Machu Picchu Trek, Peru - Day 4

So today we woke up at 3:45 in the morning to be one of the first three groups at the gate which opens at 5:30 in the morning. While we grumbled a bit at the early morning rise in the pitch black, we were very grateful in hindsight. Matt and I ran the last part of the trek in 45 minutes which normally takes 1 – 1.5 hours to walk to get to the Sun Gate. From there we had to wait for the rest of the group to catch up so we could go to Wayna Picchu to get tickets. Only 400 people are allowed access per day to the soaring mountain which rises over Machu Picchu and gives stunning panoramic views of the ruins and valley below. This would be the one of the highlights of the trip!

We were racing against the masses of people who would be taking a slightly easier route and catching an early bus from Aquas Calientes, a neighboring town, up to Machu Picchu. They would be getting there around 7am so we were trying to get there in that timeframe so we could get one of those magical tickets. We must have looked like quite a circus show running into Machu Picchu; all harried, unshowered and unkempt with exhausted gaunt, sunken eyes bestowing the pain of waking up before the sun and carrying our bags for the last 4 days. Some of the other tourists who took the bus appeared rather refreshed and springy in their dapper sweaters resting over their shoulders and crossed in front, and glanced at us with a mixture of awe and interest. Perhaps it was more shock and disbelief. I prefer to believe that they were inspired.

So after all that running we got to the WP ticket counter and got the 392 to 400th ticket. I got the LAST ONE! It was crazy, I actually felt bad because a couple of the guys had walked through Machu Picchu and they missed out on tickets to Waynu Picchu. Wow the euphoria of getting the last ticket was like winning the lottery. Despite my calm demeanor and even keeled personality, I don’t think I would have stood up well to being number 401 in line.

Half way up Waynu Picchu, I was starting to wonder if it would have been better to be number 401. My legs were burning like I had just run a marathon with a 50lb bag on. The effects of the three day trek and waking up early were getting the best of me. I was getting light headed and had to lean heavily on the steel cables that lined the steep mountain walls. This mountain was steep, at some points only had space for one person to cross, and did not have cables in some sections. At the top, we had to crawl under a huge rock for about 20 feet on our hands and knees through some water which was only big enough for barely me to fit. I have no idea how a large unathletic person managed this natural obstacle course. We emerged on the other side of the fallen rock where after climbing up another flight of steps we arrived at the top of the mountain, which was a huge pile of enormous boulders. It was really cool to run around on top of huge rocks overlooking the valley and Machu Picchu, until you realize that there are no cables up here. That it’s raining and the rocks are slippery. And that this is probably where that tourist fell of the mountain about 9 months ago. Then it gets realistically scary rather quickly. After slowing edging our way around the precipitous boulders, we edged our way down and properly explored Machu Picchu.

Machu Picchu is as amazing as everybody says it is. I’m not going to bore you with superlatives which you can read by googling Machu Picchu. Just know that if you haven’t been already you should go. I would rank it on par with the Great Wall, Ankor Wat and the Forbidden City in terms of awesome man-made beauty and engineering. It should be on everybody’s bucket list.

Machu Picchu Trek, Peru - Day 4

Copacabana, Bolivia - Day 1

Today I arrived in Copacabana mid day and spent the day exploring the town, the local church, and the small mountain next to the town. At 3800 meters, Copacabana sits on Lake Titicaca the highest navigatiable body of water in the world. The lake was a glistening cold mass of water which looked rather infinite. The altitude had a definite affect on the temperature and climate of the city. It was rather warm during the day but as soon as the sun set, the chill set in and air cooled significantly.

