Traveling south across the Peruvian border into Chile, we crossed vast stretches of endless desert, incredibly high rolling sandstone hills and orange, pink and white layered rock. Finally we reached the oasis of San Pedro de Atacama, where water is very limited, but character is NOT. Loads of interesting and often strange things going on around this tiny adobe town (5000ppl), overflowing with international tourists. First, This place gets almost zero rainfall annually, and just after we arrived it began to pour, and pour...and it just didn´t stop until the next morning, when all the inclined roads were closed, as most of them are not paved. This place is very unprepared for heavy downpours, so we found ourselves dodging roof leaks while cooking our dinner by candle light due to power outage. Once the roads re-opened, we were able to get out into the desert and explore the unique and awesome landscape of volcanoes, salt flats, wind-sculpted rock formations, clifftop overlooks, caves and high-desert lagoons inhabited by flamingoes -- unbelievable, like another world! After an amazing afternoon soaking in the light and energy of the desert and enjoying sunset from the Valle de la Luna, we returned to San Pedro, where we stumbled onto one of the best meals we´ve enjoyed yet in South America. RIBS!! We found some awesome pork ribs and horbed potato salad (every bit as exciting as the desert for me). What a day! Enjoying the full moonlight on our walk back to our hostel, we walked up on a live band playing traditional Chilean music live with strings, flute, percussion and fantastic harmonies..several dancing in the street around them. After the free concert, we baegan reflecting on our amazing time, and the ONLY thing that could improve on it would be a guitar to play for a while before bed. Sure enough, arriving at the hostel, my perfect day was completed by a new arrival toting his classical guitar, and we exchanged turns playing tunes and singing together. We also visited the Salar de Atacama, endless salt flats with occassional lakes, and went WAY up into the volcanoes for a visit to the Lagunas Altiplanicas, where we saw wild fox and vicuna grazing by deep blue salt lakes. A fantastic trip to a unique & amazing place in the world.
Heading south from Cuzco our last Peruvian stop was in Arequipa, Peru´s second largest city. We enjoyed touring the city and we sampled some amazing cuisine, including Alpaca Steak at Zig Zag. I also went to the Santa Catalina Monastery which has housed nuns for hundreds of years. A sprawling city within a city, its colorful alleys and bizarre spaces were fascinating. We then toured the neighboring canyon country filled with small towns in the valley. Our 2 day tour began on the way to the small town of Chivay. Along the way we saw grazing Llamas, Vicuna and Alpaca. The folklorico show in Chivay was crazy, the dancer picked me up and spun me around! Later we relaxed in the hotsprings beneath beautiful peaks. Our tour continued throughout the valley showcasing the pre - Inka terraces and ended with spectacular views of Andean Condors in the canyon.
We had a wonderful time in Cuzco. We spent three days wandering around the city, eating yummy food, exploring the markets and checking out nearby ruins. Sasqsaywaman (which means satisfied falcon) is the Inka ruins above the city, pronounced ¨sexy woman¨. After the Spanish conquest the Spaniards tore down the walls from this ruins to build their own houses and churches in Cuzco. The stones here are absolutely enormous and it is amazing to think about the Inka creating this fort.
We started on the Inka Trail on March 1st. We spent four days, three nights hiking from outside Cuzco to Machu Picchu. We had a group of 16 people from all over the world (Japan, Australia, Ireland, Turkey, New Zealand, and England) - we were the only Americans! We were hiking in the rainy season so panchos were a must and we definitely experienced our fair share of rain. However there were a couple of afternoons of beautiful sunshine and when we arrived in Machu Picchu there was pure SUN! We had a porter for every person helping us to carry a lot of our stuff and they prepared us gourmet meals. They even brought us hot water in bowls to our tents to wash our faces in the morning along with hot tea, now that´s five star camping! Along the way to Machu Picchu we passed by 7 or more ruins, each one had a different purpose such as a fort, hotel for travelers, religious temple, astronomy.... We passed by so many incredible flowers and I was very grateful for my walking stick because there are a lot of steep parts on the path. The trail has been altered in some parts to make it easier for trekkers but a lot of it was the original Inka Trail which had amazing stonework. On the 4th day we awoke at 4am and by 5:30 we were on our final leg of the journey. After a couple of hours we passed through the sungate and arrived at Machu Picchu, what a site!! We spent the day walking around and learning about this fascinating place. They are still not sure why is was vacated, they found around 200 skeletons there, mostly women. Perhaps the men were off fighting the Spanish. They have many theories, but no doubt the Inka knew how to pick incredible locations and their brillance with stonework will be forever remembered.
