The Submarino

Steamed milk + bar of dark chocolate = The Submarino (melt the bar into the milk)

It's such a simple idea that I'm surprised it isn't more popular here. I'm not even a big fan of chocolate (other than the Silk Chocolate Soymilk I'm always carrying around), but since the jaunt through South America, I've been downing cups of milk and chocolate every time it dips below 40 degrees (the last two days were especially filling =D)

a.d.i.d.a.s.nowboarding 07/08

Online Videos by Veoh.com

Let's kick off the season in style. On October 18th (Thursday) (pushing this back into November) at 8pm, we'll be holding a viewing session for the movie Picture This (trailer above) at my place. Bring your own food and drinks, or we'll order in, I'll have snacks available. Let me know if you are coming and if you need directions! I know it's a bit early so the date is tentative, if people want I'll push it back to November when the cold really sets in.

To get you in the mood for the movie above how about some amateur videos from the awesome Whistler-based crew of Crapneto? Aqua / Geographically Proximal, Crapneto, Chair Sham Bo. Additional snowboarding videos and links can be found in this NYSG post I typed up last year. Sorsa Project, Nyquil told me about this documentary where a crew follows around Heikki Sorsa for a year.

Great Reads:
Columnist Dave Barry wrote a great article on the trials of learning how to snowboard over a decade ago. Incredibly funny read whether or not you are into snow sports. I've read it countless times and it always cracks me up. I wish I had an original copy of the article to post up in my snowboard shrine (a corner of my bedroom).

"This sport is just too damn fun not to go as much as your life permits." - Jake Burton
Burton for your business by HP, saw a banner ad for this on BoingBoing but never realized what content was linked to it. Thanks goes out to Michelle for pointing it out.

Snowboarding Industry 101:
Still considered a relatively young sport, innovations are constantly introduced every year. Burton is making a big splash with their E.S.T. and Speed Zone binding technology, on the other end Mike Olson of Mervin (owned by Quiksilver) has also introduced his fair share of ideas over the years. Here's an interview titled 'A History Lesson With Mike Olson,' read it then thank him (especially you Grind since you are crazy for the banana tech). And for a macro view, check out the Snowboard History Timeline part 1, part 2, and part 3 and a video with similar details. I've posted a lot of these links already but it doesn't hurt to refresh your knowledge before the season. Touched upon it above when I mentioned Quiksilver owning Mervin, here's a primer on who owns what in the industry, Snowboard “industry” Knowledge 101.

Some more SouthAm Trip Recap:
You saw the photos now here's a video. This was my introduction to Bariloche and Catedral Alta Patagonia a week or two before going down there. While we were down there, Elmo grabbed my sketchbook and wrote the following entry, nice eh?

"Dear Diary,

The better part of our journey lay behind us, and we sit here and wait on this rainy and snow-ridden day. The flakes fall down from their exasperated journey from the heavens, only to expire upon the wet asphalt beneath our feet. Such a short lifespan, fleeting even, with no better purpose but to soil the ground I walk on. Has my life had as little meaning as this?"

Equipment:
I spent way too much last year on equipment and trips so this season I'm going to try to keep myself from buying any new big ticket items. So no boots, bindings or boards! Anyone want to by a pair of used Ride Beta MVMNTs or NIB Burton Missions?

I already purchased another Sessions jacket, the Surveillance in black, off SteepandCheap, my current white and tan Leatherneck jacket is still with Sessions because a button fell off during my SouthAm trip and it's in for an RMA. Trying to resist purchasing additional pants to go with the black jacket.

07/08 IS Design Goggles are looking really good, I purchased two pairs of Type-R's right after the season ended so they'll get me through this season. But the new Forma frames are HOT HOT HOT! Might have to buy a pair if I see one for a good price. The new Houndstooth print for the Dragon Mace goggle is also looking sexy but I already have an unused white pair sitting around, anyone want to buy it off me? FYI, Dragon goggles (especially the Mace and DX) and IS Design goggles fit Asian faces really well. Oakley's aren't bad either depending on the type of nose you have.

Timeline:

• I started this entry almost 10 months ago on 12/3/06 right before my 40+ day season.
  
• One month ago, I returned home from a month long trip down in South America which included 1.5 weeks of snowboarding.
  
• Three weeks ago I booked my flight to Whistler (2/1 - 2/10), slope side house!
  
• Two weeks ago, I finally attended my first NYSG Happy Hour, damn the group grew exponentially.
  
• Last week I ordered my Mountain Creek 5x7 Season Pass, going to have to deal with the rats again.
  
• Five days ago, I returned to the Snowboarding forums (my sporadic visits during my stay in Bariloche don't count).

Trips (Whistler 2/1 - 2/10):
A bunch of us already booked a slope-side house and purchased our plane tickets. If you want more information on the trip please let me know, we are gathering a bunch of people to book a second house. FYI, buy a Mountain Creek 5x7 Season Pass if you are going to go to Whistler, until October 8th, the pass is $200.

For Whistler, purchasing tickets ahead of time saves us 20%. If you have a season pass at another Intrawest Resort, you save 50% on lift tickets (max 10). I already purchased a Mountain Creek 5x7 Season Pass ($200). I received email confirmation that the 5x7 Season Pass will get us the discount at Whistler. DO IT.

Burton World Tour:
Oh yeah, the reason I'm posting this today is because the Burton World Tour will be hitting up Hiro Ballroom later tonight. I considered going but everyone that went to last night's showing out in Long Island didn't come back impressed. Just a heads up if any of you city people want to check it out. I'll be passing.

South America Week 4 (Bariloche and Puerto Iguazu, Argentina)

Due to work or class, the rest of the crew departed after a week of snowboarding, leaving me to my own devices. When planning the trip I thought the week alone would be welcomed but the prior weeks were great because of the company and their presence was sorely missed. Though I met some strangers on the slopes and at the hostel, it's not the same sharing your experiences with people where the jokes that have worked all trip don't resonate.

I ended up riding with a New Zealander who works in the U.K. as a chef whom I met at Penthouse 1004 and when she had to leave early to take an international call, I rode with three others from another hostel, 41 Below. A Texan who works at Mammoth, a Brit, and a Michigan native who was a school teacher in my neighborhood back in Brooklyn. Surprisingly there were a number of travelers from Brooklyn. On the morning I was leaving for BsAs, I chatted with two girls from Brooklyn who were looking to move into Fort Greene as I packed.



On my final day on the slopes, the sky as usual was clear, another bluebird day. At 4:30pm when lifts were shutting down, we hiked on over to the far left of the mountain and rode down a small bowl into a tree run before we emerged at the bottom of the Del Bosque lift. From there we took the Del Bosque blue trail, at around 7pm we finally reached the base. By then most of it was closed so I couldn't get the resort stickers that I had promised people (I did give 40 pesos to Chris the fellow Brooklynite to grab 10 for me, let's hope he comes through!). We headed over to Mute where a bunch of old guys were trying to dance and woo the much younger ladies there. The only thing of interest to me was the hot chocolate which was surprisingly good. The place was also sponsored by Honda, their logo was everywhere.

