A few girlfriends (Terri, Crissy and Jennifer) and I went down to Cancun for some rest, relaxation and fun. We mostly laid by the beach, enjoying our all inclusive resort. One afternoon we took a boat to Isla Mujeres and rented a golf cart to drive around the island. That was neat! On our last night we had some fun on the Pirate boat - laughing and dancing the night away.
My feet definitely enjoyed the sand and beach on this trip! Check out some more of my photos from this trip - Cancun Photos
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My friend Kylee and I arrived in Peru on March 11, 2009. We went from the Puerto Maldonado airport, directly to a boat that took us to our lodge in the jungle for the next 3 nights. We got to see Monkey Island, look for caimans at night, canoe down the river to the Gamitana river to go fishing, and then took a couple hikes through the jungle. They gave us gum boots (rubber boots) to wear, which were much appreciated - as you can see from all the mud we walked through. Our big hike was the Lost Lake Hike. We hiked about 5km initially, seeing a tarantula, giant snail and a small snake. Then we got to a watch town (25 meters high) that we climbed up and got the most amazing view of the jungle from above the tree canopy. We then walked on planks across the swamp until we reached a lagoon. We canoed down the lagoon and then walked back out of the jungle after 6 1/2 hours. At our lodge I still remember waking up in the morning (with the most ice cold shower I’ve ever had by the way…) hearing the howler monkeys from deep within the jungle. We were scared of the noise at first, and then once our guide told us what it was, we just had to laugh. Another highlight from the jungle was just enjoying the hammocks along the river and relaxing in the afternoon! Kylee and I continued our Peru trip by staying a couple days in Cusco to acclimate to the elevation. We stayed at the Piccola Locanda hostel , which was just perfect for us. We explored the Plaza in town, going in and out of the souvenir shops. We visited the La Catedral, and took a self-guided tour through the 3 adjoining churches. We also visited some of the museums - Museo Municipal de Arte Contemporanes, Museo de Arte Popular, Museo de Sitio del Qoricancha, then finally walked through Iglesia de Santa Domingo. The next day we took a Sacred Valley tour. We went to Pisac, walked around the Pisac market, drove to Urubamba and then Ollantaytambo to tour the Inca ruins. Next we drove to the town of Chinchero and watched a demo of how they wash, dye, spool and weave the Aplaca fur. We made it back to Cusco that evening and then got prepared to embark on the hardest thing we have ever done in our lives…the 4 day Inca Trail hike to Machu Picchu! We were picked up at 4:45am by Peru Treks and drove to Ollantaytamba. We had breakfast and then began our hike at km 82 at 10am after getting our bags weighed at the station and our passports stamped. It was really hot the first day, which made it that much harder, but we survived the first 12km of our hike. Our porters were just amazing on the entire journey. They would have breakfast, snacks and dinner prepared for us everyday, and set up and tore down our tents – all while departing camp after we left and arriving at the next camp before we got there. On day 2 we were woken up at 5:45am and handed hot cocoa tea in our tents. This day was really brutal, basically all up hill! We hiked up 700 meters before our first break, and then went up another 400 meters afterwards. As we reached 14,000 ft I wasn’t sure if I could make it. Slowly but surely though we made it to the top of Dead Woman’s Pass! It was very cold and windy at the top, so we only stayed about 15 minutes and then started our way down - 600 meters down in an hour and a half - to our campsite for the night. Day 2 also totaled 12 km. Day 3 we started with going uphill 400 meters, then down 300 meters. We came across some large Inca sites and walked around those for a bit. It started raining and pretty much didn't stop for the next 2 days! But we put on our rain gear and continued on. After lunch we hiked another 200 meters up and then we began the dreaded 1,000 meters downhill! I have to say I really enjoyed the downhill, but man it was brutal on my knees! You would stop to take a picture and your legs were just shaking! It was really neat seeing the changes in scenery as you went downhill. We went from these sparse mountaintops to feeling like we were in the jungle with lots of trees and bugs flying around. The last 40 minutes was neat because we were overlooking the mountains and Urubamba River just as the clouds were lifting and we saw a rainbow over the valley. That evening we saw Winay Wayna Inca ruins near our campsite and finally called it a night after 15km hiked that day. On Day 4 we woke up at 3:45am and finally made it to Machu Picchu. It was cloudy when we arrived in the morning, as the rain was finally stopping. The neatest thing though was sitting there at the site and minute-by-minute as the clouds lifted we saw another section of the ruins appear. It was like nature was just teasing us so we fully enjoyed each new stone that emerged as the clouds lifted all the way. When we finally took in the entire site - WOW! Definitely worth hiking 26 miles and not showering for 4 days. After exploring Machu Picchu, we took the bus down to Aguas Caliente - had lunch and enjoyed the hot springs, then took the train back to Ollaytatambo and a bus to Cusco. On this trip, my friend started what I like to call “The Behind the Foot Scene” Picture. Enjoy!
