In the Footsteps of the Incas: From Mountains to Jungle to Ancient Ruins
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DouglasE · 10-27-2009, 08:32 PM

In the Footsteps of the Incas: From Mountains to Jungle to Ancient Ruins

Sneak Peek photo:

The very first conversation I had with my boyfriend, Craig, was discussing how I would love to go hiking to see Machu Picchu. He was so excited by that. It turns out he is a hiker kind of a guy. He had recently gone hiking in the Swiss Alps and walks in Ireland.

I never expected that 10 months later the two of us would be exploring Peru. I honestly did not know much about Peru except for some incredible video footage seen on TV travel shows like Samantha Brown’s Passport to Latin America. I saw images of the mist lifting from the Andes and I was mesmerized.

Fast forward a bit and I have found myself in a long distance relationship. Craig lives in the heart of Illinois and I live in Philadelphia. If you told me a year ago I would be dating a guy who lived over 700 miles away I would have told you that you were mental. What I didn’t count on was meeting the right guy on so many different levels. Pretty soon after we spent a long weekend together in NYC Craig suggested that we take a vacation together hiking the Andes. Now, my former self would have questioned going on such a journey so soon after meeting someone. 2009 I wanted to leap at the chance. Go figure! My biggest problem was money. It always is. I told him financially there was no way I would be able to undertake such a venture. His response was, “No problem. I’ll pay your way for the most part. You pay what you can.” I told him I would think about it. Why hesitate, you ask? I have a fierce independent streak. I just didn’t like the idea of someone else footing the bill. Then I thought some more. When would I have the opportunity to do something like this? I wasn’t sure. I had a talk with my roommate Tristan (We share a two bedroom flat on the third floor of a house). He said I was crazy. There are other ways in which I could contribute. He said after a full day’s hike a back and leg massage would definitely be worth quite a bit of money. Why not think of other ways to “pay your share”? He made a good point.

Next thing I knew we were researching various tour companies. What we discovered is that it would be best if we tailored our own trip. Basically, I did a ton of research to come up with a trip which we could afford (not much), good quality, and flexibility. Due to work demands I determined that I could only be away for about 10 or 11 days.

The day prior to my departure was spent in preparation. Why does packing always seem to take longer than I anticipate? Months earlier I had made a packing list. It gave me plenty of time to add things I might have forgotten. I was able to pack everything into 1 9x21x14 bag and 1 back pack. I was able to pack everything except my little bottle of DEET insect repellent. It just would NOT fit into my 1 quart Ziploc bag. Ugh!

Due to the nature of our trip I insisted we be able to NOT check any luggage. Our itinerary has us constantly on the move. If the airlines were to loose our luggage then they would never be able to return it until our trip was over. Additionally, we would be using trains, planes, buses, taxis, all manner of transportation. We needed to travel light to be easily mobile.

Tristan is a night owl and when I left our place in the wee hours of the morning he was amazed at how light I was traveling. “That’s it!?! A big backpack and a smaller one?” I was using a convertible carry-on that had straps so it could function as a backpack and are able to be tucked away when need be.

The hours leading up to my departure involved my usual restlessness. I had significant trouble sleeping but I managed to get more hours in than I thought I would. I probably had about six hours of fitful sleep.

My finances proved to be in better shape than I anticipated. Ironically, I ended up being prepared to purchase my plane tickets months before Craig. I found an excellent fare and booked as soon as I saw the fares start to climb. In doing research I discovered flights from the US to Lima Peru all tended to arrive at the same time. Craig was not able to book his flight until several months later. As a result we took separate flights to Lima with arrivals within one hour of each other. When all is said and done I ended up paying 85-90% of my share of the trip after all.

NEXT: What do you mean you have no idea what happened to that bag!?! OR If his head wasn’t attached he would have lost that too.

LLaffinPlace · 10-27-2009, 09:28 PM

Happening upon this thread saved me from sending you a PM asking how the trip to Peru went. So I am very excited to see that you are starting a TR, Douglas!

The comment about all the different forms of transportation sounded eerily familiar to me....

Anyway, sounds like you are off to a great start. I traveled to Greece with much less stuff than I thought I would, but I was grateful for everything I did NOT bring with me.

And I am blown away by you laying out your own trip. That seems very brave to me.

The teaser for the next post sounds a bit ominous! But I am looking forward to hearing all about this trip.

