8am Sunday morning. 20 hours until my trek. I had been vaguely thinking about doing some sort of sporty thing, such as rappelling, or as they call it in the UK, abseiling. Funny. Then, as I drank my coffee and used the hotel´s free internet, I realized...crap!!! I´m leaving for a four-day hike in less than 20 hours - I´m not ready! I still had to buy a better sun hat, buy a day pack, ´cause I´d decided not to carry my regular pack (too much weight). Plus, I needed to pack my so far non-existent day pack and my real pack; store the real pack in the storage room at the hostel; pay my hostel bill; buy snacks at the supermercado; update my blog; take a last steaming hot shower in anticipation of being filthy for four days; and attend my trek group meeting at 6pm. I suppose that superwoman could do all that in just a couple of hours in the evening, but I seem to have been exposed to cryptonite and my superpowers are currently limited to leaping tall buildings in a single bound, which is actually not at all helpful when prepping for a four day hike.
First, I stopped by the supermarket and bought some dried fruit, nuts, and gatorade. After a quick stop at the internet cafe, I was off to the big covered market that I had accidentally discovered on my first, jet-lagged day. I found my hat in the second stall, and my backpack in a bazaar right outside the market. I also found a few other small items that simply had to come home with me, though I did resist the green alpaca tunic with fringe. The crowds were amazing. I had forgotten that it was Sunday in a Catholic country. A good half of the shops were closed and the people were out buying brass polish, hair curlers, fake tattoos, and yummy snacks. It was the type of crowd that is fun to be in. These were all regular people doing their own things, not giving two hoots about the giant blond woman walking around (I can´t get used to being a foot taller than most people here). It was a blast.
Feeling virtuous and productive, I decided to reward myself by going over to gringo alley for lunch. I ended up at a pretty good Mexican restaurant that served amazing vegetarian enchiladas. Of course, that was after I sent back the ones filled with meat that they tried to pass as enchiladas verduras. Harrumph! I sat at a communal table with a nice Irish guy who had just come from Puno, on Lake Titicaca. His description of the floating islands was pretty amazing. I´m thinking that I might need to fly out to Puno for my b-day after the big trek. We´ll see how I feel after getting back from Machu Picchu, but it just feels like such a shame not to see the lake when it´s right in the neighborhood. Or, there´s always rappelling after all!
After lunch, I went back to the hostel and did my packing in a minimal 2 hours. :) Then I did an hour workout, with frequent stops to gasp for oxygen, to the amazement of the group of hostel habitues who were lounging on towels in the grass drinking beer and tanning. My moral superiority established, I took a wonderful shower and did some more packing, then was off for pizza and the meeting.
The meeting was at United Mice and consisted of a guy (not our guide) describing the route that we were to take. There are 4 sets of couples and 1 mother-daughter pair, so I get a tent to myself, woo hoo! Of course, this makes it likely that I will also be walking the trail without anyone to talk to, since it´s standard to go two-by-two. Oh well, I´ll practice my Spanglish with the porters. The whole thing was a little boring and we all bolted as soon as the guy stopped talking. There was a round of "see ya tomorrows" and we scattered for our last night of comfort and non-aching bodies.
Now, I´ve paid my tab at the hostel, my bags are packed with my main pack stored away in the locker. Everything is ready except me. I´m still a little nervous about the prospect of a four-day hike. The physical part should be fine since I´ve had 4 days to acclimatize and have really pushed myself. It´s the being stuck away from civilization for four days that will be interesting. Also, there´s always the chance of altitude sickness irregardless of the fact that I´m in decent shape. Most of all, I´m nervous about oversleeping and missing my 4am pickup tomorrow morning.
Well, wish me luck! I´ll have lots to share when I get back to Cusco on July 5th.
First, I stopped by the supermarket and bought some dried fruit, nuts, and gatorade. After a quick stop at the internet cafe, I was off to the big covered market that I had accidentally discovered on my first, jet-lagged day. I found my hat in the second stall, and my backpack in a bazaar right outside the market. I also found a few other small items that simply had to come home with me, though I did resist the green alpaca tunic with fringe. The crowds were amazing. I had forgotten that it was Sunday in a Catholic country. A good half of the shops were closed and the people were out buying brass polish, hair curlers, fake tattoos, and yummy snacks. It was the type of crowd that is fun to be in. These were all regular people doing their own things, not giving two hoots about the giant blond woman walking around (I can´t get used to being a foot taller than most people here). It was a blast.
Feeling virtuous and productive, I decided to reward myself by going over to gringo alley for lunch. I ended up at a pretty good Mexican restaurant that served amazing vegetarian enchiladas. Of course, that was after I sent back the ones filled with meat that they tried to pass as enchiladas verduras. Harrumph! I sat at a communal table with a nice Irish guy who had just come from Puno, on Lake Titicaca. His description of the floating islands was pretty amazing. I´m thinking that I might need to fly out to Puno for my b-day after the big trek. We´ll see how I feel after getting back from Machu Picchu, but it just feels like such a shame not to see the lake when it´s right in the neighborhood. Or, there´s always rappelling after all!
After lunch, I went back to the hostel and did my packing in a minimal 2 hours. :) Then I did an hour workout, with frequent stops to gasp for oxygen, to the amazement of the group of hostel habitues who were lounging on towels in the grass drinking beer and tanning. My moral superiority established, I took a wonderful shower and did some more packing, then was off for pizza and the meeting.
The meeting was at United Mice and consisted of a guy (not our guide) describing the route that we were to take. There are 4 sets of couples and 1 mother-daughter pair, so I get a tent to myself, woo hoo! Of course, this makes it likely that I will also be walking the trail without anyone to talk to, since it´s standard to go two-by-two. Oh well, I´ll practice my Spanglish with the porters. The whole thing was a little boring and we all bolted as soon as the guy stopped talking. There was a round of "see ya tomorrows" and we scattered for our last night of comfort and non-aching bodies.
Now, I´ve paid my tab at the hostel, my bags are packed with my main pack stored away in the locker. Everything is ready except me. I´m still a little nervous about the prospect of a four-day hike. The physical part should be fine since I´ve had 4 days to acclimatize and have really pushed myself. It´s the being stuck away from civilization for four days that will be interesting. Also, there´s always the chance of altitude sickness irregardless of the fact that I´m in decent shape. Most of all, I´m nervous about oversleeping and missing my 4am pickup tomorrow morning.
Well, wish me luck! I´ll have lots to share when I get back to Cusco on July 5th.
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