Cusco, Peru
12/15/2005
hi everyone,
this email is gonna be long i think... so if you don´t have time to read
it... just delete it... there isn´t anything too important in here anyway.
just some ramblings and observations. but i am doing well, been pretty busy
today, and i really like cusco a lot. it is an old incan city with a
spanish colonial city built on top of it. there are numerous cathedrals and
old spanish colonial architecture - all built on top of the incan city.
jacob, you asked about rent-a-friend? well, it is in full force here in
peru. (and for those of you that don´t know what rent-a-friend is: when you
travel, it is oftentimes more entertaining to travel with someone local -
you can get a better perspective of the country and its culture. of course,
you could always hire a tour guide, but that is less personal and less
interesting... and its not renting a friend, it is renting a tour guide.
hehehe. so in traveling, i have been lucky to find situations where we meet
someone, and they don´t have a set schedule, (some people don´t have
regular jobs due to economic circumstances of their country) so we invite
them along, or have them show us around, and buy them lunch, give them a
small monetary gift at the end of the day, and there you have it:
rent-a-friend. it has worked really well in laos and then in cuba. but
cambodia was a bust because they tried to cheat us.) hehehe.
well... paul and edgar met this guy, alex (real name, rosell or something
like that), on monday that was selling sunglasses. (fake namebrands) and
then on tuesday, edgar and paul met him again while i was at the internet
cafe, and when i got over there, edgar had negotiated for him to show us
around. he took us to the market, we bought him (and ourselves) freshly
made fruit juice. but i think that when we paid him, edgar should have paid
more because he mostly spoke spanish. well, since edgar and paul were
leaving the next day, i asked him to show me around. so we went around some
yesterday and some today... and today he bought me lunch (which is the true
sign of rent-a-friend, when they reciprocate). i think we will meet up with
him again when paul, edgar and i get back from machu picchu... if we get
back.. hehehe...
see, currently there is a strike going on, which effects the train service,
which ultimately effects me. since i opted out of the incan trail, this was
my option for getting up to machu picchu. and i am not sure what the strike
is about exactly... but i know that there are some charges of curruption,
and that last week the porters that take tourists on the incan trail were
striking and blocking the train because they wanted some sort of health care
to cover the injuries sustained while on the trek. (they do the treks many
times a month, and many have sustained back injuries, etc., with no way to
get treatment. some are in their 50s and 60s, and one tourist told me that
they had a porter that was 16, even though legally they can´t work the trail
until they are 18.)
well, i have been back and forth with the tour company about how i am to
get up to machu picchu. they suggested that i go by train on saturday
(leaving at 6 am, and returning on the 4 pm train). it is a 4 hour train
ride, so this would leave very little time up at machu picchu. but the
other issue is that the train may not be in service on saturday, which would
strand paul and edgar up there in the mountains. for sure the train is not
in service today or tomorrow. so i was kinda stressing out about it. i
mean, i didn´t come on this trip to hike the incan trail, but i did want to
see machu picchu. so time is running out, and our tickets for lima are
tuesday morning.
so this is what i have decided: i will hike up the length of the train
track up to machu picchu. i will start at the begin point of the incan
trail and finish at agua calientes, the stopping point for the train. the
incan trail is 45 km, while my hike will be 30 km. i don´t know what that
is in miles, but i know its not that short, and i won´t have a guide... it
will just be me (and maybe some other crazy tourists that are worried they
may have come all this way just to miss out on seeing machu picchu...)
hehehe. but it obviously is not as difficult as the incan trail cause i
will do it in one day and there aren´t the huge mountain peaks to cross.
anyway.... i am leaving on a bus at 6:30 am and riding with a tour group
that will hike the incan trail. but we will split ways; i will go on the
train tracks and they will go on the trail. exciting huh? hehehe. so i get
to pack for a trek afterall. the funny thing is that i bought the same
cheese and bread that edgar and paul bought. but i HAVE to pack food and
water, cause i don´t have a porter to do all that for me. either way, it
wil be exciting... and i am sure paul will be proud of me. hehehe.
well, hope yall are having a good christmas season. i will email when i
can. maybe in couple of days after i get back from machu picchu? i don´t
know if there is internet up there.
joseph
hi everyone,
this email is gonna be long i think... so if you don´t have time to read
it... just delete it... there isn´t anything too important in here anyway.
