Ahoy,
It was brought to my attention that I failed to mention a few things that happened before Machu Picchu.
There was a last minute trip to Houston, TX awarded to the RRS because he won a rocket science award. Neither of us were sure what he won for. And when they announced it later, I wasn't really listening. We arrived on a balmy and breezy Tuesday. It was forecasted to be rainy over our stay. We attended an hors d'oeuvre and welcome speech talk thinger where we were supposed to talk to someone new. Forced socializing is exactly what adults are missing. Remember in school when we were forced to socialize? Making friends used to be easier. I met an astronaut that night!
The following morning we loaded up onto a bus to go to the neutral buoyancy lab among other NASA sites. Some of the divers gave us a tour and answered questions. I learned that they are required to maintain a certain BMI and so a lot of their work hours are for exercising. We also made stops at the current mission control in addition to the original, historic mission control. The RRS nerded out the whole, entire time. I'm sure you can imagine. Bonus! An astronaut was with our group for the day. So we were hanging out with an astronaut all day! We got to try some of the simulators that the astronauts practice on (READ: expensive video game).
That evening we got to see this new exhibit with a space shuttle sitting on top of a boeing. You get to go inside both vehicles. The exhibit wouldn't be open to the public until the following week. So that was pretty cool. We had some more hors d'oeuvre inside the star gallery at the museum. The turkey was really good! It was the most moist, tasty turkey I've ever had in my life!
We spent quite some time binge watching hgtv at the hotel. That's my new obsession. We flew back to LA the following day after a Q&A with an astronaut. But before getting to the airport egregiously early, we stopped at rocket park to take a look at some engines that the RRS made. The vehicle that was used to go to the moon lives there, and it's ginormous! The RRS continued to nerd out, and I spent most of the trip beaming with pride over his accomplishment. We were the likely the youngest there. Some folks might have been wondering if we were crashing the party.
We also stopped at a barbeque place and HEB, among other dining highlights in Houston.
gleamingly busted,
jt
Thursday, February 25, 2016
Tuesday, February 23, 2016
something to see
Ahoy,
One of our days in Cusco, we got a boleto turistico. It gave us access to the ruins of Sacsayhuaman, Q'enko, Puka Pukara, and Tambomachay. We walked up to Sacsayhuaman from Cusco. It was uphill for about 20 minutes. I had A set his alarm for the bright and early hour of 6:30am. We ended up snoozing it to 7am. Our hotel offered breakfast in the morning, which we took advantage of all the days we were there. Even fresh eggs to order, which we can't say the same of a lot of hotels we stayed in the States. It was totally worth it. We spent an hour or 2 at the first site. A was not impressed. We noticed these sites rarely have information for context, often resulting in the necessity for a guide or homework. We wandered around not sure of the meaning or significance of anything. We went down a natural rock slide that but fun and terrifying.
Q'enko was another site just up the road - about 15 minutes up. We hired a guide here. A made the call that we had no idea what we were getting into. The site was pretty small. You can easily just walk through in less than 5 minutes. Our guide told us it was a spiritual site with a lot of altars to offer sacrifices. The layout of the rocks were so interesting and intentional.
We hopped aboard a bus up to the other 2 sites that were about 3 miles away. Puka Pukara was though to be some sort of military outpost, affording the Incans wide views and lavish accommodations. And Tambomachay was thought to be some sort of water aqueduct facility type. It has waterfalls and intricate tunneling that a river runs through. I found these things out after doing homework when we got back to the hotel. The information providing at these sites I found to be less than that of places in the States, where they have informational placards everywhere to tell you about all the things.
We took the bus back down to our first site and got back to our hotel by 3pm. All in all, a thoroughly productive day. I'm glad we got up early to catch all these sites without being in a rush or amongst the crowds. We had plenty of time once we got back to have a slow afternoon and get to bed early, which I'm more and more so becoming a proponent of.
exceedingly aged,
jt
One of our days in Cusco, we got a boleto turistico. It gave us access to the ruins of Sacsayhuaman, Q'enko, Puka Pukara, and Tambomachay. We walked up to Sacsayhuaman from Cusco. It was uphill for about 20 minutes. I had A set his alarm for the bright and early hour of 6:30am. We ended up snoozing it to 7am. Our hotel offered breakfast in the morning, which we took advantage of all the days we were there. Even fresh eggs to order, which we can't say the same of a lot of hotels we stayed in the States. It was totally worth it. We spent an hour or 2 at the first site. A was not impressed. We noticed these sites rarely have information for context, often resulting in the necessity for a guide or homework. We wandered around not sure of the meaning or significance of anything. We went down a natural rock slide that but fun and terrifying.
