BootsnAll Travel Network
Add this blog to: MyYahoo, Google, Bloglines, RSS


Leaving Cusco, heading home

May 2nd, 2006

Blu, Lindsey, and I awoke pretty early, so we went to grab some breakfast… I need to mention again my love for cheap, good, and filling Peruvian food. For only s/11, we got a huge brekkie. Toast, fruit, eggs, pancakes, meat, juice, coffee… and I think there was more I can’t remember. I was stuffed. P4220419.JPGThe weather was beautiful, so we did some walking around, stopping at a few more mercados… just general looking around, browsing, and chillin. Cusco is much nicer in the sun, compared to before the trek when it was wet and a bit dreary. The city still is a bit dirty in spots, though. There’s so many wild dogs running around that get into the trash and leave a mess when they’re done. Don’t they know to clean up after themselves? Sheesh…. And as we walked, we’d hit various areas that just reeked of urine. Don’t know if it was animal or human, but we’d assume both, as we blatantly saw a guy pissing on a pole one night… right out on the street. He looked pretty drunk, but apparently discretion isn’t a main concern…. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Peru, South America, Travel | 1 Comment »

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Back in Cusco

May 2nd, 2006

P4220427.JPGToday was spent just chillin out. Blu and Lindsey were up early since they didn’t stay out as late, and they headed out to do some things. When I awoke, I bummed around the hostel for a bit, had some tea, did some reading in the open area of Loki, and watched this guy play some futbol with the resident dog. The weather was much nicer now, and it was good to just sit in the sun… and not be hiking in it! Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Peru, South America, Travel | No Comments »

Tags: , , ,

Inca Trail, Day 4: Machu Picchu

May 2nd, 2006
Well, today is it. The last day of the trek, finally reaching Machu Picchu. We were up at 4, breakfasting, and on our way. We followed the train tracks to Machu Picchu Town, though did have to watch, because the tracks were live. We had plenty of time to get off the tracks if a train was coming… though sometimes not much room, as we were hugging the river on the other side. Compared to the rest of the days, this hike was nothing, and wasn’t very long til we got to the town. We dumped our gear in a restaurant they had reserved and boarded a bus, driven by yet another crazy Peruvian driver, to take us up to Machu Picchu. Once there, Victor gave us about a 2 hour tour of some of the highlights before sending us off to explore on our own. There’s really not much I can saw about it but… WOW! The site is just so big, with so many ruins… Part of the reason we were trying to get there so early was to avoid the flood of people, and I’m glad we did. There were still others while we were there, but just a couple isolated groups. The masses came later, though. I have to admit, there didn’t seem to be quite the energy as I felt at Wiñaywayna.. surely due to the traffic it sees daily, but the sheer size and views were still enough to make you tingly. Words cannot describe how cool it was, and if a picture is worth a 1000 of them… ehh, I’ll cut with the clichés and just show you the damn photos… Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Inca Trail, Peru, South America, Travel | 1 Comment »

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Inca Trail, Day 3

May 2nd, 2006

P4190162.JPGThe day started with a bit more up stairs, which after the previous day should be nothing… but nobody was particularly happy about it, nonetheless. But the 3rd day should be the good one… in theory, we should be pretty used to the hiking now, and the hardest part is over, and the scenery on Day 3 is some of the best… except for the fact that most of the day is spent going down these Incan steps. It started bothering Joe pretty badly… his knee starting giving out and was having to take things rather slow. Lindsey, on the other hand, was wise enough to hire a porter for the day after nearly dieing the day before. At times she was kind of bumming about not being able to pull through the whole way, but we assured her it was for the best. She proved herself plenty, and there was no reason to overdo it and put herself in any danger through overexertion. Besides, this way she could actually enjoy herself for the day, and not struggle through it. So today was quite the shift in dynamic as she plowed ahead and skipped down parts of the trail. I had my 2 REI trekking poles, and though much more expensive than the walking sticks everyone else bought in Ollayntambo, I was sure glad I had them. Using two poles to support my weight I think helped a lot on the way up, and definitely did on the way down. Once I got in a groove, I was able to pick up quite a bit of speed cruising down the steps.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Inca Trail, Peru, South America, Travel | No Comments »

Tags: , , , ,

Inca Trail, Day 2

May 1st, 2006
Holy fucking stairs! All fucking day! Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Inca Trail, Peru, South America, Travel | No Comments »

