Dear Triumph Training...

Dear Triumph Training…

This trip was amazing. It was also difficult from a physical standpoint. We are not really sure whether it was the altitude (7970 feet – 11,200 feet), the 6 hour Inka trail hike, the climb up to Wayna Picchu, the early (6:30 AM ) mornings or the combination of it all, but we are tired. Step after step we felt in contact with the Pachamama. 

Every single step we took (sometimes in what appeared to be vertical conditions) reminded us of the lunge walks we have been doing… and ironically, we were thankful to have done them for we can’t imagine accomplishing what we did had we not practiced. Being wrapped in KSO Trek shoes, the feet got TONS of attention in several languages. People asked and pointed in Spanish, English, French, German and Quechua! But it was the lack of pain and injury that was most remarkable… Not once did the feet, ankles, knees or back hurt. Certainly, some of the muscles were tired but who wouldn’t be?

In any event, the level of happiness and enjoyment of the trip was directly related to the amount of training and preparation we have done with you… so thank you for helping us Triumph with our trip to Peru!

Sincerely,

The Feet, Legs, Muscles and overall bodies of Yoel and Renee.

PS: You may find Triumph Training on the web to help you at... http://www.triumphtraining.com/

Ups and Downs Again

Here we are on our second to last day in Peru. We had such a great afternoon and evening yesterday at the Colca Lodge and we were ready to start another great day today. Our guide told us yesterday that we should be ready to go at 6:30am because we were going to the canyon to see the condors and they tend to fly early in the morning. Unfortunately, at 6:30 when we got to the lobby of the hotel, the front desk clerk informed us that someone had called to say that the vehicle we were supposed to take had broken down and the guide wouldn't be able to get to us for at least another hour. Ninety minutes later, he showed up with a taxi that was an SUV for us to take to the canyon. A little over an hour later when we reached the canyon (after the bumpiest ride ever), we only saw two condors. :-( There are over 40 condors there, so it wasn't a great showing (mostly due to the later hour at which we arrived).

After this, we had an hour drive back to the town where we started where we were able to switch to another van/bus to take back to Arequipa. Before we left the town though, we got to see a small parade in the main square where some children were celebrating graduating the 6th grade. Very cute.

Eventually, we made our way back to Arequipa and were able to check into our hotel. It was a former residence and was very beautiful. Once settled, we again met up with our tour guide who was supposed to take us on a two hour tour of the city followed by a one hour tour of a convent. The two hour tour of the city ended up being a 45 minute tour that ended with the guide telling us that he doesn't usually do the Arequipa city tours, that some of the sites he wanted to take us to were closed and that he was having us do the convent tour last so that he could drop us off there and go home because he was tired. Up until this point, I've left out many of the details about this particular guide, by suffice it to say that he was not been our favorite guide and had been getting on our nerves. This last comment about being tired was kind of the last straw. Fortunately, the convent tour was great. The woman who took us around was wonderful and the convent itself was beautiful.

Finally, we ended the day with a drink at the hotel bar and an awesome dinner at an great place called Zig Zag that specializes in fondue and alpaca and ostrich dishes. Sounds weird but it was delicious.

Now it's once again time for bed. Tomorrow is our last day in Peru. We take a flight to Lima in the morning, do I don't know what during the day, and have a meal at Peru's best restaurant for dinner. Looking forward to it.

Colca Canyon... EARLY MORNING

We are currently supposed to be watching the condors flying. Instead, I am here writing this blog entry. Why you may ask? As it turns out, our guide who INSISTED on picking us up at 6:30 as though our life depended on it, called at 6:35 to explain they were having some issues with the car and would be an hour late. It is now 7:30 and no guide.

It makes me wonder if the REAL issue is that they had too much Chi Cha last night and it is their own bodies that are having issues.

In any case, trying to keep a positive attitude and hopefully we´ll be able to get going here really soon.

Y

Change of Plans

OK.  Change of plans.  We were supposed to fly to Puno today, the town outside of Lake Titicaca, but apparently there are massive protests going on there.  The miners are upset about a mine that the government wants to build and so they are protesting to the point that they are interfereing with roads, hotels and even the airport.  SO, instead we flew to Arequipa and were taken to an area called Colca Canyon.  We didn´t do much today, but will see the canyon tomorrow including a condor habitat (condors are very special to  Peruvians).  One cool thing about today...  Because there was´t much for us to do, we were dropped off at our hotel at 4pm.  It´s beautiful and is home to hot springs!  We ended up going to the spa, sitting in the hot spring pool there (in our underwear because we didn´t bring swimsuits!).  It had a view of the Andes, the Colca River and grazing alpacas.  We then had massages to get rid of the pain from all of our hiking.  It was awesome!  I couldn´t have asked for a better detour in our trip!

