PERU (PART I): ADVENTURIN’

So I definitely have the travel bug. I love traveling and I try to go someplace for at least a week every year. This year, I went to Peru. Part I discussed my nightmare return situation, Part II covers the day by day adventure. The fun part. Now, I travel, that’s clear. I have never traveled internationally. This was my first time. And I went alone. To Peru. Not just Peru, but middle of the Andes nowhere Peru. So imagine, I was super nervous. I tried to play it off, in fact a lot of people were surprised to find out this was my first trip. But inside, I was torn up. Thankfully, my only major horror experience happened at the end. Early on, I faced some serious roadblocks, but they really did contribute to the fun and lessons I learned. Read on and enjoy!

DAY 1.
September 12, 2015.

I took care of most of my to-do the night before. There were a few things I needed to pack and clean up, then I hit the road. It’s something like two to three hours to drive to LAX. Me being me, I was running late. I got there checked in, and it was supposedly boarding time. This was my first flight, before I knew every flight would be late, so I was too paranoid to go far, but I did get some coffee. I ran from my gate to the next in San Salvador, again thinking I would be late with a 40 minute layover. I had lots of wait time to chat with a tour group that was also on my flight.

On the second flight, about two hours in I started the book I’d been carrying under my arm for the last nine hours. #GIRLBOSS by Sophia Amoruso. I read a chapter. It was good, but I was exhausted. So I did my best to sip on my cheep whiskey and water (I ordered a whiskey/7 and a water, but the flight attendant messed that one up and I was too tired to complain). It was painful, but eventually I got about an hour of shut eye.

When we landed it was almost 2:20. By the time I got through Immigration and Customs, it was closer to three. Frustrated, and tired, but determined not too look as lost as I was, I put on a smile and asked, in Portuguese, where the LCPeru desk was so I could buy my ticket for the next day, I mean, in the next 6 hours. It took 30 minutes to figure out I had to walk outside of the building, all the way to the end, and then walk back in. Because you aren’t allowed to just walk across the one room.

When I got to the desk, the woman spoke enough English to tell me that I couldn’t get a flight that day, and the soonest I could get to Andahuylas was the 14th. Great, it was almost 4 in the morning, I had been up for 20 hours and now I didn’t have a place to go in a country I don’t know and I can’t speak the language. Don’t panic. I woke up my dad to get his Expedia information and book a hotel. Then I freeloaded on a wifi network and got a room. The next challenge was how to get there, I asked an airport security guy, a nice looking older gentleman, to point out an official taxi, in Portuguese, which he fortunately understood. I couldn’t find the one he recommended, but some other driver approached me and I hesitantly accepted the ride. Turns out he was a super nice guy and we talked, despite the language barrier, the whole drive. Portuñol was now my language. I finally got checked into the hotel and to my room at 5am on the 13th. I passed out at 6.

DAY 2.
September 13, 2013.

I woke up around 8 and grabbed breakfast downstairs in my hotel. I stuffed my face, then went back to bed, still exhausted. I really woke up around 2pm, got dressed and decided I had time to adventure to a museum. Still a little scared to be out and about, it honestly took a bit of courage to get out the door but I did it. The museum I went to was Museo Larco, I really liked it! I got there about 4 and decided to have the taxi pick me up around 6:30. I was still too nervous to be out late. I made it through the awesome exhibits and got dinner at the Museum Restaurant, which was awesome. I figured I was grabbing something quick, sacrificing taste for feeling more secure in my location, but the food and wait service was awesome. I even had time to do a little shopping and found some great pieces for myself, but not so many for gifts. At this point, I still had a suitcase full of lab equipment which limited my options.

I took a quick shower and washed my hair really, really well before I went to bed. I knew finding time and water to wash would be a struggle so I definitely over-shampooed and only used conditioner on my very, very ends.

DAY 3.
September 14, 2015.

My next travel day. I woke up stupidly early in anticipation, then decided to sleep in. A big mistake for efficiency, but an opportunity for big adventure.

I got breakfast at the hotel then packed as quickly as I could. My flight didn’t leave until around 10-11 so I wanted a few hours to be there waiting and ready. Turns out getting there at 8:30 just wasn’t enough. The airline booked about 32 people for the flight, after 12 or so check on, they closed the flight. And I wasn’t one of the 12.

 The Andahuylas airport is one of the most dangerous you can get to. The runway is about 10,000ft (thankfully huge, we needed every inch on my return flight) and is situated on the top of a mountain, 11,300ft above sea level. The planes they fly in are called Dash-8’s, these planes really are on the edge of their performance limits an altitude like that. Basically, these pilots push the envelope every single day. Taking off over gross weight (meaning the airplane weighs more than its certified to weigh) is one thing, and isn’t that difficult. As long as you have enough runway, being a little overweight is fine. At landing though, it becomes a whole other issue. It’s hard to land a heavy plane safely, you just can’t go slow enough. It also takes longer to stop, when your runway goes off the edge of a cliff, every foot is valuable. So, every pound on the plane to Andahuyas is an important one.

