Forgetfulness is Full of Memories

This is the english translation of a short poem written across a wall in the ¨Park for Peace¨ in Santiago - a site that once acted as a concentration camp during Pinochet's rule over Chile, and one stop on our very unique Human Rights Tour through the city. 

I have to admit that before our tour, I was completely unaware of who Pinochet was or Chile's recent struggles as a country. But after our 5-hour tour around Santiago, visiting La Moneda Presidential Palace, the cemetery, and the Park for Peace, I feel like I gained an understanding of why Pinochet is such an extremely controversial character in Chilean history. 

The short version, for those that aren't about to click on the link above, is that in 1970 Salvador Allende, a member of the Socialist Party, was elected as the 29th President of Chile. As he began implementing socialist programs, he was met with wide resistance (partly due to the radical changes he was trying to make AND the fact that only 36% of the people actually voted for him). As a result, Chile went into an economic crisis with inflation and unemployment increasing dramatically. Things got so out of control that on Sept 11, 1973 a military Junta (the Chilean military heads of the army, airforce, etc) attacked the Presidential Palace by bombing it using planes. During the attack Allende took control of the radio airwaves and made this speech before taking his own life (using an AK-47 rifle he received as a gift from Fidel Castro). It ends with:

¨Workers of my country, I have faith in Chile and its destiny. Other men will overcome this dark and bitter moment when treason seeks to prevail. Go forward knowing that, sooner rather than later, the great avenues will open again and free men will walk through them to construct a better society.

Long live Chile! Long live the people! Long live the workers!

These are my last words, and I am certain that my sacrifice will not be in vain, I am certain that, at the very least, it will be a moral lesson that will punish felony, cowardice, and treason.¨

And if you think that is dramatic...that was only the start of a very complicated 16-year rule by Pinochet, characterized by a  mix of miraculous economic reform and devastating human rights violations. That's what makes Pinochet such a controversial character - his ¨administration¨ did wonders for Chile's economy and international relations (the CIA apparently assisted with the bombing and takeover of Allende), but at the expense of 5,000 people that were either executed or ¨disappeared¨ because of their communistic views. The Wiki site says 3,000, but we clearly saw all the names on a huge marble wall, where people still take flowers, cards, and pictures to morn the loss of their loved ones. And while only 5,000 died or disappeared, it is estimated that 20,000 people were affected (those killed/captured/tortured, and their immediate families).

The crazy part, as with all stories like this, is that for years and years the citizens of Chile really weren't aware of what was going on. The government kept everything so hush hush that unless you knew someone that had been affected, all you saw was how wonderfully the country was running. And even if you had suspicions, you couldn't prove anything. People in surrounding countries actually knew more about what was really going on in Chile because they were hearing stories from those that were in exile. 

However, people eventually learned of the violence, and in a 1980 referendum, Pinochet was voted out of power by over 50% of the population. Since, Chile has continued to grow and be successful (which is amazing considering it's only natural resource is copper, where as Peru and Bolivia are full of gold, silver and other minerals but haven't been able to really capitalize on them). But the people have also been left to cope with the pain and suffering that occurred during Pinochet's era. There are still mothers left wondering if their children fled to another country or are in fact dead. And while Allende's 3-year term looks like a complete failure on paper, many people look to him as a hero - someone who wanted the best for Chile and all its citizens. 

OK, so I feel like I just wrote a book report, and I really hope I haven't bored you to tears with political history. I just found the whole thing so interesting that I wanted to share it with you. I mean, how is it that these things happen? The world is a crazy place...

'Cause We Are Living in a Material World...

Hi Everyone! It's been very hard for me to get to a computer, so I've been writing entries in my journal and plan to share them with you now. So my apologies for bombarding you with thoughts. :)

First, let me just say that Chile has continued to impress. I thought San Pedro de Atacama was cool (a little hippie desert town), but when we arrived in La Serena, I thought it was equally chill in other ways (a huge colonial city on the beach, complete with Japanese gardens). We only had 1.5 days in La Serena, but we really made the most of it. The first afternoon I spent shopping for a new camera. Yes...I didn't want to admit it publicly, but I am a moron and lost my camera and all my pictures from Bolivia that I hadn't backed up yet. I was devastated, but managed to get photos from friends, etc. so it will be alright. 

