Megan took this super cute pic of my parents on the Inca Trail :)
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Saturday, November 10, 2012
The Inca Trail
Now that I'm at home with a cup of tea I'm ready to blog about my experience hiking the Inca Trail. Overall, my general impression is that it was awesome! It was really challenging, but maybe not as hard as I thought it might be. The hiking was definitely my favorite part of the trip. And the Andes mountains are beautiful and stunning and the ruins make it almost surreal. It was cool to learn about the history of the Incas and we had cool guides and a cool group. But what wasn't so cool, was the rain, the crowded camping in the mud, and the nasty squat toilets. The whole thing was pretty hardcore for me. I don't really have much experience camping. Granted, we didn't have to carry all of our stuff. (My day pack only weighed 6 kilos.) And the porters set up our tents and the camp. And we had chefs that cooked for us. So actually, it was a really high standard of camping that didn't require us to do much work. But it was still really roughing it for me!
On day one we packed up all our stuff and drove out to the starting point. We had to stand in line to get our permits stamped and approved and then we were off.
(I did a really bad job of taking pictures on this trip and during the hike I was focused on the hike and not on pictures, so sorry they are lacking.)
It started out almost sunny on the first day and we hiked for a while and then stopped for lunch. At lunch time the porters set up a tent with tables and little stools inside so that we could sit down and eat. And the two cooks cooked proper meals, usually with soup and then chicken and rice or something like that. The portions weren't huge (which is good because with the altitude we all had to be careful because it's easy to get sick) but they were hot meals, with tea and instant coffee and plenty to eat. While we were eating lunch on the first day it started to rain, and it rained the rest of the day. Hard. We were all pretty much soaking wet. And when we got to where we would camp for the night, the tents were pretty much set up in the mud and everything was dirty and wet. There was no place to hang out, you just went into your little 2 person tent and had to stay there until dinner. And none of your stuff could touch the side of the tent because if it did the condensation would make it soaking wet. I learned this lesson the hard way.
My first night, our tent was sort of set up on a slope and I kept sliding down towards the door of the tent. And my sleeping bag was touching the end of the tent near the door, which meant it got soaking wet. At first it was just the outside of the sleeping bag that was wet, and I was like "That's weird," totally not understanding what was happening. I tried to ignore it and go to sleep. But then I woke up and realized that the inside of my sleeping bag was wet too. I remembered hoping that it was 5am, and I could just get up like 30 min. before everyone else and get out of and away from this wet sleeping bag, but noooooo, it was only midnight. I was horrified. By midnight the whole bottom third of my sleeping bag was soaking wet and for 5 hours I just laid there curled up in a little ball, freezing, trying to figure out what to do. I had a sleep sheet so I got in that and put my feet and bottom of the sleep sheet in a garbage bag and then put that into my wet sleeping bag, but it didn't really help. Everything was wet and cold. I was miserable. I think that was probably the worst night I've ever had. Just sleeping in a tent on the ground was traumatizing enough for me, and now I was also soaking wet and freezing. It was the worst.
And I didn't know how, in the pouring rain, my sleeping bag was ever going to dry. So I was thinking that I was going to have a wet sleeping bag for the next 3 nights and by 5am I was like, on the verge of tears. I don't think I slept at all that night. First thing in the morning, I told one of our guides that my sleeping bag was soaking wet and he said the porters would dry it and take care of it for me. I was so relieved. When they made camp the next night they held my sleeping bag over a fire/stove in the kitchen tent until it was dry. I was so thankful! The porters are my heroes! And after that I made sure not to let anything else touch the side of the tent ever again. The porters gave us a tarp to put down which Megan sorted of folded up the sides of our tent and that helped a lot. None of the other nights were nearly as bad as that first night... which was hell.