So, I had three options. Wait till tomorrow: not great, I was already running out of work time. Fly to Cuzco and take an 8 hour bus. Or fly to Ayacucho and take a “private” car on a roughly 4 hour drive on one of the most dangerous roads in all of South America. At night. Adventure right? No, I just hate driving. Also, I think it’s a little safer to drive curvy roads at night because at least you can see the headlights of cars around the corner. So I flew to Ayacucho.

When I landed, I was met by a graduate student of my Professor’s project partner. He didn’t speak a word of English. Or Portuguese. From this point forward, I was the token gringa. I’m okay with that. The tiny little car was not what I was expecting, I was crammed in with people I didn’t know, and I really couldn’t take my backpack off for the sake of comfort for all involved. Except me, as it turned out. I was the last to get dropped off. Around 11pm outside of my professor’s apartment.

DAYS 4 TO 6.
September 15, 2015 to September 17, 2015.

The next day I got to check out the lab, make my plan of action, and get a little work done. I collected about two samples before we went to lunch at an old Hacienda. The restaurant was way cuter than I expected and the food was awesome.

That would be the trend for the next couple days. Wake up, get ready, get coffee, go to the lab and work work work. I collected 60 samples in all for my project. It’ll take a few months to get exported, but I’m looking forward to analyzing.

On the 17th, I came back a little early. We got dinner at a cute cafe after checking out a couple shops and picking up a few souvenirs. We also got to explore the church and hear part of the mass in Quechua, the local language.

DAY 7.
September 18, 2015.

After exploring a few ancient wonders in the Andes, I headed back to the lab. I wanted just 10 more really good samples for my research. The article I’m basing most of my research on used a total of 25 individuals. Because all of our remains are commingled, and I was collecting samples from both the left and the right sides, I wanted to make sure my MNI would be at least 25. It’s very possible that these samples come from 60 different individuals, but science can’t suppose facts.

After I got my samples, I filled a bucket with warm water and washed my hair. It only took 5 days. You know how the magazine editors always do those challenges, like “Let’s see how long I last!” Well, in the Andes, it ain’t no thang. I’m fact, I was able to pull it back so nicely if I wasn’t leaving the next day, I would have let it go longer. Call me gross, I care not.

After I got back to the apartment, I hit the streets. I wanted to confirm my flight and I also wanted to find more souvenirs. I found a ton of awesome things. I can’t wait to share now that everyone has gotten their gifts! After I got back to the apartment, I finished entering the data for exporting the samples. Then I played Tetris I repacked my suitcase.

DAY 8.
September 19, 2015.

I tried not to wake up too early again, but I still wanted to make sure I had plenty of time. My taxi actually didn’t arrive until about 10 minutes before I thought I needed to be at the airport, and it’s a 40 minute drive up the mountain. So I was worried, but this route is a daily thing, so I trusted the local experience. True to form, the plane was about an hour late so I was there right on time. While I was there, I dug into #GIRLBOSS. As I was reading, some local children came into the airport trying to sell flowers or shoe shines. A few saw my book and stood by quite interested, I asked if they wanted me to read to them. Soon, I had six kids ranging from about 5 to 8 standing around me listening to me  read to them in a language they definitely didn’t understand. But they loved it, and hung out for about twenty minutes to a half hour before they left the airport area altogether.

I landed in Lima around 1:30 and made it to my hotel around 2:30.  It was too early to check in, so I hit the hotel bar for a snack. I had my first cocktail of the trip. Well, first I had a beer with my ceviche. Then I let my bar tender introduce me to Pisco, the local liquor, in the form of a Pisco sour. Two things: One, Pisco is about 43% alcohol; Two, Pisco sours have raw eggs. I had two, and a Chilcano, another Pisco drink. By 4:00, it was bed time for this girl. I knew I wanted to explore more, though, so I went upstairs and soaked for an hour to clear my head. Then, by about 6:15 I was ready to eat again and headed out into the mall area of Miraflores. I did a little shopping, explored the area, and had dinner overlooking the ocean. See that sweet dessert at the top of the post? Yeah, I have no idea what that was, but I had it here and it was delicious. No matter where I went, I asked my waiters to recommend a few of their favorite dishes and picked the one that sounded the least familiar to me. When the waiter described this dessert, I was lost so I knew it would be perfect.

Back at the hotel, I ran into the friends I had made at the bar earlier and decided to grab a couple more drinks with them. We had a blast chatting and hanging out until about 11pm, when I decided I needed sleep. I went upstairs and showered, again. I was so happy to have lots and lots of hot running water again. Then crawled into bed. I was so anxious I couldn’t sleep, but I enjoyed the comfy sheets and a movie until I got a few zzz’s in. I woke up at 5:30, got ready and got breakfast before heading to the airport ready to go home.

DAYS 9 TO 10.
September 20, 2015.

The nightmare trip home. Read this post for the full story.

And that’s it! It was quite an adventure, I would love to do it again. I would love to have more time to play tourist and hang out. But this was a great taste of Peru. You can check out what I got here!