Check out some more photos from this trip - Peru Photos Part 1 & Peru Photos Part 2 I took a trip with REI Adventures in December 2008. We stayed in a lodge in Zion National Park. Our guide and assistant guide really made the trip special. They cooked the most amazing meals for us and really took care of us on the trails. Our assistant guide was a Sherpa from Everest - what a treat to get to meet someone like that! Fascinating stories…and he even showed us the video of him getting married on the top of Everest!!
Our group stayed in a lodge at the Clear Creek Ranch inside Zion National Park. We spent 5 days hiking and snowshoeing around Zion National Park. They just had a major winter storm that dumped several feet of snow, so the trails were pretty icy - but it just added to the adventure and the beauty of everything. On our first day we hiked on the Sand Bench trail and to the Emerald Pool waterfall. On our second day, I woke up to the last sunrise of 2008, which was a great start to the day. I then got to try out snowshoeing for the first time, which I just fell in love with. We snow-shoed out to the edge of the Perunaweap Canyon in Zion, and enjoyed the amazing 360-degree views! Our guide packed pita, hummus and veggies for lunch and we had ourselves the best picnic right there in the snow with those unforgettable views. That night we had a New Year's Eve dinner, watched the ball drop on TV in New York and all turned in early. The next day we were trying to find a good trail to hike on, but it was hard with the recent snow. Most trails were closed due to snow and ice. We managed to hike half way up Observation Point, and then hiked up Angel's Landing to Scout Lookout. 1,000 ft elevation gain on that trail was definitely strenuous! On our fourth day we drove out to Bryce Canyon. We did some more snowshoeing and hiking. We started with our snowshoes on at the Rim Trail at Fairyland Point. The views in Bryce were just phenomenal! Very unique scenery - as you can see from the third feet picture (our lunch spot for the day). After lunch we continued on our way, reaching almost 8,000 ft elevation at Sunrise Point. Once there we put our snowshoes away and then headed out on the Navajo loop. That took us down into the hoodoos, which were amazing. We continued our hike around the canyon, and with every few steps the scenery just got more spectacular. On our last night, we all enjoyed one last breakfast together and then took one more hike together in Zion Canyon. We hiked out to the Canyon Overlook trail and all had fun taking some pictures that made it look like we were practically hanging over the edge. In the afternoon we headed back to Vegas, which was the end of a great adventure! Check out some more photos from this trip - Zion Bryce Photos Kylee, her husband (Brent) and I took a trip to Cabo, staying at the Hotel Finesterra. On our first night we had dinner at Lenny’s. The next day we relaxed by the beach at our hotel (you couldn’t get in the water the waves were so strong, but just sitting by the pool/beach and admiring the view and sounds was amazing). That night we went out to a couple bars, then on the walk home found Slim’s Elbow Tequila Bar, which claims to be the smallest bar. We sat at a stool, had a shot, and then went on our way. The highlight of the trip though was sitting on the beach at night and just listening to the powerful sound of the waves crashing against shore. I could have sat there all night listening to those waves! Check out some more of the pictures from this trip - Cabo Photos The next day we took a boat out to Playa del Amor (Lover’s Beach). The waves were still really impressive over there, but there was one part of the water you could actually get in. That night we went on a Sunset Dinner Cruise that took us out to the Land’s End (The Arch) rock formations. There was a guy on our boat that night that actually fell off the boat! He went under the catamaran, but they stopped the engines immediately and thankfully they got him out of the water safely. Whew! The following day we hung out at the beach, then that night we went to Squid Roe Bar. They had this caricaturist that drew a pic of Brent, which was fun!
