Vancouver Delivers!

Strolling the streets

     Walking the streets of Vancouver helped me understand two things about myself: 1. I love walking around 2. I am somewhat of a city girl. I love the hustle and bustle of city life, but when that gets overwhelming I can always find a nice coffee shop or book store around the corner where I can sit and collect my thoughts. The city can be for me, but I haven't really found one quite as great as Vancouver.  I loved that William and I could walk anywhere and didn't have to depend on a car. Now, if I lived in Vancouver I would still have a car, but I am ok with not having to use it often. William and I could totally survive with just one car in Vancouver, while that would not cut it in Texas. 


      Vancouver is amazing. I feel that everyone was so pretty in Vancouver, yet no one was pretentious. It seemed to have tons of young professionals, all whom were very polite and ready to lend a helping hand. Mostly, everyone just seemed very open-minded and fun. When we walked around Yaletown, people were very pleasant towards one another. Yaletown had tons of cute shops and stores with not such cute price tags, but most importantly, I felt more than welcome inside any store in Vancouver, and I like that. Now, even though I could totally see myself living in a city like Vancouver, I have been a resident of suburbia my whole life, therefore I would still need an escape every once in a while from any concrete jungle. But, that is why Vancouver is so awesome. Just a bus ride away and you are in the hills overlooking the beautiful Pacific Ocean, at a picturesque lighthouse, or in a beautiful, moss-draped fir tree forest.  Can you tell that I totally dig Vancouver?

Cute shop in Chinatown

      We started off our Vancouver trip with a stop in Chinatown. We were starved and were craving some dim sum, and that is what we got! The dim sum was good, but the buns were amazing. We had chicken, veggie, and bbq pork buns and they were delish! Chinatown is relatively the same in every city. This one was way more calm than any Chinatown we've ever seen. It was oddly calm. Everyone just carried on their regular lives and it wasn't very loud. It was a sleepy Chinatown for sure. However, the colorful food markets and trinket shops did not disappoint! One thing I did appreciate about this area was that they had lots of pretty murals depicting the journeys the Chinese population took to get to Vancouver. The street artwork was definitely a treat! 

Womanizer sax player

     One of the coolest things we came across was the Make Music Festival in Gastown. Just a few days before I left Houston, I was reading Vancouver's local news just to see what was going on and came across advertisement for the festival. I was happy to see that it was going on while we were there and in an area I really wanted to visit. Both William and I planned on staying for just a little bit and we ended up spending our entire evening there. The concept of this festival is really cool. Local artists can sign up for one hour blocks and after an hour you pack up your things and a new band/solo artist comes in. Some streets were crazy with all these loud bands playing at the same time and you would just go from crowd to another crowd. Other blocks were better about alternating songs. So, one band would play and then the band across the street would play. This would give the bands a time to take a break, and no one would have to compete for audiences. The variety of this festival was awesome. There were sax players, guitarists, trumpets, soloists, violinists, bongos, cellos, I mean you name it and that instrument was probably in one band or the other. The most eclectic group consisted of 10 people of all ages, but mostly older guys. They wore bright, bold colors and crazy patterns, but all were great at their craft. The sax player came up to me in the crowd and played his solo part right to me. It was very, very awkward. Everyone kept staring at me. William thought it was hilarious, but the old guy was really funny. The festival also allowed us to see Gastown at its best. This area of Vancouver is famous for it's industrial buildings and trendy night life. 

Outside Public Market in front of Granville Bridge and False Creek

     The next morning we slept in. Since there are 16 hours of sunlight during the summers, we weren't in any rush to sight see. We sipped on some coffee, took forever to get dressed, checked our email, and bam it was already 10 am! We grabbed a bus to the train station, took a train to the seabus, and took the seabus to head to Granville. The seabus was so cool! It's a giant boat that takes you across a huge bay to the northern part of Vancouver. Once we arrived we hiked on over to the Granville Public Market. I was immediately entranced by all the yummy food and smells everywhere. Everything was so fresh! Of course, William and I headed straight to the baked goods. I mean I would describe it, but I'd probably sound like a freak. So, just take my word for it: it was tasty. The public market has outdoor seating overlooking False Creek. You can see tons of kayakers, boaters, yachts and the Vancouver skyline. It's a great place to head to if you want to explore and relax, and eat of course. If the market is not your thing, there are tons of cute little shops on the same street. They have cute boutiques, specialty stores, and other fun shops. We walked around this for a bit, then we headed over to west 4th street. This area has more shops.

Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge

     Later, we made our way to the Lynn Canyon Park. I have always wanted to go on a suspension bridge (I am such a child). When we got there, I expected a long hike, but we were greeted with a refreshing river and a waterfall behind some trees. It was fun standing on the bridge. I mean it wasn't one of those roped ones like on Indiana Jones that swings left to right with every step. It swayed gently and it made me want to jump on it, but many girls on the bridge were holding onto the railing for their dear lives. So, I saved myself the evil glares and just admired the view. We hung out on the bridge before we started hiking around. This place looked like the shooting location for the Twilight movies (not a fan, just simply making a comparison). 


     The next morning we started the day with a morning stroll right outside our hotel...at Stanley Park! This sweet outdoor paradise was right next door and we were shocked to find some great views of the city from there. We first came across some totem poles, which William happened to find very fascinating. Though we did not participate in any outdoor activities, it is a great place to people watch, enjoy the weather, and see some gorgeous flora and fauna. It would be a great place to have a romantic picnic to view the sunset and Vancouver skyline. 

Delicious Ukrainian Food!

     We were in the mood for some serious people watching that day and headed on over to the annual Strawberry Festival. We looked around at some cute booths, listened to some live music and grabbed some strawberry shortcake. When we were done looking around, we took a long bus ride to the Lighthouse Park. We enjoyed a good afternoon hike there and returned back to the west end when alerted by our growling tummies. We walked around desperately trying to decide what (amazing) restaurant to try next. When we came in front of a cute Ukrainian restaurant, we decided to try something new. The inside was adorable. It was super tiny and had two levels. The restaurant had an orangey tint from the cute mosaic glass lamps which gave the whole restaurant a romantic glow. The simple, but charming place was decorated with tons of Ukrainian family pictures, trinkets, plants and ivy. The waitress had a thick Ukrainian accent and her mother, a large muscular woman, was the star chef of the restaurant. We ordered our food: paprika chicken and vegetable cabbage rolls and were pleasantly surprised to get very generous portions of these homemade treats! Every bite was fantastic and the owners of the restaurant were very proud and greatly appreciated all the compliments we had to give on our experience there. Before we left, we had to try the homemade apple streusel that was cut out of the pan and plated with a scoop of hand churned vanilla ice cream. We left with food babies and great satisfaction. After dinner we lazily walked back to our apartment and relaxed for a bit and went out for coffee at the best cafe ever, Milan. Our friend, the barista, created a yummy concoction for me and put tons of shaved dark chocolate on top. We all continued to (be sort of snobby and) bash the quality of crap coffee from Starbucks, while sipping macchiatos from our giant ceramic mugs. 


     The next day was our last and we decided we should end it doing the things we loved most in Vancouver all over again. We started off getting some good ole American breakfast and headed back to Granville Island to get some more pastries and enjoy the live music at the Vancouver Jazz Music Festival taking place there. Afterwards, we got ourselves some authentic ramen bowls! The art of Japanese ramen houses are fab! The bowls are beautifully put together with thoughtful details for presentation and taste just as good as they look! That night we headed to something I had been waiting for....the Chinatown Night Market!!! We saw tons of interesting things including: grilled whole squids, yummy Nutella filled waffles, and padded panties for the booty-less hehehe. It was a lot of fun and a great way to end our trip to the city of Vancouver. I will definitely be back!

Chinatown Night Market

     


     

Canadian Adventures: Bears, Horses, and Moose!

