Tag: Peru

Life as a Digital Nomad: Peru Part 4 (It’s Probably Time to Head Back)

By Mike Huber

Balancing life is rarely easy.  It seems there is something almost always out of sync, be it work, health, or a loved one in need of help.  Peru is one of those rare times in my life where I and everything surrounding me seemed to be in perfect harmony. I was coming up on six weeks living in Cusco and the adventures seemed endless from my home base there.  I was making a ton of new friends, but with Cusco being so much more of a tourist town these new connections were always short lived.  Surely now it’s different with so many Westerners living abroad and working remotely, but being a pioneer of this lifestyle in 2012, missing a community began to set in.  Not so much on the weekends as I was too busy, but during the weekdays a void began to drain me.

The decision to make the long journey back to the United States was not an easy one.  It took so long to get to where I was and had built connections for my next planned move to La Paz, Bolivia. I was running very low on vacation time and everything I wanted to see in Bolivia was a multiple day bus ride.  Buffering in unknowns (such as a bus breaking down in the middle of nowhere) was necessary.  I would be city bound in La Paz, and I don’t think they had as many baby llamas to pet, so Bolivia just didn’t feel right on any level.

The last week in Peru was a much deeper experience (I didn’t even know it could get deeper than where I had been).  Every moment I was out felt much more special knowing that time was short in this magical place.  There was a lot to do in my Cusco backyard that hadn’t been explored.   My focus had been on visiting remote areas such as Lake Titicaca (I had to say it again), rather than exploring the wonders closer to my home.

My final week in Peru was filled with exploring local points of interest such as the San Pedro market where there were all kinds of foods, drinks, and potions that most Westerners will never see or smell (be thankful you are missing the smell part).   The market consisted of endless types of foods.  Many of these foods seemed to be pulled straight out of an Indiana Jones movie.  It wasn’t strange to see Guinea pig’s necks being snapped, and then the animal being tossed into a boiling pot, gutted, and grilled.  Other items included horse heads, pig heads, and snakes in water jars.  This market was a plethora of sensory overload.  Normally I would just visit it to pick up a bag of coca leaves for about 30 cents and some of my “special” tea mix.

Somehow, I still managed to find time to do silly things with downtime during the weekdays. The last Sunday I was there it poured, and being bored, I was searching the apartment for something to eat while watching TV.  I found in the back of the refrigerator a beer pitcher that I had filled with coca leaves a week or so prior and added a bottle of white wine.  Well, it seems the wine had absorbed the coca leaves and turned the wine into a dark yellow.  Being that this chapter was coming to an end I thought it would be the perfect day to partake in this concoction.  Who knows, maybe it would have similar effects to the coca beer.  I drank the entire pitcher. The coca-infused wine just had this bitter earthy taste that I really enjoyed.  Like the coca beer it provided a jolt of energy with a nice light buzz that assisted me in packing and wrapping up my life in the Andean city of Cusco.

With the coca wine buzzing inside my head, a bigger question emerged: Where was I to live upon returning to the United States?  My Boston condo was rented for another five months, so that option was out.  I was not sure if it was the wine or the fact that this change may not be as simple as I had anticipated.  Throughout my travels around Central and South America, it always seemed that if things went south, I could just return to the United States. Being so preoccupied in the moment during my travels, however, I never designed a fallback plan aside from boarding a return flight.

 

As the week came to an end, I was now boarding that flight.  I was not, however, in too big a rush.  It felt right to instead return to Nicaragua for a couple weeks and ease my way north and see my dogs.  While I was there, Hurricane Sandy hit and knocked out power throughout the Northeast.  That morning as I watched the news, I had a decision to make:  Do I power up the laptop and be the only person in the Northeast who showed up for work, or do I continue with the “I am in Boston” charade?

I chose Option A, deciding that I was on my way back and had been outperforming most my peers for six months in five countries.  Owning my choices and riding it in felt like the correct decision.  My coworkers immediately questioned how I had internet, and my answer was simply “I saw there was a hurricane, so being remote I chose to go south to avoid it.”  Not a lie, but not totally forthcoming.  If I had replied with “I am working in the jungles of Nicaragua” no one would have believed me (this came up months later and no one did).

