Charlotte and Adios!

 So, this is my final post for my blog Aguacate!  Its been a beautiful adventure: 5 months in South America, 4 of which I was studying in Santiago, Chile.

These past few weeks have been my "readjustment" period to my life back in the USA.
I returned to Raleigh on Thursday, July 28th.  I spent a beautiful week with my family, and visiting with some friends back home.  My little brother, David, returned from his 2 months in Central America (Duke Engage), so we had plenty of time to compare our adventures and experiences in the different countries.

Robert, my older brother was able to fly up for a week, which was great!  I had not seen him since Daniel and Marce's wedding almost a year before.




With 2 brothers, and my parents, we drove to Charlotte after my week in FV, to be met by Daniel and Marce.  We multi-tasked, moving me back into the house in Charlotte, and having a family reunion.  I was able to show the family a small part of the Queen City, getting to catch up on everyones' lives over the past 5 months.

 Flying Saucer, Saturday night, Charlotte.

Wine Vault for Kristin's "Send Off"

Diego and I before going salsa dancing.

 Some of the Baristas of Jackson's Java

You are welcome to share this blog, and re-read the adventures whenever you'd like.  Keep on the look out for my next blog!  I hope to have some new adventures to share with you very soon!xx

Until then, school, GRADUATION, and work!
Besos de Charlotte!xx

Peru.... la la la la la la la laaaaa

Hello friends!  So, after many weeks of silence on the Blog Front, I'm back and ready to share with you some rich stories of adventures I had while travelling within the beautiful country of Peru!! I traveled for 3 weeks flying with LAN Airlines, landing in Lima, then travelling by Cruz del Sur bus for 15 hours to Arequipa.  Next came a 10 hours (not Cruz del Sur) not so safe bus ride to Cuzco..Macchu Pichu, and then finally a 22 hour bus ride with Cruz del Sur back to Lima. 

 

My adventures from Arequipa continued as I entered the city of Cuzco.  After setting up my room at the Pirwa Hostel, which was conveniently located right off of Plaza de Armas, I was able to reserve my spot for the Inka Jungle Trail which would be a 3 night/4 day hike to Macchu Pichu.  My friend, Melissa did the Inca Trail, which is also 3 nights/4 days, but you carry all your food with you, and sleep on the ground.  I had the luxury of always eating in restaurants (meals were prepaid) and sleeping in hostels (although none had hot enough water to shower well). The payment for this trek included the 3 nights in hostels, the biking equipment, meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner, the entrance into Machu Pichu, the train and the bus return to Cuzco.  It was a very worthwhile deal, and even though there were quite a few “hiccups” by the trek’s company, I enjoyed it!

The next 4 posts are detailed accounts of my 4 day trek, including fun pictures.  I tried to do it so you will not get confused.  The post that is under this one is the Day 1.. and just keep reading on to the next post.  

On the road to one of the 7 Wonders of the World...

Day one of the trek:  I was told to be ready by 7 am just in case the guide stopped by a little early to collect me… I was not “collected” until 8:30.. We walked to the plaza where the vans and other persons were waiting. After another 45 minutes of waiting, switching vans 2 or 3 times, we were finally on our way: 3 hour van ride out of Cuzco and to up to the beginning point of the bike ride. 

We biked down a very winding, curvaceous, paved road leading down a mountain and into a very small village.  We biked for approximately 2 hours, arriving at the village, where we ate a bagged lunch which consisted of a cheese sandwich, an apple, a peach juice box, an energy bar and a few chocolate bars and cookies. 

 

We hopped in the van and drove another hour and a half, arriving at the village of Santa Maria where we would be staying the night in a hostel.

Santa Maria, and the surrounding villages had not had any running water for 3 or more days due to road construction and burst pipes… What water the villagers did have was brought from another village… Needless to say, we were unable to shower unless we used bottles of water.

