Quito, Ecuador!

So, we took a bus to Chimbote and checked our email and found out the Secret Garden Hostal needed us as soon as possible to start a month long volunteer position with them. So we took three more buses, two of which were overnight and by 8 AM Friday November 28th we had arrived to Quito. We stumbled into the Hostal a bit dazed and got a great free breakfast and told we were starting the following day. They showed us to the volunteer apartment housing and we got settled in. Our co-workers here are really great, a lot of fun, and very welcoming. We will be working 8 hour shifts 6 days a week for free room and board as well as 10 hours of free spanish lessons and if we want more lessons they are half price after 10 hours. We are hoping this opportunity will help our budgets so we can do things like go to the Galapagos Islands in January, and help us improve our spanish. We will finish our volunteership on Dec 23rd just in time for our parents to arrive. Also it will be an opportunity to get to know Quito before they arrive so we can be good tour guides!

We will put up some photos soon! Love to all, it was great talking to everyone on Thanksgiving. Hope everyone is enjoying the turkey leftovers... our tuna fish sandwiches just didn´t cut it as a worthy Thanksgiving dinner!

Hauraz has been touched and the void is filled

Hauraz Peru has turned out to be a great ¨home base¨for us the past week and a half. IT IS THE BEST HIKING/TREKKING YOU CAN COME TOO AS FAR AS MY TRAVELS HAVE GOTTEN ME. Tomorrow we are off North and we may be going to Ecuador quicker than we thought! We got offered a volunteer position at a hostel called the Secret Garden in Quito, Ecuador. They would offer free room and board for free labor and they will throw in some Spanish lessons as well. We´ll keep you posted.

So last Thursday we visited a local coffee shop and a guy there invited us to play ultimate frisbee the following day... we took him up on it (Tito played, I watched to keep my feet from further injury) we met some great people. One of which ended up traveling with us to HuayHuash(whywash) for a three day trek, her name is Claire and she is from New Zealand. What a great travel partner and fast friend she has become in just a few days! We were grateful for company and Claire´s fluency in Spanish certainly helped us navigate the trek a little easier.

We also had a very special Guide on this trek. His name is Blanco... and yes he has four legs. He is fluent in spanish, english, french, and quechua! What a great protector and friend he became. We found out from locals at the end of the trek that there are about 5 dogs like Blanco (our name for him) that tag along with tourists while they hike. They bark at locals and just look after the tourists I guess. He was great. He enjoyed a little scratching from us every now and then. He would guide us along the trails and kept the cows/horses/donkeys at bay. He was a great dog actually and added asset to the trip. He will be missed. We hope the next tourist keep him safe.

Our trek began with us hiking up a road through a mining town. We had a lil rain for like 20 minutes and then it cleared. We came to our little valley with the help of some locals and we were off the road and hiking up to 4750 meters (that would be the next day). Not many people hike the direction we went because the circuit is like 10 to 12 days. We could only to do a 3 day portion so we were going backwards. We camped up close to the mountains the first night about 3 hours from the pass. It rained that night a little. We awoke to clouds and windy weather. We started our second day trying to find the trail, which we never found a trail. It was tough going picking our own way up to the pass. We zig zagged and switchedback until we finally saw a trail about 15 minutes from the pass. It was tough but the views were our reward. Fantastic turquoise lakes and snowy high mountain peaks. We sat there for a while.

Our New Zealand friend Claire had only been in Peru for 3 days and was feeling a little altitude sick so we went down to about 4100 meters to a beautiful lake and glacier from the mountains. Then continued hiking down to about 3900 to 4000 meters for the night. The entire day Claire did not feel the greatest but she made it through. The next day we came up to another pass around 4300 meters and there were no clouds and you could see they whole HauyHaush range. It was gorgeous. Our Blanco would always lead the way and wait for us. We finally made it down to LLamac after the pass. It was a steep 1000 meter descent. Hard on the knees. We made it to town. Said our farewells to Blanco and the locals and took transport back to Chiquin then to Hauraz. We met a woman that had been traveling for 5 years from Holland. She was good company on the ride back to Chiquin.

We had another glorious chicken dinner with Claire and have rested until tomorrow when we leave to head North. NORTH TO WHERE is to be determined by tomorrow.