Returning to BsAs, I suffered through the infamous BsAs rush hour traffic to the hostel where I was to leave my luggage in storage before departing that night to the Retiro Bus Station to catch my bus to Puerto Iguazu. The hostel was recommended to me by the three guys I rode with the previous day, the Garden Hostel in San Telmo. Leaving the airport and passing the shanty town by La Boca and then walking through San Telmo away from the touristy area really gave me the 'other view' of BsAs. What I saw was a huge difference from what we were used to in Palermo and Recoleta. The drive to the bus station was awful. BsAs traffic like everything else DOESN'T make sense. In the states, we can attribute traffic to a car collision, construction, lane mergers or the like, but in BsAs the reasons for traffic is the following. People block the box ALL the time, and people don't know how to take side streets. My cab was trying to make it across this intersection to the bus terminal, and was completely blocked by tractor trailers going perpendicular to us. They wouldn't stop at a red either. They would just cut across the grid trying to stay bumper to bumper preventing any other traffic from getting through. When it finally cleared up and we were able to get across, an idiot came from our right got in front of us and then got stuck trying to make a left onto that traffic. Why she didn't let us go straight first before making the left is beyond me. When my cabbie started honking at her and flashing his lights, she had the nerve to get out of the car and yell at my cabbie, smacking his hand too. RIDICULOUS! She was in the wrong and had the nerve to do that... I was speechless. Stupidity knows no bounds.

The Retiro bus station is shadier than the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan. Did not feel comfortable at all walking through there. The buses were a different story though, I signed up for the most luxurious ride on Via Bariloche. The buses were larger than the ones in the States, two levels with only three seats per row. I was able to lay flat whenever I wanted, the food was great and for those of you who drink, an unlimited amount is available. The ride through Argentina was interesting, I didn't see any huge pastures roaming with cows, but I did see enough of the countryside to realize that much of Argentina still remains undeveloped.

Puerto Iguazu was what I expected, the food was better than Bariloche but didn't approach BsAs standards. A German traveler checked in with me at the Timbó Posada hostel and I stuck with her for the rest of my time at Iguazu because she knew Spanish =T. The location was perfect, just a few minutes from the bus terminal and on the other side of the hostel, just a few minutes to the town center. That afternoon we walked around the town center looking for things to buy, but our shopping was hampered by the insanely long siestas the shop keepers took. We also went to the area where the three countries (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay) meet, took some photos and went on our way. It was weird when while looking at some souvenirs I heard Mandarin being spoken behind me. Turning around I saw an entire tour bus of Chinese people parked by the shops.



The next morning we took one of the first buses to the national park. Our initial introduction to the falls was by truck and raft (we signed up for one of the Jungle Explorer excursions). The raft ride was awesome, but I got soaked. I wish I had placed my Passport and wallet in the waterproof bag, but at least my shoes and socks were in there. Though I didn't get an Iguazu Falls stamp in my Passport, my Passport did get soaked by the water there. To be honest, there isn't much to see. For any future visitors, 5-6 hours is good enough for a visit, unless you want to go to the island and relax at the beach for a bit. We strolled through all the walkways taking the required photos and by 3pm I was headed back to the hostel and then to the bus station.

By Saturday morning I was back in BsAs, dumping my backpack in storage, I walked around for most of the day seeing parts of BsAs we didn't visit during the week we were there. I came across a few markets but didn't see anything of interest. I ended up at Florida where all the memories of our time there two weeks ago came rushing back at me. In the afternoon, I took a train to Palermo and just relaxed in a park waiting for my appetite to kick in so I could enjoy another crocante de lomo at Lelé de Troya. The meal marked the end of my trip. Walking back to the train, I came across a street market and bought two leather messenger bags which didn't leave me with much cash left, just enough to pay the hostel and cab fair. I timed it perfectly, by the time I got back to the hostel I had about 15 minutes to shower and pack before heading to the airport. My experience at the airport wasn't bad, but we did depart late which got me worried about my connection (I only had 55 minutes for my connection). During the first leg, we made up time in the air but still only had less than half an hour to make my connection. Surprisingly both my luggage and I made the connection. LAN comes through again, but the plane they used for the Lima to NYC leg could have been newer. And... as you can imagine, I'm pretty burned out from the trip, back to a NYC state of mind.

Photo Gallery: My photos of Iguazu Falls and Bariloche all mixed in...

South America Week 3 (Bariloche, Argentina)

Touching down in Bariloche, the snow capped mountains surrounding us looked like a scene out of a movie. The sun was slowly setting behind a range in the distance basking the usually white caps in a deep orange-red tint. By luck we came across a local who knew about Penthouse 1004 and offered us a ride there for a very modest fee. Saved us the hassle of dealing with the bus & cabs. It wasn't a long ride along the shores of Nahuel Huapi Lake, approaching the Civic Center we made a left and drove up the hill, the streets were teeming with life. A huge departure from Buenos Aires, and for a ski village, the activity was like nothing we've ever seen stateside.


(Saw this great application, Animoto, presented at the September NY Tech Meetup)

Chocolate stores were numerous, separated by clothing and sports equipment stores (restaurants too). Our hostel, Penthouse 1004, was located right across the city's center on the top floor of the tallest building in Bariloche. The view was amazing, I've never seen anything like it. Because the mountains surround a lake, I wondered aloud whether or not Lake Tahoe looked similar. According to some individuals I met on the mountain that have been to both, they stated Bariloche blew Lake Tahoe away. I hope to see for myself this coming season if it is true. By some coincidence, we arrived at the tail end of a school holiday. Teenagers were milling around in packs attempting to look and act older than they really were. A taste of freedom out of their parents' supervision. As a celebration to cap off the holiday, there was a colorful bus with a DJ at the town center projecting a video onto the side of a hot air balloon stationed nearby. Didn't see much dancing or understand what they were showing on the hot air balloon though.

On the evening we arrived we had to do a little shopping, Kevin needed a new jacket (ended up getting a Northridge jacket) and Elmo purchased a helmet. One of the best purchases ever down South, that helmet saved his head the next day on a spectacular crash. I'm glad my snowboarding bag eventually came because the town of Bariloche doesn't really carry any of the brands we are used to state side. It would have been hell if I had to ride on a rental. For people considering snowboarding down here, do yourself a favor and bring your gear. The only store that may have offered decent products was the Burton store at the resort which without having to step foot in there was probably insanely expensive.