Tangle Falls

     Driving through Banff was just as breathtaking as visiting all the different lakes. William was such a tolerant driver while traveling through the parks. I would often have him stop, reverse, and put on the emergency lights so I could get out and take a picture of our awesome surroundings. The beauty wasn't limited to closed off parks with signs and trail paths. Most of it could be seen from your car window while driving up a mountain or driving through the valley. You would often drive by streams, or bustling rivers flowing with crystal blue glacial waters. It was common to see little water falls, and sometimes larger ones like Tangle Falls. Driving through the park included shorter trips (Lake Minnewanka was about 5 minutes from our hotel) to much longer trips such as the Columbia Glacier (which was the same distance as Houston to Austin). I don't think either one of us realized how much we'd cherish those drives through the Canadian Rockies. After not seeing each other for weeks, we did most of our chatting and catching up on those drives. It was some good QT, not to mention fantastic sight seeing and wild life spotting.


     We were ever so fortunate to see bears and moose! We saw 7 bears total, and all on the same day! My favorite bear sighting was definitely the scariest as well. I think we were on our way back from the Columbia Glaciers and driving on Icefields Parkway. We saw two cars pulled over to the side of the road, but no one was out of their car. We knew something was up. Normally, when people saw a bear, they would get out of the car and take a pic. The bears were so distracted from food searching that they didn't care that they were being watched. But this time no one was out of their car. We pulled up and I totally could not believe what I was seeing! A mommy bear and cub! Everyone in Banff will tell you: Never get out of the car if you see a mother and her cub. This can cause the mother to feel threatened and there have been cases of mothers attacking when their cubs are around them. When we were on our White Water Rafting trip, one of the guides told us about a tourist who had rode with them the day before. The tourist taped an incident on his phone and showed the tour guide. Basically, someone got out of their car to take a picture of a bear and her cub. The second the bear saw the guy get out of the car she came running up to the car. The guy was able to get in his car and lock the doors. But the angry bear tore out his headlights.


     So, when we saw the mother bear and her cub, we did NOT get out of the car. We lowered our windows to find the two of them scrummaging to find berries. Then all of a sudden the mother bear walked closer...and closer...and closer to the street, next to our car (across the street from her). Our windows were down and cameras in our hands-we were so shocked to be able to see the bear that closely.. and not in a cage. Then, she came up to the road, looked both ways and froze. She was looking dead straight into our car, right at us. Her cub came and stood next to her and they both began to cross the street.

Being watched

     At this point I was freaking out. The window was all the way down AND they were crossing right in front of OUR car. I told William to reverse. His response included a crisp and sharp, "Be silent. Don't move." While they crossed, the cub peered into our car. We held our breath. What seemed like forever later, they finally reached the other side of our car and continued their search for berries... or honey (hehe). Who knows. All I know is that I had been holding my breath the entire time. We drove off and couldn't believe how close they had come. I asked William why he didn't drive away and he reminded me that we were on a curved road and had a car behind us so we couldn't reverse. My favorite part of his response was, "Yeah, Neeti. Let me just start the engine and have the bear attack our rental car. NBD." That would have been our last vacation ever (like that cruise commercial where they're camping and being attacked by the bear, HAH).

FUZZY antlers!

     After this, we still had about an hour before we got back to town and I was so giddy from our bear encounter that I was talking non-stop and acting like a 5 year old, oozing with delight. Tons of people in Banff had told us that not everyone gets to see bears, so we knew our chances were low, especially since we had that close encounter with the rams at Lake Minnewanka. We were pretty sure that was the extent of our wild life spotting. But then, in my moment of childish behavior and hopefulness I said six simple, magical words, "I hope we see moose next!" TA DAAAA! I could not believe it. Within 15 minutes there we were, pulled up right next to, not one but two, giant, fuzzy, adorable, antler-bearing moose! William asked politely for me to verbally express that he get a good step score. I did. Still hoping for that one. The moose were just as indifferent as the bears. They were over the paparazzi.


     Now for the more domesticated animals. For anyone who goes to the rockies, whether it's in the states or in Canada, I'd highly recommend horse back riding! My horse was named Moonshine and he was gorgeous! When I got on the horse, the cowboy was like..."You get the pretty one. I'll show you what you do with the horse in a sec." What "you do" with the horse? I immediately informed the guy that I was a Texas girl and knew how to get on a horse. I'm brown, but geez. Obviously, assumptions were made.

Looking pro-ish

     On another note, he was such a nice cowboy after that! We went on some great paths, but my favorite were the river crossings. My horse tried to leave everyone and the cowboy told me to "keep him in line" and I did :) I was proud of myself. On the other hand, we had to wait at the other side of the river because one of the Japanese tourists wasn't as familiar with the horsey and his horse went on a joy ride through the forest to eat some fresh green grass. We got to chill and admire the surroundings while the cowboys went to rescue the guy. He was a good sport about it. On our way back, we stopped at a light where there were some bushes and my horse gnawed on some leaves and when I kicked him to start going he managed to break off a branch for a snack later. I wish I could have captured that on camera! We got to see the sun start setting during our horse ride and saw some deer in the forests. Overall, it was a beautiful experience and I'd love to do it again some day. Banff was gorgeous and I plan on going back sometime next year! Next, we moved onto something a little more familiar, city life in Vancouver. Vancouverites did not disappoint!

Ice Exploring

     We started out our third day traveling all the way to Jasper (like going to ATX from Houston) to take the Columbia and Athabasca Glacier tours. My pictures and words cannot do this scenic drive justice. We had talked to a lady earlier and she had given us an alternate to the Trans Canada highway (which is also stunning), so we took IH 93, or better known as Icefields Parkway. She suggested this route, explaining that it's a good trip if you want to see bears. We wanted to see bears so badly, and we got to see SEVEN! They were scrummaging along the sides of the roads, digging for roots and berries. Several cars, including us, pulled over to snap some shots and the bears were not the slightest bit phased. I mean, they didn't even look at us and we were ten feet from them! The first one we saw was so adorable and was the largest. He really did look like a giant teddy bear. Then we saw a second smaller one, on our way back, we saw two more searching for food.

      When we arrived at the glaciers, we couldn't believe how massive the glaciers were. We got our tickets and immediately got on a bus up the mountain to get on our next ride: the ice exploration vehicles, Terry Trucks. This huge bus type mode of transportation would make your dog look like a crepe if it crossed this monster's path. The tires were 5 feet tall, and there are only 20 in North America. Eight belong to this company, others are being used in the military and for ice exploration in Antartica.

Columbia Glacier

        From the mountain we went down to the glacier. The slope was at a 42% grade. This means for every 100 feet forward we were dropping 42 feet in height. We were all leaning against the seat in front of us; it was steep!  When the Ice Explorer reached  the glaciers we couldn't believe how tiny we were in comparison. It was crazy! You had to be careful not to slip, fall, and die in one of the crevaces. The glacier water was the clearest water I've ever seen. Walking on the ice was extremely slippery and you had to take every step with caution. Luckily, William and I made it out alive. We decided to go visit a few places in Jasper National Park including the breathtaking Tangle Falls. Once again, William somehow convinced me to climb the side of the water fall and people pointed, again. At one point I got stuck. I was too scared to go up and panicked when I looked down. So, I just hugged the rock and William talked me through it. When I reached up, I walked right up to the water and splashed it on my hands and arms. We were touching the water fountain! Then began the scary descent. Wasn't as bad as I assumed it would be and I'm glad I did it! Other places we visited this day included: Peyto Lake, which looked like a lake filled with blue Kool aid, Crowfoot Glacier, Herbert Lake, Bow Lake, and Bow Summit. I am going to miss all the beauty in Banff!

Peyto Lake

The Deathly Glacier Waters

       I have two words to describe white water rafting: scary shit. Just a week ago I started following Wild Water Adventures on facebook and saw numerous cancellations. I was so scared that they would cancel our reservation due to high waters, but luckily they didn't. We went in the afternoon to find out that the waters were higher than usual and like a dummy I was so pumped. I mean white water rafting is not cheap, and I wanted to get my money's worth. I got just that.    