So I got my new camera and then went out for a delicious dinner on the beach (white wine with tomato and pesto crusted swordfish on a seafood risoto - so yum!). Afterward it was strong cocktails and a bit of dancing to songs that we wanted hear about 7 years ago. 

The next day me and a couple folks took a tour of the Elqui Valley, a very beautiful Pisco grape and fruit growing region. We visited a dam (which sounds boring, but was actually really cool), a Pisco distillery, and the small towns of Vicuna and Pisco Elqui. It was an extremely relaxing but long day, which we finished off with a visit to the Mamalluca Municipal Observatory. 

From 9-11pm we watched the sky transform into an dazzling (hehe, I wanted to use that word) collection of constellations, galaxies, and star clusters. This region in Chile has one of the best atmospheres in the world for astronomical observation, and so it's no surprise that the world's most powerful telescope resides there. We could see Venus and Jupiter very clearly with the naked eye, and we viewed other clusters through the telescope. It is so weird that we could look at a star through the telescope, but know that it is 20 light years away...so it could have exploded 10 years ago and we wouldn't know for another 10 years! 

So what about all this made me title this entry after Madonna's ¨Material World¨? (Possible Interesting Fact: Madonna is performing in Santiago this week, and we almost went to a Cyndi Lauper concert, but the tickets were too expensive. ) Well, I experienced an interesting phenomenon that I wanted to share. While Chile has been so wonderful because it offers comforts that I've missed, like toilets that flush and food you can eat without fear, it also made me realize that the more you CAN have...the more you WANT. 

I've been traveling for 2 months with a couple outfits, 4 pair of granny panties (yes, that detail is important to make this point :)), and 3 pair of shoes (all of which smell like a monkey's butt). I haven't used conditioner or dried my hair once, and EVERY time we went ¨out¨ I sported the same $20 black Old Navy cotton dress (which never once saw a washing machine). 

I tell you these things not to completely gross you out, although I'll admit that that part is kind of fun (hehe), but to show that while I was really ¨limited¨ in terms of the material things I had to work with on my trip, everyone was in the same boat, and more importantly - that's all I really NEEDED. But as soon as I walked into Ripley's Department Store in La Serena, I was overwhelmed with clothes and shoes and bags and make-up and perfumes and...the desire to have it all. Seeing everyone in the store and on the streets looking stylish and desirable, only made me feel really ugly and inadequate. I managed to escape with only my new camera, a $6 top, and a sample spray of my perfume (ahhh, it was so nice to smell it), but my head was spinning and I was completely aware that while I wish I wasn't...in a small way - ¨I am a material girl.¨

Chile & Hot

Hello All! Greetings from my new favorite town - San Pedro de Atacama! It`s great to be here relaxing after our 2.5 days on the Salt Flats of Uyuni.

The Salt Flats are amazing! They were once ocean floor, but years and years ago 2 tectonic plates collided, creating the Andes range, and trapping the ocean water in a lake. The lake eventually evaporated, forming the largest salt flat in the world. As per our guide, there are 64 billion tons of salt on the plains, which they use to produce salt for consumption as well as bricks for building. The very basic hotels we stayed in (limited power and running water) were made of salt!

Because of the unique landscape, there were opportunties to take lots of funny ¨perspective¨ pictures (see link above) - people sitting on people`s heads, people walking out of pringles cans, and my favorite...me eating my friend Ken on a spoon. :)

In between hours of being packed in Toyota Landcruisers, we made stops at lots of cool sites - Fish Island (where huge cacti grow), crazy rock formations, a red lake filled with thousands of flamingos, a green lake, geysers, natural hot springs. The scenery was absolutely gorgeous and very worth the dusty days of beating sun, no showers, and cold nights. When we woke up the last morning it was 12 degrees below zero! I could not feel my toes in the car (which I shouldn`t even have to say, but did not have heat :))

It was a wonderful adventure that led us across the border to San Pedro de Atacama, Chile. Where the weather (and the men :)) are pretty darn hot. And Chile is a whole new world. As soon as we crossed the border, it was like time traveling. The buses were clean, there were seatbelts!, the drivers stop at stop signs (that NEVER happens in Ecuador, Peru or Bolivia - you`d get rearended!), the food quality is amazing...

