I’m back!

A very unflattering photo of me at the Sun Gate overlooking Machu Picchu. I made it!

I’m back! Back to the desert, back to my dog, back to my PhD, and back to my blog! I’ve definitely been around the block – geographically, socially, and medically – a few times during the last couple of months!

In my last post I was poised to go to Macchu Pichu by train/bus in lieu of the Inca Trail. The good news is I made it! Dad and I were reunited in the ancient ruins on the most spectacular day. I managed to climb to the Sun Gate and complete the last few hundred metres of the Inca Trail in reverse. Dad, who smashed the grueling 3.5 day walk, called my effort “the mini Inca”. The next morning at 8am we were at Cusco airport making our way back home.

Upon returning to Australia, I met up with my husband in Sydney. Before he arrived I had a misdiagnosis of deep vain thrombosis (DVT) and spent a whole day in GP and radiology clinics. It turns out I just had a strain in my leg! When Brett arrived we were both exhausted (Brett just got off a 10 day shift) so we just hung out in our hotel at Rushcutters Bay and walked around the city a bit. We also saw Les Miserables at the Capitol Theatre as a belated birthday for me (which I had spent in transit in Santigo airport).

Sydney was followed by a whirlwind week in Brisbane. Between packing up our house in Brisbane (ready for new tenants), having quick catch ups with friends, and going to the GP again (this time for antibiotics for a sinus infection), I managed to organise (with much help) and attend my Mum’s 60th birthday party, which was a cruise on the Brisbane River. It was delightful.

Two days later Brett and I were in Airlie Beach visiting some good, old friends who have opened up an amazing burger and bar joint called Little Vegas (do yourself a favour and go there!). We spent a lot of time that week sitting at the bar, eating and drinking. I didn’t miss the opportunity, though, to sample to local medical facilities. Yes, again I ended up at the doctor for another round of antibiotics, this time for an infection I picked up from the IV drip that had been in the back of my hand for two days in Peru!

One day we took a choppy and hysterical boat ride around the Whitsundays. I seriously have never had so much fun as I did sitting at the front of the boat, hanging on for my life, water splashing in my face, and giggling like a school girl. We also squeezed in a quick visit to Grasstree Beach (south of Mackay) where we were spoiled by friends, Janice and John, with oysters, prawns, and fresh coconut water straight from the coconut!

The travelling and socialising has not stopped since were returned to the desert. We recently visited friends who are teachers in a community called Yuendumu, about 300kms NW from Alice Springs (about 7 hours from Watarrka). We took our dog (Spook) on his first real holiday (town trips to the vet don’t count as holidays). He made great friends with Trouble, our mates’ dog. Having a campfire in a dry creek bed with a storm approaching was a gorgeous experience. There is also something about cooking on a fire – the taste, the smell, the texture. There’s nothing else like it.

AND THEN Brett’s parents came to visit! We picked them up in Alice Springs on our way home to Watarrka, spending a night at the Double Tree Hilton which included dinner at Hanuman (the best restaurant in Alice). The decadence kept flowing for the rest of the week, with sunset drinks overlooking the range, a birthday party for Brett (and others) at the Ranger Station Social Club (an unofficial building with a bar and BBQ), and a three course meal at the Kings Canyon Wilderness Lodge. Oh, and we did manage to do the Rim Walk too! The last two nights of Sue and John’s trip were spent at Ayers Rock Resort. Among sunsets at Uluru, a guided ranger walk, a quick trip to Kata Tjuta (The Olgas), and a helicopter ride for my mother-in-law, we ate very well (again) and celebrated the trip (and Brett’s birthday again) with bubbles and vino.

Just as everything was going back to to normal, this week I developed a tooth ache and had to drive 1000ks round trip to Alice Springs to see a dentist! There is an irony in the fact that today I am in bed with some kind of lugie I must have picked up while I was in town.

And, you wouldn’t believe it, but amongst all this I managed to send two thesis chapters to my supervisor!