The mountain we rode on was actually about half an hour away by bus. Catedral Alta Patagonia gets its name from the rock formations at the top of the range. The most spectacular view is actually all the way on the left side of the mountain and the only way to get to it is by hiking an hour or so (depending on how far up and how far to the left you want to go). Like everything on the mountain, it was better in the afternoon to make the hike. The snow softens up a bit, and hopefully by then, people will have created a path for you, making the hike a bit easier. Remember, you are there for the view and even if you are there for the snow, let the sun warm it up! Fresh powder is another story though, but it never snowed while we were there.

The only lift you should even consider taking from the base is the Sextuple Express. The gondola is a close second on those windy cold days to warm up. The lift gates are the most retarded thing I've ever seen (I heard they are used in Europe too). There's actually a turnstile (think NY subways) that always gets stuck on your snowboard bindings. To get the turnstile to admit you, you have to insert your lift ticket into a slot to get scanned. It wouldn't have been too bad if I just had to hold it up next to a beam of light, but physically inserting it took some effort to master with gloves on. Season pass holders checked themselves in via an RFID enabled pass, much easier than the damn weekly passes. In the states, how often do you see employees scanning your lift ticket for lifts midway up the mountain? Doesn't make sense right? If a person got halfway up the mountain, it probably means they already scanned themselves in on a lower lift. And if they hiked all the way up, then I would give them a free lift ride for all that effort. Anyhow, it was a pain in the butt unzipping my pockets, digging around for the pass, scanning it in and then stuffing it back into my pockets again. But you know what, lift lines were usually pretty quick if there were any lines at all, can't beat that.

It barely snowed while we were there, but because it dumped 30" in one day a week or two prior to our arrival, the coverage was in general very good. Especially in the afternoon when the sun softened up the hard pack sufficiently. The mornings were still better than our usual East Coast fare though we ran across some death cookies a few times. My favorite runs were the ridge runs, Condor all the way to the right of the mountain. A pretty quick ride on the top right ridge followed by a drop down into a set of trails running around the mountain. Jumping off the trails onto the slope became our favorite pastime. The trails were marked but were more of a suggested route type. The mountain was like a giant bowl. You were allowed to drop in pretty much everywhere. Only small sections considered too dangerous (around man made structures) were off limits.

While all runs on a Northeast mountain are usually called trails, down at Catedral, they use two terms. Caminos were for the slow small trails that went around the mountain. Think of... the Great Eastern in Killington. Piste were the wider trails that usually went straight down the mountain.

Strong boarders tend to be members of two groups. Foreigners, usually British, and local snowboard instructors repping their red white and black puffy jackets from another mountain. The skill level wasn't close to Whistler, Mt. Snow or even Mountain Creek's park rats. But there were enough riders that were able to pull off clean 3's around. Something I still haven't managed in my three seasons of riding.

Kev took his camera to the slopes on the second to last day, like most of the days there, it was considered a blue bird day (take a look at the photos!). It was interesting seeing Kevin throw his arm up saving his camera every time he took a spill. Fortunately, his spills were far and few in between. Looked like he mastered the 180s (backside and frontside) on the trip too.

The food in Bariloche wasn't as good as the stuff in BsAs, and it was expensive too (almost approached US prices). However, the resort food was decent unlike most lodge food stateside. And as always the prices were cheap for non locals. Except if you bought Gatorade, it was more expensive than what you paid in the states. Guess they believe only foreigners purchase Gatorade. Pepsi you have hope.. sort of.


Parting photo...

Photo Gallery: Bariloche by Kevin Boon aka Costner and my own photos from South America

South America Week 2 (Buenos Aires, Argentina)

I left Cuzco the following afternoon, arrived at the airport early and got onto an earlier flight to Lima. The agent at the desk was kind enough to send my hiking bag directly to Buenos Aires (BsAs) so I wouldn't have to pick up the bags and recheck them in at Lima. As bad as Lima's airport is, Cuzco's feels like an outpost. With 8 hours or so in Lima's airport waiting for my connection I could have walked around and gotten to know the airport but to be honest, there's really nothing there. I did have the Harry Potter book to keep me company. I was pretty frugal at first since my stash of soles had dwindled. But when I found out all the restaurants and stores in the airport accepted dollars, I went all out.

Why I will never ride on American Airlines: Arriving in Buenos Aires the following morning, Vincent spotted me near the baggage claim and a few minutes later, we were joined by Terry. Naturally, my plan for Terry to bring my snowboarding bag directly to BsAs (rather than dragging it through Peru) hit a snag because of American Airlines. Turns out the bag was stuck in Dallas. Not a big deal I thought, same thing happened when I went to Whistler and I got the bag the next evening. In addition I had a good week before we were heading to Bariloche so I wasn't hitting the slopes anytime soon. Wrong. I called two to three times daily to American Airlines' call center which connected with their desk at EZE and then finally the transport company they contracted out the delivery services to. The delivery company (Del Mar or something along those lines, run by a Mr. Oscar, a total jackass). The call center couldn't do anything because they didn't have a relationship with the delivery company, and most of the time when they tried connecting to the desk at EZE, no one was manning it. I called Mr. Oscar a few times directly and every time he promised the delivery would occur later that day. Eventually after many empty promises he stopped taking my calls, or when he accidentally picked up, he would hang up immediately after hearing my voice. I had most of my city clothes in that bag so for the week in BsAs I had to recycle my hiking clothes over and over. We arrived on Monday and I didn't get the bag until Sunday afternoon, a mere hour or so before I left for Bariloche. Mr. Oscar's lucky he delivered the bag while I was out to brunch. %*@)$ POS. Oh, did I mention I had to pay $80 for all of this? When every other airline allows snowboard bags to fly for free. American Airlines states that they allow skis for free only not snowboards, but didn't charge Pei-Li for her snowboard bag. During that week I had plenty of time to read up on other customers' experience with American Airlines. My conclusion? American Airlines sucks.

With that rant over, we made our way to BsAs from the airport sans snowboarding bag in the middle of rush hour. Wasn't pretty, but luckily the fare was a predetermined amount. Upon Kevin's insistence, we stayed in Recoleta in an apartment I found on VRBO. The apartment was great, except for one runny toilet and the color of the walls were ghastly. I would have been fine with staying in nearby Palermo too but Recoleta was close to a few cultural icons, the National Cemetery being the most important. Because the area we stayed in is one if the not the best neighborhood in BsAs, our view of the city is heavily slanted. Especially now that I've seen the shanty town by La Boca / San Telmo / the highway (more on that later). Our apartment was located right next to a grade school. At first a minor annoyance, then a welcomed link to reality as the sound of the children playing turned into a pleasant background noise in the mornings.

Coming from the Salkantay Trek to BsAs played havoc on our internal clocks. On the trek, we were in bed (or in the sleeping bag) by 8 - 9pm every night. In BsAs, people don't eat lunch until 2pm (followed by a lengthy siesta). Dinner doesn't start for the majority of the people until midnight. I could get used to a siesta though. My body has a nasty habit of shutting down if I eat lunch. We woke up before the sun rose everyday and even in BsAs, we were up by 8 or 9 every morning because of the kids in the school yard.