Traveling to Beijing was another great vacation! My friend’s old college roommate was living in Beijing with her husband and they housed and showed us around for a week. So nice! Thank goodness we knew people there - I’m not sure if we could have done it ourselves with the language barrier. Our friend would print out in Chinese where we were going and when we got in the taxi we would just hand the drive the slip. Worked out great...until one day when it was raining and the ink on our slip to get back home was almost ruined from the water. haha! Some of the highlights included exploring the massive Dirt Market, shopping for Pearls at Lynn's Store at the Hong Qiao Pearl Market, taking a bike tour around town (almost got ourselves killed on those roads!), looking (not eating) at the crazy foods on Wangfujing Street, visiting Forbidden City and walking around lost in Tiananmen Square. In Forbidden City one of our favorite memories was this Chinese couple spotting my friend and I and immediately handing us their baby so they could take a picture of him with white people! It was so funny that naturally I handed them my camera to take a picture too! One of our favorite days was taking a hike on an old un-restored section of the Great Wall of China. Our guide, my friend and I set out hiking for about an hour and a half before reaching the wall. We walked for a bit and then sat on top of a crumbling watchtower, ate lunch and enjoyed the incredible view. I remember our guide getting annoyed with us because we were taking so many pictures. We just couldn’t get over how amazing it all was! Then we walked about another hour along the wall and through the brush until we met up with the stopping point for the visitors on the restored section of the wall. The best part of taking the hike on the private section with a guide was having the wall all to ourselves and really seeing what was left of the wall - not just looking at the restored sections. I would highly recommend doing it that way if you go We also took a train ride to Xi’an and took a bike ride along the city wall and visited the Terracotta Warriors site. We were hot and tired after the overnight train, but it was still an amazing experience. Just mind boggling to see and comprehend someone making all of those statues. Some of our daily favorites included the incredibly cheap massages and foot rubs! $15 for an hour massage. I could seriously go live in Beijing just for that alone! And our favorite meal was this hole in the way place that had the cheapest and best fried rice and dumplings! The first feet picture is Kylee and I in Tiananmen Square. They said two people could fit per stone, so we had to check it out. The second picture is during our Great Wall hike. We were laughing at how easily we could have fallen off in some sections. Long way down!
Check out some of my photos from the trip - Beijing Photos My friend Gabe was traveling around South America and in January 2006 I met him in Cartagena, Colombia for a week. It was a place I never would have had on my travel list, but after going there it probably ranks as one of my favorite travel destinations so far! What an amazing and unique city! We stayed in a $20 a night hostel (Hotel El Viajero), where I joke that you could shower (cold water only), use the toilet and sink at the same time it was so tiny! But for some reason, it fit the atmosphere of the trip perfectly and I couldn’t have seen it any other way. It was incredibly hot in Cartagena, so the cold shower at the end of a long day was great! We saw so much in 5 days, it’s hard to remember it all. One of our favorite things to do almost every day was walk on top of the city wall around Cartagena. And then in the evening we would grab a cerveza and enjoy some of the most amazing sunsets I have ever seen over the Pacific Ocean from either the city wall or the Café del Mar Restaurant! We walked around the Plaza Boliver and Plaza Santo Domingo, saw some museums and explored the Castillo San Felipe de Barajas (which was a highlight) in the city. We took a boat ride out to Rosario Island to snorkel and relax on the beach. We also toured the Castle of San Fernando de Bocachica, featured in the ending of the movie Romancing the Stone. On another day we took a taxi up to the Convento La Popa de la Galera. Lastly another highlight was floating in a mud volcano (Volcan de Lodo El Totumo)! Now that was an amazing experience!! After getting out of the mud the village kids would take you to the beach nearby and they literally just dunked you in the water, took off your swimsuit under water and scrubbed all the mud all of you. It was hilarious! Another highlight, which unfortunately I was too nervous to try until the last day was the fruit stands along the street. Oh man - the fresh mango off the cart, fresh squeezed orange juice…I can still taste it! The first feet picture is one of the many sunsets we watched over the Pacific Ocean. Next one is laughing at my lovely flip flop tan. And the third one is relaxing on Rosario Island after our snorkeling tour. I’m writing this blog entry 7 years later, and Colombia still ranks up there as one of my favorite destinations. I would love to return one day…but I have such fond memories from the first trip, I’m not sure if I want to take a chance on ruining any of those! Check out some of my photos from this trip - Cartagena Photos
This was my very first official feet picture! Hanging off the side of a mountain, in Mexico, 800 feet above the ground. We started our weekend with some shorter climbs. Then after camping out, the next day we embarked on our 1,300 ft climb. There were 3 of us on the rope – so it took us 10 ½ hours to complete the roundtrip. The best part was when we were almost back to the bottom the group of locals hanging out were cheering us on and immediately handed us a cerveza when we finished! At one point during our climb the weather got so bad – crazy wind in the valley between the mountains – and raining, we weren’t sure if we should continue. We were about 700 ft up and Gabe and I were below and his friend was climbing up to the next point already. Gabe wanted to turn around, but as much as we yelled he couldn’t hear us. It was funny though when we got back to camp that night, a couple climbing on the mountain face across the valley said they could hear ever word we were saying! So setting nerves aside we made it up the section of climb to meet back up with him. Thankfully after that section the weather cleared and we were able to finish the climb. Getting to the top of the climb at 1,300 ft, signing the book and enjoying the views were pretty amazing! During the climb we had a lot of time to pass just hooked to the mountain waiting our turn to go up or down. So at one point Gabe and I were waiting while our third friend rappelled down, and to pass the time he said a neat photo to take is looking through your feet to the ground far below. Who would have known that picture started the tradition of the traveling feet! On our last day in El Potrero I got to try out some lead climbing on a much shorter single pitch climb! Great way to end an amazing trip! Check out the rest of my rock climbing photos here - El Potrero Photos
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