One Month and Two Machetes

Ollantaytambo

Pisac

One month full of highs and lows.

Just one month ago we boarded a plane at JFK. Now we're dealing with unexpected cold in Cusco.

We visited the Sacred Valley this past week and had our first nonsacred experience. While in Ollantaytambo we got info on a "cool" independent hike we could do to remote ruins far from the throngs of tourists. We needed the trekking practice so we headed out. Lucho, our host at the hostal, walked us to the trailhead and gave us very "thorough" directions for the trail.

Of course, about 5 minutes into our hike, we were lost. We found some locals who gave us different directions and we headed out again looking for a bridge. After an hour we got to a bridge and saw an old guy walking towards us. We figured we'd ask him for confirmation on the trail to the ruins. I asked him which way and he told me to go over the bridge and along a very narrow path. The narrow path didn't look right but I turned around and proceeded to walk towards the bridge. I assumed Catherine was walking alongside. I turned around again and saw the old man standing next to Catherine. They were about 15 feet away from me and I saw him grab her chest. Catherine totally froze and I screamed at him to get away from her. I walked towards him and the old creep came towards me with an outstretched arm ready to touch me too. I yelled at him not to touch me and I swatted at him with my water bottle.

We were spooked and proceeded to quickly walk towards the path he had pointed out. He walked along the middle path and when he was about 20 feet away from us he picked up a machete and started walking towards us again.

"Run!"

We ran back to the path we had come from and were totally scared and angry and confused. We were about 1.5 hours away from Ollantaytambo and didn't know what to do. After a little while we noticed that the old man with the machete was with another old man and they walked the other way. Somehow, we decided to proceed.

We finally made it to the ruins. We walked up to the top of the hill, entered an access gate and saw another old man with a machete inside. "What the fuck!" He walked towards us and requested a donation. We told him we were just looking around, we stayed for maybe 30 seconds and zoomed out. We were terrified. At this point we were 3 hours away from Ollantaytambo and already we had encountered two old men with machetes.

We live to celebrate our one month!

Pics of our visit to Pisac:
http://juicycat.smugmug.com/gallery/3559853#201757931

Pics of our visit to Ollantaytambo:
http://juicycat.smugmug.com/gallery/3559685#201744600

She's back!

Pre-recovery:



Post-recovery:


We visited Dr. Karen and she found that Catherine had a gastrointestinal bacteria and congestion in her lungs. She prescribed an antibiotic and the diarrhea is gone. She's still dealing with a very runny nose but the situation is MUCH better. She's hydrating herself, taking her medication and trying to acclimatize to the altitude.

Although I was quite apprehensive, our experience with the local doctor was awesome. She was very knowledgeable about Catherine's colitis (which can be severely aggravated with antibiotics) and was very thorough on both occasions that we visited. All of it was only $15 - two visits and medication.

Catherine's illness had one very positive side effect - she suggested an "expensive" meal in Cusco. After our Lame Lucy $60 lunch we've gone super cheap with our dining which is likely how Catherine got sick in the first place. After a scolding in Lima, I'm now totally trained in the cheapy meals, therefore I was quite surprised when she told me she wanted to go to a nice restaurant. We had an awesome meal! Of course!

Hopefully, tomorrow we can head out to the Sacred Valley and do some hiking in preparation for our Inca trail hike next week. We'll return to Cusco on Friday and rest for our October 1st departure to Machu Picchu.

See pics of our visit to the Qorikancha Ruinas in Cusco, Peru:
http://juicycat.smugmug.com/gallery/3556501#201506240

Adios Arequipa

We've sort of decided to come up with a list of things to remind us of cities we have visited. Although we have yet to agree what goes on the list, here is a prelim for Arequipa:

- pollution, pollution and even more pollution
- 12,000 taxi cabs
- pedestrians do NOT have the right of way
- super clean streets cleaned by a troop of women who wear red outfits, including red scarfs to cover their faces
- "El Menu" for $2 (and even sometimes less than $1) that includes the typical caldo blanco (white broth with a bone and some variation of veggies), a main dish (usually rice or potatoes) and dessert
- employees of cell phone companies that wear bright colored vests and walk around renting cell phones for single calls
- Home Sweet Home - very sporadic hot water, the same breakfast of bread, crepes, and eggs for two weeks and our first buddies Liseth and Moises
- morning walk to Spanish class
- Marie, the 60 year old Irish backpacker who had been traveling for over 5 years and who introduced us to "The Lying Planet"
- the intense sun
- El Monestario de Santa Catalina
- monopolized blocks
- crowded Plaza de Armas, especially on Sundays
- locals who love the nasty pigeons that hangout in the plaza - they feed them, take photos with them and call them doves

We've only been out of Arequipa for a few days and already my memory has failed me.

