Peru- Day 2- Machu Picchu, Mosquitoes and Mastering Stairs

I don't know if I have it in me to try to recreate the post I just worked on for 30 min and lose it again!! Stinking technology! This definitely won't be as good as the first one. 

Machu Picchu was everything and more than you would expect it to be. More people, more lines, more mosquitoes, more stairs, more llamas..... It exceeded all expectations!

We woke up early at our hotel in Aguas Calientes so we could make it to our scheduled hike. We had tickets to start our hike to Wayna Picchu, the pointy mountain in the back of all the classic MP photos, between 7-8am. We knew there was going to be a line to catch the buses that head up the mountain to MP, but we didn't know there was going to be a LINE! It stretched almost the entire length of the main road in town. We thought we were going to be early, but now we were worried we might miss our hike.  After a 30 minute wait we found ourselves on the insane adventure bus ride. It was a 30 minute race to the top on a narrow dirt switchback road. We unloaded with 7 minutes to get through a ticket/passport check line and across all of MP to the gate for Wayna Picchu. It was the craziest thing to have our first experience at MP be running across this HUGE ancient city to get to the other side. I felt completely dwarfed by the size of this place. Pictures don't do it justice. In typical Carter fashion we arrived with our friends at the gate at 8:05am and were some of the last to be let in. 

Already hot and sweaty, the sky was blue and the sun intense, we could tell within minutes we were in for a workout. Over a thousand steps switchbacking up Wayna Picchu led to the ruins at the top. Hard to imagine ancient people living and farming on this very steep peak. 

Back off the top of Wayna Picchu we hurried back to the entrance gate to eat our packed lunch and meet our tour guide. Thankfully Hector was waiting for us to lead us on a 2.5 hour tour of the Incan city. He was so knowledgeable and  taught us so much about how they think the Incans lived. Because all records were destroyed, they really know the entire story of this civilization.  

After the tour, we started another stair climb to go and see the Inca Bridge. Although our feet were tired and quads aching, it was definitely worth the hike. 

10 hours after we started our Machu Picchu adventure, we were back in Aguas Calientes. After a shower and a nice dinner we did what all should do after a hike- get an Incan foot and leg massage. It was heaven!! 

No wonder our legs were tired- Emily's phone tracked our movement. It said we took 20,560 steps and walked 12.43 miles. Whew

Day 2- Peru- Leaving Lima for Llamas

We were told to leave our condo 3 hours early so we would be able to catch our flight to Cuzco. Although we were in packed city traffic for an hour, we arrived with more than enough time. Funny story- I was ordering only orange juice from McDonald's. I decided I was going to use my best spanish. So I said to the girl, "Buenos Dias. Por favor dos fuego." She looked confused. So I said it again-while pointing to the juice, "dos fuego, por favor." More confusion. She then asked, "jugo?!" Yep- I realized that I had just asked her for two fires. I couldn't stop laughing while she just kinda stared at the crazy American.

It was so nice to leave Lima and its cloudy gray skies behind. We were all overdressed (too many layers) when we landed in sunny Cuzco. It was blue and warm surrounded by beautiful mountains. We were met by our tour guide Betho when we landed and we left Cuzco as soon as we arrived.  Our first stop was a "tourist trap", but we all loved it. We went to a small village called Chinchero. The women dressed in traditional clothing did a demonstration of how the make alpaca and lama fur into  thread. And then they showed us all the natural plants they use to dye the fabric. It was so cool- like magic. And of course we had to buy some of their woven wares. And take cheesy tourist pictures. And touch a llama. 

Our van took us to on to the Sacred Valley where we stopped for lunch in Urubamba and to pull out more Soles from the ATM. With a 3 to 1 ratio for the dollar the soles go fast. We finally reached Ollantaytambo just in time to get on our Inca Rail train for the 90 minute ride to Aguas Callientes. The ride was SO jiggly and bumpy, but worth the jolt inducing headache just to see the scenery go past our windows. It was hard to believe the landscape would change from arid to jungle during 1 train ride, but it did. 

We are spending the day hiking Machu Picchu tomorrow. Better get some sleep! 

Side notes- 

Ignore spelling mistakes. I am doing this all on my phone during bumpy rides in vans, planes, and trains. 

