Erictyscott's Blog

Machu Pichu!

erictyscott — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 23:06:28 +0000

Me with our guide Orlando on Salkantay pass, 4600 meters (15,100 ft)

On the train tracks to Aguas Calientes, base of Machu Pichu.

Top of Putocusi! Another peak with a view of Machu Pichu. Not an easy climb, but sooo worth it!! It was an awesome group.

Started off so rainy and cold... gave it a completely different feeling.

Best trekking group ever! ha, 3 Irish, 1 Aussie, surrounded by two Americans

Had to make a pitch black hike at 3;30 in the morning and wait in the rain for this view. Like we weren´t going to do it...

One of the Rapids in the Apurimac River. A beautiful unique canyon.

These past couple of weeks have shown me things that I only imagined I would ever see. I landed in Cusco last Saturday the 15th and the flight from sea level to over 10,o00 feet in under an hour was unbelievable. Cusco is the central point for all kinds of tourist adventures and it has been my ´base´for my time here. Really beautiful city, quite a difference from Lima for me, esp checking into a hostel with nothing but gringos. A bit of a culture shock from an hour domestic flight. Only in Peru.

First on the list (after esploring the city) was Machu Pich, the reason Cusco is on the map. I signed up for a 5 day trek called Salkantay. (The true Inca Trail needs over 5 mos of reservation, I dont even know what im doing tomorrow). But this trek offers higher passes, different views and an extra day of hiking. It was an awesome choice. I wont go into all the detail but the first two days were spent climbing up and up to Salkantay Pass at about 4600 m or 15,100 ft. People were definetely getting altitude sickness but the group was amazing. From places such as Ireland, Australia, Cayman Islands and the US. Once we reached the pass with snow covered Andes surrounding us we spent the next 2 days decending. The amount of micro climates we went through was unbelievable. In the morning I was throwing snowballs, at lunchtime the climate and vegetation was very similar to the high desert of Arizona. And the afternoon/evening we were in full on jungle putting insect repellant on. So cool.

And Machu Pichu… I can not put into words. So much hype surrounds it but it still does not do it justice. It was unbelievable. The afternoon before the actual hike to the ruins we hiked Putocusi not know what to expect, and were treated to our first view of the ancient city. We were like little kids on top of that point yelling and running around. Perfect way to start. The next morning, in order to be in the first 400 hikers that receive tickets to hike Waynupichu (the view in the 6th photo) we had to hike at 330 in the morning. It was raining a little but not thinking anything of it took a light jacket and shorts. The wait to get into the park, receive our tickets and the wait for our guide was FREEZING! We were all worried the clouds would not clear. But they did and Machu Pichu turned from a erie, misty, kind of scary (still amazing) city into what you see in all the magazines. The place was so much fun to explore and the hike up to the point was spectacular. Our guide took us around and told us a lot about the history, and how the entire city is linked to the solar system and the two soltices. It was impressive.

I could go on and on about that trek and Machu Pichu but I also did a 3 day river trip down the Apurimac Rio. This was of course after spening a couple nights out on the town with mainly the Irish I met on the trip. (Next trip might have to be to Ireland ). The river and the canyon was very impressive and the rapids a thrill like always. Also with another awesome guide named Camillo.

Just a quick plug for the companies if anyone is interested, the river trip was Mayuc and the trek was SAS Travel. Both were great.

Ok, thats it for now. I have less than a week left. Its bitter sweet for sure. But I am cramming to see more on this trip. Two overnight busses in a row, here I come! Love and miss you all!!

erictyscott — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 18:46:27 +0000

Plaza de Armas

View from San Cristobal

Parque de Agua

More Parque de Agua, complete with classical music show!

Futbol! Can you spot the gringo?

This will be my last post from Lima as I leave for Cusco on Saturday. I am definetely excited, but leaving the city I have called home for the last 32 days will be tough. I have become accustomed to 3 amazing meals a day, awesome adventures, conversations in Spanish, hand washing clothes, futbol on Sundays and the love of a family that was gracious enough to take a stranger into their home.