Q'enko was another site just up the road - about 15 minutes up. We hired a guide here. A made the call that we had no idea what we were getting into. The site was pretty small. You can easily just walk through in less than 5 minutes. Our guide told us it was a spiritual site with a lot of altars to offer sacrifices. The layout of the rocks were so interesting and intentional.
We hopped aboard a bus up to the other 2 sites that were about 3 miles away. Puka Pukara was though to be some sort of military outpost, affording the Incans wide views and lavish accommodations. And Tambomachay was thought to be some sort of water aqueduct facility type. It has waterfalls and intricate tunneling that a river runs through. I found these things out after doing homework when we got back to the hotel. The information providing at these sites I found to be less than that of places in the States, where they have informational placards everywhere to tell you about all the things.
We took the bus back down to our first site and got back to our hotel by 3pm. All in all, a thoroughly productive day. I'm glad we got up early to catch all these sites without being in a rush or amongst the crowds. We had plenty of time once we got back to have a slow afternoon and get to bed early, which I'm more and more so becoming a proponent of.
exceedingly aged,
jt
Thursday, February 18, 2016
and we're back!
Ahoy,
We almost didn't make it! Our flight out of Lima to Ft. Lauderdale was delayed. The plane was coming from Philadelphia where it experienced weather issues that delayed it 2 hours by the time it got to us in Lima. Our connecting flight was at 8:30am and we were to land at 8am, so they rescheduled our connection for 7pm, which would have us land around 10pm! Because that was the next flight from Ft. Lauderdale to LAX. So the plane: Philly --> Ft. Laud. --> Lima --> Ft. Laud.
We hop on: Lima --> Ft. Laud --> (transfer) LAX. Our initial arrival time would have been 11am, leaving us the whole day to do things and nap. The prospect of losing our whole day at the airport in Ft. Lauderdale was incredibly upsetting.
We flew from Cusco to Lima, landing at 6:30pm. I was on the verge of tears at the counter in Lima. In retrospect, it all worked out, but at the time - I was so displeased. Our flight out of Lima was supposed to be at midnight, and we ended up leaving around 2am. We decided to stay at the airport for our 5 hour layover, which we probably would have been fine to leave the airport after all because our layover ended up being extended. The airport has this weird system of rotating airline counters. When we first landed, there was no JetBlue counter, which initially put me into a tizzy. They actually opened around 9pm to reveal a delayed flight. What a day!
We tried to sleep at the airport. I pushed some benches together, making light of the fact that our new home was the airport. We ended up landing close to 7:30am, and I elbowed our way ahead of the crowd to get to customs and immigration first. Luckily, we had just gotten Global Entry so that pulled us ahead, and TSA pre, which helped us out entering back through security into domestic flights. Plus, we had no checked bags to collect. It probably took us all of 15 minutes to disembark, go through customs & immigration, and go back through security to get to our original flight. We caught the flight before they even started boarding, and made it back to LA by 11am. And they thought we wouldn't make it. What a day!
I was more than happy to return to a gloomy LA. I was over the sunny days in Cusco that left me burnt and toasty like a roasted tomato. We ended up with really only 1 rainy day over the whole trip, despite the forecast for all rainy days. Even A got burnt, and he usually does not. That high altitude sun got us good. We went to whole foods and reveled in the high sanitary standards of the USA. We had the top down on his car and reveled in the non-black smoke puffing out of all the automobiles. It was so good to be home. It even started raining, and it did not stop until the next day. What I wouldn't give for more rainy days!
sinfully elated,
jt
We almost didn't make it! Our flight out of Lima to Ft. Lauderdale was delayed. The plane was coming from Philadelphia where it experienced weather issues that delayed it 2 hours by the time it got to us in Lima. Our connecting flight was at 8:30am and we were to land at 8am, so they rescheduled our connection for 7pm, which would have us land around 10pm! Because that was the next flight from Ft. Lauderdale to LAX. So the plane: Philly --> Ft. Laud. --> Lima --> Ft. Laud.
We hop on: Lima --> Ft. Laud --> (transfer) LAX. Our initial arrival time would have been 11am, leaving us the whole day to do things and nap. The prospect of losing our whole day at the airport in Ft. Lauderdale was incredibly upsetting.
