Sep 8, 2010
Aug 10, 2010
Jun 12, 2010
Jan 16, 2010
Dec 4, 2009
Subject: Last email.
Hi everyone!
I'm back at home but just wanted to put together one last Peruvian email (yes, my emails have taken on a whole new ethnicity) in case you are all super interested in how I spent my very last day in Lima. This is also for documenting purposes for my blog, too. It's gonna be a boring one, my last day was pretty uneventful.
I woke up fairly early and ordered one last Toasty (a deluxe grilled cheese for those who don't remember what a Toasty is) and a cup of tea from the kitchen. Got to talking to 2 girls from England who have just graduated from high school and are just starting their "gap year." It was their first day in Peru and they weren't really sure where and how to start their trip so they asked if they could tag along with me for the day since I had a pretty solid gameplan (lots of last-minute shopping, at least one museum, and a good Peruvian lunch). So after breakfast we walked over to the main plaza in Barranco where it was holding their annual outdoor Christmas market. It actually really reminded me of the Christmas Market that Union Square in NYC has every year. After that we headed over to Miraflores to check out the Inca Market - another huge touristy shopping section. I very quickly learned that the shopping in Lima does not compare with the shopping in Cusco at all!
After that I went to Museo de la Nacion in the neighborhood of San Borja to check out this amazing photography exhibit they are currently showing on the Shining Path. The Shining Path is this very recent, very violent string of events that took place in Peru. Since I'm actually sitting in front of a computer, I'll wikipedia it for everyone! <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Later that night, I met up with Cat one last time for a cheapo pizza dinner in Barranco. Had some more chicha morrada (purple corn juice)! Then headed back to my hostel and stuffed the last few items into my backpack and headed for the airport. Insert a ton of sadfaces. :(((((
I really hope everyone has enjoyed reading these emails as much as I've enjoyed writing them!! Going to Peru is probably one the best decisions I've made and I'm so grateful for all of the great experiences I've had, the great people I've met, and the great country I was able to explore on my own. Unfortunately, it's now back to the daily grind of...living at home with Mom and Dad and searching for a job/apartment/car. However, it has been really, really great taking a shower without flip flops, using conditioner in my hair for the first time in 30 days, sleeping without the light on (being a huge scaredy cat, I slept with it on every single night), having more than 3 shirts and 2 pairs of pants to choose from, going shopping with fixed prices, curling my hair AND using my good-smelling hairspray, not worrying about getting Traveler's D or altitude sickness, and of course, being able to see all of your lovely faces again!!!
No picture is attached however I have posted everything onto my online picture account!!! Will be posting an abridged album of everything on facebook soon if you don't feel like searching through 1300 pictures.
Okay, good night and I love you!!
Aileen :)
Sent via MacBook from my parents' internet.
Hi everyone!
I'm back at home but just wanted to put together one last Peruvian email (yes, my emails have taken on a whole new ethnicity) in case you are all super interested in how I spent my very last day in Lima. This is also for documenting purposes for my blog, too. It's gonna be a boring one, my last day was pretty uneventful.
I woke up fairly early and ordered one last Toasty (a deluxe grilled cheese for those who don't remember what a Toasty is) and a cup of tea from the kitchen. Got to talking to 2 girls from England who have just graduated from high school and are just starting their "gap year." It was their first day in Peru and they weren't really sure where and how to start their trip so they asked if they could tag along with me for the day since I had a pretty solid gameplan (lots of last-minute shopping, at least one museum, and a good Peruvian lunch). So after breakfast we walked over to the main plaza in Barranco where it was holding their annual outdoor Christmas market. It actually really reminded me of the Christmas Market that Union Square in NYC has every year. After that we headed over to Miraflores to check out the Inca Market - another huge touristy shopping section. I very quickly learned that the shopping in Lima does not compare with the shopping in Cusco at all!
After that I went to Museo de la Nacion in the neighborhood of San Borja to check out this amazing photography exhibit they are currently showing on the Shining Path. The Shining Path is this very recent, very violent string of events that took place in Peru. Since I'm actually sitting in front of a computer, I'll wikipedia it for everyone! <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Later that night, I met up with Cat one last time for a cheapo pizza dinner in Barranco. Had some more chicha morrada (purple corn juice)! Then headed back to my hostel and stuffed the last few items into my backpack and headed for the airport. Insert a ton of sadfaces. :(((((
I really hope everyone has enjoyed reading these emails as much as I've enjoyed writing them!! Going to Peru is probably one the best decisions I've made and I'm so grateful for all of the great experiences I've had, the great people I've met, and the great country I was able to explore on my own. Unfortunately, it's now back to the daily grind of...living at home with Mom and Dad and searching for a job/apartment/car. However, it has been really, really great taking a shower without flip flops, using conditioner in my hair for the first time in 30 days, sleeping without the light on (being a huge scaredy cat, I slept with it on every single night), having more than 3 shirts and 2 pairs of pants to choose from, going shopping with fixed prices, curling my hair AND using my good-smelling hairspray, not worrying about getting Traveler's D or altitude sickness, and of course, being able to see all of your lovely faces again!!!
No picture is attached however I have posted everything onto my online picture account!!! Will be posting an abridged album of everything on facebook soon if you don't feel like searching through 1300 pictures.
Okay, good night and I love you!!
Aileen :)
Sent via MacBook from my parents' internet.
Dec 1, 2009
Subject: My final days in Cusco
So I started this email right after I finished writing the Inca Trail was Inca-redible one but was sooo tired. So it starts off with me still being in Cusco, and I finished it now with me in Lima. Can't believe my trip is coming to an end already. :( So ill be sending out just one or two more emails after this one.
__________________
Hola everyone!!
So I've been spending the past few days in Cusco and have been really enjoying exploring this great, surprisingly very Bohemian/hippie city with Kate and Laura. They met some local Peruvians named Gonsalo and Juano (and some of their other friends) who've been giving us some great advice on where to go and have also even acted as our chauffeurs on a few occasions (Gonsalo is also trying to woo Kate in this whole process). They are both super nice, are huge lovers of dreadlocks and Bob Marley, and own a great bar named Wachuma that's located next to the Plaza de Armas in Cusco (they are in the works of opening up another bar in Mancora!). I believe they both are from pretty well off families which have allowed them to do this, and also allowed them to go to the States and Canada a bunch of times which is actually a pretty big deal here. They were super nice enough to let us take over their bar on Thanksgiving Day to make our dinner. More about that a few paragraphs down.
I should probably also give some more background on Kate and Laura since I'm going to be mentioning them a whole bunch more times. You can skip this paragraph if its TMI (I shouldve probably said this before the Traveller's Diarrhea paragraphs too, huh). Laura is 22, from Chicago and was studying Spanish in Quito, Ecuador for about two months before she met up with Kate in Lima. Kate is 25, from Baltimore and is currently a substitute teacher in Connecticut at this "progressive-education" elementary school. They both met at a Yale summer session this past year and decided to travel to Peru and Bolivia together just a few months ago. Both are super chill and have been so incredibly nice, and we've all been getting along great!
So the first night I got back from Aguas Calientes, I did dinner with Jia for her last night in Cusco at Jack's Cafe. Later, we met up with Kate and Laura for some drinks near our hostel at this bar called Siete Angelitos. Their entertainment for the night was a Peruvian Pearl Jam cover band. Not only did they play the best hits of 90s alt rock like Pearl Jam, Nirvana, and Bush, but they also played tons of Radiohead!! I was in Peruvian-cover-band-Radiohead heaven. I kept yelling, "Mas Radiohead! Mas Radiohead!!!" It was awesome seeing this side of Cusco. Lots of indie-rock head swaying took place. Great, great night overall.
The next day was Thanksgiving! I spent the first part of the day exploring this outdoor market kinda off of the main strip looking for alpaca yarn (Sorry Mom, they did not have a very good selection at all! I am going to look for some in Lima though). The market was more local and less geared for tourists I.e. kinda dirty and not as nice looking. It had little bodegas in it selling local Peruvian dishes made by cute little old ladies in their kinda dingy lookin kitchens, along with vendors from local farms selling their own fruits, veggies and meat. It also included a small section for tourist trinkets/crap. I did a teeny bit of shopping here (and lots of picture taking) and then headed over to Wachuma later that afternoon to start cookin!!
