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
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
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
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
Friday, June 18, 2010
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
Ryan
Thursday, June 17, 2010
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
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
Friday, June 11, 2010
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!
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!
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
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
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
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