A warpus in Peru

I'm guessing you enjoyed that holiday very much. Am I right?

Would you go again?

Or, where are you going next?

Borachio said:

I'm guessing you enjoyed that holiday very much. Am I right?

Click to expand...

It is definitely an experience I will never forget!

Borachio said:

Would you go again?

Click to expand...

I really want to go back at some point to Huaraz to do the Santa Cruz hike, which is the second hike we were going to do.

Here are the pictures that inspired me to try to walk it. Unfortunately my left ankle was messed up and we weren't in a state to attempt a 50km hike through the mountains otherwise anyway.. not after the 90km hike.. And then it turned out that the trail was closed, so we didn't feel as bad about it. But I definitely want to go back there and do this hike, it's supposed to be amazing.

Borachio said:

Or, where are you going next?

Click to expand...

Good question..

My left ankle is still healing, I'm still paying off my last 2 grips (nz and peru - almost done though), and I don't have anyone living in my basement yet.. Once that money is coming in, I have more vacation time saved up (2 weeks and counting), and some more money saved up, I can start thinking about going on a larger trip somewhere far again.

For now my focus seems to be Montana's Glacier National Park, which seems to have several really spectacular hiking trails, some of them multi-day.

I also want to hike the Berg Lake Trail, which is in Alberta, close to Jasper National Park.

There's other locations in Alberta and some in BC I'm interested in as well, and all of that plus Montana could be a part of a "cheaper" trip - or I could break it down into parts.. Either way there are a lot of options there. I'd have to start in Montana, since flying through Canada is expensive, but I think that's the only limitation. The park is very close to the Canadian border so that kinda works in my favour. I have friends in Calgary who I'd visit as well.

Also on my list are potential trips to Norway, a backpacking tour through western and central Europe, and the same thing through South-eastern Asia. I also wouldn't mind visiting Japan at some point and Shanghai. So.. There's either 2 trips to asia or 1.

I have Hawaii on my radar, as well as Iceland, and a return to Patagonia (Argentinian side this time, instead of Chilean).. but these will likely not happen any time soon.

There was an idea of going to Portugal and the island of Madeira specifically sometime early next year and maybe one to go to Cuba to a resort for a week to relax and check out Habana as well.

If I ever return to Peru to do the Santa Cruz hike, I'll probably also check out lake Titicaca (also in Peru) and go down to Bolivia as well to check out the salt flats.

So who knows what will happen. For all I know I'll end up somewhere that's not even on that list. For now I'm just gathering information and ideas, and once I have the vacation time, will, and money, and when the stars are aligned, one of those ideas might just feel right, and that's where I'll go. I have a feeling it might be Montana & Alberta, but who knows.

I subscribe to /r/earthporn on reddit and other subreddits like that, and that's where I get a lot of my "holy crap, I have to go there" type inspiration. Note: This site is fully safe for work and for this forum

I certainly understand the appeal.

Borachio said:

I certainly understand the appeal.

Click to expand...

4 years ago my friend randomly asked me if I want to go with her to Patagonia to do some hiking.. I wasn't much of a hiker but I had some extra cash at the time and wanted to try something new so I said "Sure, why not! Let's do it!"

And I caught the travel bug... Since then I've travelled to New Zealand, California, and Peru and as you can see I have a much longer list of places I still want to go to..

I just figure.. I have time and money to go on trips like these right now, so I'm going to, whenever I get the opportunity. One day I might have a family and kids and who knows what else that might come up that might tie me down .. Maybe I won't be able to travel anywhere between the ages of 40 and 60? Who knows.. And when I'm older than that multi-day hikes through the mountains in remote locations seems a lot riskier.. So I'm going to explore as much of our planet as I can right now, within reason. My goal really is to become financially independent enough to be able to travel whenever I want to and not be tied down by a job even.. but.. that's really a project that might or might not pan out, who knows. Either way I'm at a point in my life when this stuff is possible, so I'm doing it.

You should indeed do so. My brother-in-law still travels, though, at 68. And he takes 2 or 3 cut price trips all over the place every year.

Borachio said:

You should indeed do so. My brother-in-law still travels, though, at 68. And he takes 2 or 3 cut price trips all over the place every year.

Click to expand...

What exactly do you mean by cut price? Discounted deals on flights and stuff?

Yep. Cheapest, and best in his eyes, is the way he goes.

Borachio said:

Yep. Cheapest, and best in his eyes, is the way he goes.

Click to expand...

I can certainly appreciate that point of view as I've gotten pretty good (I'd like to think anyway) at figuring out ways to save money on trips like these. The more I can save, the more things I'll have room for in my budget, more options, etc.