Tags: , , ,

Inca Trail, Day 1

May 1st, 2006

Well, the day began with quite the excitement. I was sent down to deal with checking out while everyone else finished packing up their gear. For some reason this was a difficult process. Admittedly, the desk guy’s English wasn’t the best, and my Spanish wasn’t working very well that early in the morning… but it was apparently just easier if I left a bag in storage, and thus could postpone payment until we came back. Fine, whatever, a little less weight I have to carry, and a bit of extra cash for the time being. In the midst of this, Peru Treks showed up to pick us up, and there was some scuffle between them and the desk guy. Something about the door getting shut on them, and always getting treated poorly by this same guy at the hostel every time they go there. I don’t know, I didn’t quite get it, but I just knew to hurry and get everyone outside and make sure we were square with our bill for now, and try to make sure they’re expecting us when we get back from the trek. He said everything was ok… but for some reason I have my doubts… Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Inca Trail, Peru, South America, Travel | 1 Comment »

Tags: , , , ,

Day 2 in Cusco

May 1st, 2006

We spent the day just hanging around the city, doing some browsing around, grabbing food when needed… general get to know your surroundings type things. One of the first impressions when walking the streets is the amount of people trying to sell things. Many adults have various crafts or food for sale, or those selling paintings and art, or scouts for various establishments, like restaurants and tour agencies. And children either begging or trying to sell finger puppets. I have never used the phrase “No gracias” more in my life. In fact, it’s probably now the single most used Spanish phrase I’ve ever uttered. It can get to be much at times, but you learn to accept or ignore it. It’s the worse right in the area of the Plaza de Armas, the main square of town. In the Plaza is a couple churches, restaurants, discos, souvenir shops, tour agencies, and in the center of the Plaza is an area with gardens and benches and a fountain.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Peru, South America, Travel | No Comments »

Tags: , , , , ,

Day 1 in Cusco

April 30th, 2006

So we made it Cusco alright. The Kiwi’s ended up being on the same flight as us, and Karl said he was staying at the Loki Hostel, which, incidently, was where we were thinking of staying per a previous recommendation. In the airport the night before, we also met up with two guys from Boston that were trying to figure out how to get to Cusco. They also were on our flight, and ended up staying at Loki. We’ve only been here a couple hours, and it’s already getting to be a party! I think everyone else ended up bussing it, but the four of us grabbed a cab. I was the elected translator in the group because, well, I’m the one that knew Spanish. Not that I’m fluent, but I can get by pretty well. Blu learned a bit before going, too, but didn’t know as much. I’m glad I did know it, because it makes hagglng prices easier. We got the cab to the hostel for 5 soles (about $1.50 USD)

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Peru, South America, Travel | No Comments »

Tags: , , , , ,

Loggin in from Lima

April 15th, 2006

It´s been a long day… after working all day Thursday, I went home and got the last of my things together and met with Joe, Blu, and Lindsey. This was about midnight…. we had to be at the airport around 4am, so we just chilled and got things ready. Our flight left Detroit at 6:30 and headed to Newark, and we had a 7 hour layover there, so we decided to head into NYC. Last I was there was in February, but Joe hadn´t been in about 10 years, and Blu and Lindsey had never been to the city. We didn´t have a whole lot of time, but enough to wander and check some things out til we met up with Liz G for lunch. Ended up going to Bon Vivant near Union Square. Afterwards we had to get back to the Port Authority to catch the bus back to Newark. We were afraid time was starting to get a little close, especially when the bus was taking a long time to negotiate traffic in the city, but all went well. Made it back with enough time to get back through security and toast with a shot of Drambui before boarding.

Flight to Lima wasn´t too bad, as I have the great ability to sleep right through flights. Once landing in Lima, we needed to buy a ticket to Cusco, find some food, and a place to crash for a bit. Getting the ticket seemed a bit shady at first, as we seemed to have been comandeered by the rep of some agency into purchasing from them… it was the price we expected, so now scam or anything, but they wouldn´t take a charge… cash only, which wasn´t going to work out for us. After some miscommunicating and trying to figure out why they couldn´t take a card, they directed us directly to the airline themselves where we got things settled.

Next objective was food. Not too many choices other than standard airport fast food at midnight. In the midst of it, though, we met two Kiwis, separately, who weren´t traveling with each other. I called it. I knew it was going to happen. Everywhere I go I end up hanging with Aussies and Kiwis. They´re just everywhere! Karl and Jo(e)? (female… not sure how she spells it…) are cool, they´re both headed to Cusco too. We chatted with them for a couple hours before all deciding to try to catch a couple winks before the flight. Many others had the same idea…. there´s a big open area littered with people sleeping on the floor using their backpacks as pillows. But for some reason I couldn´t, so I´m here typing this. We´re able to check in for the flight in a bit though, so now I´m off.

Lima Airport

Joe, Jo, Karl, Blu, and Lindsey in the food court of Lima Airport.

Posted in Peru, South America, Travel | No Comments »

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Leaving for Perú!

April 13th, 2006

So here I am, just hours before my departure for Perú.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Peru, South America, Travel | No Comments »

Tags: , , ,
« Previous Page — « Previous Entries
Next Entries » — Next Page »