There are a lot of things that don't make sense in Argentina. For one they hate giving change and expect consumers to pay with exact change. It seems that they would rather not have your business than to break your $50 or $100 peso bill that the banks' ATMs inevitably dish out. There are some places in the states that specifically state that they won't break anything over a $20 bill, but those are usually the larger fast food joints. But we hardly ever frequented fast food joints down there and the policy was never printed.

The elevators in our apartment building in Recoleta was under engineered. When we tried packing in four individuals (one over the limit), only because we saw some locals do it recently, the elevator was not quite right afterwards. Stopping on the main floor, it was either a foot above the floor or a foot and a half below the floor. Another note about the elevators, seems as though the programmers never considered inserting a buffer time period. If the elevator arrives at your floor and you don't open the gate quickly enough, it will immediately leave if another floor presses their button. All minor nuisances since it was a small apartment building afterall (two units a floor, about 14 floors). There were more things amiss in Bariloche such as the revolving door that didn't make sense, elevators there, and lift turnstiles (to be covered later).



Some of the great things I love about the city. The people seem to have a lot of integrity. Much more so than New Yorkers anyway. The cab drivers contrary to what I read in the forums are great. They do not expect any tips, and in fact will sometimes go under the meter if it is a little over a round number. But because it meant more to them than us, we usually left large tips by their standards. The drivers care too. One night when we went to Belgrano to eat in the Chinatown there, the cab drove around the block and back just to make sure we were okay. Hard to imagine a New York cabbie doing the same thing. The food, Argentinians can do no wrong with their beef. While the Peruvians can seem to only get chicken right (passable more like it), you would do yourself a disservice if you were to ever order anything but beef at a restaurant in Argentina.

The ice cream is fantastic. More cream than ice, (guess the Italian community brought more than just their football fanaticism) Freddo was as numerous as Starbucks in NYC. Could you imagine if ice cream was caffeinated and as accepted as coffee in the office? As I did down there, I'd have a cone or two everyday. The smallest cone was enough to fill anyone up and only cost about $1 USD.

While the beef here is fantastic everywhere (blowing away what you will find in NYC), I really fell in love with one particular dish in Palermo. At a restaurant called Lelé de Troya, the crocante de lomo, prime tenderloin with mushroom mousse and spinach wrapped in philo dough. Can't really determine why I love it so much but here are the photos of my second experience with it (I went back on my last day in BsAs after coming back from Puerto Iguazu). The Korean food we tried wasn't bad either, but I sort of ticked the restaurant off by making my 'tag' too large on a wall set aside for people to write on, and for knocking down a painting by accident breaking the frame. Other than beef, I filled up on empanadas, beef, chicken, corn, ham and cheese, spinach, whatever was in it, I'd eat it. Prices ranged from $0.50 to $1.33 USD, and price wasn't necessarily tied to quality.



To my surprise there weren't that many touristy things to do in BsAs. We visited the National Cemetery which was amazing. The dead reside there in greater splendor than I live in. We also bumped into Tanya out of the blue. She had gone down there without telling anyone so no one was expecting her. Walking around outside the cemetery I guess it wasn't hard to spot a couple of Asians walking together. I don't remember if I covered it yet, but BsAs is not diverse at all. You hardly see any blacks or Asians around. We ended up chilling with her that night but we couldn't hang. By midnight most of us were falling asleep at the table. She had been there for 3 weeks already so she had no issues with the BsAs schedule.

Besides beef and silver, BsAs is known for the tango and football. We didn't get to watch any soccer games there (Boca Juniors) but we did check out the area around the stadium and can understand why most people tell tourists to avoid La Boca at night. I didn't feel safe there even during the day. We attended a tango lesson, dinner and show which was great... when time frees up in my schedule in the future (if ever) I wouldn't mind taking some ballroom classes. Who saw Take the Lead with Antonio Banderas? Saw that on the bus to Puerto Iguazu and thought it was a great way to tie-in Argentina and NY. Leather products are also pretty cheap, Kevin and I got tailored leather jackets/coats for $200 USD (not as cheap as you would imagine, but being in a touristy area, it's not bad) and I picked up some leather messenger bags for around $25 USD a piece.

Dogs, in Peru we were looking out for horse droppings, in BsAs we were looking out for stray dog droppings. I already covered how street smart the dogs were in a previous post, but really... I can't believe they are so bright. I'd rather have those stray dogs in NYC than the pigeons.

If I had just gone to BsAs without the Salkantay Trek or Bariloche to look forward to I may have been a little disappointed. It's not a place to visit if you want to get touristy. Since BsAs was between the two other trips, it gave us a great opportunity to just wind down, eat and sleep to recuperate from the trek and prepare for a week plus of snowboarding.



One of my favorite moments in BsAs was on Saturday right before we left. It was Elmo's birthday and as a surprise some of his friends back home that couldn't make the trip had prepared a video for him. Nothing elaborate, but the thought was there and the execution was funny. The SD card didn't fit in my camera but Pei-Li saved the day when she whipped out her digicam which took the card format. One of the best photos from the trip...

In my last Salkantay post, I forgot to mention the things I was thankful for:

• Asolo Atmosphere Gore-Tex boots: Corwin and Christine recommended this brand to me and I am so glad they did. Went to Paragon to try them on, if you purchase hiking boots make sure you go a size larger because your foot will swell during a hike. And the wool socks can get pretty thick. I picked this pair up for relatively cheap ($64) at Sierra Trading Post. Even without breaking them in, they were very comfortable on the hike, barely got any blisters even with all the running. They are light and durable too, best $64 I spent on the trip. Instant fan of Asolo.
  
• Trekking poles: Christine lent me her $150 telescoping hiking poles for the trip. You really just need one, so I lent the other one to Kevin. Light and strong they were a lifesaver on the trip. Before the trek I didn't think much of them, just more things to carry right? The poles saved my ankles multiple times, every time I felt my foot roll to its side, I immediately stabbed the pole into the ground to take my weight off the foot. Oh and many thanks to Corwin for the backpack. Saved me a bundle of money...
  
• Altitude sickness pills: My doctor prescribed some pills for me and I started taking them two days before I left for the trip. When I got to Cuzco the altitude didn't really affect me. No headaches... sweeeeeet.
  
• Absence of food sickness: Bane went on a similar trek a year ago and told me food sickness got him before the trek. I wouldn't have made it through the trip if something like that happened to me.
  
• Photographer: Having company with you to share the moments was extremely important. Didn't know until they all left a week before I did. But having a great photographer with you is almost as important to capture the moments. Many thanks Kev. He also posted his favorite photos on his Xanga, check it out.
  
• Elmo's entertainment: Well, anyone that knows Elmo knows what I'm talking about so I don't need to elaborate.