We flew from Cusco to Lima, landing at 6:30pm. I was on the verge of tears at the counter in Lima. In retrospect, it all worked out, but at the time - I was so displeased. Our flight out of Lima was supposed to be at midnight, and we ended up leaving around 2am. We decided to stay at the airport for our 5 hour layover, which we probably would have been fine to leave the airport after all because our layover ended up being extended. The airport has this weird system of rotating airline counters. When we first landed, there was no JetBlue counter, which initially put me into a tizzy. They actually opened around 9pm to reveal a delayed flight. What a day!
We tried to sleep at the airport. I pushed some benches together, making light of the fact that our new home was the airport. We ended up landing close to 7:30am, and I elbowed our way ahead of the crowd to get to customs and immigration first. Luckily, we had just gotten Global Entry so that pulled us ahead, and TSA pre, which helped us out entering back through security into domestic flights. Plus, we had no checked bags to collect. It probably took us all of 15 minutes to disembark, go through customs & immigration, and go back through security to get to our original flight. We caught the flight before they even started boarding, and made it back to LA by 11am. And they thought we wouldn't make it. What a day!
I was more than happy to return to a gloomy LA. I was over the sunny days in Cusco that left me burnt and toasty like a roasted tomato. We ended up with really only 1 rainy day over the whole trip, despite the forecast for all rainy days. Even A got burnt, and he usually does not. That high altitude sun got us good. We went to whole foods and reveled in the high sanitary standards of the USA. We had the top down on his car and reveled in the non-black smoke puffing out of all the automobiles. It was so good to be home. It even started raining, and it did not stop until the next day. What I wouldn't give for more rainy days!
sinfully elated,
jt
Sunday, February 14, 2016
como se dice
Ahoy,
Como se dice, sunburn? Frito del sol? We spent yesterday walking around town and seeing museums. We went to the museo inka, machupicchu museo, cafe museo, y choco museo. We learned lots of interesting things that gave us more context for Machu Picchu and the culture and history. We usually don't have so much time in a city to see all these things. It's not a bad luxury. We stumbled across the San Pedro market and gawked at the food that locals were eating. We wandered around the street markets that were selling meats, seafood, fruits and veggies, everything. It was very obvious we were out of place, but A and I think it was one of the highlights. It's just really fun to be wandering amongst non-tourists, and non-tourist establishments.
I inadvertently planned this trip over Valentine's Day, and so we did a little research to discover that Valentine's Day is a national holiday to celebrate not jiust your sweetheart but just any one that is important to you. And this year it also fell on the last day of carnaval, wherein people pelt each other with water balloons and canned foam. Good thing I looked this up so we knew to expect this. There were folks walking around with water guns, bags of water balloons, so much canned foam. We walked across a lot of war zones and found ourselves the primary targets on emptier streets. It was uncertain whether going through busy plazas with a lot of other targets or going down less busy streets would keep us drier. Today was a great day to experience a Peruvian tradition. We weren't expecting this, but definitely a pleasant surprise. I got targeted more than A, I'm pretty sure, but no harm done. Everyone was in good spirits and just having a good time. You can't really be cranky about it.
We also decided to take a cooking class at the last minute. No one else had that idea apparently because we got to have a private class. I'm incredibly pleased with our experience because it was great to have someone to ask questions and talk to about the culture and local customs. Our chef was a fantastic resource for cooking things and Peru things.
I got pretty red on my shoulders today despite sunblocking. It's summer here and it's supposed to be rainy, but we haven't seen much rain, a whole lot of sun.
cosmically toasted,
jt
Como se dice, sunburn? Frito del sol? We spent yesterday walking around town and seeing museums. We went to the museo inka, machupicchu museo, cafe museo, y choco museo. We learned lots of interesting things that gave us more context for Machu Picchu and the culture and history. We usually don't have so much time in a city to see all these things. It's not a bad luxury. We stumbled across the San Pedro market and gawked at the food that locals were eating. We wandered around the street markets that were selling meats, seafood, fruits and veggies, everything. It was very obvious we were out of place, but A and I think it was one of the highlights. It's just really fun to be wandering amongst non-tourists, and non-tourist establishments.
I inadvertently planned this trip over Valentine's Day, and so we did a little research to discover that Valentine's Day is a national holiday to celebrate not jiust your sweetheart but just any one that is important to you. And this year it also fell on the last day of carnaval, wherein people pelt each other with water balloons and canned foam. Good thing I looked this up so we knew to expect this. There were folks walking around with water guns, bags of water balloons, so much canned foam. We walked across a lot of war zones and found ourselves the primary targets on emptier streets. It was uncertain whether going through busy plazas with a lot of other targets or going down less busy streets would keep us drier. Today was a great day to experience a Peruvian tradition. We weren't expecting this, but definitely a pleasant surprise. I got targeted more than A, I'm pretty sure, but no harm done. Everyone was in good spirits and just having a good time. You can't really be cranky about it.