     If you ever come to Banff and want to do WWR, I would highly recommend this company. When our party arrived, we were given a brief description of what the next few hours would look like. We were then given ALL materials to be extra prepared for the hell that is Kicking Horse River. They sized me up and gave me a wet suit, booties, a super cute fleece jacket, a rain shell, life jacket, and helmet. We spent the next 30 minutes or so traveling down to the river by bus and the guides went over safety procedures. When we got to the river we practiced different ways to get back to the boat if we get thrown out and how to rescue one another. They made a really big point: YOU are an active participant in your rescue. So basically if you're a hot mess in the water, they would let you float down stream and catch you down there. After seeing the whole river, I know that I would have never made it back alive.     

     After we learned numerous ways to get ourselves back on the boat, we climbed into the rafts. Carlos, my SUPER AWESOME Costa Rican tour guide advised with a wink that the most excitement happens in the front seat. William and I, along with a British mom and son, jumped into the front wanting to get a bang for our buck. William and I sat next to each other and then Carlos pointed out that I would be a paddler and my face froze in horror so the British chap in front of me volunteered, so we swapped spots, putting me and his awesome mom front and center. Carlos then asked us to stick our hands in the water. We all did.  And, we all screamed in horror. He smiled and explained that we would be going in 5 degree water. He pointed to a mountain top and explained that this river held glacier water that was melting. And, on our way down the river, we saw water falls emptying into the river.     

     Those who have done WWR will know how scary our level 3,4, and 5 rapids were. Threes were fun, fours were exciting, and me and the British mom whose name I don't know so we'll call her Marge, were pretty sure we were not going to make it back to land on the level 5 rapids. Everytime we would go through a 5, Marge and I felt as though we were completely submerged under the water. Even with all our gear on, after our first level 5 Marge leaned over and whispered, "I have 5 degree water in places I didn't think would get wet on this ride."     

     Every level 5 rapid we had would literally knock the wind out of me. At one point there were so many, one after the next, that I was choking on water. When we came to the calm waters everyone was staring and Marge and I because we were gasping for air and coughing up a lung. Sounds horrible right? Well the first set was, after that traumatizing moment, it became hella fun. Our gloves protected our fingers, somewhat, and we were all able to hold on tightly; no one fell out of our boats. An hour and a half on the river was just the perfect amount of rafting. When we came back to the docks, they had (more!) Cadbury Hot Chocolate, pastries, and fruits waiting for us. We changed, grabbed some snacks, and gathered around the TVs to watch the pictures from the trip. They were super funny so everyone wanted one. I had found a tiny coupon earlier for a free photo DVD so we were pumped about saving 30 bucks! Overall, it was a super fun experience and I can't wait to go again!    

     After braving Kicking Horse River, we headed to Wapta Falls. This required a 2.4 km hike in super muddy trails that resembled those we encountered in the Amazon in Peru. Slimy, slippery mud forced us to make our own trails through the brush. It was a very long, but rewarding hike. We knew we were there from the sound of the waters crashing down. The water fall was intense. And it was completely empty because most people would not hike to get to the fall. We hung out there for a while and enjoyed the calm forest and fiesty waters.     

     We then headed to Natural Bridge, which is another gorgeous waterfall. What was so beautiful about this one were the mountains peaking behind the fall and the rivers surrounding it. I can't believe all these wild life critters get to live there for free; they have the best view in the world. It was around nine 'o clock and the sun began setting. Remember, they have 16 hours of daylight here! We headed to Emerald Lake to find the waters to indeed be a rich Emerald in color. This lake was surrounded by beautfiul trees and adorable cottages. We, again, were the only ones there so we went down to the dock and sat there for a while. We started getting sleepy so we decided to head back to Banff. We didn't get there til about 11 pm and found that everything was closed. We went to Safeway which was filled with delicious food, but were very limited because we don't have a microwave in our hotel. Luckily the deli was open so we grabbed some lunch meat and samosas from there. We ate and then we passed out.

Natural Wonders in Banff, Alberta

Lake Moraine

   

     We arrived in Banff a few days ago now and have been smitten by this cute and multicultural town! It is extremely picturesque and feels very much like a winter resort town. Yes, I said winter because the days are beautiful, but brisk at a high of 60 degrees! One thing I love about Alberta is that they have 16 hours of sunlight! While driving back from Lake Louise, we got to watch the sun set at 9 p.m.! Weird!     

     Today (6/18/12) We started our morning early. We were trying our best to start our day as early as we could so we walked down the street to a Safeway (Looks like Kroger's). I am amazed at the cultural diversity in their food! I need to move here! I saw frozen meals like saffron and cranberry cous cous stuffed Chicken Courdon Blue, Beef samosas, vegetable gyozas, an amazing selection of vegetarian meals, freshhhh deli meats, and so on. They have tons of great restaurants also! Taste of Sri Lanka, German foudous, Greek, Indian, Samoan, Japanese, Chinese, Irish, Vienamese, french bakeries, bubble tea, fudgeries, you name it! Anyways, for breakfast we got little sandwiches. Mine included whole wheat english muffin, sausage, egg whites and cheese. Beats McDonald's any day. We ate quickly and headed out to LAKE MORAINE. I fell in LOVE! When we arrived the it was very cool and misty, just how William likes it. I was annoyed that the sun wasn't out, mostly because I was cold. William always tries to get me to appreciate nature in all its dimensions.       

Large rock pile

     We arrived there pretty early, but even then there were so many old people! I guess the early crowd includes the 65+ crowd. When you arrive, you see a giant mountain with snow covered peaks. As you get closer you see the bright turquoise water and it takes your breath away. The entire lake is surrounded by dark forest green trees reaching for the skies. Amongst the trees was a little cabin with a smokey chimney that made it story-book perfect. (By the way, the cabin served Cadbury hot chocolate :) ) Before we started hiking back, one of the old ladies pointed to a 30 something year old man who had climbed this giant rock pile. By giant rock pile I mean a small mountain of about 200 feet. William figured of that dude could do it, so could we. I was totally gunho and we started climbing. It was the type of climbing that used every muscle in my body and involved me crawling and climbing with all fours. I could hardly move the next morning. I reached about half way and the view was amazing, but I looked down and couldn't go up any further. I decided to seek refuge on a giant flat stone and William continued until he reached the top and it was incredible (according to him and the fab pics he took up there). I could see the old people below pointing at us.     

     Going up was way easier than coming down. This part was really intimidating. I did a whole lot of scooting down the rocks. When I finally was able to get all the way down we had to get past numerous logs that were put in the shallow base of the lake to reach the rocks. The logs had been the easiest part of the rock climb so I wasn't concerned. As I took my last step off the rock and onto the log, I stepped on one that wasn't supported. It rolled over and sunk down, causing me to lose my balance. My other foot, still on the rock, lost its balance and I went sliding down. My bottom hit a flat rock, but my back hit a sharp edge. Luckily, I was left unharmed and without any bruises. The downside was that my shoes were completely submerged in 15 degree water and that was no party.

     Later on, we continued to hike and enjoyed the rest of the lake as the sun came out. Eventually William decided he wanted to go back to the front of Lake Moraine and climb up the rock again. I opted to sit out. I found a nice warm rock the size of my bed and lied down with my shoes and socks off to bathe and dry off in the sun. Then we headed off to Lake Louise, another one of Banff's gems!

Back at it

     This past year has been quite the whirlwind! While my second year as a teacher was much more fun, it proved to have its own challenges. Also, this was William's and my second year living apart. We normally saw each other about once a month, or every 3 weeks. However, this last six weeks was pretty brutal and hectic-and the longest we've ever gone (in 8 years!) from seeing each other. I finished up another school year, and William started preparing for the Step 1 exam. This test sounds like torture to prepare for and made me realize how amazing William is to work so hard, tirelessly, and without one complaint. Even I think I did well holding back the complaints only because I knew how stressed William was. Thankfully, the test will be done on Saturday the 16th, and then we're off on our next adventure!

