Inca trail 2 dead woman's pass

Dead woman's pass - Inca trail day 2
Since Debra and I were slow and came in last, they had us start early. Wake up was at 5 am and we were to leave at 5:30 which is when breakfast started for the others. We got a ham and cheese sandwich and a banana instead of the hot breakfast the others got. Joel went with us and I would hike ahead then sit on a silla de Piedra - Rock chair until Debbie caught up. We took a break about 45 minutes in to eat, take our jackets off and put our headlamps away since it was light now.

The ear flap had was a great purchase!

llamas!

I was feeling less nauseated today so I got pretty far ahead which means I was hiking alone for hours. Since we stayed at a little used campground there wasn't anyone else on our section of the trail. 4 hours in I climbed into the woods to pee and saw the first of our group pass. This woman Susanne was always first she was in her sixties and a mountain goat! When I'm in the back I never get to interact with anyone, but today was cool because I got to say hi to everyone as they passed me.  I made it to lunch in 6 hours and it wasn't quite ready so I hung out and we cheered as others came in. The guides were impressed with how fast I was moving compared to yesterday. It got cloudy, chilly, and windy while we were eating.  The food is pretty good and the soup is always the best part. There were women selling candy and Gatorade - this would be the last we would see for a couple days so obviously I got some chocolate :) Then I made a mistake.

I made it to lunch!

cold and windy

I should have just left after lunch and stayed doing what I was doing. But there was a group of about 8 people who were hiking together and came in an hour after me and since I left an hour early we figured we were going the same pace. So I waited for them so I'd have company. Big mistake. Their idea of resting a lot was walk a few steps then pause for 30 seconds. My idea was to walk a little further and sit on a rock chair for 2 min to catch my breath. I was having a hard time keeping up. We were headed to dead woman's pass (warmihuausca) which is the highest elevation on the trail - 4,200 m. (about 14,000 feet)   We climbed straight up for hours. It was hard to breathe for everyone, but my lupus lungs made it more difficult.   I let them go and trudged on by myself.  It was rediculously hard - my legs and lungs were burning.   When I got to the top, the group that I had been walking with was  taking pictures and I though great!  Finally I will get some pictures with other people! But when I got to the top I couldn't see. My vision was all blurry and I couldn't breath. Victor put this stuff on his hands - a mixture of lemon and rubbing alcohol and made me sniff it a few times. My vision started to clear, but the other group had left. So no pictures :(

Carol had a cold and was really struggling at lunch so they sent her with a guide. I saw her coming up and Cathy not far behind her. Cathy had been puking all day and not doing well so I waited at the top for them.  Carol and I rested and took one picture with her camera - I will post it when I get it :)   The guides pulled oxygen tanks out of their bags and had to use it on Cathy. The three of us started down towards camp. Cathy got far ahead and  I stayed with Carol since she was so sick.  The farther we went down the better I felt.  We were camping at Pacaymayo - 3550m -  A guide had Carol's pack so I gave her the last of my Gatorade that I had bought at lunch. At one resting point I put my head lamp on and made sure she had hers so we would be ready when it got dark.  We finished in the dark and were greeted by several people ( Sue and Dawn were the main welcome wagon I think!)   and had people lead us to our campsite.

My experience of the trek was different in some ways than the others in the group.  When you are last, you leave and arrive in the dark so I never really saw what the campgrounds looked like.  We didn't get to eat breakfast with the group.  I don't have a lot of pictures, because I had to just keep moving to get to camp before dinner.   I have very few pictures of anyone besides myself because I was alone so much.  I got to know the guides better than some of the others though :)

This was a huge site with lots of groups so we had to keep all our stuff inside the tent to keep it from getting stolen. There were flush squat toilets ( way nicer than Indian squat toilets!!!)  but they were far from our tents. I used them before bed, but when I got up in the night I just peed by the tent. Since we were last,  Debbie and I got a small tent so I had to sleep in the fetal position. There was also a huge tree root under my part of the tent so it was very uncomfortable. Cathy and carol were fortunate that their roommates were fast and could pick out good tents for them. Cathy and carol went straight to bed, I ate and felt ok. I woke up nauseated in the night and sucked on coca candy to combat altitude sickness. Little did I know that I was going to have a very rough day the next day.  

Inca trail day 1

Inca trail day 1

I woke up vomitting. I took the altitude sickness meds for two days but it made my stomach hurt and my limbs tingle so I didn't take it for three days in Cusco and was fine! I got some coca tea down me and a dry biscuit. I also started the medicine again. Other people were sick too so we weren't sure if it was altitude sickness or food born. We left our suitcases in storage at the hotel then loaded up our two busses.  I was glad others were as nervous as I was about starting the trek.

our packs ready for the porters

We had a two hour bus ride to Ollantaytambo there were many winding, hilly roads so I was trying not to get sick. The town was cute and I got a little llama zipper pull - Senor Llama - he was a good buddy on the trek.


