There's always a man who knows a man

This is going to be short and to the point: be a well prepared international traveler.

1. On Tuesday, April 20, with tears streaming down my face and gazing out over Cuzco, we bid farewell to South America before venturing on to Central America.

2. On Tuesday, April 20, we were supposed to leave Cuzco, land in Lima and then connect on to San Jose, Costa Rica.

3. On Tuesday, April 20, our flight was delayed out of Cuzco so we missed our connection to Costa Rica.

4. On Tuesday, April 20, we spent the night at the Lima Airport, restless and quiet at the same time.

5. On Wednesday, April 21, with nervous stomachs, but strong wills, we boarded our flight to Costa Rica.

6. On Wednesday, April 21, with happy smiles we landed in Costa Rica and shuffled our way safely through customs and now we are listening to the night sounds of crickets and birds and frogs (and I already saw a huge spider!).

7. Heed this warning: When planning an international adventure, be sure to check all requirements for coming in and out of countries. Do not, I repeat. DO NOT assume that if you checked the requirements for traveling from your home country to said adventure countries that you have done a thorough job of preparing for said international adventure. For example, let's say you want to fly down to Costa Rica from California. No problem, just grab your passport and go. But if you've been traveling in Columbia, Subsaharan Africa or even Peru and you want to hop over to CR, well guess what, it is important that you know that you need to have documentation that says you have had the yellow fever vaccination before you're allowed to step foot in, let alone board a plane to, CR. And be sure to read the fine print, because that vaccination must be received at least 10 days in advance of your leaving one country for another. We saw two women practically fall to pieces when learning this news because they had not done their homework and come prepared with the proper paperwork.

8. Know this: in every difficult situation there is always a man who knows a man, or sometimes, a woman who knows a man.

9. Always carry American dollars with you, but use them wisely.

10. It's a good thing that we are expert international adventure travelers and we had no such problem! Happy travels...and more to come from the jungles of Costa Rica.

Muchas Piedras

Our hands and feet have touched thousands of rocks over the last week - climbing, grabbing, knocking, slipping, brushing and resting. The Incas were obviously very dedicated, hardworking people. Just as the shackles of work finally dropped from my body two-thirds of the way through this trip, I was faced with creations and works far grander and far more complicated and difficult than the work I have done in my lifetime. This got me thinking--what is work????




It's easy to gaze over the span of Machu Picchu and think only of the heavy grit of labor required to build, as well as restore, this magnificent city. Yet we often forget the brains behind the brawn. Who is to say which is more primitive: building fortresses out of 7 ton rocks at 10,000 feet or building markets out of imaginary electronic digits? I guess both came to their own demise in their own time.....

So it is clear my struggle to reconcile the ancient world with the modern world is best left for the archeologists, anthropologists and economists.

What is left for us is to sit back and marvel at a grand creation...and so it is.

Chrissie and I spent two luxurious days climbing on, napping in and gazing upon Machu Picchu. One day was in blistering heat and one in rain and fog. This contrast beautifully revealed the vastness of this grand lost city.

The landslides back in January have devastated the region both economically and ecologically. Trains are the only access into Aguas Calientes, the tourist trap of a town at the base of the mountain. Just a few weeks ago they were able to begin running trains from KM 102 to Aguas Calientes with the help of buses and a lot of coordination. We hadn't counted on being able to visit Machu Picchu, but yet another surprise was offered to us on this trip.



Chrissie and I were both transfixed by the mountain and its ruins. I don't have much more to say other than thank you dear snakes for letting us pass through your trails...thank you dear tourists for keeping yourself scarce...and thank you dear mountain for hosting us so safely for those days and for showing us your wonder and your magic....what an amazing experience.

Showering with Spiders

eds note: You may only get one photo because I only have one bar of internet. We've had no internet for a week so not to worry, we're just fine, just no email...ah, how wonderful to be unplugged!! Let's cross our fingers and hope we can post this!

When you land in Cuzco there are people selling shots of oxygen because at about 4,000 meters your lungs can use all the help they can get. Chrissie and I passed on the shots, but then we passed out in the taxi on our way to our new destination in the Sacred Valley. This area is the heart of the Incan Empire and known most famously for Machu Picchu. It is yet to be seen if we will see the famous Machu Picchu due to the landslides a few months ago, but regardless, we are soaking up the vibes here in this beautiful valley.

On our one-hour taxi ride to our hotel (well, I think it is more like a camping compound), I managed to stay awake for some of the time and as we passed over mountains and into the valley I felt like I was in a dream. Now after a few days here I still feel a bit like I’m in a dream and I really don’t know how to describe our first days in the Sacred Valley except exceptional in every way. It is exceptionally beautiful. It is exceptionally poor. It is exceptionally rich in heritage and the people are exceptionally friendly. And it is exceptionally unique—unlike any other place I have visited. Now Lady Elgar, being from the British Empire, has obviously seen more of the world than I, but either way we are both enchanted by the beauty of the landscapes and the ruins and the people (but not the dogs…hay mucho perros aqui!).

After a restful day and an introduction to our new Spanish teacher, we attempted a short walk that had both of us wishing we had an oxygen tank strapped to our backs. We then enjoyed a warm meal and a warm bed. The next morning, as is not always the case in this area, we also enjoyed a warm shower. And Chrissie also enjoyed a GIGANTIC SPIDER! (Gene, don’t look at the photo!)

