It's time...for the Pictures and the Stories

O.k. fine fine...so it has taken me forever to put up the pictures and the stories of Peru, but now you are going to get waaaay more than you ever wanted. Since there are SO many pictures I put together a web album that goes with each day with little notes about some. Click on the picture to read the entire caption. As I get more pictures I'll upload more. Ok...here we go! If anyone actually makes it all the way through this let me know! ha!

Aug 12-13 Day 1: The airport

August 12 Pictures
August 13 Pictures
If anyone ever tells you to take the cheap flight and have more transfers...kick them. It sucks. Well, actually, it only sucks if you are desperately trying to sneak your considerably over-sized backpack on the plane as a carry on and not as a checked bag, which is what we were doing. Randy and I got to the airport just before 5am and got through pretty quickly and then met up with Melissa. Everything was fine until we got to the front of the security line and some asshole...ahem...guy, went running past all the security checkpoints and into the airport screaming. Because of this they had to shut down the entire airport because of the security breach. No people could come or go from the airport and no planes were allowed to land or take off for about 45 minutes. It was supper fun waiting in the line...we were sooo close to getting through before they guy ran in...sigh. Anyways we ended up making our flight. Unfortunately none of us sat together for the first leg of the trip from Seattle to Houston, and all of us were sitting in between other groups...but it was only a 4 hour flight so it went well. The next flight from Houston to Panama, Randy and I scored seats together, thanks to Melissa, and just at dusk we flew over the Panama Canal into Panama City. It was beautiful, there were tons of huge boats everywhere all lit up....amazing. We also got to fly over the Gulf of Mexico which was clear blue and in certain areas we could see to the bottom...so pretty. We had a very short layover in Panama and had to hide our backpacks so they wouldn’t make us check them. We finally got our second to last plane from Panama to Lima, Peru and landed in Lima at 12am. Unfortunately our next plane to Cusco didn’t leave till 6am so we had to hang out in the airport for 6 hours. We did get some awesome massages for $10 so I didn’t really complain! Once in Cusco we got a ride to our hostel which wasn’t open so we left our bags and hung around Cusco till they opened at 1pm. By this point none of us had slept in almost 30 hours (we didn’t really sleep the night before we left) so we were exhausted. We took a little nap and then went to dinner...and then went to bed again! Yeah sleep!

Aug 14-Day 2: Coca Leaves

August 14 Pictures
So far we all have mild headaches from the altitude but we get to drink Coca tea and that really helps...no mom we aren’t taking Cocaine...the leaves are what they make cocaine out of but only has a minuscule quantity so we aren’t getting all drugged up. Today we explored Cusco and went shopping! I know we shouldn’t be shopping because we have to carry all of our stuff with us on the trek but how can anyone resist furry alpaca clothing! Cusco is beautiful!

Aug 15: An Earthquake for my Birthday

Aug 15 Pictures
Today was more fun exploring Cusco. We also went to several sites in Cusco such as the Qoricancha Templo del Sol. It was so beautiful! Tomorrow is my birthday, but it is also the day before our trek so we can’t go out and really celebrate so Melissa had the great idea of celebrating tonight! Yeah Melissa! We went out to an Irish Pub called Paddy's and had totally awesome Sheppard’s Pie and lots of beer. About 1/2 way though the evening we felt the room shake violently and thought maybe we were near the train station and didn’t know it. The owner of the Pub came over and told everyone in the room that there was an earthquake and we had to leave the building immediately. You know it's serious when and Irish guy tells you to leave your beer. We left the building (and our beers...so very un-Irish) and sat outside until the aftershocks were over, which took about 10 minutes. while we were sitting outside we could feel the vibrations in the ground, it was crazy. We finally go to go back to our beers and toasted our survival of our first earthquake, even though it was mild and watched the TV news about the harder hit areas of Pisco and Ica. We then headed home and emailed everyone that we were fine.

Aug 16: My Birthday! Sacred Valley Tour

Aug 16 Pictures
Today is my birthday!! Yeah! We decided to go on the Sacred Valley Tour to visit Pisac, Ollantaytambo, and Chincheros. WHY didn’t anyone ask if we were going to be climbing stars and hills all day? I wish we had because I am so tired and we start our trek tomorrow...boo!! Very poor planning...but at least we had fun!