Over the past 1.5 weeks the family has made it a priority to show me as much of Lima as possible and I love it. Some of the highlights:

Plaza de Armas: Stunning cathedrals, museums and the location of the judiciary center and home of the president, Alan Garcia.
San Cristobal: A lookout above the city with a giant cross on top easily seen throughout much of the city.
Miraflores/Costa Verde: Beautiful but very tourist oriented complete with Tony Roma´s, Starbucks, one of the biggest Marriot hotels I have ever seen and everything else that would make gringos feel at home. Walking around I couldn´t help but feel sorry for the tourists who experience only this part of Lima, for it was not the real Lima at all. It really made me appreciate my experiences that much more, good and bad.
Lima Zoo: Awesome zoo, very big and impressive. But once you have seen one zoo you have kinda seen them all, maybe thats just me.
Parque de Agua: An awesome city park with beautiful fountains everywhere and water shows that rival the Bellagio show in Vegas. Afterwards had a dinner of anticucho. Anticucho is cow heart. It was actually pretty good! This was also accompanied by a plate of cow stomach which I, of course, ate, but did not enjoy it as much as the heart.

All of these places have made me truly appreciate a city that definetely has some rough edges to it.

Hmmm, what else… I have had many good conversations with the family, esp the mom about differences in our societies. One big difference is the more predominate machista sociteety here. She basically told me that here men and women have different rules. For example, it is viewed as ok for a man to have several relationships before marriage but not for a women. This doesn´t make sense to me logically (equal number of men and women???) let alone morrally. I tried to explain double standards to her but with my Spanish I have no idea what was received. I enjoy these conversations and love learning about the culture and they are equally excited to learn about mine.

Im going to bore you with another conversation because this one was very unique to me and took me a long time to fully understand. The dad finnally had to basically diagram it for me. Basically it starts with the concept that the human body is similar to the earth in that it has two poles connected by a magnetic field, which I believe. When a baby becomes scared or frightened this magnetic field is disrupted and is thrown off balance. When this occurs they claim that waving an egg over the baby´s body fixes the field and calms the baby. Afterwards they crack the egg into a glass of water and the egg white represents the distorted field that is no longer witht the baby. They swear by it and say it has been proved scientifically. Whether or not it has, I like this a lot. It is called paso con huevo. So next time you have an upset baby, give it a try!

As for my upcoming trip, I am excited and the nerves of travelling alone again have returned. Which has made me even more excited! I have booked a 5 day trek to Machu Pichu for Monday and will play it by ear for the rest. I will have an update for you after the trip.

As aways miss and love you all!!

One month of adventure…

erictyscott — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 18:35:44 +0000

The dunes at Hucachina!

wooo!!

So much fun.

An oasis called Huacachina

Proof that I swam off the Peruvian cost! Brrrr.

: About to go on a crazy ride

So I have been travelling for over a month now and looking back I can not believe my travel are already more than halfway over. Sice my last post I have done a lot more exploring of the city of Lima itself and I am liking it more and more. Once you get past the fact that the traffic as absolutely insane (stop signs have no meaning, street lights are merely suggestions and the idea of pedestrian right-away is foreign) and people see me and want to sell me something it truly is an amazing city. But before I talk about the city explorations I will talk about Ica and the short vacation we went on last weekend.

Ica is a city that is about a 5 hour bus ride south of Lima (about $4). The city is a gateway to many tourist attractions such as sand dunes, the lines of Nazca (giant designs carved in the earth by aliens, or whoever), the town of Pisco and some beaches. We spent one day exploring a small town called Huacachina which is in the middle of the most expansive sand dunes I have ever seen. We took a dune buggy tour which was a blast and included sandboarding down some crazy steep hills. Needless to say Im still washing sand from my body… The next days were spent seeing the town of Pisco and Ica. About two years ago these towns were devastated by an earthquake and it is still obvious with desolate neighborhoods and neglected steets and sidewalks. We spent some time at the beach, wasnt the cleanest beach ever but I was the brave, or dumb, one who went swimming.

