So i have made my way down to peru where i have met up with my friend dylan. He was only here for about 10 days to do this trek with me through the andes to machu picchu. Well when we first arrived into Lima peru i was a little shocked to see how developed this city is. Even though it is the capital city of the country. As we made our way to our hostel we were meeted with a mcdonalds, starbucks, and pizza hut on almost every corner, along with fancy highrise buildings and other modern things. the only thing that seemed to keep it different from any other major city is the amount of peruvian kids begging for money or wanting you to buy their packs of gum and they wont take no for an answer. The next day we headed to a big mall just a short walk down from our hostel which was situated into the side of a cliff overlooking to sea shore. Everything in this mall was super lush and extremely expensive for south american standards, but they had this really cool state of the art arcade in which we spent most of the day playing video games.
After hanging out in Lima for a bit we made our way over to a city by the name of Cusco which was alot less modernized and a waay cooler city in my opinion. It yousta be the capital of the Inca empire and alot of the buildings still have the original Inca foundations. After hanging out around the city for a bit getting to know it we soon booked a tour to do river rafting the next day. It was actually really fun and exciting and we got to do some cool stuff like paddle into a huge drop coming the opposite way and have this mini watefall just pummle us with water and we even got to flip the boat, on purpose that is. The next day was when we head out for our 5 day trek through the Andes ending in machu picchu.
The first day of the trek was fairly tough as we walked for about 7 hours of the day and mostly uphill. I was fine but on the other hand dylan was hurtin bad and almost couldn't do it. There was one part for me that was really bizzar and strange because as i was walking for a few hours on a flat section i began to fall asleep while i was walking. I don't know why but i just couldnt keep my eyes open and apparently i was walking in zig zags, swaying back and forth on a narrow path on the side of a cliff, in which if i fell i would have died. After about 40 minutes of zombie walking dylan said something to me like check out this horse poo and i suddenly snapped back into reality and was pretty shooken up. The whole experience was a really strange feeling, falling asleep while walking, especially on a cliff. We made it to our campsite before dark where it was situated next to a glacier and fairly high up with the altitude, so therefore was extremely cold.
The next day we set out for another 7 or 8 hours of walking, where we had to all make our way up to this pass next to this glacier which was about 4600m above sea level. Dylan had to use a horse to make it up to this pass or otherwise he didn't think he would be able to make it. Me being the super human that i am i made it to this pass about 45 minutes before everyone else did and even the same time dylans horse made it. After at the pass you can tell the oxygen was significantly less than at sea level and any bit of exertion meant difficulty breathing..Because i was early i had to way for everyone for about 45 minutes in the freezing cold temperatures with high winds, but being the super genius scientist i am i sought shelter under a huuge boulder from the winds while i waited for everyone else. After the pass we continued for about 4 more hours till we made it to our second campsite.
For the third day it was fairly easy because it was mostly walking downhill, but still a full day of walking. It was really cool because we made our way down through the andes and started to make our way through the edge of the jungle and you can see the gradual change as we descended. Me and dylan stopped by a nearby river for a quick swim only to find out that the river was ice cold, It was still really refreshing after being all sweaty from walking. When we made it to our third camp we met up with a ton of other groups doing the trek and had a small party. There were also these natural hot springs nearby that we all made our way to and relaxed. At the campsite they had this really cool monkey named Pancho that would hang out and play with everyone and jump up on your shoulder and on your head and stuff.
As for the fourth day we started off with a car ride to this hydro electrical place where we had lunch and continued walking along these train tracks for about 3 or 4 hours until we made our way to the town of machu picchu called aguas calientes. After wandering the town looking for something to do we quickly headed to bed so that we could start our day early and get the first bus of the day up to machu picchu.
When we arrived to machu picchu i was overwhelmed with the pure beauty of it. It is located high up in the Andes, built right onto the cliffs of a mountain. After walking around exploring and wondering to myself how these Incas built such a huuge city out of stones on the top of a mountain, I made my way to this lookout point where i sat down and listened to music just gazing at machu picchu. Before i knew it almost an hour has passed since i sat down. Me and dylan made our way to this mountain just behind machu picchu called waynapicchu where we began to climb a gruelling 45 minute climb with some parts that are extremely vertical. After we made it to the top we had views over the whole complex of machu picchu as well as a view almost into infinity through the Andes mountain rage. After we made our way back down we headed to some more hot springs where we relaxed and then cought our train back to Cusco.