Aug 17: The Trek Begins

August 17 Pictures
Uuummm...hiking is hard. Actually it was pretty tough but we got through it. We got picked up from our hostel and driven to our site at 4:30 am...uuugh. The hiking was pretty intense but I kept a good pace that didn’t kill me and didn’t bother with how far ahead everyone else was, I just wanted to have fun and not die! I had several nose bleeds from the altitude so one of the guides made me ride a horse four about an hour until he was sure I wasn’t going to be sick anymore. Another girl that was with us, Edith, has some serious altitude sickness and had to ride the horse too...she had never ridden on one before though so she was so scared she only stayed on for about 20 mins...heeehee...it was totally cute. Randy was awesome and stayed with me while I was sick (such a good boyfriend) although I suspect it was because he started getting altitude sickness, but we will pretend it's because he really loves me. We go to talk to Edith and her fiancé Giovanni for most of the day, they only problem was they spoke no English...only Italian! So our guide Julion translated for us, it was pretty fun. Tonight we camped and it is so friggin' COLD! The cooks made an awesome dinner...who knew camp food was that good? But the stars are amazing and you can see the Milky Way! And you though it was jut a candy! It was amazing, but we went to sleep pretty fast because tomorrow is the hardest part of our trek. We are climbing almost straight up to Salkuntay and then after than...downhill! YEAH downhill!!

Aug 18: Broke Back Mountain

August 18 Pictures
Today was pretty traumatic. First of all...who starts hiking at 5:30 in the morning? Anyways, about 1 hour after we started hiking my nose started bleeding again and Edith and Urike two of the girls on the trek with us got really bad altitude sickness. Julion wanted me to ride a horse again since he didn´t want me to pass out from the nose bleeds...that might have been the first mistake. Urike was riding on the horse in front of mine and both of us had a horse handler leading the horses so we had nothing to hold on to but the blanket the saddle was on. Peruvian saddles sit on about 3 blankets and are a little unstable. When I got on the horse, I knew I should have asked for the saddle to be tightened, but I didn’t. We went over a river bed and my horse decided to jump it and the saddle slipped to the right side and I fell to the ground landing on a rock with my back. The horse obviously got scared and stepped back kicking my right thigh and stepping on my left thigh. I rolled away from the horse as fast as I could and the handler drove the horse away from me. At this point I was in A LOT of pain, I thought I had broken my leg and back from how hard I hit the rock and the weight of the horse. Randy and Julion (our guide) came out of no where running up to help. All I have to say is thank God my sister had me get those pants that zip off at the thigh because that was the only way they could look to see if the horse had broken my leg. I started shivering and turning pale and Randy realized I might be going into shock so he put my legs up and covered me while Julion and the other porter were helping me. The pain started to subsided after about 30 minutes. Since we were in the middle of the mountains it was hard to decide what to do. They could not lift me out by air, I couldn’t walk or ride the horse, no one could carry me over that rough of a terrain and they didn’t have a stretcher. Our second guide Julion though he might have to send me back somehow and I was so upset because all I wanted to do was finish the trek and I knew Randy would not leave me, meaning he would not be able to finish either. Romero (the lead guide) decided that there was no safe way to get me back to Cusco but there was a way to get me to Santa Teresa if I wanted to keep going. I knew my back wasn't broken and I could move my legs so I got back on the same horse (Pepe) and rode to the lunch site which was 2 hours away. It was very painful and it was all downhill on rocks but Romero and Julion stayed with me the whole time and Randy never left my side. We got to lunch where I could lay down and about an hour later I got on the horse again to ride 4 hours to our final campsite. I ended up walking the last hour because I knew my back would continue to cease up if I didn’t move it. At dinner Edith and Urike told me they had never been more scared and couldn’t believe I didn’t cry from the pain and that I decided to continue on and road the same horse. All I have to say is it was better than having someone make a stretcher out of wood and fabric to carry me back to Cusco!

Aug 19: Downhill and the Hot Springs

August 19 Pictures
This morning I felt a little better, even though it was 5:30am when we got up, and decided to continue on the trek and not go straight to Santa Teresa by bus or car. I know you think I’m crazy but I had come to far, and been through way to much not finish. I road the horse for a little while but I walked most of the way since it was downhill. Randy held on to me the entire 8 hours that we walked. We traveled into the Cloud Forrest and it was amazing. As we moved downhill it got warmer and warmer and everyone but we was getting eaten alive by bugs...heeehee. I decided that it’s like a banana, I don’t want to eat a bruised one....so a bug wouldn’t want to eat a bruised person...I have to find some humor in it anyways. We arrived in Santa Teresa where they have...HOT SPRINGS! Oh it was awesome...it felt so good to be in water and clean off some after 3 days of trekking. My bruises on my leg are enormous. The one on the left leg now takes up my entire inner thigh, knee to groin...I’m very sexy with my bruises...everyone said so…lol. At dinner Romero and Julion told me I was very brave and they have never had anyone get hurt as badly as I had that continued on the trek. Romero told me I was very strong to keep going and not to cry or complain and that he would be sure to tell stories about me for years to come...I told him my mom would call me a stubborn and insane! He laughed and said his mother would say that about me too. Funny little Peruvian man. We found out that when we arrive in Aguas Calientes tomorrow we get to sleep in a hotel not at a campsite!! YES! Bring on the shower and the bed!