just some ramblings and observations. but i am doing well, been pretty busy
today, and i really like cusco a lot. it is an old incan city with a
spanish colonial city built on top of it. there are numerous cathedrals and
old spanish colonial architecture - all built on top of the incan city.
jacob, you asked about rent-a-friend? well, it is in full force here in
peru. (and for those of you that don´t know what rent-a-friend is: when you
travel, it is oftentimes more entertaining to travel with someone local -
you can get a better perspective of the country and its culture. of course,
you could always hire a tour guide, but that is less personal and less
interesting... and its not renting a friend, it is renting a tour guide.
hehehe. so in traveling, i have been lucky to find situations where we meet
someone, and they don´t have a set schedule, (some people don´t have
regular jobs due to economic circumstances of their country) so we invite
them along, or have them show us around, and buy them lunch, give them a
small monetary gift at the end of the day, and there you have it:
rent-a-friend. it has worked really well in laos and then in cuba. but
cambodia was a bust because they tried to cheat us.) hehehe.
well... paul and edgar met this guy, alex (real name, rosell or something
like that), on monday that was selling sunglasses. (fake namebrands) and
then on tuesday, edgar and paul met him again while i was at the internet
cafe, and when i got over there, edgar had negotiated for him to show us
around. he took us to the market, we bought him (and ourselves) freshly
made fruit juice. but i think that when we paid him, edgar should have paid
more because he mostly spoke spanish. well, since edgar and paul were
leaving the next day, i asked him to show me around. so we went around some
yesterday and some today... and today he bought me lunch (which is the true
sign of rent-a-friend, when they reciprocate). i think we will meet up with
him again when paul, edgar and i get back from machu picchu... if we get
back.. hehehe...
see, currently there is a strike going on, which effects the train service,
which ultimately effects me. since i opted out of the incan trail, this was
my option for getting up to machu picchu. and i am not sure what the strike
is about exactly... but i know that there are some charges of curruption,
and that last week the porters that take tourists on the incan trail were
striking and blocking the train because they wanted some sort of health care
to cover the injuries sustained while on the trek. (they do the treks many
times a month, and many have sustained back injuries, etc., with no way to
get treatment. some are in their 50s and 60s, and one tourist told me that
they had a porter that was 16, even though legally they can´t work the trail
until they are 18.)
well, i have been back and forth with the tour company about how i am to
get up to machu picchu. they suggested that i go by train on saturday
(leaving at 6 am, and returning on the 4 pm train). it is a 4 hour train
ride, so this would leave very little time up at machu picchu. but the
other issue is that the train may not be in service on saturday, which would
strand paul and edgar up there in the mountains. for sure the train is not
in service today or tomorrow. so i was kinda stressing out about it. i
mean, i didn´t come on this trip to hike the incan trail, but i did want to
see machu picchu. so time is running out, and our tickets for lima are
tuesday morning.
so this is what i have decided: i will hike up the length of the train
track up to machu picchu. i will start at the begin point of the incan
trail and finish at agua calientes, the stopping point for the train. the
incan trail is 45 km, while my hike will be 30 km. i don´t know what that
is in miles, but i know its not that short, and i won´t have a guide... it
will just be me (and maybe some other crazy tourists that are worried they
may have come all this way just to miss out on seeing machu picchu...)
hehehe. but it obviously is not as difficult as the incan trail cause i
will do it in one day and there aren´t the huge mountain peaks to cross.
anyway.... i am leaving on a bus at 6:30 am and riding with a tour group
that will hike the incan trail. but we will split ways; i will go on the
train tracks and they will go on the trail. exciting huh? hehehe. so i get
to pack for a trek afterall. the funny thing is that i bought the same
cheese and bread that edgar and paul bought. but i HAVE to pack food and
water, cause i don´t have a porter to do all that for me. either way, it
wil be exciting... and i am sure paul will be proud of me. hehehe.
well, hope yall are having a good christmas season. i will email when i
can. maybe in couple of days after i get back from machu picchu? i don´t
know if there is internet up there.
joseph
posted by jacob at 2:03 PM
2 Comments:
This feels eerily like the last email we'll ever receive from young Joseph.
good thing the camera is already gone, maybe they'll have nothing left to attack him for. except the bread and cheese, but hopefully he can stuff it all in his mouth before they get to it. I don't know who "they" is. the monsters that live by the track and eat left-over hikers I guess.
hoping you make it alive, joseph.. hope is all we have left..
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