I made an attempt to climb up the mountain next to the city as I heard that the sun set from the top overlooking the city was something not to be missed. I use the word “attempted” because even though I’ve been in La Paz for a couple days getting acclimated to high altitude, trying to hike up a mountain is a much different task then trying to dodge cars and vans crammed full of people on the cobblestone streets of La Paz. I got half way up and the sun started to set and in conjunction my head started hurting. Then the heavy legs started and I had to sit down for a while. The altitude affects were sudden and noticeable. Taking more than 5 steps at a time was tough and I thought my head would explode. It was starting to get dark and to get bitterly cold, and I debated turning back. But I was half way up already and grandmothers were nimbly passing me, so I figured if I passed out the grandparents could probably carry me down as they did not seem in the less bit winded. When anybody over 75 can do something better than me, especially when it’s physical in nature, my hubris kicks in and cajoles me to continue. It took me another 30 minutes to get to the top, the sunset was blocked out by clouds, and my frozen hands were too cold to cut the mango that I brought up for a mountain top snack. Luckily coming down was much easier than going up.

On the positive side, I found one of the coolest things that I’ve seen in a local market in a long time. It was a lost exhibit from the “Body Works exhibit”. You know, the traveling museum which shows plasticized bodies sliced and diced in various forms to display the inner workings of the muscular, skeletal, and nervous system. If you haven’t seen it yet, I would highly recommend it as it was a fascinating, educational view of the human body in a rather innovative viewpoint. Well I entered the local market and in the meat section, low and behold, I find a cow’s head that had all the outside skin removed and the muscular and skeleton systems exposed. I have no idea what they do with it; perhaps they make a huge pot of soup. But it was definitely the first time I’ve seen a stripped cow’s head.

Copacabana, Bolivia - Day 1

Solar de Uyuni, Bolivia - Day 3

We had to wake up at 4 am this morning to see the sun rise. I wasn’t entirely excited about waking up that early, especially since we were sleeping at 4000 meters and it wasn’t exactly restful recuperative sleep. I’ve seen hundreds and hundreds of sunrises is this one really going to be worth waking up at 4am? Wow. This was one of the most spectacular sites so far. The sun rising over a crystal clear lake of white salt; reflecting and shimmering off of the pools of water on the salt made for a magnificent site with a color spectrum that ran the gamut.

Today was the most jam packed of the 3 days, and we were to be done by 2ish. After watching the sunrise, we drove to a massive salt flat. We were driving on the salt flat for about an hour and did not get across it. In the middle of the salt flat was a small hill full of cactus which we explored for a bit. Then we made some funny photos on the salt flats all before having our breakfast.

After we finished breakfast, we visited a hotel made entirely out of salt blocks and a train museum that was more of a graveyard where they sent trains to die.

Solar de Uyuni, Bolivia - Day 3

Solar de Uyuni, Bolivia - Day 1

So today was the start of one of the best tours that I took in South America. A 3 day tour of Bolivia’s salt flats and beautiful lagoons in a 4x4 truck, with food and lodging was only $100 dollars. Granted the accommodations were a bit rough, with no heat and the first place did not have shower facilities, but we had people on the tour ranging in age from 25 to late 60s and everybody survived and enjoyed themselves.

On the tour that day, we visited the desert that inspired Vincent Van Gogh’s art work, volcanic geysers overflowing with mud and steam, and saw a tornado approaching us through the desert. We also explored a couple lagoons which were so vividly brilliant that they appeared to be painted vibrant hues of blue, green, white, and red. Complimenting the beautiful water colors were towering mountain scenes and masses of magnificent flamingoes. I’ve never seen so many animals of one species in one place at one time. Couple that with the amazing scenery and you are driven into visual sensory overload. Of course a picture can only get a fraction of what the eye can see so while the pictures that I have on this tour are stunning, the in person experience was exponentially better.

Trying to move around for your first couple days at high altitudes, 3000 meters is where you first start of feel some of the altitude symptoms, is like trying to run a marathon while carrying a horse who is kicking you in the head. You take five steps and have to stop, completely winded, hunched over trying to catch your breath, while a headache constantly pounds your skull. Sleeping at that altitude is a totally different matter. We had to sleep at 4200 meters on the first day and with no previous altitude exposure it was really difficult. The best way that I can describe it is to use a simile - sleeping at 4200 meters is like trying to breathe through a straw while a baby elephant performs back flips on your chest.