Aug 20: The Cable Car

August 20 Pictures
OMG today was so hot. Yuck! We did get to sleep in till 7...so that was pretty awesome. We followed the train tracks from Santa Teresa to Aguas Calaentes. Oh but before we did that we got to cross a huge river on a...wait for it...pulley cart. But this isn’t the pulley cart you are think of…ho no…it’s way better! It’s basically an apple crate with a small metal A-frame big enough to carry about two people that is on an inch thick cable that they push and once you are in the middle (directly above the class 4 or 5 river) they pull you from the other side…nice right? Safe? Of course! Talk about crazy...and painful! I could barely sit so it was pretty excruciating to sit in the cart but we road across and it was actually really fun...until I had to get out...that hurt. But I find everything so amusing at this point it doesn’t matter. Bring on the scary fun! Once again, if anyone ever tells you that you are going on an “adventure” hike…please ask them to define the word “adventure”! So we walked another 6 hours around the back side of Machu Picchu which was pretty exciting...almost there! What was even more exciting (sad to say) was getting to Aguas Calientes where we found our hotel! YEAH HOTEL! YEAH HOT WATER! YEAH BED! We had some great food, played around on the city and then went to bed!

Aug 21: Machu Picchu

August 21 Pictures
All I can say is it was worth it. We were up and ready by 4:30am to make it to sunrise at Machu Picchu. The clouds were rolling in and as we finally made the turn into Machu Picchu it was covered in misty clouds. It was breathtaking. Romero took us around the site and gave us a two hour tour telling us about the history and theories of the site. Since the Inca’s didn’t record much it is hard to know what the site was for but it was fascinating to hear all the stories. We played around for about 5 hours before the heat was too much and we went back to play in Aguas Calientes. We finally left around 8:30pm and got back to Cusco around 11:30pm. My back is still pretty bad but I think it's because it really hasn’t had any rest, so we will see after tomorrow if I should go to a doctor here. But for now, sleeeeep.

Aug 22: Pringles
Randy is the best. Have I ever mentioned this? We decided to rest for the day at our hostel and I really wanted Pringles so while I was napping he went and got me some! I mean I did have to pout a little but I got them! heehee! Soooo goood! I did nothing today...nothing at all and it was great fun. Randy is getting over a chest cold so we sat around most of the day until going out for dinner with everyone.

Aug 23: Cusco Art
Today was art day! Zack, Susi, Melissa, Randy and I went to several of the art museums. And then we took a nap. Yeah nap! Then we hung around the hostel, had dinner and drank in the bar. Then we went to sleep.

Aug 24: Sexy Woman

August 24 Pictures
Today while everyone else went on a horseback ridding adventure...which I had already had enough of...Randy and I took a bus tour. We saw the same things as everyone else but we got to do it from the safety and comfort of an air conditioned bus...yes! We visited Sacsayhuaman (that's right...it is pronounced Sexy Woman), Qenqo, Puca pucara and Tambomachay

Aug 25: Cuuuuuyyyy!!

August 25 Pictures
So Ginny Pig is very popular in Peru...eeew. They call it Cuy because that is the sound a Ginny Pig makes...sick...but really fun to say. Yesterday the rest of the group met Elvis (swear to God), who was their horse guide. He swore the best Cuy was actually outside the city where it was fresher (eew) and offered to take us there by bug. Oh yeah...we adventure bused it! What was most interesting was this was the first time we had really traveled outside the more historic area of Cusco. It was...well...a slum. I know that sounds awful but they really try to keep you away from seeing how people really live in Cusco and after seeing what it was like it was sad. We did have a really great time and everyone loved the Cuy....I decided not to eat any. Later on when everyone was feeling sick, I realized what a wise person I am...heeehee!

Aug 26: Shopping Day
So when Kate told me the people selling art and other touristy items on the street were aggressive, she wasn’t kidding. Randy and I went out today to shop for everyone’s gifts…and you better all like them! It took forever, mostly because both Randy and I are incapable of making real decisions on anything, let along a joint decision. It took about 5 hours to buy everything. We were accosted by so many venders at one point that some of the security guards had to tell them to lay off…at least that is what we think they told them. Anyways it was a very relaxed day and I must say I am very excited to not be at the hostel after tomorrow…yeah going home!