Photo Gallery: Buenos Aires by Kevin Boon aka Costner

South America Day 6 (Salkantay Trek Day 5)

At last, the fabled city. We went to bed the previous night with the rain pitter-pattering against the hotel windows. The morning was no better, we went up to a covered rooftop to have a meager breakfast, no one was in much of a mood to eat anyway with the Sun yet to rise and the rain drowning out everything. I cursed the skies for raining on us on the very last day of our trip.

Our walk to the bus stop was interesting, heavily hooded individuals in ponchos emerging from various hotels and other residential areas, merging onto the main road and walking in unison to the buses waiting patiently by the train tracks. I thought of the Hogwarts Express with all the cloaked kids congregating at Platform 9 3/4. If only I had magical powers... I wouldn't mind being called a muggle.

I think if the weather had been better, I would have been more impressed with the ruins. Because so much of it was shrouded in fog and mist, it took a while for all of it to reveal itself to me which detracted from its initial impact. In addition, we had been accustomed to some great visuals during the trip, if I had gone straight to Machu Picchu and skipped the trek, I'm sure I would have been more impressed.

For half the morning Enty took us on a tour around the ruins explaining what each sector was for, how the Incans may have lived during their time and pointed out to us that the city was never finished. A rock storage area located near the middle of the site had many huge uncut boulders lounging lazily about, never to realize its full potential.



By the time noon hit, much of the clouds had dissipated and along with it, my initial bitterness towards the heavens. In its place, a huge and clear double stack rainbow appeared. We had a great time posing in front of one of the most clear and largest rainbows I've ever seen. During all the times Enty visited Machu Picchu as a tour guide I bet he never had a group use the rainbow so creatively (Enty probably hits up the ruins 50 times a year). Carebears, fountain of rainbow... what else could we have done. Lynn/Michelle/Deadweight also received her final nickname at this time, 'Asscrack'. I'll leave it to her to tell the origins of that nickname. There were also two llamas planted by the government at Machu Picchu. Elmo made full use of them as props for his own version of Animal Planet, complete with Australian voice-over.

We were lucky enough to obtain five of the 400 passes to Huayna Picchu, the mountain rising above Machu Picchu. However we had to endure an hour and a half long wait to get past the gates which forced us into a scramble to the top and back down in order for us to catch the 2pm bus back to Aguas Calientes. While we had our fair share of semi-dangerous moments on the trek, the hike up Huayna Picchu had some of the narrowest stairs / paths I ever came across. It didn't help that everything was slippery from the rain. We made full use of the cables bolted into the side of the mountain at strategic locations but with people coming down while we went up, it led to some interesting passing. Pressed for time we never made it all the way to the top but we were close. Our estimate was that we were probably 5-10 minutes from the top but we had to force ourselves to just take the photos where we were and scramble back to the bus.

On the bus ride back down to Aguas Calientes, we saw a kid dressed in traditional robes over and over at every other bend in the road. I'm not sure what the full story is, but apparently him and a bunch of his classmates do it to make some money. We gave him a few soles and was very impressed with the speed at which he made it down the mountain. Some of us thought that he had twins who took over at every other bend... when we first saw him, we didn't know what he was up to, he had a demonic look in his eye so if you ever hear us refer to a demon child at Machu Picchu, he's the one we are talking about.

Back at the restaurant where we ate dinner, we ate our final meal with Enty then proceeded back to the bus stop we got off of. This time we boarded a train back towards Cuzco. For some reason we don't get off at Cuzco (must be a different line). Instead we disembarked at another town and then road a couple of hours by van back to Cuzco. It was a nice ride and gave us a chance to see other parts of Peru we didn't get to witness while on the trek.

Arriving at Loki Hostel soon after sunset, everyone showered up and packed for the next day's flight to Buenos Aires. It was Chief's birthday but we never made it out to the bar where she was celebrating at since we were all busy packing. The next day I spent a few hours roaming portions of Cuzco I hadn't seen yet, the rest of the crew left early in the morning. I got to know Lima's airport quite well during my 8 hour layover. Thankfully I had the last Harry Potter book with me to keep me company.


A final group parting shot of the Trailrunners during an earlier part of the trek (with everyone's nicknames). I'm very thankful for their company and am glad we experienced it together. Don't think I could have had a better time...

Photo Gallery: Machu Picchu by Kevin Boon aka Costner

South America Day 5 (Salkantay Trek Day 4)

(Elmo's 'Immortals' impersonation)

On the fourth day, we kicked Enty's ass. At around 3pm that afternoon, we were to take the train from the Hydroelectric Station to Aguas Calientes, the touristy town everyone goes through to reach Machu Picchu. Enty couldn't stress it to us enough that we were not to miss that train. There were two options to get from La Playa to the Hydroelectric Station, one was to hike three hours straight up hill to Llactapata (newly discovery Inca Site) which is famous for the “great condor view of Machu Picchu” before descending two and a half hours to the Hydroelectric Station. The other option was to bus it around the mountain rather than going up and over it by foot. Lynn decided to take the bus with the cooks (she no longer had her trusty horse, or as Enty calls it, the 4x4) the rest of us chose to hike it.

Because there is only that one train departing from the Hydroelectric Station Enty made us get up an hour earlier. Again, because of "Asian time" we ended up being the last group to leave the campsite. The going was slow for the initial portion of the hike. Just a flat trail to Lucma where we saw a bunch of cool looking vegetation. Did you know that a coffee bean is the pit/seed of a grape-like fruit? I had NO 'IDEAR'! I'm not a big coffee consumer, but all I've ever seen were the brown roasted beans. So while hiking the flatland portion, we came across the coffee plants. Enty picked one out, ripped it apart and sucked on the fruit surrounding the seed. He asked us to guess what it was and none of us could answer him. We each grabbed a few and tried it out. wasn't too bad, but I'm sure most of you would prefer to consume it as roasted bean liquid coffee.

By the time we reached Lucma half an hour to an hour later, my stomach was going nuts and I ended up running into the woods for a break let's just say I'm very fond of wetwipes, Elmo and I don't understand why we stopped using them. With the internal organs all proper, I was ready for the uphill. Unlike the previous days we were traveling light, we dumped all our backpacks on the bus with Lynn and the cooks so we wouldn't have to lug them up and down the mountain. We shared one small day pack, the Dakine Mission bag Elmo brought along. In it were small snacks for lunch and Kevin's diesel camera. Elmo, Tyler and I took turns carrying it uphill. Since none of us were as agile as Kevin, we didn't trust ourselves running with the backpack downhill. At the peak, we handed the bag with all our sweat over to Kev, he wasn't too happy about that.