After the two weeks it was time to fully return to Boston to regroup.  It was a rainy November day when I touched down at Logan.  I weighed 30 pounds less and mentally I was even lighter.  I still had no plan regarding what to do once I left the aircraft in Logan.  My car was at a friend’s house.  My Ducati was at my parent’s home in Maine.  Before I had even cleared through Customs and Immigration, though, I knew this was no longer the place that called to me.  The reentry shock into the United States was too much.  I was swelling up with tears knowing It was now time to make the hard decision to leave New England, but where would I go as winter was just beginning?

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Life as a Digital Nomad: Peru Part 3 (Lake Titicaca)

By Mike Huber

No trip to Peru can be complete without a journey to Lake Titicaca.  It is the largest alpine lake on the planet at an elevation of 12,500 feet, and the lifestyle of those who live on the lake is beyond fascinating.  This huge lake is nestled in a giant basin between two of the Andean mountain ranges and extends across the border to Bolivia.   And yes, it has a funny name. There was no way I was going to miss this place even though it was quite a distance from my home base in Cusco.

Having planned to use all my vacation time while in Peru, it wasn’t too difficult to load up on my work early in the week and take a four-day weekend to knock out Lake Titicaca (did I mention it has a funny name?).  Allowing four days would provide me with enough time to take a leisurely tour bus to this region of Peru, get some hikes and tourist attractions in along the way, and then return on an overnight bus on Sunday.  This would assure (hopefully) that I would make it to work on time Monday morning.  Instilling project management principles usually results in a successful outcome.  To me the planning of a project or a vacation followed the same rigid processes.  Of course, the vacation ones always had a few surprises along the way that I would have to adjust to, but that’s part of the fun.

The bus ride was filled with incredible beauty with stops at local markets and panoramic mountain views that had me saying to myself “wow, I am in the Andes!” over and over again.  Out of all the bus rides I’d been on, this was by far the most pleasant.  I was used to the altitude, there were no Kirk Cameron movies, and I had made a special tea to enhance the ride (PM me for details on that, but it will probably bleed into another article). The entire ride was an extremely joyful 8 hours where I had an opportunity to meet two wonderful girls from Japan (we are still friends to this day).

Feeling beyond happy but tired, we finally pulled into the lakeside city of Pulmo, Peru.  This first day here would be relaxing and adjusting to the world I had just entered.  There was a giant golden condor statue on a steep hill above the city, which provided a sense of calm. There was a large market that made for great people watching while having some coca tea and even a coca beer.  The beer was like a prehistoric provided a buzz and amp at the same time.  It almost reminded me of my Jager bomb days in Boston.  Thankfully for the people of Pulmo I didn’t take it that far.

The next day I joined a boat tour that took us to many of the man-made islands.  These islands were floating and made of dried totora, a type of papyrus the local population harvested from the lake marshes.  The people are known as the Ura.  The islands are fairly large, some of them over an acre or more in size.  There were stores, restaurants, and cafes on some of the islands.

The islands were surprisingly stable and didn’t rock as we stepped onto them.  When talking to one of the Ura (and speaking as well as I could in Spanish), I asked how they made the islands once they gathered the papyrus.  It was a constant cycle of drying the papyrus, bundling them, and tying them to the upper part of the island.  He showed me a hole cut into the center of one of the islands. It looked like a hole you would ice fish through and it was about 3 feet wide.  The hole was large enough to see the bottom reeds starting to decay and back into the water.  It was a constant process to keep their “land” from being swallowed by the lake.  Many of the Ura, not much more than a mile offshore, hardly ever returned to the mainland shores of Pulmo.  They much preferred their isolated yet tightly knit community on the lake where life was simple.

The city of Pulmo was so different from both the Amazon jungle and where I lived in Cusco.  The more I explored Peru the more diverse and mystical it became.  Sunday was a relaxing day with more coca beer and local foods with my new Japanese friends.

