Machu Picchu and The Sacred Valley in Pictures

March 26, 2008 - Aguas Calientes (near Machu Picchu)

Kim climbing up the ladders on the way to the top of Putucusi Mountain. The trail was like a "jungle gym for adults"!

The view of Machu Picchu from the top of Putucusi Mountain.

March 27, 2008 - Machu Picchu

The view of the ruins of Machu Picchu from Huayna Picchu as the clouds are lifting.

The view improving.

The clouds disappear!

There it is! (Huayna Picchu is in between our heads)

The postcard shot.

An artsy shot, using the sweet Incan stonework.

March 29, 2008 - The Sacred Valley near Cuzco

The Incan ruins at Moray. These are concentric circles that they terraced for agricultural purposes.

Another view at Moray.

Yet another Incan relic: The Salineras. They routed salt-laden water from a hot spring through this system to harvest the salt.

The Salineras with an USAid garbage can!

DIY

We wrote this while waiting for a flight to Cuzco this morning. It is written about our last day in Huaraz - yesterday.

Tourist information can be fantastic. Laguna 69 was beautiful and a great recommendation. However when all recommendations seem to point to the typical tourist routes, the curious explorer knows there must be more. So we got a lead from some resident gringos and decided to follow the good old do-it-yourself (DIY) motto. Here is the story of how it went...

Buenos Dias, Rex
Caroline Lodging has truly been our home in Huaraz. The friendly staff was so welcoming we felt like we were a part of the family. This feeling rang true when we found Rex outside our door, anxiously waiting to make sure we didn´t miss our trek. ¨Buenos Dias, Rex¨.

We packed up our things and had another delicious breakfast on the terrace of Caroline Lodging. Then we set off on our day.

Cafe Para Llevar
Of course we couldn´t help but stop by our new favorite coffee spot, the California Cafe. Luckily it was open (and on our way). Gladys welcomed us in and dug out some ¨to go¨cups from storage. We chatted with her a bit and added a couple of slices of banana bread to our order. Then, again, we set off on our day with smiles on our faces and good coffee in our hands.

The Quechua Combi

The typical combi driver will run you down at first sight and try to pull you into his minivan. After passing several of these men, we finally found our combi to Llupa. This was not your typical combi. Essentially we had to sell ourselves to the driver. We loaded into the back of the van and tried to act natural. The combi was full of brightly dressed Quechua women in their top hats exchanging the latest gossip (or so we speculated). The driver loaded the last huge bag of rice on the top of the van and we took off. The women continued to chat and joke around with smiles on their faces. Their easy-going and happy demeanor was infectious, and the entire combi had a peaceful vibe. These women are clearly the glue of their society. It was an amazing experience to see them in their element (even though we couldn´t understand a word they said).

The Hike to Laguna Churup

The beginning was quite mellow. We passed the local school, two women and man digging a trench by hand for a water pipe (serious manual labor!), a chatty campesino gathering wood with his little dog, and a handful of other locals carrying on with their daily work. Additionally, as if the people and culture wasn´t beautiful enough, the views were tremendous. There were snow capped mountains shrouded in clouds above, and Huaraz nestled in the valley far below.

The moment we entered the National Park (at Pitec) the trail went up, up, up. Though the trail was steep we felt good at the high altitude. The journey was so much fun we didn´t have time to get to the lake. We stopped at a beautiful waterfall near the lake and had lunch.

On the walk down we were treated to some incredible weather. There were thunderstorms and rain in the valley, and sun above our heads. Then the snow capped peaks popped out of the clouds and into clear view.

On the rest of the trip back to town we gave a woman a banana and we talked to another women about tasty cuy (guinea pig). A satisfying day.

Learning like it's my Job

Well... I guess learning kind of is my job right now. Learning and teaching. A pretty good combo.

So! For some new life lessons.

When surfing: if your wetsuit covers all the way down your arms, but not all the way down your legs, you must put sunscreen on the back of your legs!! Yes, when lying on your stomach on a board all day, that sun hits the back of you with quite a punch. Maybe the rest of you knew this already, but it's still important.

When hiking: just keep walking. Take however small of steps you need, sing an upbeat song to yourself - but slowly - and just keep putting one foot infront of the other. Dad: I know you've taught me this before, but as you can tell by the aftermath picture of me on our previous hike, the lesson was truly learned.

When at a cafe: if you're starving, still just start our with a reasonable amount of food. While everything may look amazing on the menu, it doesn't mean you can eat all of it.

When in a crowded bus of Quechua women: smile and try to blend in.


