News and Views

Nothing else to say.

At least it was hell for Gisele and her friend Eli. The rest of us had fun.

We had been led to believe that the ride down the mountain would be on a paved road, with the van following us to pick up anybody who got tired. It turned out to be quite different.

We got on our bicycles (nice mountain bikes, by the way) at an altitude of 13,700 feet and started down a steep, rocky narrow mountain bike trail. The ladies would have turned back right then, but the guide told us that it got easier after a little way.

It didn’t. We descended almost 3000 feet over a steep jumble of rocks most of the way. Gisele walked her bike about 1/2 the time, and I walked it (and mine) about 1/2 of the time, and she rode it the rest of the time.

The kids and the men had a great time, and all agreed that the scenery was wonderful. Snow-capped 16,000+ foot peaks covered almost 180 degrees of the horizon as we descended first through tundra, then forest, then farms. We occasionally had to dodge donkeys, pigs and kids in the path, but the chickens, sheep and dogs pretty much stayed out of the way.

At the bottom we followed a road for about a mile, and Gisele and Eli found a station-wagon taxi that took them and their bikes that last mile. Gisele’s leg was cramping, her butt hurt and she was tired. She now says she’s glad she did it, but she’s also very glad the experience is behind her.

Tomorrow it’s an 8-hour bus ride back to Lima for 3 days rest before we fly home. I hope our flight home isn’t delayed 6 hours like Devon’s was!

We spent another day in the mountains near the town of Huaraz. Beautiful vertical granite walls, glacier-fed lakes, snow-capped peaks. Reminded me of Yosemite or Glacier Park.

We also stopped at the town of Yungay, near Huaraz. In 1970 there was a large earthquake nearby, and a mile wide section of mountain slid 4000 feet down on this town in a huge avalanche. The town was completely buried except for a large statue of Jesus on a hill in the middle of town. Many people, especially children, had fled to the statue during and after the earthquake, and were thereby saved from the avalanche. Some of them attribute it to divine protection, but I think it might have had more to do with it being the only high spot in town. The church was demolished, killing all the people who had sought refuge there.

Tomorrow will be one more day in the area. We are being taken up on a mountain and given bicycles to ride back down. Sounds like fun!

Then it’s back to Lima for a few days before we return to Phoenix.

The bus ride yesterday turned out to be 8 hours instead of 10, and the bus was nice, so it wasn’t too bad.

Huaraz is a small city (60,000) in the foothills of the Andes at about 10,500 feet elevation. There are not many tourists here except for backpackers, as it’s a nice jumping-off place for high mountain hiking.

Today we drove over a 14,600 foot pass to Chavin where we saw pre-Inca ruins, built over 3000 years ago. Majestic scenery all the way there. It was raining at the pass on the way back. We must be in the tropics to see rain at 14,600 feet in mid-winter instead of snow. Surely if it keeps up it will turn to snow in the pass tonight, but maybe not where we are at 10,500 feet.

Devon’s flight yesterday was delayed another 2 hours (from 1:00am to 7:00am), but he finally got home. He will spend a couple of days in Tempe with his girlfriend, then back to California and work.

Nothing else too exciting going on.

A quick post, as we have a bus to catch.

We put Devon on a plane last night (this morning). He was scheduled to leave at 1:00am, but when we got there at 10:00pm they told us the flight was delayed 4 hours until 5:00am. We stayed with him until about 1:00, then left him to figure out the rest by himself. He’s going on to Phoenix (Tempe) from LAX to spend the weekend with his girlfriend.

Today we leave Lima on a 10-hour bus ride north to the city and state of Huaraz. I’ll try to tell about it in a later post.

All are healthy.

We went back to MP the following day (yesterday). If you look at the usual pictures of the site, you see a large egg-shaped peak just behind the ruins of the city. On this day we climbed to the top of that peak. It was less than 1000 feet higher, but it was very steep, mostly climbing on the original steps that the Incas had carved.

Near the top are some temples and other stone structures, but the very top is a jumble of boulders. There were over 100 people clustered together on and between boulders. It was very crowded, but everyone was good-natured. We had a good view of the main city from up there, but the usual post card picture from the other side is more striking.

Four of us took an alternative, longer way down that passed by ¨The Great Cave¨. The extra hike was not worth the 20 x 50 foot cave. I’m not sure why it is named ¨Great¨. The hike was grueling, but it actually felt good to get some exercise after sitting and walking behind a guide, and the view was wonderful.

On this second visit I realized that the amazing thing about Machu Picchu is not necessarily the magnitude of the construction, but the beauty of the setting. Perched up there on that narrow ridge, with the sheer cliffs below and all around, and with the green covered hills — it´s just one of the most beautiful places I´ve ever been.

