Inca Trail: surviving dead woman's pass like a pro, only to roll an ankle on the easy part

The Classic Inca trail consists of 3 nights and 4 days hiking the hills from Ollyantababo to Machu Picchu. It's the hardest of all the multiday treks because it climbs radically in altitude and it's just hard in that it consists if 2 12 hour days.
The real ball buster of the whole thing is that Incas and a local can run it in just under 4 hrs!!!! Absolutely crazy.
My group consisted of 6 people( including myself) 12 porters that carry food and water,( I've never felt more like a camping fraud in my life), and our guide.
I was super fortunate to have some awesome people on the trip and hopefully will see some of them in the future!
Wim and sheron are from Cape town south Africa, both doctors and the kindest people I've met!! They're traveling all the places they have wanted to or the next 4 months before starting a family!
Beth and nick are my hilarious London couple that kept me laughing the whole way. Whether it was was when we ran into a distressed bear cub( yes this happened ) or how many times we said " America, fuck ya!" or quoted Anchorman, it's safe to say I hope I'll see them again!!
Katrina was the other American in the group, almost 60 and hell bent in finishing. She and her husband will sail around the world in a few years.. Oh and she's from San Francisco!

We say 7 Inca sites in total before the big MP and the undeniable connection with nature that each represented was intriguing. The sacred valley had serious flooding 4 years ago, wiping put everything, expect Inca ruins! Each are built to withstand natures wrath and they make out modern attempts at architecture look flimsy in comparison.


Moreover the lush green mountains surrounded by white capped peaks and clouds that almost just " sit" in the sky made everyday viewing a pleasure.

My camera died before MP so that god for my friends and the IPhone.. Hilarious.
The bathrooms along the way were frightening holes in the ground and I am blessed to say I did not fall in one.

Here are some pictures. More to come, but catching up so the blogs a bit brief! In Lima now, headed to Quito for a night then!! Miami

Missing Moleskin, crying myself to sleep ...

My moleskin is full of everything from this trip. It is more important than everything, except my passport and it's irreplaceable and I just realized I've left it in Copacabana. I was rushing to make a bus and as I reached for it in my bag, nada. Nothing. If I can get a hold of my friend who is coming to Copacabana I have a chance of getting it back. Otherwise, I will ride a 12 hr bus and cross 2 country borders to get it. I just hope they hold in to it. It's been 13 hrs. I can't do anything till I have wifi and that's the worst part. Waiting to see its fate.

It's intriguing the amount if connection one has to " a thing" . The amount of emotional attachment to an inanimate object is profound. This moleskin is similar to a child and a teddy bear. If hugging and squeezing would solidify the relationship I would.

My luck turned golden when I go an email from a fellow backpacker who got my book and said that he'd mail it!! Then two days later he ended up bringing it from Bolivia. The kindness of people along the way is a beautiful thing

Salar de Uyuni: Break down in Bolivia

Because of both my limited time and desire to see the salt flats ( the largest in the world) the best I could do was a one day trip with 2, 12 hr bus rides to get there! Not to mention the bus ride each way involves 6 hrs of unpaved, 8 wheeling in an ill equipped bus- sign me up!!
Worth EVERY second.
The single day tour misses the colored Lagunas and some rock formations, but hits the most important part, the salt eyes, mummy caves, salt hotel, process plant and of course: the actual flats.
My group consisted of a hilarious drunk Brazlian, Bolivian couple, Argentinian, confused Canadian( no Spanish) and Cristobal our Spanish speaking driver. Attempting to translate the majority of the day was a bit exhausting and difficult, but my broken phrases and enthusianm did the job.
The landscape looks false, from endless reflecting white to the clouds that almost seem to sit in the sky- all surrounded by snow capped peaks it was absolutely mind boggeling!! "Can it be ? Is this real!!?" was the repeating internal phrase running through my brain all day and hope the pictures to a little justice.


Finishing the tour, on the way back we literately had part of our wheel fly off ( the rim) and we became stranded for an hr- I actually thought we might never make it back. This is because though we possessed a spare Cristobal had neither a jack or other tools. Once one car ( after a half hr) lent us a jack- then proceeded to drive away.. Cristobal realized that " oops, I have no other tools"

AWESOME! The most universal phrase I learned today was " fuck"
Apparently it is the same, or also a favored expression in Spanish.