       William and I had a difficult time trying to figure out where we could travel to. Having gone to Peru just six months ago, he wanted to travel domestically. I wanted to go abroad, and after exploring all the options we compromised on Canada, which is practically domestic, but still "abroad." After much research we knew that Banff was the place for us. I cannot wait to see the wonders that Canada has to offer.

     And, this leads me to my first post of this trip...the pissy post portraying the problems of packing (gotta love the alliteration). You would think after this many trips that I would have a method to my packing. NOPE! It involves hours of whining and bugging my mother, yelling at Pickle, messy stacks, organized chaos, piles everywhere, nagging William, multiple checklists, packing, re-packing and then some more re-packing. [Side note: it costs $50 to check in bags now! WHAT?! That is ridiculous-- not OKAY!]

      I have three tips for packing for international trips:

 1. Pack a few days before you leave. This is important for me because my brain is always going 100 miles an hour and I always forget something when I rush. When you start preparing a few days in advance, you will randomly remember some essentials that you forgot and will be grateful that you can still pack it instead of having to buy it in a foreign place!

 2. Pack once, re-pack, and maybe re-pack again! It's amazing how much room you save when you experiment and find new ways of cramming things into your suitcases. I like to pack things that I won't need regularly at the very bottom, like extra, bulky jeans-and lay everything flat! Also, put items like shoes, make up, toiletries on the sides in those weird gaps. I also shove chargers and camera chords in my shoes.

 3. When you are finally done packing, keep your checklist with you! Words cannot express how tired I am of hearing William say, "Oh.. the charger... I think I left it plugged in at the hotel." Yes, you can pat your back after you've finished packing, but remember, you will be packing again-on the way to your next destination, or on your way back and having that checklist for every stop will be helpful. Below is the hot mess I start out with. The "after" picture, which I forgot to take, shows all of this magically and neatlly fitting into a small rolley carry-on.

How Did I End Up Here?

Seriously, how is it that 11 days prior, I was standing in my class teaching about the Texas Revolution, counting down the hours for my next adventure, wishing that my trip would be reaching my expectations, making packing lists, and hoping more than ever that time would not fly by. And now, I was standing under the gazebo in the middle of the Amazon, with the most amazing guy in the world, waiting to see something that I only had a small percent chance to actually see.

As I was waiting for William to finish getting ready, I looked out from the netted window and breathed in the smell of fresh rain in the rainforest. As beautiful as the rain was, I was wishing it would disappear. William was moving slower than a sloth and I started having flashbacks of receiving a National Geographic magazine with beautiful, colorful macaws flying on the cover.

The night before, while we were saying our goodnights to the staff, Listen told me to cross my fingers that it didn't rain tomorrow. If it rained then we would not be able to see the birds at the clay lick. That morning, our last morning, William and I woke up at 4:00 am, before any of the staff (except Listen, our guide) and sleepily put our clothes on and brushed our teeth as we listened to the rain bounce off the cedar log roof of our cabin. I wasn't disappointed. I was in denial. And apparently, William was too. Either that or he was still halfway asleep and did not realize it was pouring outside. I remembered the days when I was a little girl and my dad would play cards with his friends and just as I would get bored from watching and try to leave, my dad would make me wait until after his turn because he thought I brought him good luck. I put my long, now yellow, socks on and told myself that I was lucky. I would somehow see the birds at the clay lick.

Listen arrived at our cabin, promptly at 4:30 a.m.. I was sure he was going to tell us to go back to sleep, and that we could always come back to this corner of the world and see it another time. Instead he came to escort us down to the boat. In a somber voice, his words exactly were, "Good morning friends. It is raining. But, we will try and hope." Panchos on, we walked down the slippery, muddy steps to get into the boat. We soared off on the Amazon river and ten minutes later we arrived at another wooden staircase built into the edge of a muddy wall-our path up to the clay lick. We hiked up and the rain had stopped, but the dark skies were not promising. We walked through brush and trees to a cute little hut built into the side of a tree. We were up high! We looked out and about 50 feet in front and below us was the edge of a cliff. That was the clay lick. We were told to be silent and still. An hour later, the only noise I heard was the sound of chirping birds from afar as William and I tried to cover up yawn after yawn.

I had given up on the clay lick. I just wanted to sleep. I sat with my head on my fist. One eye closed, the other one open. Listen leaned over and said, "I hear parakeets." A swarm of parakeets came and sat in a nearby trees. Exciting? Kind of. I mean it was amazing to see so many fly. But, once they landed, they were impossible to see in the green trees. It was, however, fun to hear them chirping and moving around. 10 minutes later Listen, in disbelief, chirped, "Look parrots!" as he frantically turned the pages of his parrot encyclopedia to show me what exact breed it was. Blue headed parrot, if you are interested. The parrots sat in another tree, never in the same trees as the parakeets. A few minutes later, another species of parrots came. Then came 3 green and blue macaws. For the next 20 minutes we saw them fly into the trees in front of us, and it got much louder. I realized that we had been there much longer than we anticipated, but Listen was determined that if the birds didn't get scared, or spot a predator that they would go to the clay lick. He was right.

One brave little parakeet decided to take the plunge. He flew down, as swift as a jet and grabbed onto the clay lick to get his share of the minerals his body needs in order to eat the poisonous berry that is the main part of his diet. The berries they eat have toxic poisons, and the only way they can digest these poisons is if they get the minerals from the clay lick. Once the little guy got on the clay lick, the birds stopped chirping and watched him for a minute. It was neat how they all stopped chirping and watched the parakeet closely. I was sort of disappointed that only one bird was going to be on the clay lick...but at least it was better than nothing. Then before I knew it every bird was trying to get onto the clay lick. Parrots, Parakeets, Macaws! Everywhere! More flew in and waited in the trees. There were beautiful vines gracefully dangling from the cliff and the birds couldn't all fit on the clay lick at once, so they playfully swung on the vines, waiting patiently. They swung back and forth, sang their hearts out, and scratched one another's heads. I couldn't believe it! I finally was sitting here, in a camouflaged hut in the trees, in the middle of the Amazon, watching my favorite birds enjoy life in their natural habitat. I was astonished that so many beautiful birds could be in one place at a time and thought to myself that this is the picture that should have been the cover of the National Geographic my dad bought me.

This trip did not meet my expectations. It surpassed them. I am truly grateful that I was able to go to Peru with William, and even more grateful that the birds came out on an ugly morning. At one point there were so many birds that Listen spoke up (there was no way the birds could hear us over their loud chirping!) and straight up said, "You guys are so lucky! We don't even see this on a good day, and today it rained and you get to see this. So amazing!"

I agreed. So amazing.

Hiking, Monkeys & Tarantulas

One of my favorite activities on the ENTIRE Peru trip involved us taking a morning excursion to the clay lick. But before I get into that, I want to write about the other two excursions we took: our night walk and the 7 mile hike to the lake in the Amazon.

I'll start with the lake. A seven mile hike doesn't sound too difficult, and it isn't when you're walking on nice, smooth pavement sidewalks. On the other hand, walking through the rainforest, through deep, thick mud and in between bushes and shrubs makes it slightly more difficult. Gosh, I make it sound pretty horrible, but it was quite the opposite. Actually, it was pretty refreshing. I don't think I have ever been completely submerged in nature like that. I mean there was Girl Scout Camp... but we were in log cabins with electricity, were eating hot dogs in a huge cafeteria, and maybe going on some sort of hike. Then there are all the botanical gardens I've been to all over the country. As beautiful as those have all been, it's all been so contrived. Oh, then there was Muir Woods in San Fran. But, that had man made paths and a cute little cafe inside. I did go zip-lining. That was a fun, thrilling eco-adventure, where you fly through the canopy of old growth cypress trees, some up to 100 feet tall! Ok, so I have definitely done some nature related activities, but I have never felt as immersed in nature as I did in the secluded and exotic Amazon. In the Amazon, all you could hear for miles were toucans and howler monkeys. You can smell the fresh dew from the early morning and you can see green and brown (green being all the plants and trees around, and brown being the mud you're walking on. There is no blue because the treetops cover most of the sky) with random and exciting bursts of colorful wildlife.