We toured the ruins and used the facilities then had a 45 minute bus ride to kilometer 82 where we were going to start the trail. Our camp cook made our lunch there and I got some noodles down.  We paid the lady a sole each to use the bathroom, packed up our stuff and got in line at the checkpoint.  We showed our permit and passport and got everyone through.

Our group was with Eric's adventures so we had Eric, his wife Myra, coach jenny, and our guides Victor, Cesar, Marco, and Joel.  We cheered and clapped for the porters as they came through. We had 32 people and 40 some porters.  They carry all the food, tables, chairs, cooking fuel, trash, and our packs. They are super fast and they get to camp before us and set up and get dinner started. At breakfast they pack up, pass us, set up lunch etc.  They are absolutely amazing and I was constantly in awe. Ours were anywhere from 20- 70 years old. Debra and I got behind very fast because I was still super nauseated and she had ankle surgery in February and moves slow.  A guide always stays with the last person so we had Cesar to explain things to us and take our picture.

Debbie and I 

Cesar and I 

 He says when your heart goes boom boom stop and rest and drink water.  This part of the trail is "inca flat". Lots of ups and downs but not for long. We walked in the Urubamba valley and near the Cusichaca river. We saw the ruins of Llactapata and camped near there. Our group started later than others so we were alone on the trail and we stayed at a little used site so we had it to ourselves. It took Debra and I less than 3 hours to finish and we got our stuff and put it in the last tent. We had tea time and snacks, then dinner. It was cold and we had several tents put together for one long tent for us to eat together. There was a disgusting toilet to use and horses roaming around so you had to watch for poop.  It was so funny - there was lots of poop on the trail and and people were constantly looking out for it. Trust me. I know how to avoid poop! And there was less on the trail than on the streets of Mumbai! 

Inca Trail - Overview

I will write details of each day of the trek, but this will give a shortened version if you just want the highlights.

Why go?
I have always wanted to see Machu Picchu and wanted to hike the trail instead of ride the train. I finished grad school in May and am turning 40 in July so this trip was a celebration of those two things!

Who I went with
I went by myself and joined a group with Jenny Hadfield.  She is a running coach and arranges running vacations.  I went with her group on that Alaskan Marathon Cruise I did a few years ago.  I didn't know anyone going, but I knew all the people in the group were like-minded runners/trekkers.  I found out quickly many of them have done the Alaskan Marathon Cruise, Rim to Rim, the Caribbean Cruise marathon, etc.  I made friends very quickly :)  Erik's Adventures supplied our guides and arranged our tours - they were awesome!!

Trail
The trail was rocky, uneven, steep, and at high altitude. Our very cool shirts had a map of the trail. 

Weather
I had heard horror stories of how cold it gets on some of the passes and how it can be cold and rainy. We were very fortunate that it only rained at night on the trail.  It was chilly at night when eating, but it was snuggly warm in our tents.  There were blue skies and sun most of the time we were hiking.

Gear
I am a novice hiker and camper.  I went to REI for help and they hooked me up with an awesome pack.  It was really comfortable even with a lot of weight in it and it was pretty easy to hike in.  My water bladder leaked several days and on the last day I bent to tie my shoes and freezing water dumped over my head so the water bladder and I had to break up!! I had never used trekking poles before, but they were awesome!  Like having 4 legs!  I couldn't have made it down steep descents without them.  My boots were totally awesome - actually made my feet hurt less than my trainers.  My smart wool socks worked well with the boots and I couldn't have asked for better boots.  I started getting a few blisters on the day we did all the downhills, but it wasn't too bad.

Altitude/Coca
The altitude kicked my ass!  People use Coca to help with altitude sickness.  We drank coca tea, ate coca candy, chewed coca leaves.... I think I left with a major cocaine habit :)

Lupus
I was kind of concerned about what such an arduous trek would due to my lupus.  Usually when I get really tired, I stutter, get tremors in my hands so bad I have to eat with my hands because I can't use a fork.  I have trouble with word recall and muscle movements.  I can't use a zipper or button my own clothes.  People usually get a little freaked out when they see it for the first time.  I really thought I would have trouble since I was so tired, but thankfully I was fine!!  no tremors, no stuttering.

I had dreamed of hiking the Inca Trail for a long time and I am really glad I did it!!!

Peru day 1 and 2

Peru day 1 and 2

I have always wanted to hike Macchu pichu. I finished my masters degree this spring and am turning 40 in July. So this trip was my present to myself!!

