WE took a long train back to Cusco last night. We sat across from a lovely couple from Wales. The woman had read Rebecca, so we were discussing it. Jorge accompanied us back to our hotel. We were very sad to leave him. I was on the verge of tears. We are going to stay in touch and hopefully our paths will cross again!
We slept great last night!!! We were also happy that we didn´t have to wake up early. At 9 this morning we met with the travel agency that booked our Lake Titicaca trip. We decided that the best thing to do would be to fly to Juliaca tomorrow and then do the trip as planned. That way we will avoid the strikes and road blocks.
We just hiked up to the most famous ruins in Cusco, Sacsayhuaman. They were pretty cool. Some of the rocks used in the ruins weighed more than 3 tons!! We also got great views of the city from up there. We found a nice quiet spot in the shade and chilled there for a while. We are also getting our laundry done today. We are very happy for that. All of our clothes are so dirty and stinky after 5 days on the trail. Tonight we are eating in our favorite restaurant in Cusco and tomorrow at 1 Pm we fly out. So we will get to sleep in again!
D&J glad to hear that you had a fun weekend! Ethan, what happened to your nose Wankster? Larry, good to hear from you today!!
Love,
Katie and Sindog
Monday, June 15, 2009
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Salkantay Trek
Hello, Followers!
Just finished an amazing hike on the Salkantay Trail!!!! Our guide Jorge was the man. The first day we hiked to the base of the Salkantay Range. The snow capped mountains around us were awe inspiring. The next day we hiked to the pass between the Salkantay and Vilcabamba ranges. The huge glacial peaks were beatiful. We hiked through plains where subsistance farmers lived, and then into the jungle.
The next day our trail was through the jungle to the natural hot springs. We camped there. It was kind of weird because amidst all this poverty, they are building a resort. It was quite nice though. The next day our trail followed the Santa Theresa rio. Last night we stayed in Aguas Calientes and today we woke up at 4:30 AM to be the first in line to the bus to Machu Picchu. It was unbelievable! 400 people can hike the classic Waynu Picchu Peak and we got tickets. The views were amazing!! Some of the best we have seen. The way that the Incas integrated their buildings into the natural landscape is sweet.
Tonight we are taking a train back to Cusco. We were going to go to Lake Titicaca on Monday, but our plans might be changed because of the strike. The native peruvians are upset that the government is privatizing their land for oil drilling and the people are blocking all the roads tomorrow in solidarity. We will let you know what we decide to do!
Love,
Katie and Sindog
Just finished an amazing hike on the Salkantay Trail!!!! Our guide Jorge was the man. The first day we hiked to the base of the Salkantay Range. The snow capped mountains around us were awe inspiring. The next day we hiked to the pass between the Salkantay and Vilcabamba ranges. The huge glacial peaks were beatiful. We hiked through plains where subsistance farmers lived, and then into the jungle.
The next day our trail was through the jungle to the natural hot springs. We camped there. It was kind of weird because amidst all this poverty, they are building a resort. It was quite nice though. The next day our trail followed the Santa Theresa rio. Last night we stayed in Aguas Calientes and today we woke up at 4:30 AM to be the first in line to the bus to Machu Picchu. It was unbelievable! 400 people can hike the classic Waynu Picchu Peak and we got tickets. The views were amazing!! Some of the best we have seen. The way that the Incas integrated their buildings into the natural landscape is sweet.
Tonight we are taking a train back to Cusco. We were going to go to Lake Titicaca on Monday, but our plans might be changed because of the strike. The native peruvians are upset that the government is privatizing their land for oil drilling and the people are blocking all the roads tomorrow in solidarity. We will let you know what we decide to do!
Love,
Katie and Sindog
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Incan Adventures
Hello from Peru, figgns n figgins here...since this is our first entry in more than 5 days of travel it might be a bit lengthy, so for the faint of heart, consider yourself warned, we are in South America.