In Cusco, Still Crappy

We're in Cusco, the tourist capital of Peru. We arrived this morning at 6:30am after an uneventful night bus trip. Uneventful in Peru is very pleasant and safe.

First thoughts on Cusco - cold, very touristy, "fancy" and rife with beautiful Inca terracing throughout the city. Everywhere you see locals parading around in traditional garb waiting for tips for photos. Where Arequipenos were quite lively and unassuming, Cusquenos are very present and aggressive. I'm sure the next few days will give me a better appreciation for the town vibe. I can't wait to further explore the Inca terracing and the ruins that are within walking distance of downtown.

Unfortunately, Catherine is still very sick. Her illness started on Monday when we arrived in Chivay. There she had a head cold and some minor chest pains. By Wednesday when we returned to Arequipa she had pretty bad ear pain from the sudden change in altitude we experienced on the bus ride from Chivay to Arequipa. Wednesday night we went out to dinner and afterwards started severe diarrhea and stomach pains. All of Thursday she rested but still the pain was persistant. She took some loperamide on Thursday evening and had a good bus ride to Cusco. She felt much better this morning and we enjoyed a very bougi breakfast in Cusco. (I thought of Ivan and Maribel :) Unfortunately, the diarrhea has returned. Although the cold, chest pains and ear pain have been gone for days she is still feeling quite ill. Tomorrow we enjoy our first visit to a South American hospital/doctor. I don't know what's worse - being sick or having to visit the doctor here. Catherine will report tomorrow.

Please think happy and loving thoughts for Catherine. It really sucks that she's not well. She's been a total trooper throughout the ordeal. I'll keep you posted.

A missing knife, an Irish girl in Uggs and a sick Catherine

Catherine did the smart thing and slept all of Friday night. I did the silly thing and went out with our Arequipeno friends, Moises and Liseth. They kept me out way too late and I consumed way too many beers.

On Saturday morning we had a 5am wake up call and a 6am local bus to Cabanaconde. I suppose the excitement of the hike and the few hours of sleep on the bus were sufficient because I was able to keep up with Catherine. After a bumpy ride and a billion stops along the way, we arrived to the very small village of Cabanaconde. We enjoyed our first taste of alpaca and we ventured into the Colca Canyon.

We anticipated an easy 4 hour hike down into the canyon. Catherine's fear of heights kicked in when we traversed very narrow trail parts and encountered sheer drops into the canyon. Many blisters and toe problems later we finally arrived to our destination, San Juan de Chuccho. San Juan de Chuccho is a little village in the bottom of the canyon that consists mostly of a few hostals that double as restaurants. We met our hosts Carmen and Gaby and they showed us to our very rustic but comfy digs. We waited for the evening's set meal, ate what they gave us and by 8pm we had crashed for the night.

On Sunday morning we had a visit from either the bad Peruano gods or Jan, the German hipster we met the night before. Before heading out to our next stop of Sangelle I had to wrap my very blistered toes. While sitting on the bed next to the open door, I used our Swiss Army knife to cut some medical tape for my right toe. I threw the knife on the bed behind me as I then moved onto preparing my left toe. I later reached for the knife but it was no longer on the bed. We continued packing and getting ready thinking that the knife would show up. We looked all through the hut and no knife. We then totally unpacked everything again and still no knife. We searched for 30 more minutes and no knife. It totally disappeared. We left without it hoping that it would show up in our pack somehow. Unfortunately, we still have no knife. Either it disappeared or someone took it. We like to think that Jan was some crazy klepto who totally got off on taking our knife.

Our host Carmen walked us to the trailhead on Sunday morning and we were on our way to Sangalle. The hike to Sangelle was extremely pleasant. We crossed a dried up river bed and visited Coshnirua, the first town on the trail. We chatted with a local family who sold drinks to hikers and who told us of an annual canyon marathon that was to be run that day. The marathon began that morning at 7am in Cabanaconde and runners ran down the canyon and up all in one morning. (Mind you, we hiked down for 4 hours on day one, then hiked across for 3 hours on day two and then hiked up 4 hours on day three - they were to do the whole loop in one morning - the winner did the loop in 2hrs and 58mins.) We continued on the lone path through town on our way to the second town on the trail, Malata. There we saw a small and very well kept plaza. We continued on to Sangalle. En route we encountered the marathon runners. The local guys sprinted by us in sandals. It was totally insane. Full out sprint. We also found local men walking to the weekly canyon soccer match. Men brought their mules and things to trade to a soccer field that they layed out on the side of the canyon. Needless to say, it was a very busy day on the trail.

