Everybody Here Is Korean

A famous childhood story that my mother loved to tell: when we were kids, we went to Korea every summer. Growing up in Bronxville where we were the only Korean family, we were in culture shock when we visited. So once, my brother said in Korea, "everybody here is Korean!" Indeed, they are!

This morning, I had breakfast with these two cuties (while they watched an iPad)!

My cousin's twins are Yoon-ah (윤아) and Yoon-sik (윤식). A bit complicated as the girl is very shy, but would cry every time her brother hugged me. It seemed to create some sibling drama / rivalry over and over again!

We ate breakfast, grapes, and watched the Giants vs. Royals baseball game - Taesoon (태순) is a huge baseball fan. 

We relaxed through the morning and went to a local Italian restaurant for lunch as we had a craving after seeing spaghetti on tv. Here's a picture of the twins loving the spaghetti:

We return backed to the apartment for a quick nap, and then we were off to say hello to my first uncle, my mom's eldest brother and family's patriarch. He's older than my mom by about 14 years. We enjoyed tea and fruit with his wife and family.

We then headed to a generational dinner where my cousins gathered at Momo Cafe which was a buffet restaurant. There were about 33 people spread around 6 tables. My cousins applauded (as a joke) when we walked in and also said that I must have a lot of "power" to get the whole family to come together. Apparently, due to the enormity of our growing family, we don't get together as often as when my grandmother was alive. So Taesoon (태순) researched carefully where a large group with many kids could eat affordably. 

Here are a few pictures from the dinner where folks mingled between tables and the kids enjoyed the buffet offerings:

A collage of some of my nephews and nieces, some I met for the first time:

Finally, the obligatory group photo:

Several had to depart right after dinner as they had to return to their kids or drive up to 2 hours to get home! However, about half of us went to Dong-hee's (동희) house for some tea, coffee, and fruit. We also FaceTime'd with my mom and chatted for a few hours before we all headed home. 

I'm super grateful for my cousins who not only organized the dinner, but made efforts to come! One cousin even came from about 4 hours away and was spending the weekend here! It really makes the annual trips as a kid worth it as those early bonds are so important. I know so many 2nd generation Americans who don't feel half as comfortable or close with their relatives. I hope as they all take turns visiting the U.S., and as their children study abroad, that I continue to pay it forward!

Andean Condors

We woke up for breakfast at our hotel around 5:30 am. Caitlin and I were running late and placed our luggage next to Jamie and Mary Ann's in the lobby area. There was a lot of luggage as there was a tour group also staying at the hotel.

At breakfast, Mary Ann asked me for some Advil which was packed in my luggage. So I got up to get it and all the luggage was gone! Caitlin was on her way to return the hotel keys and ran after me as I ran down the steps to a tour bus. They had packed all the bags and the leader said, "I counted the luggage and I wondered why we have 4 more!" Except for Mary Ann's, our luggage was placed on the very bottom since they were big and they had to unpack the entire back of their bus! They were with Shoestring Travel and were all Dutch tourists who were traveling throughout Peru for 23 days! We all couldn't stop laughing and thanked Mary Ann for having a headache, and my insistence for getting the Advil before breakfast was over. I'm not sure what we would have done to chase down our bags all over Peru!

On our way to the Mirador Cruz del Condor, we stopped in a town called Yanque and observed some Colca dancing in their Plaza de Armas. We also visited a lovely church. Along the way, we also picked up more people and it took about 2 hours to get to the lookout over Colca Canyon. We had about an hour there and saw 5 Andean Condors! We felt very lucky as the tour groups only saw 1 yesterday. We watched 1 perched and then 3 perched together. Gray ones are under a year old, then they turn brown, and then with white spots. We watched them fly back and forth and overhead. Their wingspan is 3.5 meters or 12 feet and are the 2nd largest Condors in the Americas - the first being the Californian Condor. They are so large they cannot lift off the ground, but rather take flight from cliff perches. Here's a collage of pictures and I will be posting a videos when I return:

Although not included in the itinerary, our guide Ali, took us on another walk. He used to be a trekking guide, so you could tell he loved the outdoors. We had beautiful views and learned more about the mountains, cactus, and colonial settlements. Colca Canyon is considered the 3rd largest canyon in the world. Here are some pictures from our walk:

We stopped at a few more lookout points and a town called Maca. We had another lunch buffet in Chivay. We ALL enjoyed the chocolate pudding.