And if the pictures appear cut off if you are reading this while on your computer, the whole pic might appear if you read this while on your phone. 

Peru- Day 1- People, perro, and poo

A lot can change in a day. We woke up in  Jackson Hole on Sunday and were in Lima Peru in time for bed on Monday. We luckily had uneventful flights, but both the Horsleys and Paul's did not. The Paul's had a flight cancelled, but were able to reschedule so they arrived only an hour later than originally scheduled. Emily and Rick weren't so lucky- due to an airline error, they arrived 12 hours later. Disaster averted, but still such a bummer!

We are staying in a 3 bedroom condo in a section of Lima called Mira Flores. It is right on the cliffs over looking the Pacific Ocean.  It is cloudy and gray, and apparently Lima is like this 80% of the year, but this didn't stop the surfers out this morning. 

Our tour guide Jose and driver Jorge, from Haku Tours, picked us up this morning. We had a "reality tour" of Lima scheduled for the full day. We started with an authentic breakfast at a corner counter- sandwiches and jugo (juice). They had around 102 combinations of blended fresh juices. We got it to go and headed to see the shantytowns of Lima. 

We drove 45 minutes south of the town to an area called Via El Salvador. I don't really have the words to explain what we saw, but it was brown and buildings for as far as I could see.  We went to a local open air market and samples fruits and food we haven't seen before. The people were friendly and engaging and made us wish we spoke Spanish. 

After the market we headed further into the hills to see where people lived. Everywhere we went we had constant company- dogs. Tons of dogs. And if there are a lot of dogs there is even more poo!! It was a skill to walk on the dirt streets and not step in a bomb. 

It was humbling and eye opening. Our guide was Incan and had grown up in the shantytown we were touring. He now speaks 4 languages and travels the world giving tours. He was very smart and gave great insight into life in the shantytowns. 

We stopped for lunch where Rick and Emily joined us. We then headed into the old city center of Lima, where we saw lots of old stuff! The catacombs under the Cathedral de San Francisco were ... memorable. 

Lima is a huge city of 11 million people. We always love seeing other cultures and cities and how they manage all those people. 

Let's get this going again

Time to dust off the virtual cobwebs and post again. All in the name of keeping our girls and family up to date on our latest adventure. And also to keep a record for an alibi if we ever need one. 

Today found us waking up at 5am in Logan Utah all so Ian could ride his bike to one of the most beautiful places on earth- Jackson Hole Wyoming. Ian, his favorite bro Tyler, and favorite friend to tease, Matt Tennison were Team Carter West as they rode 207 grueling miles to the finish. 11+ hours after the start, they finished in Jackson. They all survived, but might have made a few deals with the devil in order to do so. And let me be clear- mom- they did not do the relay. They each ride their own bikes the entire 200+ miles. 

Too Tired, in Thailand

We made it! Coherent thoughts are not coming easily right now. It's 2am in Bangkok and noon back in California. We have been traveling for 24hrs. (18 of which Ian has been feverishly working to close a deal. Thanks Delta for your wifi on board). Deals done, and so are we! Hope our internal clocks let us sleep the "afternoon" away.  Looking forward to our adventures tomorrow!! 

(PS- having a few technical probs posting. Let me know if this even posts)!

Costa Rica - day 5- Surfin Safari

Woke up to another beautiful day of sun. So much for the rainy season!?! We were definitely not complaining! We headed up the beach to Iguana Surf Shop to meet our instructor Julio for surf lessons for the group. Only thing we were allowed to take to the beach, across the street, were our bathing suits - stuff gets stolen apparently (again- no cameras=no photos). So off we went for 20 minutes of instruction on the beach and then straight into the surf for 100 minutes.

The ocean water was the warmest we had experienced in a long time. Made all the time we spent in it even better. All four of us benefitted from Julio's awesome instruction and enthusiasm. He was very patient too. So we were all catching waves with varying degrees of ugliness- because none of it was pretty. But it was definitely fun!

Lunch at Taco Stop was the best surprise meal we'd had yet. I even posted a review on Trip Advisor because we liked it that much. Back at the hotel we quickly put on some dry clothes to head out of town to visit a farm. This farm belonged to the owner of our hotel. She has taken in orphaned wild animals at her property for many years. She used to keep them at the hotel, but too many people were coming from other places to see the animals. So she moved them to the farm. Luckily another guest at the hotel told us about the farm so we asked if we could go.

