Off The Deep End

We had one full day on our own in the city. We hit the bikes and headed out. First to a market, then a local coffeeshop before visiting the Van Gogh Museum. The special exhibit there was amazing. It was all about the effect of night and evening scenes on impressionistic painting. Obviously Starry Night was the focus of the exhibit, but what I found the most interesting was the obvious inflfuence of earlier painters on Van Gogh. The way they structured the exhibit was chronological so you could easily see the effect of early Millet on the work of Van Gogh.

While in Patagonia we meet a young man from the Dutch city of Naarden. He was quite funny and we kept running into him everywhere we went until the joke became that we were stalking him. On one occasion he showed us his city on Google Earth and we were blown away, he lives in a walled, moated fortress! Naarden at least the old part is built inside a walled area surrounded by two moats. Gidion's parents live in a house right in this part of Naarden.

The weather has been so good here that Jammie and I decided to take a bike ride around the area. Christine showed a few of her favorite routes, one takes you out to the dunes and the beach another heads north and then loops around through the green spaces so common in this country. No matter how densely populated the cities are the land use planing in The Netherlands has been focused on preservation of green spaces. Little farms and common areas dominate the country side.

On Easter Sunday we were slated for a family visit to Frank's parents' house. However they all thought that since we were in the area Jammie and I should check out the Hoge Veluwe National Park. At this park they have tons of biking trails and they even have racks upon racks of free bikes for you to use in the park.

On Saturday we went down to the big market in Haarlem. Along the way we picked up some frites complete with mayonnaise, mmmm, delicious. Pushing on we went to the liquor store. This place is awesome! So much liquor at reasonable prices. And the beer selection! One of the helpful employees showed us which of the local brews were most like IPAs. He helped us pick out four or five different brews to sample, we will definitely be back to this place several times!

After flying all night we landed in Amsterdam at around 10 AM. We thought that Su would be there before us and would meet us in baggage claim, no Su. After heading to the information office and paging her on the overhead intercom we thought to check the arrival board. To our surprise we discovered her flight was landing at that moment. Not only that, but I spotted Christine, Frank and baby Lucas waiting for us at the door. Jammie and I snuck up behind them and struck glam poses to see how long they would stand there without noticing us.

Our first and last day of the season Jammie and I were feeling so good about our ski skills that we decided to film an extreme ski video on the mean slopes of Bridger Bowl. This mountain is our winter haunt due to its close proximity to town, reasonable prices, short lift lines and of course sick nasty terrain.
This video nicely showcases our sick skiing ability in full bloom, so enjoy snow bunnies, enjoy!

Before leaving on our next adventure I was scheduled to work for three days. We flew out of Bozeman on a Thursday so I had told Steve I could work Monday through Wednesday. Then the unthinkable happened, Bridger extended their ski season. I had planned my return to MT to coincide with Bridger's closing weekend, but it turned out my cousins were in town and so I sacrificed skiing Sunday to spend time with family. I had thought that therefore I would miss out on skiing, but Bridger decided to stay open and extra week.

It would be a long time from the "end" of our travel until we were truly settled back at home. Just to get from Lima to Raleigh it took us two days. This video details our triumphant return to the US.

At 8 AM we left our hostel in Cusco to begin our journey back to the United States. We would fly from Cusco to Lima, kill the better part of 12 hours in Lima then return to the airport to fly to Miami, then to Raleigh.

Watch as we zoom and rush through the hills above Cusco. Deftly maneuvering our bikes through twisting trails, racing the deadly flats and plowing through crippling mud. Finally we go airborne on the sick jumps on the trail.

Outside of Cusco there are numerous Incan sites that hardly anyone visits. Luis told us that Machu Picchu attracts most of the tourists and therefore most of the government funding for access and development. In the afternoon after visiting the pre Incan ruins we drove far up into the mountains to Tipon which is the site of the Water Temple.

On our last day in Cusco we had planned to go mountain biking with our friend Luis. We decided to rent the bikes after meeting him in the square. This turned out to be a good idea, because Luis soon appeared limping badly. We rushed to his side asking him what the matter was. He explained that he had started coming down with an illness and went to the pharmacist to get an injection. This turned out to be a "mal injecion" and had hurt him so badly that he could barely walk. I suspect the pharmacist hit a bone with the needle causing a bad bone bruise.