It`s been the perfect spot for us to chill out. Two nights ago, we watched the Chile v Spain futbol game at a pub (they lost 3-0). The pitchers were flowing and soon our ¨low key night¨ turned into a crazy party at a secret house outside of town. The cops broke it up at 5am. There are actually laws here that all bars must close and no alcohol can be served after midnight. Oops :)

Yesterday we all struggled to recover from our fun. We went on a tour to the Valley of the Moon, which again was filled with fantastic landscapes. It really does look like the moon! We finished up the tour climbing to the top of a dune and watching the sunset cast red and purple colors across the mountain range. And it was great fun racing my friend Braden down the dune back to the bus (I won, just for the record :)). When we got back to the hotel, our guide had prepared a BBQ with lots of veggies, chorizo, and steaks for Braden`s birthday. It was really nice and very official with streamers, ballons, hats, masks, and Barbie napkins (an inside joke). We finished off the night with mojitos at a cool bar down the street that has an open roof and bonfires, where our guide played electronic music (cook AND DJ!).

Life is sweet!

The Devil´s Miner

Hello All! I would be sleeping right now, but this awesome head cold I picked up from the orphange in Sucre has made breathing...and therefore sleeping, nearly impossible. Soooooo, why not fill you in on what I´ve been up to the last couple days?

Well, from Cochabamba, we took an overnight bus to Sucre. After my last overnight bus experience (the one where I thought I was going to die!), I decided to follow the crowd and take something to help me sleep. There are 2 doctors on this trip with plenty of drugs, so I hit them up for a simple antihistamine. I forgot how sensitive I am to Benadryl and the like...I was so drugged up the whole night, and pretty much the entire next day.

So Sucre was a blur of really pretty buildings (they call it the ¨White City¨), museums (I`m not even going to go into them...I think I`m finally museumed out), drinking and dancing at the Joyride Cafe, the chocolate factory tour (yum!), and finally a trip to a local orphange.

The trip to the orphange was really nice. There were about 15-20 kids, ages 4-14, most being very young. We chatted with them, played some games like musical chairs, danced to music, and just goofed around. They were all really sweet, and I think everyone had a good time. They were absolutely obsessed with our cameras, as most of them have never seen one (apart from tourist visits). They loved seeing themselves on the playback, and were so excited when one couple in our group brought a photo printer. They took pictures of all the kids and made a big poster for the room. It was a really nice thing to leave behind, in addition to the notebooks, pencils, paints, and other learning tools we donated to the school...and something the kids could appreciate. We usually think of orphanges as sad places, but I have to say that I saw a LOT of smiles that day. It was uplifting.

I wish I could say the same about the mining situation here in Potosi. Before taking the mining tour yesterday morning, we had the chance to see the video The Devil`s Miner. It is a documentary about 2 young brothers, ages 12 and 14, that are forced to work in the mines to support themselves and their single mother. Over the years, the mines here in Potosi have claimed the lives of about 8 million people. Now, less and less people die each year (maybe 30 or 40), but that`s because the mines have been severely depleted, making it very hard to make a decent living off the existing minerals.

The most interesting part of the video and tour for me was learning about their mining god, ¨Tio¨. Many of them believe in God and go to church, but in the mines they fear and respect Tio, and worship him to ensure they get good minerals and that accidents don`t take their lives (note: I don`t know the dudes in the picture above, but it gives you a good idea of what Tio looks like). What`s so interesting is the origin of Tio. When the Spanish came and forced the people to extract all the silver from the mines under horrible conditions, the people rebelled. In response, the Spanish invented a devil god and told the people that if they didn´t mine as the god wished, he would kill them. I´m paraphrasing this a bit, but I think you get the point :). They would have called him ¨Dio¨, which means ¨God¨ in spanish, but the Quecha language of the natives didn´t have a ¨D¨, so the changed it to ¨Tio¨, which means ¨uncle¨ in spanish.