Not allowing the lack of running water to damper our adventures, a few Brits and I decided to explore the village (2 blocks, about 10 very small buildings, a few corner shops for beer and snacks, and a few restaurants).  We found about 10 little boys aged between 5 and 8 playing fútbol (soccer), I – being the only one who spoke Spanish- asked if we could join in and play a game.  After 2 hours of playing, I counted 10 “big people” and 10 “little people”.. We tried to evenly split the teams, but there were 2 “little people” who dominated the field when they had the ball. It was a great end to the day.

Day 2 of the MP Trek

Day 2: We were up by 6:30am to eat our breakfast and to hit the road by 7:15. We took a hired van up the hill from the village and then hiked up to the Monkey house and where we could buy fresh juices, be entertained by a monkey and some other strange mammal, and relax for a while in the tropical heat.   

We continued our uphill climb for another 1.5 hours until we reached the highest point of the Inka Trail.  Here we just breathed in the realizations that, yes in fact we WERE doing this trek.  What a powerful thought… We continued to walk, stopping for a brief history lesson about the Inka and the importance of Macchu Pichu..

 

**Inka is actually meant to refer to the leader, the most powerful of the community.  The “Chief” of the people.  A particular Inka was being followed by the Spaniards, who were trying to take his gold and conquer yet another part of South America.  This Inka took his warriors, collected all the gold and they ran in the opposite direction of Machu Pichu, for this reason the Spaniards never once set foot in Machu Pichu until it was scientifically rediscovered in July of 1911. 

We continued hiking, dirt paths, gravel paths, rock steps..  I turned my ankle during this point in the trek (Welcome to the Kate Club!) and I limped the last leg of this part of the day’s journey to the restaurant where we had our lunch.  After lunch we rested in the hammocks, and I  -along with two Germans who had taken turns being very sick – decided to take a local taxi the last leg of the journey, as the next 2 days were vital for our trip. 

The car ride was 45 minutes to arrive to the town of Santa Teresa… The walk was 2 hours.  We all met up at the local hot springs to relax our muscles after 2 long days of biking and trekking, and to rest my ankle which was extremely swollen.  We returned to the village, and had some time to spare before our dinner.  Santa Teresa is the main town of this part of the mountains.  All the children from the surrounding mountains must come to this town in order to attend middle and high school… the 45 minute drive earlier is one of the shorter commutes.. imagine 2 hours just to arrive at school..?

This night we ate alpaca meat, which has a sweet taste to it.  It was served with rice and potatoes.  By 10pm I was ready to limp back to the hostel and pass out for the night.  We would be back on the hike by 7 the next morning…

Alpaca Meat

Day 3 of the MP Trek

Day 3: We all arrived ready to be on the road again by 7am after eating our breakfast.  The tour guide (his name is Chavo) arrived at 8am looking frazzled after having to deal with some particular issues… We would not leave until 8:45, with a different group as Chavo would have to take care of some business. We were all a little annoyed that we had been waiting an hour before he had even informed us of this change, but, Hey?! It’s all right, we only have 6 or 7 hours left to walk until we arrive at Aguas Calientes.

 

So, we started our trekking for day 3, walking mainly along a mountain road following the river.  We then began to follow the railroad track to Aguas Calientes.  We walked approximately 3 hours of road and track until we arrived at the restaurant for lunch. 

It was a beautiful location that was set off the tracks.  One feels like they are entering a tropical forest as they walk through the entrance.  There were turkeys, ducks, flowers, hammocks, dogs, and of course food.  We stayed here for a good 2 hours in order to eat and rest before the last 3 hours of our trek to AC. 

We continued along the train tracks and finally arrived at Aguas Calientes around 6pm.  We went to our designated hostels (may I just add that being female and a lone traveler, I always received my own bedroom, and in AC my own bathroom and shower!)  The Brits and I hopped over to the hot springs which were a good hike uphill from our hostel, to relax and chat before the long anticipated excitement of the next day. 