As the sun began to set it was time to find my way back to the bus depot and board the redeye that would return me to Cusco.  It didn’t take too long for me to peacefully fall asleep on the bus.  I didn’t wake up until the bus entered Cusco.  It was a short taxi ride to my home and just in time to lead my first conference call of the day.  Still bleary-eyed and having a buzz from the weekend (and the coca beer) my workday progressed as though the trip was just a dream.  It was an adventure I wanted to share with my co-workers, but they wouldn’t understand as they were still under the assumption I was living in my condo in Boston. Throughout the day I wondered if and when I would ever return to Boston.

Life as a Digital Nomad: Peru Part 2

By Mike Huber

Peru is most famously known for one of the 7 Wonders of the World.  What’s frustrating is that like national parks in the United States, whoever declares things a “Wonder of the World” keeps adding more to the list, or in this case with the 7 Wonders, they change them.  Absolutely one of my life’s objectives is to hit all 7 Wonders. Machu Picchu is and should always remain in that highly respected list of these magnificent artifacts of humanity’s past.

Getting to Machu Picchu isn’t easy even if you are living in Peru.  I feel the best way is to hike the Inca Trail over three or four days to arrive at this city deep in the Andes. One of the biggest issues with my whimsical lifestyle is it is difficult to plan too far in advance.  To reserve a spot to hike the Inca Trail (at the time in 2012) was about four months.  In Huber travel years that is equal to about two years, so that option was out.  The more touristy way to arrive is via a train with a glass roof.  Compared to my past bus rides, it was heaven (there were no showings of Fireproof on this ride).

The train pulled into Aquas Calientes, which is the small town nestled deep in the Andes at the base of Machu Picchu.  Almost instantly I was filled with energy.  I don’t know if it was energy from the ancient civilization that once resided here or that I was at a lower elevation of 7,000 feet as compared to the 12,000 feet where I had been living.

The following day I was up early to catch the first bus up to Machu Picchu. The bus ride was filled with hairpin turns with quick glimpses of one of the 7 Wonders. I had my face pressed into the cold bus window awaiting each new view around every corner. Upon arrival, I stopped at the kiosk just outside the park entrance to load up on water since a full day of hiking was  on the itinerary.

Once entering the ruins and taking some time to… yes, hang out with the llamas…the realization hit me that I had two full days in this mesmerizing ancient city!  I noticed people would unload from busses do a quick photo in that iconic spot we all have seen in every travel magazine, have an hour or so to explore the ruins, and then they were off.  What’s funny is that angle is not even of Mt. Machu Picchu, but of Huayna Picchu. Having two full days here would allow me the opportunity to summit both mountains and enjoy the area to its fullest.

The first day I decided I would climb the higher and much less visited of the two summits.  Mt. Machu Pichu towers approximately 1800 feet above the Inca city below.  This should have been a more strenuous hike but between being 4,000 feet lower in elevation, the energy from these powerful ruins, and a solid reserve of coca leaves, the mountain was a fairly easy climb. With so few people along the trail (I was one of the first in the park and many were just there for the photo ops) the trail was pretty much mine for the morning.

After the hike and with the coca leaves leaving my system, it was time for a siesta. I wandered throughout the ruins until I found a hidden room and climbed atop the walls in the sun and snoozed for a bit until I was awoken by some new friends.  Marmots.  The little guys were scampering throughout the ruins and occasionally would knock off rocks loud enough to jostle me awake. The day couldn’t have been more perfect.

Day Two in the ruins was a similar routine with me catching the first shuttle of the morning.  Plans for this day were to summit Huayna Picchu and then hike down behind the mountain to almost the same elevation as my base of Aquas Caliente, but on the other side of the mountain.  This area had no one in it.  It was a steep trail.  In one hike it left the Andes Mountains and descended into a rain forest that felt like no one had visited in centuries. It wasn’t nearly as large as the main city on top of the mountain, but it had a few structures overrun with jungle growth.  The difference in climate in this short and steep hike was amazing.  After returning it was time for another nap and a few more short hikes along portions of the Inca Trail before returning to the shuttle to bring me back to Aquas Caliente.

With life always seeming so busy and the pressure to constantly move and go it was more than nice to be able to allocate so much time here and fully embrace every part of this city.  Few people have this opportunity and the ones that do tend to rush through it so quickly that they don’t allow themselves to feel the mystical energy that emits from this city in the clouds of Peru called Machu Picchu.