Day Zero- left for the airport around 4pm, took the T and arrived at Logan with plenty of time to spare. The flight to Kennedy was uneventful, however when we went to check into our flight from kennedy to lima they told us there was no trace of our bags...f-in great! figgns (mr) decided to place a call into Delta...... okay, Katie here. So, Sindog called Delta and was greeted by an automated response system. They were not understanding his responses, so after three attempts, he yelled, at the top of his lungs, in a magazine shop, ¨NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!¨. None of the New Yorkers batted an eye. They are used to crazy people. I figured I better take over. You will have to excuse Sindog. He was wearing thick woolen hiking socks with his Asolos and I think he was suffering from heat prostration. I was able to navigate the Delta system and luckily retrieved our baggage tag number. While I was on the phone Sindog was able to locate a sock vendor and bought some light, breathable stockings with an NYC taxi ensignia.
The flight to Lima was very easy!! I slept the whole way. We were very nervous at the baggage claim, but after much hand wringing, our bags emerged and came loping down the belt. Boy where we grateful! Sindog was so happy he bent over and kissed the automatic belt, and proclaimed, thank god for South America!!!
Okay, here´s Sindog:
Luis picked us up at the airport (a private driver I hired as protection) and took us to our hotel in Miraflores, Lima. Hotel Antigua Miraflores was a beautiful old building with a friendly staff, needless to say we felt right at home almost immediately. Our room was not ready quite yet, so we dropped our bags, bid farewell to Luis, and like our brother Francisco Pizarro before us, set out to explore the Lima coastline. The weather in Lima this time of year is about 50 fahrenheit and foggy, with a light mist...that didn´t bother us a hair, we slapped on the raincoats and didn´t give the weather another thought. Miraflores is a pretty nice place, not that much charm, but they do have a cool promenade along the ocean, which made for a great walk.
Once we finished our walk we hailed a cab and figgins (mrs) proclaimed at the top of her lungs,¨´Downtown Lima, Senor!¨. After about 15 mins we arrived in the Plaza Mayor where we walked around and took note of the many historic structures...
Katie here
We chilled that afternoon and that night went out to Kennedy Park, the Peruvians favorite Prez. We heard music and a large circle of people gathered in the middle of the square. We approached with curiousity to find that it was a Dance Party! The average age was about 65. Couples danced without a care in the world in an amphitheather surrounded by admiring onlookers. It was really fun to watch. Shout out to Jaynie, we decided to order an ice cream cone from the Peruvian McDonalds. It was okay, Sindog said that the American ones are better. The next day we walked on the promenade again. The fog lifted and we were afforded a great view of the ocean. There were tons of surfers! That afternoon our old friend Luis brought us to the airport and we jetted to Cusco. The flight made me sick. Luckily, there was someone waiting for us at the airport to transfer us to our hotel, Los Ninos. All of the profits go to benefit local orphans.
Adam:
Cusco has a really great Plaza Mayor with ancient buildings, flanked by 2 massive cathedrals, and is nestled in the valley with mountains all around. We have a lot of great pix from this plaza. That night we went out to dinner at this really great place we read about in our book. It is located within a pre-columbian art museum, and the entire restaurant is encased in only glass. We started with a trout tartar appetizer, I ate salmon and katie had pasta with red sauce. For desert we had a great strawberry shortcake type thing with condensed milk, an Incan favorite. That night we tried going to bed, but were a bit out of sorts because of the altitude, slight headaches, and just a general lousy feeling. It was not that bad though, and we were able to get some sleep. The following day we explored Cusco some more, enjoyed an afternoon nap, battled Montezuma a bit (sindog only), and had dinner on Plaza Mayor in a fun place with live Incan music.
We slept great last night, and have totally overcome the altitude, and I battled Montezuma like a champ. Tonight we have our pre-trek briefing for the hike, and tomorrow morning we are off. We heard that this Salkantay trail to Machu Pichu was ranked by National Geographic as one of the top 25 hikes in the world. We are really excited to hit the trail.
Dan, thanks for the info on Lima, we were not aware of this, but come to think of it, when we were downtown we did see a bunch of protest posters and some police in riot gear, but everything seemed quiet, and everybody was going about their business normally. It must have happened after we left.
Well, that´s all we got for now, so we will write again after our hike! We are having a blast!
We miss you all. Glad to hear that the Grecian travellers are doing well! Are you ready for Jay and Pete!??
