I'M ALIVE!!!

I know there's something wrong with me, because when I thought of this thread title, I got the song of the same name stuck in my head from the classic horrible 80's Olivia Newton John movie Xanadu, lol.

With that out of the way, yes, I am still alive after hiking The Lares Trek! It was a blast, and pretty challenging for what is described as a "mediocre" challenge. I had some hardships along the way, like a snow blizzard that had me up to my ankles in snow for a couple hours on the second day. On the same day, we also had to cross a tree trunk log "bridge" due to the water in the river being too high to go over on rocks. A couple steps onto this wet tree trunk, I slipped and fell over sideways. Luckily I caught my legs around the tree trunk and was holding myself completely horizontal for about a minute until our tour guide Fredy got to me and pulled me up. It felt like a scene out of an action movie where someone is reaching over a cliff going "GRAB MY HAND!"

After two challenging days of hiking in the rain and snow, the last morning we woke up to the most beautiful sunny day:

The weather was so great that we ate breakfast outside:

Our cooks made us pancakes:
There's so much more to say, but I'm tired and feel like wrapping this up for the time being. If you're lucky, in the future you'll be able to read about more klutzy things I did after we finished the actual trek like falling into one of those street side sewer/waterways and trying to grab a bottle of water off of a shelf at a market only to have two full shelves of drinks collapse onto me. I was humiliated, but luckily the store owners thought it was hysterical.

3 more hours until we can actually check in here at the airport (I'm at a Starbucks in the Lima airport at the moment), and 7 more hours until our flight back to Miami. Then another 5 hour layover until my flight back home to Indy!

Until next time,

Ryan

Greetings from Cusco!

Once again, I can't seem to sleep (I've been up since about 3:30am), so I figure I'll give a little update. Yesterday morning, we met the 4 other people we were traveling from Lima to Cusco with. They all seemed very nice, and we got along great. This group of 4 included the only other 2 who traveling the Lares Trek with us rather than the official Inca Trail. They're a couple of girls from Scotland named Gillian and Marie, and seem like they'll be very fun to hike with.

When we arrived in Cusco, we got a small tour of the city, and were taken to a great restaurant where I tried alpaca (which was delicious). I'm having troubles uploading pictures at the moments, but a number of them are already on facebook, so check them out there!

At 4pm we met up with my buddy Adam that I went to Belize with back in 2008. He had just gotten back from the Inca Trail and said it's amazing.

On a sad note, my ipod seems on the verge of death. It was having troubles booting up, and I can hear the platters scratching. Pray for me that it last until I get back home!

I need to start getting ready for the day. This is the last time until Saturday I will have internet access, because everything goes into storage that I'm not taking on the hike. We head to the Sacred Valley/Ollantaytambo today, then start our hike Wednesday morning. I'll check back in, hopefully with tons of pictures when we get back from this amazing adventure on Saturday.

Until then,

Ryan

Been walking around Lima all day

When you've been awake for 24 hours, you're not really in the best state of mind to decide when to set your alarm for. We decided when we got to the hotel at about 5am today to set the alarm for 9am. I think I got around 2 hours of sleep as a result (our room is literally right outside the lobby, which didn't help due to the noise). Add that to 3 hours of sleep I got on the plane, and I guess it wasn't the WORST night sleep.

After lounging around for a bit and showering, Morgan and I set out to explore the city Miraflores. After exiting the hotel and walking up the street, one of the first things we see is a parade. Not speaking spanish, I had no idea what the parade was for. After actually looking at the parade for a bit, I figured it out, but I'll let the photos speak for themselves:


The entire thing was mesmerizing to say the least.

We hadn't eaten anything, and found a local supermarket, where Morgan introduced me to nutella, which we spread over freshly baked french bread, topped off with chocolate-filled croissants . We also learned the hard way how careful we need to be when buying bottled water. It is very important that the bottles say "sin gas." The ones we bought did not say this, and were actually seltzer water. Everything seems to be super-carbonated here, and my bottle fizzed over when opening it. Lesson learned :)

After this we walked around Miraflores for a good 5 hours, just exploring the main square (there was an art fair going on), and all the shops around the city. It was nice not having anything planned today, and fun just being able to walk around a new foreign city.