So Wachuma is this quaint little reggae bar with a kitchen/bar just big enough to allow me, Kate, Laura, Gonsalo and Juano to make our Thanksgiving dinner. There was no oven, and 3 out of the 7 people there for dinner were vegetarian so we didn't have a turkey. I don't even think we couldve found one in Cusco anyways! We probably wouldve had to roast a guinea pig or something! (Did I mention that they eat guinea pig here? I tried it. Tasted like chicken.) All of our veggies were bought from another outdoor food market in San Blas close to where Gonsalo and Juano live so everything was fresh and probably, actually organic. It took us about 4 hours to make everything and it was sooo good. We all kinda winged it too since we didn't have the internet to look up any recipes. So the menu...figs cut in half topped with shredded up radishes and carrots, turnips with this creamy sauce that Kate found, veggie stuffing, super buttery mashed potatoes, green beans with red peppers and almonds, sweet potatoes, and a side spinach salad with candied walnuts and this vinagrette dressing. Oh! And lots of mulled wine that Laura made from a Chilean cabernet. It was delicioso!! And the attendees were us 5, and 2 other friends named Ali Unibrow (you'll know who I'm talking about once you see the pictures. And only I referred to him as that so I could remember his name) and this other kid whose name I forget. We all went around and said what we were thankful for in a polite mixture of English and Spanish and then toasted with our glasses of hot mulled wine. It was fantastic. I then played from my iPod Mariah Carey's All I Want For Christmas is You over the bar's speakers as me, Kate and Laura sang along. If you want to know how to make 4 Peruvian guys really awkward and uncomfortable, do exactly that. The louder the better. We then ended the night with a little more drinkin and lots of toasting to "Happy Thanksgiving!!" as they reopened the bar to the public. So my first Thanksgiving away from home was pretty, pretty rad.
Black Friday! No shopping took place here. But we did some more hanging out with the Wachuma dudes. We all met up for lunch in the Plaza de Armas where they took us to one of their favorite restaurants right outside of San Blas. It was a "surf and sea" inspired restaurant named Olas Bravas (aka Brave Waves) and had almost the same exact menus that I encountered in Mancora. It was soooo good. One thing in particular I had was this app called leche de tigre - a whole bunch of raw ceviche, octopus, and something else that swims, in this yummy, yummy stew (kinda reminded me of raw oyster shooters). So after lunch we walked back to San Blas and hung out with their one friend Steve. He was awesome and super chill. And very funny at times. Later, Laura and I met up for dinner and drinks and ended the night fairly early. (Gonsalo has succesfully wooed Kate at this point) Overall, a pretty chill Friday in Cusco.
Saturday! So this is the day that I did alll of my shopping. Really nothing too fun here. I mean it was fun for me. Especially this awesome hot pink retro looking sweater I got with the Machu Picchu mountains woven in neon green and "Cusco Peru" in bright yellow along the bottom. Along with some nice matching yellow lightening bolt accents. The designer is based out of Lima and is kinda pricey for Peruvian standards. Some of his items cost as much as monthly rents! (Which is around 150-200 soles or $50-$70) So worth it though. This sweater is bangin. So bangin that its gonna be the picture for this email. I then met up with Laura and Kate for the second half of my shopping day where we each got 10 soles manicures, and eventually made our way over to a veggie place called Govinda's for dinner. Good food, but nothing too special to mention. We made plans to meet early on Sunday to do some site-seeing in the Sacred Valley, with Kate's new lover Gonsalo as our guide/interpreter. Ended the night early so we could get a good night's sleep for this!
Flamingo Domingo! (Gosh, can you believe its been 4 weeks since I first mentioned Flamingo Domingo??) So we got up kiiinda early, and had breakfast in the same San Blas market where the Thanksgiving veggies came from. And seriously, the cheapest meals have been the best meals. We each got this dish called tacu tacu which consisted of a huge plate of white rice, fried plaintains and fried eggs for 3 soles. And I got a huge jug of fresh papaya and orange juice for another 2. We then got 8 plain avocado sandwiches as munchies for our day trip. Deee-lish.
So we first headed to the Pisac Market which is basically this teeny town that holds a huge outdoor market. Very touristy. However Sunday's are their most bumpin days where the food and farm vendors are out to barter their goods with one another. An old tradition that they actually still practice. I tried this really funky fruit and I can't remember the name of it for the life of me, but it was about as big as the end of an ice hockey stick and looked kinda like a squished rotten green banana on the outside. To get to the meat, you just break it in half with your knee and tear off the thick skin and inside, are these huge white furry pods about the size and shape of flattened Cadbury eggs, spaced about an inch or so apart from each other. It kinda reminded me like a nesting ground for these furry little alien babies. Kinda tasted like...sweet furriness. Kinda weird and very good. I don't know why I just went into that super long description of that fruit. I also tried this other sweet fruit called granadilla. It was good.
So after the market, Gonsalo found a taxi driver to take us around for the rest of the day for 40 soles each. We first went to the Pisac ruins and hiked around there for about 2 hours (actually got lost and had to re-hike up a whole crapload of steps. Flashbacks of the Inca Trail came rushing through). It was really pretty but again, nothing can really compare to Machu Pichhu. It wasn't as secluded and you could see neighboring towns on all sides. Still, very pretty. Don't really know too much about it though bc we didn't have a guide. After that, we drove to another natural hot springs spot called Calca. Spent a few hours there soaking our muscles. Very nice. We got back into Cusco at around 9, and met up again for dinner and drinks near Gonsalo's bar. There ended up being a power outage at one point in the night where we still proceeded to drink in candlelight. Would've been very romantic if it weren't for the 20 or so other people in the room with you...and if I were with a boy. Also, it's true when they say you can drink for free in downtown Cusco...every few steps you get bombarded by tons of promoters offering you free drink passes to their club. So, another great, last night in Cusco.
So I'm now currently in Lima in the very cute neighborhood of Barranco. Staying at another Point Hostel. The number here is (51-1) 247 7997 and I'm staying in Little England. I spent my night catching up with Cat and Andreas at dinner in the neighborhood. We had drinks at this local bar that had a menu of about 50 different fruity drinks. A lot of the drinks included this fruit called Para Para - which has benefits equivalent to a natural Viagra. Thought that was interesting. After dinner I went back to my hostel and saw another person I met in Mancora! He is actually the manager from the Mancora Point Hostel and is in Lima for some family stuff. So I got to talking with him, played DJ for the bar here with my iPod for a little bit as the group played Jenga with these huge oversized blocks. Went to bed fairly early so I could get a full day in Lima today.
Wow, I think I've finally caught up on updating everyone with the past 9 days of my life in Peru!! Oh btw, I wasn't able to return my plane ticket for Cusco back to Lima which is why you're not hearing about me doing the Dessert Coast (sandboarding in Ica, penguin-watching in Islas Ballestas). But my final days in Cusco turned out to be really great and it allowed me to really explore the city instead of speed-hopping from place to place. So it all worked out in the end!
Sidenote: So I thought this was really cute. So everyone knows that the phrases "Cheers!" and "Salud!" are words that everyone generally uses when you toast your drinks. And when someone sneezes, you can always use "Salud!", but you can't exactly use "Cheers!" The other day in Aguas Calientes with Laeticia (girl from Grenada, Spain) I sneezed, and she accidentally yelled, "Cheers!" Hehehe.
Okay, hope everyone's having a great day and see you soooooon!!! I love you!!
Aileen :)
PS
Aside from the sweater pic, the other pic was of a dog at breakfast in the San Blas market. He spent a good 10 minutes standing there cutely/creepily staring at me while I ate. Kinda reminded me of another dog I know named Zumi.
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile
So I started this email right after I finished writing the Inca Trail was Inca-redible one but was sooo tired. So it starts off with me still being in Cusco, and I finished it now with me in Lima. Can't believe my trip is coming to an end already. :( So ill be sending out just one or two more emails after this one.
__________________
Hola everyone!!