We also decided to take a cooking class at the last minute. No one else had that idea apparently because we got to have a private class. I'm incredibly pleased with our experience because it was great to have someone to ask questions and talk to about the culture and local customs. Our chef was a fantastic resource for cooking things and Peru things.
I got pretty red on my shoulders today despite sunblocking. It's summer here and it's supposed to be rainy, but we haven't seen much rain, a whole lot of sun.
cosmically toasted,
jt
Friday, February 12, 2016
there and back
Ahoy,
Tonight we made it back to cusco after Machu Picchu. The day after we landed, we made the journey to Machu Picchu. A woke up feeling better after a restless night for both of us (a symptom of the altitude). I was so relieved he was returning to normal. We descended to about 8,000 ft, which also helped. We sat on the train across from these 2 girls that had gone straight from the airport to Machu Picchu. Witnessing the state of those two had me glad we stayed the one day in cusco first. I think A would have been so much more miserable had we continued onto a 90 minute bus ride to a 90 minute train ride after flying for 24 hours. But then I'm also not sure if staying at 11000 was wise either. It could have gone really wrong. I do not approach the state of A's health with as much hubris. But we were both able to enjoy the ride and views a lot, and we were both happy that he was not miserable anymore.
We arrived to a tree hotel, which I would definitely recommend. After wandering around and seeing pretty much all of Aguascalientes, we found food in a typical tourist restaurant. This little town is so interesting to me. Everyone in that town was pretty much on the same journey as us. You arrive one day, tuck in early to wake up early and hike around Machu Picchu the next day, and then you're out of there back to cusco. Every single person visiting that place, was in the same boat as us. People have done the trip, and people will continue to do so. Everyday the trains bring in hoards of people to go on this same pilgrimage. Same routine. Same steps.
We woke up at 4:30 AM. And the hotel delivered breakfast to our room. Our room had a great view of some rocks, and the sounds of the raging river. Seriously, I've never seen a river rage so hard. It was rainy and dark as we stumbled to join the crowds boarding the buses up. A almost went on this trip with his regular sneakers that are not at all waterproof. At my behest, we found boots in Chicago literally the day before we left. Life with me is a life of nagging. Very practical nagging, as we stepped into the ruins with his feet dry despite the downpour. It was incredibly overcast. Visibility was low, but I liked it. There's a spooky glow to places when it's foggy. Unfortunately for us we had timed entry tickets to Wayna Picchu, the next peak over from mp, in the morning when it was still overcast, so we were not able to see anything when we were at the top. But it's the journey, right?
We hiked around the ruins a bunch more as the skies cleared up. I was pretty exhausted after our hike up Wayna Picchu, but we trudged on. That place is no joke. It is just never ending and thoroughly spectacular. I definitely need to read up on some more context. There were lots of llamas, at one point they were in our path and we waited for them to clear out before we could continue. The place got thoroughly crowded. February is supposedly the low season, so I can't imagine how crazy this would be during peak season.
We went back down around 1pm and hung around the hotel until it was almost time to board our train. We got a pizza to go which was the strangest rendition of pizza I have ever had. All the restaurants seem to sell the same foods for tourists. Pizza is everywhere, and I don't think anyone knows how to make it. We made it back to cusco same way we got there, seemingly the same way everyone gets there.
Happy to not be in a hurry to anywhere tomorrow.
habitually elevated,
jt
Tonight we made it back to cusco after Machu Picchu. The day after we landed, we made the journey to Machu Picchu. A woke up feeling better after a restless night for both of us (a symptom of the altitude). I was so relieved he was returning to normal. We descended to about 8,000 ft, which also helped. We sat on the train across from these 2 girls that had gone straight from the airport to Machu Picchu. Witnessing the state of those two had me glad we stayed the one day in cusco first. I think A would have been so much more miserable had we continued onto a 90 minute bus ride to a 90 minute train ride after flying for 24 hours. But then I'm also not sure if staying at 11000 was wise either. It could have gone really wrong. I do not approach the state of A's health with as much hubris. But we were both able to enjoy the ride and views a lot, and we were both happy that he was not miserable anymore.
We arrived to a tree hotel, which I would definitely recommend. After wandering around and seeing pretty much all of Aguascalientes, we found food in a typical tourist restaurant. This little town is so interesting to me. Everyone in that town was pretty much on the same journey as us. You arrive one day, tuck in early to wake up early and hike around Machu Picchu the next day, and then you're out of there back to cusco. Every single person visiting that place, was in the same boat as us. People have done the trip, and people will continue to do so. Everyday the trains bring in hoards of people to go on this same pilgrimage. Same routine. Same steps.