The second day was the hardest day. There were lots of big, uneven steps going up. It was a big UP day. We reached the highest point of the hike at 13,800 feet. This day is mostly a blur for me. I think the altitude was getting to me. I remember wanting to just hike by myself, and not have a bunch of people behind me, making me feel like I had to go fast. Also, I hadn't slept, so I was grumpy. I just wanted to be left alone to go at my own pace. And my own pace was pretty slow. I didn't feel like I was having a hard time, but I was definitely going slow. Megan and my dad were much faster, but I didn't feel like pushing myself and making myself miserable trying to keep up with them, so I just went slow and my mom stayed with me most of the time. When we got to the top of the pass it started pouring rain. Like, the second we got up there, seriously, pouring rain. I wanted to take a picture or rest for a second, but you couldn't. It was too windy and rainy and you just had to start down. And the decent was pretty rough. Now it was the big uneven steps going downhill for about 1.5 hours and the stones were all slippery in the rain. Again, we went really slow. Some other people went fast, and I think almost everyone fell at some point. I know I did and landed on my knee, but it wasn't that bad. My mom fell on her elbow and it got all scraped up and was bleeding and ended up getting infected. That was no good. My dad fell and hit his head so hard that people were asking him how many fingers they were holding up and what day of the week it was. Doh! Luckily, we were all essentially fine. That night we got to camp kind of early, but it was pouring rain and once more there was nothing to do but hang out in the stupid tent and not touch anything.
The third day we hiked for 10.5 hours. It was a long day but it wasn't really that hard and that day was really beautiful. The lunch that day was epic and the cooks made so many courses and even a cake. It was out of control. I don't even know how they made all that with just camping kitchen equipment. They were really awesome. But after I ate I started feeling a little sick. The whole second half of the day my stomach did not feel right. We got to camp that night at 530pm and I just went to bed and skipped dinner.
The next day we had to get up at 3:30am. I don't know if I've ever gotten up that early in my life. It was no fun and I wasn't feeling great. In theory, we got up that early so that we could get to the Sun Gate at Machu Picchu in time to see the sunrise, but we totally didn't. (The real reason was so that the porters could break down the camp and be on the porter train by 5am.) We were standing in line to get on the trail when the sun rose and we still had to hike about an hour to get to the Sun Gate. The last little bit before the Sun Gate was almost like a steep staircase/rock ladder. It was really steep, but it was pretty short. And when we got to the Sun Gate it was clear and we had amazing views of Machu Pichu. (The day before and the day after it was all foggy and rainy and the groups didn't get good views at all so we were really lucky.) I still wasn't feeling exactly right, and I had woken up at 330am, so I was cranky, but I was really glad to be there. After taking a ton of pictures we walked down into Machu Picchu and spent the rest of the day there exploring the ruins. Most of us were exhausted by this point though, and I feel like I didn't get as much out of it as I should have. It was also crawling with tourists who had just taken the bus/train up for the day, so it was kind of a shock to go from being in wilderness to being smack in the middle of tons of people, feeling all dirty and tired and out of it.
Like I said, all in all it was a great experience, but it's hard for me to really call that "fun". It was rewarding and challenging and beautiful and historic/educational and I'm so glad I got to do it, and with my family, no less, but it wasn't exactly fun. Heh.
Anyway, here are the rest of my pics:
This is coming in from the Sun Gate
There's my Mom :)
This is the sacred rock. It's a big granite rock that they say is in the shape of the mountain of Machu Picchu. (I think there is probably more to the story of why it's sacred, but I didn't really get all the details.)
Here is a link to all my pics on Flickr, if you want to browse:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/emvee510/sets/72157631977731264/
On day one we packed up all our stuff and drove out to the starting point. We had to stand in line to get our permits stamped and approved and then we were off.
(I did a really bad job of taking pictures on this trip and during the hike I was focused on the hike and not on pictures, so sorry they are lacking.)
It started out almost sunny on the first day and we hiked for a while and then stopped for lunch. At lunch time the porters set up a tent with tables and little stools inside so that we could sit down and eat. And the two cooks cooked proper meals, usually with soup and then chicken and rice or something like that. The portions weren't huge (which is good because with the altitude we all had to be careful because it's easy to get sick) but they were hot meals, with tea and instant coffee and plenty to eat. While we were eating lunch on the first day it started to rain, and it rained the rest of the day. Hard. We were all pretty much soaking wet. And when we got to where we would camp for the night, the tents were pretty much set up in the mud and everything was dirty and wet. There was no place to hang out, you just went into your little 2 person tent and had to stay there until dinner. And none of your stuff could touch the side of the tent because if it did the condensation would make it soaking wet. I learned this lesson the hard way.
