a few of the crew... :)

1. The whole crew.
2. The Brits dwarfing Alex and me.
3. Our meal tent that would be set up (tablecloth and all) by the time we arrived!
4. History lesson from Javiar.
5. Thomas, the horse man.
6. "Poppy," the everything else man!
7. Jump if you like Peru :)
8. Passing a potato farmer.
9. Incan warriores!
10. Dude carrying sticks.
11. Womans house we stayed at final night.
12. Dish duck?
13. Poppy serving us the traditional first course of soup (chef made 8         different veg soups on the trip, every lunch and dinner started with soup!)

Salkantay Trek- princess in the mountains!

I love sleeping next to a rushing river.  The sound is magical.  The power and strength of the water can not be denied as it cuts through the earth, yet somehow creates a peaceful sound and a graceful site.  Watching and listening to this act of natural beauty reminds me that this is the way I want to live.  Keeping stability and hardiness by grounding through the earth, nevertheless, eliciting a balanced overall loveliness!

This river is being fed by the too quickly melting glacier on Salkantay Mountain.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salcantay
Our camp-site is in a valley sitting at 4,200 meters (12,600 feet- only 1,000 feet lower than the Grant Teton.)  Alex and I are bundled in our tents, we have just been fed Anise tea and afternoon snacks of popcorn and cookies.  Today has been an amazing 12 km (7 miles) hike through the Peruvian mountain "roads."  We have been passing through high altitude villages, being passed by trains of donkeys hauling heavy loads, watching stray pigs wander, and imagining the life of those who live in the withdrawn farm houses.

Velvet green mountains lift on either side of us, with a glorious snow-filled rock peak in the horizon were the valley ends.  The rain held out all day, until now.  It drowns the sound of the river.  I can barely write because the last two days have been so long and physically exhausting... the weight of the rain drags me towards suspension of consciousness.
                                                                  -Journal, Day 2


I find myself laying on the soft grass in a local farmer's field- sharing the land with sheep, horses, and roosters in Peru!  A light breeze blows and cools the sun warmed skin.  Siesta time for the paying hiking group as the porters, the horsemen, and the chefs tear down the lunch site.  That's right.  Never have I been a treated like such a princess in the mountains! (note- hell if this girl hired a porter! Alex and I carried our own gear!)
But, seriously, we arrive to already set up camp-sites (5 tents for sleeping, two for eating/cooking, a standing port-a-potty tent and a several course traditional Peruvian meal- with a special dish for this vegetarian!) Also we have set lunch-sites (fully equipt with a long table and 9 chairs inside a large tent to shield us from the intense sun!)  Full on princess treatment!

I accept the treatment (the price of the trip included first born child) and enjoy a very different style of camping.  The hiking aspect is very demanding; I swear I have done this a time or two before, but I am worked after each day!  Waking at 5 a.m. and arriving at camp 12 hours later puts some cramps in the calves and blisters on the toes.

Today I witnessed am awe-inspiring glacial lake at 4,600 meters, higher than I have ever been before.  The Salkantay Glacier is where the Inca people buried most of their 12-year-old virgin sacrifices in a fetal position (to represent their thankfulness of the fertility of the land) with an abundance of gold.  I mean a little extreme, but... how often we forget to give thanks.  Gratitude for this simple gifts of the earth.
                                                                -Journal, Day 3


Dogs howl and roosters doodle their doo at about 4:30 a.m.  I try to sleep for the next half hour until Poppy comes "Beunos Dias" offering our morning coca tea and bowls of hot water to wash our faces.  It is the best way to be seduced out of bed!  Breakfast is nothing shy of amazing, omelettes, quinoa porridge, toast, fruit, coffee, etc.  Safetylaws are a bit different here in Peru compared to those in the US... we hike over freshly slid landslides and on thin trails were one twit of the ankle of few inches to the right of the trail and BAM- "rafting" as Javiar our guide would say.  The river is half a mile to a mile down a straight canyon wall.  Death.

Destruction is happening all around these parts as Peru tries to encourage tourism by building roads, the mountains fight back by falling apart right on top of these new developments.  Machu Picchu has just reopened five days prior;Closed do to catastrophic landslides after unheard of amounts of rainfall.  As humans, we just don't always listen.