We finally made it to Sangelle and the spent the day relaxing in the pool they had built there. While waiting for the set meal of the evening an interesting character appeared. She emerged from her hut wearing designer jeans, Ugg boots, a sweater with a fur collar and a bright pink hat with ear flaps. Stephanie Parker, from Belfast, turned out to be our first travel partner of our trip. We chatted with her during the evening and found that she too was traveling without a guide and that she was headed up the canyon in the morning. We hooked up with her and on Monday at 6am we embarked on our strenuous 4 hour uphill slog back up to Cabanaconde.

The walk up kicked our butts. We were exhausted and totally sore by the time we got up. Luckily we missed the sun of midday and made it back to Cabanaconde just in time for breakfast at 10am. By 1pm, we were already in our next village of Chivay. In Chivay we went straight for the natural hot springs and pruned up for hours in the pools. We stayed in Chivay for another day exploring the 4 block radius that was the village.

By the time we headed back on Wednesday Catherine had developed a pretty bad cold. We decided to stay in Arequipa one extra night hoping that she would get better.

She's gotten worse. It's Thursday night and our 10 hour bus to Cusco leaves at 8pm. Catherine has been in bed for two days and now has the major runs. Not a good situation. Fingers crossed and prayers to the Inca gods that she has a pleasant ride and that she gets better soon.

See pics of our stay in the Colca Canyon at:
http://juicycat.smugmug.com/gallery/3506563#198101550

Chilly Rio Chili

I finally convinced Catherine to let us spend some money and do something active. 10 days of church and convent exploration had me going quite nutty.

We went on an afternoon rafting trip to el Rio Chili with our guides Lucho, Joseph and Roberto. After a "thorough" 20 minute training we ventured out on the mostly II and III class rapids, with a few IV.

Our first 2m drop and class IV also happened to be my first rafting wipeout. Lucho instructed us to "lean in." Unfortunately, my inability to hear directions and the strength of the river lead to me leaning all the way out of the raft. Luckily I held onto the raft line and after swallowing just a little bit of water, Lucho heaved me back onto the raft. It was a blast! I didn't even feel the very cold water. My second wipeout - yes, there was a second - happened during our second major drop. I thought I had the "lean in" concept, but unfortunately Catherine was a bit zealous and her lean in was actually a "push" Joc out. I didn't have a chance to hold onto the line and I floated quite close to some large rocks. Luckily, guide in training Joseph pulled me in before any major damage. Another highlight :)

However, the prize for the best wipeout of the day belongs to Catherine. Before drop two, Lucho took us to a very calm area in the water and explained that we were to approach our second drop. Catherine announced, "God, I'm glad I didn't fall in because I would be freezing right now." Her excitement tookover and she wiped herself out. No rough waters, no drop, nothing...simply a wipeout! Unfortunately, no photos.

We had a real blast!

Catherine is done with Spanish classes this afternoon and tomorrow we head out to el Canon de Colca. We're super excited to leave city life in Arequipa and finally do some trekking. If you do not hear from us by Wednesday, send helicopters for us.

For more pics of our rafting:

http://juicycat.smugmug.com/gallery/3472893#195339781

Sometimes a room change is all that is needed.

Yesterday afternoon was a homesick afternoon.

After I posted my positive review of our first week in Arequipa, I went upstairs to the little room we've had for a week and I found Catherine still napping. She awoke soon after and expressed that she was feeling quite blah. We composed our list of things we missed. One can notice that many of the things on the list have to do with food. Therefore, we decided that comfort foods would make us feel better. We ventured to El Super, which by the way is not very super - it's about the size of a small CVS. There we found Oreo cookies and a bag of milk. Warm milk comes in boxes and cold milk comes in bags. That made us feel better until we were hungry again. Our "foodie" adventure continued at dinner when we found pizza at San Antonio's pizzeria.

Although food played an important role in our happiness for the day, the real happiness came from our room change and our night out with newly found Peruano friends. We realized that there was another room open at our hostel that had a double bed and windows that opened up to the patio instead of the polluted street. Although Senora Maria was hesitant to give two "friends" a room with a matrimonial bed, I negotiated with her and she agreed to give us the new room. Goodness, what a difference a room can make. The bed is super comfy and we can actually keep the windows open to get fresh air. Catherine has a big smile on her face and no bloody boogies.