One overnight bus from our afternoon on the beach delivered us to the mountain town of Huaraz, at about 10,000ft, and we were already working to breath deeply.Arriving early on a Sunday morning, most of the tour companies were closed, so we hired a private guide to take us on a 3-day trek. We re-organized our packs, and off we went!
1.5hrs in "collectivo" (us + 20 Peruvians in a VW van), followed by another bumpy BUMPY 1.5hr taxi, and we arrived at Huascaran National Park, home of Peru´s appropriately named Cordillera Blanca. ALL of our time in the park, we were above 12,00ft. We made camp by a rushing river among grazing cowsafter a short hike into the valley, ready for a fresh, early morning start.
Day 2 blessed us with clear skies in the middle of the rainy seasonfor our hike. Ascending the valley wall switchbacks past countless waterfalls, we found ourselves eye-to-eye with the stunning range of 22 white Andean peaks, each over 18,000ft - the highest mountain range in thw orld outside of the Himalayas, and truly on of our planet´s treasures. Each peak with it´s unique face, energy and light beamed down at us and over the lush valley and roaring waters below. Something to behold!
We felt so humbled, and a bit overwhelmed just to be there. Words do it no justice and pictures cannot capture the sensation. We arrived at our campsite, Laguna Seisenta-Nueve (turquoise Lake complete with waterfall and two glacial peaks above-NICE!), just in time to set up our tents before a heavy snowstorm hit which lasted all night.
We awoke Day 3 to a winter wonderland, again with fairly clear skies.Hanalei already had BAD altitude sickness, which made our grueling, but fantastic hike much harder. We didn´t attempt to summit any peaks, but our tour took us much higher above 14,600ft to a pass surrounded by the most spectacular mountains either of us has witnessed, down through miles of boulder field, and back down into the valley where we were relieved to be breathing easier, totally exhausted, but pround to share such an experience.
I was born and raised in Austin and I love this town! After traveling abroad to South America and Italy, living out of a backpack, I realized how important it is to find a place to call home. I enjoy everything Austin and now my career is helping people find a sacred space where they can truly kick back and dig Austin~
Traveling south across the Peruvian border into Chile, we crossed vast stretches of endless desert, incredibly high rolling sandstone hills and orange, pink and white layered rock. Finally we reached the oasis of San Pedro de Atacama, where water is very limited, but character is NOT. Loads of interesting and often strange things going on around this tiny adobe town (5000ppl), overflowing with international tourists. First, This place gets almost zero rainfall annually, and just after we arrived it began to pour, and pour...and it just didn´t stop until the next morning, when all the inclined roads were closed, as most of them are not paved. This place is very unprepared for heavy downpours, so we found ourselves dodging roof leaks while cooking our dinner by candle light due to power outage. Once the roads re-opened, we were able to get out into the desert and explore the unique and awesome landscape of volcanoes, salt flats, wind-sculpted rock formations, clifftop overlooks, caves and high-desert lagoons inhabited by flamingoes -- unbelievable, like another world! After an amazing afternoon soaking in the light and energy of the desert and enjoying sunset from the Valle de la Luna, we returned to San Pedro, where we stumbled onto one of the best meals we´ve enjoyed yet in South America. RIBS!! We found some awesome pork ribs and horbed potato salad (every bit as exciting as the desert for me). What a day! Enjoying the full moonlight on our walk back to our hostel, we walked up on a live band playing traditional Chilean music live with strings, flute, percussion and fantastic harmonies..several dancing in the street around them. After the free concert, we baegan reflecting on our amazing time, and the ONLY thing that could improve on it would be a guitar to play for a while before bed. Sure enough, arriving at the hostel, my perfect day was completed by a new arrival toting his classical guitar, and we exchanged turns playing tunes and singing together. We also visited the Salar de Atacama, endless salt flats with occassional lakes, and went WAY up into the volcanoes for a visit to the Lagunas Altiplanicas, where we saw wild fox and vicuna grazing by deep blue salt lakes. A fantastic trip to a unique & amazing place in the world. 