Our second to last night in Cusco we headed out to a touristy meal and folk dance exposition at The Inka Wall. This place was just down the street from our hostel and featured a huge buffet dinner and dancing exemplifying the cultures of Peru. All the eras were represented from the Incan styles to Spanish and European styles. Even the pseudo futuristic space bugs versus the ice princess made an appearance complete with Yeti monster.

We had talked about renting some motorcycles and heading off into the hills, but when it came time for action it turned out that I was the only one who had even driven a motorcycle. After much discussion we settled on a guided trip on four wheelers. We apparently requested two automatics and one Blaster, a manual transmission. The trip was all arranged for the next day and we set off into the sunset.

The day after we got back from our Machu Picchu trip Jammie woke up with a bad fever. Fearing the worst we called our new friend Luis to find out where we should go. He recommended the Pardo Clinic, a small private clinic that had English speaking doctors. Adrial and I got Jammie to the clinic and Luis met us there. We ended up with a German doctor name Hanna Menke who encouraged us through the process of waiting for lab results.

Randomly we were informed of a soccer game by a cab driver. We had gone out to the airport to change out outbound tickets and were on our way back to our hostel. The cab driver was talking to Adrial so fast that none of us could piece a single coherent word together. After about five minutes of jabbering at us Adrial finally figured out there was a futbol game that after noon at the local stadium. We called up our friend Luis and he said he was already planning on going with his son Rumi and his girlfriend. He agreed to meet us at our hostel before the game.

We spent three days in Cusco before our trip to Machu Picchu. Not knowing what to expect we were wide open to the possibilities of the area. Our cab driver into town from the airport, Percy, recommended a hostel and even came inside with us to discuss possible adventures. We all agreed that the horse riding in the mountains sounded like a great idea for our second day and arranged to meet Percy at 2 PM. We spent our first afternoon exploring the area around our hostel, the Plaza and some of the small shops and restaurants in the neighborhood.

Watch as we speed down the high mountain passes of Peru. Dazzle at our ability to maneuver the twists and turns of the Incan roads. This awesome display of biking ability took us down over 8,000 feet through 25 miles of roadway, both pavement and dirt.

We spent three days in Lima. I am not a huge fans of giant cities, but we ended up having a great time there. Jammie and I arrived the day before Adrial and we were all leaving together for Cusco on the 5th so we had to make the most of our short time.

At our hostel (the best hostel in town) we returned from our walk around town to find a birthday cake for Jammie. Our hostel owner had gotten a birthday cake complete with a question mark candle and her name written in frosting. Pisco sours began flowing like water and a multilingual happy birthday singing fiesta ensued.

Walking through Lima we were accosted by a growing number of hawkers attempting to get us into their various restaurants. Their pitches involved their food, music and how many free drinks they would give us. Eventually we settled on one restaurants with the best looking combo of menu items, price and two free drinks each!

On day four we woke up at 4:45 in the morning to have time to grab a quick bite to eat and get to the bus. It is important to get up to Machu Picchu early to get a pass for Wayna Picchu. Wayna Picchu rises up above Machu Picchu and is often seen in the background of "classic" pictures. Every day only 400 people are allowed up to Wayna Picchu. So you get on the bus in Agua Caliente at 5 AM to get into Machu Picchu by 6 AM then trek all the way across the city to line up for your ticket to Wayna Picchu. After this it was about 7:15 and Luis started our tour around Machu Picchu.

We woke up the third day and packed up for breakfast. As we were eating a minor drama began developing outside. Our company had prearranged for transportation to the trail head. Another van had pulled up outside as we were finishing up and insisted we travel with them. Our guides told them no and eventually they left. The real van showed up and we began loading our gear. Luis left to get our train tickets for that afternoon and as we waited with Henry the first van returned. The driver started talking smack to Henry and insisting we pay him 3 Sols and ride with him.

One of the features of Arequipa is the Monastery of Santa Catolina. A huge sprawling complex with a four hundred year history. Originally founded by a wealthy widow and populated by privileged daughters of well to do European families. The families of these girls would pay a huge dowry to the monastery to take their daughters. The inhabitants lived a life of luxury behind their high walls. They had servants, feasts parties and fine clothes.