Yesterday was an awesome day in Lima. We went to the Plaza de Armas (city square) and visited some catacombs underneath a church that houses about 36 padres, not sure what exactly a padre is but they look like monks to me. Also saw the judiciary square where the president lives and some other immpressive buildings. This part of Lima is beautiful. We also took a bus tour up to a mirador of Lima. Basically a lookour that oversees all of Lima. The bus ride was short and terrifying. He took turns on a road about 1000 feet high on cliffs that I would not attempt in a sports car. But worth the view, I will get pics of that up at some point.

All the tours were in Spanish, I wish I could give you more facts about the city and Plaza de Armas but by the time I understand one sentence the tours over. ha, not really but it is hard. I enjoy learning, sometimes it is very frustrating though. I feel like I can kinda follow a conversation but when someone expects me to talk, my brain cannot function fast enough. But I do enjoy the challenge.

I bought my tickets to Cusco yesterday! I leave in exactly a week and am very excited. I bought a plane ticket, it was either a 1.5 hour plane ride for $170 or a day and a half bus ride for $90. I think I made the right choice. I am very excited to see the area, I know there will plenty of things to do there to keep me busy for a couple weeks including the Inca trail, rivers and meeting people from all aroud the world.

Thats it for now. The family is still awesome and I will be very sad to leave them but they have offered to keep some of my stuff here while I travel and I will stay with them again on my last night in Peru. Thanks for reading! Miss and love you all!!

erictyscott — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 23:29:54 +0000

Humachuco

Entrance to MarkaHumachuco

Arcoiris! (Rainbow)

Viola with ruins in the background

Im sure he was terrified of the gringo

Making Bread

Back in Lima

Here are some photos for you. Currently I am back in Lima. It is nice being back to (semi) normal life. The trip to Huamachuco was amazing and eye opening but it is nice to have a shower nearby, doors that I fit through, and comforts that we all take for granted.

I did not take much time before to describe Lima. I am living in a suburb called Santa Rosa, just a 20 minute sometimes scary busride from downtown Lima. At first glance the area seems very poor, and it is. But the house I am living in does not look like much from the outside but inside is large, very nicely decorated and very comfortable. Their are two bathrooms, one with hot water, which I think is pretty rare here. As for the area, it is near to a beach, nothing too beautiful but fun to walk around. The area is desert. Very few trees. It sounds strange but I thought of pictures of places in the middle east when I first arrived. Poor looking neighborhood with rolling desert hills. Not much color. But it definetly has its own unique beauty witch is easily seen from the roof of our house 3 floors up.

And the family. I cannot put into words how awesome this family is to me. The parents are so cool and the kids always keep me busy and laughing. They are more than happy to have conversations with me in my broken Spanish and I know I can ask them for anything I need. AND there is always a huge meal waiting for me. The mom is an excellent cook. Ill briefly describe some meals for you.

Breakfast: Usually several fresh rolls are on the table with an assortment of fillings. These include the usual like butter and jelly, but also avocado, ham, honey, some kind of sweet sticky stuff that I like. Many times there is also a hard boiled egg. All this is always accompanied by some sort of hot drink. Sometimes coffee but other times its a drink that is think and very sweet. Sorry dont know the name, but its good. Made from corn and it kind of reminds me of really sweet oatmeat but not as thick.

Lunch: The biggest meal of the day for Peruvians. Always with meat and usu rice. Chicken, beef and veggies, potatoes, fish (head and all) and other goodness that I wish I could describe better.

Dinner: Sometimes a potato meat mixture in a soup or leftovers from lunch.

When we go out to eat I have no idea what is on the menu but I have learned that Chicharron is always a safe bet. Its big chunks of pork slow roasted and its delicious.

The mom likes me and I think one of the biggest selling points for her is I eat everything. “Eric come todo!” I do not have a big enough vocabulary to tell her how much I like it. So I just eat everything and whatever is on others plates… you know me. I think its a good compliment.

