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Cost/day (for a family of five):
Strangest thing we’ve seen lately:
Before his wish to die, but well after 40 degree fever and horrifying nightmares, the kindly villagers performed ritual healing ceremonies on my husband Kobi. They picked two of this leaf, four of that one, this root, that berry and cooked them over a banana-leaf-sealed open-fired vat. Then, with ritual prayer chanting, candles, and incense burning, he was stuffed under a dozen thick blankets to breath the steam, drank a cup o it, and bathed in the waters. Their love and earnest determination to cure him were touching. Two days later, he was hospitalized.
Cost/day: $15
What’s the strangest thing you’ve seen lately?
Visiting the Huaca del Sol ruins near Trujillo was fascinating and is a great reminder that there is a lot more to Peru than just Inca ruins. Indeed, the Huaca del Sol is around 1500 years old and well predates the Inca ruins which are, relatively, brand new. The Huaca del Sol has some incredible murals. This guy was probably the most fascinating image we captured while we toured around.
A curious lama along the way
Cost/day: $15
What’s the strangest thing you’ve seen lately?
If I could have seen myself, it would have been me as I climbed over a fense into a field with a bunch of cows to go around a pack of angry dogs that were on our hiking trail and scared the stuffing out of me when they started to chase me off their path.
I know the cows thought I looked funny trying to quietly sneak through their pasture since they made a fuss and blew my cover and attracted the pack’s attention. Darn cows!
(more…)
Cost: $20 a day
What’s the strangest thing you’ve seen recently?
In and around Huaraz it’s common to see elderly Quechua woman ambling along paths, bent backed, hauling heavy loads in carrying cloths called K’eperina. Garbed in colourful attire, bowler hats perched upon their heads, they doggedly trek along steep, high altitude slopes that would have fit twenty-somethings huffing and puffing. One of these woman I remember particularly well, because she looked positively ancient. She hopped into a colectivo van I was taking into Huaraz, plopped her K’eperina down and took a seat. She was a tiny desiccated figure, with dark leathery skin and an expressive face full of crevices like the surrounding glacier ridden landscape. When she croaked in the local Quechua dialect she revealed a few crooked, yellowed and lonely teeth. Despite the heat she was heavily bundled in traditional attire and I couldn’t help but make the ghastly comparison with one of the wrapped Incan mummies I had seen recently in a museum in Lima. But alive she was, and after she got out of the the van she hoisted her goods over her shoulders and started shuffling determinedly onward to her destination.
Heading to Punta Union pass on the Santa Cruz Trek
Cost/day: $100 to $150 – There aren’t many cheap ways to see the Galapagos
What’s the strangest thing you’ve seen lately?
The Galapagos islands are full of some fascinating and beautiful animals. The most striking part of any trip to the Galapagos however, is how absolutely unafraid the animals are of humans. We walked around the islands as blue footed boobies and frigate birds swirled around us and nested in trees no more than a handful of feet from our reach. As we walked about, they did whatever it was they felt like doing while we snapped photos and peered into their daily lives.
In one particular moment, we were sitting no more than four feet away from a blue footed booby as it was trying to feed its young when all of a sudden a frigate bird swooped in to try and snatch the food being exchanged. I felt the rush of the air from the giant bird’s wings as it swooped down on the boobies. The adult booby fought it off and for the next 10 minutes we watched as it alternated from feeding to fending off attacks from above, all while being completely uninterested in the dozen or so humans standing about watching. It was an amazing feeling to watch a day in the life of these birds without seemingly having any impact on their behaviour.
Cost/day: $15
What’s the strangest thing you’ve seen lately?
Hundreds of llama foetuses at the witches market in the centre of La Paz. People buy them and bury them under their porches to bring luck and prosperity to their families. It wasn’t the most pleasing sight for a vegetarian, although I’m told most have died naturally. (more…)
My two horses stop for a snack along the Continental Divide Trail in Montana/ photo/ Lindsey Rue
Recently I’ve been reading, “Wild” by Cheryl Strayed. When the author was in her mid-twenties she solo hiked the Pacific Crest Trail. Her book unfolds as she treks north, nursing her blistered feet and cumbersome heavy pack along a majority of the 2,663mi (4,286km) trail. It initially begins at the Mexican border, passes through California, Oregon, and Washington in the USA and over the border into Canada. Several years ago I’d been gearing up to ride my horses along the same trail, but heavy snows in high mountain ranges and challenges with support team coordination threw a wrench in the trip–so it never happen. But I did ride sections of that trail, along with parts of the Continental Divide Trail, Chilkoot Trail, and the historic Oregon Trail. On foot I’ve graced sections of several other long paths, and driven a dog cart on one pulled by twelve huskies.
Riding the Divide/ photo/ Ryan Talbot
Reading Strayed’s book got me thinking about other long-distance footpaths around the world. A popular one in Europe that comes to mind is El Camino de Santiago which starts many different places but ultimately ends at Santiago de Compostela in Spain. I first heard of the trail in a novel by Paulo Coelho called, “The Pilgrimage.” Other countries in Europe such as Germany, Italy and the Netherlands have quite a lot of paths. In Asia I’d looked into hiking the Annapurna Circuit in central Nepal. But it appears that Israel and Japan have many for the choosing as well; Japan’s most popular being the 88 Temple Pilgrimage.
Here are the worlds’ best hikes according to National Geographic.
Mark Moxon has an extensive website of information and stories from his long walking adventures.
The UK has a Long Walkers Association.
One Canadian man even walked around the world in eleven years.
Have you ever hiked or ridden on a long-distance path? Or do you have plans to do so?
Please share your stories or plans in the comments!
Cost/day:
The three-day trip cost £100 including meals and accommodation.
What’s the strangest thing you’ve seen lately?
Bolivia’s Salar de Uyuni. The salt flats are over 10,500 square kilometers and stretch as far as the horizon. It’s a dazzling, brilliant white landscape, made more spectacular by being the remains of an ancient lake. The otherworldly Salar is surrounding by mountains and dotted with islands filled with cacti. You can’t help but think ‘wow‘. (more…)
Cost/day: £20
What’s the strangest thing you’ve seen lately?
Cowboys, everywhere – or gauchos as they are called here. It isn’t a daily occurrence, but every now and then a whole bunch will sweep into town and ride around, dressed up to the nines complete with fancy hats and tassels. They look spectacular.
Describe a typical day:
My boyfriend and I have been here for a month now, and we’re here mainly to get some work done (Steve is editing a feature documentary and I’m writing/making websites). We’ve rented an apartment looking onto the mountains and that’s our work base. Everything closes here from around 1-5pm. Even the surgeons go home to be with their families. It’s a beautifully relaxed pace of life. We go for walks around the pretty, cobbled town, shop in the local market, and sometimes go up the mountain to take in the sweeping views. Nighttime for us is quiet, although sometimes we might catch some live folklorico music at the local Casona de Molina. (more…)
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