Solar de Uyuni, Bolivia - Day 1

San Pedro de Atacama, Chile - Day 2

So today I had a very packed day of tours starting at 4am until 2pm for an early morning geysers tour and then another tour of the Death Valley, Moon Valley, and some desert sites from 4pm to 9pm.

El Tatio Geyser Field is located in the Andes Mountains of northern Chile at 4,200 meters above sea level. With over 80 active geysers, El Tatio is the largest geyser field in the southern hemisphere and the third largest field in the world, after Yellowstone, and Dolina Giezerov in Russia. And at 4,200 meters, the El Tatio field is purported that they are the highest elevation geyser field in the world.

The best time to see them is at sunrise when each geyser is surmounted by a column of steam that condenses in the bitterly cold morning air. The steam plumes disappear as the air warms up. The tourist agency told me it was going to be cold, but it was hot in San Pedro, so I wore a T shirt and thin hiking pants and a light jacket and I figured that would be sufficient. WOW was I freezing. When the sun was down, the weather hit -11 degrees Celsius (12 degrees Fahrenheit) and I was doing jumping jacks to stay warm. I would take a picture and then warm my fingers up and try and repeat. What I didn’t understand was how people were swimming in the hot springs. As soon as you get out of the water, you must be freezing. Once the sun came up, it warmed up a bit but it was still rather chilly.

The second tour of the day included Death Valley, a huge desert canyon; Moon Valley, a desert space that had rolling valleys and hills which resemble the moon’s surface; and a desert peak climb to watch the sun set. A very very packed and satisfying day.

San Pedro de Atacama, Chile - Day 2

Salta, Argentina - Day 3

Today I took another tour north of the city which had highlights of “train to the clouds”, the salt flats, and a 4200 meter marker. The train to the clouds is a train that goes up an extremely steep hill that uses a method called switch backs in order to ascend very steep mountains. The train goes from left to right on the track in a “Z” shape up the mountain instead of going straight up or around. The salt flats were amazing and provide some interesting pictures with the white background as a background to reduce depth perception. The 4200 meter mark (13,800 ft) was a marker on a hill that we drove up to and it was the highest elevation that I had been to so far. Just for perspective, the highest mountain in Europe is the Mont Blanc Massif in the Swiss Alps and that sits at about 4800 meters (15,775 ft) above sea level. Denver, the mile high city, is 1,609 m (5,280 ft). We DROVE to 4200 meters.

So I had a reservation to stay in Purmamarca that evening and get picked up by a car to go to San Pedro de Atacama in Chile the following morning. I would normally take a bus to San Pedro but the buses were fully booked for 2 solid weeks because it was the Argentinean summer vacation period and a lot of people are traveling. So I guess my question would be if you have that much demand that your booked solid for 2 weeks why not do one of two things – 1. Raise your prices to lower demand or make more money 2. Increase the supply of buses temporarily??? Helllooooo, no bus company should be booked solid for 2 weeks straight, rent some crappy busses and crappier bus drivers and fill the demand. Anyway so I had to pay $110 dollars for a 6 hour taxi ride. The travel agency, which had a monopoly on the cab rides to San Pedro, is loving the bus companies right now.

So I arrive in Purmamarca at 7pm and go to the hostel where I had a reservation and for some reason the hostel doesn’t have the reservation. So this girl from the tour and I walk around the town with our bags in search of a place, but every place is booked solid. Then we find out there is a rock festival going on in the next town and all the beds are taken. A Rock Festival? In a village in northern Argentina? OKAAAAAAY so how are they going to have enough electricity to support the concert? I don’t think the town had internet, and the village electricity was probably generated with a bunch of kids running on a hamster wheel or blowing on a wind turbine. We finally find a person’s house that put a ton of beds (like more than I’ve seen in one place outside of a mattress store or higher than I can count) in one room. Well beggars can’t be choosers and at this point in the night my back hurt from carrying my bag around for an hour or so. Thanks rock concert.