We started the hike by getting special pairs of sturdy, and intensely padded boots. These were comfy! An hour into the hike I could see how death by mud was a possible fate. The ground wasn't too uneven. There were lots of tree roots that you had to step over. Mostly, the effort was put into not getting stuck in the mud, or slipping. There is some deep, sticky mud! Once we were able to trek for an hour or so, you got used to the mud and it became fun going through the muddy parts. Our boots made all sorts of funny fart noises (I know, I'm so immature) and if you didn't angle your foot correctly, you could pull your foot out of your boot! So after we got used to it, it was all about the nature watching. We saw tons of different types of birds, three different species of monkeys, wild pigs, and plenty of other wildlife. Then, I had my first encounter with... a tarantula. This guy was probably the size of my head, I'm not exaggerating, ask William. We were walking, fearlessly really. I wasn't expecting to see any spiders since they are nocturnal and this was in the early morning. THEN, out of nowhere, Listen, our guide turned around and made a little whistling sound. I looked at him and he tilted his head towards the hairy spider. I immediately got chills all over my body and refused to move forward. The spider was sitting comfortably right in the middle of our path. I had both arms wrapped around William, my face buried in his back, and my nose pressed against his spine. (For some reason this has always been comforting for me. I used to do this when we used to go to haunted houses. William never understood how this was comforting to me since the only thing covered is my face-and he finds it extremely uncomfortable.) My heart was beating 100 miles an hour and William desperately tried to pry my arms off. Eventually he told me to close my eyes and dragged me to the grassy area next to the spider and I peaked to see that he was going to pass me to Listen on the other side of the spider. Listen held out his hand and William pushed me off and said, "RUN!" That freaked me out because when he yelled, I thought I was being attacked by the tarantula. I jumped over that general area and Listen had my hand so I didn't die. When I got to the other side, I turned around to see the creeper and Listen said that the tarantula ran off faster than he's ever see one move and that I probably gave it a heart attack. I hope so. After that, I felt pretty comfortable and fearless. I wasn't really scared of anything anymore. Listen even told me that that spider was one of the larger tarantulas he'd ever seen. I felt rather accomplished.

Once we got to the lake we took a canoe out to go look for wild otters. Because it had been sprinkling all morning, Listen said the otters probably didn't feel like coming out and were probably still sleeping. I was sad not to see the otters, but we saw more cool breeds of birds. Some of those birds look so wacky! We also got to see some more monkeys. They are so funny! We saw them chase one another and jump from tree to tree. It's so cute to see monkeys in their element, not behind bars, playing freely with one another. Listen described how lazy the howler monkeys are and explained that the howler monkey is so lazy that it takes its middle finger, licks it, sticks it in their own butt, pulls it out and holds it up for mosquitoes and flies to come to it. Once his poopy finger attracts mosquitos and flies, he licks the finger, eating the bugs, and satisfying his hunger. That, my friends, is the laziest way to get food. I will NOT be trying that at home. After a good hour on the lake we started our trek back where we saw many more species of birds and plants. My favorite was a plant the natives call "Monkey Eggs." So weird!

That evening we went on our "Night Walk." It was after dark and we were told to meet at the gazebo with a flashlight and our boots. We were going to go through a trail in the forest to try to see the nightlife. This was something I had been dreading. I was seriously nervous to go at night, when all the creepy crawlers come out. We had met these British and Australian guys in Puerto Maldonado that has been with Listen the days before we had arrived and they told us that Listen is an expert at finding tarantulas and their nests. UGH. I was so freaked out. Then when I turned around, they were showing William with their hands how big the tarantulas were and I accidently saw. My face must have looked horrified because the guy apologized, claiming that I wasn't supposed to see that. Just as I had gotten the image of him holding both hands up, I had come to the end of my trip...the last night in Peru and here I was going on the night walk. Before we even started Listen stopped and giddily whispered, "Look! That pretty thing is a pink-toed tarantula!" I tried to not look disappointed and let out a fake, "Ohhh." William was all up in it. Gross. When we entered the forest, my heart was beating so fast. I had pulled my arms inside my shirt just in case a creepy crawler tried some funny business with me. Eventually I took my arms out-I needed them for balance. I was still in the rainforest and was trying to avoid twisting my ankle and falling, giving easy access for tarantula molestation. Luckily, I did not fall and was not molested by any insects. About 10 minutes into the hike, we came across our first tarantula nest. I barely saw it. I just remember saying, "Oh, how neat," and looking at the tree above the spider. I didn't want to look directly at it. Tarantulas live in holes at the base of trees. There, they lay eggs and hang out before going "hunting" for food. They do all their hunting at night and hibernate during the day. The only reason they come out during the day is if a predator is near them and they need to escape, or if they didn't get enough food at night. We kept walking and came across another nest and I decided to look at this one. Gross! It was huge and had babies behind it. Sick. I was over it.

Listen finally realized that I wasn't into the spiders (and that even William, who was open to it at first, seemed a little freaked out also) and he stopped pointing them out to us. Thank god! One thing we saw on our night walk that was really interesting was sleeping butterflies. Listen told us that butterflies are like us and are active during the days, but then find a nice sturdy plant to sleep on at night. That was cool to see. I saw a few just sleeping on leaves, very still, very pretty. The only thing I saw flying around were moths. Not giant freaky ones, but just normal pretty ones. We saw lots of caterpillars hanging out on trees. I saw a GIANT grasshopper that was eating fungus. He was friendlier looking than the tarantulas. Oh! One really neat thing we saw was a tree frog. This little guy was on a branch and was tiny!! He was at eye level so I was able to take a picture of him. At one point we heard lots of rustling in the forest, and our flashlights were pretty fancy, but even they can't allow you to see deep in the forest. This part was pretty thrilling because Listen was like SHHHHH and turned off the flashlights. I was sort of freaked out, but excited at the same time. He whispered to me that he couldn't tell what the sounds were. That part was sort of scary, I was like, "Um...what could it be then?" His response was, "I thought the sounds were of wild pigs...but no... maybe a jaguar." OK, William and I did not respond. I realized that there was nothing but black all around me. The treetops covered any moonlight there could have been and I could not see even 1 centimeter in front of me. Finally a few minutes later I said, "You cannot see anything at all without our flashlights," and he turned it back on and goes, "Ok, just wild pigs." Great. Thank goodness it was just wild pigs, but WTH there are jaguars?!? William and I just looked at each other.

We turned off our flashlights one more time, just because I wanted to soak in the darkness. I mean complete darkness. I have never seen that in my life. In fact, when I closed my eyes in the dark, I could see more light than when I kept my eyes open with out the flashlights. That's how dark it was. But then out of nowhere, was a little yellow glow bouncing up and down a few feet in front of me. I made a little noise and Listen quickly pointed out that we had found a firefly. It was pretty! We finally made it through the trail and ended back at our lodge. I was so proud of myself. If this was 10 years ago, I would have cried and been such a baby. I pulled through! Good thing too because this accomplishment made for a glorious last night in Peru!

The next morning would be our last in the Amazon jungle and in Peru. Out of all the amazing, wonderful, and exciting things we did... this last activity would be my favorite! That last morning I would get to fulfill one of my childhood dreams: to see tropical birds in their natural setting and at the clay lick!!

The Amazon: It Isn't an Adventure if Something Doesn't Go Wrong

I woke up screaming because there was a giant tarantula in my bed.