Hmmm… I finnally bought some shoes the other day and what an adventure it is buying shoes for me. Apparently I have the biggest feet in Peru so all the smaller vendors look at me crazy when I ask if they have size 45. which is 10.5 in the states. We had to go to a more touristy spot in Lima for my shoes but finnally found some and Spent 80 sols on two pairs, thats about $28! Things here are cheap and I love it. Large meals are no more than $4.

Thats about it for now. Oh, except that I played 5×5 soccer today on the small concrete courts. I was able to hold my own and even scored a few. I think I had the element of surprise on my side (Gringos cant play futbol). ha. I think we are heading to a city called Ica this weekend to do some sandboarding and parasailing perhaps?? Another reason I love this family.

All for now. Love and miss you all. Oh and national drink… Pisco Sour is delicious and def makes the Spanish come easier!

Solo Gringo!

erictyscott — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 20:09:43 +0000

Before I ramble, I forgot to mention in the last post that I spent the last night in Costa Rica with Mark and Celeste Palmer who are in Costa Rica participating in stem cell research. It was awesome seeing this place and all that is going on there. Visit markandceleste.blogspot.com for a better explanation.

Ok, so I have spent the last 5 days in a small rural town in the Andes called Huamachuco. It is beautiful here. It is over 10,000 feet high and the views are incredible. It is a very poor town though. The town has an amazing small river running through it but when you leave the town you can see where people just dump trash in to the canyons which is sad. People here rarely see foreigners, or gringos, so it is kinda strange walking around. Everyone here stares at me like I am going to explode or steal their babies. We are staying at the grandmas house and it has been good seeing how Peruvians really live outside of tourist spots. The abuela calls me cabeza de oro (head of gold) and the abuelo is hilarious.

On one of the first days we hiked up to some ancient Incan ruins and it was amazing. I told the family I wanted to go on this hike and I was thinking it was something I would do on my own but it turned into a full day family affair. I was literally carrying a full lunch on my back. This hike had to of had an elevation change of 2 thousand feet. But it was worth it. The views and the ruins were awesome to see. Supposedly it is similar to Machu Pichu just less well know. The ruins were only dicovered by gringos about 20 years ago and the grandma says that in 2003 gringos came and stole a bunch of gold that was buried in tunnels under the ruins. I have no idea if it is true but that is proabably another reason why people stare at me weird.

On another day we went the aunt and uncles house located just outside of town. They were definetely typical Peruvians. They relied on their farm and animals for all their food. Their farm is literally and the side of a mountain. Some of the things I did there:

1. Picked corn from the husks for the family and led burros and bulls to other pastures so they could eat.

2. Had lunch which was way different from anything i am used to. Tons of potatoes, rice, corn and weird soups here. Had a couple of beers with the family (mind you at 11000 ft)

3. Proceeded to chase loose burros up and down this mountain. Finnaly got them in the coral so me and the uncle could chase them in cirlcles while they stomp on wheat which is later turned into bread. Carried Chiclyas (watermelon type things, but bigger) up the mountain and back home.

None of this stuff is easy esp after a couple beers at 11000 ft.

We are heading back to Lima on Sat which will be nice.

All for now, miss and love you all!!

Brief Update

erictyscott — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 22:48:06 +0000

I only have a few minutes to write on this but I have made it to Peru! The family met me at the airport and they are awesome. They laugh at me a lot because of my awful Spanish but they have tremendous patience with mem haha. Even though the mom thinks saying the same thing louder is going to make me understand. The daughter speaks English good so it is easy to get by.

They took me to a Peruvian restaurant and it was delicious. The family consists of the mom (Violeta), dad ( Ernesto) and Luis and Jennifer who are 9 and 20. They are all awesome and I am having a great time. The first night was spent exploring the nearby beach and the next day we went to see Harry Potter in Spanish. Its a good thing I have read the books or else I would have no idea what was going on. Oh and the first night I woke up at 5 in the morning to an earthquake. It was kinda weird but it didnt seem like a big worry anyone else, I guess it common.