The Inca Trail

Last night we slept at a hotel which I'm guessing was very nice, but we arrived in the dark and we left this morning again in the dark to board a train toward Machu Picchu. The train was cool and the views were beautiful. We were dropped off "at the station" at kilometer marker 104 which means we were dropped off on the side of the railroad tracks and we walked over an "Indiana Jones"-style bridge that crossed the Urubamba River. When we reached the other side, there was a checkpoint where we had to have our passports checked (the guy put stamps on them indicating that we were entering the Inca Trail) and a small building where I peed in a stall that had no lock, no seat, no paper and no light (and I was grateful!). Then we started our trek!

Just minutes into our walk we stopped at an old Inca building that was probably a temple/resting place for those on the trail. We got to sit on the "throne" where the Inca might have sat when he was there. Then we officially started walking. It was humid and there were lots of steps. We basically walked "up" for almost three hours (taking breaks as needed and to look at the many orchids that are on the trail). It was not easy. At all. At the end of the three hours we arrived at the Winaywayna ruins (winaywayna means forever young in Quechua and is the name of an orchid along the trail). I've never been so grateful to see a set of ruins because it meant that we were very close to our lunch stop and we would get a brief break from climbing to explore.

Lunch was at a building on the trail that resembled a ski lodge (a very simple ski lodge) where you bring your own food and just hang out for a bit. There were also quite a few people there who were doing the four-day Inca Trail hike and were arriving to set up camp for the afternoon.

After lunch, the hike got much easier. Our guide called the terrain "Inca Flat" because it was flat on average, but there were minor ups and downs along the way. I liked this part much better but Yoel said that he liked the first half of the hike better.

After about 90 minutes, we arrived at THE staircase; the staircase that led to the Sungate. What a welcome sight! We climbed to the top, turned a corner, and boom. There was Machu Picchu off in the distance. What a sight. I didn't cry, but tears definitely came to my eyes. I'm so glad that we saw so many ruins before we saw Machu Picchu because it helped put into perspective just how big Machu Picchu is.

Once we arrived at the Sungate, we pretty much collapsed for about 20 minutes as we took pictures and just took in the sight. After that, we continued down the trail to other stopping points and to the place Jose called the postcard photo spot. Except for the sun not being out (which was great for the hike) it was perfect. I was surprised to see llamas IN Machu Picchu. Jose said about 20 live there and he could even recognize some by sight because he's been there so many times. In fact, he said that the last time he was there a llama was born in the main plaza of Macchu Picchu!

After we had seen enough for one afternoon (and after fatigue got the better of us) we made our way to the hotel which is literally steps away from the entrance to the Machu Picchu national park. There are only 30-some rooms at the hotel and they seem to be mostly filled by those who took the train to Aguas Calientes (the town at the bottom of the mountain) and then took a bus up to Macchu Picchu. Yoel and I gloated to ourselves about having hiked up rather than having taken the bus. :-)

Once at the hotel we took the most amazing showers. You know how awesome a shower feels after you've spent most of the day hot and sticky and dirty? Multiply that times three and that's how good it felt to take this shower! After that dinner and soon bed. An amazing day!

One random thought: Yoel's Vibram Five Finger shoes have been the most talked about thing in Peru since we arrived. Yoel joked that if we had a dollar for every person who either looked at them or stopped him to talk about them, our entire trip would be paid for. A woman in the airport even took a picture of them on the sly! Seriously though, he wore them for the entire trek today and did just fine. The Quechua word for the Mother Earth is Pachamama. Yoel's shoes definitely let him be in better contact with Pachamama!

Foot bath after Inka Trail.

We made it!

More to follow.

Is It Midnight?

Wow. Very tired. We just got back from our day of exploration (the iPad tried to change that to exertion, and it wasn't far off). It's just after 7pm and it feels like midnight. It doesn't help that it's early winter here, so it starts getting dark around 5:30 or 6:00.

Our first official stop of the day was at a roadside attraction where they keep llamas, alpacas and vicunas. It was kind of like a petting zoo. They gave us some greenery to feed the animals which made it very easy to get close to them. It was lots of fun. I was surprised at how human-like their teeth were!