Just kidding. That is what you would expect for someone to tell you when they spent a few nights in a cabin in the Amazon Rainforest. However, the rainforest, though you would expect it to be crawling with creepy crawlers everywhere, had it's fair share of insects (and unfortunately, tarantulas), BUT it was not like we saw one every second of the day. In fact, the night I returned back to the states and was cuddling with my favorite blankey on the couch, I let out the loudest blood-curling scream, to which William's response was, "Oh, god, stop!" and then when I screamed a second time his response was, "God, Neeti, what's wrong with you?" William quickly changed his rude and angry tone when I threw my pretty leapord print snuggy on the floor and jumped on top of him and explained that a spider crawled on my mouth. Skeptical, William inched his way to the couch to find the biggest, grossest spider ever. SICK SICK SICK. Just writing about it makes me red with anger. That disgusting little shit in my snuggy! I freaking stayed in the amazon and didn't have to live through that. How can that happen in my own clean house?!

Ok, anyways, the point is: you can have bad experiences with insects in the comfort of your own home, so avoiding the amazon because you are "scared" of bugs, or because they "gross you out" should not be an excuse not to visit this amazing world wonder. The insects in the Amazon are more afraid of you than the little bully insects we have here. Same goes for caimans, anacondas, monkeys, snakes, and frogs. They are extremely difficult to find because they are scared of humans... which takes me to my next point...

Do NOT travel in large tourist groups in the jungle.

Luckily, William and I traveled in the low season. Why would we possibly do that? Two reasons, less crowds and more animal sightings. Let me start out with where I left off last blog...

After leaving Machu Picchu we returned to Cuzco. We spent the night in our cute 18th century hotel (with the great views) and after breakfast, we left to go to the airport. At the airport, we became suspicious. That morning the desk clerk had notified us that the flight had been pushed back an hour so we didn't have to rush. Since we love Cuzco, this wasn't a big deal and it allowed us to have a relaxing breakfast overlooking the city. When we arrived at the airport we found a seat next to some people similar to our age. As they kept talking, I got confused. They looked and sounded like Americans, but then one of the girls with super green eyes and blonde hair would bust out in the craziest Spanish. Finally, I asked another girl sitting next to me where they were from. She informed me that they were from North Carolina and that they were visiting the other girl's family since she is Peruvian. Finally, I figured out why she spoke Spanish so well and the others didn't. They started to complain about how sick they were and how many times their flight had been pushed back. Rumor was that there was a strike going on in Lima with the airport and the air controllers. I found it interesting that our flight, as well as theirs (from a different airlines) had both been rescheduled. When sitting and meeting with these people the Peruvian American girl told me to make sure and ask them because they won't announce anything. Eventually she would do all the talking for me. Every hour, we would find out that the flight was delayed again. Time was flying because all of us became friends. We talked for hours (literally) about our travel experiences around the world, what we had seen in Peru, what to avoid in Peru and our lives back home. Eventually we all realized that it had been 3 hours or so. When they asked about their flight, the attendants told her that their flight had still not left Lima. The girl asked me if I wanted to ask our airlines and when I agreed she went with me. The lady notified me that our flight had been cancelled. Before I had a chance to even know what had been going on, Joahanna was calling her out big time in Spanish. I immediately knew something wasn't right. Come to find out, the flight had been cancelled and Joahanna was pissed that William and I had both been asking every hour and it took them three hours to tell us the truth. Her yelling didn't stop there, she made the lady tell me in English that they would compensate full costs for this unfortunate turn of events. We walked back to the rest of the group and I notified William and told him that we need to go back downstairs to check in and get ourselves a new ticket and let our tourism representatives know of our situation.

After saying goodbyes and wishing each other the best of luck (since we were all going to need it) I headed downstairs to Star Peru check in. STAR PERU. Write it down so you will never forget to avoid them. I kindly asked the man at the desk why it had not been publicly announced or why we had not been notified earlier. His response was minimal and rude.

Do you know me? I am actually a pretty nice gal, until you piss me off. I responded kindly, "Habla Ingles?" When he said yes I got sort of bitchy. In my defense, I was strung along for 3 hours, avoided by attendants, and most importantly, I didn't get what I deserved: an explanation. My response to him went like this: "Are you going to compensate the costs of this mishap that your representatives handled very poorly?" He said it wasn't their fault, to which my response was, "Hahahahahhahahahaahaha." At this point my laughter got the attention of three men who were standing behind the counter in their office. This is where the bitchiness turned to crazy (which some of you know is a normal response from me in situations like such). I let him know that I would not leave until a) I received compensation for the ticket and a hotel b) I had made a phone call to our representatives. I was taken back where the three guys were and was allowed my phone call. The three men made their way over to me and inquired about my situation. When I told them, they notified me that they were in the same shoes and were from Spain. They sort of took William and I under their wings for the next few hours, fighting multiple battles as the airlines continued to pull our leg.

I made my phone call to our American tour company representative, Kelly. She also notified me that they would not be compensating us because it was out of their hands and our local representative, Jordan, who is freaking amazing, would be arriving ASAP. After letting her know that their company is jeopardizing the integrity of the company by putting the burden on us, I let her know that someone besides William and I would be making up for this mishap and hung up. I decided to wait for Jordan to show up, who is our age, speaks perfect Spanish, and is such a badass, before getting my panties in a twist.

And he did. After telling him what had happened, he assured us that this would be taken care of. Back to the Spanish guys. These guys from Spain did not play. They were on Star Peru's ass like no other and included William and I in all translations. Finally, 30 minutes before the airport closed and post major bitching sessions, the airport and Lima sent our plane. We were told to run to our gate and cross our finger that they arrive before closing. We did as told, said our goodbyes to Jordan, who had been around since the beginning of Cuzco, and ran to our gate. But before we ran off, the Spanish guys made the Star Peru representatives feel really bad about not offering us food or drinks and ensuring that we all are fed on the plane for their poor services. They agreed and we ran for our lives. We got there. So did the plane. We boarded and went off to Puerto Maldonado to go to the Amazon Rainforest.

The Amazon

Upon arrival to Puerto Maldonado, we had to take a 1.5 hour bus ride and a 1.5 hour canoe ride to reach our lodge. Our lodge was inside the eco reserve and therefore did not have electricity or hot water. We chose to stay inside the reserve because we would be in the animals' natural habitat and get to see what life is like for the natives in the Amazon. The only place the lodge did have electricity was in the kitchen, dining area and their office and this was all by solar panel. When we arrived, we met our tour guide, Listen. Listen was an amazing person who was, in fact, born in the jungle. He was indeed a true native now employed by the reserve. We got to know him pretty well since we were his only tourists. We also got to see many more animals than most people do because: we traveled in the low and wet season. The low season meaning not many people go in December because it is also the wet season. The wet season is wonderful for wildlife, which is why I chose to come here at this time. Many of the animals we spotted were not shown in my facebook albums because I was too busy admiring the animals and didn't take a picture, or was too afraid to move and scare off the animals.

Our first day in the Amazon included a trip to the local farm. Listen took us on a boat to a local farm nearby. When we arrived it looked like the rest of the rainforest. But as we walked through it, we saw hundreds of papaya trees, avocado trees, bananas, plantains, and many other fruits and vegetables. It was so neat seeing where some of our imported fruits come from. After we walked through several acres of the farm we returned to the lodge for our first meal. Not knowing what to expect, dinner was a real shocker. We sat down for dinner with Listen and the manager of the lodge. A young guy brought each of us a large bowl of Peruvian chicken noodle soup. The soup is similar to our soup but much more flavorful and rich. I licked that bowl clean and was content with the meal until he brought out another course: the main course. This was some chicken in a yummy yellow sauce, some sauteed vegetables and some yummy, flavorful rice. After inhaling the two courses we barely had room for desert, but we found space, duh. Breakfast and lunch were just as exciting as our dinners and overall, we were fed the best in the Amazon. Who would have thought. We were lucky enough to have Christmas dinner with our gracious hosts at the lodge also. Christmas Eve, at midnight, so technically Christmas day, we were kindly invited to join the small, off season staff for a family style dinner. They had some sort of a yummy salad, that yummy, flavorful rice, sweet potato casserole, and turkey! We also got champagne for a toast as well as mango flan for desert. The celebration was very sweet, joyful, and fun. We felt so lucky to have been able to spend Christmas with their little family out in the middle of nature.