The reason I thought this was all so interesting is because the people here in the mines know this story, and thus understand that the Spanish made up this God. And yet...they are so afraid of the death that surrounds them (whether it be accidents or the breathing problems that usually kill them before age 40), that they very religiously worship Tio, offering him coca leaves, alcohol, and cigarettes on a usual basis, and always on Fridays (during a ceremony where they drink 96% alcohol! Whew. I tried a mini-sip and it nearly knocked me over!).

Over my time here in South America, I´ve seen many many traditions and beliefs such as Tio. It`s not only fascinating to learn about, but makes you look at our own religions, traditions and beliefs in a whole new light...

And now I´m off to the Salt Flats in Uyuni! We´ll be out in the middle of a salt desert for 4 days, so try not to miss me too much, and I´ll catch you on the flip side! xoxo, Cara

A Piece of Home In Cochabamba

As I was planning my big South American Adventure, I came to learn about lots of friends that people have in Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Chile. In fact, my dad works with someone from Cochabamba, Bolivia (one of my destinations), and so it was arranged that I would give his brother a call when I arrived. I thought this meant dinner or maybe an insider`s tour of the city.

I had no idea!...

First, there was a huge miscommunication between the hostel owner`s and the guy I was supposed to meet. When he called the hotel asking about ¨a group of Americans¨ soon to arrive, they told him that there were no groups coming (a protection measure for us). When he continued to call and later stop by, they called the police and had someone patrolling the grounds!! Finally, he mentioned me by name and the matter was cleared up. So I met Andre, who very thoughtfully greeted me with a welcome balloon and a bolivian greeting card. He told me that a small reception was being arranged and that, if I could make it, he would pick me and 2 friends up at 4pm.

Wow! A reception? This was already way more than I expected!

We arrived at Tito and Daisy`s house at around 4:30pm. They had a great place, where double doors in the kitchen opened up to a tiled patio area with a huge outdoor bar and open grill. And boy did Tito know how to make drinks! I`m fairly certain that within the hour, me, Alicia, and Buff (my two Aussie friends that came along) had had a Taquina beer, a liqour drink with limes from the trees in the backyard (something like a mild tequilla), and a cup of Chicha (a strong traditional drink made from corn).

And as the drinks flowed, so did the amount of people that came in. By 6:30pm, we had met just about everyone in Tito and Daisy`s family - their 3 kids, sisters, grandparents, friends, grandchildren, neighbors! It was great. It was the first time in a long time that we had been around family like that...and they were lovely.

I worked on my spanish, trying very hard to understand Daisy´s fathers words of wisdom on love, and Tatiana, their 21 year old daughter, practiced speaking english with us. But there would be little talking as we devoured an amazingly delicious meal of grilled meat, chorizo, roasted yuca, salad, cheesy rice, and a spicey salsa to top it all off. And I won´t even mention the 2 pieces of cake I ate (it was Daisy`s bday the next day), because I`m on a ¨low sweets diet¨. Oops. Guess I shouldn´t have taken that Para Ti chocolate factory tour today. What can I say? I´m all about buying products to support the local economy. ;)

And after all the food and drinks, we had plenty of fuel for some traditional bolivian dancing!! We were so inspired, we picked up a CD of a famous bolivian music group from a street vender the next day - Kjarkas (I have no idea if these uTube clips are any good).

So it was a beautiful day and one of the most ¨real life experiences¨ (Intrepid Travel`s tag line) I`ve had on my trip so far!

Other Cochabamba experiences included taking a cable car up to the highest statue of Christ in the world (Stands almost 40 meters tall), and watching the new 007 movie, Quantum of Solace, in a proper movie theatre with popcorn and a coke (did I mention I was on a diet? :)) Salud! Cara

San Pedro Prison - A Reality Show

I was once with a group of people from work when the conversation turned to the show Prison Break. I very seriously asked, ¨Is it a reality show?¨ and everyone laughed at me...and continued to do so for about 2 years! :) Come on! People marry strangers and eat bull balls for money on TV. Why is the nation watching people try to escape from jail so inconceivable?!