Anyhow, we stormed up the mountain passing the other groups in the initial stages and stopping at sporadic locations for panoramic shots and for quick rests or to allow the rest of the guys to catch up. Really appreciated the lack of dust or horse droppings on the trail, only thing we had to look out for were the rocks. We reached the top of the mountain at 9am, completing the uphill portion in under two hours. Gave Enty a run for his money that day, cutting the usual time uphill by a third. We only stuck around Llactapata for 10 minutes or so since the clouds were obscuring the view of Machu Picchu. We proceeded further down to a lunch spot on the side of the mountain sprinting most of it like a time trial or pretending to be ninjas in the woods (please refer to Elmo's 'Immortals' costume). During that run when we started to lose Kevin and Enty, I was close to Elmo and yelled out a reference to Superbad (a bunch of us saw a sneak preview prior to our departure) and though I didn't get the exact quote right, he got it and started cracking up yelling at me to not make him laugh while we were sprinting down the hill. I was trying to quote Officer Michaels' [Out of breath] "That kid's a freak! He's the fastest kid alive!" which you can see in this trailer at 1:27. After our snack we chilled in some grassy meadow, Kevin got bored so he asked me to kick his ass a few times. He did get a couple of good knees on me though. All throughout the trip, I was able to avoid getting bit by bugs, but rolling around the grass for an hour and my legs were covered with bites.

By the time we were ready to continue our hike down, most of the groups we had passed earlier on the hike had retaken the lead. Kevin and I realized that wrestling wasn't a good idea, both of us were winded and had a tough time running. While Enty, Kevin and I rested at another lookout point further down the trail, Elmo and Tyler took it as an opportunity to catch up and pass the other groups and to build a buffer between us. By the time the three of us caught up to Elmo and Tyler they were 3/4 of the way down the mountain. Remember how I stated that we gained notoriety earlier on the trip for running the trail? At one point two ladies from another group heard us running down behind them so they hid behind a boulder. Elmo was in the lead at that point and when we reached the boulder, the two ladies jumped out to spook Elmo. I didn't see Elmo's reaction but I heard it was priceless. Elmo spent the rest of the trip trying to figure out how to get back at them.

After crossing another small footbridge, we took a break by the river which was insanely clean. Looking down into the water you could see straight to the bottom. The water was cold but welcomed after all the running earlier in the day. The final moments of the hike that day had us passing the artificial waterfall created by the Hydroelectric Station's outlet and a vehicular bridge to check in with the authorities there.

The town basically consisted of a few buildings on both sides of the train tracks. We stayed there for a few hours waiting for the train and eating our last meal by the cooks that had accompanied us on the trek. The ride to Aguas Caliente was pretty bad, some European lady sitting behind me had such bad body odor, the entire car stunk. Some local also sat right next to Lynn so the entire time we were referencing the mi scuzi Eurotrip clip. We did happen to go through a few tunnels which made the reference that much more authentic.

We roamed around the tourist town for a bit, got some cheap bread, got on the web for a bit and had dinner with Enty at a restaurant that has some agreement with Andean Life. While the tourists stay at a hotel, the tour guides were relegated to barracks above the restaurant. The same thing happened when we got on the train back to Cuzco. Tourists got on a separate car from the tour guides / locals. Anyway over dinner we were introduce to Enty's favorite drink, pisco sour. So if anyone ever meets him down in Cuzco, buy him one for us.

That night it was refreshing to take an actual shower and to sleep in a bed.

Photo Gallery: Day 4 by Kevin Boon aka Costner

South America Day 4 (Salkantay Trek Day 3)

On the third day, we gained notoriety. Unhappy with our dismal performance thus far, the group decided that we would run the trail. Enty also caught on to our 'Asian time' and made us get up an hour earlier than the previous day. Guess it helped because we left the campsite right after the other groups. Five minutes into the hike we ended up running past the other groups and continued running in bursts throughout the day. As always the scenery was amazing and I'll let Kevin's photos do the talking. However you'll notice that the photos taken on Day 3 pales in volume compared to the other days. Two reasons for this, 1) we were running most of the time so Kevin didn't have a chance to snap any photos, 2) the last portion of the hike was pure hell, more about that later.

Initially the run was mostly downhill, we tried following Enty's steps closely placing our hiking boots between the rocks (or at times on a big rock) and avoiding the horse droppings, nothing out of the ordinary. The trail wound its way down the mountain we camped on bringing us to a fairytale-like setting. A river flowed gently beneath a bridge winding its way between boulders before merging with a few other rivers downstream. Our very own Pittsburgh "Golden Triangle" in the middle of Peru. There were still pools of water by large boulders sporadically placed in this area tempting me to dive in for a bath. On one side was the mountain we had descended from, on the other side, a mountain which we were to ascend (and descend / ascend repeatedly).

Soon after leaving the fairytale area, Enty went into a full out sprint towards a lookout point. We passed a small village, a dead horse and a chicken followed by some chicks. Guess it's true that you lose control of your bladder when you pass away. The horse laid on its side, it's excrement surrounding its hind quarters. We rested for a bit at the lookout point taking in the scenery allowing our heart rates to return to normal.

Fully rested we ran further down the mountain range until we came across a rickety footbridge leading to a pool of naturally hot water which emptied out into a small creek. The footbridge was third-world dangerous. The main span consisted of a few logs tied together anchored on both sides by nothing more than gravity (it looked like it was just resting between rocks). The planks placed over it were sporadically tied down to the main span so only every few feet, was there a secure plank to walk on. It didn't help that the planks were resting on different angles, following the contours of the logs making up the main span. Beneath the bridge were giant rocks, far enough below and sharp enough to do some major damage should you take a dive. What was most upsetting though was a used package of Head and Shoulders shampoo dumped to the side near the pool of hot water. Guess it was too much trouble for the bather to hold onto a small empty plastic package for the rest of the hike.

We hiked further into the forest for a few more hours. Undulating hills, a small waterfall and more horse poop than you can shake a stick at. At one point, we finally broke out of the trail onto a larger dirt road. The dust kicked up by the horses was wrecking my body (guess who's allergic to dust) and while the first day was physically hard, the final section of this day was mentally taxing. Kevin was about 100 meters ahead of me, his figure camouflaged at times by the dust and at other times hidden by the bends in the road. The rest of the crew followed close behind me. At this point, I tried setting my body on autopilot, allowing my legs to do its thing putting one foot in front of the other. But my runny nose and the occasional sneeze wouldn't allow me to get into the zone.

Afraid to upset the routine my legs had adopted, I tried in vain to reach my Nalgene bottle in my backpack. But no matter which arm I used or how I bent it, I couldn't extract the bottle from the bottom pocket. After 10 minutes I finally gave up and pulled off to the side of the road, in the shade of the mountain. While I pulled out the bottle and finished off the last remaining drops of water, the rest of the crew walked up and together we walked on until we reached the village's (La Playa) entrance where Kevin sat waiting for us.

So close, and yet so far. Our spirits were momentarily up when we reached the village entrance only to sink after realizing our campsite was a good 20 minutes down the road. When we finally got there, we all dropped our backpacks on the blue tarp and settled into the bench where we were to eat dinner. Bottles of water in hand, we waited patiently (or dozed off) while the others took showers in the single unit shit and shower stall. The water was frigid, but welcomed after the latter part of the day's desert-like hike.

