Photo: High Altitude Hiking

What’s it like to hike at 15,000 feet? Well the oxygen saturation is at 80%, normal lung function is at 87-97% saturation. At this altitude flight attendants are required to offer passengers oxygen, if the cabin depressurizes. Few hikers have supplemental oxygen though, so yes, it’s hard to breathe.

It feels like you are sucking in air (because you are), but that very little is getting into your lungs. Each step you take requires real effort and you feel as though you’re moving in slow motion, which frankly stinks since you still have a mountain to climb.

The first time we hiked at high altitude was in Peru’s Cordellia Blanca range. This photograph is of our crew picking their way down the mountain after the summit. The steep descent is almost as bad as the ascent given that it’s all you can do not to run down!

To see more of our favorite photos from around the world check out our travel photo page. Let us know your favorites and we’ll include them in our photo of the day series.

IF YOU GO: High altitude hiking in Peru is easily accessible. We completed a four day hike from Huaraz, but there are plenty of multi-day hiking options. You should be prepared with gear if you’re going without a group. Beware of low priced tours from Huaraz, especially if you are going to be using their equipment. Nights in the mountains are extremely cold, so be prepared with proper layers, including hats and gloves. We were there in August and spent our second night wearing absolutely every piece of clothing we brought with us. It was freezing!! When we came down we definitely needed some hot stew, preferably something Eastern European that would have stuck to our ribs and filled our bellies…

Place Holidays Abroad Beijing

It’s official, we’ve made it around the world; or at least in my opinion. Beijing is just about as far east as we could go overland from Istanbul. Although Xi’an was technically the end of the silk road, Beijing was always the end in my head, so when we arrived I was elated.

There’s so much to do in Beijing, more than we had the time or desire for, but you have to start somewhere. Arriving into the station at 4am, we caught the raising of the flag in Tienanmen Square at dawn.

Quite literally we were the only westerner’s there, but the Chinese tourists were going crazy with excitement when the color guard showed up, waving their flags and shoving their camera’s into the air. We were tempted to wave an American flag in that crowd…just to see what the response might have been. Didn’t have one with us though, and with the show over at 6:30am we were left with nothing to do for a few hours. This didn’t bother the crowd of Chinese tour groups, they promptly walked across the square to stand in line for two hours to view the preserved body of Chairman Mao.

Not interesting in standing in line for two hours to see the Chairman, we walked down to the Temple of Heaven, an ancient site for imperial worship and low and behold we found the place abuzz with activity. The park was full of Chinese participating in Tai Chi classes, music classes, aerobics classes, dance classes, playing cards, bands and even a few practicing martial arts with swords and sticks. It might have been 7am?

We stumbled into a group tango lesson practicing to a tango version of happy birthday- in English, and a few harmonica players, one who was practicing Yankee Doodle and My Darlin’ Clemantine over and over again. Our experience in the park was one of numerous moments that left us thinking “what?”

Standing in the shadow of the one of the holiest sites for the Chinese Royal family, watching dance classes, listening to traditional Chinese music and an old man attempt ‘scarf’ dancing to the enjoyment of his friends, was a travel memory I’ll never forget.

Besides sightseeing we did do some rather “Chinese” things that hadn’t yet been attempted on our trip. Although moto-bikes and cars are more common than they used to be, the bicycle is still a main mode of transportation; and often with passengers hanging on the back as well. A true Chinese experience, we got the opportunity to try it our first night in Beijing. I rode on the back rack of our couchsurfing host’s bike to dinner. Jostling around in the back on her rickety second hand Chinese bike I thought I was going to die, fall off, or at best end up with a broken bone or two. My legs were too long to straddle the bike properly but sitting side-saddle left the bike precariously unbalanced, so I resorted to straddling the rack and awkwardly lifting my legs at weird angles to keep them off the ground.