What a vacation we've had!! I'd say it's been a good mix of lazy, Seattle-style relaxation and hard-core outdoorsy climbing (for me anyway). When Brian and I aren't sipping delicious coffee (I can't stop talking about the coffee!) and eating delicious bagels, we head up to the mountains! Brian climbs around like a mountain goat in his ever durable and practical Mountain Khakis, and I follow along - slow but steady - in my ever-stylish, mud-caked Sevens jeans and Whizbang hat (thank you Annie!). Now some of you may think that it's a crime to hike around gigantic mountains and massive cow pies in designer jeans, but let me tell you - I could make a fortune! The most comfy walking pants I've ever known. Carharts: bring it on.

Day Hike to 15,000 ft!

Yesterday we went on a day hike. The hike was in Huascaran National Park and the scenery was gorgeous. We had all types of weather: rain, sun, snow, wind. Our destination was a lake named Laguna 69, at 4600 meters (about 15,000 ft). So the adjustment to altitude was interesting. When we got there we were treated to the magnificent turquoise blue color of the lake. And on the way down the weather improved and we got a good view of a couple of the towering peaks of the Cordillera Blanca. I took a ton of pictures, so here are a few of the good ones.

Brian and Kim reached the end of the hike. Que bonito!

Chacararaju (6112 meters) rising above the lake.

Huascaran trying to peek out from the clouds.

Kim at the end of the trip.

Rolling with the Punches

I have learned a lot over the last month or so, both in the States and Peru.

* Everyone should do a full clean-out of their fridge and freezer at least once a month.
* Never think that you can move out of a house on your own (little brothers with big muscles are amazing).
* A good cup of coffee is something that should be treasured.
* Life will test your flexibility.
* No matter how organized you are, plans change.

Brian and I are in Huaraz right now. In the Cordillera Blanca. It is absolutely breath taking.

So Plan A (as of last Monday, officially) was to say our goodbyes to the great folks in Trujillo, to spend a long weekend in Huaraz, and then to move to Cuzco. We were really excited for the upcoming challenges as directors of the Cuzco project. Wednesday came, however, and we were forced to create Plan B. The plug was pulled on our move to Cuzco and now... well... we´re figuring out how flexible we really are.

For now, Brian and I have truly been treating ourselves. This beautiful little town has delicious coffee, amazing chocolate cake, bagels with cream cheese, and all the outdoor adventures you could want. We only wish we had a bit more time here. Acclamizing to the altitude (we´re at 10,000 ft.) has been a very new experience for me. It´s like suffering from a hangover that you certainly do not deserve.

Wednesday was rediculously busy - trying to cancel our flight to Cuzco, teaching classes, saying goodbye to friends, checking out of Bruce Peru (to maybe go right back on Tuesday). Then that evening was our 8 hour overnight bus ride where we could have sworn the driver was trying to roast us for dinner it was so hot. After such a day, well, Huaraz is practically heaven on earth - even with the headache.

Our plans for tonight are to play a ton of ping-pong (yes, we found a ping-pong table!), and then get a good night sleep for a day trek we are taking tomorrow at 6 am. Life is pretty good.

Oh!

* Brian and I got locked inside our hostel for half and hour. It was us and a French couple on one side - unscrewing the door handle and wiggling a knife in between the door jam - and the Peruvians on the otherside - wiggling the key back and forth and offering futher solutions. Other than that, it´s been a great place to stay.

The view of Huaraz and the peak of Huascaran poking out of the clouds. We took this picture from the top of our hostal on the morning we arrived.

Fotos

People have been asking for more pictures, so here are a couple. Today we went to Otuzco for the day. It was a two-hour bus ride from Trujillo and the scenery was beautiful. Otuzco is in the mountains, at ~2600 meters, and was so much colder than Trujillo. It was a very pleasant break from the heat, and we enjoyed the lush, green scenery. We walked around the city for the day checking out the church, markets, and some cafe con leche. It started raining in the afternoon, and it felt a bit like the Pacific Northwest. The other pictures are shots that we have taken around Trujillo.

Kim and Brian with the city of Otuzco in the background.

Brian in Otuzco (and happy to be wearing a flannel!)

The cathedral in Trujillo

Plaza de Armas, Trujillo

Arena, our guard dog at our home in Trujillo

From Soup to Sand

Friday, March 7: 11:57 pm - a bug in Brian's stomach is hard at work.
Saturday, March 8: 4:02 am - Brian is in the bathroom. Sick.

Brian spends the next day in bed or in the bathroom. While he's doing his best to recover quickly, Kim and Danilo (our cook's son) run all over Trujillo buying Electrolight, hydration salts, and bottles of water. By the next day, Brian is out of bed and doing better. Health advice came flooding: drink lots of liquids, no fruit, definitely no ceviche, and you must eat soup. Sopa. "Soup with chicken, nothing else" is what everyone kept saying. Poor Brian stuck to his strict diet and followed the rules, eating soup for the next two days. On Sunday night, however, Brian and Kim were able to make it to the Beach, Huanchaco, to catch the sunset (see Ocaso post below).