We want to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving in the states. Enjoy the holiday. Of course they don´t celebrate that holiday here so we will be celebrating a different occasion. That occassion would be Cassie and I´s first anniversary since we have been dating. As of Thanksgiving day it will be one year. It has been tough..... For her mostly I am sure LoL´s!!! No, it has been quite easy. She is fantastic, wonderful, amazing, beautiful, and am so glad to have her in my life and sharing this amazing experience with me. I want to thank her for inviting me on her journey and allowing me to be a part of it. I love her very much!!! It has been a great year with her and I know year two will be just as good if not better. We love all of you and wish you the best with all your plans for the holiday. We will be calling/skyping our families on Thanksgiving so be ready. TTFN!!!

Touching the void Tito and Cassie Style

Cassie´s Injuries... poor toe... and beautiful scabby lip!

So we left Cuzco.....Finally....a 20 hour bus ride later we are in Lima with Nacky....We take a taxi to another bus company and our friend wants to stay in Lima and enjoy an REM concert. So Cassie, Nacky and I hang out in Miraflores for a day. Miraflores is a part of Lima along the ocean. It was a great day walking around that section of town. Then Cassie and I said our goodbyes to our fantastic Puerto Rican friend Nacky and we headed to Hauraz Peru!

Now, if you have not seen the movie Touching the Void, then you should watch this mountaineering movie. It is a great true story. Check it out. That movies location happened in the Cordillera Blanca mountain range. Cassie and I arrived in Hauraz after an overnight bus and decided to rest for 2 days.

WE researched local agencies and decided to hike on our own. THE SANTA CRUZ VALLEY TREK. Famous they say.......The pictures we put up will speak for themselves!! I have done a lot of trekking/hiking, Alaska, Colorada, British Columbia, Hawaii, New England, Southeast, New Mexico, Patagonia, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Southern Peru.......but by far Northern Peru.....Cordillera Blancas......... this is the most beautiful backpacking I have ever done. The snowcapped mountains are every where. Towering over everything. Turquoise lakes everywhere. Mountain passes that look out in every direction. The weather was great. We hiked 4 days and did 75 to 80 kms which is about 44 to 48 miles. YOU HAVE TO GET HERE IF YOU LIKE BACKPACKING OR MOUNTAINS!!

We only had a few mishaps.......First We both were scared by a cows ass and we thought it was a Puma ass so we laughed about that for a while.
2nd...we passed up on a bridge that would have us crossing the river easily but we decided that was not it so we walked further up the valley and decided to camp for the night. In the morning we found places to cross the river but there was some jumping and Backpack tossing. Cassie decided to catch my backpack with her upper lip and was a little swollen and scratched up.
3rd...we did a lot of miles because the weather was so good. A trip that normally takes 4 days we did in 2 and half so decided to walk further and stay out longer and go up and over another pass to some beautiful lakes. With that both our feet are really sore. Cassies toe is blistered and all our muscles are tight.
But overall we are back, thankful, resting, to take on a 3 to 5 day hike in another area that is a little more remote and more beautiful. It is a circuit that could take up to 14 days but we only want to do a part of it. We will let you know.

Pics will be up soon. Happy Thanksgiving to all. Enjoy your holiday with the family. We miss you all. Love Cassie and Tito

