Back to Earth

Always such a strange feeling returning home... mixed emotions on our last night in Bogota. We spent a lot of time just sitting today. Thinking. Thinking about our trip, the people we have met, all that we have experienced and learned, and all that we have waiting for us when we get home. Weaving all these together can be difficult. So much excitement about going home, but at the same time so sad to be leaving South America.

¨Trips don´t end when we return home - in a sense it´s when they usually begin.¨

Inside the Womb of Mamapache...

Breathe in Experience...

         Climbing to the top of Volcan Totumo, it looks like a small anthill. You can feel the energy as you get closer to the top, we had no idea what to expect. The mud here is known to have healing properties, they say you are reborn as you climb out of the womb of Mother Earth, fully cleansed by the spiritual mud-bath. According to local folklore, the volcano used to spew fire, lava, and ashes, but it was turned into mud by a local priest who believed it was the work of the devil, and ensued to banish him by sprinkling holy water into the top of the volcano. It was so crazy lowering into the warm slippery mud. As much as you try to bob down into it, you are so buoyant that you just pop up like a cork! You have to have somebody help you submerge your head by pushing you down by your shoulders. I have no idea how deep it goes, but trying to swim through it is like trying to move through a bowl of jell-o in slow motion. It was the total spa treatment, the men gave us full body massages, and after we were done, the women lead us down to the river where they dumped buckets of water over our heads like a birdie-bath, and striped our swimsuits off (to our surprise) to scrub us down and wash out our suits! We stayed for a while to float around in the mud and soak it all in, I have never felt so weightless. Days later, we are still cleaning the mud out of our ears... THIS was a once in a lifetime experience.

Reflections: Palomino, Colombia

Back to LOCOMBIA!! A vacation from our vacation, we relax on the Caribbean beach and soak everything in. A much needed reflection time, we look back on all that we have experienced and continue to appreciate and learn from our many adventures. WE ARE SO FORTUNATE!

Deciding to completely cut ourselves off from the rest of the world for a week to reflect on our trip without distractions, we found a beautiful sanctuary called "Eco Sirena" at the base of the Sierra Nevadas de Santa Marta. We stayed in hammocks on the beach and spent lazy days writing in our journals, reading our books, laying on the beach, stretching, and playing with the beach dogs. Some days I would just sit in the shade of the palm trees and look out at the water for hours. Time does not exist here. We awoke with the first rays of sun in the morning and walked along the beach in search of seashells; it was paradise.

The "town" of Palomino was about a 20 minute walk from the beach and we would walk there to buy some vegetables and water. It was a very poor town in the middle of nowhere, and only stretched for about a kilometer. Tribal people would come into town for some supplies but then head back to the mountains - most people seemed to keep to themselves in this area. The kids would run down the road barefoot spinning bike tires with sticks, or help their family hammer palm fronds to the roof. Sometimes we would find GIANT snakes (boas) with their heads smashed in with rocks on the side of the road... it was a little rugged in town so we mostly stayed in our little paradise on the beach.

We met some amazing people from all around the world and shared travel stories, it was so inspiring! Sometimes in the evening we would get together for a little pow-wow on the beach and dance around the fire!

"Without experience, there is little wisdom..."

The pelicans would dive in the mornings, the bats would swoop in the evenings, and the chickens would cluck all day long. With every step down a trail, tiny lizards would scurry in every direction, and giant iguanas and red-tailed squirrels would run up the palm trees. We would watch the fishermen take their tiny wooden boats into the crashing waves in the mornings, and come back with buckets full of fresh fish and lobsters in the afternoons. The local boys would walk up and down the beach with giant machetes, followed by a pack of wild beach dogs.

Of course there is always the cost of paradise...Being exposed to the great outdoors for a week we were ready to head to an actual hostel closer to town with an actual BED to sleep in. We are pretty bug bitten and it took quite a few showers to get the sand out of our ears. We are now buying fruit at the grocery store after a bad experience with a worm infested pineapple and severe stomach aches, but we are doing much better now! I think we have gotten all the bugs out of our bags (we don´t want to bring those nasty poisonous furry caterpillars with bad intentions home with us..) Ahhhh our last week of travel now, still soaking up the sun and every experience we can!