Aug 27: The Terminal

August 27 Pictures
I hate Taca airlines. Never take them for any reason. The plan for our trip back to the US was to take the 7:30am flight to Lima, hang out in Lima, get a nice hotel and catch our 5:30 am flight to Panama and get to the US by 10pm tomorrow night. This is how everything can go wrong in a matter of hours. We arrived at the airport at 5:30 am, our flight was at 7:30 am, and then was delayed till 9:30 am, then till 10:15 am, and then till 12:15pm. They originally told us the plane had a problem in Lima and was delayed for that reason. Finally at 11:50 when they were supposed to start boarding Melissa and Seth went up to ask what was going on and they said the wind was too strong and no planes were leaving from Cusco to Lima until it calmed down so our flight was canceled but if we went downstairs they might be able to get us on another airline. We run downstairs and find that we could have gotten on another one of the 5 flights that left on the LAN airlines since 7:30am but Taca Airlines sucks and didn’t tell us. The next flight out to Lima was not until 9:30am the next morning, which of course would make us miss all of our flights to the US. So what does Taca say about this, you ask? Tough luck. They basically told us they were only responsible for getting us to Lima, not to the US and we would have to talk with Copa airlines our other carrier to find out how we could get home. After 4 more hours of sitting in the Cusco airport fighting with them (thank God for Melissa!) We got a hotel room and dinner on Taca and a flight out the next morning, but still no way of getting home from Lima. We spent the rest of the evening calling Copa and Taca to see how we could get home. Copa informed us that we would each get charged $150 to change our flight and Taca informed us they would not pay for it…ugh…I hate them. No one would help so we are flying to Lima in the hopes the main Taca office will be more helpful…otherwise we will have to stay in Peru forever…sigh.

Aug 28: Paaanaaamaaa...

August 28 Pictures
It only gets more funny as the days go one. We run out of the hotel and are about to get on the plane and are stopped by a representative for the hotel. Apparently we had to pay for all the phone calls we made to the states and to the airlines. We assumed Taca would pay since we wouldn’t have been in this mess to begin with if it wasn’t for them, but oh no, they don’t care and won’t pay. Susi had to run out of the security check point, get money, and run back through. We barely make out plane but we finally get on it and arrive in Lima. We had much better luck in Lima, thank God. We split up Susi and Zack going down to talk to the Taca manager and Melissa and Montine went to talk to Copa about how we could all get home. Things started to work out well, Taca found a way for no one to have to pay for the change in tickets and paid for the majority of the phone bill. 5 hours latter were on a plane to Panama City where we got to stay the night until we can get on a plane to Houston tomorrow morning. Somehow, Randy got upgraded to first-class…bastard. So I sat…in pain…back in coach while he got awesome food and free alcohol in a cushy leather chair….bastard. Actually it was not too bad, Seth and I had our own row so we stretched out and took a nap…it’s almost over! On a good note, Panama City is beautiful and humid as hell…reminds me of Memphis! We had a great night hanging out at the hotel bar drinking Pina Coladas. One more day and we will be home!!

Aug 29: Seriously?

August 29 Pictures
seriously…I will never fly again. We are almost to Houston we are all celebrating and of course something happens. Apparently there was bad weather in Houston and they couldn’t land the plane. So we had to land in Austin and sit on the tarmac, in the plane, for 3 hours. Of course, as I’m sure you can guess, we missed our connecting flight to Seattle. The seven of us were on two different flights to Seattle. Randy, Seth and I were on the 5:30pm flight and the rest of the group was on the 7:30 flight. Lucky for the rest of the group they didn’t miss there flight, but Randy Seth and I go to the ticketing counter and they tell us we had to fly standby for the next three flights to see if we can get to Seattle, otherwise we have to wait till the morning, and since it was weather or an “act of God” as they call it, they are not responsible to get us a hotel room. Bastards. Seth ended up getting on the 7:30 so it was just me and Randy hanging out in the Houston airport until we finally got on the 8:55 flight. Randy’s friend Suzanna, who lives in Houston and works for Continental, came to visit us while we were stranded in the airport, so at least we got to see her! Holly and Jeremiah, who rock, picked us up at the airport when we got in at 11:30pm and it took us almost two hours to get our luggage. But finally, we got home around 2am. THANK GOD! I have never been happier to see my bed in my life!

Afterwards:

After all the drama we went through I must say it was worth it. Peru was an amazing adventure that I have a ton of stories about. The seven of us go together last night to view pictures and there were so many funny stories and pictures it’s hard to remember all of them. We had a great time and I am so glad we went! At the party Seth gave me a Pepe trophy. He said I really deserved to have something else to remember him by. I swear to God this is the funniest gift I have ever gotten!! Thanks Seth!!