Contract

The day before I left for Peru, I found out that there had been an offer made on the house! My real estate agents braced me for the news that I would need to counter the offer. Luckily we were able to meet that night to discuss and respond. I countered with the selling price (I didn't realize you could hold your ground like that!) After a lot of back and forth during my Peru trip, the family accepted the terms of the contract. I had to give a little on the closing costs as well as hand over the grill and a wooden glider that the family requested. It was tough parting with those items but my real estate agents indicated that I was lucky to have a contract.

Machu Picchu

So let me start this by saying I feel lame that I had to see Machu Picchu via train and not by hiking the famous Inca Trail. I was so envious of all of the backpackers I saw during my trip and was wishing I could join my brave roommates during their four day trek. Due to the government's great scheduling of my trip and the fact that you have to book the trail about 4 months in advance , I had to take the ultra-tourist train ride to see Machu Picchu. But it was still quite an experience and well worth the time and effort getting to Cusco. The train left at 6am sharp and my travel coordinator, Julio, was at my hotel at 5:45 to shuttle me to the train station.

I sat by a friendly Chilean who helped me work on my Spanish and made fun of the way I enunciated 'grassyass'.


This is the closest I got to hiking the Inca Trail.

This is the first view of Machu Picchu up above the valley.

I was in another organized tour group and quickly discovered that they were a slow moving bunch. I stayed with them for a while, but was itching to go off and explore on my own. I had read in my travel book that a side hike up a nearby mountain was optional, took about 2 hours to complete, and had the most spectacular view of Machu Picchu. I saw this as my opportunity to finally do some hiking, so I ditched the tour and headed for the mountain (the tour guide wasn't that informative anyway). Please note the mountain mentioned is the big one behind me, to the right.

Needless to say, my visions of having a cool hiking experience in Peru were crushed when the monitor at the base of the mountain told me they only let 400 people in per day and that they had already reached their maximum. I tried several different techniques to sway him...the pathetic whine.."I came all the way from Washington", the flirty "Oh, come on please...just one more", and finally I bribed him. No dice. I certainly wasn't going to go back and find my tour group, so I spent the rest of my time exploring. It was truly a unique experience and still a very challenging workout going through all of the ruins.

Cusco

I set out for Cusco, Peru from Quito, Ecuador on Friday night after saying farewell to my coworkers. I was surprised that they were not interested in spending the weekend in Latin America, so I was on my own for the long weekend. I hastily booked a Cusco/Machu Picchu travel package through the USAID mission but was a little unsure how it was all going to come together. After a long layover in Lima, I arrived in Cusco at 7am on Saturday morning. Julio met me at the airport and he was basically my personal travel coordinator for the rest of the weekend, responsible for making sure I got from place to place. After arriving at my hotel, Casa Andina, I took a quick rest, drank the famous cocoa tea to help with the elevation, and was off on an organized tour of the city.

I learned that I'm not really much of a 'tour person', but it was still really beneficial to learn about the Inca history and culture. It made me a little crazy spending so much time inside the churches when it was a gorgeous day outside. Our tour guide was very enthusiastic and opinionated about the the 'integration' of Spanish and Incan culture. He pointed out that initially the Incas were excited about the Spaniards and Christianity because they looked like the Incan gods they worshipped, but they later became skeptical of their practices. The Spaniards demolished the most religious Incan temple in Cusco to build this Cathedral in it's place Inside, there was an interesting depiction of The Last Supper that had the sacred guinea pig on the table as part of their meal!

(Rachel, I did tip these indigenous ladies for letting me take their picture ;)

We finally got to do some outdoor activities and the tour took us to Sacsayhuaman (sort of pronounced 'sexy woman'). These are Incan ruins right outside of Cusco used for religious ceremonies, but not nearly as intact as the ruins of Machu Pichhu. Every year during the solstice on June 24th, they have a celebration of the Incan Sun God in this area.





We stopped to see the Incan equivalent of the fountain of youth at Tambomachay. This site is believed to have been used for communication and defense purposes.

I met some interesting people during the tour: a gal that had quit her job at a winery in Sonoma to live in Peru for a couple months, a mother and daughter celebrating college graduation, and two buddies about to hike the Inca Trail. We all got together for dinner after the tour in Cusco and ate traditional meals of alpaca and guinea pig!

Quito, Ecuador

I was only in Quito for two days but really enjoyed my visit and got to see some fun sights. A guy from the USAID mission took us on an evening walking tour of the old city. I especially liked this pic because of the palm tree on the top of the building and the purple lights!

Friday, May 25 was a holiday celebrating the Battle of Pichincha, an important win for Ecuador in the battle for independence from Spain. I was excited to have a free day and our point of contact at the mission (Luisa) spent her holiday taking us around to some of Quito's popular sights. We started the day at the Teleferico. It is a cable car ride up into the clouds of the Andes mountains with spectacular views of Quito and volcanoes. The height is about 10,000 feet so it was tough to catch your breath hiking around at the top.

Our next stop was an active volcano crater about 20 minutes outside of Quito. It hasn't erupted in many years, so people have settled inside the crater.


We also made a stop at the Equator, which is a bit like a tourist trap because the area has replicated the town of Quito on a smaller scale. There was entertainment in the square in celebration of the holiday. The big attraction is the Equator Line at 000 latitude!

We finished the day off by grabbing empanadas at a roadside stand. I would never have stopped here on my own but they were tasty.

Happy Birthday Angie Pants

Happy Birthday to my friend Ang who knows every picture taken at Big Blue may become blog material. Ang has a heart of gold, sweet dance moves, will rally and support anything that is important to her friends and is so photogenic! She is also a good sport....on the volleyball court and when we make fun of her Minnesota accent, 'doncha know.' We have shared countless memories and I have come to truly treasure our friendship.

Big Hugs to you on your Birthday!

For Sale

Well, after two years of stressing, packing, cleaning, calling contractors, making trips to the dump, worrying, interviewing real estate agents, discussing the 'market', selling things on craigslist, cleaning up after contractors, complaining, deliberating on what to keep........my house is finally on the market! This is a quite a milestone for me, and now I just hope I can get a buyer!

As always, thanks to my wonderful friends who are always willing to listen to me vent or lend a helping hand.

Check out the listing:
http://hagan4homes.com/DispListing.asp?ListingID=99169&AdminID=1094&PropertyType=A&BuyerID=