The comfy bed came in handy because we strolled in at 4am. Catherine and I napped until 11pm and though we thought we couldn't hang, we headed out to meet Liseth and Moises, two Arequipenos that work at our hostel. They are bilingual and invited us to join them at Las Brujas after I asked them where we should go for drinks. We had an awesome time with the two of them. We talked politics, the environment, music, languages, travel. It was exactly what we needed. I've had an awesome time with Catherine, but I think the two of us needed to really connect with other people as well. It was especially cool connecting with locals. We hope to hang with them again. Even better - we spent only $20 for an evening of bar hopping.

Te estraño...

- having more than 4 things to wear
- burgers
- Capogiro gelato
- maple syrup
- sleeping in the sun in the park
- walking to the bathroom without having to get dressed
- calling my friends
- being close to family
- tennis
- my bike
- millet muffins
- not worrying that my wallet will be stolen
- the Ritz
- washing machine
- fast internet connection
- my laptop
- Excel
- familiar people
- work at Freire...really
- Philadelphia
- hot showers
- holding hands with my boo
- clean air
- not having to study
- English
- DiBrunos
- yummy cheese
- Whole Foods
- Vivanda

"Yes, I'm brown. No, I don't work here."

We've been hostel living for just 10 days and I have already been mistaken for the help on three different occasions:

- "Excuse me, can you please open the door," expressed a pleasant British girl as she lugged herself out of our Lima hostel.

- "Do you work here?" a sweet French boy asked as I walked out of the kitchen at our Home Sweet Home.

- The 6 foot tall Scandinavian girl said nothing to me as she walked into our hostel but she did expect me to check her in.

Not only are Catherine and I the only gay individuals, but I also happen to hold the distinction of the only brown backpacker. If only I could revel in my queer woman of color identity here in Peru. Interestingly, Catherine did manage to find a gay Peruano. On her first day of Spanish school, her instructor, Fabricio, outed himself. Supposedly there are gays everywhere, we just don't get to see them.

Our first week in Arequipa started off rocky but it turned out to be absolutely wonderful. I think the turning point occurred on Tuesday when I learned that if you ask for the "menu" at lunch time you get the special of the day for a whopping $2. It includes a salad, soup, main dish, drink and dessert. All that for $2. I also realized that I'm here because I want to be here. On the micro level there are so many things that we do not have control over. We can't keep our windows open because the pollution is unbearable. We can't hold hands because at the very least we'd get harassed. We can't expect hot showers because sometimes, like this morning, the water just stops. However, on the macro level we have complete control. We have a savings account full of money, we have all of the free time we could wish for and we can be anywhere at anytime. If we want to fly to Sapphos and drink cocktails all day...then we can do it!

One more week in Arequipa before we head out to the Canyon de Colca and then onwards to el Altiplano.

Check out pics of our visit to El Monasterio de Santa Catalina:
http://www.juicycat.smugmug.com/gallery/3441783#193138219

Perspective for Lucky Laura

Very humble digs at Home Sweet Home in Arequipa:

Our tiny room with two very hard beds.









One of the bathrooms we share with fellow travelers. Toilet paper and pleasant smells are a luxury here.









The tiny kitchen we use. There is one knife, two pots and that's about it.












The Lonely Planet described it as a "huge" breakfast. Yes, it is plentiful, but it is the SAME thing every morning. We still have a week and a half here in Arequipa.









What can one expect for $11 a night for the two of us. Today Catherine woke up at 6:21am in hopes of making it to a hot shower. I got in at 7:30am and had to speed through my cold shower. We also get to wear the same clothes every day. We've been washing our small stash with a Woolite laundry soap bar. Home Sweet Home is certainly not like home.

En Espanol Por Favor

Catherine tried to impose her American ways on the Arequipenos today. The city is crowded with taxi cabs that do not adhere to many traffic rules. Crossing the street is an extreme sport. She is determined to impose our strict American rules. All streets are clearly marked with "Pare" and she has been quite stern with me to follow her lead and cross the street with the expectation that cars stop. Ivan, can we sue if we were to be maimed by a Peruvian taxi driver?

After a 14 hour bus ride along the jagged coast of Peru we arrived to Arequipa, Peru's 2nd largest city with a population of 730,000 at an altitude of 7,700 ft. Perspective - Lima, Peru's largest city, has a population of 8.2 million people which is equivalent of NYC. Arequipa is small with a compact city center. Catherine begins Spanish classes tomorrow and I work on keeping myself occupied for the next two weeks. Luckily the sun shines strong all day with hot and dry air. A very welcome relief from the cold dampness of Lima.