My first night, our tent was sort of set up on a slope and I kept sliding down towards the door of the tent. And my sleeping bag was touching the end of the tent near the door, which meant it got soaking wet. At first it was just the outside of the sleeping bag that was wet, and I was like "That's weird," totally not understanding what was happening. I tried to ignore it and go to sleep. But then I woke up and realized that the inside of my sleeping bag was wet too. I remembered hoping that it was 5am, and I could just get up like 30 min. before everyone else and get out of and away from this wet sleeping bag, but noooooo, it was only midnight. I was horrified. By midnight the whole bottom third of my sleeping bag was soaking wet and for 5 hours I just laid there curled up in a little ball, freezing, trying to figure out what to do. I had a sleep sheet so I got in that and put my feet and bottom of the sleep sheet in a garbage bag and then put that into my wet sleeping bag, but it didn't really help. Everything was wet and cold. I was miserable. I think that was probably the worst night I've ever had. Just sleeping in a tent on the ground was traumatizing enough for me, and now I was also soaking wet and freezing. It was the worst.
And I didn't know how, in the pouring rain, my sleeping bag was ever going to dry. So I was thinking that I was going to have a wet sleeping bag for the next 3 nights and by 5am I was like, on the verge of tears. I don't think I slept at all that night. First thing in the morning, I told one of our guides that my sleeping bag was soaking wet and he said the porters would dry it and take care of it for me. I was so relieved. When they made camp the next night they held my sleeping bag over a fire/stove in the kitchen tent until it was dry. I was so thankful! The porters are my heroes! And after that I made sure not to let anything else touch the side of the tent ever again. The porters gave us a tarp to put down which Megan sorted of folded up the sides of our tent and that helped a lot. None of the other nights were nearly as bad as that first night... which was hell.
The second day was the hardest day. There were lots of big, uneven steps going up. It was a big UP day. We reached the highest point of the hike at 13,800 feet. This day is mostly a blur for me. I think the altitude was getting to me. I remember wanting to just hike by myself, and not have a bunch of people behind me, making me feel like I had to go fast. Also, I hadn't slept, so I was grumpy. I just wanted to be left alone to go at my own pace. And my own pace was pretty slow. I didn't feel like I was having a hard time, but I was definitely going slow. Megan and my dad were much faster, but I didn't feel like pushing myself and making myself miserable trying to keep up with them, so I just went slow and my mom stayed with me most of the time. When we got to the top of the pass it started pouring rain. Like, the second we got up there, seriously, pouring rain. I wanted to take a picture or rest for a second, but you couldn't. It was too windy and rainy and you just had to start down. And the decent was pretty rough. Now it was the big uneven steps going downhill for about 1.5 hours and the stones were all slippery in the rain. Again, we went really slow. Some other people went fast, and I think almost everyone fell at some point. I know I did and landed on my knee, but it wasn't that bad. My mom fell on her elbow and it got all scraped up and was bleeding and ended up getting infected. That was no good. My dad fell and hit his head so hard that people were asking him how many fingers they were holding up and what day of the week it was. Doh! Luckily, we were all essentially fine. That night we got to camp kind of early, but it was pouring rain and once more there was nothing to do but hang out in the stupid tent and not touch anything.
The third day we hiked for 10.5 hours. It was a long day but it wasn't really that hard and that day was really beautiful. The lunch that day was epic and the cooks made so many courses and even a cake. It was out of control. I don't even know how they made all that with just camping kitchen equipment. They were really awesome. But after I ate I started feeling a little sick. The whole second half of the day my stomach did not feel right. We got to camp that night at 530pm and I just went to bed and skipped dinner.
The next day we had to get up at 3:30am. I don't know if I've ever gotten up that early in my life. It was no fun and I wasn't feeling great. In theory, we got up that early so that we could get to the Sun Gate at Machu Picchu in time to see the sunrise, but we totally didn't. (The real reason was so that the porters could break down the camp and be on the porter train by 5am.) We were standing in line to get on the trail when the sun rose and we still had to hike about an hour to get to the Sun Gate. The last little bit before the Sun Gate was almost like a steep staircase/rock ladder. It was really steep, but it was pretty short. And when we got to the Sun Gate it was clear and we had amazing views of Machu Pichu. (The day before and the day after it was all foggy and rainy and the groups didn't get good views at all so we were really lucky.) I still wasn't feeling exactly right, and I had woken up at 330am, so I was cranky, but I was really glad to be there. After taking a ton of pictures we walked down into Machu Picchu and spent the rest of the day there exploring the ruins. Most of us were exhausted by this point though, and I feel like I didn't get as much out of it as I should have. It was also crawling with tourists who had just taken the bus/train up for the day, so it was kind of a shock to go from being in wilderness to being smack in the middle of tons of people, feeling all dirty and tired and out of it.