Favorite part of the day= playing soccer with most the children from the small town in which we are sleeping in tonight watching or playing .  Our camp is set up in a family's backyard with several other hiking groups at the next door neighbors houses.  My soccer team included 4 Peruvian guides, 2 Frenchies and UK Chris from my group, and me against eleven 8-12 year olds.  And they are good!  High altitude and Andes as a backdrop made this an unforgetable memory. Two games and we both won one, so we bought all the kids coke!  Tomorrow we hit up Machu Picchu... I think it's going to be pretty cool.
                                                                      
                                                                         -Journal, Day 4

Qosq'o

Cusco is charming.  Well, I guess I stayed in the glamorus and inviting (tourist) area of this growing city.  It once was the heart of the ancient Inca Empire.  Qosq'o (naval of the earth) is how it was pronounced by the Quechuan people (Inca was the king, Quechua were the people of the Incan Empire.)  The Spanish didn't bother attempting the true pronunciation of the civilization that they were busy slaughtering.  Hence, we all say Cusco.

Sitting at 9,300 feet, surrounded by lush rolling hills it is easy to understand why the location choice was made 900 years ago.  Upon exiting the plane, I see a full blown old school nun and, well, I take it as another sign :)

The sun is bright and with one day on the itinerary in Cusco proper, I get serious- and start shopping (someone has to support all the local  artisans work.  Knitted alpaca gear, brightly colored prints, heavily textured paintings, eccentric jewelry, woven textiles, etc are sitting on tables set up every ten feet.  A small market in the center plaza is crammed with vendors who, somehow, fit their whole family AND all their goods in a 6x4 foot space.  This same market sells all sorts of eatable "goodies" that would make anyone but the true Peruvian very very sick.

I focus on the alpaca knit theme personally, with the addition of a few painted cards and two pairs of earrings (purely as a business investment, total tax write off- teehee- oops. no tax jokes in the middle of April, sorry dad!)  Alpaca, I learn later, only are shaved for their wool every 3 years, and with a pair of hand knit mittens going at the rate of approx. $5... I have strong doubts on the purity of the wool!  Fortunately, I bought them purely because they are really really cute. 

The town has a collision of drastically different architectural styles.  The ancient stone walls and cobblestone streets that were hand built during the Incan Empire rests underneath the conquest of Spanish colonial-style cathedrals and multi-story buildings.  A strong dichotomy is also prevalent in the people who are filling all the narrow alleyways and wide central streets.  The ancient mysticism is what is bringing so many tourists to the Sacred Valley and tourism is what is bringing so many mountain farmers out of their fields and into the bartering world.  You will see everythings from gaggles of European girls in cute outfits, to hippies juggling bean bags, to women in traditional garb next to their llama (requesting money in exchange for photos.)  It is quite the eccentric sight, although over all a very positive place.

Our meeting is at 7 p.m.  My eye lids are heavy, but lighten up as Javier begins to explain the next five days to the eight of us in the room.  His English is perfect.  His passion is prevalent.  And no much excites me more than the idea of spending the next handful of days in the Peruvian Andes.  Cheers for the adventures to come :)

cio

p.s.- still trying to add photos... proving difficult, but will happen soon!

Wawho Peru!

Although Alex and I both have snowpants for this section of the journey, I arrived to sunshine and 70 degrees in Cusco, Peru this morning... wow, that was just this morning.  I head out on a five-day treck tomorrow on a guided adventure through the high mountains and a dense jungle with the final destination of Machu Picchu!  Such a fortunate girl I am, it is all very exciting- or is that just the coca leaf tea I am currently drinking in a room full of conversation that I can not understand.  The day has been perfect- so much so that the 20+ hours of airports and planes quickly faded from my memory (usually a steel trap up there!)

Airport hopping always seems to have its frustrations: First leg, seat 32E taught me the lesson that upon checking in, always see if there is a more desirable seat available.  The mothball family was unavoidable, but the so-far-back-seats-don't-recline seat may have been prevented.

Second leg was the typical ¨crying baby flight.¨ Everyone has experiemced one of those!  For someone who loves children so much I have a very hard time admitting my thoughts of... taking that baby and throwing it right off that airplane!
Third leg was like a dream.  I slept the entire 6 hours.
Fourth leg (that's right- lotta legs on this one) started in Lima, Peru.  Lima was warm :)  My wool socks and down jacket choice seemed to enhance my panic as I scanned every sign and each human for a gentle nod in the right direction.  Overall, my foreign country airport experience was drama and intensity free, they don´t even make you take your shoes off when you walk through the metal detectors (that seems like reason enough to visit Peru for me.)  The man who checked my boarding passes told me ¨I speaks English more or less.¨ Definately on the ¨less¨side, for that was about as extent of our conversation.

I have already learned to keep to the universal language of the smile.  If you begin an interaction with ¨Holla, como estas?¨then they REPLY in that language!  Whoa, I can handle a ¨bein, es tu?¨but the response thus far has been more of an explosion of beautiful sounds that I do not understand.

