viva el peru!
before you start saying things like “what a good person you
are” and “how wonderful that you’re helping people”, let’s get one thing
straight- this was not a mission trip. i know, i know. i’m a bad person… but
i'm a bad person with one bucket list item crossed off! once i was accepted as
a missionary to nepal, i realized that my ability to just jet around the world
on fabulous vacations was about to come to an end. i also realized that if i
want to get to some of my bucket list items, i need to do it now. i have
saved up some money just for this purpose, and this week #1 is officially
completed.
what an experience.
this was my first foray into the continent of south america and what a foray it
was. peru is absolutely beautiful- not as “undeveloped” as some of the places
i’ve been, but still rough enough to be up my alley. funny, but the older i get
the less i want the luxury experience and the more i want to immerse myself
into the true local culture and local way of life. i even feel a little “jipped”
when the hotel is too fancy. not a problem on this trip. the hotels were clean
and had all the amenities (well, except hot water in the second one) but still
simple and unassuming. 
the first place we stayed was below the town of cusco, in
urubamba, or the “sacred valley” (in the incan language of quechua). it touted spa services and we were
exhausted after 2 days of travel, so brian and i decided to book
massages to relax and unwind, and prepare ourselves for hiking machu picchu.
really- you need loose muscles to make that hike. we considered it a medical
necessity and not an indulgence. :0) we
needed to be done early enough to get ready for our tour group dinner, so the
front desk arranged for 2 massage therapists to do them- his at 4:30p and mine
at 5p. when i arrived for mine, the girl met me at the door to the massage
room, cracked it open, and ushered me inside, whispering, “okay, senorita.
okay.” and pointing me to the table. right next to brian’s. here we were, in a
tiny room that resembled a potting shed in the back of the hotel, and evidently
we were getting a couple’s massage. now, for those of you that don’t know this,
brian is one of my best friends. has been for 18 years. we have never, ever
(nor do we plan to) seen each other naked. ewwwwwww (sorry brian- but i’m sure you
will join me in that sentiment!). it would be like seeing your brother/sister
naked. it’s just not necessary. so the girl backs out of the room, the guy
keeps doing brian’s massage, and i am left to disrobe and crawl onto the other
bed. to his credit, he kept his head turned the other way, but that didn’t
muffle the snickering. the rest of the massage was pretty ridiculous. he was
laying on what looked like a wood pallet with a pillow on it, and my bed was
about 4 feet long. they were no more than 4 inches apart, max, and my massage therapist had
to keep pushing my bed side to side to get around me during the massage. at one
point she got stuck in a eucalyptus tree in the corner near the head of my bed
and the rustling and sounds of a struggle nearly drowned out our laughing. it was not the most relaxing massage i've
ever had, but it was certainly the most random!
interesting little fun fact: peru grows over 3,000 varieties
of potatoes. (see? i listened during the tour).
machu picchu. wow. if this isn’t on your bucket list, you
need to put it there. it was absolutely spectacular. those incas were some
truly innovative and resourceful people, and the ruins are amazing. you can
only access the ancient city by foot- oh how I wish I had the time to hike in
via the inca trail! there are no roads for cars or buses. we took
an excursion train to the town below, a bus to the trailhead, and then hiked the rest of the way in. when
we got to the top of the stairs (endless stairs), the view took my breath away.
well, it could have been the nearly 8,000 foot elevation, too. either way, it
is something i will never forget. as a group we had a 2 hour tour and walked
the ruins. then we had lunch on our own and were left to explore. about 8 of us
decided to head back up the mountain and head down the backside on a narrow
mountain path that hugs the cliff face and leads to the “inca bridge”. we had
to sign in and out at that trailhead and found out later that this is the area
where the majority of deaths occur from plummeting down the mountainside. i guess this is so they
know where to start looking when you don’t show up at the end of the day. the bridge was terrifying and thankfully
closed. i am phobic of heights but am crazier (or more stubborn) than i am chicken,
so would have found it necessary to try to cross it, had it been open. chances
are i would have gotten stranded partway across, paralyzed and unable to go
forward or turn around. i am SO happy i wasn’t allowed to find out. it was about
2 foot wide and made of stacked logs spanning a 20 or 30 yard long section of cliff
face. cliff to the left, nothing to the right. this led to steps carved into
the stone of the cliff, leading back up the opposite mountain. all of this Is
about 1,000 feet above the valley/river below. i think the moment we reached
that bridge was the highlight of this trip. have i mentioned that i love my
life?!
there was so much more to this trip that i don’t have time
or space to get into, in detail… there was shopping at a market where the locals
shop, eating alpaca (tastes like lamb) and guinea pig (i liked mouse better),
touring ruins in cusco, visiting the “white Christ” which is a replica of the
one in rio, brazil, watching shows featuring traditional dances and music,
having dinner in a local family’s home, visiting a shop where they taught us
how to distinguish clothing made from “baby alpaca” vs. adult alpaca or “maybe
alpaca” (the baby is much softer and cool to the touch), participating in a
cooking demonstration and then getting to 
eat the results (called causa), going
to a local cemetery, witnessing a blessing by a kichwa shaman, touring the
catholic cathedral, losing my credit card (ugh), doing a city wide tour in lima- all amazing (except losing my credit card). peru has a
rich culture and warm, friendly people. 