That evening, completely refreshed from the first shower in three days we had some fun throwing our bodies around for Kevin's camera. Check out Elmo's Dhalsim!

Photo Gallery: Day 3 by Kevin Boon aka Costner

South America Day 3 (Salkantay Trek Day 2)

(My offering to Apus)

The following morning was much warmer when the cooks tapped on our tents. What followed was soon to be a daily morning ritual, cups of hot cocoa tea in our tents (for energy and to help our bodies adjust to the altitude) followed by a carbo-loaded breakfast (food was okay, much better than what we ate in Cuzco). Actually I guess you can't call it a ritual if it only happens three times. With our bodies rested from the previous day's brutal climb and the sun halfway up the sky we finally took in all the scenery around us. Something you can afford to do when your body isn't busy shivering trying to keep you from freezing to death.

While everyone packed for the day's hike, I ran over a nearby ridge to our 'toilet', a small vertical tent pitched over a hole. Brought me back to the days of Loveboat when everyone on the trip did their best to avoid the squatters so prevalent in Taiwan. The zipper to the tent was broken and I would have allowed the flaps to fall, baring my incredible squat position to the mountains, horses and birds if not for the hikers camping half a mile back. At the end of the previous day when Kevin and I were somewhat delirious, we started getting excited and walked towards the first pitched tent we saw before Lynn's horseman pointed in the direction of our camp ground. So as I stood with my hiking pants around one ankle hovering over the open earth I knew exactly where the other group was and at that moment I was sure they were doing what we were doing. Packing up and making their way towards the path right by our campsite. As luck would have it, I was done way before the other group made their way towards us. In fact we were halfway up the trail before we spotted any of them coming over the ridge towards the pond.

With Siete Culebras (the switchback from hell) and the Soirococha pond (our campground) behind us, Enty warned us that the first hour of the day would be just as tough as the day before. Properly warned, everyone was mentally prepared as we tightened up our straps and followed Enty up the trail avoiding horse droppings and rolling our ankles on the rocks with every step. With the knowledge that the hike up would only take an hour or so, we were in good spirits even if we were breathing a bit hard. At the highest point of our trek (4600m) is a pass known as Apacheta by the locals. Here the locals and tourists offer cocoa leaves (covered by soil and held down by small rocks) to Apus thanking him for a safe trip.

A word about our guide, Domingo Enty Atao, a modern day Renaissance man. He was our translator (spoke English, Spanish, Quecha, Japanese and a few European languages), botanist, geologist, historian, cultural guide, medic and among other roles our drill sergeant. This guy knew it all and was also a Hollywood buff. During the first day when we were introduced he immediately gave Kevin and Elmo nicknames (Costner and Spielberg respectively).

With the peak out of the way, the group proceeded downhill towards the forest where we would camp that night. Along the way we had lunch in a wide clearing before entering the forest canopy. First time I experienced a siesta, don't remember much about the food, but it was probably the best nap I ever had even if we were surrounded by... you guessed it, horse poo-poo (Enty's words). For entertainment there was a family of pigs (parents and a piglet) that kept running around the lunch site searching for scraps. At one point we were egging them on to run into the toilet tent while Kevin was using it.

The rest of the day was a blur, the usual insanely awesome scenery (when you could take your eyes off the rock and crap infested trails) where I'll let Kevin's photos do the talking since my descriptions will never do it justice. Our camp grounds were at a three-terrace cutout on the side of the mountain. Looked almost like a warm up to the terraces at Machu Picchu. After dinner, Enty built us a small fire so we could roast marshmallows and wolf down some smores while staring up at the stars in the sky. Sleeping that night was much easier, the temperature was just right and the tents were roomy. Kevin and Lynn took the smaller 2-person tent and I joined Elmo and Tyler in the 3-man tent. Elmo has a knack for shadow puppeteering.

Photo Gallery: Day 2 by Kevin Boon aka Costner

South America Day 2 (Salkantay Trek Day 1)

The first day was short and intense. Split into two sections, a prologue and a hellish climb, we were up before sunrise to meet our guide, Domingo Enty Atao, in front of our hostel. Half the day was spent making our way by bus to the starting point of our trek. We stopped at a small town (Mollepata District 2800m) for breakfast and to buy some hiking sticks and then continued on our way by bus to the start point. We walked for an hour or so along the trail before reaching our first tent meal at Chuñuna. Here, we met our horsemen, horses, and cooks. This was the prologue, an easy going hike along a mostly flat trail to warm ourselves up and get our bodies adjusted to the rocky / gravel-filled road with horse droppings sprinkled throughout. We stopped to take in the scenery and even spotted some fool's gold. What followed lunch was pure hell.

With our bellies satiated everyone strapped on their bags for the first 'real' hike of the trip. It started out pretty mellow, a few flat areas followed by undulating hills. Then came the switchback from hell. After weeks at a desk, none of us were in shape to tackle the climb. I'm not sure what to compare it to in order to give people a good idea of what it was like. Bent forward so that the weight of your hiking bag wouldn't pull you backwards off the mountain, each step was like a vertical lunge where you brought your knee up to meet your chest before pushing off that lead leg dragging the rest of your body upwards. In my mind I thought it would be easier for the taller folks but I then realized the wind would have bothered them more. At the high altitude all of us were already gasping for oxygen, every time a gust of wind blew by it felt like I was in a vacuum unable to draw any air into my lungs. In the middle of the climb most of us made the realization that we packed too much. At times some of the crew were literally blue in the face, I've never seen that happen in person, only in cartoons. Fortunately Lynn had hired a horse so when someone fell far behind, Lynn would send the horse back for the laggard. It got so bad that one of us actually blacked out while on the horse and slipped off the saddle.

It was freezing cold by the time we hit our camp site. Wiped out from the climb and wanting to get warm and toasty none of us bothered with dinner, we just had soup and hit the sack. Both tents were set up by the time we reached the camp grounds, in a bid to stay warm we crammed everyone (all five of us) into the larger of the two tents, a 3-person tent. But after laying there for 15 minutes and noticing how tall the ceiling was we decided to brave the frigid cold again to move to the smaller 2-person tent. It warmed up a bit that night when the earth started releasing the heat it absorbed during the day. By the time I got out of the tent in the middle of the night to take a leak, frost had formed all around us. It was probably the most scenic bathroom break I ever took. Our campsite (4,000m) was nestled between mountain ridges next to a small pond. Overhead the stars were as bright as I've ever see them. We would resume our hike the next day by walking around the pond towards a trail between the two ridges. The day was a nice wake up call that the trek wasn't going to be easy...