The flight from Lima to Cusco was a painless hour of drifting in and out of sleep.  As we started to descend, spectacular mountains were framed through the little air plane windows  A sunny day and brilliant landscape felt like a great omen.  Everyone must have felt that way because as the plane rattles to a smooth landing the passengers all began to applaud!  The woman behind me says ¨buena!¨

I have many things to say about Cusco.  I have an outlandish amount of photos from my first day.  But I am exhausted and it is getting late.  I leave tomorrow at 5 a.m. for my hike, which is said to be a very hard hike.  I have a had a long last few days so I finish this entry with a ¨be back in five!¨
sorry about the horrible spelling and grammar, had to do this quickly!
lovelovelove

http://www.pariwana-hostel.com/pariwana-hostel-cusco.php

the bug, the itch, and the basement

The arches of my feet cramp up, toes curl under, and I transfer my weight to the outside edges of my feet - the goal is to have as little surface area make contact with the cold bathroom floor. My shoulders lift up and forward as I softly place my bum on the seat. freezing. 

and to think that one year ago I was in such a different place... in so many ways.

I have been back in Jackson for seven months. The summer came and went too quickly. I spent most of the warmer days leading two three-week backpacking expeditions accross the Teton Crest Trail and up to the summit of the Grand Teton. Sleeping on the earth and waking up with the sun just seems to put all things in their place. The mountains make my heart glow. Hiking the crest, climbing The Grand, riding horses on the ranch, yoga on valley floors, and echoing laughter filled my long summer days.

This winter has been one of the faster seasons I can remember, maybe because it never really came in full force.  The Farmers' Almanac was correct in predicting frigid temperatures for the majority of the winter, now an early spring has been teasing as I swap flip-flops for Uggs on a daily bases.  It is an El Nino year, which is the periodic warming of the Pacific waters occurring every two to five years and lasting about 12 months.  From what I gather, this is one reason we have had minimal amounts of snowfall.  So I find other joys in living my life in a ski town.

The crisp and clearness of the days allow my mind to synch with the space outside of my head. The external environment seeps into my body and clears my noodle (thanks thesaurus.com for the synonym I couldn't help but use!)

Discipline and self study are two gifts of a snowless snowboard season!  Studying Ayurveda ("the science of life," an ancient eastern holistic healing which has been in practice for over 5,000 years) has brought me to a deep awareness of the qualities of foods/ spices and in greater tune with the natural cycles of the day, month, year, etc.  This has paired well with the new yoga studio opening.  I teach two classes there, and I have found this to be great inspiration for continuing my education.  I have found many joys in my life this winter and have found a great peace in my decision to live a less-than-traditional lifestyle (whew!)

Now, for the title of this entry. I have been living in a bit of a cave; My domain is a huge basement dwelling, fully equipped with a nice bright bathroom and zen meditation room.  It has been a great space for the winter (bear in hibernation-mode style.) But, I have learned something about myself- this girl needs light!

With the cold, short, dark days of winter, the basement heightened my itch for adventure... it fed my travel bug.  And now I get to go!

I have two days to pack up my belongings, to move into my new space for the summer.  In this time I also must pack a carryon bag for six weeks of South America!  (and learn the entire language of Spanish... sometimes I am so grossly american it hurts)  I take off on April 7th and I couldn't be more excited for an adventure, more thankful for an opportunity, nor more blindly jumping into a foreign experience! Thanks for following my adventures in wonder once again!  Peru, Chile, Argentina are all on the agenda- any advice?! comments, questions, and concerns?! 

Off to pack. xo

Sometimes "right back where you started from" is where you belong.

well. I am back... did that just happen? Yes- I feel it running through my body and mind at every waking and sleeping moment of the day. I dream of bus stops and beach walks, mellow dinners and chaotic traffic. The circadian rhythms have finally come into balance and I feel charged, although I do have spouts of anxiety and confusion due to the dramatic change of environment and level of expectations for the next day (week, month, year- oh my!). I have been back to the US of A for almost 2 weeks and have been meaning to write a "final chapter" but just can't seem to have any time for a shared reflection! Nor, do I know what to write about.

The airport code is still orange here, and still no one has learned what that means.

I saw a guy begging on a corner we passed en route to Easter mass. His outfit was so nice and new I wondered what he was thinking when he dressed up for the day... a crisp Packers sweatshirt just meant "winner" to him that day? I wanted to teach him the six year-old barefoot girl with a two month old on the hip trick... but I just stayed silent.