Then our bus took us to Arequipa which took about 3 hours and we checked into another Casa Andina. Mary Ann got ready for her flight home in our triple room which was set apart from the rest of the hotel. We walked down to La Chiminée which was down the street from our hotel to enjoy their happy hour, even though we didn't order any happy hour drinks. We had beers and I had a lemon and ginger ale version of a Pisco Sour. We shared fries and a Crapese salad. No joke - the menus always give us a chuckle!

We said goodbye to Mary Ann who had to catch a flight to Lima and then a flight to NY. Mary Ann was a pure delight with her quips, sense of humor, and easy-going nature - even though she had to wake up so early every morning! I mean, she pretty much made Caitlin laugh constantly! We love you and the rest of our Peruvian vacation won't be the same without you! Even at dinner at a wine bar restaurant called Zingaro, Jamie asked for a table for 4! At dinner, we enjoyed a Malbec, steaks, and I had a risotto.

We then headed to our hotel and relaxed in our room. It's been a week in Peru and we've already seen and done so much!

We're Not Descending?

After breakfast at our hotel, Colca Tours picked us up around 6:30 am. We were on our way to the Colca Valley, famous for the Andean Condors and Colca Canyon - said to be bigger than the Grand Canyon!

Our transfer guide's name was Roger and our driver was Francisco. Both were jokesters and had fun chatting with us. They especially enjoyed teasing Caitlin. On our way to the transfer point, we stopped at a lookout to see a Lake called Lagunitas and then another spot to see llamas, alpacas, and flamingos. Here's a picture of us at Lagunitas:

Our transfer spot was a rest stop where we joined a tour group coming from Arequipa. The whole ride was about 5 hours and included more stops to see llamas and sheep. We learned about the colonial settlements. The scenery reminded me of Patagonia where I visited last year with Amanda. It was all pampas and plains, with short shrubbery.

We ascended to at least 4,910 meters which is about 3 miles! We were all short of breath and I experienced my first pins and needles symptom. We had all hoped Puno would be the highest altitude, but alas we were still ascending! Here's Mary Ann showing us the altitude and a picture of me pointing out Chivay:

We descended to Chivay, the gateway to Colca Canyon, to have a buffet lunch and then went to a town called Coporaque, to go on a hour walk where we learned more about pre-Incans, Incans, and colonial life. Also, we could see the volcanos Misti and Chachani and the Rio Colca which is the origin of the Amazon. Here are some pictures of us on our windy walk:

Afterwards, we went to the hot springs of La Calera, where they pumped the water to pools. We wished we could stay longer as it was soothing to our legs after our many days of walking / hiking and we enjoyed the sunset. Here are some pictures of us in the pool including a selfie:

We headed to our hotel called Colca Llaqta in Chivay which had cute duplex rooms. After washing up, we headed down to the Plaza de Armas and had dinner at Cabanas. It included the typical fare we've become accustomed to. I had a quinoa soup, chicken with Andean herbs, and a peach as part of the price fixe. We all shared Cusqueña beers as it was Mary Ann's last night in Peru! After dinner, we headed back to rest for our 5 am wake up call to see the Andean Condors of Colca Canyon!

Machu Picchu

Jamie and I had started flirting with the idea of going to Machu Picchu about a year ago and finally, today was the day. The reason why we came to Peru:

The saga of trying to go to Machu Picchu was definitely interesting. It took weeks to book the tickets. The government website is very finicky, confusing, and you can only use a "verified by Visa" card. Along with trying Jamie's 3 different Visas, mine, and my colleague Ryan's, we were out of luck. Once your card is rejected, you couldn't use it again. Apparently there is a scalping problem so there's a lot of security. Machu Picchu only entrance tickets are 128 soles (around $46). But travel agencies will charge you about $20-30 tickets extra each to book it locally, because it's so difficult to book online and because there are only 2,500 available per day. Jamie and I were trying to save the money, but didn't want to be stuck.