So I've been spending the past few days in Cusco and have been really enjoying exploring this great, surprisingly very Bohemian/hippie city with Kate and Laura. They met some local Peruvians named Gonsalo and Juano (and some of their other friends) who've been giving us some great advice on where to go and have also even acted as our chauffeurs on a few occasions (Gonsalo is also trying to woo Kate in this whole process). They are both super nice, are huge lovers of dreadlocks and Bob Marley, and own a great bar named Wachuma that's located next to the Plaza de Armas in Cusco (they are in the works of opening up another bar in Mancora!). I believe they both are from pretty well off families which have allowed them to do this, and also allowed them to go to the States and Canada a bunch of times which is actually a pretty big deal here. They were super nice enough to let us take over their bar on Thanksgiving Day to make our dinner. More about that a few paragraphs down.
I should probably also give some more background on Kate and Laura since I'm going to be mentioning them a whole bunch more times. You can skip this paragraph if its TMI (I shouldve probably said this before the Traveller's Diarrhea paragraphs too, huh). Laura is 22, from Chicago and was studying Spanish in Quito, Ecuador for about two months before she met up with Kate in Lima. Kate is 25, from Baltimore and is currently a substitute teacher in Connecticut at this "progressive-education" elementary school. They both met at a Yale summer session this past year and decided to travel to Peru and Bolivia together just a few months ago. Both are super chill and have been so incredibly nice, and we've all been getting along great!
So the first night I got back from Aguas Calientes, I did dinner with Jia for her last night in Cusco at Jack's Cafe. Later, we met up with Kate and Laura for some drinks near our hostel at this bar called Siete Angelitos. Their entertainment for the night was a Peruvian Pearl Jam cover band. Not only did they play the best hits of 90s alt rock like Pearl Jam, Nirvana, and Bush, but they also played tons of Radiohead!! I was in Peruvian-cover-band-Radiohead heaven. I kept yelling, "Mas Radiohead! Mas Radiohead!!!" It was awesome seeing this side of Cusco. Lots of indie-rock head swaying took place. Great, great night overall.
The next day was Thanksgiving! I spent the first part of the day exploring this outdoor market kinda off of the main strip looking for alpaca yarn (Sorry Mom, they did not have a very good selection at all! I am going to look for some in Lima though). The market was more local and less geared for tourists I.e. kinda dirty and not as nice looking. It had little bodegas in it selling local Peruvian dishes made by cute little old ladies in their kinda dingy lookin kitchens, along with vendors from local farms selling their own fruits, veggies and meat. It also included a small section for tourist trinkets/crap. I did a teeny bit of shopping here (and lots of picture taking) and then headed over to Wachuma later that afternoon to start cookin!!
So Wachuma is this quaint little reggae bar with a kitchen/bar just big enough to allow me, Kate, Laura, Gonsalo and Juano to make our Thanksgiving dinner. There was no oven, and 3 out of the 7 people there for dinner were vegetarian so we didn't have a turkey. I don't even think we couldve found one in Cusco anyways! We probably wouldve had to roast a guinea pig or something! (Did I mention that they eat guinea pig here? I tried it. Tasted like chicken.) All of our veggies were bought from another outdoor food market in San Blas close to where Gonsalo and Juano live so everything was fresh and probably, actually organic. It took us about 4 hours to make everything and it was sooo good. We all kinda winged it too since we didn't have the internet to look up any recipes. So the menu...figs cut in half topped with shredded up radishes and carrots, turnips with this creamy sauce that Kate found, veggie stuffing, super buttery mashed potatoes, green beans with red peppers and almonds, sweet potatoes, and a side spinach salad with candied walnuts and this vinagrette dressing. Oh! And lots of mulled wine that Laura made from a Chilean cabernet. It was delicioso!! And the attendees were us 5, and 2 other friends named Ali Unibrow (you'll know who I'm talking about once you see the pictures. And only I referred to him as that so I could remember his name) and this other kid whose name I forget. We all went around and said what we were thankful for in a polite mixture of English and Spanish and then toasted with our glasses of hot mulled wine. It was fantastic. I then played from my iPod Mariah Carey's All I Want For Christmas is You over the bar's speakers as me, Kate and Laura sang along. If you want to know how to make 4 Peruvian guys really awkward and uncomfortable, do exactly that. The louder the better. We then ended the night with a little more drinkin and lots of toasting to "Happy Thanksgiving!!" as they reopened the bar to the public. So my first Thanksgiving away from home was pretty, pretty rad.
Black Friday! No shopping took place here. But we did some more hanging out with the Wachuma dudes. We all met up for lunch in the Plaza de Armas where they took us to one of their favorite restaurants right outside of San Blas. It was a "surf and sea" inspired restaurant named Olas Bravas (aka Brave Waves) and had almost the same exact menus that I encountered in Mancora. It was soooo good. One thing in particular I had was this app called leche de tigre - a whole bunch of raw ceviche, octopus, and something else that swims, in this yummy, yummy stew (kinda reminded me of raw oyster shooters). So after lunch we walked back to San Blas and hung out with their one friend Steve. He was awesome and super chill. And very funny at times. Later, Laura and I met up for dinner and drinks and ended the night fairly early. (Gonsalo has succesfully wooed Kate at this point) Overall, a pretty chill Friday in Cusco.
Saturday! So this is the day that I did alll of my shopping. Really nothing too fun here. I mean it was fun for me. Especially this awesome hot pink retro looking sweater I got with the Machu Picchu mountains woven in neon green and "Cusco Peru" in bright yellow along the bottom. Along with some nice matching yellow lightening bolt accents. The designer is based out of Lima and is kinda pricey for Peruvian standards. Some of his items cost as much as monthly rents! (Which is around 150-200 soles or $50-$70) So worth it though. This sweater is bangin. So bangin that its gonna be the picture for this email. I then met up with Laura and Kate for the second half of my shopping day where we each got 10 soles manicures, and eventually made our way over to a veggie place called Govinda's for dinner. Good food, but nothing too special to mention. We made plans to meet early on Sunday to do some site-seeing in the Sacred Valley, with Kate's new lover Gonsalo as our guide/interpreter. Ended the night early so we could get a good night's sleep for this!
Flamingo Domingo! (Gosh, can you believe its been 4 weeks since I first mentioned Flamingo Domingo??) So we got up kiiinda early, and had breakfast in the same San Blas market where the Thanksgiving veggies came from. And seriously, the cheapest meals have been the best meals. We each got this dish called tacu tacu which consisted of a huge plate of white rice, fried plaintains and fried eggs for 3 soles. And I got a huge jug of fresh papaya and orange juice for another 2. We then got 8 plain avocado sandwiches as munchies for our day trip. Deee-lish.
So we first headed to the Pisac Market which is basically this teeny town that holds a huge outdoor market. Very touristy. However Sunday's are their most bumpin days where the food and farm vendors are out to barter their goods with one another. An old tradition that they actually still practice. I tried this really funky fruit and I can't remember the name of it for the life of me, but it was about as big as the end of an ice hockey stick and looked kinda like a squished rotten green banana on the outside. To get to the meat, you just break it in half with your knee and tear off the thick skin and inside, are these huge white furry pods about the size and shape of flattened Cadbury eggs, spaced about an inch or so apart from each other. It kinda reminded me like a nesting ground for these furry little alien babies. Kinda tasted like...sweet furriness. Kinda weird and very good. I don't know why I just went into that super long description of that fruit. I also tried this other sweet fruit called granadilla. It was good.
So after the market, Gonsalo found a taxi driver to take us around for the rest of the day for 40 soles each. We first went to the Pisac ruins and hiked around there for about 2 hours (actually got lost and had to re-hike up a whole crapload of steps. Flashbacks of the Inca Trail came rushing through). It was really pretty but again, nothing can really compare to Machu Pichhu. It wasn't as secluded and you could see neighboring towns on all sides. Still, very pretty. Don't really know too much about it though bc we didn't have a guide. After that, we drove to another natural hot springs spot called Calca. Spent a few hours there soaking our muscles. Very nice. We got back into Cusco at around 9, and met up again for dinner and drinks near Gonsalo's bar. There ended up being a power outage at one point in the night where we still proceeded to drink in candlelight. Would've been very romantic if it weren't for the 20 or so other people in the room with you...and if I were with a boy. Also, it's true when they say you can drink for free in downtown Cusco...every few steps you get bombarded by tons of promoters offering you free drink passes to their club. So, another great, last night in Cusco.