Another half hour later and a car appearing on the salt mirage we were saved and back to town! How my chacos will ever desalinate I have yet to discover.

On the bus ride back that rendered to try sleepless night we " kind of broke down"

2 am: attempted jump start of 30 person bus.

Somehow the crafty Boliviand managed to get the bus just rolling enough to start us on our way again and La PAWS.. Back I go!
In all, great company from some Emirted airline attendants, Bolivian couple, and an Aussie couple to share in my bus misery made a life just a bit better:)

Unfortunately the epic jumping pics as well as my humorous attempt to Snort a slat pile ( mom/dad, so for you) will have to uploaded at a later date when technology can be rendered useful once more!

Cusco and BOliVIA ME!! Titcaca

Arriving on the night bus from Cusco was quite fun in itself. This time, no sarcasm included. I had enough leg spaced and was seated next to the cutest Peruvian lady ever.
I'm currently in the process of learnin how to knit. I've been taught byy aunt and grandmother at various times iny life, but never have a I knitted consistently. Inspired by the queen of alpaca hats, the one and only Pam, I've bought needles and taken to the attempt. Alejandria and I made polite conversation in Spanish while she watched me struggle to cast on. She informed me that you have to study knitting in school and then proceeded to unravel my 2 rows( that took an hr) and started knitting.
She also laughed when we told her we paid 50 soles for the bus...GRINGA price.
Upon arrival, I was met with fresh mountain air, and scenery that was by far the most beautiful of any city I've seen yet. Our first agenda was to find a place to live with a terrace overlooking the city. After the mission was accomplished we explored the city and I had I Skype interview later for the Environmental Center back home. Technology is a beautiful thing.
I met up with my friend Ines who was headed to Bolvia and I realized: I had a week!! I've been on the love since entering Peru and covered double the distance in half the time.
Taking advantage of both a travel buddy, a better exchange rate and the chance it hike across Isla del Sol. ( A famed Island on the bolivian side steeped in inca history and beauty) I jumped on the opportunity.

Though not before visiting pisac, a beautiful mountain town in the Sacred Valley. On the way I met the first American girl I've met thus far in Peru! Megan is from near Tahoe and it was refreshing to meet a worldly American, under the age of 50:)
In addition to having the exact same Moleskins, we shared a love for Ashland Oregon!!!??! The world, a I've continued to learn is an incredibly shrinking place.
We parted ways with Megan and plan to meet up again in a week in Cusco. I also bid a temporary farewell to Pam and Joanna .. But will see them after their jaunt in the sacred valley in a weeks time as well

IMPORTANT NOTE:
1. the Bolivian government doesn't like Americans and this was the most difficult border crossing I've had thus far. This hatred comes from the US government destroying millions of acres of Coca plants ( from which cocaine is derived from) in the name of the war on drugs. Also in pretty sure we don't let Bolivians in the US of A at all.
2. Not only did I have to pay 140 us dollars( a fortune in this country) I had to file a visa and jump through a ton of bureaucratic hoops. A circus performer by the end of the process I was in Copacabana by night fall.
Copacobana
The first thing most evidently different is the street food. GIANT tubs of popcorn, peanuts nuts and fried pasta met me at every corner. Not only is there a lot in terms of quantity, but the maize from which it is popped is humongous. ( observe the photo below) it is also super sweet, like everything in Sud America ( con azurcar)
A nap, some good company provided by our new friends from France, The Netherlands and Australia rendered us well rested for our hike to Isla Del Sol in the morning.
It is a 2 hr ferry ride and a 4 ht hike across the Island. Though breath taking the locals really demolished some of the charm instantly. From demanding money at 3 different check points, to following trying to sell things despite our no gracias pleas and just being RUDE. My " holas and "buenos Dias" were met with mumbles and few returns. Tourism fuels their Economy, especially on the island an the hostility surprised me.
I wonder weather it's anger at a lost way of life or the nuisance of tourists?