Anyway we are heading to a northern city in Peru called Trujillo for 2 weeks. No idea what to expect but i´ll try and keep up with the blog. Love and miss you all!

Oh and sorry about the pics. Clearly I have no idea what im doing on this. But ill make it better soon.

Wrap up of Costa Rica, into Peru!

erictyscott — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 17:29:10 +0000

Some Initial Pictures

erictyscott — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 03:47:21 +0000

Martin!

I love it!!!

: Overlooking Jaco at sunset

The end, but just the beginning…

erictyscott — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 16:39:39 +0000

I can not believe my time here in Costa Rica is already coming to an end. It also astonishes me that it was just the beginning of my journey. I feel like I have enough stories amd made enough acuaintences that could fill a years travel. This has been good but I am so excited to go live with my Peruvian family for many reasons, one being to get some sort of stability in my life, these 10 days have been non stop hectic. Today is my last full day and I am spending it searching the city for some friends hotel, Mark and Celest Palmer. Im confident I will find them.

I want to put into a brief recap of what I have experienced here, so you all know but also to organize the madness that was Costa Rica in my own head.

1. Arrived to a overpriced cab ride and night that required sleep.

2. Made the decision to head out to a beach town called Jaco, excellent decision. Met a New Orleanian(?) and found the coolest hostel I have ever stayed at. Run by Hungarians Cheba and Edit. THE MOST laid back atmosphere I have ever experienced.

3. Met Dan and Martin who I ended up traveling around with and SURFED! My body is sore, cuts bruises everywhere but caught the best waves of my life. Im addicted.

4. Partied with the hostel, locals and every one else in Jaco till absurd hours of the morning only to wake up early for surfing. Severl restaurants and bars but my favorite Le Loft who twice while we were there had open bar claiming they love Jaco and want to give back! Only in CR.

5. Hiked with monkeys, sloths, crabs, toucans in Manuel Antonio.

6. Played (climbed, rapelled and jumped) off water falls for hours on a tour out of Quepos. Had amazing conversations with locals (mostly in cabs) practicing my spanish.

7.Surfed and didnt sleep some more in Jaco.

8. BUNGEE JUMPED!!!!! It was insane, I have a video and cant wait to post and share it with you all. My form is perfect…. for a wounded duck.

9. Met amazing people, many of which I will keep in contact with.

Thats it for now. Thanks for reading! I love you all and miss you like always. My next post will be from Peru!!

Oh and I promise I will get some pics up soon.

Crazy transportation with crazier stories!

erictyscott — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 15:41:42 +0000

After prying myself away from Jaco, (I think I will stop for a night or two on the way back inland soon) I took a bumpy crowded sweaty bus to a town called Quepos. The ride was beautiful but consisted of waiting to cross a one way bridge that looked like it had been built hastily the day before with whatever pipe and drift wood that was laying about. But made it and came to a hostel close to a nature reserve called Manuel Antonio.

It was sad leaving many of the friends I met but some came to Quepos, some I may see later. Still I’ll never forget the hostel owners, the poor british guys, the employed and a lady who provided many stories for us to laugh at including forgetting that she was in the same hostel let alone room as us after we met her at least 4 times. Really random person to say the least.

Anyway, I spent the first day hiking and sweating my way through the reserve to find moneys, sloths, toucans, massive crabs and beautiful views. The trails were truly awesome. That afternoon I wanted to do some kind of tour, so I (pretty randomly) decided to do a adventure tour that consists of climbing waterfalls, rapelling waterfalls and dropping into pools. It was a great decision!! I could have spent days playing in the waterfalls. The trip ended with a cab ride back to Quepos (about 45 min) that I spent with one of the waterfall guides speaking Spanish. Ticos are amazingly patient and this proves it. The night was spent hanging out on hammocks meeting people and sharing stories, I love my life.

That is it for now. I am having trouble fully understanding the blog thing. I have uploaded pictures but I don’t think anyone can see them. Figuring this out fully might not happen until Lima where I need to give it an hour or two. Bt thanks for reading, I love the comments! Miss and love you all!