What`s more unbelievable is the reality of San Pedro Prison, located in the center of La Paz, Bolivia (note: The link above will take you to some photos and excerpts from a BBC story, but everyone`s got a different story...it`s prison!).

First off, the tour we took was arranged and guided by inmates. There are no police officers or guards inside the walls of the prison - the prisoners regulate themselves. Our tour was guided by an ¨english speaking¨ man from Argentina, who was in for several months for buying cocaine from a cop in the streets (most of the people in the prison are there for more serious drug trafficing offences). In addition, we were accompanied by ¨The Chief¨, the head of prison security, and four trusted inmates that acted as bodyguards.

The title Head of Prison Security might sound reassuring, but what that translates to in jail lingo is ¨the murderer that`s been in for 15 years, has another 15 to serve, and is so quick with a knife that the other prisoners do what he says¨. That might sound a bit dramatic, but that`s the truth of it. I asked during the tour why the prisoners don´t attack the tourists and the answer was something like, ¨Cheif, can you show them your knife?¨...basically, if they touched us, he would most defintiely stab them. We all paid 250 bolivianos to enter (not including tips), so he is definitely interested in keeping up the tourism business.

¨OMG!¨ you might be saying. ¨That sounds so dangerous!¨ You would think that until you see the hundreds of wives and children that live there too! Yes, there are children running around the prison laughing and playing...There are people playing volleyball and soccer (all for bets - never just for fun), washing clothes, selling food, and doing drugs. We didn´t see a lot of drugs because our guide told the tour leader to skip that part, but doing a couple lines of Bolivia`s finest cocaine is apparently very doable in San Pedro. In fact, the inmate-guided tours have just started up again after several years of being shut down because foreigners were ordering cocaine carry-out and even spending the night (uh, no thanks).

¨How do they get the drugs in?¨ might be your next question. The answer is - they don´t. They produce it within the jail. So lots of people are on drugs and can go a little crazy. And when they act up, they get thrown in a small corridor by their peers for anywhere from 1 day to 1 year. And if you do something really offensive...you will be ¨taken care of¨. It´s an eye for an eye kind of system.

I thought the tour was interesting. It was a little weird knowing that you were walking through a prison and that anything could happen. A couple times we got into cramped spaces with lots of inmates around (they were all lining up to collect their one provided meal for the day - noodles with sauce). And it was a little creepy at the end when the guide told us that the men in the kitchen are usually there as punishment for crimes like rape and child abuse. Of course they are the only ones that were encouraging pictures and being really nice.

I think I liked the tour because it`s such an intriguing study of sociology. Society determines that people are liabilities and lock them up...and then all the criminals, crazies, and ¨entrepreneurs¨create their own little society with rules as to what is right and wrong. All and all, I have to say that from what I saw, and from talking to one of the bodyguards, San Pedro seems like a fairly ¨good¨ prison to be in, but people still die every month and I would never want to be there and have to prove myself everyday. For more information about what life might be like there, check out the book Marching Powder: A True Story of Friendship, Cocaine, and South America's Strangest Jail, by Rusty Young. The book is the story of Thomas McFadden, a young British man, who was caught smuggling cocaine out of Bolivia and spent time in San Pedro. I`m going to read it when I get back. Book club anyone? :)

Pieces of Info With Little Importance

Hello Everyone! I wanted to let you know that I have tried my hardest to get photos online so you can see all the places I´m talking about. Some of my friends here have been semi-successful, although they said it takes 2.5 hours to load anywhere from 50-200 pics. I have about 2,000...and I definitely don´t have that kind of patience!!

I just spent the whole the morning going to multiple internet shops and either I couldn´t get the Active X Control thingy working, or the memory on the machine wasn´t big enough for me to pull up my pictures. I guess it´s just not meant to be right now. So I promise I will publish them as soon as I can, and hopefully if that´s not until Dec you´ll still want to see them! :) You know I love my pictures!