It was a work-out just trying to stay balanced, keep my legs up off the ground and close enough to the bike not to knock into something all while riding down a pot holed alley. Our couchsurfing host knew the road however, and as we bounced along the worst injuries I got were bruises to my butt and pride. Dinner was delicious and tucked into a small Sichuan restaurant in a huotong, or alley, surrounded by a mix of young Chinese and expats. Although I was just happy to have made it to Beijing, don’t expect me to willingly ride on the back of a bicycle again. I’m going to leave that one to the Chinese.

Istanbul, Constantinople

Istanbul is the only city in the world that straddles two continents. Seriously, you take the ferry from Europe to Asia in less than 20 minutes. Naturally it was the best place to start our final continent, Asia. Our plan is to travel generally east along the old silk road to China.

Besides being the crossroads of the world, the Ottoman’s ruled quite an empire from here, and it’s no wonder that at times we feel like we’re at the center of the world. Huge container ships run in and out of the cargo ports while cruise ships drop hundreds of passengers off for day trips in Istanbul. It’s a flurry of activity here, but also surprising orderly and quiet. Lost in the Grand Bazaar, well not lost but 1000 souvenir and carpet shops pretty much look the same, we ducked into a small alley. Seconds later we were transported to a tiny courtyard, silent except for the clicking and clacking of backgammon pieces. A table of older men looked up at me, smiled and went back to sipping their tea and playing their game. I melted back into the bazaar appreciating the seemingly intimate moment I had just had with Istanbul.

Istanbul it seems, is like that. Standing on the street trying to buy a ‘simit’, a bagel like bread covered with toasted sesame seeds, I was having difficulty understanding the vendor. Stepping right in, a man assisted us with the purchase and began to chit chat. Less than two minutes later we were invited into his carpet shop for tea. Expecting a hard sale inside, I was surprised to find myself sitting on a cushioned bench sipping black Turkish tea without the salesman in sight. Instead the owner, himself enjoying a tea began to discuss philosophy with us, the meaning of life and so on. Two hours later we walked out of the shop. That’s just the way things are.

Turkey is a secular Muslim country. Sounds like an oxymoron doesn’t it. Although being secular and Muslim at the same time can be a bit of a political challenge, Istanbul at least seems to be a city that walks the entire spectrum. In front of me in the ice cream line is a woman completely covered head to toe including a modesty veil on her face with a designer handbag slung over one shoulder. Only a small slit over her eyes belies the fact that there is a person inside all that fabric. Purchasing a cone is a woman in a tight, colorful outfit her hair covered in a designer silk scarf

and sunglasses. Behind me is a Turkish woman in a rather revealing tank top, mini-skirt and high heels. Like I said, it spans the entire spectrum. This is a dynamic, welcoming city where everyone on either end of the spectrum and everywhere in between can feel welcome and comfortable.

Walking into a bar the other night we heard the evening call to prayer across the city. The mosques are not synchronized so at times it’s a cacophony of melodious Arabic. Never in any Muslim country to date have I been so aware of the irony of my surroundings and situation (alcohol is forbidden in Islam). Not to sound cliché, but it’s a juxtaposition between continents and worlds here.

Machu Picchu

Make it Aguas Calientes…check.
Eat hot yummy food…check.
Go to bed early…check.

Wake up the morning following 4 hard days of hiking at 3am…WHAT?

Yeah, that’s right. Not only that, but the volume on the alarm wasn’t high enough so we almost slept in. Getting up really really early after treking all the way to Machu Picchu is practically a right of passage for those who hike to the ‘old’ mountain. One needs to get up that early to hike up an additional 400 meters, straight uphill, to be in line at the entrance BEFORE the buses taking the ‘normal’ people even depart. All this so that you can get one of the coveted tickets to hike straight up Wayna Picchu, (young mountain) an additional 200 meters into the air, to view Machu Picchu from above.

And that’s exactly what we did.

We were nearly late meeting the group on account of that alarm clock but we made it out anyhow. Back out of Aguas Calientes we walked, practically sprinting, to get ahead of the other hikers. At the foot of the hill we started walking up the steps. More than three thousand in all I was told. Three thousand steps straight uphill, with sore legs, so that we could walk even more once we got up there. Crazy right? Welcome to our world.

