I am lucky enough to have the time this summer to flit off to Peru for 5 weeks, so I'm taking it! Thanks to my mama and Piel Canela, her thriving fair trade import business, my Brother and I get to celebrate her *cough* 38th birthday with her in her homeland. Bobby has already been down there for a month doing an immersion program in Cusco, so we already have a built in tour guide when we get to that portion of the itinerary. The plan is to visit Lima, Huaraz, and Trujillo in the first few weeks. Matty will be joining us for the final two weeks as we explore Cusco and the Sacred Valley, hike Machu Picchu (and Huayna Picchu? still psyching myself up for that terrifying ascent), and visit Arequipa and the Colca Canyon. For those of you playing along at home, I've attatched a map.
Packing for Peru has been an endeavor. Contrary to my daily approach towards the world, I am a Type A traveller. I think I just forget that other countries have stores too. Also, the procrastination (yes, that persists through all 8 of my personalities) means that eBay is either off the table, or that I am praying to the FedEx gods that 3-5 days means 2. Fortunately the camera cases I ordered came in yesterday, and my Olia has graciously loaned me her winter coat.
For those of you who aren't familiar with the geography of Peru, it is located in the Southern Hemisphere, so it is winter there right now. However, the average daytime temperatures are in the high 60's right now, so their winter is like Oregon July. But what about the winter coat, you ask? As soon as the sun sets the temperatures drop to slightly above freezing. So my packing list looks like this:
Helly Hanson jacket
hot pink two-piece swim suit
silk weight long underwear
SPF 50 sunblock
gloves and chullo (alpaca hat, the warmest of warm)
tank tops
I'm erring on the side of being cold, to be safe, since I'm cold when it's 67 degrees out.
Also, I am taking every precaution not to get altitude sickness, because that can put a damper on a trip pretty quickly from what I've read. Huaraz, a city in the North of Peru, is at an elevation of 3,052 meters! I'm just messing with you, meters aren't real. It's 10,000 feet. And Cusco will be over 11,000 ft. We'll actually be descending to Machu Picchu, which I did not discover before researching, so don't feel bad. It's only at 8,000 ft. Sorry Denver. But as far as I have read, I will be chewing coca leaves before I even get on that plane to Cusco, and chugging water like nobody's business. I have been training for this hike for DAYS, nothing is getting in my way!
Procrastination time is over, I have sufficiently pumped myself full of adrenaline by blogging with an empty backpack. It's time.
More blogging please.
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