The whole journey was simply amazing and is something I will never forget in my life, as for Dylan, he has heading back home to Canada because he has to start work. As for me I continue my adventures heading down south for Bolivia. Thanks for reading!
Justen Ortiz
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Saturday, October 18, 2008
to the top of the world
As I spent my last few days in the jungle my friend Ben and I went out for a trip into the jungle with Jose..This time he was sure of the way. As we set out we began walking for hours through thick jungle until finally we got to our spot to set up camp. It was this pure black sand beach on the side of a huge river.. We began imediatly to go to work and set up our shelter by gathering sticks and leaves and about 15 minutes later our shelter for the night was ready it was basic but functional to keep the rain out. we spent the rest of the day by fishing in the river and jose went out to hunt with his blowgun but never cought anything. The only food we had to eat were a couple berries, some plants, and water from vines and trees we could drink from. After relaxing and hanging out by the river we then made a fire and fell asleep. The next morning we packed up and headed back for the village, it was a really cool experience to get away from absolutley everything and just be in the middle of nowhere with only the clothes on your back, not even having a recolation of time no watches or anything...it was a truely peaceful experience.. The next day was my last night in Arutam and it was a pretty emotional one. All the villagers said they wanted to throw me a huge party for the occasion. after work and later that night almost absolutley everyone in the village came down to the volunteer house with music and everyone engaged in traditional Shuar dancing. They even made me presents. All of this was extremely flattering to me because there have been other volunteer that have been here maybe 3 or 4 weeks before me and have stayed the same amount of time i have 8 weeks total...and for them they didnt even get anything except for a handshake and them saying thanks adios and some not even coming to say goodbye for them. It made me feel really good about myself because some of the other volunteers came up to me and told me how much of an impact they thought that I made on these people. It was a pretty fun night with the volunteer house jam packed with everyone in the village and everyone dancing and music blasting. It was hard for me to say goodbye.
After I finished my time in the Amazon i headed out for this town called Latacunga and after looking around i found a guide to take me up to climb one of the worlds highest active volcanos called Cotopaxi at a staggering 5897 meters or 19347 feet high. The mountain is a pure glacier covered in snow and ice. Along with me and the guide was a french guy who did not speak any english and pretty bad spanish, and our guide only spoke spanish .. which was fine for me. This french guy went on to tell me that he has climbed a bunch of mountains and blah blah blah, whatever. After getting all of our equipment and gear such as boots, crampons, gators, ice axes, harnasses, and ropes, we set out for the mountain. we made our way up to the basecamp which was about 4800 something meters where we ate and spent the night to acclimatize. I felt pretty good with the altitude even though its almost about half the amount of oxygen as opposed to sea level. Except for in the middle of the night when i woke up and was having trouble breathing and it felt like i was suffocating, it soon passed and i was fine.. we set out at about midnight to make the ascent to the summit through the night, because its alot safer cuz the ice and snow is harder and easier for our spikes on our boots to grip into the ice and stablize ouselves. After about 4 hours into the climb this french guy started stopping for breaks more and more, i felt perfectly fine and kept wanting to continue, but this french guy would stop for 5 minutes and get up and take literally 2 more steps and collapse again. me and the guide kept yelling for him to get up but he wouldnt. he would just keep collapsing. The guide explained to us before we set out for the summit that if one of us felt sick or tired and had to return, that we ALL had to return. The guide kept asking him if he was ok and he wouldnt even reply... we were fairly close to the summit and the guide said to the french guy, "make your decision now do we return or can you continue, decide," and the french guy replied with, "I dont know." At this point i was about ready to smash this guy with my ice axe because i felt fine and the conditions wer absolutley perfect to reach the summit. This guy then said he was fine and was gonna do it. One of the scariest parts was when we had to make our way horizontal along the ice by putting our spikes into the ice sideways and walking along this ice which was about a 75 degree slope, with a deep ice crevass about a 100 feet down the slope from us. Our guide was in front then the french guy in the middle and me leading the rear. so then this french guy keeps stopping to rest and me and the guide are yelling at him, "Dont stop, dont stop," so he keeps going but with wobbly feet and stumbling. The scariest part was that i was tied to this guy with a harnass and rope, so ultimatly if he fell, i fall too and it would be death no question. But we made it and 7 hours later we reached to summit of the mountain which was one of the hardest and most rewarding things i have ever done both physically and mentally.