Like I said, all in all it was a great experience, but it's hard for me to really call that "fun". It was rewarding and challenging and beautiful and historic/educational and I'm so glad I got to do it, and with my family, no less, but it wasn't exactly fun. Heh.
Anyway, here are the rest of my pics:
This is coming in from the Sun Gate
There's my Mom :)
This is the sacred rock. It's a big granite rock that they say is in the shape of the mountain of Machu Picchu. (I think there is probably more to the story of why it's sacred, but I didn't really get all the details.)
Here is a link to all my pics on Flickr, if you want to browse:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/emvee510/sets/72157631977731264/
Friday, November 9, 2012
Tricked
The worst thing happened to me in the Amazon. In order to get to our jungle lodge we had to fly into Puerto Maldenado, which is this tiny, barely even an airport, barn type building with birds in it. And then take an hour long bus ride to this little town called Inferno (seriously, the town is called hell.) And the bus ride was along a crazy dirt road and at one point we all had to get off the bus and walk across this wooden bridge that had broken boards in it because if we rode across in the bus we would have probably would have fallen through. Anyway, then we got on this boat and rode 2.5 hours up stream to our jungle lodge. And along the way they'd slow down and go "look at that bird. look at that monkey." And then they went, "look at that family of capybaras."
(It was way humid and steamy and my camera wouldn't focus so these pics suck, but you get the idea, CAPYBARAS!!)
I was excited to see those crazy animals in real life. They were munching on grass with their big buck teeth and didn't care that we were getting closer and closer to them. And then they scampered off. We hadn't even gotten to the jungle lodge and I had already decided this part of the trip had been a success.
So we finally get there and get set up in our bungalow, which is like a hut thing with no real walls, just screen walls to keep out the bugs, a thatched roof and all that. We watch some slide show about the jungle and then it's time for dinner. It's dark by the time it's time for dinner and they do have a couple lights and electricity for a couple hours at night in the dinning area (no electricity in our bungalows). By the time dinner comes I'm hungry because I've been mildly sick for days and hadn't eaten much, just a couple bites here and there. So dinner is a buffet, but you can't really see the food. There's white rice and some kind of meat and peppers dish and like these weird French fry things that they serve at every meal. I try to put just a little but if everything on my plate but I accidentally get too much of the meat. We sit down to eat and I start nibbling at things. I assume I'm eating beef. That's what it looks like. But that's not what it tastes like. I don't know what it tastes like, but suddenly I realize that I'm eating mystery meat so I stop. I eat the rice. I convince my dad to take the rest of the meat off my plate and eat my portion because I feel bad for taking too much and wasting food and I know I can't/won't eat it. Then when we are almost done with dinner someone says that the meat was capybara meat. Ugh, can you believe that??! The biggest rodent in the world. My cute little friends. Ugh. I am almost sick at the table. I guess I made the worst face ever. My mom laughs about this later but at the time everyone knows better than to tease me about it because they can tell I am on the brink of a meltdown. I'm so grossed out. I don't eat any more dinners at the jungle lodge and I don't eat any more of their mystery meat. The amazon experience is pretty much ruined for me. Now it's all just bugs and rain and mud and horror. Ugh. I can't even believe I'm telling you guys this. I should really become a vegetarian.
I only took a few pics in the amazon, one out the window of our bungalow in the pouring rain, a couple if the sketchy-ass boats I had to ride in. (For the record, I am not a fan of small boats and was hating life in that row boat being swarmed by bugs.)
I don't know why I went to the amazon. Well, I do. Someone asked, "Hey, should we go to the amazon?" And in my head I was like, "Yeah, I've never done anything like that, so yeah, we should totally go to the amazon!" Wrong. The amazon is not for me. Now I know.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
(It was way humid and steamy and my camera wouldn't focus so these pics suck, but you get the idea, CAPYBARAS!!)
I was excited to see those crazy animals in real life. They were munching on grass with their big buck teeth and didn't care that we were getting closer and closer to them. And then they scampered off. We hadn't even gotten to the jungle lodge and I had already decided this part of the trip had been a success.
