Mountains and Memories

A solitary peak, rising from the valley like a soldier’s spear.
Underwater light, reflecting off of and clarifying the coral on the ocean floor.
Granite blocks littering a field like a giant’s toys.
Temples built in honor of gods long gone, still showing the majesty of their creation.
Trails, like snail paths, winding slowly up the mountains before disappearing into the crook between peaks.
Tiny crabs on a black sand beach, dancing across the sand like so many leaves in the wind.

Our amazing sand castle in Puerto Lopez.

We lazed around on the beach in Puerto Lopez for nearly a week, spending Thanksgiving there. We built a sand castle. We made friends with Lola, a town dog who dug up a crab for our amusement and then decided to be our protectress. We took a day trip out to Isla de la Plata, or Island of Silver, also known as the ‘poor man’s Galápagos’ because you can see many of the same animals there for a fraction of the price. We saw lots of blue-footed boobies (and yes, as you can imagine, we had fun with the name!) and black, fork-tailed frigate birds. For a highlight, we went snorkeling for my first time, and I learned once again that fear and reason rarely keep company. (Even with a life jacket and one of the lifesaver rings, I still hyperventilated for 5 minutes or so before Tyler and the guide were able to calm me down enough to put on the snorkel mask. It took another five before I could put my head underwater!) But it was beautiful! We swam with the fish and got some awesome pictures of the turtles, courtesy of Tyler’s waterproof camera. I even managed not to throw up once on our hour-long boat trip out to the island and back.

It was a wonderful place to relax, enjoy the sound of the waves crashing on the shore, and even to see truly pristine beaches. A few miles away from town is a national park, with a gorgeous untouched virgin beach, Los Frailes. The black sand is soft and smooth underfoot, and the only things moving besides the waves are all the tiny little crabs making snowballs out of sand. We loved it.

But all that relaxing meant that we were in poor shape to tackle our last adventure, which was my dream vacation up until we reached Ecuador:

Machu Picchu, from the guardhouse overlooking the city.

Machu Picchu.

You know what it is, you’ve heard the stories, you’ve seen the traditional picture showing the city with the mountain behind it. But there are a few things that surprised me when we arrived.

To begin, did you know it’s in the middle of the JUNGLE?!? In order to get there from Cuzco (we took the lazy man’s route, not knowing if there was space to hike the Inca Trail or not), you can either take the hour-long train, or an hour-and-a-half taxi drive to Ollantaytambo. From there to Aguas Calientes, the cheap option is a six-hour van ride followed by a two-hour hike, or you can choose the expensive option, which is the two-hour train. There are no roads into Aguas Calientes, as it is surrounded by steep mountains and river on all sides, with barely enough room for the train. From Aguas Calientes, which is a happy, quaint little tourist trap at the base of the mountain Machu Picchu, you can hike the two hours uphill to the gates, or take the half-hour bus ride at $12 per person.

So, recap: if you go the cheap backpacker’s route, it takes a whopping eleven and a half hours, four of those hiking, to get to Machu Picchu. Even if you take the full-ride, fastest route, it still takes three and a half hours at best. This place is HARD to get to. For those of you who remember when we went to Mindo, it’s a similar climate: cool and damp.

One of the resident landscapers.

The city rises out of the jungle like the halo around a dark-haired Virgin Mary. You know in the classic picture, how you see all the perfectly manicured green lawns around the buildings? It’s kept that way by the resident gardeners, commonly known as llamas. There’s about fifty of them who wander around all day, munching on the grass. Where the city ends, the jungle begins, and even one switchback’s distance from the city makes it invisible. But where the city is, there’s only pale rock and bright grass.

Learning about the city’s history made me remember Emperor’s New Groove. You know the scene where Kuzco tells Pacha about Kuzcotopia, and how it’s going to go right in the middle of Pacha’s land, only to decide on a different hilltop by the end? I think the real story must have been that Emperor Pachacutec (or Pachacute, or Pachacuti) simply made a deal to allow the farmers to keep farming, around the retreat he built for himself and his favorite 500 people. This way, they were only partially dependent on goods from Cuzco, and they lived at the height of engineering style. It felt like wandering through an open-air castle, as our guide described different aspects of the city and the genius involved in planning. They sanded down the rocks in order to have them fit together like gloves; and when they couldn't do that, they worked around the existing rocks, as was the case with the Temple of the Condor.