As for the weekend I am here in a small down called Otavalo which is home of one of the biggest markets in all of Ecuador, every saturday all these idigenous people come to this town and sell almost everything here including animals. As for tonight there is a big cockfight held in this town in a small arena. Which I am pretty excited about attending. My time here in Ecuador is almost done and soon i head down to Peru. Thank you for following this journal. Goodbye!
-Justen Jiru Ortiz
After I finished my time in the Amazon i headed out for this town called Latacunga and after looking around i found a guide to take me up to climb one of the worlds highest active volcanos called Cotopaxi at a staggering 5897 meters or 19347 feet high. The mountain is a pure glacier covered in snow and ice. Along with me and the guide was a french guy who did not speak any english and pretty bad spanish, and our guide only spoke spanish .. which was fine for me. This french guy went on to tell me that he has climbed a bunch of mountains and blah blah blah, whatever. After getting all of our equipment and gear such as boots, crampons, gators, ice axes, harnasses, and ropes, we set out for the mountain. we made our way up to the basecamp which was about 4800 something meters where we ate and spent the night to acclimatize. I felt pretty good with the altitude even though its almost about half the amount of oxygen as opposed to sea level. Except for in the middle of the night when i woke up and was having trouble breathing and it felt like i was suffocating, it soon passed and i was fine.. we set out at about midnight to make the ascent to the summit through the night, because its alot safer cuz the ice and snow is harder and easier for our spikes on our boots to grip into the ice and stablize ouselves. After about 4 hours into the climb this french guy started stopping for breaks more and more, i felt perfectly fine and kept wanting to continue, but this french guy would stop for 5 minutes and get up and take literally 2 more steps and collapse again. me and the guide kept yelling for him to get up but he wouldnt. he would just keep collapsing. The guide explained to us before we set out for the summit that if one of us felt sick or tired and had to return, that we ALL had to return. The guide kept asking him if he was ok and he wouldnt even reply... we were fairly close to the summit and the guide said to the french guy, "make your decision now do we return or can you continue, decide," and the french guy replied with, "I dont know." At this point i was about ready to smash this guy with my ice axe because i felt fine and the conditions wer absolutley perfect to reach the summit. This guy then said he was fine and was gonna do it. One of the scariest parts was when we had to make our way horizontal along the ice by putting our spikes into the ice sideways and walking along this ice which was about a 75 degree slope, with a deep ice crevass about a 100 feet down the slope from us. Our guide was in front then the french guy in the middle and me leading the rear. so then this french guy keeps stopping to rest and me and the guide are yelling at him, "Dont stop, dont stop," so he keeps going but with wobbly feet and stumbling. The scariest part was that i was tied to this guy with a harnass and rope, so ultimatly if he fell, i fall too and it would be death no question. But we made it and 7 hours later we reached to summit of the mountain which was one of the hardest and most rewarding things i have ever done both physically and mentally.
As for the weekend I am here in a small down called Otavalo which is home of one of the biggest markets in all of Ecuador, every saturday all these idigenous people come to this town and sell almost everything here including animals. As for tonight there is a big cockfight held in this town in a small arena. Which I am pretty excited about attending. My time here in Ecuador is almost done and soon i head down to Peru. Thank you for following this journal. Goodbye!