So we finally get there and get set up in our bungalow, which is like a hut thing with no real walls, just screen walls to keep out the bugs, a thatched roof and all that. We watch some slide show about the jungle and then it's time for dinner. It's dark by the time it's time for dinner and they do have a couple lights and electricity for a couple hours at night in the dinning area (no electricity in our bungalows). By the time dinner comes I'm hungry because I've been mildly sick for days and hadn't eaten much, just a couple bites here and there. So dinner is a buffet, but you can't really see the food. There's white rice and some kind of meat and peppers dish and like these weird French fry things that they serve at every meal. I try to put just a little but if everything on my plate but I accidentally get too much of the meat. We sit down to eat and I start nibbling at things. I assume I'm eating beef. That's what it looks like. But that's not what it tastes like. I don't know what it tastes like, but suddenly I realize that I'm eating mystery meat so I stop. I eat the rice. I convince my dad to take the rest of the meat off my plate and eat my portion because I feel bad for taking too much and wasting food and I know I can't/won't eat it. Then when we are almost done with dinner someone says that the meat was capybara meat. Ugh, can you believe that??! The biggest rodent in the world. My cute little friends. Ugh. I am almost sick at the table. I guess I made the worst face ever. My mom laughs about this later but at the time everyone knows better than to tease me about it because they can tell I am on the brink of a meltdown. I'm so grossed out. I don't eat any more dinners at the jungle lodge and I don't eat any more of their mystery meat. The amazon experience is pretty much ruined for me. Now it's all just bugs and rain and mud and horror. Ugh. I can't even believe I'm telling you guys this. I should really become a vegetarian.
I only took a few pics in the amazon, one out the window of our bungalow in the pouring rain, a couple if the sketchy-ass boats I had to ride in. (For the record, I am not a fan of small boats and was hating life in that row boat being swarmed by bugs.)
I don't know why I went to the amazon. Well, I do. Someone asked, "Hey, should we go to the amazon?" And in my head I was like, "Yeah, I've never done anything like that, so yeah, we should totally go to the amazon!" Wrong. The amazon is not for me. Now I know.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Last night in Peru
Maaaaan. I haven't had much if an appetite since the 3rd day of the hike because I got a little sick and was feeling... just not right. I've been eating crackers and rice and not much of anything, skipping meals and whatever although not totally starving myself, still eating some stuff. So it's our last night in Peru and we traveled all day: from the jungle lodge in the amazon, by boat and bus to Puerto Maldanado then by plane to Cuzco and then to Lima. I was finally feeling better and hungry and we found a nice restaurant by the park and I ordered some Peruvian thing trying to eat something fitting on our last night ... and now I'm sick. Meh. My stomach hates me.
I wanted to post some nice summary of the trip or something, but I can't. Maybe tomorrow. For now sleepzzz.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
I wanted to post some nice summary of the trip or something, but I can't. Maybe tomorrow. For now sleepzzz.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Attack of the killer peanuts
We went out to a nice dinner with our group on our last night in Cusco and we ordered one guinea pig so everyone could try it. (I didn't, of course.) But my dad did. Then he started eating this stuffed potato thing that was on the plate and turns out part of what it was stuffed with was peanuts. So my dad got really sick because he's allergic to peanuts. He was rushed away in a cab back to the hotel to be sick the rest of the night.
I ordered shrimp pasta and one beer and when I got back to the hotel I felt really sick. But I was so tired I just slept and woke up feeling a little better. We didn't do much the next day. I was afraid to eat and basically just slept all afternoon/evening/night.
Today we are off to the Amazon and there is no electricity, so no blog posts. But I'll update from Lima and I'll post more pics and more about the inca trail when I get home. <3!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
I ordered shrimp pasta and one beer and when I got back to the hotel I felt really sick. But I was so tired I just slept and woke up feeling a little better. We didn't do much the next day. I was afraid to eat and basically just slept all afternoon/evening/night.
Today we are off to the Amazon and there is no electricity, so no blog posts. But I'll update from Lima and I'll post more pics and more about the inca trail when I get home. <3!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Made it!
I want to post something but I'm so exhausted and out of it that it probably won't make since, buuuuut we made it. It rained every day, hard. I got a busted blood vessel in my eye, which makes me look like an Inca Trail zombie. But I just took a hot shower and we are about to go eat one last time with the group and after a good nights sleep in a real bed things will be all good.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Thursday, November 1, 2012
My little yamas
Actually, it's a llama and a sheep, but I call them my little yamas. Teehee.
