Day 1: Rain, New Friends and high mountains

hi everyone!

I am back in Cuzco from our amazing five day trek in the Andes and to Salkantay Mountain. I apoligize in advance because it may take me a few day to get every detail of this amazing trek.

We started at 5 am by being picked up by our guides (Edi and Valentine from SAS travel). There were 16 of us total on the trek; 13 girls and 3 guys (wimps!). We had 4 austrailians, 2 brits, 3 norwegians, 1 swiss, 2 belgians, 1 canadian and we were the only three americans! This was great for us because we gave Americans a good name :)

We drove about 2 hours on a bus outside of cuzco before the sun rose. We stopped in a small town for breakfast and the rain continued to come down in a drizzle. We then got in the back of an open air truck with all our bags and drove 2 hours through an insnaely windy "road" that felt more like a trail. We were bounced around a ton but got to see beautiful green vegitation, cows on the road and orchids and exotic flowers.

We got to the trailhead at about 10 am and put on giant, horrendous rain ponchos that covered our backpacks and our raincoats. We hiked for about 3.5 hours in the mud and dirt through fairly flat areas to our lunch spot. The porters and chef (amazing food!) had beat us there and set up the lunch tent and the food was ready to eat within 10 mins of arrival. We had rice, veggies, chicken curry, carrot soup and fresh stuffed avocados. We also drank as much Coca Tea as we could (made from coca leaves, meant to provide energy and aid in altitiude sickness). Despite being very wet, I was feeling fine!

The next three hours of our hike was much more uphill and the rain gradually let up. We hiked on beautiful cliffs and the clouds and mist slightly covered the green rolling hills. It looked a bit like the marin headlands but much more massive and dramatic (and of course I was breathing way more heavily). I chatted with my trek friends in between gasping for breath and we made it to a gorgeous view point at which we took photos, drank water and layered up to go into the snow. The glaciers of Mt. Salkantay could be seen in the distance and our guides told us we would be camping at the base!

Within an hour we arrived at our campsite. it was surreal. A beautiful little lagoon and creek sat at the base of amazing snow capped glaciers with Mt. Salkantay peak jutting out in the center. We immediatley got into our tents and changed out of our wet clothing and the minute I sat down I felt nauseated. I had been fine all day so I wasnt sure if it was lunch or the 14,000 feet we were at at this point or what. After struggling for a few hours I finally started vomitting, which actually came as relief for me. All i wanted was a cold bathroom floor to lie on but instead I stood over a rock in the pouring rain and with only the light of my headlamp. All and all, it wasn´t the worst thing that could have happened. I slept from about 8pm until 6 am the next morning and woke up to sun and the glaciers practically creeping into our tent. The guides greeted us with chamomile tea in our tents and told us to get ready to go as day two was going to be the most spectacular and the longest and hardest! gulp!

the dirtiest girl you´ve ever met

quick update, just spent an amazing four days camping and hiking in the Andes (We walked over 40 miles, holy hell my body hurts). We went through every possible climate out there.. snow, torrential downpours, heat, humidity, clear skies (could see the southern cross!) and cold nights. We are in Aguas Calientes for one night (and my first shower in 4 days) and will get up at 345 am tomorrow to hike Macchu Picchu and Wina Pichhu (I have no idea how to spell that!)

Met great new friends from all over the world. We were the only Amreicans, surprisingly. Only threw up the first night, which is pretty good if you know my travel record :)

I will post more on Sunday or Monday when I get back to Cuzco. Miss you all!

P.S. everyone please email me your addresses!

Cuzco... llegamos!

We made it to cuzco, in what can only be described as a typical Latin American travel experience. We arrive at the airport at 730 am for a flight at 9 30. Boarding starts at 845. We wait in the boarding area and 845 rolls around and nothing. 9, still the same. Finally just aftert 930 they put us on a BUS and shuttle us to the plane in what looks like a military base (i.e. miliarty choppers and fighter jets). We sit on the plane for another 30 mins or so and finally take off at 1030- no mention of any delay at all.

I think this picture is horrible quality but this is the view of the Cuzco region from the plane. It is so beautiful here! Sprawling hills and small streets lined with cute shops, alpaca wool everything and the occasional live alpaca hanging out with a woman dressed in traditional Incan clothing (of course peddaling for money to take a picture with she and the baby slung on her back which is CLEARLY not hers!).

We depart on our trek tomorrow and we couldnt be more excited. We are at 10,000 feet here in Cuzco and I can definitely feel it. Bottles of water and chocolate bars have been saving me, as well as brief stops to sit on the plaza stairs. We got our sleeping bags and trekking poles rented and we head out tomorrow morning at 530 am and will be back April 10th in the evening. If you are curious about my itinerary and want to follow my trip here it is. 

Our hostel is so beautiful and we are atop a big hill with expansive views of the rolling hills around us. It almost feels like the Marin Headlands (plus an additional 10,000 feet of course!). Our highest spot will be at 15,000 feet. Just bought a camel back so I can slurp on water the whole way up. I also have been sipping on Coca Leaf tea which is basically an ancient drink that provides energy and helps with the altitude. It tastes like leaves.. not like herbs, but like leaves. Almost like bay leaves? It´s pretty good and with honey I´ll take it.  I think it derives from the same plant as cocaine, I need to brush up on my incan drug history. ha. 

I will be without updates for 5 days so bare with me as I make the trek up and down. Updates to come on April 11th. 

MISS YOU ALL! write to me too :)

xoxo

The best ceviche of my life

We had the most amazing ceviche last night at an upscale swanky Peruvian restaurant called "la mar cebicheria"

Julie and I tried five different types: everything from the typical ceviche to one with some sort of squid or octopus. They were so delicious I found myself spooning the sauce into my mouth at the end. We also had the mandatory (and amazing) pisco sours that were frothy, tangy and delicious.

We are in the airport heading to Cuzco now! More later.

Lauren Verrilli
Sent from my iPhone

Lima!

After an uneventful two flights, I have made it to Lima. I apologize in advance because I have no idea how to put punctutation in this post. The keyboard looks about the same but the question mark doesn´t work.

It is 65 and foggy here, looks and smells a lot like SF. The hostel is clean and nice with a pool even. We have our own room and our own bathroom with hot water nonetheless! Lima feels like 2nd world, definitley not 3rd world like El Salvador and other locations. We had a nice breakfast and I got a Peruvian cell phone number. We head to Cuzco tomorrow morning (to 9,000 feet)! So we are just relaxing and getting everything in order right now.

We found a great ceviche place to try tonight! That´s it!

xoxo

Testing. Can I post via text message? Made it to Peru!

Trek Itinerary

For those of you interested in the details of my Machu Picchu trek, here is a closer look at my itinerary. We decided on a less traveled "alternative" route to Machu Picchu because we wanted more expansive views, less out of shape tourists and more time in the Andes.

I am getting excited for: 

Jumping into these hot springs on day 3 of my trek

Alpaca Markets

Ceviche and Pisco Sours 

I just bought a waterproof and "shockproof" camera so get excited for some intense photos. 

Two more days!