So I'm now currently in Lima in the very cute neighborhood of Barranco. Staying at another Point Hostel. The number here is (51-1) 247 7997 and I'm staying in Little England. I spent my night catching up with Cat and Andreas at dinner in the neighborhood. We had drinks at this local bar that had a menu of about 50 different fruity drinks. A lot of the drinks included this fruit called Para Para - which has benefits equivalent to a natural Viagra. Thought that was interesting. After dinner I went back to my hostel and saw another person I met in Mancora! He is actually the manager from the Mancora Point Hostel and is in Lima for some family stuff. So I got to talking with him, played DJ for the bar here with my iPod for a little bit as the group played Jenga with these huge oversized blocks. Went to bed fairly early so I could get a full day in Lima today.
Wow, I think I've finally caught up on updating everyone with the past 9 days of my life in Peru!! Oh btw, I wasn't able to return my plane ticket for Cusco back to Lima which is why you're not hearing about me doing the Dessert Coast (sandboarding in Ica, penguin-watching in Islas Ballestas). But my final days in Cusco turned out to be really great and it allowed me to really explore the city instead of speed-hopping from place to place. So it all worked out in the end!
Sidenote: So I thought this was really cute. So everyone knows that the phrases "Cheers!" and "Salud!" are words that everyone generally uses when you toast your drinks. And when someone sneezes, you can always use "Salud!", but you can't exactly use "Cheers!" The other day in Aguas Calientes with Laeticia (girl from Grenada, Spain) I sneezed, and she accidentally yelled, "Cheers!" Hehehe.
Okay, hope everyone's having a great day and see you soooooon!!! I love you!!
Aileen :)
PS
Aside from the sweater pic, the other pic was of a dog at breakfast in the San Blas market. He spent a good 10 minutes standing there cutely/creepily staring at me while I ate. Kinda reminded me of another dog I know named Zumi.
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile
Nov 29, 2009
Subject: Inca Trail was Inca-redible!
So I had drafted this email the day after I got back from the trail but didn't send it out for some reason. So today's gonna be a 2-fer! Ill be sending out another one about Thanksgiving in a bit!
__________________
Buenos Tardes everyone!
So my BB has been on the fritz since I got to Aguas Calientes (the town of Machu Picchu) and I also had no service for the 4 days while I was hiking. So yay for finally being connected to the emailing world again!
I am now currently on a train back to Cusco. I was originally supposed to go back yesterday, but the town of Aguas Calientes was so cute I decided to stay an extra day. I also wanted to check out the natural hot springs here since my whole entire body is sooo sore from the hike! Hot springs were muy, muy bueno. Very sulphur-y, and smelled kinda egg-y but it felt really nice on the muscles. And I thankfully only experienced 2 oversized European men in tight Speedos while there - was expecting at least 5.
So the Inca Trail. Where do I begin?? And how should I say this without sounding like a total cheeseball? I will start off by saying that I want every one of you to do this trail sometime in your life. It was absolutely amazing and so incredibly beautiful. From our campsite on the 2nd night being set right next to a huge gushing, natural waterfall, and a lunch on the 1st day set within the cloud forest of the Andes, and another lunch set on top of a mountain and above the clouds. And every day the hike lead us through some of the most breathtaking views I've ever seen. It was also probably one of the most physically demanding, yet incredibly rewarding, things I've ever done. Over the past 4 days we hiked 40 km of steep uphills, downhills, uneven stone paths covered in wet leaves, muddy paths, narrow walkways along cliffs that dropped off into nowhere, and lots and lots and lots of stone steps. I wouldn't be surprised if the number of steps I climbed and descended were in the mid-thousands - steps that have been put there by the Incans themselves hundreds of years ago! On day 2, the most challenging day, we hiked uphill about 1200 meters to get to the highest summit at 4200 meters/13800 feet. It was soooo tiring but having lunch above the clouds is a pretty amazing thing.
So surprisingly, I actually enjoyed the hiking and the camping more than Machu Picchu itself. I think having the porters carrying and doing everything for you helped a lot. Also, once we got to Machu Picchu, it was so fulll of tourists that it was kinda hard to really enjoy the beauty of it all.
Overall, the Inca Trail was probably one of the best experiences of my life. Navidad, our guide, was really great (and probably one of the most chill people I've ever met) and at our final lunch together said that we were the happiest group he has ever guided - he has guided over 400 of these hikes!! (I think my overall cheesiness may have been a part of this.)
Sidenote: I have never craved and ate so much chocolate in my life. I got a candy bar at each pit stop! I didn't know this, but they actually recommend that you eat a lot of chocolate during the hike bc you burn so many calories! And I thought I was just totally PMS-ing!
Anyways, the town of Aguas Calientes was a total tourist trap, but very very cute. It kinda reminded me of a little ski town, only it was set deep in the really green mountains of Machu Picchu. I spent most of my time there with Kate and Laura - the 2 girls that I hiked with. Along with another girl from Grenada, Spain from the Lake Titicaca boat trip! We spotted each other at the hot springs - its kinda weird how often you run into the same people here.
Oh, another Sidenote! The other group of 11 that was with our agency were actually all Canadian doctors who are here on a volunteer trip! And the hike was kind of their last thing they did before they flew back home. All very nice people. It also kinda made me feel much better hiking with them in case anything happened!
Hmm, I guess it wouldn't be right if I didn't mention the porters. They are super-human. When I say they speed-hiked in front of us, they don't just walk - they run!! With up to 40 kg of crap on their backs!! It was really pretty amazing watching them go. And the food they prepared tasted like it had been cooking for hours!! They fed us lots and lots of high-calorie, high-energy foods to keep us going. And lots of coca tea! All very very yummy. We also had a "happy hour" each day that consisted of things like hot chocolate and traditional Peruvian desserts. No booze though. However the 3rd night was supposed to be the one nigbt where we were able to drink. I had one beer and was wasted! And passed out at around 9, just to get up again at 4 the next morning!
So I hope I did a good recap of my Machu Picchu experience. Its kinda hard to put all of this into words.
Okay, good night and I love you!!
Aileen :)
PS
No pics with this email bc it was too much to take out my phone while hiking. Seriously, it was sometimes a struggle to even take a sip out my water bottle!! I had my Canon at my side the whole time though so no worries there!
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile
So I had drafted this email the day after I got back from the trail but didn't send it out for some reason. So today's gonna be a 2-fer! Ill be sending out another one about Thanksgiving in a bit!
__________________
Buenos Tardes everyone!
So my BB has been on the fritz since I got to Aguas Calientes (the town of Machu Picchu) and I also had no service for the 4 days while I was hiking. So yay for finally being connected to the emailing world again!
I am now currently on a train back to Cusco. I was originally supposed to go back yesterday, but the town of Aguas Calientes was so cute I decided to stay an extra day. I also wanted to check out the natural hot springs here since my whole entire body is sooo sore from the hike! Hot springs were muy, muy bueno. Very sulphur-y, and smelled kinda egg-y but it felt really nice on the muscles. And I thankfully only experienced 2 oversized European men in tight Speedos while there - was expecting at least 5.
So the Inca Trail. Where do I begin?? And how should I say this without sounding like a total cheeseball? I will start off by saying that I want every one of you to do this trail sometime in your life. It was absolutely amazing and so incredibly beautiful. From our campsite on the 2nd night being set right next to a huge gushing, natural waterfall, and a lunch on the 1st day set within the cloud forest of the Andes, and another lunch set on top of a mountain and above the clouds. And every day the hike lead us through some of the most breathtaking views I've ever seen. It was also probably one of the most physically demanding, yet incredibly rewarding, things I've ever done. Over the past 4 days we hiked 40 km of steep uphills, downhills, uneven stone paths covered in wet leaves, muddy paths, narrow walkways along cliffs that dropped off into nowhere, and lots and lots and lots of stone steps. I wouldn't be surprised if the number of steps I climbed and descended were in the mid-thousands - steps that have been put there by the Incans themselves hundreds of years ago! On day 2, the most challenging day, we hiked uphill about 1200 meters to get to the highest summit at 4200 meters/13800 feet. It was soooo tiring but having lunch above the clouds is a pretty amazing thing.