Around 3:30 we were hungry for a real meal, and found a small cafe where I had a cuban and a bottle of water (this time I was sure to get it sin gas!). After this we started heading back towards the hotel. We stopped at a supermarket around the corner because the hotel does not provide shampoo, so I bought a bottle. I also noticed the following sign while in the store:

Naturally the first thing I did when getting back to the hotel was pull up facebook and "like" the Vivanda supermarket :)

We had a meeting at 6pm with a representative from GAP, who filled us in on how the rest of the trip would be working. 8 people in our group are actually already in Cusco, and 8 people were supposed to be at this meeting. Only 4 of us showed up. Tomorrow our ride to the airport gets here at 7am for our flight to Cusco, so we need to make this an early night (which I doubt will be a problem for either of us).

It's around 8pm now, and we need to find some dinner. In particular, I'm looking for ceviche, which I've heard so many good things about. So, that's it for now everybody. Hope everyone is enjoying keeping up with us. Feel free to leave a comment to let me know what you think :)

Until next time,

Ryan

At our hotel in Lima!

I got 3 hours of sleep on the plane, but I'm running on fumes. Just a quick check in to let you know we're alive and safe. Goodnight/morning/whatever!

Until next time,

Ryan

Now boarding for Lima, Peru!

Boarding starts in about 10 minutes, so it's time for me to sign off and pack up for the plane. The next time I have internet access will likely be on the 30th, so I'll be checking in then, hopefully with pictures and stories :)

Until then,

Ryan

Miami's airport charges for wi-fi?!

So I've arrived in Miami early. So early in fact, that my connecting flight isn't even listed on the boards yet. Morgan and her mother won't be here to rescue me for a couple hours likely, so I have to occupy myself. I pop open my laptop and try connecting to the airport's wi-fi network, and they charge for it. WEAK SAUCE!!! There is an option that says "Connect free via one of our sponsors", but when you click on it, all it does is say "Coming Soon." SURE it is :( Since I'm going to be here for a while, I sucked it up and paid for the internet (if you couldn't tell by me posting on my blog, lol).

Other than the wi-fi internet rant, there's not much to report. Actually, I do have one good story. Apparently I was such an unimportant customer flying on AA to Miami that they never called my section number to board. All the important #1's were called to board. Then they continued and said the #2's could board. I was a #3, so I continued to wait patiently for my section to be called. Rather than calling my section, the lady at the gate got on the intercom and paged me personally, saying this was my final chance to board the plane (does that make me more important since I was called by name?). I had been sitting there the entire time, and would have gladly boarded earlier if they had given me permission. Oh well.

This post has been too negative. I'm leaving for an amazing vacation and am still very excited about it. I think I'll wrap this up and play on the internet for a bit (I paid for it, so I'd better use it as much as possible, hehe) until I hear from Morgan.

Until next time,

Ryan

Can't sleep (clown will eat me)

While I have no fear of clowns (the title of this post is from the classic Simpsons episode "Lisa's First Word"), it is true that I can't sleep.



Today is finally the day I leave for Peru, and needless to say, I'm a bit anxious, and VERY excited! Unfortunately, that leads to me not being able to sleep, even though I could for another two hours easily (my ride to the airport is getting here at 10:50am).

Other than the netbook I'm typing this blog post on and my razor, I finished packing last night night. I was freaking out a bit with everything laying on my bed, and then it just kind of all fit into my bags without much trouble, which was a nice surprise.

Since I'm up so early, I think I'll go watch last night's episode of Eureka. The adventure is about to begin, but why not squeeze in one more nerdy pleasure before leaving? :)

I'm sure there will be more updates to come from the Indy and Miami airports today when I'm bored and have nothing to do :) Plus, there will be plenty of updates to come once we land in Peru!

Until then,

Ryan

One week to go!!!

One week from right now, I'll be anxiously waiting after over a 7 hour layover in the Miami airport to board our red-eye to Lima! Since she'll already be in town, I'm hoping Morgan can rescue me from the boredom of that layover, even if it's just to leave the airport to go out to dinner or something like that :) Our plane arrives at 4:45am, and I'm sure we're going to be exhausted. Unfortunately, the hotel won't let us check in that early for our stay there the 29th, so we decided to book a room for the 28th, just so we have a place to throw our bags, and most likely catch a nap before heading out to explore Lima a bit.