Watch for falling coconuts...

Chivay, Peru

The end of a chapter....

 

Our last full day spent in Peru, we bus it from Arequipa to the village of Chivay in the mouth of Colca Canyon. Our driver had the bus horn full blast while pushing through a sea of llamas in the middle of the road. We pass volcanoes and flamingos, such strange combinations!

We ride bikes around the village all day, and then out to visit some ruins and thermal baths outside of town.
It was a perfect day.
···········
Goodbye Peru, you will be missed. I will never forget all that I have learned....

Walking on Water

A small procession that went by the square around 6am

Last minute Titicaca pit-stop! Off an all night bus from Cusco, we arrive in Puno around 5 am, splash some water on our faces, stash our bags at the bus station, and head to the Plaza De Las Armas. Today is the ¨Festival de La Virgen de La Candelaria¨, the biggest celebration all year in Puno. It is a big cultural event, with music, dancing and lots of parties. It combines different cultures from modern Peruvians, to Quechua, Aymara and other indigenous cultures of the Andean Highlands. Unfortunately, the city itslef was a bit sketchy, and we were on a serious time schedule. Because we just threw this stop in last minute, we only had about 7 hours to see Lake Titicaca and the floating Islands before our next bus continuing on to Arequipa! We fit A LOT in that day... We ate breakfast in the square and watched people bussle around the cathedral with flower petals, roses, and decorations for the celebration. We sat with all the cute little old Peruvian men on the park benches and watched them move the church pews, the altar, and wedding chairs out in front of the church (I didn´t know you could do that!) and they decorated a procession isle with huge banners and rich pieces of material. A few little processions went by and a lot of fireworks that were more like smoky gunshots. I think we were the only tourists around at that hour of the morning...

Around 8:30 am we went down to the docks where we jumped on a boat for a scenic tour of the lake.  We watched Puno dissappear in the distance

We arrived on the Island of Uros where the local people welcome us with brightly colored clothing and gold smiles. There are 60 different islands out here, all man-made by chunks of earth and floating reeds. It is so crazy that they live out here! I still can´t believe it, you can feel a slight sway (because you´re technically FLOATING) and your feet sink into the reeds that make up the ground. It just looks like straw everywhere! I eye their coooking pots outside their houses and just wonder how they don´t light their whole island on fire? Looks extremely flammable. The people of the island do a few little demonstrations on how they built the island, and a little about their history. Their people originally moved onto the lake in boats to avoid fighting by other tribes on land, the man-made island idea came along a little later.

Then we met Amelia. She was such a kind lady that invited us into her home and showed us how her and her family lived on the island. Her daughter is pictured above in front of her house, Amelia is shown below.

Amelia showed us a small embroidered tapestry she had worked on for an entire month that depicted the Pachamama (mother earth), the puma which represents the shape of the lake, the Andean creator, a ceremonial god, representations of water, fire, and lots of fish (food)! We fell in love! Of course we had to buy it, so I guess we technically payed her a month´s income, which is NUTS! They live off of nothing!

Here is Amelia sitting in front of her house with all of her hand-crafted goods. The tapestry we bought is right in front of her! We were so happy to be able to support her a little!

Chris Chewing on some reeds, this is like a fruit to them!

Titicaca was amazing, we would have loved to see the Bolivia side as well but the Lake is 174 km long! The Peruvians argue that 60% of the Lake belongs to Peru, and 40% belongs to Bolivia; this means the ¨Titi¨ for Peru, and the ¨Caca¨ for Bolivia. Of course they say the opposite in Bolivia. The weather was perfect, crisp air from the high altitude and beautiful sunshine - the thunder clouds stayed in the distance.