Monday, March 10: 8:36 am - We start teaching classes in the barrios. Brian continues to eat soup. Brian and Kim are offered the director position for the Bruce Peru Cuzco site. A bug in Kim's stomach is hard at work.

Tuesday, March 12: 1:03 am - Kim is sick.

As Kim stumbled back and forth between her bedroom and the bathroom, with a dizzying fever and an active stomach, Brian took on the role of two people. He took on the role of sandwich maker (for the kids we teach); school teacher; professional liason between Bruce, our director and Kim; errand runner; nurse; english teacher; and planner.

By Wednesday Kim is a bit more vocal, but still not very mobile, and Brian continues to work through the kinks of whether or not we should make the move to Cuzco. It's an amazing opportunity in a beautiful place, but were not sure we wanted to leave the good community we've found here (the conclusion to this is still in the works). Kim eats soup.

By Thursday, Kim begins a new diet of fried chicken and rice and takes on a bit more of the load in the organization again, teaching an English class at night. Three more volunteers arrive to the center, which is a huge help. All are British and seem to be working their way right in.

Friday, Kim is eating like a champ. After a fun morning teaching the kids, Brian, Kim, and new friends Simone and Megan all head to Huanchaco. The ocean breezes and the calm atmosphere are the perfect way to close such a week. And we had enough energy to take our second surfing lesson on Saturday morning.

As for the bug, which started it all - well, he maybe came to us from Huanchaco (this very beach we went back to). Hopefully, all the soup taught him a lesson.

Ocaso Lindo!

The word of the day: Ocaso. It is what the folks in Huanchaco call the sunset. Yesterday evening we caught this beautiful one at the beach. Que fuerte!!

First Impressions Together

1. It's hot.
Really hot.
Everyone says it will get cooler in March... but I don't think that they realize it already is March.

2. Fans are the greatest invention ever.

3. Cars have a million reasons to honk. And by cars, we mean taxis. There are more taxis here than there are people. It has to be somewhere around the same ratio as the number of sheep to number of people in New Zealand. You have regular taxis, you have collectivos where they'll squeeze anywhere from 5 to 10 people into a normal car; you have combis - a van; and you have micros which is a bus that supposedly runs on a schedule, but how you figure out what that is, I have no idea. Once they get to a check point, the driver's assistant sprints out of the bus while it's still moving and races to a little store where he gets a paper stamped which proves the bus made it there on time and then stops for a coca-cola, chats with his buddy and mozies back to the bus for us all to take off again. Each form of transportation has its own norms and etiquette.

4. Trujillo has good food, cheap shoes, and effective wizards - so said our taxi driver in Lima. We've loved the food (although Brian is suffering from it at the moment), the shoes really are cheap, but we've yet to try out a wizard's spell. Maybe I should see one about a cure for Brian's stomach...

5. Trujillo gets poorer from the inside out. The center of the city is beautifully structured: gorgeous and enormous churches, buildings of marigold and blue, and a statue in the center of the plaza that hails artistic value and hard work. As you work you way to the outskirts of the city, however luxuries and utilities begin to disappear. Houses go from concrete walls to adobe walls. Adobe to reed huts. As you work your way out, first goes water, then electricity, then means for an effective roof.

These are the areas where Brian and I will be working. We've seen so much already! Brian went with a group to find a new building to hold some classes that will start on Monday. They spent an entire day moving bricks out of the middle of the building and now I think they'll be ready to start classes. I've gotten to see a project in micro financing that is a pilot program in one of the areas and I was also able to tag along in signing up children to start school on Monday. We've been able to get a really good idea of what we will be doing for the next 3 months and can't wait to start teaching next week.

Okay, back to the list:

6. Surfing is awesome! We took our first surfing lesson yesterday. We had so much fun. We are living only 20 minutes and 30 cents away from the beach. We surfed until the sun set and my arms could no longer summon the strength to paddle. It was a beautiful day.

7. Guinnea pig is actually quite tasty.

Thanks so much to all of you who are posting comments. While it's more difficult to write back to you guys using this blogging program, it truly is great to hear from you. We think of all of you all the time and love hearing your thoughts. Thanks again!

Yanayo and the EWB trip

Yanayo was quite an experience, and it is very difficult to describe in words, but I´ll give it a try.