Yesterday, I think I picked up the last couple major items on my checklist of things I'll need for the trip, which were a set of rain pants, and a hat. I'm not a hat person in the least, but according to my survey in the office and on facebook, I pull this one off pretty nicely:
I need to pick up a few small things still, like a bottle of purell and a package of baby wipes (which I've read on numerous people's hiking blogs make a great substitute for showering when real showers aren't an option), but it feels good knowing that I have just about everything else ready.

Tomorrow I plan to do a dry run of packing everything up in my duffel bag, praying that my duffel bag is large enough and I won't need to buy a new one. I should also finally open up the hydration bladder I bought for my day pack and figure out how to clean it before leaving.

Other than that, I think I'm actually as prepared for this entire thing as I can get. Only 5 more work days to go before the adventure begins!

Until next time,

Ryan

A $95 jacket for only $45

I'm not going to lie to you, I am not exactly an "outdoorsy" kind of guy. I've never really done any hiking or camping (other than at music festivals) before. Because of this, I'm a bit ignorant when it comes to supplies and clothes necessary for this adventure in Peru.

Thankfully, I have friends that have done plenty of camping and hiking in their time, and I've turned to them for suggestions. In looking for a waterproof/windproof jacket, I was talking to my buddy Greg, and he recommended the Columbia Thunderstorm with omni-tech (not omni-shield) waterproof technology. Dick's Sporting Goods had this jacket on sale for $60 (originally $95), but after looking at 4 different Dick's Sporting Good stores, none of them had it in my size. The Dick's website didn't even have the jacket in my size. Being the crafty person that I am, I took to the internet to find the jacket I was determined to get. After a bit of searching, I found an online store that had the jacket in my size, in black, exactly as I wanted. They also had it on sale for $60.


Buying it online, I no longer had to pay tax on it either, which saved me another few bucks. Three days after ordering it, I get an email saying there was an inventory error, and they actually did not have the black jacket in my size. They did, however, have the jacket in my size in either Grout or Bonsai colors, and due to their error, were offering me either color jacket for 25% off.

Not having any idea what colors Grout or Bonsai were, I had to go back to their website to find out these are just fancy terms for gray and green. Although I would prefer to have the jacket in black, for another 25% off (lowering the price to $45 for this $95 jacket), I decided to take them up on their offer and get the Grout jacket.

The jacket arrived on Saturday, and it fits perfectly! I also kind of dig the Grout color more than I thought I would, which is nice.

Only 20 days to go before leaving for Peru!!! I have most of the supplies I need, but still need to find some rain pants, proper bug spray for the area, maybe some sort of hat (though I'm not a hat person at all), and unfortunately I might need to invest in a sturdier duffel bag. The closer I get, and the more I write about it, the more excited I get for this trip. Also, only 20 more days until there might actually be something interesting to read on this blog :)

Until next time,

Ryan

Vaccine in a Capsule + Breaking in my new boots

Just to get this out of the way, 30 days until Peru!!!

Now that I've gotten that out of my system, today is a day of two different 2nds for me. The first 2nd is I will be taking my second Vivotif pill, which is an oral vaccine for Typhoid fever. Rather than getting a shot, which lasts for 2 years, I opted for this "Vaccine in a Capsule," which pretty much is swallowing 4 pills (1 every other day for a week) that will last for 5 years. These pills have a genetically altered, yet live form of Typhoid Fever in them. The alteration is so it won't actually give me Typhoid, while at the same time my body fights it off, and develops antibodies against Typhoid. There's actually a somewhat fascinating video about how it all works at their website: www.oraltyphoidvaccine.com. Their website also proves that you can make just about anything fun and entertaining simply by having an animated mascot:
Typhoid Fever might be the only vaccination I need for this trip. I've read varying things that travelers should get a Tetanus booster every 5 years instead of 10, so I might end up getting that one as well (not looking forward to it, because I recall the one I got in 2005 made my arm sore for about a week). I was also told to possibly get an MMR as an adult, but I'm pretty sure I got my adult booster of that around my 18th birthday (currently doing research to verify this).