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Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Cusco!
There are some really dramatic clouds and quickly changing weather in Cusco. There would be bright sun and then dark clouds, but it hasn't rained yet.
The flight from Lima was only about an hour but we had a really bumpy landing and it made me feel sick. 4 hours later I'm finally starting to feel better, thankfully. They told us not to eat much for dinner because 5/6 hours after arriving the altitude starts to hit you and about 50% of people get sick. (Hope i don't!) We drank some coca tea, which is supposed to help you adjust. It tasted like normal tea and I didn't notice feeling any different.
I was admiring these big fluffy/fuzzy alpaca hats that they sell here (don't worry I'll get a picture of one before I leave) and then my dad ordered alpaca for dinner (and lunch today) and it made me sad. How can you eat this super fluffy animal??! I guess I'm just a picky eater and kind of grossed out by meat. We walked through this market and they has whole pigs hanging and cow eye balls and faces and I could barely even walk by all that. I wish I hadn't gone in there! I know I'm a wimp. And I really don't want to eat guinne pig or fluffy alpacas while I'm here, even though I know I'm supposed to try it. Meh. I'll just stick to trying the local coffee, which is supposed to be delicious.
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Monday, October 29, 2012
Pisco Sour!
We had our first trip meeting and I did not know that I would be hiking through the snow and hail, and that the Mosquitos were that serious and that when we get to the Amazon we are just doing another 7 hour trek. Ffffffffuuuuu!
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The Catacombs
We went to the San Franciscan church and walked through the catacombs and I snuck a picture of one of the bone wells, but the camera on my phone kinda sucks so it didn't come out so great.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
It's always grey in Lima
Maybe the sun comes out in Dec. - Apr., their summer, but for now it's all grey.
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Saturday, October 27, 2012
Here's to hoping...
While I'm in Peru I hope:
-I don't get sick
-My knee doesn't act up
-We have good weather
-We have a great time
-The Giants win the World Series
-Obama wins the election
-I don't get sick
-My knee doesn't act up
-We have good weather
-We have a great time
-The Giants win the World Series
-Obama wins the election
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Portland, Seattle, Vancouver
I realized that I never posted anything about my road trip up to Portland, Seattle and Vancouver. I loved hanging out in Portland! Seattle was way cooler than I remember it. And Vancouver was ... not exactly what I expected, but still great. Here are a few pics:
Russell and Megan's house in Portland is full of cool.
We went to a sweet sculpture garden in Seattle.
We found a great place to hang out and drink beer in Vancouver called Chill Winston.
We went on the cheesy suspension bridge. (Kelley's pic)
We were celebrating Karen's Bday in Vancouver. (P: Kelley)
We rented bikes and rode around the big park in Vancouver.
We had great weather.
This guy was my favorite!
I hope to go back some day.
Russell and Megan's house in Portland is full of cool.
We went to a sweet sculpture garden in Seattle.
We found a great place to hang out and drink beer in Vancouver called Chill Winston.
We went on the cheesy suspension bridge. (Kelley's pic)
We were celebrating Karen's Bday in Vancouver. (P: Kelley)
We rented bikes and rode around the big park in Vancouver.
We had great weather.
This guy was my favorite!
I hope to go back some day.
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Ohhh, the things you do to go to Peru
My next trip is to Peru to hike the Inca Trail and visit the Amazon. Because of the Amazon part, I had to get a Yellow Fever vaccine and Malaria pills. I also had to get a fresh round of Hep. and Typhoid and a flu vaccine. All in all it was about $500 and insurance doesn't cover it.
After taking my 3rd Typhoid pill yesterday, I woke up this morning with a rash all over my stomach. It's really hot in SF today and my apartment is blazing so when I got home I put on shorts and realized that the rash has spread all over my legs. It doesn't itch or hurt, but it's still pretty disturbing. It looks like I have chicken pox or something. I read that a rash and hives are a rare side effect of the Typhoid pills, so I guess I'm just thaaaat lucky.
There's been a lot of anxious preparation for this trip and I'm ready to just get on the plane already! 10 day count down starts now.