I generally save money by doing a ton of research when it comes to the flight and sometimes even fly from the U.S. I flew to New Zealand from Detroit for example and saved about $800 on the flight (Compared to the same flight from Toronto)

Flew from Lima to Cusco for $19 after taxes, a flight that is usually at least $120 and sometimes even more than $250.

I stay in hostels to save money as well.. That's a really good way to meet other travellers too, so I don't even know if I'd ever stay in a hotel on a trip.. long-term anyway.. I stayed in a $100 a night hotel in Queenstown, New Zealand, for 2 nights right after arriving there.. I figured I'd be jetlagged (yep) and tired (double yep) and would want some peace and quiet to rest before my 55km hike through Fiordland National Park.

One thing I don't skimp out on is food.. I must have spent quite a bit eating out in New Zealand.. Food was just REALLY good there.. the hospitality even better.. the prices were pretty equivalent to what I'd expect in Canada overall and I ate out every day for 5 weeks, excluding the hikes, so.. that added quite a bit to the overall bill. I also don't mind spending money on other random stuff, but all in all I'm all about finding good deals and getting the best bang out of my buck when I'm travelling.

It's not cheap so if you can save $500 on a flight or whatever.. that is very welcome.

My brother-in-law does a great deal of research before he goes. And when he gets back he writes it all up in little booklets.

I tried reading one once. But it was the most boringly written thing I've ever encountered. Though I'm sure he could have put a bit of spark into it if he'd tried. Except, to be frank, he is incredibly boring as an individual himself. I used to find myself yawning just looking at him.

Did you read any of my write-up? How did you find it?

I wouldn't mind some honest feedback (from anyone really). If I can make the next one better somehow, I'd love to know what people liked and didn't like about the way I structured this and put it together.

Oh yours isn't so bad at all. But I spent most of the time looking at the pictures, tbh.

Travel writing is a whole art in itself. (If that's what you're interested in doing.)

Depends what your intention is. Whether to present the whole treking tourist experience, or to give some impression of life in a foreign country. Or some mystical thingy with the scenery. Or whatever. I don't know. I'm the very opposite of a traveller myself.

The ideal thing is to write so well, you get paid to go there.

The mission has changed a bit - initially it was an excuse to post the photos, but now it is a bit more of a quest to document my trips so I can read about them 20 years from now and go

"Ahh.. so that's the context behind this photo. *tear*"

So I've started including a lot more detail than initially intended, but I only try to include "noteworthy enough" events and information.. whatever that means.

Borachio said:

The ideal thing is to write so well, you get paid to go there.

Click to expand...

I think I could get used to doing something like that.. as long as it was something where I control the next travel destination. I really doubt enough people will come to my site, which I haven't even designed yet, to make me much money.. Then again, who knows. Most sites like that out there suck - it's not easy finding information sometimes. It's usually badly formatted, non-descriptive, vague, etc.

I have some ideas as to how to reformat this whole thread on my own website in some sort of more-pleasing-to-the-eye way.. but first I might do a thread on New Zealand, because I'm really for some reason itching to re-visit those photos again.

Before that though I want to post some more Peru pics that slipped through the cracks but are totally worthy of inclusion..

And if anyone wants a larger version of any of these pics for whatever reason, lemme know. If you like something enough to want to see it in its original format, I can post (or send) those too.

Two more pics from the Salkantay Trek

Very beautiful, thanks for sharing it all.

No problem!

Here's a couple more from the Salkantay Trek

Wow, warpus. Excellent pics. Thanks so much for sharing your journey with us.

Thanks, glad you like the pics!

Here's a great one of my friend Steve that he hasn't even seen yet



Different angle (That's the sacred Mt. Salkantay behind him)



Taken by me from where he was standing

Did you find that the ski poles really helped?

I reckon they do. They can certainly help spread the load away from one foot - so you've got three point contact with the ground when needed, and help no end on rough ground.

Hiking poles/sticks/whatever can apparently take as much as 30-40% of pressure away from your knees when you're hiking downhill.

I had problems with my left knee for a couple months before the trip - something with a muscle or tendon right behind the knee.. I was walking funny for maybe 2 months and thought I might not even be able to go.. These problems magically went away 1 week before the flight, but I brought a knee brace with me just in case, and thought it was important that we rented hiking poles.. for that reason, plus.. it's kind of a smart thing to bring with you anyway.

They're a bit expensive, here in Canada or in Peru (most places that sell hiking related stuff there are geared towards gringos and thus pricy), plus if I were to bring a pair from Canada I'd have to strap them to my bag, and that increases the chance of it getting caught somewhere on one of those conveyor belts at the airports.. so renting them in Cusco seemed to be the best idea.

I think we paid $15 for 5 days each.. We're really glad we did - they seemed to help a lot. Most people on our hike didn't have hiking poles, but by the end of the hike most people had sticks with them to help with the hike.