The Real Amazon

So, like I stated earlier, the Amazon is not as scary as one would think. You would assume that there are tons of bugs everywhere. And, I'm sure they are, but their goal in life isn't to torture you or bite you. They have much larger worries, for example: survival, mating, feeding their young, hunting etc. The last thing they want to do is find a human and bite them and potentially risk getting squished. Once I figured this out, I was much more at ease. I was in heaven once I figured this out and discovered the hundreds of species of birds flying around. I LOVE BIRDS!!! I remember sitting on our porch in the afternoon drinking tea and from nowhere flew these three most beautiful macaws. Their vibrant red, green, blue and yellow feathers were a stark contrast against their never ending green surroundings. It was surreal seeing them flying around so freely. At one point we were resting in a gazebo and Listen came and joined us for a chat. While we were sitting, down came one of the macaws we had probably seen the day before flying around with his friends. He kept going up to Listen and wanted to be petted. Listen warned us of the dangers of the macaw's beak and how hard he could bite. He was afraid to pet the macaw until the macaw let him grab his beak to hold it down! Once Listen had a hold of the bird's beak he started scratching the bird's neck and the macaw loved it! In fact, he loved it so much that he closed his eyes and sat down. When we thought he had fallen asleep, Listen removed his hand and the bird woke up and croaked at Listen, to which Listen quickly responded by grabbing the beak again and continued itching the little guy. This went on for several minutes until the bird was over it and decided to sit in on the good conversation and groom himself. The conversation was indeed very interesting. Listen described to me his first trip to Lima, the big city. He described his perception of the airport, the traffic, seeing elevators and escalators for the first time and my favorite: his experience watching a movie for the first time ever-Transformers on 3D Imax. Imagine that for your first movie ever! I loved listening to the stories and realized I was getting much more out of this trip than some great pictures and sight seeing. Listen, along with the friends we made at the airport, the Spanish guys, Jordan and other great people we met on this trip helped make this a memorable, life changing experience. I am so glad I got to meet every single person I met on this trip.

Sorry, but I'm not done. After obsessing with the macaws for a long time, over the course of several days, there were other things we did. BUT FIRST, before I forget, let me tell you about William's moment of glory. One night before we were going to go to sleep, we prepared our mosquito net, items for the next day and right before William blew out the candles, I heard, "Ummmm Neeti?" FREAKING OUT. William saying that is never a good thing. I asked what was wrong and he pointed at the world's largest... grasshopper. Relieved, I told him it was just a giant grasshopper and he, obviously more freaked out than me, tried to convince me that it wasn't just any normal grasshopper, but probably a psycho one. Not convinced, I told him that we needed to get rid of him before going to sleep. Since we are at a nature eco reserve that preserves everything in the rainforest, I thought it would be appropriate to escort Mr. Grasshopper out and not kill him. He was too big to kill anyways. Now how to escort him? Asking him didn't work, demanding him didn't work, and ignoring him definitely did not work. I finally told William to use a tshirt to grab him and place him outside. William said it wasn't possible and after a few minutes I was able to persuade him that this was our only option. William grabbed a shirt, our large flashlight, and inched closer to the GH. William stood there for several minutes until he was able to muster up the courage, with lots of encouragement and threatening on my part, and finally was able to grab the little guy, run across the room, outside, and set the slugger free. When he returned to the cabin, awfully proud of himself, he confidently, with a smirk on his face, claimed that he was glad we freed the little guy and crawled under the mosquito net. It's funny how us lovely women let our men think things were their ideas. Whatever, it worked and I didn't have to do anything but tell him he was bigger than the grasshopper.

The next few days included many fun activities including a night walk, hike to a lake, and my favorite: the clay lick. The clay lick was the most amazing thing I have ever seen in my life and involves more birds! I will continue that in my next update because I'm pretty sure if anyone has even read this far, that they will continue on. Stay tuned for more Amazon goodness.

Machu Picchu in all its Glory

We woke early this morning and left our beautiful sanctuary in Ollantaytambo to take a train to Aguas Calientes, the town below Machu Picchu. This wasn't any ordinary train. It was the Vistadome. Beautiful train. It has Cedar hardwood floors, large windows next to you and above you on the rooftop! It even had a huge window in the front of the train so we could see where we were going. They were even playing rainforest-y sounds/music. You know, the kind of peaceful music they used to play in that store Natural Wonders. It was truly mystical and surreal to take the train through the valley. We even got fed even though we had breakfast at our hotel before we left! We rode next to rivers and past dozens of waterfalls. We saw sheep, goats, llamas, alpacas, not to mention the rolling hills and mountains. We rode through clouds, small remote villages and the sides of steep mountains. When we arrived to Aguas Calientes, people didn't want to get off the train!

Once we got off the train, a person holding a name plate with William's name written on it escorted us to the bus that would take us up the side of a mountain to the entrance of Machu Picchu. This program was so awesome! Whenever we reached a new destination it was the same drill. But it made us feel special and like Carmen Sandiego. When we would arrive at our destination someone would be holding a board of some sort and it would always read, "Mr. William Warshauer." When we'd approach them, they would take us to a car that was waiting for us. The car driver would take us to either an attraction or a hotel, usually the latter. Once we'd arrive, a representative from our tour company would be waiting there with a huge smile on their face, refreshments, and full knowledge of the English language (most refreshing of all!). They would greet us, make sure we didn't have any problems, pay our cab, and sit us down. Over coffee or tea, we would get a layout and agenda for the next few days and the destination we were at. Usually we'd receive an envelope filled with any tickets we needed and an itnerary, including information for transportation and where we would be getting picked up. We'd end on talking about where we had come from and restaurant recommendations. The same happened when we arrived to Aguas Calientes. After meeting for a few minutes, we were escorted to the front of the long line to our bus. We got great seats and sat back to start our Machu Picchu adventure. 30 minutes later we arrived and entered the grounds. When you first enter, you don't see MP right away. You see a few cottages and naturally you want to go up to them to see what's in them. Once you get to these cottages and realize it's just more ruins and nothing is currently stored in them, you look up and....... TA DAAAA there it is! Machu Picchu looks amazing, even with clouds on it and in the morning mist. I had read on several sights that the best time to see MP is on a misty morning where everything looks lush and dreamy. Since the clouds were literally on the grounds of MP and it was a bit drizzly, it truly felt like a dream. We began exploring the grounds, but didn't go in too deep because we had a private tour in 45 minutes. We were provided a boxed lunch, so we stepped out to take that because we totally needed as much energy as we could get to handle the hike that was ahead. Our hotel in Ollantaytambo did a great job packing us a lunch. It came in this super cute box and it had two sandwiches (William and I had our own boxes so each of us got two sandwiches!). One sandwich had brie, mayo, and grilled zuchinni on ciabatta. The other sandwich had some sauce and grilled chicken on ciabatta. Then it had a homemade protein bar of some sort (yummy!), a fudgey brownie, a toffee chocolate chip cookie, an apple, hard candies for later, and a mango drink. It was freaking awesome! I was so excited to see all the things they packed.

Once we ate it was time for our tour and the sun had come out in full force (William got sunburnt of course). Our tour guide's name was Frida. She had an extensive knowledge of Machu Picchu and explained every part thoroughly, and wondered why we didn't have any questions for her. Afterwards, we were free to explore the grounds on our own. Here we decided to take a trek to the Inca Bridge. It was grueling and pretty high up, not to mention, behind the mountain facing MP. When we got to the bridge, it was pretty anticlimatic. The views and rainforest-y feel of the trek and cliff was much prettier than the bridge. The view down was amazing and really scary. I cam to realize that MP is the scariest place ever. There are cliffs and drop offs everywhere. There are uneven steps and jagged rocks. There were no elderly, young, obese, or handicapped people there. Good thing too because this place is a challenge to explore. People drop like flies because of the elevation and I'm sure leg and ankle injuries are very common. If you go there, plan on getting great shoes and medication for elevation sickness. Also, don't take your parents or your children.