Only the first 400 people in line get the coveted tickets to Wayna Picchu,

and getting up so early we were within the first 100. We went up so fast that, despite the rather cold air, I was covered in so much sweat it looked as though I’d gone for a midnight swim. (And for all those racers out there, we passed waaaayyy more people than passed us….yeehaaaw!!)

With tickets in hand, into one of the world’s newest seven wonders we went. (Who decides these things anyhow?) Our tour guide showed how the mountain was divided

into living and farming and brought us to the temple and the king’s house. We watched as alpacas grazed on their ancestral land and as one traveler got down on one knee and offered his hand in marriage to another. We learned how the Inca’s split rocks to build the historic mount and also got a chance to visit the king’s bathroom and take a seat on his “throne.”

The ‘Lost City of the Incas’ was only used for about 100 years, just before the Spanish Conquest of the Incan Empire. It wasn’t ‘discovered’ until 1911 when a Yale professor stumbled upon the find and excavations began. As with all great things,

the actual date of discovery is still disputed, along with the purpose of the city, along with the reasons for its decline, along with wheather or not it should even be opened for tourism.

Despite of how little is known or agreed upon, or perhaps because of it, we were not disappointed. We’ve seen many ruins now: Tikal, Monte Alban, Copan, and others. These ruins were out of another world though, truly magnificent. So what next, we got up well before the crack of dawn for the right to walk up that ‘other’ hill so that’s exactly what we did.

Whatever you do though, when talking about Macchu (old) and Wayna (young) Picchu (mountain) be sure you’re saying the word Picchu correctly. Note that if you see a group of indigenous men laughing at you while you’re talking about summiting the ‘Picchu’ it’s because you didn’t say “mountain” but are instead referring to a man’s…yeah.

I’m not sure whose idea it was to get up that early, or if I would have been upset if I hadn’t gotten the opportunity, but hiking up this time, already having been up nearly 7 hours and with the sun now beating very, very, very hard on us, I just kept stopping and asking myself why. Eventually we reached the top and I received my answer. Three-sixty views over the valley we walked the day prior and one of the 7 ‘new’ wonders of the world and I knew why.

Only 11am though and what an incredible day. Only three things left to do. Share a pizza (OK, maybe I ate one myself), a couple of beers, and wait for that train to take us back to Cuzco.

Back on the Gringo Trail

The center of all tourism for Peru, Cusco

is the heart of Peru’s Gringo Trail so it was no surprise that we found Cusco to be the busiest place in Peru. No one seems to come to Peru without going to Cusco, seriously. We´ve bumped into several people here that we met in other parts of the country.

Walking through the Plaza de Armas is like walking through a shopping mall. Touts selling everything from massages to jewelry, paintings and sunglasses see your tourist signs and attack! For a few soles you can even get an indigenous woman, dressed in her traditional attire to pose for photographs with her llama, great living for her, great photographs for tourists (and no we did not do this!).

The jumping off point for Machu Picchu treks and tours, it wasn’t too hard to convince our friend Leah to join us in

Cusco. Excited to have our first South American visitor we picked her up from the airport early the next morning and spent the rest of the day touring the city. All the sights in and around Cusco are combined on a 140 sole ticket (half price with ISIC card), which we thought was rather expensive. Hoping we could just pay individual entrances to the two places we wanted to go, we hiked up the hill over looking Cusco to the Incan fortress of Saqsaywaman (pronounced Sexaywhoman!).

A decent uphill, especially at 3800m, we were thwarted at the entrance when neither our command of Spanish nor Jill’s attempts to cajole the ticket seller resulted in our entrance to the site without the expensive all sites ticket. Satisfied with the ruins and llamas we could see outside the ticketed area, we hiked up an ajoining hill to overlook Saqsaywaman and Cusco.

Of course Machu Picchu is the most famous thing do to from Cusco, and trek’s to the site along the Inca Trail book almost a half a year in advance. With no itinerary or set travel plans we couldn’t commit to a date that far in advance so we opted to trek the Salkantay Trail, also an old Inca trail, just not “the” Inca trail. Checking in with our tour operator, we got our last minute instructions and supply list and rented our sleeping bags.