So I think I`m going to give up on this quest. The rest of my day will consist of:

- A little shopping ($1 = 7 Bolivianos = Niiiice!)
- A visit to the Art Museum
- Maybe some more Dumbo`s ice cream (I had 2 yesterday...I seriously think I`ve gained 10 lbs. All I do is eat Twix and Pringles here. It`s disgusting.)
- Mailing stuff home
- Trying a Saltena (the Bolivian version of an empanada)
- Meeting my new tour leader and group members (7 of us will still be together and there could be up to 11 new peeps joining)

Since this blog entry is completely useless, I´ll go ahead and bore you with a dream that I thought was pretty funny. So you know how my last tour leader was ¨awesome¨? Well, subconsciously I must be really scared about our next leader (also a guy from Peru) because the last thing I remember dreaming is our current tour leader introducing the new one. It was all dramatic and he was announcing it like it was a gameshow....¨And you`re new guide is...Antonioooooo Rastaaaaafarii! The guide bursts through a door with huge dreads, a sparkly headband, and sunglasses, and starts playing air drums. I was like, ¨Oh Shit...here we go again!¨ And then I woke up.

Worthless news ends here. Sorry, now you have to go back to work. hehe :)

Volleyball on the Shores of Lake Titicaca

When I visited Lake Titicaca I expected to see the famous floating islands, the fisherman, the totora reed growing abundantly throughout the water. What I didn´t expect was dressing up in native dance costume, getting funky on the dance floor with my host mom, and playing volleyball with a bunch of women farmers on the beach.

It really is all the little surprises that have made this trip such a memorable one. While the lake is massive and a beautiful deep blue, I found that the floating island communities and people that live there are so commercialized, that it takes away from the experience. You´re probably thinking, ¨Umm, Cara (tap tap), they are commercialized because of tourists like you!¨ I know...and I´ve thought more than once how ironic/sad/whatever the word is, it is that we travel around the world to see people that have preserved their unique cultures, but are suffering from great poverty...and tourism gives them the opportunity to make money, but only at the expense of the culture we paid to see! Congratulations if you´re still with me. I almost lost myself with that run-on sentence. :)

But the homestay in Llachon (a peninsula on Lake Titicaca) was really enjoyable and refreshing. We arrived in the village from Puno just as the sun was setting on the lake (ahhh, so nice). It was pretty funny because all the people in the town were walking home on the roads drunk from a long day of celebrating El Dia de Los Muertos - a holiday where the community goes to the cemetery and brings their deceased loved ones gifts of flowers, food...and lots of drinks to go around! I kind of like that tradition.

When we arrived, Virginia and I were lead to our house, which was about a 10 minute walk through dirt fields. Adela and Simion (our host family) had a really simple home, but the cutest courtyard with flowers, and the room we stayed in was very comfortable. We insisted on cooking dinner with Adela and the girls (Marielena and Marilus), which was quinua soup, and rice and veggies. Just enough to give us the fuel we´d need for our group dance. I will have to get pictures up asap, because you will die laughing when you see what I was sporting. Uh, classic! Unfortunately, we had to dance to radio music because the band was too toasted to show up. haha. It was a good time, and nice to just laugh and dance...even if I had no idea what steps I was supposed to be doing...and then my hands started to sweat profusely because I thought it was a good idea to wear my fleece jacket under my 300% wool outfit. :)

After a restful sleep we woke up and played an impromptu volleyball game with Marielena, Eliana and Fredy. It was during this game that I learned all kids cheat when playing games and that in Peru, apparently you play to 25. We then regrouped with the rest of our group and their host families, and planted a small crop of broad beans. And before we headed off to the floating islands, of course it was time for one last game of beach volleyball. All the women diving and laughing in their long wool skirts was a sight to see!

New President...New Country

I woke up this morning and turned on the BBC News to discover America has officially elected Barack Obama as our new President. I know that everyone feels differently about this, and I´m not here to get all political. But I´ll tell you that being out of the country during this election, surrounded by all non-Americans, has been an eye-opening experience.