The second 2nd is that today is the second day I'm wearing my hiking boots (and first day I'm wearing my smartwool socks) to break them in before the trip. They definitely feel a little tighter than when I tried them on in the store, so they definitely need some breaking in. Here's a picture I just took at my desk:
That's about it for now. I found a jacket I liked yesterday at Dick's Sporting Goods, but they didn't have it in my size, so I'm heading to a different location during my lunch hour to see if they have it in my size.

The closer to the trip I get, the more excited I become!

Until next time,

Ryan

I now have hiking boots and socks!

It's been a few weeks since I've posted anything here, and this is the most interesting thing I have to write about at the moment. Indiana is apparently not an adventurous enough state for REI to open up a store here, so this afternoon I went to Gander Mountain with the goal of buying hiking boats, socks, and a rain poncho/suit.

I had done some research online, and surveyed friends who hike, but the best advice anyone gave me was that you simply have to go to a store and try some boots on, and go with what feels comfortable. When I got to the store, I struck up a conversation with a very knowledgeable sales rep who told me a few key things to look for in a boot, and then recommended a couple of brands as well. After trying some on, I ultimately went with these:

Keen Siskiyou mid-tops. The boots felt very sturdy, and the sales rep, who seemed to be quite the hiker himself, said that going with a mid-top would give me the necessary ankle-support to help prevent spraining an ankle on the hike.

He also recommended wool hiking socks, and in particular, the smartwool brand, because they were currently on a 20% discount. He said that wool socks breathe easy, can keep you both warm and cool when necessary, and if they get wet, can dry out in 10 minutes, unlike cotton socks.

Unfortunately, when I got home, I discovered that the socks didn't ring up at the sale price. Driving 25 minutes each way to the store a second time would probably burn enough gas to to nullify the money I'd save going there to get them to correct the price. However, I called the store, and was told they could do a price-adjustment over the phone. I'll be checking my credit card to see if they actually do it or not.

I did not have the luck I hoped with the rain poncho/suit. I talked to another sales rep there who pointed me towards a couple of different options, but unfortunately the option I liked the most was dependent on having a water-proof backpack cover, which they did not have any of in stock. I'll be looking into those in the next few days, and see if it makes sense to get one or not (I'm guessing it will).

I still need to go to Passport Health and see what vaccinations I need, if any. I've been so busy, I haven't had the time to these past couple of weeks. I think I'll hold off one more week. Some good friends of mine are getting married next weekend, and I've heard some vaccinations I might need to get can make you sick for a while. I don't want to be sick for the wedding, so it will wait one more week.

I'm hungry, and honestly don't have much more to say at the moment. Six weeks to go until the trip. I'm getting more excited by the day!

Until next time,

Ryan

60 days to go, time to get in shape!

Today marks 60 days until leaving for Peru (technically 59, because I leave August 28th, but don't arrive until 4:45am the next morning)!!! The only reason I'm really this aware of the 60 day mark is that GAP charged my mastercard today for the remainder of the trip, which they said they would 60 days before the start date of the trip.

I have purchased a daypack for the hike(and hydration pack/camelbak to go with it), but still need to get a good pair of hiking boots, a fleece jacket, a rain/wind-resistant poncho, thermal underwear, and I'm still on the fence about whether or not I want to invest in hiking poles. With 4th of July weekend just a few days away, hopefully I can find some sales on any of the above things to save a little cash.

Now it's time to start thinking about getting into shape for this trip. Being in middle of summer, I'm already biking 4 days a week or so, and feel great. I've read that this hike has some somewhat substantial inclines on it, so I'm thinking of starting to use a stair-stepper two or three days a week, just to make sure those muscles in my legs are worked out, and prepared for the challenge.

The only thing I'm really at a loss for how to prepare for is the altitude. At our highest point, we'll be 15,000 feet above sea level. Is there any way you can prepare for something like that? Or do you just have to hope you acclimate once you're there? I'm open to suggestions anyone might have.

Well, my lunch break is about over, so I should wrap this up.

Until next time,

Ryan

Flights are booked!