-Justen Jiru Ortiz
Friday, October 10, 2008
Hombre Shuar Jiru Kankarum
So for a little while it has only been my friend Drew and I besides the locals in the community arutam. We asked some of the locals and they told us that there was a new girl coming in the next day to start volunteering here. Since it has only been me and drew we decided it would be a good idea to play a little prank on this newcomer. After discussing for a little while we came up with the idea to dress completley in traditional Shuar clothing for when this girl showed up and pretend like it was completley normal. After discussing our plan with some of the locals they were all in on our scheme and we headed for our gran amigo jose´s house who is probably the most traditional shuar person there and is the most proud of his heritage...as for the others some of them are a little more modernized. Jose was more than down for our little joke and supplied us with all of his traditonal clothing which included robes, headbands, a band made from monkey bones, a shrunken sloth head tied to the belt, a spear, and facepaint. After spending the whole morning getting ready and having our faces painted by jose we were ready. The only problem was we had no idea what time this mystery girl was going to show up. So the entire day we worked and lounged with our spears and everything. we even went to the detail of going barefoot the whole day. The day begins to pass and still no girl, so we decide to hop on a bus to the nearest town, still in our fully traditonal shuar clothing with spears and faces painted.. it was pretty funny cuz on the bus was alot of authentic traditional indigenous people that didnt know us and they just see two gringos hop on the bus in full shuar wardobe. After buying some goodies we were waiting at the bus stop when a bunch of local kids approached us to ask u questions...we had some good laughs and took some photos and then before we left these kids wanted to give us a gift, so this little girl climbed all the way to the top of a tree which was probably about 50 feet high to grab us some fruit to take. After we arrive back we have dinner and finally this girl shows up...and here we are just sitting there acting completley solemn with our faces painted and spears and traditonal robes...she never aksed us any questions about it but you could tell she was totally weirded out..We told her things like we have been here for 9 months and the monkey bone necklace i had was a money i hunted etc etc. and it was pretty funny to see the looks on her face...we never told her that night but continued the joke and came down to work with our traditional clothing and spears again for the entity of the whole day again until finally we told her it was a joke.
as the week passed we convinced jose to take us into the jungle for a hike to a nearby river which was probably about 3 or 4 hours away. as we take off for our hike he explained to us that were gonna get there without a trail and by just trudging threw thick jungle...so as about 2 hours pass we are still walking and exhausted.. i looked over to jose to see something wrong in his face. we suddenly came to the dark realization that we have been walking in circles for the last hour and were completley lost in the middle of the jungle... armed only with a blowgun, machete, can of tuna and some oreos, we were pretty much fucked and we began to worry. we kept walking desparatley in the hopes that we would find a trail or something..we have completley ran out of water by this point and were starting to panick...to add insult to injury it started to rain down on us...after walking and walking we didnt know what to do so jose told us to wait nearby a creek while he went off to find a path.. as we wait by a creek another hour goes by and it is soon going to be dark and we are assuming that jose is lost trying to find his way back... finally jose appears threw the jungle with a smile on his face and explains to us that the trail was only 5 meters away from us and we headed back...he said that this was the first time in 8 years this has happened and is super embarrased...he agreed to make it up to me and me and him are going to go into the jungle to go hunting and camp out for the whole weekend in the jungle. well thats about it for that chapter thanks for reading.
as the week passed we convinced jose to take us into the jungle for a hike to a nearby river which was probably about 3 or 4 hours away. as we take off for our hike he explained to us that were gonna get there without a trail and by just trudging threw thick jungle...so as about 2 hours pass we are still walking and exhausted.. i looked over to jose to see something wrong in his face. we suddenly came to the dark realization that we have been walking in circles for the last hour and were completley lost in the middle of the jungle... armed only with a blowgun, machete, can of tuna and some oreos, we were pretty much fucked and we began to worry. we kept walking desparatley in the hopes that we would find a trail or something..we have completley ran out of water by this point and were starting to panick...to add insult to injury it started to rain down on us...after walking and walking we didnt know what to do so jose told us to wait nearby a creek while he went off to find a path.. as we wait by a creek another hour goes by and it is soon going to be dark and we are assuming that jose is lost trying to find his way back... finally jose appears threw the jungle with a smile on his face and explains to us that the trail was only 5 meters away from us and we headed back...he said that this was the first time in 8 years this has happened and is super embarrased...he agreed to make it up to me and me and him are going to go into the jungle to go hunting and camp out for the whole weekend in the jungle. well thats about it for that chapter thanks for reading.
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