In short...we´re not very popular. I know that my groupmates don´t mean anything personal, but almost every comment about ¨America¨ is negative. I´m sure there´s been more, but the only positive thing I can recall right now is someone saying they can´t wait to get to the states so they can order a big salad and not worry about the lettuce being clean. That is so sad...and often frustrating for me.

However, I found it interesting that everyone was extremely involved in the US Election... reading the news online and asking me lots of questions (now they really think we´re a bunch of morons, sorry guys!)...and every single person was hoping that Barack Obama would win. They all kept saying, ¨I wish the rest of the world could vote, so the right person will win¨. So while I think that both candidates could have brought positive change one way or another (I mean, we can really only go up from here), I feel very positive that with Obama as President we are opening up lots of doors around the world that were previously closed (even if those doors were only minds). Now of course there is a huge challenge ahead and lots of questions to be answered, but I know one thing, and that´s that we have people around the world proud of us, rooting for us, and backing us up...and at least that´s something.

So that´s the ¨New President¨ part of my entry. The ¨New Country¨ part is that I´ve arrived safely in Bolivia! We had to leave Peru a day early due to a country-wide strike (something about the electric company wanting to control the water, which farmers use for free now...and would presumably have to pay for if the change goes through). Today was my first full day in La Paz. I just wandered around with some friends for about 8 hours. Tomorrow I plan to explore some of the museums and art galleries. I´m here for 4 whole days and look forward to meeting my new group leader and group members this Friday night. Until then, we´ll be hanging out, eating great food (had the best Indian last night and some killer gelato this afternoon) and saying good-bye´s. I´ll miss some of my new friends!

El Camino Inca to Machu Picchu

Hi Everyone! Did you miss me? :) I would have written earlier, but I was in an internet cafe next to an Irish girl having skype issues with her boyfriend and I thought I was going to go mental! But I´m in a nice spot now...so let´s do this! I have so much to tell you!

Yesterday morning the porters woke us up in our tents at 4am. It was dark and wet, from raining all night. I had completely given up on not being disgusting, and had opted to sleep in my outfit for the day...which was a LOT like my outfit from the day before :) Yummy!

Typically we would get ¨tea in tent¨, but we needed to get breakfast and hit the trail early to beat the crowds. The last day of hiking was relatively easy, the only real problem was that I thought if I took one more step downwards my calves were going to explode! But the goal was in sight, so we hiked an hour to the Sun Gate (check out the view here), and then another hour or so down to Machu Picchu.

I have to tell you that when we first arrived I definitely wasn´t ¨basking in it`s wonder¨, as I had previously predicted on my travel itineary. In fact, there was so much cloud cover, that in our ¨postcard-view group shot¨ you can´t see anything but 11 people that look they smell with a white backdrop. Sweet dude!! Then my spirit was further sucked out of my body as I waited in the line for the bathroom for 30 mins! I was like, ¨WTF? I hiked 4 days in the beating sun and pouring rain to get to a glorified Kings Dominion - lots of buses and awkward-looking people with fanny packs, buying water for 5 times the reasonable price!¨

But by the time our trail guide had taken us around the grounds and helped us understand what life may have been like in the time of the Incas, the clouds had completely cleared. Which meant one thing...I needed to walk all the way back up to the view point to get the ¨real deal¨ view I so desperately needed (see here). So I wheezed myself back up to the top, turned around, and then...then I was blown away. I took a bunch of photos with my friends and once they went to catch the bus I just sat there for 20 mins staring. I didn´t want to leave. I wanted to keep enjoying that brief moment of complete contentment and peace - letting go of all that´s happened in the past and not worrying about anything that might happen in the future. It´s funny how a place or a song or a sunset can do that. And for an over-thinking, crazy person like myself, this is a rare and wonderful occurence! Ahhhh....