Although we booked the trip itself on June 7th, Morgan and I kind of dropped the ball with regards to booking our actual flights to and from Lima. After doing some serious research this morning (that involved having way too many browser windows open at once),we finally came to a consensus on flights that made sense to both of us financially, and still allowed us to travel to and from Peru together. This consensus involves some very long layovers (for me at least) in Miami, and red-eye flights both going there and coming back, but I'll be leaving Indy at 1:20pm on Saturday, August 28th, returning to Indy 12:50pm on Monday, September 6th (Labor Day). Any volunteers out there to either drive me to the airport or pick me up when I get back? :)

When on the phone with GAP today giving them my flight information and arranging a ride from the airport to our hotel in Lima, I asked if there was anyone else in our group that was unable to obtain permits for the Inca Trail and would be hiking the Lares with us. The lady on the other end informed me there were two other people that were hiking the Lares with us. While it stinks that other people got shut out of the Inca Trail like we did, I'm happy that there will still be a small group of us sticking together the entire trip and doing this alternate trek. I was also informed that even though we're not necessarily hiking with them, there are other GAP groups hiking the Lares that start the same day as us, but possibly leave at different times. So, it's very possible we'll bump into them along the way, and possibly even camp in the same locations, which is cool.

Booking the flight this morning made everything feel just a little bit more real than it already was. Only 9.5 more weeks to go before the adventure truly begins!

Until next time,

Ryan

Comments

If anyone has left a comment that has not shown up on a post, could you email me directly, or contact me on facebook? I've had a couple of people report they left comments that aren't showing up, but my setup is that anyone should be able to leave comments.

Ryan

Supplies, vaccinations, and a possible meet-up

Taking a hiking trip to Peru involves a lot more supplies than I realized. Although GAP is providing camping gear (and I will be renting a sleeping bag from them), I still need to buy items like a daypack (and possibly waterproof cover for it), good hiking boots and sandals, sturdy rain poncho, sleeping bag liner, thermal underwear (I don't even know where to start looking for this), and probably a handful of other things. I've been considering buying hiking poles, which are supposed to take 25% of the pressure off of your ankles, making the hike a bit easier. Metal-tip hiking poles are not allowed on the official Inca Trail, but from what I've read are perfectly acceptable on the Lares.

Yesterday afternoon I called up Passport Health to get some information about potential vaccinations I might need for the trip. The lady on the phone told me I need to schedule an appointment to come in and talk to them about the trip so they can assess what I need, but the most common ones people get are for Hepatitis A & B, Yellow Fever, Typhoid, and depending on what part of Peru, some type of Malaria pill. When I went to Belize in 2008, I got vaccinated for Hep A & B as well as Typhoid. I'm set for Hep A & B, but unfortunately the Typhoid vaccination is only good for 2 years, so I'll likely need a booster for that, and also the vaccination for Yellow Fever (which is spread most commonly via mosquitoes). Morgan was doing a little research on the CDC's website, and found that Malaria pills generally aren't needed for the areas of Peru we will be in. The lady at Passport Health pointed out to me that since the Typhoid vaccinations are only good for 2 years, I may as well wait until a little bit closer to the trip in case I do any more traveling in the near future. So, that will likely be put off until the end of July/beginning of August.

I was also talking to Adam yesterday (the friend taking the longer trip) and we realized that we're going to be in Cuzco on the same day! We'll be just arriving, and he'll just have gotten back the night before from the Inca Trail. Details will be worked out later, but it's going to be cool bumping into a friend in a foreign country. If we get lucky, hopefully GAP uses the same hotel for all their trips, which would make it easier for Morgan and I to meet up with him, but who knows. We have 2.5 months to figure out the details.

That's about all I have for now. I'm hoping to get to Gander Mountain at some point this weekend to do some research on some of the supplies I mentioned above, but I'm also trying to prepare to move next week (I get the keys to my new apartment a week from tomorrow), and will be spending most of Saturday in Bloomington because one of my favorite bands, cornmeal, is playing not 1, but 2 concerts in town that day! Being busy sure beats being bored :)

Until next time,

Ryan

How the trip came to be

Very similar to Belize, this trip started with my buddy Adam having an idea. He wanted to see all the sites Peru had to offer, and ultimately hike the Inca Trail. Unfortunately, he wanted to take a 15 day trip, and I just do not have that kind of vacation time. Another friend of ours, Brian, who Adam had also pitched this trip to, came to me and asked if I wanted to try and do a shorter trip (like me, he also did not have enough vacation time for a 15 day trip). I started doing research, and started to get really excited about the idea of hiking the Inca Trail, while skipping out on a few of the other sites Adam was planning on seeing. Unfortunately, due to some unforeseen circumstances, Brian informed me he would not be able to do the shorter trip either.