I am still trying to figure out the next steps. I know that finding (and giving) love and adventure are always going to be my two main focuses in life... so where to next to continue to give and receive?!

Saint Paul is funtastic, the weather has been beautiful and I get to laugh a lot (I still laugh a little too loud.) It is fun to have so many people who love you in your everyday moments! I head to Jackson in a month. I am excited for my summer of a little log cabin in the mountains, my backpack, and my yoga mat! Helping youth connect with themselves and gain independence through backcountry trips in the Tetons (and continuing to find myself through meditation and reflection!)

My life is ideal.

I still try to remember to not forget...

I learned so much, saw so much, felt so much. Thankful for all the growth, all the people and experiences that were given to me from this expansive universe. I could not have asked for a better series of events to make my perfect little life!

I am ready for the next adventure. The next life lesson, the next experience that will push growth and realization back into my face! So cheers to the few that have followed all the way through. Thank you for being a part of my journey, a part of my life.

Stay tuned for the Argentina Adventures of 2010! and to all the adventures in wonder we encounter every single day.

lovelovelove

(because that is what it is all about)

signing off- Miss Brit

Three Dirty Burly Americans

Giggling ourselves to sleep in the upstairs loft of a Ta Van village home. We hiked 15K yesterday through cultivated mountain sides just outside of Sapa town. We walked in between hand dug shelves, enabling rice fields to be grown on this slanted landscape. Three young girls led us on our first day of trekking, Tu (15) Sun (18) and Ju (15) asking us about ourselves- maybe in hopes to learn English but mainly in expectation of us to purchase some of their handicrafts from them. All of the women still hike around in their traditional garb. I am not going to lie- hiking in leg warmers and hoop earring is pretty hot... I am thinking about bringing the style to the backcountry of the Tetons this summer.

Instead of any traditional roles, the women's number one priority seems to be to "attack" tourists. All in the same high pitched sing-songy tone, "What is your name?" "Where are you from?" "You buy something from me." The first few times I was like an excited child, "Brittany!" "United States!" "Okay!" I quickly became real good at not even meeting their eyes, allowing the questions to float away in the cold air.

I learned from one of the girls that the children only go to school when they are real young. At age 12, they refocus their lives to either assisting on their family's farm or trying to sell the goods on the streets of Sapa or on the trails of the mountains. The men all seem to work real hard- farmer style. Barefoot in pools of water reaching their knee caps, plowing and harvesting the rice fields.

The first day we hiked down and into a gorgeous valley. Two of the three days we hiked it was chilly and had a persistent eerie fog. The mist was magical, and sometimes created a visibility of only 30 feet. We bought a few ponchos, but we were thankful that they never had to come out of the bag. Rain season is around the corner, then comes rice season- the latter depending on the former (I think...) We took a more intense hiking option so we quickly lose the mess of tourism behind.

The Crew= Samantha, Lexie, and I were the three that were not afraid to get dirty or wet and enjoyed the long days of hiking. The all white wearing Canadian, Ari (who dealt with three sassy sarcastic women real well) was a bit frightened by the mud and slept with the mosquito net down even though it was much too cold for mosquitoes to be around. And then, our scrawny and always fatigued guide Kim, who was sort of a complainer and used the same jokes over and over. "Oh (points to any animal) delicious." The Germans had a different guide but stayed at the homestay for the night and were a pretty good time!

It rained the night we ate a feast and played Yahtzee while drinking tiger beers and rice wine shots at our homestay (sounds like it happened in excess, but really I only had one beer and one shot, the Germans on the other hand...)

The next morning the trails were wet and muddy! We had a troop of 11 tribe women waiting for us at the door. The 11 women waiting to escort us through the sloppy day must have shot-gunned a tourist from the beginning of the day. I had two older women (I would guess 40 and 65 years old) who tried to hold my hand and point to rocks where I should (obviously) place my feet. I felt much more confident without them taking my wrists and whipping me around the trails, but I felt like the jerk not taking their assistance.

The hiking days were perfect in length and we would have lunch in the villages. Everything was so beautiful! The third day the sun shined bright :) Bright enough for us to get our tan back! We spent most of the day hiking and lounging around a gorgeous waterfall. We watched three local kids catch butterflies and wrap string around their necks until they died... that was about as hard to swallow as seeing the roasted dog head on a platter that morning in the market. Yep, and I have a photo to prove it (I will show it upon request only I think.)

Now we blog in Hanoi, about to tour the city. I am happy to say that last night was my fourth and last night train in the past 10 days... it made some scary noises as it chugged us south out of the mountains. Two days left in Vietnam, one in BKK, and then STP. Wow, I think I am ready to come home :)