Now let´s rewind a little. I skipped to ¨the good part¨ because Machu Picchu is the part we all know. But I must say that the Inca Trail and journey to get there was just as beautiful, fun, and rewarding. Some of my groupmates might argue with me on that one, but I do come from the philosophy of ¨no pain, no gain¨. I´m a jock...If I don´t believe that, then I´m pretty much an idiot for all the hellish things I´ve done to myself over the years. :)

So a little about El Camino Inca...As I said before it´s a 4 day hike, with Day 2 being the most challenging by far! In total we hiked about 28 miles, reaching the highest point in the middle of Day 2 (Dead Woman´s Pass) at an elevation of 4,200 meters or 13,776 ft. We started at 8,502 ft, so it was quite the hike upward. (Random note: I´m the only person in my group that´s not on the metric system, so I never really know how much anything weighs or what temperature it is. I know, I could easily learn the conversions, but I´m lazy and really don´t care! :P)

I have to say that I underestimated the physical challenge of the hike, but we stopped many times to catch our breath along the way, and the lunches and dinners were so amazing (I can´t stress that point enough) that it gave you extra motivation to get to the next campsite. So about this camping and eating...You may be wondering, ¨Are there sites already set up with restuarants. etc?¨ NO! For the 11 hikers in our group, we had 2 guides, 2 chefs, and 16 porters that accompanied us through the Andes. And what did they bring? Well, all our clothes, sleeping bags, and air mattressess (up to 12 lbs per person)...all the tents we slept in...the tents we ate in, the tables we ate on, the chairs we sat on, the cooking tent, food for 3.5 days, a stove, an oven, the list goes on. The point I´m trying to make here is that the porters - farmers, age 21-57, from nearby cities that do this to make about $50 US dollars plus tips, ARE AMAZING! They woke up early to make breakfast, and once we ate, they cleaned up the entire site and then passed us on the way to the next one. They would beat us there by 1-2 hours and have the entire site set up with lunch prepared. And once we were done stuffing ourselves beyond belief with fresh veggies, rice, soup, quinua bread, stuffed chicked with spinach and cheese, stir-frys, curried chicken, beaf, lemon cake, crepes, poached pears in red wine, tea, hot chocolate...I can´t even begin to list all the wonderful food we ate over the 3 days, they would do it all over again for evening tea and snacks...and then dinner! They worked so hard that the last night when we did introductions and I tried to thank them in my broken Quecha and Spanish, I almost started to cry. I´m sure that´s no surprise for anyone that´s seen me speak publically before (God I´m annoyingly sensitive!), but it was really sad to see how hard the people outside the cities have to work, and at the same time, so inspiring to see all that they could accomplish...and with the biggest smiles you´ve ever seen.

I feel like this entry could go on forever...and I know you all have lives and work, but the scenery is definitely worth mention (I´m sparing you the bit on the toilet situation, which was very colorful to say the least. And apparently the older I get the smaller my bladder becomes, so I had a lot of fun crawling out of my tent and using the natural bathrooms in the middle of the night with my headtorch on!). Oh yea, I was sparing you that part...The scenery was different than what I had imagined, and extremely diverse. We started on a dirt path lined with cacti and rocks, which turned into stone steps and bush covered mountains. Once we got to the other side of Dead Woman´s Pass we were in hardcore rainforest, walking through rain under canopies of lush greens, and walking down stone steps with water trickling around your feet. On Day 3 and 4 most of the trail was original and was like a cobblestone path with stone steps. It was all so breath-taking. I took 300 photos in the 3.5 days (and that was only because I was being conservative because I lost one of my camera batteries). I think the most beautiful vista was when we arrived at the camp after our tough Day 2 around 5:30pm. We were getting organized in our tents as the sun began to set behind snow-capped mountains in the distance. So gorgeous...

So yea, I´m kind of puttering out here. I knew this would be a hard entry to write because there is SO much to tell, but the bottom line is that I had a WONDERFUL time and am almost certain that the Inca Trail and Machu Picchu will in fact be the highlight of my trip. A guy that couldn´t go on the trek because he fell ill asked me if I´d do it again. I hesitated before answering yes because at the time I was running on hardly any sleep and couldn´t feel my body, but my answer one day later (with 3 hours sleep and a hangover, mind you...happy halloween! haha) is a very enthusiastic YES!