Today we are back in Cuzco. Tomorrow we go back to Lima where Devon catches a flight home. The rest of us are going up north back into another part of the Andes to Huaraz where one of our fellow travellers spent two years in the Peace Corps, 35 years ago. Should be less touristy, and perhaps a clearer picture of the “real” Peru.

To answer a couple of questions. It is winter here, but we are close enough to the equator that the temperatures don’t change much through the year. The main difference is that in the summer months (Jan – Mar) it rains more. During the winter it almost never rains.

Up here in Cuzco at 11500 feet nights drop down near or just below freezing. Days are in the 60’s. There are glaciers on the higher peaks, but we haven’t enountered any in our travels.

Lima, down on the coast, is surprisingly cool too; usually in the 60’s day and night. They claim that it hasn’t rained in Lima since the 1970’s, but it is always cloudy and usually “drizzling” — droplets condensing out of the air.

And that´s your travel lesson for the day.

By the way, everyone in my family is healthy right now, though one of the other women seems to have the same thing Devon had. She went to the hospital and got some medicine and is feeling much better now.

Early this morning we caught the train from Cusco to Machu Picchu. It was only about 40 miles, but switch backs up the mountain and winding up canyons resulted in a 4 hour trip.

Machu Picchu is amazing. The closest thing I can compare it to is Stonehenge, in terms of a stone structure built with primitive tools, but I think MP far outshines Stonehenge. (I’ve never been to the Egyptian Pyramids, of course.)

We spent most of the day (after we got here) on a guided tour. The guide was an expert on almost everything related to the area. We are spending the night in a small town at the base of the mountain, then tomorrow a few of us are going back and climb 1000 feet above MP to one of their religious structures, while the lesser souls stay below and rest or shop.

Lots of pictures to show when we get back.

Everybody’s health is fine. We are getting used to the altitude, and anyway MP is quite a bit lower than Cusco; only about 8000 feet.

This is certainly the high point of the whole trip. I can’t imagine anything else we are going to see that can surpass this.

Last post I mentioned in a comment that Derek and Gisele had gone up the mountain and were feeling the altitude. It got worse.

They went through a 16,000 foot pass before they dropped back down to about 12,000 feet where their hotel was. Derek got sicker and sicker, terrible headache, vomiting, and they finally took him to the emergency room. Altitude sickness, of course. They gave him an injection and oxygen, and he was ready to go back to the hotel within an hour or so.

However, while Gisele was there with him, she mentioned that she didn’t feel well either, so they took her blood pressure — 170/something. So they gave her an injection too. She was well enough to go back to the hotel in an hour or so too. They had headaches for a while, but after getting back the next day to where Devon and I were at the low altitude of 8000 feet, they both felt fine.

Tonight we are in Cusco, in the heart of the Inca territory, at just under 12,000 feet elevation. So far everyone seems to feel fine. Those who might have had problems have become more aclimated, so hopefully all will be fine.

Tomorrow we catch a 6am train to Machu Pichu, about 3 hours away.

I’ve been drinking lots of coca tea — tea made from coca leaves. It sounds bad, but it’s really milder than the caffeine in regular tea. Everyone here says to drink it for altitude sickness.

Last night at dinner Devon complained that his stomach was a little uneasy. After dinner he had to hurry back to the hotel.

About 2 in the morning he called my room, saying he felt really bad. Diarrhea, vomiting, fever, chills, aches. He couldn’t keep anything down.

I had the hotel desk call a doctor, who came and diagnosed him with some kind of intestinal infection. He gave him a shot and 4 prescriptions. The hotel desk sent someone for the medicine at an all-night pharmacy, and by the time they got back Devon was already feeling better, and able to keep a few sips of water down.

Doctor’s house call — $40.
Prescriptions — $10.
My Pervian friend, Oscar, says these are very expensive, but probably in line for a tourist hotel.

It’s now later afternoon, and Devon is still in bed, still a little uncomfortable, but keeping liquids down and feeling well enough to watch TV.

The rest of the group took a 5-hour bus ride up higher into the Andes, where they will be spending the night, but I stayed here with Devon. They will be back tomorrow; hopefully Devon will feel well enough to rejoin the tour then.

We are here.

Devon almost didn´t make it. Super shuttle didn`t show up, but got a friend to drive him. He checked in too late to make the flight, but fortunately they had another following 1/2 hour behind. I changed my flight too so he wouldn´t be alone.

Lima was cool and drizzling all the time. We are now up at 8000 feet in Arequipa. We have seen llamas and alpacas. Tomorrow we go higher into the Andes.