Salta, Argentina - Day 3

Salta, Argentina - Day 2

Today I took an all day tour of 4 small villages north of Salta which covered a total of about 250km or about 150 miles. These villages were my first taste of a more rural “traditional” Latin America culture which I was expecting when I started planning this trip. You know…the colorful traditional clothing, the unique handicrafts, the fresh foods made from local ingredients, and the dirty children happily playing with sticks and pig bladders. Ok so I didn’t see any animal parts being thrown around, but the rest of my perception (right or wrong) of South American living was unveiled today.

The first place was Purmamarca, a small village with the 7 colored mountains nearby. The second place was Tilcara, a small village about 2500 meters above sea level. The key to this city is the archeological site of Purcara de Tilcara, the ruins of a pre Inca Puracar people. The archeological site was atop a large hill which had a panoramic view of the area for protection from invaders. The third place we visited was Humahuaca, a UNESCO site for its fine example of pre Inca life and architecture. The fourth place was Jujuy, the capital city of the area. We also visited the marker for the Tropic of Capricorn, a major line of latitude in the southern hemisphere.

Salta, Argentina - Day 2

Pucon, Chile - Day 2

I'm going to die. My lungs are screaming for oxygen, my heart is racing, and my legs are burning. I feel like I’m going to fall off the side of the volcano. I had to wake up at 5 am and I’m exhausted. Why am I torturing myself to climb a stupid volcano that at 2800 meters is the highest I had been so far? It’s probably just going to erupt half way up anyway.

Well the trip up Villarrica volcano in Villarrica National Park was definitely memorable. But the views from the top and along the ascent made the trip well worth it. Viewing stunning 360 degree panoramic views of amazing mountains and other volcanoes. Glimpsing inside the volcano spewing burning sulfuric acid smelling like a combination of rotting eggs and burning tires. Trekking on the white shimmery surface with specks of grey volcanic puke and wisps of hot steam coming up from the snow.

All amazing. But coming down was the best part. How, you may ask, do you climb up a volcano almost 3000 meters high for 7 hours and then descend in a little more than 30 minutes? Why sliding down on your butt of course. Ya OOOOOKAAAY. When I got to the top and looked down and saw the slick steep descent and the ants sized people still climbing up, I started looking around for the helicopter…or perhaps a ski lift. Nope we’re skiing down on our butts in little trails left by other brazen souls. So after a brief tutorial on how to break with your ice pick and your feet, down we go. The first trail was a bit slow as I bumped around trying to get a hang of the breaking system. The remaining trails were somewhat reminiscent of the Tasmanian devil being shot out of a cannon downhill. I lost control a couple times and spun around in circles while flying down the mountain. So much exhilarating fun. When I got to the bottom, I was ready to hike up another 7 hours to do it again. I even thought about signing up for the same trek the next day. I should submit this as an event to the Olympic committee for inclusion in 2012.

Pucon, Chile - Day 2

Bariloche, Argentina - Day 9

For my last day in Bariloche, I decided to take the bus out a famous Mirador (viewpoint) and hike up to the top. I was told by my hostel that it was rated a 10 ten view in the world by National Geographic . I'm not sure what NG was smoking at the time, or perhaps it was the first place they visited in their ranking tour. While this view was nice, it has a panoramic view of the multiple lakes in the area and beautiful (water on three sides), I would hardly rate this as a top ten site. I forgot the name of it and I couldn’t find it online, so I’m pretty sure there must have been some mistake by the hostel.

Bariloche, Argentina - Day 9

El Calafate, Argentina - Day 2

El Calafate is the jump off point for the amazing Perito Moreno Glacier, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the third largest body of fresh water in the world, and one of only a three glaciers in South America which are increasing in size. The glacier advances at the rate of 2 meters per day, causing large chucks of ice to fall off in breathtaking fashion.

The first thing you noise when standing on the platform overlooking the immense glacier is the constant groaning bellow, like a Brontosaurus trying desperately to escape from the glacier’s icy grasp, but has given up hope and is content to periodically roar in frustration. The next thing that occurs is that chunks of ice, sometimes small like the size of person, sometimes larger like the size of a car cleaves off of the glacier and crashes into the water in a colossal manner creating a temporary crater and seismic waves to a thunderous splash.