Next we went to a set of ruins that was built into the hillside. Also very cool. We climbed up a bunch of steps to see the ruins and then walked down the hillside back to our van. It was a tiring exercise, but we saw some beautiful vistas including more terrace farm land and the town of Pisac.

After this we were taken to a gorgeous estate on the side of a different hill for lunch. Both the food and the property were great! We got to meet the owner of the land and he showed us his private collection of Inca (and other) artifacts. Very impressive.

Next was another ruin site that was also built into the side of a hill. Getting to the top of this one was like a stairmaster routine. OMG. Even Jose, our tour guide from the other day who is now back with us, was out of breath! It offered a great view of the town and also the terraces.

Finally before going to the hotel, we stopped at a chicharia where they make a very traditional beer using mostly fermented corn. Many places and even homes make this drink, and they signal that they have chicha ready to serve by posting a pole with a red plastic bag in their front yards. The place we went to was in a small adobe building and consisted of one room in the building that basically looked like an old fashioned kitchen. The two women who worked there served us traditional chicha as well as fruit-flavored chicha. It turns out that they don't charge anything for this, but it is customary to leave a tip. After our drinks, we looked at the guinea pigs that they keep (to eat) and then played a game in the small courtyard where you try to throw coins into a frogs mouth (also very common in Peru).

Great day. A little nervous about tomorrow but I'm looking forward to great things.

Day Two - Cusco

After a GREAT night's sleep, we started our day by meeting up with a new tour guide, Angel, and driving about an hour away from Cusco to see this place where the Incas used to tend terraced crops. If you saw it without knowing what it was, you would probably assume it was an example of alien crop circles. Visually it was very impressive. I was also really impressed with the steps they used between terraces levels called flying stairs. Instead of building the stairs perpendicular to the retaining walls, they built them parallel so as to not waste any land to plant on. Very clever.

Next were were off to the salt mine. Sounds kind of dull, but it was also very interesting. There is a stream that runs onto the property that is high in salt content. The local people have found a way to help the stream split off to several areas of the property so that there are many areas in various stages of evaporation. We were able to stick our hands in the stream and taste the water.. SO salty (duh, right?).

Finally we went to this town that is known for its textiles. We saw how the women turn dirty sheep's wool into died yarn and then into beautifully crafted fabrics all using things found in nature. After that we walked through the town and ended up in the most unexpected and gorgeous meadow with mountains on one side. It literally looked like the scene from The Sound of Music where Julie Andrews and the Von Trapp kids sing The Hills Are Alive. So pretty.

After dinner (my first pisco sour of the trip) and some shopping, it was basically time to call it a day. Tomorrow we leave Cusco to get a little closer to the Inca trail while we will hike the day after tomorrow. Yikes!

I hate it when Yoel's right...

Wow! So much has happened. The plane ride to Cusco was great because we flew over the Andes Mountains (although I didn't enjoy Yoel's comment about if we crashed, he'd eat my fatty parts first). The view was beautiful. It didn't take long after we landed to feel the effects of the altitutde. Just walking up the ramp from the Tarmac to the terminal made our hearts pound extra fast. Outside the airport, we found Judy, the manager of the tour company, who picked us up and took us to our hotel, Hotel Monasterio. Beautiful! It literally was a monastery centuries ago, and they did a good job preserving the look and feel (the Gregorian chant they pipe into the background doesn't hurt either). When we checked in, they also gave us complementary coca tea, a traditional treatment for altitude sickness.

Once settled, we again met with Judy and Jose, our tour guide for most of the trip. Jose and a driver then took us on a city tour which consisted of six or seven stoops to different churches and ruin sites, all of which were very interesting. Instead of telling you about each one, let me give you a summary of what we learned.

1). The Incas didn't really have religion; they instead had an intense appreciation for the things that they believed gave them life: mother earth, water, mountains and especially the sun and moon.
2). The Spanish and the Catholics devastated Inca culture when they arrived in Peru, changing things they didn't like and stealing the rest.
3). The Peruvian people and land are beautiful. They people work extremely hard to work the land and use what the earth has given them.

Oops, our ride is here. More soon...

Ok, back again.

After our tour yesterday, we made our way to dinner. It's an understatement to say we were exhausted and hungry. I don't remember portions of the meal because I was so out of it! The meal was just ok. We (and by we I mean mostly Yoel) tried guinea pig for the first time. It's a delicacy here. When we finally made it back to the hotel, we basically crashed - hard - until this next morning.

