and some new acquaintances, Nate and Luis, to the Cordillera Huayhuash to trek in with them to base-camp and hang out as they made their attempt to climb on of its peaks.  Nate is an American from San Francisco who has been living in Cusco for the past 6 years and climbing mountains there.  His climbing partner, Luis, is a native to Cusco and has lived beneath one of the most famous mountains there, Salkantay, for his entire life.  They are both very strong mountaineers having climbed four out of the seven 6,000+ meter peaks, and Nate runs a guiding service there called Sky High Expeditions.  The groups intent was to climb Nevado Rasac (6017 m) together, and then afterwards Nate and Luis would attempt Nevado Jirishanca (6126 m), one of the Huayhuash's most difficult peaks that hasn't seen an ascent in decades.  My plan was to just tag along and enjoy the scenery.

We left last friday and took a bus to the town Choqian, at the southern most reach of the Cordillera Blanca.  From Choqian, we got a combi to take us way down into this valley, all the way to the quaint colonial village of Llamac.  We arrived at Llamac by dark, and so found one of the two available places to sleep and get a good meal.  We awoke early Saturday morning, and after a bit of a delay we loaded up our port donkeys and began our hike up the steep valley slope.  After about 2 hours, we reached a pass called Pampa Llamac, where we were able to see into the heart of the Cordillera Huayhuash and all it's tallest peaks (the Cordillera Blanca could also be seen from this point).  We continued our hike for about 4 hours, going deep into the valley until we reached the lakes at the base of the mountains.  It was a nice hike (luckily the animals were carrying all our gear and food) with excellent scenery.  We arrived at base camp and set up near a waterfall bringing water down from another glacial lake up high.  There, everyone rested up and got ready to make their way to high camp the following morning.

As for myself, while everyone else went up to try their luck at the mountain, I hung around base camp and went exploring around for a couple of days.  The Huayhuash is a truly stunning place, and very dramatic as well.  The high valley walls make the actually visibility of the mountains low, and they can only really be seen from up high or far away.  The peaks are kind of like snow-capped gems hidden away from sight, and their remoteness makes access much harder than that of the Cordillera Blanca.

I hiked around the surrounding areas, discovering glacial lakes, moraines, and different view points of the mountains.  I also encountered all sorts of birds flying about. I saw condors, cranes, geese, hawks, and all other types which I am unsure of their names.  I even encountered a hummingbird, or picaflor de las montañas, during one of my hikes.  It flew right up to me, hovered right in from of my face for a moment, and then went off in search of flowers I imagine.  It felt like a really special moment to me, and the hummingbird is considered to be one of the five animals sacred to the Incas (the other four being to llama, puma, condor, and serpent.

The days in the valley were very peaceful, and the opening was Westward facing so I saw an amazing sunset each night.  The nights themselves were not too cold, in fact a lot warmer than I had imagined they would be.  We were also fortunate to be there during the full moon, so a few hours after the sun went down the moon would rise and illuminate everything like a second sun.

After waiting two nights at base-camp, the mountaineers finally came down the 3rd morning.  There venture was successful and they all made it to the summit, except Vai who was not feeling up to it.  Duncan told me it was one of the hardest mountains he had ever attempted, and the entire day from high-camp to the summit and back lasted from 1:30 A.M. to 6:00 P.M.  After everyone made it back to base-camp, we hung out, ate lots of food, and prepared to leave early the next morning to catch the noon bus from Llamac back to Choqian.  Nate and Luis stayed behind, as the still had one more summit to reach.

We left at 6 A.M. in the morning and hiked all the way back down to Llamac, arriving just before noon.  Unfortunately, it turns out the bus had left at 11:30, so we were stuck waiting there longer until another vehicle would passed by several hours later and picked us up.  In the meantime, we whiled the hours away trying to nap and eat something from the village that wasn't completely withered or covered in spores.  We finally made it back to Huaraz last night after a speedy (almost too speedy) 4 hour taxi ride back.  I promptly checked back into to Hostel Tambo, then got my favorite street foods: Salchi Pollo, Papas Rellenas, and Borrachitos (little chocolate balls).  I love being in the beautiful mountains, but nothing beats getting back to the city and gorging on some deep fried goodness!

