Peru - this time, it is Amy

So, Corbyn tries to make it sound like Peru was more difficult for me than for him, but he came home with more blisters. So, who's the wimp now?!!!?

Peru was awesome - I think Machu Picchu beats Chichen Itza hands down. If you have your choice, pick Machu Picchu. For a few reasons:
1. The ruins themselves are more spectacular (in my opinion)
2. You can still climb on the ruins in Machu Picchu. In Chichen Itza, they are totally roped off.
3. The Andes. They are a sight to behold.
4. Cancun might as well be California. All gringos and Burger King. Peru is still Peru.

So, on to Choquequirao... I will give me rundown of the trip, mostly because I don't think there is much good information out there on the internet about it. I guess that is one of the curses of being one of the first people to a new place - you pave the (knowledge) trail.

So, first off, as Corbyn noted below, you CAN sleep in the Lima, Peru airport. I don't know that I recommend it, but it is possible. Again, it was bad information on the internet, but the research I did said it would cost about $30(US) to go anywhere from the airport - NOT TRUE! First of all, it isn't like the USA airports where you have miles of roads leading to the airport which is in a secluded place - you can actually walk out of the airport and across a little bridge and !voila! - you are in Lima. If you do want to take a taxi, you can get them for cheap - it was like $10 (USD) for a taxi ride to our hotel (once we returned from Cusco) - and our hotel was 40 minutes away. Just don't let your hotel arrange for the taxi for you and you should be golden.

If you DO, however, decide to sleep in the airport, its totally doable - just know you will be sleeping on a tile floor and it is both cold and hard. Zach, the lucky sucker, had his mat and sleeping bag and just busted them out. He slept well - the rest of us didn't sleep. Also, keep in mind that the Peruvians think the departure and arrival of flights is a major accomplishment. They will announce every one of them over the PA system - in Spanish, then repeated in English, and it is LOUD!

OK, so - what airline should you take from Lima to Cusco? I totally recommend Star Peru. This is going to be complicated to explain, but hopefully you get it: When we were returning from Cusco, we were on a 10:00 am flight on Star Peru. There was heavy fog in Cusco (not uncommon), so flights were delayed. At 10:00am, the 8:00am flight hadn't even departed yet and the plane we were supposed to be flying on back to Lima on hadn't left Lima for Cusco yet. Which meant our flight was at LEAST 2 hours away. (Please note that ALL airlines were in this same situation - ALL flights were delayed.) The Cusco airport has no exits once you go through security - the only way out of there is on a plane. We didn't want to hang out in the Cusco airport for 2+ hours - we wanted to go find a place to eat at least, so we asked the airport personell if we could leave the airport. They said the actual airplane had to let us out. So, Collyn went up to a Star Peru employee and said (in Spanish): "We want to leave." Apparently, the lady thought he meant on the earlier flight because she jumped right on her walkie talkie and started jabbering - within 3 minutes, we were boarding the earlier flight. In the US, this wouldn't have happened EVER and if it had, we'd have had to pay a $100 ticket change fee, a $100+ change of class fee (I am sure), and other random fees. No charges here - the lady just took care of us. So, we were all pretty sure our luggage wouldn't make it on to this flight (especially since Delta couldn't even get our luggage out of Atlanta correctly with NO changes) - however, from the window of the plane, we watched the Star Peru Airline employees scurry like ants sorting through baggage until they found ours and literally (yes, literally!) CHASE THE AIRPLANE to make sure the last bag made it on. VERY IMPRESSED. I don't think a Delta worker would have moved an extra 3 feet to ensure our bag got on the correct flight, let alone chase an airplane across the tarmac.

So, sorry - Choquequirao. Take 5 days and a MINIMUM to do this. Even if you are in incredible shape, you can't do it much quicker because it is a narrow trail along the side of the mountain and there are only a couple places to camp. You either do the whole thing in one day (Peruvians say they can do it in 19 straight hours of hiking (each way)) OR you take 2 days to hike in, 2 days to hike out. And Choquequirao is VERY spread out - you'll need at least a day to see much at all of it - probably 2 would be best.

As for the hike, if you are like me, you will underestimate the difficulty of the hike and overestimate your own fitness levels. You should know it is VERY difficult. The first 8 kilometers are fairly flat - slightly uphill and you will think, "This is way easier than I thought". Then, you'll crest the top of a ridge and look down and say, "There is NO WAY we drop all the way down to that river. NO WAY." Over the course of the next several hours, you will drop all the way down to that river. After that first 8 km, there is nothing flat. Pretty much switchbacks or rock stairs for the other 27km. And, just to be clear, it is 35kilometers in, 35 kilomters out. (I thought it was 35 kilomters round trip.)

Hire a mule to carry your pack - otherwise, you won't make it. There was only 2 people we met carrying their own gear - and they had spent the past 9 months backpacking around South America. So, if you backpack for a living, go ahead and carry it yourself. For the rest of us with day jobs, hire a mule. Even still, there will come a point (or several) on this trek where you'll want to throw the gear out and ride the mule yourself.

Bring a smaller backpack to carry your water for the day - and some snacks. You'll need a lot of water. You sweat a lot. The water filter was awesome.

The locals who are selling food along the way are life savors. Just know that there aren't many of them. There will also come a point on the trek when those mules start to look appetizing. OK, not really, but I was very hungry for something besides Kashi bars and beef jerky. The lady that made us rice, potatoes, and an egg for breakfast could be a gourmet chef. Quite possibly the best meal I've ever eaten.

So, I'll give a more day to day depiction of what happened later. It is Friday night and I've had a long week of meetings due to my absence while I was in Peru. I don't want to look at a computer anymore.