So surprisingly, I actually enjoyed the hiking and the camping more than Machu Picchu itself. I think having the porters carrying and doing everything for you helped a lot. Also, once we got to Machu Picchu, it was so fulll of tourists that it was kinda hard to really enjoy the beauty of it all.
Overall, the Inca Trail was probably one of the best experiences of my life. Navidad, our guide, was really great (and probably one of the most chill people I've ever met) and at our final lunch together said that we were the happiest group he has ever guided - he has guided over 400 of these hikes!! (I think my overall cheesiness may have been a part of this.)
Sidenote: I have never craved and ate so much chocolate in my life. I got a candy bar at each pit stop! I didn't know this, but they actually recommend that you eat a lot of chocolate during the hike bc you burn so many calories! And I thought I was just totally PMS-ing!
Anyways, the town of Aguas Calientes was a total tourist trap, but very very cute. It kinda reminded me of a little ski town, only it was set deep in the really green mountains of Machu Picchu. I spent most of my time there with Kate and Laura - the 2 girls that I hiked with. Along with another girl from Grenada, Spain from the Lake Titicaca boat trip! We spotted each other at the hot springs - its kinda weird how often you run into the same people here.
Oh, another Sidenote! The other group of 11 that was with our agency were actually all Canadian doctors who are here on a volunteer trip! And the hike was kind of their last thing they did before they flew back home. All very nice people. It also kinda made me feel much better hiking with them in case anything happened!
Hmm, I guess it wouldn't be right if I didn't mention the porters. They are super-human. When I say they speed-hiked in front of us, they don't just walk - they run!! With up to 40 kg of crap on their backs!! It was really pretty amazing watching them go. And the food they prepared tasted like it had been cooking for hours!! They fed us lots and lots of high-calorie, high-energy foods to keep us going. And lots of coca tea! All very very yummy. We also had a "happy hour" each day that consisted of things like hot chocolate and traditional Peruvian desserts. No booze though. However the 3rd night was supposed to be the one nigbt where we were able to drink. I had one beer and was wasted! And passed out at around 9, just to get up again at 4 the next morning!
So I hope I did a good recap of my Machu Picchu experience. Its kinda hard to put all of this into words.
Okay, good night and I love you!!
Aileen :)
PS
No pics with this email bc it was too much to take out my phone while hiking. Seriously, it was sometimes a struggle to even take a sip out my water bottle!! I had my Canon at my side the whole time though so no worries there!
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile
Nov 21, 2009
Subject: Tomorrow!!
Hi everyone!
So tomorrow is the day!! I met with my group tonight and they all seem great. Its actually a really small group; me, a middle aged woman named Angela from Philly, and two other girls my age from Chicago, Kate and Laura, then 8 or 9 porters, our guide and a cook. There's gonna be another private group of 11 that may or may not be hiking with us? I'm not sure, but ill find out tomorrow!! The agency that I went with is called Chaska, a little on the pricey side, but it came highly recommended in my guidebook, SAE, and also Diego!! He (Diego, from Mancora) does "freelance tour guiding" and has worked for Chaska before. The food is supposed to be amazing - full 3-course meals, vegetarian options, dessert...and all really well-made!! They are also very eco-friendly and follow the Leave No Trace rule. There apparently has been tons of problems with litter and pollution along the trail in the past few years bc its gotten so popular so fast. One of the things that Peru has done to try and control it, is to limit the amount of people that can enter each day to just 500 - that includes tour guides and porters! Which is why you normally have to book your hike months in advance. I totally lucked out and got one of the very last spots in November. (They were only 24 spots left when I confirmed!)
So to give a little background on the trek... Almost every single person I've talked to here has done, or is going to do, some variation of this trek. Its kind of like a rite of passage if you plan on travelling to Peru, and is usually one of the first things anyone ever brings up in conversation. I am doing the most popular one, the 4-day Inca Trail. Each day is gonna involve about 4-8 hours of hiking, lots of time for breaks, meals and of course, photos!! Our porters will be speed-hiking ahead of us to set up camp for each of our meals, sleeping arrangements, and even porta-potty tents!! (Btw, I didn't pick a super fancy agency or anything, this all usually comes standard with any agency.)
So the kicker of it all, is that my tour guide's name is Navidad!! As in Feliz Navidad!! Just in time for Christmas. I am kiiinda already inspired to name my next pet Navidad.
I don't know of they've installed cell phone towers in Machu Picchu yet, so there's a small chance you won't be hearing from me until the 25 de Noviembre!! Man, I was hoping that by this point I'd be able to say a whole bunch of fun things in Spanish but I really haven't learned much. Besides, "donde es el bano?" (Where is the bathroom?) And I also like saying, "muy amable!". (You're very kind!) Ooh and I feel very cool and non-touristy when I say "no gras" which is short for "no gracias". Okay now I'm just typing bc I can't sleep bc I'm so excited!!!
So, good night and I love you!!!!
Aileen :)
PS
Pic attached is my dinner from tonight!! I know, boring pic. But don't worry, I'm already at about 700 pics on my Canon. After Machu Picchu, it'll probably be at about 1400 so they'll be pllllenty of pics to look at then!!
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile
Hi everyone!
So tomorrow is the day!! I met with my group tonight and they all seem great. Its actually a really small group; me, a middle aged woman named Angela from Philly, and two other girls my age from Chicago, Kate and Laura, then 8 or 9 porters, our guide and a cook. There's gonna be another private group of 11 that may or may not be hiking with us? I'm not sure, but ill find out tomorrow!! The agency that I went with is called Chaska, a little on the pricey side, but it came highly recommended in my guidebook, SAE, and also Diego!! He (Diego, from Mancora) does "freelance tour guiding" and has worked for Chaska before. The food is supposed to be amazing - full 3-course meals, vegetarian options, dessert...and all really well-made!! They are also very eco-friendly and follow the Leave No Trace rule. There apparently has been tons of problems with litter and pollution along the trail in the past few years bc its gotten so popular so fast. One of the things that Peru has done to try and control it, is to limit the amount of people that can enter each day to just 500 - that includes tour guides and porters! Which is why you normally have to book your hike months in advance. I totally lucked out and got one of the very last spots in November. (They were only 24 spots left when I confirmed!)
So to give a little background on the trek... Almost every single person I've talked to here has done, or is going to do, some variation of this trek. Its kind of like a rite of passage if you plan on travelling to Peru, and is usually one of the first things anyone ever brings up in conversation. I am doing the most popular one, the 4-day Inca Trail. Each day is gonna involve about 4-8 hours of hiking, lots of time for breaks, meals and of course, photos!! Our porters will be speed-hiking ahead of us to set up camp for each of our meals, sleeping arrangements, and even porta-potty tents!! (Btw, I didn't pick a super fancy agency or anything, this all usually comes standard with any agency.)
So the kicker of it all, is that my tour guide's name is Navidad!! As in Feliz Navidad!! Just in time for Christmas. I am kiiinda already inspired to name my next pet Navidad.
I don't know of they've installed cell phone towers in Machu Picchu yet, so there's a small chance you won't be hearing from me until the 25 de Noviembre!! Man, I was hoping that by this point I'd be able to say a whole bunch of fun things in Spanish but I really haven't learned much. Besides, "donde es el bano?" (Where is the bathroom?) And I also like saying, "muy amable!". (You're very kind!) Ooh and I feel very cool and non-touristy when I say "no gras" which is short for "no gracias". Okay now I'm just typing bc I can't sleep bc I'm so excited!!!
So, good night and I love you!!!!
Aileen :)
PS
Pic attached is my dinner from tonight!! I know, boring pic. But don't worry, I'm already at about 700 pics on my Canon. After Machu Picchu, it'll probably be at about 1400 so they'll be pllllenty of pics to look at then!!
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Nov 19, 2009
Subject: Hooray for Titicaca
Hi everyone!
So my 2 day trip to Lake Titicaca was amazing. I thought I was gonna miss out a little by not being able to do it by kayak but it was just as amazing by boat. I went with a small group of about 20 people (I was the only American!) 1 guide, a captain and some crew. It was the most rinky-dink little catamaran but I guess that's what you get for 35 soles!! It actually broke down a whole bunch of times - two of the times we needed to flag down another passing boat to give us a push!