I was delayed an hour and a half in Houston but made in to Miami in plenty of time for my connection. We sat on the runway for 90 min in Miami due to mechanical problems. The flight wasn't full so I had a row to myself so I could lay down and take a nap. Little did I know how much I was going to need that! I waited for my baggage for an hour. It never came.  I wait in line to fill out the paperwork. I explain that I have a morning flight to cusco. There was a 5 am flight from Miami and my bag might be on it so they told me to go to the aa office at 8. I wasn't hopeful because when i said " so I will get it tomorrow?" They laughed!! I travel all over the world and I have never lost my luggage except for in the US.  It is seriously 50/50. I don't even think they try. I get a cab to take me to my hotel. He can't find it, calls the hotel multiple times and no one answers -seems sketchy so I ask him to take me back to the airport. It's almost 2 am so I decide to stay at the ramada next to the airport even though it is expensive. They have no rooms but offer to let me stay the spa. For 65$ you can sleep on one of the lounge chairs by the hot tub and take a shower in the locker room. I usually have shorts and a t shirt with me but this time I didn't so I slept in my jeans. I bought deodorant and toothpaste at the hotel. I got about 4 hours of sleep- glad I napped on the plane. I went to the aa office at 7:45 a man told me it was closed. I said " I know. I'm waiting until 8 when it opens." He says it isn't open on sat or Sunday. What?? I won't get my stuff until Monday???? He took pity on me and checked on it and found it!! I hugged him and said he was my favorite Peruvian!

Got on the flight and met up with some of my group. Everyone seemed to have an awful story. One lady flew from Chicago to Houston. She missed her connection so they flew her to Mexico City they circled around and couldn't land due to weather so to went to alcupulco to get fuel. Then they went back to Mexico City and landed then she went to bogota then Lima. Whew!!  She was just suppose to do Chicago to Houston to Lima.

We got settled in to the San Agustin plaza hotel in cusco and drank coca tea to help with the altitude sickness - Cuzco is at 11,200 feet.  We went together for lovely Peruvian lunch then we went to see ruins at Saqsaywayman.  My roommate is Debra and we realized we were on the same Alaskan marathon cruise! We got back early and we were in bed by 7 pm.

Taj Palace Hotel

There is a gorgeous 5 star hotel in Mumbai near the Gateway.  My friend Gretchen offered to take me there for lunch to celebrate my graduation and earning my masters degree.

There was scaffolding obstructing the view today so I took this picture from bbc.

The lobby was beautiful.

Over Thanksgiving in 2008 massive terrorist attacks were carried out in Mumbai and Taj was invaded, people were held hostage for days.  Here is more information.   Several other places were attacked including a restaurant where we eat sometimes and you can see bullet marks in the walls.  The hotel was rebuilt and here is a memorial wall for the people that died in the hotel (including a couple who had kids at our school)

We were looking around and enjoying the lobby when I see Carol!  I didn't know that Gretchen had also invited Carol, Madeline, and Jane - all the sweet Christian ladies at my school :)  Madeline and Jane have babies and couldn't come, but Carol came to celebrate.  Carol's parents were missionaries in India so Carol grew up in northern India.  She ended up making her life in India.  She has taught at our school for 20 some year.  She married the son of American missionaries who grew up in Mussoorie, India.  He became a very famous author and Bollywood actor.  The kids all know what movies he is starring in etc. :)  She knows everything there is to know about India and Mumbai.  She gave us a great history lesson of the hotel.  She told us where the terrorists entered and where the most damage was and details of how it was rebuilt and what was changed about it.  She is such a wealth of information!

Me and sweet Carol

Carol wanted me to take a picture with Mr. Tata

We had a lovely lunch at the Sea lounge. My delicious mocktail :) 

I  got to wear my fanciest scarf. 

It's hard to tell in the picture, but It's actually really gorgeous - sheer and intricate.
Carol and Gretchen kept touching it :)

 In my opinion - this is the best view of the Gateway of India because you don't have to deal with beggars and crowds. 

Since Madeline couldn't come with us, I met up with her and Ethan later.  

What a great great day!!  So thankful for sweet friends!

Masters Degree in Educational Technology

I never really had the desire to get my Masters degree.  It wasn't required to keep my teaching license in Texas.  It was really expensive and I didn't want to spend my time or money on it.  Most teachers that I know that got their masters degree did it to get out of the classroom.  They would get their degree in counseling or administration to move on to other jobs.

When I moved overseas, I realized almost every teach had their Masters degree and were still in the classroom.

I had very little technology ability.  VERY little.  A few weeks before I moved to Mumbai, I attended a technology conference in Memphis with the other new teachers.  I was so stressed out and confused - I thought for sure they were going to fire me before I ever got to India!! Thank goodness Megan was sitting next to me and literally said "push this button" etc. so I could keep up.  When I got to India, I saw all these great teachers doing amazing things with technology and I couldn't keep up.  About 6 weeks into school, we had a faculty meeting about technology and I had a meltdown.  I started crying in the middle of the meeting.  My principal pulled me out and said there were three major things 1) adjusting to India and she couldn't help me with that.  2) loving on middle school kids and I was great at that and 3) technology.  She said we could take technology off the table and use paper for awhile.

