Updates from Peru and beyond.

I know he covered the shelter, love, belonging, and all that crap.  But Portlanders will argue that good coffee should be added to that list of basic human needs.  And upon arriving in Cusco this morning I found a cafe right around the corner from my hotel that serves a fantastic cup of coffee.

Flying in I got a good glimpse of the Andean foothills… what we call mountains in Oregon.  And I’m staying in an 18th century colonial house.  So far, so good in Peru.

For those interested in stalking me, er, I mean seeing where I’ll be headed in Peru… check out this Google maps tour.

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24 hours from now I’ll be trying to breathe at 11,200 feet.  That’s not the plane ride, that’s the destination!  Cuzco is high up in the Andes and to combat any potential altitude sickness, I have my Diamox prescription in hand.  For all of you non-pharmaceutical groupies out there, we’re talking anti-altitude sickness medicine.  Ironically the side effects are quite similar to the very condition I’m trying to prevent.

One of the things I’ll be doing in Peru is a 5 day, 62km hike to a set of Inca ruins called Choquequirao.  When I emailed one of the guys who offers guided trips to Choquequirao, he passed along a number of tips about doing the hike.  One of those tips was “bring the widest brim sun hat you can.”  The guide wrote that, “it is ferociously hot during the day if the sun is out. Stress ferociously!”

So that’s how I ended up at REI in downtown Portland shopping for sun hats.  Now let me tell you, wearing a hat in the blistering sun of the Andean Mountains is one thing.  But trying on sun hats in an urban Amercian city is another thing altogether.  More to the point, it’s impossible to wear a hat like this at REI(or your dining room) and not feel like a jackass:

The purchasing process inevitably comes to that moment where you ask the person next to you, “how do I look in this?”  And in this case, there is no good answer to that question.  You simply press on, comforted by the fact that you will be shielded from the sun and reassured by your knowledge that the photo above is already how Peruvians view Americans.  You’re just part of the status quo.

What was it the Boy Scouts were always preaching?  “Down with the gays!?”  No, not that one.  “Be Prepared?”  Yea, that’s the one.

Well, it’s always struck me as a bit odd that when you’re gearing up for a trip, the smallest discoveries seem so exciting.  Just when I thought I was gonna have to lug a half-used roll of toilet paper to South America, today Fred Meyer introduced me to “Charmin To Go.”

I’m not entirely ready for the trip, but it’s pretty safe to say that my ass is ready to go.

Ok, here we go.  After months of planning, my trip to Peru is just 8 days away.  I’ll be there 16 days, visiting what is known as the Sacred Valley.  It was the center of the Inca Empire.  You can google things like Machu Picchu and Choquequirao to get an idea of why I’m going.  I’m really looking forward to this; it’s my first solo trip and I just hope I’m in good enough shape for some of the hikes that lie ahead.