At the farm we met Jojo, a white faced capuchin monkey, and 2 orphaned howler babies, who were 5 and 7 months. They were pretty shy at first, but as soon as the baby howlers saw my hair they went crazy. The first one jumped on me, grabbed my hair, and put it in his mouth. I was worried he was going to bite it off. But Horge, the guide who took us to the farm, assured me the baby was just sucking. And suck, and suck, and suck he did. And then the baby, Luca, joined in. They took turns, but always went for the hair. Their care taker, Ingrid, was like the baby's mommy. If she got too far away the monkies would panic and cry for her. Just like a little toddler, they would wiggle and squirm to get out of your hands and back to their "mom". It was so cute to see how much they loved their "mommy".

Jojo was a bit older, maybe 1 year, but they weren't sure on his age since he was orphaned when he was older. This monkey was very friendly and mischievous. He would jump from one person to the next, trying to steal your stuff. He took a bobby-pin right out of Michelle's hair. They also had 3 baby raccoons, which were adorable. It was an unforgettable experience.

Returning from the farm we had some time before dinner that night. We decided to rent some kayaks from our hotel and paddle out to the small island near our hotel to watch the sunset. Because Ian had a cold coming on, he crashed the minute he laid on the bed. So Michelle, Brent, and I rented a double kayak and squeezed three of us on it. Paddling out to the island through the waves and current proves to be a little nerve racking, but we made it!! One-third of the island was covered in shells, with lava rock covering the rest. It was a haven for hermit crabs and had lots of hiding places for large crabs too. We climbed to the highest rock on the island to take in the view. Looking around I noticed a single kayak paddling off the beach. Every time I looked back the kayak was getting closer to the island. Ian woke up, and not wanting to miss out, paddled out just intime to watch a dazzling sunset. Paddling home in the twilight was quick and we made it without tipping over in the surf!

Back on land we took a quick dip in the inviting pool. Dinner that night was at our hotel, set at a table right on the beach. The food was delicious, the weather was beautiful and clear. Another round of hearts that night, until we were drowning in exhaustion,brought another amazing day in Costa Rica to an end.

(pics of dinner to come)

Costa Rica- day 3- Driving and Dirty Cops

Although a powerful storm woke us up at 5am (of course we went back to sleep), we had a great nights sleep. Looks like Mother Nature got our requests for good weather the previous two days and made up for it by dumping her guts this morning. It was pouring like mad, but since we were going to be in the car driving to the coast most of today, it seemed kind of ideal.

Except for the wind that came with the rain, which blew much debris and many trees onto the road. We were barely 30 minutes into our 3+ hour drive across the country when our trip came to a sudden stop. A tree the size of Rhode Island had fallen across the 2 lane highway. Although two men with machetes were making quick work, looked like we weren't going to be moving anywhere unless we helped too. So we put on our rain jackets and started to remove the branches they had chopped off. Soon a man in a Nissan Sentra pulled up, said something in spanish to the machete men, then motioned for us to follow - so we did. That sweet Sentra lead us down a crazy, 10 mile dirt/mud/bush/tree road to get around the downed tree and back on the highway. We had a small 4x4 that made the detour just fine, but definitely had more ticks and noises once we were back on paved road.

As we drove west towards the Pacific, around the huge Lake Arenal, the rain started to let up and the clouds parted so that we got a very brief glimpse of the entire volcano.

After a bumpy (literally) start this morning, it was smooth sailing. Except for the semi we came within in 6 inches of hitting and then ended up in a ditch. Oh, and except for the cop that pulled Ian over doing 120km in a 60km zone. The cop basically told Ian he'd earned a very expensive ticket or Ian could pay him and the ticket would go away. After a $35 exchange was made we were on our way again!

We arrived in Playa Tamarindo in time to see one of the most spectacular sunsets I have ever seen. (Of course my photos will not do it justice) Our home for the next four days, Capitan Suizo hotel, seemed about as perfect as it could get. We went to bed that night feeling like we had hit the jackpot!!