Now, you might be wondering why I titled this, "I hate it when Yoel's right." All throughout the day we learned things that indicated that Yoel was right in having us practice for our hike in Macchu Pichu by climbing Stone Mountain, in encouraging me to buy a camelback backpack, in saying that we should probably lay off all alcohol and caffeine in the week prior to the trip to help us stay hydrated once we got her, and several other things. I just hate it when he's right. It makes it so much harder to convince him he's wrong when he actually is!

Renee's First Post

Welcome to Peru! Yoel and I are both sitting here at a cafe in the Lima airport blogging away. (yes, we're those people.). I am purposely not going to read what he wrote before I write this so that I'm not influenced by his thoughts. :-)

So far, the trip has been a bit up and down. I know Yoel has already relayed some of the details, so I won't bore you by repeating it all. The summary for me goes like this: the flight here was great. The airplane was SO cool! I loved having my own little cubby to sit in. It was really comfortable and private. During the ride I watched the most recent Harry Potter movie on the screen on the seat in front of me and then a bunch of tv show that I had put on my iPad before we left. I only fell asleep twice for short periods of time which is good because we were arriving just after midnight and I needed to be able to fall asleep when we got to the hotel.

So that was an "up." The "down" came when we couldn't find our ride at the Lima airport upon arrival and had to take a cab to the hotel. This in and of itself wasn't so bad except for the fact that the ride had our tickets for the plane ride to Cusco this morning. Ugh.

Then another "up." The hotel room (after a slightly nerve wracking cab ride) was really nice. Not our style at all, but it was huge and had a view of the ocean. For some reason, they upgraded us to a "presidential suite" that included a plunge pool, a jacuzzi tub and a sauna. Seriously, a sauna in the bathroom. I've never seen such a thing! Unfortunately, it was now 1am and we had to catch a ride to the airport at 6:30am, so no lounging in the sauna for us. :-(. We learned this morning that Paul McCartney has stayed at this hotel in one of the same suites we were in!

Now here we are, waiting to go to Cusco. Wish us luck as we enter the altitude sickness zone!

Why lie?

I forgot to set the clock back an hour so when the alarm went off this morning at 4:30 and Weller yelled at me in what I can only Assume to be quichua, the native tongue, I realized something was wrong. We went back to sleep for an extra hour and woke up promptly at 5:30. Clearly the Incas could care less about water conservation since the shower felt like a hot Niagara Falls... It was delicious. Apparently the hotel was just kidding about brining us breakfast this morning.

Rosa our tour guide and appointed pick up person told us this morning that she recognized Renee from the airport last night. Really Rosa?! Then why did we not see you for the 20 minutes we looked for you... Or the sign with our names... Or the name of the tour company? She told us she expected us to be more "elegant, stuffier and older" since we were staying at such a nice hotel. So.. Note to self... Next time you arrive in Lima, be sure to wear your ascot... Or be prepared to take a taxi.

Rosa is very nice and knowledgeable and I am certain we'll be fine when we see her next week. I bet you she has a banner with our names in neon when we come back!

Weller found a Dunkin Donuts and has figured out how to make the peruvians make her scrambled eggs. And in case you were curious, there is a Papa Johns at the airport... Yikes.

Apparently, in an attempt to create jobs, you can not carry on your bags unless they weigh less than 8kgs that is roughly how much my toiletry kit weighs! So our carry-on bags are now traveling under the plane ( we hope).

We are now waiting at the airport for our plane to cusco.

Y

Great flight... Interesting arrival... Safe in Lima

Delta's new lay flat seats are awesome! Although our flight was late leaving Atlanta it was really an uneventful flight.

Arriving in Lima was a challenge... First we started looking for Sunanda and realized she would not be here. Then we looked for a sign with our name and did not find it either!

We ended up taking a cab to the hotel. Something about takjng a cab ride at one AM in a foreign country makes me uneassy... I never know where i am going. At the hotel they were awesome and upgraded us to the presidential suite!! Sauna, jacuzzi and plunge pool (too bad we are leaving at 6:30am).

I woke the travel agent up at home and she apologized profusely for the mix up. Let's hope the rest of the trip goes better.

It is now 1:30 and we have to get up at 5:30.

Yoel and Renee out.

And So It Begins...

Just when I thought preparing for our trip to India was difficult, it was time to start preparing for our Inca adventure and visit to Machu Picchu.

Since part of our trip will involve a hike to Machu Picchu, we decided a bit of training ahead of time would be beneficial. To this end, we have been climbing up Stone Mountain. The summit of Stone Mountain happens to be at 1686 feet above sea level and a climb of 825 feet from the parking area.