Isla del sol: ferrying across Lake Titicaca

Isla del sol or island of the Sun is on the Bolivian side of the border. To be honest it was also one of my primary reasons for wanting to go to Bolivia. Everyone says that the Bolivian side is better and they're right.
Copacabana is a small lake side town that offers a bit of charm away from the noise of la paz.
I went here twice and hiked the 3 hrs across the picturesque island. Took a while to upload all the prior posts! Sorry!

In Good Company: The Traveling Trio SouthBounders

If you would have told me I would be sharing laughs and dinner with a wanderlust struck Canadian and nutrient saavy New Zealander; I would have thought that's a bit mental.

Then, I met Pam and Joanna.

Vilcabamaba was beautiful in that I met so many inspiring people and these two chicas. Though we were all headed to Peru, I went to Galapagos and bid them farewell. Lucky for me when I returned, I had mountainous Huaraz on my mind. In fact, I arrived and cut my Huaraz time a bit short because we're all headed the same way and Pam always knows what she is doing. Bolivia will be the 30th country Pam has visited and literally everywhere we go she knows some secret off the beaten path route.
+ in Joanna's poignant observations on everyday life, accent and singing multiplied ( *) by my inability to find anything in my backpack, difficulty in walking without tripping and abundant enthusiasm / Pam's photography skills ^ our conversational Spanish = the best traveling TRIO ever.

So who are these hoodlums I picked up along the way???

Pam is a traveling, knitting , waitress, who has a background in humanitarian work in Cambodia. She is also the group photographer and the an insomniac who provides us with endless amounts of energy when we are lacking. She can be found handing out toys to kids in the street, making friends with all the locals and saying exactly what is on her mind: case in point! To the man pissing on the sidewalk in front of us" ARE YOU FING KIDDING ME?" she also hates about every other backpacker with a fiery vengeance because they're " not that epic,we're all doing the exact same thing!"
This description of her made her exclaim " I sound like a hippie dippy". Pam also provides me with words of wisdom when I' m in need, this is rather often.

Joanna is a recent nutrition Graduate from Auckland NZ. When not informing me on what will give me cancer ( everything) she keeps occupied by doodling indecipherable images and staring pensively out the window. If we ever lose her on the street she can usually be found at the fruit tienda, taking a shower or pretending to like nature. Pam and my own hygiene is rather lacking in comparison. Polish by birth, if your lucky you can hear her Skype her family and get an earful of the most awesome sounding language ever. She also enjoys long walks on the beach and Pina coladas.
Thankfully Asha, (her other name) takes charge when things are not right! Like yelling, but still sounding polite at 3;30 am an absent Peruivian Tour group, counting correct change, being on time and also the only one who thought to bring a Swiss army knife ( a backpacker essential).

And myself? I provide comic relief in times of hardship, usually unintentionally. Can usually be found searching for something,always, talking- alot, sleeping with one leg off bed and not sleeping with my knees to my chin on all transport. I am also habitually that last one: packed, in the taxi, on the bus and always 5 minutes after everyone else.
Most importantly I usually pretend to be Canadian, this is because the rare Americans I meetI usually would like to dissociate myself with. ( not you awesome folks I've mentioned) But the really overweight ones, who complain about everything too loudly, don't understand why the sign is not in English. I also crack stereotypical jokes about Amurica, but really it's out of patriostism.

Pam has 5 weeks left in her 6 month adventure starting in Guatemala through all of central and most of south America.

Joanna is schedule-less at the moment. In 10 days she will celebrate her 8 month day of travel and will probably travel for the rest of this year. She started in Costa Rica.

Pam has been living in Banff, which is "The Canadian Mountain Town of my DREAMS" and NZ land of Lord of the Rings had always been on my pot of possibilities list.

So what for we have in common other than epic taste in music? We are all seeking plaid wearing mountain men who rock some facial hair and we're all a bit cynical and sarcastic, though if you asked us, we'd say we're all totally attractive and humorous.
We're enjoying the couple weeks we have left on the same path before bidding each other adieu. However a road trip and possible move to
Banff are always possibilities.



Solo traveling allows these kind of instantaneous and impact-full relationships that I find to always overshadow the hardship of self reliance.

After writing this; I may be leaving college to write personal advertisements on dating websites for living.
My first customers? The always chuckling Pam and giggling Joanna