Love,
Katie and Sindog
Day Zero- left for the airport around 4pm, took the T and arrived at Logan with plenty of time to spare. The flight to Kennedy was uneventful, however when we went to check into our flight from kennedy to lima they told us there was no trace of our bags...f-in great! figgns (mr) decided to place a call into Delta...... okay, Katie here. So, Sindog called Delta and was greeted by an automated response system. They were not understanding his responses, so after three attempts, he yelled, at the top of his lungs, in a magazine shop, ¨NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!¨. None of the New Yorkers batted an eye. They are used to crazy people. I figured I better take over. You will have to excuse Sindog. He was wearing thick woolen hiking socks with his Asolos and I think he was suffering from heat prostration. I was able to navigate the Delta system and luckily retrieved our baggage tag number. While I was on the phone Sindog was able to locate a sock vendor and bought some light, breathable stockings with an NYC taxi ensignia.
The flight to Lima was very easy!! I slept the whole way. We were very nervous at the baggage claim, but after much hand wringing, our bags emerged and came loping down the belt. Boy where we grateful! Sindog was so happy he bent over and kissed the automatic belt, and proclaimed, thank god for South America!!!
Okay, here´s Sindog:
Luis picked us up at the airport (a private driver I hired as protection) and took us to our hotel in Miraflores, Lima. Hotel Antigua Miraflores was a beautiful old building with a friendly staff, needless to say we felt right at home almost immediately. Our room was not ready quite yet, so we dropped our bags, bid farewell to Luis, and like our brother Francisco Pizarro before us, set out to explore the Lima coastline. The weather in Lima this time of year is about 50 fahrenheit and foggy, with a light mist...that didn´t bother us a hair, we slapped on the raincoats and didn´t give the weather another thought. Miraflores is a pretty nice place, not that much charm, but they do have a cool promenade along the ocean, which made for a great walk.
Once we finished our walk we hailed a cab and figgins (mrs) proclaimed at the top of her lungs,¨´Downtown Lima, Senor!¨. After about 15 mins we arrived in the Plaza Mayor where we walked around and took note of the many historic structures...
Katie here
We chilled that afternoon and that night went out to Kennedy Park, the Peruvians favorite Prez. We heard music and a large circle of people gathered in the middle of the square. We approached with curiousity to find that it was a Dance Party! The average age was about 65. Couples danced without a care in the world in an amphitheather surrounded by admiring onlookers. It was really fun to watch. Shout out to Jaynie, we decided to order an ice cream cone from the Peruvian McDonalds. It was okay, Sindog said that the American ones are better. The next day we walked on the promenade again. The fog lifted and we were afforded a great view of the ocean. There were tons of surfers! That afternoon our old friend Luis brought us to the airport and we jetted to Cusco. The flight made me sick. Luckily, there was someone waiting for us at the airport to transfer us to our hotel, Los Ninos. All of the profits go to benefit local orphans.
Adam:
Cusco has a really great Plaza Mayor with ancient buildings, flanked by 2 massive cathedrals, and is nestled in the valley with mountains all around. We have a lot of great pix from this plaza. That night we went out to dinner at this really great place we read about in our book. It is located within a pre-columbian art museum, and the entire restaurant is encased in only glass. We started with a trout tartar appetizer, I ate salmon and katie had pasta with red sauce. For desert we had a great strawberry shortcake type thing with condensed milk, an Incan favorite. That night we tried going to bed, but were a bit out of sorts because of the altitude, slight headaches, and just a general lousy feeling. It was not that bad though, and we were able to get some sleep. The following day we explored Cusco some more, enjoyed an afternoon nap, battled Montezuma a bit (sindog only), and had dinner on Plaza Mayor in a fun place with live Incan music.
We slept great last night, and have totally overcome the altitude, and I battled Montezuma like a champ. Tonight we have our pre-trek briefing for the hike, and tomorrow morning we are off. We heard that this Salkantay trail to Machu Pichu was ranked by National Geographic as one of the top 25 hikes in the world. We are really excited to hit the trail.
Dan, thanks for the info on Lima, we were not aware of this, but come to think of it, when we were downtown we did see a bunch of protest posters and some police in riot gear, but everything seemed quiet, and everybody was going about their business normally. It must have happened after we left.
Well, that´s all we got for now, so we will write again after our hike! We are having a blast!
We miss you all. Glad to hear that the Grecian travellers are doing well! Are you ready for Jay and Pete!??
Love,
Katie and Sindog
Thursday, June 4, 2009
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