So the first stop was Islas Uros, which are these tiny little floating, man-made islands that have whole entire communities living on them. There's even an actual "medical hut" and tons of little houses - all built out of this reed that grows in the lake. It was really kinda bizarre, especially since they are located so close to the main land. They have adjusted somewhat to modern day living since they have things like TV and cassette tape boomboxes (powered via their solar power panels which I took pictures of. I'm so curious as to what cassette tapes they listen too!!). But for the most part, they still live a pretty primitive life. Very cool.
After that, we floated on down to Amantani Island, where I did my homestay with a local family of the island. Its actually a really touristy thing to do here and the families that host the tourists do it often. But I got grouped in with 3 other German girls who were super nice. As soon as we got to the island, Simon, the father of our host family, greeted us and took us back to his house where he showed us our rooms and then fed us a really yummy lunch. So before I go any further, both Amantani Island and Taquile Island, are very small islands and are made up of these beautiful rolling hills that are perfect for irrigation and farming. This means that the people that live on these islands do just that and only that and haven't really changed their way of living for the past few thousand years or so. Therefore, there are no cars, no roads, no bikes even. They hardly rely on any electricity or plumbing. And no cell phone service?! Obviously, some changes have taken place like better schooling, and tourism, etc. But in order to get from one place to the next, you actually have to walk. So I spent the majority of the past 2 days, hiking up stone walkways and steps, cutting through farmland, passing sheep and alpaca, almost getting run over by a bull (literally. I thought it was cute and took a picture. He thought I wanted to fight him.), PLUS being over 4000 meters above sea level, it was sooooo exhausting. At times, every single step felt like a struggle! But surprisingly, as soon as you got to a stop and caught your breath, you weren't tired at all. Kind of a weird feeling. Anyway, the rest of my stay with Simon was cool. He fed us dinner, and afterwards his daughter dressed us up in traditional garb and led us to the "town fiesta" which was of course like 3 farm fields UP the friggin island. All very touristy, but really neat.
The next morning, Simon and wife fed us another yummy meal and sent us on our way. The next and final stop was Taquile Island where we spent most of the day hiking the island. It was really tiring, but at every single turn there were just completely amazing views of the lake. And it was so, so peaceful. We had lunch at the top at this little restaurant owned by this cute little old lady. It was absolutely perfect weather so lunch was outside, overlooking the lake. Some more hiking occured, more great views, yada yada yada, and then we eventually made it back down to our boat and spent the rest of the afternoon sailing back to Puno. Since it was so incredibly beautiful out, I was able to lay out and take a nap on top of the catamaran for most of the way back.
So. I booked a bus ticket (NON tour bus and way cheaper) back to Cusco tomorrow morning. Got a few errands to run in the city and then Saturday I start my hike to Machu Picchu!!!! Woooohooo!!!
Okay good night and I love you!!!
Aileen :)
PS
Pic attached is the 3 German girls walking ahead of me, with Titicaca in the background, on the way back to our boat on the island of Taquile. Just BEAUTIFUL!!!
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Hi everyone!
So my 2 day trip to Lake Titicaca was amazing. I thought I was gonna miss out a little by not being able to do it by kayak but it was just as amazing by boat. I went with a small group of about 20 people (I was the only American!) 1 guide, a captain and some crew. It was the most rinky-dink little catamaran but I guess that's what you get for 35 soles!! It actually broke down a whole bunch of times - two of the times we needed to flag down another passing boat to give us a push!
So the first stop was Islas Uros, which are these tiny little floating, man-made islands that have whole entire communities living on them. There's even an actual "medical hut" and tons of little houses - all built out of this reed that grows in the lake. It was really kinda bizarre, especially since they are located so close to the main land. They have adjusted somewhat to modern day living since they have things like TV and cassette tape boomboxes (powered via their solar power panels which I took pictures of. I'm so curious as to what cassette tapes they listen too!!). But for the most part, they still live a pretty primitive life. Very cool.
After that, we floated on down to Amantani Island, where I did my homestay with a local family of the island. Its actually a really touristy thing to do here and the families that host the tourists do it often. But I got grouped in with 3 other German girls who were super nice. As soon as we got to the island, Simon, the father of our host family, greeted us and took us back to his house where he showed us our rooms and then fed us a really yummy lunch. So before I go any further, both Amantani Island and Taquile Island, are very small islands and are made up of these beautiful rolling hills that are perfect for irrigation and farming. This means that the people that live on these islands do just that and only that and haven't really changed their way of living for the past few thousand years or so. Therefore, there are no cars, no roads, no bikes even. They hardly rely on any electricity or plumbing. And no cell phone service?! Obviously, some changes have taken place like better schooling, and tourism, etc. But in order to get from one place to the next, you actually have to walk. So I spent the majority of the past 2 days, hiking up stone walkways and steps, cutting through farmland, passing sheep and alpaca, almost getting run over by a bull (literally. I thought it was cute and took a picture. He thought I wanted to fight him.), PLUS being over 4000 meters above sea level, it was sooooo exhausting. At times, every single step felt like a struggle! But surprisingly, as soon as you got to a stop and caught your breath, you weren't tired at all. Kind of a weird feeling. Anyway, the rest of my stay with Simon was cool. He fed us dinner, and afterwards his daughter dressed us up in traditional garb and led us to the "town fiesta" which was of course like 3 farm fields UP the friggin island. All very touristy, but really neat.
The next morning, Simon and wife fed us another yummy meal and sent us on our way. The next and final stop was Taquile Island where we spent most of the day hiking the island. It was really tiring, but at every single turn there were just completely amazing views of the lake. And it was so, so peaceful. We had lunch at the top at this little restaurant owned by this cute little old lady. It was absolutely perfect weather so lunch was outside, overlooking the lake. Some more hiking occured, more great views, yada yada yada, and then we eventually made it back down to our boat and spent the rest of the afternoon sailing back to Puno. Since it was so incredibly beautiful out, I was able to lay out and take a nap on top of the catamaran for most of the way back.
So. I booked a bus ticket (NON tour bus and way cheaper) back to Cusco tomorrow morning. Got a few errands to run in the city and then Saturday I start my hike to Machu Picchu!!!! Woooohooo!!!
Okay good night and I love you!!!
Aileen :)
PS
Pic attached is the 3 German girls walking ahead of me, with Titicaca in the background, on the way back to our boat on the island of Taquile. Just BEAUTIFUL!!!
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Nov 17, 2009
Subject: In Puno!
Hola!
So I made it to Puno with very little side affects of the higher altitude therefore no need to break out the emergency oxygen tank yet! Hooray! The bus that I took to get here however, was a total snoozefest. I thought we were gonna stop at all of these great ruins, and great museums along the way. I didn't even take out my camera for most of it bc it was so lame. I liked listening to our tourguide however. He was really really into accentuating certain parts of his speech like, "theee iiiin-kan emmm-pire, iiis ova fiiii-ve tooous-sand yirs olt." And, "pleeease go and ennn-joy the booo-fet luunch". So. Never again am I doing a tour bus.
Anyways, the city of Puno is actually very poor and there's really not much else to see here besides Lake Titicaca. The guidebooks pretty much say to do your thing with the Lake, and get on outta here bc there aint nothin else. (Btw, we passed through the very close neighboring city of Juliaca on the way here, and according to our tourguide, their main form of income is the black market. Watch your kidneys! Kiiiinda scary.)
I unfortunately wasn't able to book a kayaking tour due to price, but I was able to do the next best thing which is to do it by boat. I leave early tomorrow morning and won't be back until Thursday evening at around 5ish. I'm actually going to be doing a homestay with a family on one of the islands of Taquile (or Amanantani, I forget) tomorrow night! Should be really interesting. And very cold. And probably rainy. But so rad!!! (Small chance I may not be able to do an update tomorrow night so don't be alarmed if you don't have anything in your inbox Thurs morning!!)
So my home for tonight and Thursday night is The Point (the same place that I stayed in in Mancora!). They are so really nice here and the bathrooms are super clean!! The main lady that works here is Audrey, and the number here is (51-51) 35 1427. I am staying in "the Owners".