Photo Gallery: Day 1 by Kevin Boon aka Costner

South America Day 1 (Cuzco)

A few of my coworkers and friends took the trip earlier in the summer and last year so I felt well prepared when I touched down in Cuzco's dinky airport. I started taking altitude sickness pills a few days before leaving so when I finally arrived at the Loki Hostel I didn't have any issues with the elevation aside from sucking wind whenever I tried doing anything physical (like sprinting up an incline against Elmo). After a $5 USD / 15 soles taxi ride (I got taken for a ride, even though Chief warned me in advance to not pay more than 10 soles) to the hostel, I checked in and found the crew lounging in the rear courtyard. I would have preferred to fly with Kevin, Lynn, Elmo and Tyler but had to stay in the states for the second day of competition (to be covered in the next post).

The hostel is closed off to the street with rooms on two levels facing two courtyards. In general all the public spaces are painted bright cheerful colors, some rooms have private bathrooms, most share bathrooms with other rooms. It's a very nice and relaxed atmosphere, if anyone is considering spending any time in Cuzco, Loki is a bit far from the Plaza de Armas but still a walkable distance. Taxi rides are also very cheap for those too weary to walk up the hill. We explored the neighborhood around Loki for an hour or so while we waited for our room to open up. Loki as I stated before is situated on the side of a hill which gives you a great view of Cuzco. But because it's on the edge of town there really isn't anything of interest on the hillside other than the residential blocks.

After moving into our new room we walked down towards the center of town and browsed through all the shops before settling in on an empty restaurant for lunch. We should have taking the cue when we walked in but hunger led to some irrational decisions. We ordered a tremendous amount of food and ate about a sixth of everything on the table. A word of advice, guinea pig isn't good, nor the alpaca meat which is NOT a suitable beef substitute. Chicken is probably the only safe thing to order... after lunch we walked around some more, Kevin and I found some nice cheap cowboy hats for about $30 pesos, perfect head wear for the trek. Elmo got ripped off buying a flute-like instrument, though in the whole scheme of things it really wasn't much.

The day before, the entire crew went to a massage parlor recommended by Andean Life. For some reason, Tyler was the only one who had his briefs removed during the massage. Guess they marked him as a sucker because every time we walked by the ladies on the street advertising massage services, they walked right up to Tyler and badgered him. On the rare occasion they walked up to one of the others in the crew, we would just throw our hands up and direct their attention to Tyler. Guess you had to be there.

In general, the Peruvians seem to be a bunch of honest hard working guys (and gals). However the entrepreneurial spirit doesn't seem to be prevalent. This will probably change in a few years if the kid we met on the street leading up to Chief's hotel is anything to go by. This kid followed us for a good 10 minutes trying to sell us postcards. At one point I almost went ahead and bought them not because I wanted them, but because I admired the kid's zeal. When we told the kid Lynn didn't have any friends to send the postcards to, he immediately shot back with, "what about her family?" Quick on his feet, though he didn't see a distinction between South Koreans and Japanese people.

That evening, we met our guide at the Andean Life offices for a briefing then met up with Chief for dinner at her hotel's restaurant. The food was great, think it was Thai-fusion, loads better than the Peruvian food we attempted to eat during lunch. Afterwards, we did some quick supply shopping before heading back to Loki for some last minute packing and some rest. Our guide was scheduled to pick us up bright and early the next morning.

Photo Gallery: Day 1, Day 2 in Cuzco by Kevin Boon.

South America Prologue

The days leading up to the trip were incredibly hectic. Had outings / dinner almost every evening with coworkers (parted ways with my company on August 3rd), a reunion with elementary school friends and a team dinner, two days of competition and a family dinner during the weekend I flew down to Peru. I was exhausted when I finally got on the flight so I ended up sleeping like a baby on both legs of the trip. My slumber was only broken by the 2:55 layover at one of the worst airports I've ever been to, Aeropuerto Internacional Jorge Chávez in Lima.

The design is sufficiently modern but the layout is unintelligible and most of the employees working there aren't the most helpful individuals. New York's airports aren't great either but they were built way before Lima's so I'd give them some leeway in how bad their tacked on layouts are.

Upon arriving, I couldn't go directly to the domestic departures area. Instead, I had to exit the airport then make my way to domestic departures. I had a boarding ticket in hand so whenever I stopped to ask someone where to go, I was directed straight to the airport tax window and security screening. I never checked my hiking backpack in so it was only after I asked one of the guards at the security area that they told me to exit again and go downstairs to the domestic departures check-in. I refused to pay the airport tax again and it was only after talking to several individuals that they finally told me to go back down to the LAN airlines booth. I explained my story to the lady in charge there, she filled out a form and then directed me to the airport information area where I had to explain my story again before the information lady finally reactivated my airport tax bar code.

1. Why can't the airport tax fees be included in my ticket price so I can skip the hassle (I think I'm going to be paying about $80 in total over six flights/stopovers).
2. Does it make sense to exit the airport and then go through all the security checks again before boarding a connecting flight? They could save travelers the trouble and reduce their workload if they just allowed disembarking passengers to go straight to the domestic departure lounge. There aren't any weapons for sale on the plane or in the departure lounges, why rescreen everyone that just got off a plane.
   

I don't travel much so my complaints may seem trivial to all the frequent business travelers, vacationers.

By the way, I'm writing this on Friday morning, five days after Terry, Vince and I touched down in Buenos Aires. Still no sight of my snowboarding bag which didn't make the connection in Texas. Apparently it's been sitting in the delivery company's (Del Mar) truck for the last few days but they haven't had time to drop it off. Well done American Airlines, I'll remember this when I'm booking flights in the future. Also, thanks for charging me $80 even though ski bags should be accepted free in place of another checked luggage on your website (yet snowboard bags aren't). Glad to see Pei-Li didn't get charged for her snowboard bag. And by the way, most airlines I know of don't charge for ski/snowboard bags, LAN, Delta, Air Canada, Pei-Li's AA flight.

On a side note, that bag seems to be cursed. My trip to Whistler also consisted of missing snowboard bags, but it showed up two days later at the very least. Fortunately I learned from that mistake so I didn't pack all my clothes into the bag this time around. Even so, I had some slippers and clothing I could have used during my days in Buenos Aires. I better get the bag today, leaving for Bariloche soon and I NEED that bag for that leg of the trip. Things to be thankful for... LAN didn't lose or delay my backpack for the Salkantay Trek... that would have majorly sucked.

Blank Slate r8ohfiver (500th post)

Figured it was time to start with a blank slate. I've been holding off on posting since I made a promise to Elmo last year regarding a project. Did it in order to force myself to finish the project before spending time recording my thoughts. Obviously I'm breaking the promise now (sorry Elmo, it'll get done... eventually).

I only made some minor changes to the blog (color scheme, post width) so it didn't warrant a whole number, hence the "½". Still not entirely happy with the changes so expect more tinkering. In case you all forgot what the old one looked like, I took a screen shot of it before putting the updates in place. Off to South America in a few hours, updates to follow. Farewell / ciao.