It is amazing, and perfectly breathtaking. Though it left me with more questions than answers, to me, it was a testament to the brilliance of the human mind when you take away all the toys we have become dependent on. They didn’t have computers to calculate exact numbers, or sanders to quickly grind the stone down; they didn’t even have the wheel. But without all that, they managed to build a sanctuary which is still puzzling us even today.

Simple yet beautiful nativity from Perú.

I am amazed at what we can accomplish when we have the motivation. From building a city in the clouds to delving into the depths of the sea, there seems to be nowhere we can’t go, and nothing we can’t do if we only get out of our own way. And as I look at these glorious places in my mind’s eye, I’m reminded of the most glorious places I’ve never seen: a quiet little stable room, where Jesus Christ was born. As we celebrate Christmas this weekend, I invite you to consider the power of hope in your life, and what you hope to accomplish. Everything is possible, from addiction recovery to achieving our dreams, because of what began in that calm, quiet moment in a stable. Merry Christmas to you, and may all your wishes for this season come true

For more photos related to Puerto Lopez, Guayaquil, and Lima click here.

For more photos related to Machu Picchu click here.

Traveling is HARD!

Those in the ‘you guys are crazy’ camp are probably saying, ‘I knew it couldn’t be as great as they make it out to be!’; those in the idealist camp will be saying, ‘but wait…’, and our fellow adventurers are probably saying something like, ‘Yep, I’ve been there!’

The blue-footed booby and her couple month old baby.

While volunteering, we had something different happening every week. We only had one week where we actually went to the markets every day, because every week we had either stomach problems, or broken arms, or doctor’s appointments, or more sickness… Something happened every week. We had worse luck than any of the other volunteers. Not to mention dealing with the food that was making us sick so often, the lack of trustworthy water, and the constant stress. After we finished volunteering, there was more stress, less trustworthy food and water, and no friendly doctors we knew of to go to when we got sick. Tyler and I seriously got on each other’s nerves, and nothing turned out the way we expected. Some surprises were good, but often the food was inedible, the hostel was creepy, the shower was lukewarm, the beach was rocky, the weather was uncooperative, the spouse was more so, our loofah fell apart and had to be retied, the ‘shuttle service’ was a hostile hostel owner with a broken down old van…

There have been moments when I’ve sat down and cried. There have also been moments when we both have to laugh so we don’t cry. There have been moments when neither of us knows what to do next so we end up having a staring contest trying to make the other person make the decision. There have also been moments when we just can’t work up the energy to do anything, so we end up sitting in our hostel room playing games or watching movies on our iPad.

Sea turtles joining us for lunch.

We’re tired of packing up everything we own every few days, tired of debating over whether to eat native or go for Chinese (yep… Chinese takeout is apparently a thing no matter where you are…) and which is actually safer to eat, tired of wearing the same two outfits ALL the time, tired of waiting 90 seconds for our Steripen to sanitize our water, and I am DEFINITELY tired of looking longingly at the salads, fruits, veggies, and especially the chocolate-covered strawberries (which are ridiculously cheap) and knowing I can’t eat them because they’re not safe. We’re just tired.

And yet….

For every moment I’ve sat down and cried, there have been ten moments I’ve laughed. For every staring contest, there have been ten moments when I want to cry because my husband is just SO amazing. For every moment of frustration, there have been more moments that have taken my breath away. Like sitting in a canoe at the Cuyabeno lagoon and watching the sun set, or walking along the back sand beach at Los Frailes in Puerto Lopez with Tyler and watching the waves crash on the shore. Or, oddly enough, the three dogs at the beach who decided to be our personal posse for a night, following us to our hostel, then to the bank, and back to the hostel, before finally leaving to go home. We’ve tasted some truly AMAZING food (breaded shrimp, anyone?) and met some truly wonderful people, most recently at both the Guayaquil and Lima LDS temples.

Iguana at the Iguana Park in Guayaquil.

Traveling has been both the hardest, and the best, thing we’ve ever done. We’ll be heading back to the States soon, and while there are a few things I’m really, really excited for (hot showers and cold salads being at the top of the list), there are so many things I’ll regret leaving behind. Even though going on this trip means no down payment for our Tesla, (remember that? ;) ) it’s been worth it in so many ways. I hope you’ve enjoyed being on this adventure with us. We’ve sure enjoyed sharing it with you, and knowing I’m reporting to you has egged me on to do a few of the crazier things. :) We’re not quite done yet, but before we get to the end I want to make sure I thank you all for being part of it all with us! You guys are the best!

For more photos related this section of our journey (Puerto Lopez to Lima) click here.