Cusco calling

When I first drafted the post I was happily sitting in an internet café, taking in the ancient town of Cusco (Peru), and adjusting to the altitude before taking on the 3.5 day Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. By the end of that day I was in hospital in a lot of pain and distress, receiving two lots of antibiotics intravenously for a severe parasite infection. I do not wish to dwell on my illness, as I have crowd-sourced a lot of sympathy from my Facebook friends already. Suffice to say I am on the mend and, although I will miss out on doing the Inca Trail, I will be able to take the train/bus instead and meet my Dad (who is on the Trail as we speak) at Machu Picchu on Sunday!

This chapter of my virtual life came about because my dad was going to go on his own (Machu Picchu is on his bucket list), so I put my hand up to be a plus one. It was supposed to coincide with me finishing my thesis and thus double as a post-PhD treat! Alas, when the time came I had (have) not finished, but one must take opportunities as they arise. I love to travel and experience new cultures – religion, dress, dance, and music. The food is usually a highlight for me – and it was here too (including a mouthful of guineapig!) – but for the rest of the trip I’m sticking to a fairly conservative diet.

Dad and I have spent many hours wondering the ancient streets of Cusco. The architecture is a mix of original Inca, colonial Spanish, and modern day styles (see pic). Basically, when the Spaniards arrived (around 1530) they knocked down most of the Inca buildings, but kept the solid stone foundations and built on top of them. The resulting mishmash of cultures you see in the stonework was also carried into religion. For example, Spanish religious leaders deliberately incorporated aspects of Incan culture into Christian biblical stories. Yesterday I saw an enormous painting of The Last Supper in the Catedral de Cusco with a guineapig in the middle of the table!

Modern Cusco is a quaint city of ‘hole in the wall’ shops, cobble-stoned roads, and stray dogs! We took a look around San Pedro Market where the locals buy and sell there produce: fresh juice bars, grains, vegetables, meat, trinkets, flowers, etc. I could not even recognise some of the meat on display, though I think I saw alpaca snouts (with teeth!). Just up the hill from the market, more people were trading the same food, but they were doing it from the kerbside with exhaust fumes in their faces (see pic). I have not spent much time in developing countries. The sights and smells of these streets highlighted that in this Andean wonderland, most people live in poverty. Yet, the people of Cusco are a proud and friendly bunch! And the tourist areas in Cusco are pristine, apart from the odd ´land mine´ on the sidewalk.

During the week we took a bus to the top of the mountain range that surrounds Cusco. On the way up we saw locals playing soccer amongst the Inca Ruins, mothers changing babies´ nappies on the side of the road, and dogs galloping around the grass fields. It is a spectacular site looking over all the brown-titled roofs of on the backdrop of the snow-capped Andes (see pic above). Many of the houses are half-finished or severely run down, yet you can see kids playing games and women house-keeping inside them. Cusco is prone to earthquakes (the Lord of Earthquakes is the most revered Christian figure today) and we think we saw evidence of an earthquake that occurred just last year – fenced-off piles of rubble in the streets that become more frequent the further out of the town centre you travel.

Finally, last Sunday was the Fiesta de la Cruz (Festival of the Cross) which is “celebrated all over Peru in commemoration of ancient Peruvian agro-astronomical rituals and the Catholic annual calendar” (Rough Gudies). The main square, Plaza de Armas, was thick with locals in bright costumes and official uniforms. The military, police, religious organisations, and community groups from all over the Sacred Valley region created a sea of colour and music. For the Incas, Qosqo (Cusco) meant “navel of the world”. Indeed, on Sunday Cusco was the centre of the universe for the local Andean people. What I liked most about this festival is that it demonstrated that people here belong to something greater than themselves. It seems to me that in Western culture the most popular membership we have is to overpriced gyms! We don´t dance, sing, or play music like the Peruvians, and I think we miss out on some of life’s joys because of it. NB. The photo below is the May Day Festival (which we also saw) not the Fiesta de la Cruz – my damn camera died that day!

Upon reflection, despite a few days of sickness, I have seen and learnt much – and there is more come! And I have been reminded of how fortunate I am to have good health and to live in a first world country where excellent medical care extends to the other side of the world.