I was too excited at this point to give up though, and tried shopping the trip around to some other friends. While everyone thought it was a very cool idea, no one could really commit to going with me. At this point, I turned to facebook to see if I could find any friends interested in taking this trip with me that I may not have thought to have asked. An old Camp Wise friend, Morgan, contacted me saying she was seriously interested in going. We continued looking into things together, finally decided we were 100% set on doing this trip, and officially booked it on Thursday, June 3rd.

In the confirmation email I received, it was revealed that getting a permit for the Inca Trail wasn't 100% guaranteed since they had previously purchased permits for others who had already signed up. It went on to say that they would know within 48 hours if they could get us permits or not. On Saturday, June 5th, I called GAP Adventures (the company we booked the trip through) and was informed they were unable to obtain the permits for us. I was then given three options:
1. In place of hiking the official Inca Trail, we could hike the Lares Trek, a slightly shorter hike, but more off the beaten path, which includes much more interaction with local villages and wildlife in the area. At the end of the hike, we spend an evening in the city of Aguas Calientes, then take a bus to Machu Picchu the morning the rest of our group gets there to take the official tour.
2. While everyone else was hiking the Inca Trail, we could stay in Cuzco, and do as we pleased, seeing what else the city had to offer.
3. Receive a full refund on the deposit that had already been charged to our credit card.

Option 2 was completely unacceptable to me. The big draw to this trip for me was to challenge myself and hike the Inca Trail. I was torn between hiking the alternate Lares Trek or calling the trip off. I had put so much effort into this trip at this point, that it would be extremely painful to cancel it, but at the same time, I was worried about feeling ripped off not being able to go on the "official" Inca Trail, but take an alternate hike. The people at GAP were telling me that some people actually prefer the Lares Trek, but I was skeptical that they were simply trying to make a sales pitch so they wouldn't lose my money. However, I went to the internet and started researching the Lares Trek, and all the testimonials people wrote about it were extremely positive. It's a lot less congested than the Inca Trail (which has 500 new hikers entering it every day), plus you camp right outside of local villages and get to interact with the people who live there.

After reading these testimonials, as well as watching some video blogs documenting the trek on youtube, I was sold on still going and doing the Lares Trek. After sharing the information I had found with Morgan, she was still on board as well, so we contacted GAP on Monday, June 7th, letting them know we were fine with hiking the Lares Trek, making the trip 100% official!


Back when we were teenagers, and still campers at Camp Wise, lots of us always used the term "CW4Life!" For the most part, the same group of us were there every single year, and we truly grew up together over the summers spent at camp. This Peru vacation came very close to falling apart until Morgan, a member of the CW Family, stepped in to take the adventure with me. It may be 13 years since the last summer I spent at camp, but the friendships made there still live on. CW truly is for life!

Another adventure begins...

Two years ago, with a month's notice, I found myself in Belize with my good friend Adam, on an amazing vacation filled with Mayan Ruins, cave tubing, and even a little snorkeling. This was my first experience traveling internationally (unless you include Canada), and I was instantly hooked.

Unfortunately, I have not traveled internationally since. However, as of Monday, June 7th 2010, I am officially booked to go on a trip to Peru to hike the Lares Trek through the Andes Mountains and to see the ruins of Machu Picchu, The Lost City of the Incas. The Lares Trek is a 20.5 mile hike covered over the course of 3 days. 20.5 may not sound very far, especially for a 3 day hike. However, factor in that at the highest point of the hike, we'll be 14927.8 feet (2.8 miles) above sea level, and that hike becomes a lot more serious.

The trip itself isn't until the end of August. There's still lots of planning and research to do, and supplies to buy. I'm just excited to be going on another adventure, and wanted to share this with you all.

The meat of this blog won't come until the trip itself arrives, but check back in every once and a while until then as more developments are made in the planning stages.

Until next time,

Ryan