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Round the world 2016Round the world 2016
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Round the world 2016

November 2015 - August 2016
A 246-day adventure by Adventures With Nachel Read more
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  • Adventures With NachelRound the world 2016
    Day 46

    Day 1: Lima

    January 14, 2016 in Peru ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    We are having a great first day. Upon arrival at 7 AM, we proceeded through customs and to our hostel before heading to the beach! We are staying in the "bohemian" district of Barranco. Our hostel is about a 5-10 minute walk to the beach, which had great views of Lima and the Pacific. The beach was fairly empty when we arrived but very busy by the time we left at 3. There are many families on their summer holiday right now. Most people brought their own beach umbrellas, though there were many amenities available to rent or buy. Nick spent a lot of time swimming and playing futbol with some kids. Rachel wasn't too enamored with the water temperature so she set up camp on the beach and did some people watching.

    The Peruvians we have met so far have been extremely friendly and welcoming. At the beach we met Ricard and his family. He was eager to practice his English, help us with our Spanish, and share stories about his family and life in Peru. He recommended some local restaurants and dishes for us to try. His daughter was almost three years old and "muy linda;" she had a great smile that she liked to share with Rachel.

    After the beach (and wonderful showers!) we did some exploring and ran some errands. Nick got a haircut from a barber who specializes in men. We picked up some last minute items before heading to Cusco Saturday.

    Possibly the HIGHLIGHT of this very long day was an accidental discovery. While running errands, we found a CAT PARK (!!!), or parque de los gatos. It was like a cat cafe, only it was free, you didnt have to buy coffee, and it was outside in nice weather. People everywhere were playing with stray cats who varied from friendly to skiddish. Many cats were sleeping amongst the flower gardens or on the sidewalk; we even saw one who had settled in on a gentleman's lap. Rachel was kind of jealous of that guy.

    It is early to bed for us though - we've only had about four hours of sleep and we both want to start things out on the right foot (plus Rachel says her brain can't function in Spanish with so little sleep). Tomorrow is more exploration of Lima, destinations TBD!    Read more

  • Adventures With NachelRound the world 2016
    Day 48

    Historic Qosqo

    January 16, 2016 in Peru ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    We have arrived in Cusco (a.k.a. Qosqo in Quechua) and are settling in to our new altitude. The flight down here was beautiful, and so far the city has a very different feel from Lima. It's not tiny, but it has a nice and small town feel to it. There are small cobblestone streets and many locals hanging out in the parks. Cusco reminds Rachel of a smaller version of Quito, Ecuador.

    Today and tomorrow we will do some light sight-seeing, including some Inca cultural museums and historic churches. Monday morning we start hiking the Inca Trail, the first of our "must-do" destinations!    Read more

  • Adventures With NachelRound the world 2016
    Day 50

    Greetings from 10,800 feet!

    January 18, 2016 in Peru ⋅ 🌧 9 °C

    We're happy to report that we've made it through the first day of our Inca trail trek to Macchu Pichu! The trip started with a group briefing on Sunday night, where we met our fellow trekkers: a couple from New York, a Brazilian woman from Sao Paolo, and a Greek gentleman from Athens.

    The trek started bright and early Monday morning, as we were picked up from our hostel at 4:30 AM. A two-hour drive through beautiful Peruvian countryside was followed by breakfast and clearing the ranger station.

    Today's hike was difficult for us, as we're still not totally acclimated to the altitude. But we did cover 6.5 miles and about 2,000 vertical feet! Our guide, cook, and team of porters are all wonderful and friendly people, and we feel lucky to have such excellent accommodations and meals in such a remote place! It sure beats boiled-water MREs :)

    Tomorrow we will have our most difficult day, covering 10 miles and over 4,000 vertical feet. We'll let you all know if we survive. Get the diamox ready!    Read more

  • Adventures With NachelRound the world 2016
    Day 51

    Coming to you today from 11,800 feet

    January 19, 2016 in Peru ⋅ 🌧 9 °C

    Today was hellish. Seriously. The Inca trail to Macchu Pichu was originally crafted as a spiritual pilgrimage, upon which the Inca would purify their bodies through physical sacrifice as a means of preparation for going before the gods. While we didn't hike it in sandals or fast on the way up, we now understand the physical sacrifice angle.

    Today we covered a little over 10 miles, nearly 5,000 feet of combined elevation gain, and peaked at roughly 14,000 feet. To say it was difficult would be an understatement. Billy, our fellow trekker from Greece, put it best: "I feel like I got hit by a truck."

    At least the hard part is done. The next two days are mostly flat to downhill, and we'll get to watch the sunrise over Macchu Pichu! That alone should make today worth it :)    Read more

  • Adventures With NachelRound the world 2016
    Day 53

    Machu Picchu

    January 21, 2016 in Peru ⋅ ☁️ 4 °C

    We made it! We finished the Inka Trail and are in Machu Picchu. The expectations we were given were a vast underestimate of the true magnitude of the day, in both the sense of being very physically challenging and an amazing sight to see. We awoke at 3 AM for breakfast and then set out in the rain, fog, and dark down the Inka Trail to the entry checkpoint. We waited in line for 90 minutes, only it wasn't much of a line because it was pouring rain and there was only a very limited covered area. To be completely honest, it was quite miserable and cold. When the gates opened, there was quite a rush to get to the Sun Gate. It was starting to get light at least but it was still wet and cold, and our group was moving very quickly on the slippery steps up and down at steep inclines.