I knew I had to get more comfortable with using technology in my classroom so I decided to go to grad school.  The assistant principal had just gotten her degree and recommended the program at Michigan State University.  You can do it in MI, as an overseas cohort, or online.  I chose to do the cohort so I could learn hands on with other people around.  I went to Dublin, Ireland for 4 weeks in the summer and completed 9 credit hours!  I did the same thing the next summer in Galway, Ireland.  It was great to concentrate on only grad school and not have to do it during the school year.  You have to take one online class to make your 30 hours so I did that my second year.  I did not want to give up a third summer so I decided to complete the third year (three classes) online.  And I graduated this May - two years and I'm done!  I have a Masters degree from Michigan State University and have never stepped foot on the campus!!  I do know the fight song though :)

I was able to pay for it in cash and got to meet a lot of other teachers from all over the world.  I now have a passion for using technology in the classroom and actually created online classes for my 6th graders this year.

One more way that moving to India changed my life!!

Hong Kong

So we had a five day weekend so i decided to go to Hong Kong.  There were two major reasons for this.  1)  I am training to hike the Inca Trail and could really use some hill training and Hong Kong has lots of those.  and 2)  My teaching parter my first two years in India abandoned me  :) and moved to Hong Kong so I wanted to check it out and visit him.

Things did not go as planned. I had a 5 hour non stop flight and I felt really sick on the plane and spent the last 3 hours basically willing myself to not throw up.  Not a good start!  I felt a little better in the airport, found my shuttle bus to the hotel and was on my way.  I stayed at the Cosmopolitan hotel right across from the Jockey club.  Jordan and Katy met me at the hotel and brought cupcakes!  so sweet - I had to save them for later though :(   we went to lunch and I got up from the table 4 times to sick in one way or another.  Not good.  We had planned to go hiking, but I just wasn't feeling well enough.  I went back to the hotel and rested and got sick :(  On Friday, they had to work so I went walking for a few hours, took a nap, and then met them for dinner.

In my walk, I noticed
1)  There is far less honking.
2) There is lots of traffic and it feels more busy, city like than Mumbai.
3) not ONE person stared at me
4) No one spit near me
5) No one was sleeping on the street and there was no garbage

We met two of their other friends for dinner and I tried this macaroni and cheese they raved about.  I was still being super cautious about eating so I ate about half of it and gave the barely cooked egg to Jordan so I didn't have to look at it! Normally I love eggs, but I just couldn't risk it.

On Saturday, I was well enough to eat some of the cupcakes!!  We took this trolley bus thing through part of the city.  They are slow moving, but cheap (about 50 cents) and the sides weren't enclosed so you could stick your head out and look around like a dog!  We went up on the double decker and we had great views as we were meandering through the city.  Hong is so busy that it is major sensory overload.  Mumbai does too, but Hong has more visual stimuli and less smelliness!!

I'm excited to see if these two women are on next season's Amazing Race!  There were two white women dressed alike and running around while cameras followed them.

We took the Ferry to Cheung Chai Island to go hiking.  We took the fast ferry on the way there.  It cost about $3 and took about half an hour.  It was also pretty bumpy - I had to close my eyes and go to my happy place to keep my cupcakes down!   The island was beautiful.  Jordan and Katy were gracious enough to allow me to wear my ridiculous hiking boots and huge backpack to train even though we were on a very tame trail :)

The island so peaceful.  There were lots of people out there enjoying the great weather.  It was so cute to see adults riding bicycles with training wheels :)  When you think about it though where on earth would they learn to ride a bike in the crowded city.  We took the slow ferry back and it was only about $1.50, took an hour and was much less bumpy.

We went home to shower and nap then met for dinner.  I always try to eat beef when I am out of India and all my beef eating plans went out the window because, well, I couldn't eat!  but by this third night, I was willing to try it.  We went to a place called Beef and Liberty (cool name) and I had a delicious cheese burger.  I still couldn't eat much so no sides - just the burger and half of one bun, but it was awesome!

On Sunday I went up a very steep hill to a jogging trail/park area.  I was still in the middle of the city, but it was quiet and green!

This shows how there are parks and trees right in the middle of the city. 

Here is the jogging trail - so nice. 

I am disappointed in this picture, because it doesn't capture the steepness
of this hill like I wanted.  It was REALLY steep. 

I had a great time, and I would love to visit Hong Kong again!  It could be a possible next place to live.  The apartments are TINY, but the city is great for walking and has lots of western food :)