If you missed the first installment to this, check it out here.
Jan. 4, 2003
. . . a friend who rubs your shoulders after you've just thrown up on his foot (while having to sit next to me in my post-vomit state on a bus for 12 more hrs - is that a true test of friendship or what? And this from some one who I'd just met less than a week ago!). FYI, general propensity for motion sickness AND high altitude climbing is a terrible combo
. . . being catapulted from the bus bathroom -- while washing the skirt involved in the above- mentioned throw up incident -- and flung out onto the aisle with your skirt in your hand (See, it could have worse, I could have actually been ON the toilet when it all went down, so here's to that)
. . . a hot bowl of soup and nice strong massage after a hard day's hike (who would have expected one of the other women in the tour group to be into shiatsu massage??!!)
. . . falling asleep by 9pm on New Year's Eve and sleeping like the dead (we figured it was at least New Year's in Sweden already so it was all the same thing -- some of the guys in our tour group were from Sweden)
. . . a big wad of cocoa leaves to chew on when you're fighting altitude sickness (I actually needed a constant wad in my mouth to keep me going). For those that aren't in the know, cocoa leaves are the precursor to cocaine. I hear that although the leaves themselves are only a mild stimulant (and great for fatigue, vomiting, and pretty much whatever ails you), apparently studies do show that a tiny amount of cocaine can be found in your blood stream just after chewing. So I can now honestly say that I've tried coke before.
. . . a few meters of flat ground when all you've been doing is climbing and climbing for days (I was at the point where even a step or two was welcome)
. . . standing on top of a 4200 m (over 16,000 ft!!) peak that you'vejust climbed and knowing that there's nowhere else to go that day but down (it ended up being a steep and scary down hill but oh well)
. . . standing of top of a 4200 m peak and knowing you climbed it (i had gone too far to go back at this point. Believe me, I considered it)
. . . standing on top of a 4200 m peak and looking back at the narrow ledge you just crossed to get there (I had to stretch this one, dudes, because in reality, I climbed this thing and then promptly headed down because it was raining and f---ing freezing)
. . . wrapped in blankets with a cup of tea at 3800 meters, gazing at the stars, trying to pool our collective constellation knowledge (at this height, it feels as if you could practically reach out and touch the sparkly things but that could have been the cocoa leaves)
. . . catching the first sight of Machu Picchu from above at sunrise and thinking that maybe hiking for 4 days and waking up at 3:45 that morning might have been worth it after all.
And all this in one week, too! It's been absolutely crazy, definitely a week of extremes. I don't know when I've been more miserable. I can barely walk. I'm covered in bug bites (despite covering myself in insect repellant every day). I have a strange infection on my toe. I've thrown up three times in the last week because I've never been at such high altitudes before, let alone hiked extensively at it. But never mind all that! It's been absolutely amazing! I'm telling you - you have to come here at least once in your lifetime. You won't want to do the trek more than once in your life. That's enough to kill you. And if I were to give you one piece of advice, its to maybe consider the porters for your gear. Yeah, you feel a little bad seeing this little guys hauling ten times their weight in gear. But now that I think of it (too late for me of course) , better them than you, right?
But the ruins were . . . I don't know what I could say that wouldn't make me sound corny. They're huge, for one thing. I got lost in them a couple of times just wandering around. Even with other tourists milling around, they're peaceful. If there are such things are spiritual places in the world, this is one of them. And to think that someone built them hundreds of years ago, it's inspiring to think about. I suppose you could appreciate it without doing the 4 day hike (you can take a train) but I don't think it's the same thing. It's nice to sweat a little for it. Or a lot, in my case. ;) Plus the hike is spectacular in it's own sense. Come on, you're surrounded by mountains and waterfalls and rivers. How could it not be?
Anyway, I'll stop now. I'm back in civilization again. In a little town called Cópocabana in Bolivia. Right near the Peruvian border. It's right next to one of the of the highest lakes (and one of South America's largest) in the world (4000 m - I'm used to the altitude now), Lake Tititaca. My friend Daniel is going to meet me here tomorrow. I got here this morning and have decided to not do much of anything all day. Just recover. Wait for the soreness in my feet to go away. I just saw the most gorgeous sunset. . . did I mention this place is up in the mountains near a large lake?
No comments:
Post a Comment