Oh, then I strapped on some ice crampons and trekked over the glacieral hills, valleys, rivers, and deep crevices. Easily another highlight of the trip!

El Calafate, Argentina - Day 2

El Chalten, Argentina - Day 2

This was one of the highlights of the trip. Fitz Roy. Immense and amazing. It was a 7 hour round trip hike up a steep ravine. The last 500 meters was an intense climb up a steep rocky incline that even a mountain goat would balk at. And it was totally worth it. The views at the top were breathtaking and awe inspiring.

In front of you dramatically looms Fitz Roy, strikingly towering over you with it's shimmering crystal clear blue glacier lake at your feet. To your left and right, gigantic snow capped mountains encapsulating prehistoric glaciers struggling to reach up to Fitz Roy, and behind you, a magnificently stunning valley with a river peacefully meandering through the trees.

Ok I’ve run out of illustrative adjectives so I’ll stop because I don’t feel like consulting a thesaurus.

El Chalten, Argentina - Day 2

Torres del Paine, Chile - Day 1

The Torres del Paine National Park in Chile is popular hiking destination with three huge towers created by glacier movements. Most hikers do a 5 day trek in the shape of a “W” around the three large spires.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have enough time to stay there for 5 days so I did a one day tour from El Calafate. We left at 6 in the morning and got back at 10 pm. It was a long trip but well worth it as the views are stunningly breathtaking. Sometimes amazing landscape views cannot be truly captured in all their exquisite beauty with a simple photo. I tried. I tried hard. But I failed desperately.

Torres del Paine, Chile - Day 1

Rio de Janerio, Brazil - Day 2

Today I took a city tour with some of the highlights being Christ the Redeemer, Sugar Loaf Mountain, and a huge cathedral. The views from the top of CtR and SLM were quite impressive. I also saw my first Asian in South America but unfortunately they happened to be Korean tourists so I don’t think they count as locals. I guess they don't have too many Asians here because two different groups of people stopped me at Sugar Loaf and CtR and asked to take a picture with me. Kind of funny.

The amount of diversity in Brazil is amazing with every shade of white, black and in between. Everyone seems unique but no one is really exotic in this melting pot. It seems like as long as you can speak Portuguese that people welcome you as Brazilian. Unlike in other countries, Brazilians don’t seem to view race as a factor in discriminating which is good; however, social class and background do appear to be a factor here.

I took a nap after getting back from the tour and I guess someone left the window open and it was raining so the mosquitoes were out in full force. For some reason mosquitoes like me. I go camping with my friends and I'll spray on a bottle of OFF, sit in a middle of a circle of Citronelle candles, and spray some Raid on for good measure and I still get the most bites out of all my friends. I think I got about 40 (no joke I counted them) bites in about 1 hours. Luckily on my last trip to South East Asia my aunt in HK too pity on me when I came over for dinner with a ton of bites and gave me this ointment from Japan that does wonders on mosquito bites and I brought it along. Thanks Aunt Evelyn!

Rio de Janerio, Brazil - Day 2

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Day 3

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Day 3

Vang Vieng, Laos - Day 2

I took a white water rafting tour today which was amazingly fun. I learned how to paddle my canoe backwards and sideways. I played a game with the local tour guide where we’d throw around a huge orange fruit with our paddles during the slow sections of water. I can’t wait to do it again in South America. We also got to go off a huge rope swing which I somehow managed to do upside down. Fun day!

Vang Vieng, Laos - Day 2

Luang Prabang, Laos - Day 1

UNESCO World Heritage Site

Luang Prabang, Laos - Day 1

Sapa, Vietnam - Day 3

Sapa, Vietnam - Day 3

Sapa, Vietnam - Day 2

Sapa, Vietnam - Day 2

Sapa, Vietnam - Day 1

Sapa, Vietnam - Day 1

Halong Bay, Vietnam - Day 2

Halong Bay, Vietnam - Day 2