Okay good night and I love you!!
Aileen :)
PS
Sorry, my phone was dying all day so I didn't take any pictures. I am however attaching a very boring photo of my room!!
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile
Hola!
So I made it to Puno with very little side affects of the higher altitude therefore no need to break out the emergency oxygen tank yet! Hooray! The bus that I took to get here however, was a total snoozefest. I thought we were gonna stop at all of these great ruins, and great museums along the way. I didn't even take out my camera for most of it bc it was so lame. I liked listening to our tourguide however. He was really really into accentuating certain parts of his speech like, "theee iiiin-kan emmm-pire, iiis ova fiiii-ve tooous-sand yirs olt." And, "pleeease go and ennn-joy the booo-fet luunch". So. Never again am I doing a tour bus.
Anyways, the city of Puno is actually very poor and there's really not much else to see here besides Lake Titicaca. The guidebooks pretty much say to do your thing with the Lake, and get on outta here bc there aint nothin else. (Btw, we passed through the very close neighboring city of Juliaca on the way here, and according to our tourguide, their main form of income is the black market. Watch your kidneys! Kiiiinda scary.)
I unfortunately wasn't able to book a kayaking tour due to price, but I was able to do the next best thing which is to do it by boat. I leave early tomorrow morning and won't be back until Thursday evening at around 5ish. I'm actually going to be doing a homestay with a family on one of the islands of Taquile (or Amanantani, I forget) tomorrow night! Should be really interesting. And very cold. And probably rainy. But so rad!!! (Small chance I may not be able to do an update tomorrow night so don't be alarmed if you don't have anything in your inbox Thurs morning!!)
So my home for tonight and Thursday night is The Point (the same place that I stayed in in Mancora!). They are so really nice here and the bathrooms are super clean!! The main lady that works here is Audrey, and the number here is (51-51) 35 1427. I am staying in "the Owners".
Okay good night and I love you!!
Aileen :)
PS
Sorry, my phone was dying all day so I didn't take any pictures. I am however attaching a very boring photo of my room!!
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile
Nov 16, 2009
Hi everyone!
So I've been having BB issues all day! And I finally figured out how to fix it and I am exhausted. So tonight's gonna be a short one.
So today was a totally relaxing day. I got up super early and had some coca tea on the balcony right outside my room, then headed on down to Jack's for a mini-breakfast. (I am kinda limited as to where I can eat bc of my sucky altitude-sickness, and Jack's is right around the corner from me). I then ran some errands around town, and then headed back up to my hostel for my 12 PM appt for horseback riding! It was just me and one other girl named Cecelia from Argentina who went. We got to the stables at around 1 and went riding for just under 3 hours. Passed some ruins and tons of alpaca grazing, and really cute families of sheep, took a few breaks with the horsies, took tons of pictures. I tried bonding with my horse who I think was named Timbuktu? But he was kinda dumb and mainly just stared at whatever it was that was in front of him. Overall nothing too exciting, but it was all super relaxing. And my buttcheeks are now soooo sore.
Anyway, dinner with Hyun and Jia was very nice. We ate at the Plaza de Armas again and I tried alpaca meat!! It was tasty, kinda like pork. Afterwards, we went back up to San Blas and had dessert at the cutest little cafe called Inka Fe. Think I'm def gonna hit that up again for an actual meal after I get back to Cuzco this Friday.
So I'm leaving for Puno tomorrow morning at 7:20 AM! Still haven't been able to book my Lake Titicaca trip yet but I'm hoping ill have more luck once I'm there.
I hear its sunny in Philadelphia right now...its rainy and cold here! Enjoy it!! Miss everyone tons and I love you!
Aileen :)
PS
Pic attached is my cup o coca from this morning.
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile
So I've been having BB issues all day! And I finally figured out how to fix it and I am exhausted. So tonight's gonna be a short one.
So today was a totally relaxing day. I got up super early and had some coca tea on the balcony right outside my room, then headed on down to Jack's for a mini-breakfast. (I am kinda limited as to where I can eat bc of my sucky altitude-sickness, and Jack's is right around the corner from me). I then ran some errands around town, and then headed back up to my hostel for my 12 PM appt for horseback riding! It was just me and one other girl named Cecelia from Argentina who went. We got to the stables at around 1 and went riding for just under 3 hours. Passed some ruins and tons of alpaca grazing, and really cute families of sheep, took a few breaks with the horsies, took tons of pictures. I tried bonding with my horse who I think was named Timbuktu? But he was kinda dumb and mainly just stared at whatever it was that was in front of him. Overall nothing too exciting, but it was all super relaxing. And my buttcheeks are now soooo sore.
Anyway, dinner with Hyun and Jia was very nice. We ate at the Plaza de Armas again and I tried alpaca meat!! It was tasty, kinda like pork. Afterwards, we went back up to San Blas and had dessert at the cutest little cafe called Inka Fe. Think I'm def gonna hit that up again for an actual meal after I get back to Cuzco this Friday.
So I'm leaving for Puno tomorrow morning at 7:20 AM! Still haven't been able to book my Lake Titicaca trip yet but I'm hoping ill have more luck once I'm there.
I hear its sunny in Philadelphia right now...its rainy and cold here! Enjoy it!! Miss everyone tons and I love you!
Aileen :)
PS
Pic attached is my cup o coca from this morning.
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Nov 15, 2009
Subject: Rainy season kickin in!!
Hi everyone!
So today was a pretty chill day therefore I think this might be a pretty boring update. Feel free to skip this one.
So I woke up. Hooray! Had some tea and toast with butter (this has been the standard "included breakfast" at most of the hostels I've stayed at so far) and spent some time reading my book in the little shabby "cocina". (Btw there is no heat here and the whole entire hostel is built around a huge square that is completely open to the outdoors. I've actually avoided going to the bathroom at night bc of this. My room is surprisingly pretty warm though). I then headed over to the computer to try and set some things in stone for the next few days. Had no luck besides booking my bus trip from Cusco to Puno. I guess people don't answer emails on the weekends here?? So I went out to a local tourism shop close-by and booked my 4-hour horseback riding trip for tomorrow! Unfortunately couldn't get anything for the Sacred Valley bc it was a little more expensive and kinda far away. But I am gonna be touring the Cuzco area pretty extensively. Pretty pumped for that. My next really important thing is to book that stupid Lake Titicaca kayaking trip!!! Grrr.
So I guess the highlight of my day was that I spent most of it with this really really sweet young recent divorcee from Chicago named Gia. She recognized me from our flight from Lima to Cuzco, AND she was one of the single women at Jack's Cafe from last night!! So today, we both just happened to pick the same cafe and were seated right next to each other - the cafe we picked is this super cute one off the Plaza de Armas (one of the largest squares in Cuzco) that's located on the second floor with an outdoor balcony with a perfect view of the Plaza. So we spent the majority of the afternoon talking about life while we people-watched, VW bug watched, drank tons of coffee, and ate lunch. We decided to have dinner together at a place near where we're both staying (we're both less than a block away from each other!). And believe it or not, she is actually comtemplating her next life decision!! And was reading a book last night WHILE drinking her coca tea!! I am goooood. So anyways, her one friend Hyun from NYC is coming into town tomorrow and we are all gonna meet up and do dinner somewhere.
Yup. I think that's about it. The rainy season is def kickin in here. Been raining throughout the day today and yesterday.
Okay. Good night and I love you!
Aileen :)
PS
Pic attached is actually from last night. To the very left is Jack's Cafe. Also, the street that you're looking at is actually pretty wide compared to some of the other streets here.
PPS
Funny email exchange I just had from the Puno bus booking. I've been addressing ALL of my emails with "Dear Atte,". And finally, after about 10 emails back and forth, I get this response:
Mr Aileen
My name is Zoraida ( Atte. means = carefully).
I need to learn Spanish!!! Or...do they need to learn better English...
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile
Hi everyone!
So today was a pretty chill day therefore I think this might be a pretty boring update. Feel free to skip this one.