Machu Picchu itself was the most beautiful place I have ever been. It was so large, I can't even begin to explain how expansive it is and how little of that you can catch on camera. They need to make a 3D Imax film of this place! After doing multiple hikes and getting totally pooped out, we headed back to the bus and then the Vistadome to return to Cuzco.

The train back was peaceful. I ended up sleeping, eating, and blogging. Once we arrived back in Cuzco we went straight to bed because we had to wake up and go to the airport to head to Puerto Maldonado to continue to our last destination, The Amazon Rainforest.

Sacred Valley

Yesterday we left the beautiful city of Cuzco and took a tour with Maria Elena again, but this time through the remote Andean villages between the Andes mountains going towards Aguas Calientes, the town right outside of Machu Picchu. We went to a few beautiful native towns including Pisac and a small animal rescue. I'll start with the animal rescue. Normally I hate going to zoos, and any other animal confinements outside of nature. When she said rescue the whole bus, including two girls from San Fran and two guys from Seattle let out a sigh of relief. When we got to it, I was imagining chain link fences with shabby roofs, it was the opposite. No, it wasn't a concrete building with colorful murals painted all over them and hidden rock speakers playing fake animal noises, it was a mountain side with a glacier water-filled river running through it. Maria Elena explained that the reason this place is so important to her is not only because it showcases many beautiful national animals of Peru, but because the man who started it wanted these particular animals to have their own piece of heaven in nature that belongs solely to these creatures. Why these animals? Because they are sold on the black market in horrendous conditions. With the donations tourists leave at this place (there is no fee) the man is able to feed and get the animals medical attention they need once rescued. Again, I was beyond fearful to go into this beautiful rescue, my hands were numb and tingly. When I walked in I saw macaws walking all around holding oranges, grapefruit, and fresh bananas. There were bobcats chewing on fresh meat and condors flying around with their babies. I noticed that the macaws weren't flying and immediately became suspicious of their wings being clipped. Before I could ask, my Seattle friend did and...DON'T READ IF YOU'RE A BIRD LOVER LIKE ME...the reason they walked instead of flying is because they were sold on the black market, and 10-12 baby macaws are shoved in PVC pipes for their rainbow colored feathers. When they arrived, all of their wings were broken, and he has helped them heal but they will not be able to fly. The good news is is that they seem to enjoy walking around and eating endless supplies of fruits and berries. I also saw one sitting on a 50 year old rescued tortoise, you know, just chillin. We spent more time than expected hanging out with these free roaming animals, I even saw an alpaca drinking out of the river and then resting amongs wildflowers. Happy ending.

We then headed to the Sacred Valley. More breathtaking views from amazing ruins that haven't managed to be destroyed. The hike was long, but it was just preparation for our Machu Picchu climb. We spent about two hours admiring the Incas' engineering and carvings in the steep sides of the mountains and headed to Pisac.


Maria Elena dragges us out of the Sacred Valley and we arrived at the beautiful town of Pisac. This town was a nice stop because it is a town filled with Quechuan (Native Indians/Incans) craftsmen and artisans. They set up one of the best little market areas in the valley and the items they are selling are authentic. We went into a tiny, tiny alleyway with a silver shop in which they showed us a brief demonstration of how one puts in the colorful native stones into the 95% silver jewelry, all by hand. I was really impressed on how they take whole big rocks and make them such beautiful accents in the jewelry we wear. Their silves was beautiful. Did you know that in order to make jewelry from silver you must have copper in it? Well this is one of the only places in the world that uses as little copper as it does, and this is not information they fed me to persuade me to buy their silver (I didn't buy any), but information I looked up myself. After this demonstration we had an hour in the market. Um...I can't even explain what went down in that market place, but I will tell you that William and I were like kids in a toy store, not like Toys R Us, more like FAO Schwartz.

After shopping, shopping, eating empanadas, and more shopping we were forced to continue our journey and arrived in Ollantaytambo. Ollantaytambo is a little town with one store, two restaurants, two hotels and a train station. It is tiny, but beautiful. It's a peaceful little haven that rests next to a roaring river and between the lush, green Andes Mountains. When you walk outside all you hear is the sound of the river and birds. Our hotel was amazing. The grounds were covered in lillies, tulips, orange trees, amarylis trees and so much more. There were hummingbirds flying around and the sounds of many others. The service at the hotel was seriously 5 star. They treated us like royalty and fed us like kings. The next morning we woke up and headed downstairs and across the street to the train station to begin our journey to Machu Picchu.

Cuzco Festivities Continued!

Cuzco was truly a dream. The city is completely beautiful and the people are very genuine and sweet. We were able to sleep in for a while which was nice, it was the opposite from our Europe trip in which we only had one day off in Lucerne, and the rest was us rushing and always on the go. Once we woke up, we got dressed and went downstairs to be greeted kindly by the front staff. A cute older man ushered us to the front, modest dining area. I would sit in this dining area over any of the premier restaurants in Houston. Just like our room, this dining area had little wooden framed windows all around giving us another beautiful panoramic view of the city. Our waiter was about 5 feet tall, kindly asked us what we would like to drink and I ordered coca leaf tea. Coca leaves are most familiar in the United States as the main ingredient to make cocaine, hence the name. However, here in CuZco, it is used to help the natives deal with the high altitude, which is about 11,000 feet above sea level. As you can imagine this is not something most of us are accustomed to, especially since you are constantly walking up and down the gorgeous rolling hills. Luckily, my cousin had been to Peru and was able to prscribe us elevation pills. We never had to feel the effects of the altitude, but nonetheless I felt the need to order Coca tea. William on the other hand ordered cafe con leche and let me tell you, that was some good coffee. I tried all the French cappuccinos and coffees in Paris and Seattle, but no, this my friends, is really good coffee. I had forgotten that South America produces 70% of the world's coffee, but the stuff William gets at home is not anything like this. Neither is the "South American" free trade coffee beans we get from whole foods, or central market. Ok, the point is they had really good coffee.


The sweet old man brought out fresh breakfast which included scrambled eggs, an oat cereal, and fresh bread and some sort of berry jam that was really good. We had a filling meal and we would need it for the fun filled day ahead of us. We started out by going to Saqsaywaman-pronounced "sexy woman" hehehe. We were with a group of four other people and one of the guys from Seattle joked that when he got in, a taxi driver asked him if he wanted to go to Saqsaywaman and he responded, "It's a little earlier for that, I just want some coffee, but thanks!" This made me laugh. I would have been so confused if someone asked me that.

Saqsaywaman was breathtaking. We took a 30 minute bus ride up the hill and saw the town of Cuszco become smaller and smaller. The little orange rooftops were so cute. We saw tons of Cedar trees and drove past the Blanco Christo. When we arrived, there was a beautiful open, green field with llamas and alpacas roaming and eating. The ruins were spectacular. Maria Elena explained how these have survived and how the stones were moved up there. We were amazed to see the large pieces of rocks that were carefully selected and pieced together to make temples, terraces and shrines. I still don't understand how the Incan did all of this without machines, wheels, elevation medication, shoes, and mortar. They literally would use up to 2000 people per rock (to lift and move)and strategically place them together where they fit. These people were little, mathematical geniuses. They also used the idea of "male" and "female" parts to grid the stones together. Either way, it was quite amazing to see. Saqsaywaman also had breathtaking views of the city. I loved it.

As if the views from Saqsaywaman weren't enough, we then left to go see the water temple, Tambomachay. These temple ruins were built near glaciers. The Inca used their mathematical skills to create aqueducts that carried glacier water through the temple and to the other temples in Cuszco. I can't even start to figure out how they could create this intricate system. Tambomachay was very peaceful and the river running through it was clear and refreshing. There were donkeys and sheep roaming and the native children that live in the area were running through the green fields and playing. It was really lovely.

After this we made our way to some of the Spanish churches, which were also beautiful. Cuzco was really one of the best places I've visited. I can't wait to return to this city.