After taking my 3rd Typhoid pill yesterday, I woke up this morning with a rash all over my stomach. It's really hot in SF today and my apartment is blazing so when I got home I put on shorts and realized that the rash has spread all over my legs. It doesn't itch or hurt, but it's still pretty disturbing. It looks like I have chicken pox or something. I read that a rash and hives are a rare side effect of the Typhoid pills, so I guess I'm just thaaaat lucky.
There's been a lot of anxious preparation for this trip and I'm ready to just get on the plane already! 10 day count down starts now.
Thursday, May 17, 2012
End of the day Ritual
Sarah took this picture of Kelley and I with our feet up in our hotel room after a day of wandering around New York, and this became a nightly ritual of ours in Paris, as well. I had a yoga teacher end her class with a pose like this and I've adopted it into my travel routine. Highly recommend!
Sunday, May 13, 2012
The books I read on this trip
This book was a little disturbing but definitely worth the 3 Euros I paid for it in a used book shop in Paris.
This one was also kind of a downer, but it will sure make you count your blessings!
I read this one today on the 8.5 hour flight from Paris to Charlotte. And then finished it on the 4.5 hour flight to SF.
Long day of traveling!
Ready to sleeeeeeeep.
I'm going to try to steal/borrow some of Kelley's pics when she posts them in the next few days so stay tuned.
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Our Last Day in Paris
Today was our last day in Paris. Sadness. We went to the Pere Lachaise cemetery then walked through the Marais, ate cheese and crepes and then visited the modern art museum. Another full day! But I think we've managed to see almost everything we wanted to see. (And left to my own devices I'm sure I would have only seen a fraction of these things.) I'm a little worried about the six day work week ahead of me as soon as I get home, but whatever. I'll sleep when I'm dead, or however that saying goes. Last night's birthday dinner at Verjus was definitely one of the best meals of my life and the wine was so so good. It's been a fabulous trip!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Friday, May 11, 2012
My Birthday in Paris
I was afraid I was going to wake up with a hang over on my birthday, but I didn't :D and that's how I know I'm still young, ha! Relatively speaking, I guess.
It was raining this morning so we decided to visit the Musee D'Orsay. I think everyone else in Paris had the same idea because it was so crowded! It got kinda steamy and stuffy in there with so many people and I can't even imagine what it must be like in the peak of the summer. It's a beautiful building and the art was amazing and we had a nice lunch on the 5th floor cafe. But it was a relief to get outside into the fresh air. It was much cooler today, but not at all cold. It was pretty perfect actually.
We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around Montmartre. We checked out the view from the Sacre Coeur.
And then we went to the Espace Dali, which was so cool!
Of course the pictures do not do it justice but hanging out with so much art was a pretty sweet way to spend my birthday.
We wandered around some more and it seems like they do not allow dogs in the parks and gardens, which I kind of love.
I had a macaroon that blew my mind from the cutest little shop.
We popped into a seconf hand English book store and I got a new book for the plane ride home, since I finished the book I was reading, Behind the Beautiful Forevers.
Then we chilled for a bit and had coffee and tea in a little square in front of the Theater L'Odeon.
Tonight we have dinner reservations some place fancy (I can't remember the name right now) and I have to figure out what to wear from the strangeness that is what I packed. Ha!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
It was raining this morning so we decided to visit the Musee D'Orsay. I think everyone else in Paris had the same idea because it was so crowded! It got kinda steamy and stuffy in there with so many people and I can't even imagine what it must be like in the peak of the summer. It's a beautiful building and the art was amazing and we had a nice lunch on the 5th floor cafe. But it was a relief to get outside into the fresh air. It was much cooler today, but not at all cold. It was pretty perfect actually.
We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around Montmartre. We checked out the view from the Sacre Coeur.
And then we went to the Espace Dali, which was so cool!
Of course the pictures do not do it justice but hanging out with so much art was a pretty sweet way to spend my birthday.
We wandered around some more and it seems like they do not allow dogs in the parks and gardens, which I kind of love.
I had a macaroon that blew my mind from the cutest little shop.
We popped into a seconf hand English book store and I got a new book for the plane ride home, since I finished the book I was reading, Behind the Beautiful Forevers.
Then we chilled for a bit and had coffee and tea in a little square in front of the Theater L'Odeon.
Tonight we have dinner reservations some place fancy (I can't remember the name right now) and I have to figure out what to wear from the strangeness that is what I packed. Ha!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
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