DouglasE · 10-27-2009, 10:28 PM

Larry,

I think it was Labor Day weekend of 2004 when I was visiting friends in Chicago that I discovered the joys of traveling light. Once you've gone that route you will never go back again.

Of course, these days with airlines doing business the "a la carte" method more and more people are traveling with only carry-ons to save money with the fees that are charged for checked luggage. Now I'm finding the problem is that today's planes are not designed with everyone traveling with only carry-ons. Consequently the overhead bins are filled to the brim. Depending on when you board the plane you run the risk of not being able to bring your bag along even if you had followed the airline guidelines.

As far as the whole do-it-yourself vacationing bit goes it made expenses significantly less. On the flip side it required me to think several steps ahead and constantly planning for what is coming up next. Yes, as you might have guessed this leads to a modicum of stress.

Spoiler alert: Since you are reading this it is a little obvious that even though I organized everything myself I did end up arriving home in one piece on the day planned. I did not make a detour investigating the wonders of the Peruvian penal system even though there was a moment in Lima when I really wanted to behave in a way that could have landed me in jail.

lauriep · 10-28-2009, 02:50 AM

Great start, Douglas. I've been so waiting for this one!

**chezp** · 10-28-2009, 03:13 AM

I'm so glad you've started this report Douglas - you know from my various reminding e-mails how much I've been looking forward to reading all about this.

**Colexis Mom** · 10-28-2009, 08:52 AM

Great start Douglas!

Nimros · 10-28-2009, 10:18 AM

Nice beginning - I'm anxious to see how this trip turns out. (Now I have to back-track and read about your 'French Kiss'....)

goofysdtr · 10-28-2009, 03:56 PM

Glad to see you've started a TR on this trip, Douglas. Sorry that something obviously goes against the plans, but I can't wait to hear about somebody almost losing their head!

Mauimouse · 10-28-2009, 06:23 PM

Great start, looking forward to reading more.

BritDisFan · 10-29-2009, 03:17 AM

I'm really looking forward to your TR, I've always wanted to go to Peru.

DouglasE · 10-30-2009, 10:14 AM

Friday, October 9, 2009

This is travel day. The plan is to fly from Philadelphia International Airport to Houston. At Houston I have a scheduled 5 hour layover. From Houston it is on to Lima, Peru arriving around 11:30 pm. These flights are all via Continental Airlines. Sometime around 4 am I have a flight leaving Aeropuerto Internacional Jorge Chavez in Lima for Juliaca. Juliaca is the airport that is closest to Lake Titicaca which is my first destination in Peru. It didn’t make sense to get a hotel room in Lima considering you are supposed to arrive at the airport hours ahead of your flight anyway. We just decided we would hang out at the airport and rest. Besides it saves us a bunch of money this way.

Everything went according to plan as I took public transportation from my house to the airport. I used one of those self serve kiosks to check myself in and get a boarding pass. For some reason with my flight I was not allowed to do this online. Regardless, I got through security quickly and walked over to my departure gate. On my way, I happened to notice a monitor showing the nation’s weather. I saw a big band of rain storms that stretched across much of the middle part of the nation. Thank goodness Philadelphia was all clear. It’s early in the morning and my flight is probably one of the first to depart today so we are able to board early. It’s a good thing too because what I notice about today’s patterns of behavior is that it now takes longer to get passengers situated. It’s all due to the new “a la carte” way of doing business. With airlines charging for checked luggage most people are trying to travel with only carry-on luggage. The current crop of planes is not designed for this. Ever since they started this trend the overhead bins are always packed to the gills and it becomes a challenge to try and fit everyone’s bags up there. In fact, due to the order of calling passengers to board I was one of the last passengers called. I think my bag had one of the last spaces to be put into an overhead bin. Eventually everyone is seated, bags are stowed away and we are up, up, and away.

Remember those rain storms I told you about? Well, it turns out that my destination, Houston, is experiencing severe thunderstorms as we try to approach. The winds are over 25 miles per hour. The entire airport has closed down. My flight gets diverted to New Orleans, Louisiana. I have a slight case of panic. You can not control Mother Nature. There is nothing anyone can do about how long severe thunderstorms last. Yes, I have a 5 hour layover in Houston, but what if that isn’t long enough. With Houston closed, there will now be a big back up of flights. Will my flight leave for Lima in time for me to make my flight to Juliaca? Stress!!! I decide these are all things beyond my control. I did have a cushion of a layover so stop worrying. I’ll just deal with whatever life throws at me. We land in New Orleans and refuel because we didn’t have enough fuel to take this little detour and then go on to Houston. While in New Orleans we receive word that Houston has reopened for business. My plane is in NOLA for about 1-1/2 hours and we are able to be on our way to Houston.