So I woke up. Hooray! Had some tea and toast with butter (this has been the standard "included breakfast" at most of the hostels I've stayed at so far) and spent some time reading my book in the little shabby "cocina". (Btw there is no heat here and the whole entire hostel is built around a huge square that is completely open to the outdoors. I've actually avoided going to the bathroom at night bc of this. My room is surprisingly pretty warm though). I then headed over to the computer to try and set some things in stone for the next few days. Had no luck besides booking my bus trip from Cusco to Puno. I guess people don't answer emails on the weekends here?? So I went out to a local tourism shop close-by and booked my 4-hour horseback riding trip for tomorrow! Unfortunately couldn't get anything for the Sacred Valley bc it was a little more expensive and kinda far away. But I am gonna be touring the Cuzco area pretty extensively. Pretty pumped for that. My next really important thing is to book that stupid Lake Titicaca kayaking trip!!! Grrr.
So I guess the highlight of my day was that I spent most of it with this really really sweet young recent divorcee from Chicago named Gia. She recognized me from our flight from Lima to Cuzco, AND she was one of the single women at Jack's Cafe from last night!! So today, we both just happened to pick the same cafe and were seated right next to each other - the cafe we picked is this super cute one off the Plaza de Armas (one of the largest squares in Cuzco) that's located on the second floor with an outdoor balcony with a perfect view of the Plaza. So we spent the majority of the afternoon talking about life while we people-watched, VW bug watched, drank tons of coffee, and ate lunch. We decided to have dinner together at a place near where we're both staying (we're both less than a block away from each other!). And believe it or not, she is actually comtemplating her next life decision!! And was reading a book last night WHILE drinking her coca tea!! I am goooood. So anyways, her one friend Hyun from NYC is coming into town tomorrow and we are all gonna meet up and do dinner somewhere.
Yup. I think that's about it. The rainy season is def kickin in here. Been raining throughout the day today and yesterday.
Okay. Good night and I love you!
Aileen :)
PS
Pic attached is actually from last night. To the very left is Jack's Cafe. Also, the street that you're looking at is actually pretty wide compared to some of the other streets here.
PPS
Funny email exchange I just had from the Puno bus booking. I've been addressing ALL of my emails with "Dear Atte,". And finally, after about 10 emails back and forth, I get this response:
Mr Aileen
My name is Zoraida ( Atte. means = carefully).
I need to learn Spanish!!! Or...do they need to learn better English...
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile
Nov 14, 2009
Subject: Altitude still kicking my butt
Buenos noches!
So I'm far away from Hampi Land and feeling tons better but man, I never expected the altitude to be kicking my a** this much!! They sent me away with my own personal mini-oxygen tank and a good amount of drugs for me to take (all Vu-poo approved) for the next few days (and a $1000 US bill which thankfully my insurance is paying for) but I immediately started feeling the affects as soon as I got back to my hostel. But all is well, its just gonna take me a little longer than expected to get acclimatized. Oh, don't know if any of you were still thinking about my Traveller's D, but luckily I don't think I ever had it! I think that was just a mini side effect of the altitude-sickness. So yay to no more diarrhea!
So about my day, I got back to my hostel and spent an hour or two relaxing in the computer/TV lounge and sent out a few emails for my excursions for the next few days. I hope to book a nice, relaxing horse-back riding trip throughout the Sacred Valley (fortunately, the Sacred Valley is about 500 feet lower than Cuzco) for a day or two starting tomorrow or Monday. And then hopefully booking another 2-3 day kayaking trip in Puno/Lake Titicaca and its surrounding areas. Unfortunately, there's not enough time for me to head to Arequipa anymore. :( But that's okay! Bc my 4-day Inca Trail departs this Saturday, which I know will be the absolute highlight of my trip. Despite the near freezing temperatures at night and rainfall, I know it will be worth every moment!! [Insert: really cheesy smile.]. Also spent some time perusing the outdoor markets and took a few more pictures.
So the other weird thing here is the weather. Which I expected before I even booked my trip. But I didn't expect it to be this extreme within one city. A good example would be: the first day I got here to Cuzco just a few short days ago, it was hot enough outside that I could wear a tank top with rolled up jeans and flip flops. But today, I had to wear my snowboarding hat, hiking boots, fleece and full winter coat. Crazy! And then if you really, Really wanna think about it, just about 5 days ago, I was laying out on the beach in my bikini and sweating. Craziness.
I had dinner tonight at one of the most "gringo" spots in town called Jack's Cafe. I'm usually more about trying new stuff but it was nice having a normal American meal - toasted sandwich stuffed with smoked trout (almst as good as smoked salmon), avocado, red onions and lettuce with a little bit of chive cream cheese And french fries. Oh and some more coca tea to help with the altitude. And then ended it with some ginger tea and cheesecake. They also sat me down with a super nice retired couple from NY named Nick and Robin. Had a nice time chattin it up with them (meghan - Robin actually read Story of Edgar Sawtelle! She said it was amazing). The other thing I noticed tonight, was the amount of other single women sitting here just like me! Sittin by themselves sippin their coca tea with book in hand, possibly contemplating their next major life decision - its really a lot more common than you think! Girl power!
Okay. Good night and I love you!
Aileen :)
PS
Pic attached is of a little girl dressed in traditional Peruvian dress with an alpaca!! There are kids and adults dressed like this alll over town posing for pics and looking for tips afterwards. I am a sucker and this is the 2nd time that I couldn't resist. So cute!
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile
Buenos noches!
So I'm far away from Hampi Land and feeling tons better but man, I never expected the altitude to be kicking my a** this much!! They sent me away with my own personal mini-oxygen tank and a good amount of drugs for me to take (all Vu-poo approved) for the next few days (and a $1000 US bill which thankfully my insurance is paying for) but I immediately started feeling the affects as soon as I got back to my hostel. But all is well, its just gonna take me a little longer than expected to get acclimatized. Oh, don't know if any of you were still thinking about my Traveller's D, but luckily I don't think I ever had it! I think that was just a mini side effect of the altitude-sickness. So yay to no more diarrhea!
So about my day, I got back to my hostel and spent an hour or two relaxing in the computer/TV lounge and sent out a few emails for my excursions for the next few days. I hope to book a nice, relaxing horse-back riding trip throughout the Sacred Valley (fortunately, the Sacred Valley is about 500 feet lower than Cuzco) for a day or two starting tomorrow or Monday. And then hopefully booking another 2-3 day kayaking trip in Puno/Lake Titicaca and its surrounding areas. Unfortunately, there's not enough time for me to head to Arequipa anymore. :( But that's okay! Bc my 4-day Inca Trail departs this Saturday, which I know will be the absolute highlight of my trip. Despite the near freezing temperatures at night and rainfall, I know it will be worth every moment!! [Insert: really cheesy smile.]. Also spent some time perusing the outdoor markets and took a few more pictures.
So the other weird thing here is the weather. Which I expected before I even booked my trip. But I didn't expect it to be this extreme within one city. A good example would be: the first day I got here to Cuzco just a few short days ago, it was hot enough outside that I could wear a tank top with rolled up jeans and flip flops. But today, I had to wear my snowboarding hat, hiking boots, fleece and full winter coat. Crazy! And then if you really, Really wanna think about it, just about 5 days ago, I was laying out on the beach in my bikini and sweating. Craziness.
I had dinner tonight at one of the most "gringo" spots in town called Jack's Cafe. I'm usually more about trying new stuff but it was nice having a normal American meal - toasted sandwich stuffed with smoked trout (almst as good as smoked salmon), avocado, red onions and lettuce with a little bit of chive cream cheese And french fries. Oh and some more coca tea to help with the altitude. And then ended it with some ginger tea and cheesecake. They also sat me down with a super nice retired couple from NY named Nick and Robin. Had a nice time chattin it up with them (meghan - Robin actually read Story of Edgar Sawtelle! She said it was amazing). The other thing I noticed tonight, was the amount of other single women sitting here just like me! Sittin by themselves sippin their coca tea with book in hand, possibly contemplating their next major life decision - its really a lot more common than you think! Girl power!
Okay. Good night and I love you!
Aileen :)
PS
Pic attached is of a little girl dressed in traditional Peruvian dress with an alpaca!! There are kids and adults dressed like this alll over town posing for pics and looking for tips afterwards. I am a sucker and this is the 2nd time that I couldn't resist. So cute!
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile
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