    Nevertheless, we made it to the Sun Gate. Unfortunately, as it is the rainy season, it was too foggy to see anything. This was supposed to be our first view of the ruins of Machu Picchu (which we have probably been spelling wrong all along). We continued our hike down to the actual ruins and the end of the Inka Trail.

    After warming up a little bit, we had our tour of the ruins of Machu Picchu. It was so amazing! Our guide, Juan Carlos, showed us around the different areas of the city, including the agricultural area, the king's house, the urban center, stone sundials, ancient aquaducts, and temples to several gods (almost all associated with different parts of nature).

    After this, we took the "short hike" to Waynapicchu, an optional trail that is part of the site. We were told this was easier than our summit on Day 2. However, it took us nearly 2.5 hours to complete (after having hiked in the rain on hard, steep, stone steps for the previous three days plus the 3-4 hours of hiking this morning). This was an extremely steep hike. There were several times that we were literally crawling up and down the steps due to the overall steepness and/or the height of each individual step. This was not like a National Park in the US with multiple switchbacks to make a location more accessible to all. There were many places where the trail was only wide enough for one person and on a 60-70 degree incline with no hand rails nor walking sticks. Keep in mind, this is all on slick wet stone that has been worn down by being walked on for hundreds of years. (Only one photo got taken during the ascent and it gives a taste of what we were climbing, included here.) Not going to lie, Rachel wanted to turn back halfway through due to pain and exhaustion; Nick encouraged her to continue and achieve this accomplishment (and she's glad she did!). Right upon our arrival to the first plateau (just below the summit), the clouds and fog lifted to give us our first aerial view of Machu Picchu. The rest of the morning and late afternoon was very pleasant for our hike down and our continued exploration of Machu Picchu before heading back to Cusco by train and bus.

    On 1-22-16, this post and the last two were updated to include pictures, so take a look if you haven´t seen them already! :)    Read more

  • Adventures With NachelRound the world 2016
    Day 56

    São Paulo, Brazil

    January 24, 2016 in Brazil ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    After returning from Machu Picchu and Cusco, we spent a nice evening in the Callao neighborhood of Lima. We spent some time in the neighborhood park where men were playing futbol and women and children were playing Bingo. Nick spent some time playing futbol with and getting to know the boys from the neighborhood. While many of the buildings appeared run down, it was apparent this was a friendly neighborhood where families lived safely and with a sense of community. Almost all of the adults in this neighborhood worked at the airport, and it was considered middle class despite what it may have looked like to foreigners. We enjoyed our evening in Callao.

    Early the next morning we were back at the airport and heading to Brazil. We arrived in São Paulo last night and manuevered through the bus and subway system to get to our Airbnb where our hostess Ligia (an architect and English teacher) welcomed us to her home. It is a three bedroom apartment in a high rise building with a balcony overlooking the city and the Mayor's office. There have been ongoing protests near the Mayor's office due to a hike in bus fares, some of which Nick was able to hear from the balcony last night.

    Today we are walking along the Via Elevado Presidente Artur da Costa e Silva, a raised highway in the city that is closed to motor traffic on Sundays. There are many people out walking, jogging, and biking. The people of São Paulo are very kind. Rachel managed to buy groceries at the farmers' market despite not speaking Portuguese (and vendors were very nice about it!). Our hostess spent a long time giving us tips for today and then walking us to this road. We also saw a young man who had been in a bike accident and at least seven people from different backgrounds had all stopped to help him, as well as people from nearby apartment buildings offering to provide water or call for help. They saw we had water and asked us for some which we gladly provided for the man to drink and wash his injuries. It was an unexpected but sincere demonstration of the Brazilian culture of community.    Read more

  • Adventures With NachelRound the world 2016
    Day 56

    O'Malley's

    January 24, 2016 in Brazil ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    Our devotion to the Manning and our hatred for Tom Brady is strong. Sunday Night Conference Championship football (Americano), live from the resident gringo bar in São Paulo

  • Adventures With NachelRound the world 2016
    Day 60

    Corcovado

    January 28, 2016 in Brazil ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

    We hiked up to Christ the Redeemer, but there were too many clouds for us to be able to see it! We're thoroughly enjoying Brazil so far (Nick particularly loves bodysurfing in the waves off the Copacabana, despite the sunburn), but the heat in Rio de Janeiro is really getting to us both. We are looking forward to the sea breeze and higher latitude (and thus lower temperatures) of Valparaiso, Chile next week!

    Edited later to add: whew! The downhill was rough! It was raining pretty steadily and instead of mud on the descent (which we probably could've handled better), it was basically hard clay and rock face. Anyway, we made it, and it was fun! On the way down we also got to see some decent views of the city. During the hike we saw monkeys, a beautiful blue butterfly, an awesomely hairy caterpillar, little copper frogs, birds, and lots of ants of course.    Read more

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