We were back on another 7 hour bus by 1pm...a day well done. This bus however was a local bus, and although it was very cheap, there were a few near riots we didn´t exactly want to be a part of. People were screaming and pounding on the driver´s door demanding faster driving, unplanned stops, or to put the television on. Always something. But an experience it was! Now we are safe in Arequipa and plan on going out to the village of Chivay tomorrow! BOOM BOOM BOOM, needless to say, we are sleeping well, when we have the chance.

A Magical Journey - Machu Picchu

Such a rewarding experience! After seeing the flocks of tourists in Aguas Calientes lining up to buy their bus tickets for the next day, we decided it would be a more ¨grounding¨ experience to hike it. We knew it would be hard for us to be in such a touristy place (although here I am with my sunhat, camera around my neck, oh wait a fannypack? and of course Chris has a map open...) so we decided to do everything we could to try to connect with the site in our own way. 3:30am, we set out with our new side-kick, Jason who we adopted for the weekend, for the half hour trot to the bottom gates. With our headlamps, we walk around huge landslides and struggle to hear eachother because of the rushing water of one of the most powerful rivers I have ever seen.

There was already a line forming at the bottom gates! The first 200 people to reach the top get a special ticket to hike Waynupicchu; the mountain that overlooks Machu Picchu. Of course we were determined to hike this mountain, and so was everyone else waiting here in the rain at 4am. Very interesting situation. Everyone was young, fit, and from countries all over the world. So funny watching people trying to size up their competition when everyone is wearing ponchos! So our spiritual ¨connecting¨ hike up the mountain ended up being a rat-race, but comical to say the least. The guard opened the gate and reminded everyone (frothing at the mouth) that this is a spiritual place and we all need to walk with respect. Single file in the order that we arrived, and no passing on the trail because it is also very dangerous. The first 200 to arrive can go to Waynupicchu. HA! I was amazed at our speed on this almost hour long march up the mountain, competition setting in. The path was mostly steps made of stone going STRAIGHT up, some were so high that the next step was up to my waist! People were dropping like flies, asthma attacks, stepping out of line because thay just couldn´t keep up... of course we marched on. Everytime I thought I was going to die, I thought of Vallunaraju and this path felt like a piece of cake! We arrived at the top gates around 5:15am just in time for the sunrise. We were numbers 3, 4 and 5 to hike Waynupicchu.

Being some of the first to enter the park, and well before the bus loads of people arrived, we witnessed Machu Picchu at its greatest. The sun was still rising, the rain had stopped, and the fog hung around the ruins adding such a mystical feel.... I love the fog so much! It was incredible, the way I felt with the first glimpse of this Incan paradise, I cannot explain in words. It was so crazy to imagine this place in its hayday, thinking of the people that have walked these paths so long ago. What kind of tool did these people have? These structures are amazing! Aligned perfectly with the sun, every stone chizzled so evenly. This first hour was the most amazing time spent within the walls before it became littered with tourists, crying children, screaming parents, littering teenagers and Australian bloques talking about girls in the bar last night. Grrrrrrrrr, unfortunately it was difficult to experience the site in the same way with all the distraction that came later on. It felt like Disneyland.

 

At 7am, we began our hike up Waynupicchu. It took us less than an hour and again was STRAIGHT up. Unfortunately, the mountain seemed to be a little too tall and we ended up ABOVE the clouds. We were hoping for an aerial view of Machu Picchu from the top but all we could see was WHITE. What we learned on this hike was that it ended up being not about the view at all, but the hike up the mountain. I guess it was kind of like "It´s not about the destination, it´s about the journey". Exactly. The clouds were beautiful, we sat on the edge of some ruins at the top and just looked out into nothingness. Peaceful. It rained for a while, so we huddled under our ponchos and shared snacks with Jason, it didn´t seem to bother us one bit. When the rain let up, we hiked back down to the main site. We felt so priviledged to have reached the top of that mountain, even if we had to throw a few elbows to get there...