 

We met for dinner and received the saddening news that we would not be permitted to climb up Waynapichu as the laws had changed.  Now you must purchase a specific ticket online in order to climb up Waynapichu (it is known for its steep, treacherous climb up stairs, which – before – people would arrive at 5:30 in the morning just to be the first 200 in order to receive a ticket to climb the mountain.  And now everything would change..)  The good news was that we would not be leaving at 3:30 in the morning, but rather at 5:30… *sigh of relief?*

The Brits and I decided to head off to a local bar and have a drink to celebrate what we had achieved and what we were about to conquer the next day.

I was asleep by 11pm.

I'm on a mountain! I'm on a wall! I'm at MACCHU PICHU!

Day 4: Rapidly throwing on my walking shoes and stuffing my day’s provisions in my backpack at 5:29am, scrambling down the stairway and running up the hill, I arrived at the group’s designated meeting place by 5:36am.  Everyone was already there.. I felt so guilty for being the late one. 

We started our walk immediately in the dark, passing the line of persons waiting to buy their tickets for the bus to drive up to Machu Pichu.  What would be for us 1.5 hours of hiking up a very steep mountain, was a mere 25 minutes for those in bus.

 

 As we hiked, we would cross the bus’s path hopping across the road to continue up the steps.  This was extremely challenging, as I still had my swollen ankle, the altitude made it very difficult to breathe and, well, let’s face it, I’m not as in shape as I’d like to admit… I would stop and take pictures of the beautiful surrounding scenery to allow myself a few moments to catch my breath… and continued to have “awe” moments as I reminded myself of what lies ahead, up that mountain, and a few more (or 40) minutes…

Once finally to the top, and all of us finally through the entrance to Machu Pichu, Chavo led us to our designated beginning point of the tour.  He informed us of the history, the culture, and the purpose (believed to be) of Machu Pichu for the Inkan people.  With the amount of temples, and its high altitude, this ancient place is believed to have been a sense of refuge for those of the elite, and also a university - of sorts - for the young.  

 

We toured around as a group for 2 hours, and then Chavo completed his job as trek and tour guide, and took his leave of the group.  We all now had the liberty to go and do as we pleased.  I stayed with a couple from Spain and we hiked around, going up partway of the mountain Machu Pichu, and then going to see the Inkan Bridge.  We posed with the grazing llamas which simply ignore the thousands of hands on tourists (including myself) who would bet them and take pictures with them. 

The entire time I would keep telling myself that I was at Machu Pichu, that I had actually successfully made this 4 day trek and was able to mark off one of the 7 wonders of the world.  I’m sure one day I will have come to terms with this, and actually believe that the hundred-something photographs I have were actually taken by me with my own camera.  Yes, I am still in a sense of shock…

Inka Bridge

After about 6 hours total of exploring the ruins of Machu Pichu, and getting lost about 4 times, I finally made my way out of MP and took a bus back down to Aguas Calientes.  I was the only one of the group left at this point as all others had headed back after 3 or 4 hours. 

After eating, I ran into Chavo, and asked him about my return tickets to Cuzco.. The poor guy was yet again flustered as his company had messed up my train ticket.  I was now “Jorge Calieres”… Chavo, the lady who had messed up my ticket, and I all 3 decided that if I had any issues getting onto the train because the ticket would not be accepted, the woman would pay for me to stay in Aguas Calientes another night, including a dinner and breakfast. 

Luckily, the train ticket was merely glanced at, the name checked off the list, and I was safely in my seat on the train from Aguas Calientes to some remote town where I then looked for my name (My REAL name) on a sign to hop on the respective bus to return to Cuzco. 

I finally arrived to my hostel by 11:30pm, got into my room and passed out for the night.  The following day would be calm, with the promise of a professional full body massage, meeting up with a few friends from PUC, and my 22 hour bus from Cuzco to Lima

What an amazing 4 days, filled with exercise, adventures, injuries, delicious foods, and a world wonder. 

The bus from Cuzco to Lima was not the most graceful 22 hours of my life, and I arrived to Lima looking shattered and exhausted. Carlos’s aunt took care of me, and encouraging me to rest up after losing so much energy  from the ride.  Carlos bought me some soup from a Chinese restaurant, and as the day went on, I began to feel more like myself again, and by the following day, ready to conquer the world again.