Beginning of my 4th Month

Now, I start my 4th Month/14th week in the beautiful country of Peru, this is officially the longest duration of time that I have been away from home.  However, I don't feel very homesick at all, in fact I feel quite comfortable sitting here in my hostel surrounded by strangers.  It's funny when people ask my where I'm from and I tell them "Bloomington, Indiana", a place they have invariably never heard about.  Sometimes I myself wonder if that's where I truly came from.  Though the fact is that I was born and raised there and owe my roots and all my great friends to such, at times it feels like perhaps I belong to wider, much more international address.  It feels more and more as though I am not just a resident of Bloomington, Indiana, nor one of Peru, but rather a person belonging to this entire planet we call Earth and all the incredible places it has to offer.  I'm sure I'm not the only one that feels this way, I have met many in my travels that think similarly.  Perhaps I am too young to feel a sense of permanent establishment (although it is nice to come back to my parent's home time to time), but something feels really amazing about opening yourself up to the world and feeling accepted anywhere you go.  This worldview appears to me to be very important in dispelling the fear and alienation many people have towards others beyond their own borders, and brings us to the realization that we really are quite close and connected to one another on this relatively tiny planet moving through the eternal vastness of the universe.  Sometimes, as I gaze up at the pure night sky, uninterrupted by light pollution or clouds, I get the feeling that other life forms living on vastly distant planets are in fact not so far away as we think, and perhaps they are looking back at us as well.

This past week, I spent again climbing at Hatun Machay.  Like I have said before, the place is quite amazing with a seemingly unlimited supply of climbing and partners do so with.  Recently, I was climbing with Andreas, an Argentinean guy who actually works as a guide for the Andean Kingdom.  We spent some solid time climbing, and testing out new routes that had been bolted by the owner of Andean Kingdom, also named Andreas (the distinction is that that former is "flaco" or skinny, and the latter is "gordo" or not so skinny).  We got quite a bit in, not even taking a rest day, however the weather was a bit of a limiting factor.  Unlike the week before, this past week was filled with a few snowy days and lack of sun.  This can make a huge difference at that altitude, when climbing in the sun means no need for jackets and the ability to adequately feel your finger tips.  Nevertheless, I still had a great time climbing at Hatun Machay, chilling, cooking, and socializing at the refuge, and sleeping in my tent.  The place has a lot of energy and is quite a recharging getaway from the city life.

Since the Andean Kingdom is run by Argentineans, the workers are Argentineans, and many of the patrons were Argentinean as well, is goes without saying that I spent a lot of time with Argentineans, making some new friends a long the way.  They are a fun group with a good attitude, and are very Gringo by there Peruvian comparison.  One difficulty I did have, however, was keeping up with there Argentinean Spanish.  I've noticed that each country has there own version of Spanish, with unique accents, pronunciations, and words partial to that country.  Fortunately, Peruvians speak quite clearly and accurately in comparison to Castilian Spanish originating from Spain, but Chilean Spanish is the opposite and Argentinean Spanish is different on its own terms.  It's really kept me on my toes both speaking and listening, and has kept the challenge of speaking Spanish alive, which I appreciate.  It's not often you get to meet and experience so many different cultures and groups in one place!

Anyway, I got back from Hatun Machay on Saturday and have been waiting for the return or Duncan and Vai ever since.  Not really sure what's taking them so long, but perhaps the spotty weather has delayed there ascent attempts in the Ishinca Valley.  In the meantime I've just been relaxing and filling my belly with all the good food that the city has to offer.  I do love being in the mountains, but you just can't find papa rellena stands or purchase salchipapas, not can you buy delicious, cheap ice cream.  I believe I will give them a few more days for their return, and then make my next move.  Until then, there are fried potatoes awaiting me, and I must see to them!

Chao!