Life as a Digital Nomad: Peru

By Mike Huber

Feeling sad departing Ecuador as it was quickly becoming a home for me where I was very comfortable, I boarded a flight to Lima, Peru to take in a new corner of the world.  Peru has always felt like the pinnacle of South America, and even though I had never been there and knew very little about it, there was a calling for me to embrace this country.  In fact, this resonated so strongly with me that I had purposely cut a lot out of Ecuador just to conserve my vacation for Peru.

After only two days in Lima, I quickly learned this wasn’t the Peru I was looking for.  It was just a large city, and cities weren’t where I would find the culture and experiences that would help me grow.  Knowing this, I booked a 12-hour bus ride to Cusco.  Surprisingly, I clearly hadn’t learned my lesson from the Nicaragua to Panama bus ride, but I figured the chances of a repeat performance of Fireproof being played nonstop were pretty slim.

Falling asleep on the overnight bus ride while gazing out the window at the ocean and expansive desert of Lima, and then awakening to the massive vistas of the Andes Mountain range wasn’t a bad way to travel.  I did however have a killer headache upon arrival in Cusco.  Wasting no time, I found a cab to drive me to my AirBnB where I could relax for a bit.  The host noticed I wasn’t looking too well and made me some tea.  Within an hour I felt great.  Turns out the elevation of approximately 12,000 feet, along with some minor dehydration, was the cause of my headache.  The tea she gave me had coca leaves in it.  These leaves not only are the cure for the altitude sickness, but soon became a replacement for my morning coffee.

As with Ecuador, it didn’t take long for me to get into a productive work and exercise routine.  My lunchtime became a break from technology which was replaced by runs through the city of Cusco. It was beyond magical.  This place was a perfect balance of culture and history with some color mixed in.  During my runs I noticed there were always girls dressed in full Peruvian dresses walking around with what looked like baby llamas.   It turns out you can hold and pet a baby llama for like 3 sole (about $1 USD).  I like baby llamas.  I mean, who doesn’t?  So, every night during my evening strolls I ensured I had a few soles to give them and looking back I probably spent more on pictures with the baby llamas than I did for dinners.

Obtaining Peruvian soles for currency was as simple as going to an ATM.  One problem that seemed to constantly arise was if the money was not in pristine condition the stores would refuse to take it.  This refusal was often after a long huddle of the store’s employees and management to confirm the currency was too badly damaged to accept.  After a few frustrating days of this I happened to visit Paddy’s Pub.  It is the world’s highest Irish pub.  I noticed they took my currency no matter what condition it was in.  Perfect!  Adding Paddy’s Pub to my daily itinerary to launder money for baby llama petting was an outstanding solution.  The world was coming together quite nicely for Paddy’s, the llamas, and me.

It took no time for me to fall in love with Cusco.  The people were wonderful, every weekend there was some type of event in the square, it was easy to jump on any random bus and end up in hidden ruins, AND there were baby llamas everywhere to hang out with.  My work performance was improving even more than in Ecuador.  At this time no one knew I was anywhere but Boston and would occasionally ask “How’s the weather up there Boston”, which I would quickly google it and reply “Meh, 60s cloudy, it’s Boston, ya know?”  I never lied to them on where I was, they just never thought to ask, and even if I had told them they never would have believed me.

With my morale greatly improved and in a productive routine I was convinced Cusco would be home for the foreseeable future.  Even better, my AirBnB host’s son was a travel agent.  Perfect.  We met for dinner, and he helped me set up plans to travel to different parts of the country every weekend, and many became 4-day weekend trips allowing me not to rush and really absorb the beauty and culture in remote areas that many would never see or experience. These trips included Machu Picchu, Lake Titicaca (like I would miss out on going to not only the highest alpine lake on Earth, but endless jokes based on the name, “Lake Titicaca”).  After three weeks of adapting to Cusco it was time to get out and really take a bite out of the surrounding areas that would yield some of my greatest memories and travel experiences to date.  That’s coming up.

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