 

The experience was incredible, even though it pretty much emptied our wallets (NO way to do this voyage on a budget, NO way). I think we will appreciate it even more with time as we reflect on our photos and read more about the history of the Incas. We do realize, and have vowed never to forget how fortunate we are that we have been to all of these places. We will never take for granted these amazing opportunities and are forever grateful.....

Gente de Cusco

El Refugio - The Rock Forest

Coco, Aymara (the pup), me and Chris at the Refugio

Giant rocks simply dropped from the sky and plopped onto this piece of sacred land outside of Huaraz. It is called Hatun Machay (meaning ¨Big Cave¨ in Quechua). The natives here believe that these huge mute giants are their protectors and the energy here is very powerful. You can find caves everywhere with ancient carvings and heiroglyphics. The earth below you feels hollow and there is believed to be an elaborate underground tunnel system with ancient tombs. There have been ongoing debates for years about a possible excavation of the site but the locals fight to leave it intact. Many also believe that the carvings came even before the Inca, and belong to nomadic tribes who used this place as a pilgrimage site so the different cultures from the region could congregate. So much unknown, I believe this rock forest has many secrets...

Cave carvings and a little meditation

The locals do however have a deal with an Argentinian guy named Andres who runs a little Refuge near the rocks. Climbers are allowed to come for a small fee that goes to the community, and as long as we respect the site, we can continue climbing. The climbing is unbelievable! The mornings are perfection and you can see no other structures (besides the Refuge) for miles. The Refuge is very simple, made of wood and stone, no electricity. There are bunk rooms up top and a fireplace and kitchen below. Perfect opportunity for catching up on journaling, reading, and finding your peace. Without fail, around 1 or 2pm a thick blanket of fog rolls in over the hills. You can lose your way very easily, you can´t see much further than your hands in front of you! We always kept a dog with us because they never fail to find their way home.

Aymara soaking up the sun

Waihra would never lose sight of the Refugio

There is a Refuge keeper that is always changing. A few months back it was our friend Xavi from Spain who we spent Christmas with in Colombia (that´s how we learned of this place). Now the keeper is a young climber named Coco who was so excited to have guests! He climbed with us everyday because it is the low season and he said if you stay out there long enough alone, you can go a little crazy. I believe it, there is seriously nothing for miles but the giant rocks that seem to adopt different forms with the light of the moon and the fog. HOWEVER, the owner told us that if we ever want to come back and take care of the Refuge, he would even pay us! Chris could do some guiding and chopping wood for the fire, and I would handle the cleaning and communication! When nobody is around we could just climb all day! There are so many sport routes and bouldering as well. Ahhhh the simple life. We told him we´d keep it in mind for a possibility down the road. There are no showers or even a refrigerator, but a crystal clear little creak that runs right by the Refuge!

Chris climbing hard

Of course there is no telephone out there, so you can´t exactly call a cab. We walked over an hour and a half with all of our climbing gear and packs to get to the main road to catch a ride back to Huaraz. Talk about a desolate highway, I thought we would be there all day! Fortunately we accidentally hitchiked. In our defense, we thought the white van was a collectivo (a shared ride van taxi) so I was jumping up and down flagging it down. Turns out it was just a nice peruvian family who welcomed us into their already jam-packed car for smooth cruising and some good tunes back to town. Buena gente.



Chris at the top of a seashell! (5.10d)

Man, it was so peaceful out there, it is hard to jump back into the city life. We finally left Huaraz last night and are currently in limbo in Lima for a few more hours. It´s so crazy and chaotic here! Taxi drivers are very aggressive and will follow you for blocks, you have to clutch your bags tight; a very different vibe than in the mountains. We hop on another bus to Cusco this afternoon and by the time we get there tomorrow afternoon, we will have spent almost 40 hours in transit... ayayay. Looking forward to Machu Picchu! May the journey continue...

Chris flew up this route! (5.10b)



Coco climbing, Chris on the belay. (5.10b)