Sacred Valley

So we rested for a day after our night of festivities and met up with our great friend Nacky from Puerto Rico. We partnered up with a girl from New Zealand named Gemma. Had dinner at a thai restaurant and made plans for the sacred valley seeing more ruins. We paid a taxi guy about 10 dollars a person to drive us to Chinchero where we saw this palace that was Incan now turned into a church on top. (According to the Incas Chinchero was the birthplace of the rainbow. The rainbow is revered in their culture and the Incan flag is a rainbow flag that flies beside the red and white Peruvian one. ) The views there were amazing. Next we went to an Incan terracing system called Moray where they practiced perfecting seeds and growing certain plants. Great circular agricultural terracing. 6 hours later we made it to Ollyantaytambo to the Incan fortress. We ate dinner that took us 3 hours to get served some very sweet sugary fish. It was ok. Then we went to our hostal to sleep. Cassie and I slept in our tent for a dollar and Nacky and Gemma stayed in dorm room. We awoke went to breakfast and toured the the ruins for about 2.5 hours. Taking pictures with the Peruvian Special Operations Unit - Military men in training. It was fun. The ruins were huge. The views amazing. The Incas always build high up to see the surrounding valley for protection. Then we took another cab to Pisaq. Ate lunch at an amazing restuarant and had cheesecake really good cheesecake. Then hiked up and up about 3 miles to the top of the Incan citidel. This area was spread out with watch towers, terraces, burial grounds, ceremonial places, housing, they built a hole throught the mountain to walk through. Then we walked back to town about 3.5 hours. Ate a little food at the same restaurant. Returned back to Cuzco, drank beer with locals in the back of the bus it was fun. Then we arrived back and went to sleep. The next day I helped Nacky buy an airline ticket and yes WE WATCHED AMERICAN FOOTBALL NFL for the first time. NFL SUNDAY TICKET AT NICKS SPORTS BAR IN CUSCO. Great day. Today we bought tickets to Lima and are heading to Huaraz. TOUCHING THE VOID anyone seen that movie? That is the area we are going to do some amazing trekking and hiking with our fabulous friend Nacky. That will be our next update. Peace out C-YA as we move northward. We are not staying in Lima long. Just another big city. Love you all enjoy the blogging. Tito and Cassie

p.s. we also went to a cultural dance show tonight, I am going to try to upload a video it was beautiful!

Celebration with the Lares Trekkers!

OH the celebration afterwards was amazing. Meet our wedding planners from Austrailia Dave and Caraline. Caraline is toasting the waterbottle and Dave is with me and he is punching the camera with his Argentina shirt. I don´t know what they have planned for us but we will keep you in the loop. We went to an irish pub for food and spirits. We all woke up slowly. Then hit the dance club until 3:30 am no one left except our tour group and guide. We then went to another dance club until 5:15 am then walked home with the sun coming up. We danced, we sang, we drank, we visited, and had a memorable night. Thanks to all the great people on the trip. They all had to leave the next day so most went to their places packed their bags and then hit their planes/busses to their next destination.

James is Asian but does not know kung fu(Just joking I am not out to offend anyone) Dave is like don´t even think about taking a picture. I am too busy singing to care. Jen just smiles!

Hello Ladies!!!

Machu Picchu!

So we made it. After all the road block issues and changing of times we made it around 9 am. The race was on. We first ran to the Hyannu Picchu trail head to get tickets for the hike in the afternoon. You can see the pics below. Hyannu Picchu is in the background of the first picture and then that is all us on top looking down from the top. After getting tickets they only allow 400 people up a day. We then ran over to the lookout from the guard tower where the famous pictures are taken. Then we listened to our guide for 2 hours explain the history of the ruins. It was founded by a hawaiian guy in 1911 who was sponsored by Yale I think. A 10 year old boy brought him into the ruins because he could barely see them because the jungle had grown over it. We meandered through the ruins listening to what could be many reasons or ideas this area was used for. The ruins were amazing the weather was great. The hike ups was fantastic with our other travel mates. Cassies hair on the top was static electricity and standed on end. There was lightning and thunder she scared us so we made her get down to not attract lightning. We all then headed back to town after the ruins and ate lunch. Caught the train back to Cuzco. A very very good day. Anyone reading this needs to go here. It is amazing.

4 day Lares Valley Trek in the Sacred Valley of the Incas

We checked in with our Trekking company called SAS and attended a briefing meeting on Saturday, November 1st. We met the 10 other people we would be enjoying our Machu Picchu experience with - a phenomenal group! James and Joanna hailing from Brooklyn NYC, Caraline & Dave a brother and sister duo from Australia, Jenn a spitfire from England, Caroline her partner in crime from Maryland, the three amigos: Kristen, Lexi, and Reb from California, and last but not least our Guide, Jose from Cusco. What an awesome group to be hiking with...