In New Orleans I call Craig to let him know of all the problems that I’m encountering. I figured he would need to know why I might not be there at Lima to meet him since my flight was originally scheduled to be in Lima before his. While on the phone he tells me that there was a snafu on his end and he has to go through security as we speak and to leave a message on his voicemail. I arrive in Houston and call Craig again to give him an update. My flight for Lima is scheduled to leave on time. My problem has been solved but he presents a different problem. To understand you need to have some background information. Craig had two pairs of hiking boots. In order to save me some money he offered to let me use one of his for this trip. I had tried them out on a previous visit to Illinois and they fit like a glove. One of the bonuses of this relationship is that we basically wear the same size clothing and can borrow each other’s stuff. He was bringing a pair of hiking boots for me in a shopping bag that also contained an umbrella and a couple of other minor things. In this phone call he informs me that he doesn’t know what happened to that bag. It got lost somehow along the way. “What do you mean you don’t know where it is?” “Did you leave it at the gate?” “Did you leave it x,y,z?!?!” He had absolutely no idea what happened. He was clueless as to how he lost it and could only say that he’s not used to carrying all of this stuff around. The whole reason he had to go through security before is that he was busy filing a missing item report and trying to backtrack to try and find the bag. So now I am about to go on an adventure trek climbing mountains and going through jungle without hiking boots. I did have a pair of sturdy casual shoes on. I guess that will just have to do. I told him I would see him in Lima and we’ll just carry on. Truth be told, at this point I was fuming a bit. I’m the type of person who is always checking to make sure I have everything. Every once in a while I’ll check to make sure I have my wallet, keys, and phone on me throughout the day. So for me, I just didn’t get the whole one minute I had the bag and the next minute I didn’t. But dating is all about learning about the other person. Despite this little mistake, I know my boyfriend is sweet, kind, and generous.

On the flight from Houston to Lima I have a much easier time finding space for my bag. One nice thing about all of this flying is I got to get caught up on movies I hadn’t gotten the chance to see. I saw the movies “Ray” and “Up”. Both were super duper! This is one improvement in the airline industry. Years ago you would only be able to see “B” movies on planes. These movies were wonderful! I had selected an aisle seat. While it makes for easy access to the bathroom, the downside is you are very aware of the flight attendant traffic that seemed almost constant on this flight. I was only able to catch a wink of sleep here or there. I basically gave up on it because if they weren’t serving a meal, they were serving a drink, or a snack.

My arrival to Lima was on time. Managing my way through customs was easy and hassle free. There were several kiosks providing currency exchange and I exchanged $60 worth of USD and a ten euro note I had left over from my trip to France. I was saving those ten euros for my return to Europe, but I needed every little cent I could get my hands on for this trip and the euro is more powerful than the dollar. Lima’s airport is very clearly signed in both Spanish and English. Even though it’s clearly signed I walked right pass the boarding pass area to find the area for domestic departures. In Peru they have this little thing called departure tax. You have to pay a departure tax prior to getting to your gate. It was at the departure tax window that she asked for my boarding pass and I discovered I had to turn around and go downstairs and get my pass. LAN airline has different restrictions on baggage and I had to check my one bag because it was over 8 kilos. Well, at least I wouldn’t be fighting for space on the overhead bins this time! With boarding pass and passport in hand I pay my departure tax of $5.80. I look around for Craig. There is no sign of him anywhere. While trying to get to the domestic gates I had a little conversation with the gate keepers. They were very friendly and helpful. For some reason they were surprised that my Spanish skills were so small. I guess my pronunciation is good so they figured that since the few words I know sound less like an American that I should have the vocabulary and grammar to match. Sorry, kids! One of the gate keepers informs me that the domestic gates do not open until 1:30 am. I just waited in a food court area for well over an hour wondering where Craig could be. There is a limited area where you can hang out if you are waiting for the domestic departures.

NEXT: Where is Craig!?! It has been over an hour and half since his plane arrived and there is no sign of him.