Arequipa maintains a colonial aesthetic similar to Oaxaca, Antigua, or Granada. Not quite as kept as those other cities, Arequipa suffers from the lack of a fresh coat of paint. The central square certainly stands out with its large cathedral made of sillar - the local stone mined from the volcanoes that surround the city - El Misti, Pichu Pichu and La Chachani. The city is called "The White City" because these white stones were used to make many of the colonial buildings. The Plaza de Armas is spacious, well manicured with flowers and palm trees and especially crowded with people huddled on benches. On Sunday afternoon, we were a bit put off by the scores of young male Arequipenos lurking on the fringes.

Today we ventured to the market and were super excited to enjoy a lunch of tamales for 2 sols. About $.66. This was extremely welcome after our very lavish last lunch in Lima. We experienced a major brain fart and followed Lame Lucy's advice to try a restaurant overlooking the Pacific that served a buffet of traditional Peruano cuisine. We were excited about the prospect because up until that point we had only tried Tex-Mex and supermarket food. The restaurant looked very "fancy" and we expected to pay at least $25 for the meal. Lame Lucy did mark the restaurant as mid-range. We enjoyed the wonderful buffet with samplings from all over the country including ceviche and an array of desserts. After an hour of indulging in the culinary delights of Peru we asked for the check. $67!!!! For lunch in Latin America!!!! Lame Lucy got us again. This week we go super cheap.

Thus far, we have found Peruanos to be not especially friendly but not disturbingly rude. People don't seem to pay too much attention to tourists. We haven't been hounded to buy anything, or "donate" money, or any other annoyance. All of you who have worried for our safety, please take note that we have felt very safe.

Maybe in a few days Catherine will report in Spanish.

Our Arequipa gallery:

http://juicycat.smugmug.com/gallery/3419651#191567163

Lovely Lima and Lame Lucy

48 hours in Lima and we have experienced a Joc breakdown and a Catherine breakdown.

On day one, I was overcome by a sense of, "Now what?" Catherine consoled me all day and kept the tears at bay. A nap and a visit with Lame Lucy cured me of the "pain".

Who is Lame Lucy you ask? She is a friend of a friend who lives here in Lima. An older woman, a freelance journalist, a Penn alum, an expat – we were very excited about the possibilities. We anticipated a cordial invite to stay at what we presumed would be a fabulous home and at the very least a wonderful meal in Lima, South America's cuisine capital. Instead, we got an obstructed view of the Pacific Ocean from her 7th floor apartment. She informed us that opening the curtains would increase the views of the many surrounding buildings. She "treated" us to tea, store bought cake, a lot of self-indulgent talk, and after just about an hour and a yawn, a very brisk, "I'm sorry ladies but I have to get back to work." We walked out of the door and worked very hard to contain both our disdain and our laughter. No wonder Lame Lucy is still alone.

We are staying in Miraflores, an affluent suburb of Lima rife with bougi restaurants and Peru's home-grown version of Whole Foods, Vivanda. You can find everything at Vivanda. Even though I insisted on bringing a four month supply of tampons, Catherine quickly found plenty at the supermarket. Latin America sure has progressed. Lima is the cuisine capital of the continent but we have enjoyed most of our meals at the supermarket. Seriously, yummy.

Yesterday we left the comforts of our first "home" and ventured to central Lima. We anticipated a hurried Latin American capital city. Two errant combi rides and a long walk to Plaza de Armas left us pleasantly surprised, but very hungry. It was clean and orderly and safe. Unfortunately, it wasn't very easy to navigate streets with no signs and changing names. Although "easily" labeled on the map, we struggled to find el barrio Chino. Then the breakdown. Some context:
The air in Lima, and especially central Lima, is thick with fumes, exhaust and smog. The consistently overcast skies and damp air psychologically perpetuate the problem. Since arriving on Wednesday afternoon, Catherine has "had to" cover her nose and mouth to remain loyal to her green sensibilities. Walking circles around central Lima's busiest blocks congested with old school buses from the 50's did nothing but aggravate her new asthma affliction. In the middle of the block along a major street the Limenos saw a feisty American girl with watery eyes breakdown for a few minutes. "I will not let this beat me. We will find Chinatown and eat as we planned!"

We found Chinatown. We ate. We were happy again.

Tonight we head south to Arequipa. Supposedly it's sunny during the day and super cold at night. We have yet to adjust to the cold.