As you can see from the pictures we had all sorts of weather on our trip. The first day we headed out of town on a private SAS bus and got to breakfast in a town called Calca. We were surprised to see cages of guinea pigs, rabbits, ducks, and chickens in the local market - Guinea Pig is a delicassy here... we were met with awesome tunes from the 80´s at our breakfast spot ¨Now I am never gonna dance again, Guilty feet have got no rythymn...¨ ¨The Eye of a Tiger...¨among others. Reb and Tony shared their vocal stylings and we knew we were in for a fun trip! And then off again on the bus to our trailhead.

Once at the trailhead we quickly got ready to go, and within the first 20 minutes it started to rain... and rain... and then hail a little, and more rain.... we got to our lunch tent soaked and cold, but still in decent spirits! Lunch was fantastic as was all the food on the entire trip! We had porters, and our cook, and donkeys and horses carrying all of the essentials for the trip. We each had the option to carry our daypacks and our own gear or we could have a porter carry our own gear. They sure did work hard toting around all sorts of things including a portable toilet which we enjoyed in a ¨toilet tent¨we also were brought hot coca tea every morning in our tents! They sure took care of us...

Along the trail we met many local people and even got to visit a local house and family. We were told by our guide that we should bring some items to give to the people along the way, so we handed out bread, snacks, pencils, and coca leaves. They were often in thanks for letting us take their picture. Such amazing people who still choose to dress in the traditional clothing and live a rural life. The children often have to walk two hours to and from school every day. There is a picture above of the snowy mountains with two little kids dressed in red on their path to school. They all wear sandals year round! I mentioned this before, but I will again, they govern themselves with three rules ¨Don´t lie, Don´t Steal, Don´t be Lazy¨ We were very lucky to have an amazing tour guide who shared a lot of wisdom and insight into the lives of these people and the history of the Sacred Valley. We also all appreciated the fact that our trek was not crowded with lots of people like the Inca Trail.

The second day we hiked over two mountain passes and arrived to our campsite just in time before the rain and snow started. That night Jose shared a local drink called Macho Tea with us and we toasted to good friends, good memories, and thanks to Mother Earth or Pachamama for holding the rain until we got to camp!

The next morning we woke to a beautiful snow covered scene and began hiking to Ollantaytambo. Now this day was the day of the National Strike in Peru and so we weren´t sure of the exact details of the day. We were to hike to our lunch site and then there was a chance the SAS bus would meet us there to bring us to Ollantaytambo, but if not we would have to walk. After waiting a few hours for the bus, we started walking. And soon the SAS bus arrived and drove us to the town. SAS put us up in a hostal and we enjoyed a great dinner and some local Chicha. Chicha is an alcoholic drink that is made with corn, it used to be chewed in order to ferment it, luckily they don´t do that anymore, except for in the jungle, so we all got a taste of regular Chicha and Frutilla Chicha. Then it was back to our hostal to check on the election (see blog entry below)

We got up the next morning and excitedly boarded the 6:40 AM train to Aguas Caliente, then boarded a bus to Machu Picchu.... we were rediculously giddy and happy and had a great time....

Cuzco, Peru

Cuzco is the hub for Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley of the Incas. It is a cultural conglomeration with people offering massages on every street corner! ¨massage, massage, lady?, pedicure lady, manicure lady?¨It´s kind of funny at first and then it gets really annoying! Tony did offer to buy me a massage as a late birthday present and I took him up on it!

The city itself was supposedly designed to be in the shape of a Puma which is a sacred animal to the Incas. The head is at the top of the city where there is an Inca Ruin called Sacsawayman (or sexy woman as most people pronouce it) We were able to walk to four different ruins around the city. Within the city, many buildings are also historic. When the Spanish came to conquer the Incas, they destroyed most of the temples and rebuilt their own churchs on the foundations. So many buildings have beautiful Incan Stonework for their bases which you can see easily around the city. They didn´t use any morter or anything, they just shaped the rocks perfectly to fit next to each other. There is a rock in Cuzco that has 12 angles to it and there is one in Machu Picchu that has 32! They were truly amazing engineers, they also used a trapezoidal technique that protected the buildings from Earthquakes.

We have enjoyed Cusco, many great restaurants and they even had a bar with NFL Sunday ticket so we got to enjoy some Futbol Americano! Lots to do in this town... we certainly have taken advantage of it...