Ultimately, Cusco Transport saved the day and purchased them on our behalf without a cash advance from us! So trusting and they only charged a fee of $5 per ticket. For the win!

We woke up today at 4:30 am for our 5 am breakfast and so we can try to grab an early bus, with the first one leaving around 5:30 am. We left Gringo Bill's around 5:15 am and we split up so Mary Ann and I stood on the bus line and Caitlin and Jamie went to purchase the round-trip bus tickets which were $18.50 each. The buses and the line moved quickly and we were up on the switchback roads in no time. Jamie handled the experience well even though switchback roads are not her fave.

We arrived at the entrance about 6 am and immediately went to the iconic spot to take photos and climbed up to the funerary area where we had gorgeous views. The amount of stones and buildings are truly incredible. Some of the temple stones are joined so perfectly, you can't put a piece of a paper in between. Don't know how they did it so many years ago! My guidebook said that Machu Picchu was built in the mid-1400s and it appears it was a ceremonial and agricultural center. The Incas revered nature and Machu Picchu represents one of the world's greatest examples of landscape art.

It was a bit cloudy in the beginning, but it cleared up pretty quickly. We then headed on a 30 minute walk to the Inca Bridge. This was definitely a B-list attraction, but interesting nonetheless and we had plenty of time.

At this point it was around 8 am, and it was already getting hot and due to the high chance of rain, we had umbrellas and raincoats, so we decided to leave to run to the loo as Mary Ann would call it and to check items at the baggage storage. The Andean sun at these altitudes is deceivingly strong and we wanted to lighten our load before our next hike up to Wayna Picchu or Huayna Picchu, spelled both ways. The peak is at 2,693 meters or 8,835 feet. Machu Picchu itself is at 2,400 meters or 7,872 feet. Here's a picture of the peak as pointed to by Jamie and then it's the tall one behind us and to the right:

This extra peak only allows 400 visitors per day - 200 at 7 am and 200 at 10 am. Wayna Picchu tickets are more expensive at 152 soles ($54). We hiked up, if you can call it that. At times, we felt like we were rock climbing or rappelling (there were rope cords at certain points) due to the steepness factor and we went to the very top - which included practically crawling through a cavern. Here's a picture close to the top:

On our way to the top, Jamie and Mary Ann ran into some Bloomberg colleagues and I met some Koreans who were living in São Paulo where I went in May. Small world!

After 2 hours round-trip, we made it to the bottom. Thank goodness Jamie and I were pretty much over our altitude sickness and frankly, I felt pretty good. In hiking, just gotta put one foot in front of the other and a journey of a 1,000 miles begins with 1 step! All kidding aside, I felt a little like the Energizer Bunny.

Afterwards, we visited the lower areas where we saw more temples, buildings, and terraces. After the hike and walk through, it was about 2 pm and we headed to the Machu Picchu Sanctuary Lodge which has a buffet lunch for $40 each. We sprung for the option including Cusqueña beer for $43. We all had multiple plates and enjoyed sitting down. Finally, we boarded a bus and headed back to Gringo Bill's to pick up our stuff and wash up. We had to catch a 4:43 pm train back to Poroy which is just outside of Cusco. It took about 3.5 hours to get back. Jose Carlos, our trusty driver from Cusco Transport picked us up and we drove about 25 minutes back to Palacio del Inka where we got 2 rooms - South American hotels are pretty particular about only allowing 2 people per room even though you can easily fit 4. Although we squeezed the first night, we didn't want to bend the rules too much. Both rooms got upgraded to suites - for the win!

Due to the time, we dropped off our stuff and went directly to Sipan, a popular Chifa restaurant. Chifa is Peruvian Chinese food and we were told we had to try it. We got a bunch of dishes and some soups. By the end of the dinner, we were fading fast as we had started this epic day at 4:30 am! 

After dinner, we headed back to our hotel to rest up for some more sight-seeing in Cusco tomorrow!