When I stepped out of my room that morning to meet her before breakfast, Chrissie says to me in her proper Queens English. “Ingrid, there is a rather large spider in my shower.” I’m hungry, so I quickly say, “How big?” in hopes that she’ll say, “As big as a quarter” so we can get to breakfast. But no, she says, “It is really quite big and I’m not sure you want to see it.” Of course I want to see it, but I’m thinking it’s about as big as the spider I saw outside my bathroom, a little bigger than two quarters, legs and body in total. So I walk into the bathroom and there near the shower head, as you can see in the photo below, is a GIGANTIC TARANTULA! (It makes me paranoid just writing about it and I want to turn on the lights to look around my bed just to make sure there’s not one peering over my shoulder reading this and planning his attack).

Ok, so at this point I look at Chrissie and I realize her hair is soaking wet, which means she SHOWERED WITH THE SPIDER!!!!! (Bobby the exclamation points are for you) I’m not sure what kind of proper Lady would do such a thing, but frankly since arriving here a lot of what I thought was normal, like hot water in the kitchen or guinea pigs as pets not as food, is not normal. But sure enough, she showered with the spider as he sat perched above her, ready to spring at any moment. I wonder if he covered his 16 eyes???

I believe Lady Elgar deserves a medal of honor for her bravery and I suggest all of you on that little island across the Atlantic who are supporters of medals of honor and knighting of rock stars speak to the Queen about a formal ceremony. I’m sure if you also mentioned Lady Elgar’s ability to scale Incan ruins like a puma, a proper recognition will be made.

More to come on the Sacred Valley….until then, be sure to check your shower walls before you lather up! 

PS. You’ll all be happy to know that on Thursday we head to Machu Picchu. We hope to back online later this weekend or when we arrive in Costa Rica next Tuesday...hasta luego!

 

Inspiration

The Andes Montanas have a way of silencing you and forcing your gaze to stay only on them. For five hours I couldn't take my eyes off of them after Chrissie and I buckled ourselves into the two front seats next to our mini-van driver and sped west from Mendoza to Santiago. By 5pm that afternoon were sipping cerveza in Santiago.

The next day we headed further west to Valparaiso where we spent two days wandering around the hills, shopping, eating and gazing at the pacific. What a delight that city is...it's rough around the edges, but some of the neighborhoods, such as where we stayed, are bohemian and delightful. On good Friday we hiked up to Pablo Neruda's house. Neruda is a hero of mine. His words are rich, powerful and enchanting and his life was the same. Thank you Pablo for the inspiration!





Arte Poetica  - Pablo Neruda

Between shadow and space, between harnesses and virgins,
endowed with a singular heart and fatal dreams,
impetuously pale, withered in the forehead
and in mourning like an angry widower every day of my life,
oh, for every drink of invisible water I swallow drowsily
and with every sound I take in, trembling,
I feel the same missing thirst and the same cold fever,
an ear being born, an indirect anguish,
as if thieves were arriving, or ghosts,
and inside a long, deep, hollow shell,
like a humiliated waiter, like a bell gone a bit hoarse,
like an old mirror, like the smell of an empty house
(poem continued here)

Ghosts of the Past
Santiago is a gigantic city. On Easter we took a funicular to the top of one of the cerros where the Virgin Mary stands tall amidst a crowd of cellular towers. 

What struck me most about Santiago was that it seems to be wanting to forget the past but it doesn't really know how to embrace the future. It feels in conflict of old world and new world. You could still feel the ghosts of Pinochet's blood shed in the streets, yet the people of Santiago are incredibly optimistic, even in the face of the last earthquake and the endless aftershocks (we had a taste of one on Sunday night!).
 Tomorrow we are off to the Sacred Valley in Peru. We may be offline for a couple weeks, but more to come!

Sorpresas y Cena Fiesta part deux

We’re going to go back in time quickly here because there are two things all travelers must know: allow for surprises and always be willing to learn something new.

We were surprised in three ways when we landed in Bariloche, the famed town in the beautiful Seven Lake region of northern Patagonia. 

Sorpresa Una: After we woke up and were wowed by our lakeside view at our hotel, we were then even more surprised to be joined at breakfast by our friend Udo, husband to Marina. We met Marina and Udo in Iguazu one morning after they told us they were witness to Our Lady of the Poolside Acrobatics’ stupendous tumble. Marina was at a conference in Buenos Aires and we had invited Udo to join us for some hiking in Bariloche. What a delight to have him show up that morning! We all had a great time hiking and touring the lake over the next two days.

Sorpresa Dos: Bariloche’s claim to be make the best chocolate in Argentina was, well, let’s say, not really true, as affirmed by two very expert chocolate eaters.

Sorpresa Tres: While the lake region is visually spectacular, it is probably no surprise that its resemblance to the Alps of Europe is probably why it was a haven for the Nazis after the war. The political history of South America is so complex, we won’t begin to delve into its treacherous waters here, but I didn’t care for the secretive airs of Bariloche’s fascist history.

Chrissie and I quickly planned an alternate location and on day two we left the ghosts of Nazis for the promise of a hippie town. Where we landed was a tiny B&B outside of a town, run by a French woman who could cook. We were in hippie heaven!

For two and half days we relaxed. We visited a forest that had been burned and its remains turned into sculpture. 

We hiked to a refugio where we enjoyed tea and a delightful meeting of many people from all over the world. But as proof of the small world feeling you have when traveling, we chatted for two hours with a guy who was born in Britain, taught school in Oakland and lived in Healdsburg. 

Learning to Cook

On our last night in El Bolson, before our 20 hour bus journey to Mendoza, our wonderful host Odile invited us into the kitchen and taught us how to make a proper soufflé. Kenny y familia de Chrissie have a lot to look forward to when she returns home with her new culinary skills, but someone will have to show her how to use the oven!

We had a lovely dinner party, just the three of us, talking about food, love and laughing about life. Que vida loca de las chicas! 

Here's the recipe complete with spelling errors (some of them the delightful corrections assumed by my iphone).

See more photos below. Next, that crazy trip across the Andes!