karen corby's photography

Mate de Coca

In the highlands of Peru, I´ve been drinking a lot of coca tea to help with altitude sickness. I think it has actually helped (though I was told chewing the leaves was more effective). I´m in Cuzco airport right now waiting for a flight to Arequipa. We just flew in from the jungle, so the altitude is bothering me again. I ordered some mate de coca (this time in a tea bag and not just the leaves). The package lists the ¨properties¨of coca tea: Restorative and energetic Excellent for diet. Digestive. Anti-diarrheac action Acts against fatigue and alitude sickness. Relieves …

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The Sweet Sweet Taste of Asian Blood

We just spent the last four nights in the Amazon jungle outside of Puerto Maldonado. It was great… but I have to say, the mosquitos were ridiculous. Growing up in Southern California, going to school in Northern California, and now living in Seattle, I´ve never really had to deal with mosquitos. Here are some things that I´ve learned: Mosquitos can bite through clothing. Smart little buggers! On one of the nighttime walks, I got about 15 bug bites on my back…. through my shirt. Ridiculous! Deet ¨repels¨ mosquitos….. but in the loose sense of the word. I was Deet-ed, and …

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Animals of the Jungle

After Machu Picchu, we descended down in to the Amazon.  We decided on Puerto Maldonado, which has some of the more untouched rainforest.  Unfortunately, one of the catches of going to the Amazon during the rainy season is that you’re less likely to see wildlife.  (Since there’s a lot of rain, the animals don’t have to move around to get water… and likely to be spotted.)  What I really wanted to see, which we didn’t, was some funky monkeys.  🙂   a capybara – the largest rodent in the world.   a caiman.  (here’s another where you can really peer …

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Inka Trail, Day 4: MACHU PICCHU

Arg!!  The weather on the entire Inka Trail was *perfect*…. until the very last day.  We awoke at 4am to make our way to the Sun Gate, *the* place to see the sunrise….  We really booked it and we were the third & forth people there.  And by there… I mean a big wall of white fog.  🙂 The “vista” above Machu Picchu wasn’t that much better.  Our guides kept saying that it would clear… and then around 8:30am, it finally did….   the llamas, also upset by the fog….    yep, that’s machu picchu.  not exactly how i envisioned …

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Inka Trail, Day 3

The third day of the Inka trail might have been my favorite.  The hiking was challenging, but not ridiculous.  And we started early enough that we were able to see many of the small ruins all by ourselves….                  

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Inka Trail, Day 2

Day 2 was by fair the roughest day.  We started out hiking up to Llulluchupampa.  This was a steep 3km and we were all feeling it by the time we got there.  From there, we were heading to Dead Woman’s Pass (or Warmiwañusca).  At 4198m (13,772 ft) it is definitely up there.  The last 200m was the worst.  You pass through 3 stages: Excitement – you can see the top.  Exhaustion – each step takes absolute effort.  Extreme exhaustion – you’re inches from the top but each step now takes 15 second.     made it to llulluchupampa!   you …

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Inka Trail, Day 1

The first day of was pretty easy.  It was about 16km and 6 hours of walking along the Urubamba River  But we were at our lowest elevation point  of 2380m (7,808 ft), which was even lower than Cuzco.  The climb was very modest to Wayllabamba at 3100m (10,170 ft), our first camp site.   me, around 7am.  on the bus, en route for the trail.  photo op break.   the start of the trail.  we were very lucky and had a very fun treking group.   friendly visitor – donkey!     our first camp site.

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The Inka Trail to Machu Picchu

I first began wanting to go to Peru a couple years ago.  My main motivation was to do the 4 day trek to Machu Picchu.  I had heard amazing things about the Machu Picchu ruins.  And I just imagined hiking through the Andes and finally coming upon the ruins… Well, the trail and Machu Picchu lived up to all my expectations.  It was an amazing experience. Some basic info about the trail: 33 km (22 miles) in 4 days Lowest point:  2380m (7,808 ft) Highest point:  4200m (13,779 ft)   If you’re heading out on the trail, a few thoughts …

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Cuy (AKA Eating Your Pets)

Well, not actually your pets….  “Cuy” is spanish for guinea pig, which is a high delicacy of highland cuisine.  There are two standard ways of getting it:  “al horno” which is backed and “frito” which is fried.  We had it fried. To play with the delicate palettes of the foreigners, they bring out the cuy… whole.  I had been okay with the idea of eating guinea pig (“Hey, I’ll try it.  It’ll probably taste like chicken.”)  I just wasn’t expecting to see, well, all of it.  It’s a similar issue that I have with fish.  I don’t want to see …

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