Preparing for the next day, we decided to introduce Leah to Peruvian cuisine.

After Danny´s problems in Huaraz, we avoid the 3 sole set lunch menu (about a dollar!) and thankfully found a good looking place in Cusco to settle in for lunch. Worried about eating something on her first day that would (ahem) affect the trek, Leah played it safe with chicken noodle soup and chicken breast. Danny on the other hand figured he´d throw caution to the wind and ordered fish soup. I think the photo explains it all, and yes those are fish eggs! Needless to say, the flavor was good, but in the end the waiter took a significant amount of soup back to the kitchen.

The Egypt of the Americas

Peru may be known for Machu Picchu. It may be pondered for the Nazca Lines. It might even be remembered for its supurb pollo with a drink of Inca Kola. Really though, Peru is still so much more.

We spent longer in Peru than we have spent in any other single country on our trip. We had intended to continue with our Spanish lessons but caught up in trying as hard as could to ‘see and do’ it all. We nearly got robbed on our entry into the country. We toured the ruins of pre Incan civilizations. We hiked at nearly 3 miles in altitude while suffering from Diarrhea and made it in and out of one of the world’s deepest canyons. Best of all we were visited by our friend Leah who joined us as we did the Salcantay Trek to Machu Picchu.

Before heading out to Bolivia though there was one more thing we just had to do. We’d fallen in love with Peruvian chicken long before we ever entered the country. While here we became enamoured with the rest of her cuisine from from lomo saltado to rocotto relleno.

Last up though was something very very important, Cuy.

It really was fitting that Disney chose to release its G-Force movie about a bunch of crime fitting Guinea Pigs now so that we could watch it while we were here in Peru. Because for our last meal, that’s exactly what we ate.

Cuy is a delicacy here, one we first learned of while in Ecuador. Guinea pigs are indigenous to this region and have been cherished as a source of food and nutrition for millennium. Sure we enjoyed our Alpaca steak, rich in nutrients and low in fat like American Bison (one of our favorites and something we made sure to eat on our brief visit back to the USA in July) but that’s just not quite the same a cute and cuddly RODENT.

So we sought out an ordered. It came and we ate. We had been warned that it was very bony and did not contain much meat. There it sat on the plate, with a side of rice, some lettuce, and a couple of potatoes. We stared at it a bit, grossed ourselves out for a minute or two. The band in the restaurant continued to play and we continued to stare our formerly furry friend down. Finally forks went up and in we dug. To be honest, I think my pinky finger has more meat than I was able to pull off that carcass but we did manage a taste and to all of you wondering…tastes just like chicken.

To Bolivia (with our visas already in hand) we go!

Photo: Old City Jerusalem

Today is the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashana. It is our new year and one of the holiest days of the year. It is the day we take a moment, reflect on the events of the last year, and spend some time reflecting inwards. It is a spiritual holiday and one of growth and regeneration.

Current events couldn’t seem farther away from the description I just gave. Right now Israel is in a state of panic with the recent events in the Middle East and the Palestinian Authority is using this as an opportunity to seek statehood at the UN. It is hectic, and peace seems farther and farther away.

When we were in the Sinai Desert we sat one evening speaking to a Bedouin man who, not knowing we were Jewish, shared with us that he couldn’t understand the problems between Israel and it’s neighbors. He told us he felt the Israelis were his cousins, if not his brothers. This was the sentiment we felt throughout the Middle East and one of the reasons we felt so comfortable there. Despite the headlines and the extremists, most people want the same thing…peace.

On this day of spiritual growth we will pause to reflect on our experiences in the Middle East and how we might help to educate our friends and neighbors in our new community. The reason there is trouble there is that everyone wants the same chunk of land and everyone seems to have forgotten how to share.

To see more of our favorite photos from around the world check out our travel photo page. Let us know your favorites and we’ll include them in our photo of the day series.