The trip started by having to hang out all Sunday in Cochabamba because we needed some materials from a store that wasn´t open until Monday morning. We were able to leave by about noon on Monday with the car (we rented a Toyota 4Runner very similar to mine) loaded on top with a bunch of HDPE pipe. I was the driver, and Andrea and German (Yanayo´s ¨mayor¨) were the passengers. After nearly 8 hours we made it the whopping 150 km (about 90 miles) to Yanayo. I had never been so gripped driving a car before. The roads were sketchy in places, but we made it. Myself and Andrea joined with Donee and Jeff whom had stayed in Yanayo.

The first day Jeff, Andrea, and I went to look at the sketchiest part of the road we are trying to fix/rebuild. To the right is a picture of a river that is now flowing where the road previously was. We were also treated to some great views, which became very common in this part of Bolivia, which they call the Valles. In the afternoon I went to a few houses with Donee and Ruben to fix some of the stoves that were installed this past summer. Ruben is the stove ¨guru¨ and we were mostly observing and helping him with fixing the stoves. It was very interesting to see the homes of people in the community. Everyone in the community is Quechua and only a few people can speak Spanish. It was difficult to communicate with some of the community, but I could understand the Spanish of Ruben fairly well. They live amazingly simple lives in very tough conditions.

We got rained on almost every night. This is the rainy season in Yanayo and everything was green as can be. In a few months, once the dry season has kicked in, all the green will disappear and turn to brown. Over the next couple days I continued to help Donee with the stoves as well as with some health and air quality testing she is doing. One highlight was when we went to the school and did spirometer tests and weight/height measurements with the kids. The kids did a good job with the spirometer testing, and it was amuzing as well.

Guido is the school teacher for Yanayo, and I was able to get to know him well (he speaks Spanish). Kids come from neighboring communities to go to school in Yanayo. But the school is only up to 3rd grade. After that kids have to go to Acasio for more education (20 km away). Not many children do that, most start helping their parents with farming and livestock. There are even children in the community that are younger than 3rd grade and are working (like the women in the family in the picture below).

The last night we were in Yanayo we bought a goat (with the help of Guido). It was cooked by Donna Pacifica (Ruben´s mother). She cooked it in an outdoor adobe stove, and she is a great cook. The only problem was the volume of food that was served. The first course was a big bowl of rice, potatoes, and fried goat (some of the inner organs). Then the second course came (and shown to the left), and it consisted of more rice, potatoes, and a mound of goat. I tried to force myself to finish, and got everything down except a bit of the rice. It was a ton of food to try and eat. But it was a nice evening and fun to eat at Donna Pacifica´s home.

We made it safely back to Cochabamba after another scary 7+ hour drive with a loaded down car. I learned a lot in the short time I was in Yanayo. It was amazing to see the Quechua culture and how they live. It was incredible to see how these people live simple, subsistence lives in often harsh conditions. The people of Yanayo always made us feel welcome and were very appreciative of what we are trying to do. There are going to be more successful projects in this community coming up this summer, and I am excited to see how they go.

I´ve left a lot of details out and I have a ton of good pictures, but for now I´ll leave you with this one of some kids having a good time on the swingset.

La Paz... and the end of Bolivia for now

Hola,
I am currently in La Paz (above is a picture of La Paz from El Alto). The EWB trip to Yanayo was successful and we left Cochabamba on Saturday. I will write a bit about the trip and post some pictures soon. There is a lot to talk about and I took a ton of pictures.

Today I went up to the only ski area in Bolivia: called Chacultaya. Doc Odle and two of his USAid colleagues stationed in La Paz went on the trip. Doc´s daughter, Andrea, was on the Yanayo trip and I also know his son Kevin from the dorms in Seattle... small world. The base of Chacultaya (which you can drive to) is at 17,000 feet above sea level. Then I hiked up to 17,500 ft. I actually felt OK at that elevation, especially for not spending a lot of time acclimatizing in La Paz. It was snowing up there, and it felt nice to be in snow again. The visibility was not very good, but Doc pointed out where the glacier used to be. It has receeded a ton in just the past 30 years or so. The Andes are definitely some of the most vunerable mountains affected by global warming.


Here I am at 17,500 ft. The visibility wasn´t great!

After that little hike we drove to the south end of Lake Titicaca and had trout for lunch. It was very cool to see this enormous lake at 13,000 ft, and experience the altiplano. The weather was not exceptional, but the mountains of Peru could be made out in the distance. It was a nice day.

In other news I think I have been suffering from altitude sickness and/or my first stomach issues of the trip. It is crazy how living at 12,000+ ft affects your body when you are not used to it. My Spanish is also improving, and I feel pretty confident communicating. Tomorrow morning I fly back to Lima, Peru. Kim gets in to Lima late tomorrow night, and I am very, very excited to see her and begin our adventure together.

Brian