Pura Vida, Mañana Mañana and other useful phrases...: Homecoming

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So this is it.

Glen and I are leaving South America tomorrow and finishing our amazing eight month odyssey.

Wow. What a journey it has been. For us, the first four months in Costa Rica have been about discovering ourselves and our capabilities, and learning about living and interacting in a group. Also, it has been a challenging experience as we learned how to speak a new language for the first time, and use it every day with local people.

The last four months in South America have been all about adventure and experiences. Whereas the first four was about exploring ourselves, the last four was about exploring what exciting wonders and amazing sights the world had to offer. Each experience that we have had, we all thought `This is fantastic, I love this, I will cherish and remember this forever!` until the next experience comes up and the memory of the last fades away in the childlike wonderment and awe of being in the moment of the present.

It does make me a little sad to think that we are now going to return to our normal lives and the memories of this trip will begin to fade. After all, it is our memories that will keep our adventures alive in our minds and remind us to continue living our lives day to day with the same enthusiasm as we have had reserved for travel. I only hope that when we get back to our lives, we will apply the lessons we have learnt in our daily lives so that I can feel that our travels have indeed enriched and changed our lives. It would be such a waste if we fall back into the same patterns of domesticity as we did before we left - I would hate that the only souvenirs we have from the past 8 months would be thousands of photos and a whopping huge credit card bill.

Just a brief update from what we have done since Puno (which was two weeks ago - sorry for being so slack!).

We went from Puno to Cusco - the Incan capital of Peru. Glen and I fell in love with the city straight away. It was cobblestones, and Incan architecture, and green plazas, and street vendors, and fancy bars and restaurants, and old churches and monasteries, and 500 year old walls, and history on every street corner all thrown into this fascinating melting pot of a city. I regret not taking too many photos of this city - I think I needed a bit of a break from shutterbugging and just wanted to enjoy the city. Most of the time, Glen and I would have a big breakfast at a nearby cafe, and spend the whole day walking around the streets exploring and soaking up the atmosphere.

We spent a free day in Cusco before leaving to begin the Inca Trail. This was yet another amazing experience for us. The Inca Trail is a four day trek through the lowlands of the Andes to Macchu Picchu, a preserved ruin of a city built five hundred years ago, but was never lived in. Because of the city`s inaccessability, the Spanish were never able to find and pillage it for Spain, thus leaving it virtually untouched until being discovered within the last century. The Inca Trail was breathtaking. It was definitely the best trek I have ever been on. We walked on average 4-5 hours a day. Day one was fairly easy, walking through small towns and valleys, passing few Incan ruins along the way. I found the trek very doable and suitable for anyone with a moderate fitness level. We had walking sticks, and were thoroughly spoilt by having thirty porters accompany our group on this trip. The porters were carrying our bags, tents and cooking equipment and did everything from setting our tent up for us before we got there, to providing us with three course meals at breakfast, lunch, dinner and even a snack or two in between.

The second day was my favourite day. It was actually also the hardest day as we panted our way through Dead Womans Pass, an ascent going up 4200m. The views were stunning. I was distracted so many times looking back at the valley falling beneath me. Sometimes the landscape would be obscured by the cloud and fog, and then as if by magic, would clear away like a giant curtain to reveal rivers running through the mountains like blue ribbons, and llamas in the fields.

The third day was long but manageable. Throughout the whole trip, we would stop and explore ruins on the way, and our guide Julio would stop and tell us stories about the places that we see.

All in all, it was a great and rewarding trek - with the prize of seeing Macchu Picchu at the end. This was certainly the ruin to end all ruins.

Anyway, since returning to Cusco, we spent two more free days exploring the city, and then travelled the rest of the way to Lima, stopping to camp for the night at a beach resort, and then the sand dunes of Huacachina for a wild desert party. My head still has not really stopped throbbing after the latter!

Today, Glen and I spent our last day in South America wandering around Lima, doing some last minute shopping and reminiscing about our last eight months. As sad as I am to leave, I am definitely happy and ready to come home.

I remember reading a book called Zen and Travel once. It was very much one of those wanky table top books but there was a quote in it that stood out for me.

¨Coming home is just the beginning to another adventure.¨

See you soon!

Love you all,

Sandra

Comments

Hi. I just found your posts and really enjoyed your posts and pictures. We decided CRica was for us after finding tons of information on www.costaricahq.org. I hope the memories you and Glen have made last a lifetime. Sissi

Posted by: Sissi | March 27, 2008 at 08:41 PM

I really loved your entry, about South america, but i was more interested in Costa Rica, Beacuse I was reading a whole lot about in on http:www.CostaRicaHQ.org.
I am really looking forward to going, everyone sells the country so well.

Posted by: Diamante Whyte | March 29, 2008 at 11:30 AM

Yes, I agree with Siss and Diamante... I checked out www.CostaRica.org and it was very helpful. There is a beautiful destination mentioned there called Mequengue. Check out the pics.

Posted by: marcus | March 29, 2008 at 06:10 PM