We woke up at 4:30 AM. And the hotel delivered breakfast to our room. Our room had a great view of some rocks, and the sounds of the raging river. Seriously, I've never seen a river rage so hard. It was rainy and dark as we stumbled to join the crowds boarding the buses up. A almost went on this trip with his regular sneakers that are not at all waterproof. At my behest, we found boots in Chicago literally the day before we left. Life with me is a life of nagging. Very practical nagging, as we stepped into the ruins with his feet dry despite the downpour. It was incredibly overcast. Visibility was low, but I liked it. There's a spooky glow to places when it's foggy. Unfortunately for us we had timed entry tickets to Wayna Picchu, the next peak over from mp, in the morning when it was still overcast, so we were not able to see anything when we were at the top. But it's the journey, right?
We hiked around the ruins a bunch more as the skies cleared up. I was pretty exhausted after our hike up Wayna Picchu, but we trudged on. That place is no joke. It is just never ending and thoroughly spectacular. I definitely need to read up on some more context. There were lots of llamas, at one point they were in our path and we waited for them to clear out before we could continue. The place got thoroughly crowded. February is supposedly the low season, so I can't imagine how crazy this would be during peak season.
We went back down around 1pm and hung around the hotel until it was almost time to board our train. We got a pizza to go which was the strangest rendition of pizza I have ever had. All the restaurants seem to sell the same foods for tourists. Pizza is everywhere, and I don't think anyone knows how to make it. We made it back to cusco same way we got there, seemingly the same way everyone gets there.
Happy to not be in a hurry to anywhere tomorrow.
habitually elevated,
jt
Wednesday, February 10, 2016
South America for the first time
Ahoy,
Today we landed in cusco, after nearly 24 hours of travel. There were and continue to be points where I question whether we should have gone on this trip. The flights and connections were incredibly exhausting. This is definitely not for the weak of heart. We landed in Lima at about midnight and our flight wasn't until 4am. It seemed pretty commonplace though because everyone was sleeping at the airport.
We got to our hotel and slept for about 5-6 hours. I was initially concerned about the altitude, but I awoke feeling fine. Cusco is at 11,000+ feet above sea level. I was initially a lot more concerned about A in the altitude and he was less so. Hubris. After discovering his adverse reaction to the altitude in mammoth a few weeks ago, I really started to panic internally. He brushed it off. Hubris. It hit him hard today. He stayed at the hotel while I went out. When he did go out, after walking for a bit he upchucked in the street. That stuff projected like I had never seen. S*** gets real at high altitude when your travel companion is yakking in the street. Hubris spilled out of his body. Hubris haunts his dreams as he sleeps right now. As for me, I'm pretty okay physically. My appetite is way lower than normal, but other than that I have nothing to report.
Tomorrow we'll go down in elevation to about 8000 feet at Machu Picchu. I hope he feels better and that he can acclimatize because we will be back to cusco for the tale end of our trip.
It just pains me to see him like this and I question whether we should be here and whether we will do something like this ever again.
despondently awry,
jt
Today we landed in cusco, after nearly 24 hours of travel. There were and continue to be points where I question whether we should have gone on this trip. The flights and connections were incredibly exhausting. This is definitely not for the weak of heart. We landed in Lima at about midnight and our flight wasn't until 4am. It seemed pretty commonplace though because everyone was sleeping at the airport.
We got to our hotel and slept for about 5-6 hours. I was initially concerned about the altitude, but I awoke feeling fine. Cusco is at 11,000+ feet above sea level. I was initially a lot more concerned about A in the altitude and he was less so. Hubris. After discovering his adverse reaction to the altitude in mammoth a few weeks ago, I really started to panic internally. He brushed it off. Hubris. It hit him hard today. He stayed at the hotel while I went out. When he did go out, after walking for a bit he upchucked in the street. That stuff projected like I had never seen. S*** gets real at high altitude when your travel companion is yakking in the street. Hubris spilled out of his body. Hubris haunts his dreams as he sleeps right now. As for me, I'm pretty okay physically. My appetite is way lower than normal, but other than that I have nothing to report.
Tomorrow we'll go down in elevation to about 8000 feet at Machu Picchu. I hope he feels better and that he can acclimatize because we will be back to cusco for the tale end of our trip.
It just pains me to see him like this and I question whether we should be here and whether we will do something like this ever again.
despondently awry,
jt
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