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d understood i was simply tired and any hesitation to apologize was fear of being rejected when i got out of the shower jm was already in bed i approached her and tapped her to wake her up i apologized for being cranky and told her i was just so tired but i didn t want our trip to be ruined like this she hugged me immediately without saying anything and i felt all the tension i was holding melt away into relief i was glad we could both sleep without that grudge the aguas calientes river ran the entire night and somehow i had strange vivid dreams until my alarm for 4 am sounded the next morning machu picchu we had a long day ahead we were going to machu picchu hiking huayna picchu taking the train and van back to cusco and taking an overnight bus to puno we got up in better spirits that morning we walked the long stairway down back to the train station where the bus station to machu picchu was also situated we tried to bring as less as we could to ensure the least discomfort on the hike tickets to machu picchu get sold out rather quickly i never figured out whether this was because resellers are able to buy all the available tickets to tout for higher prices we had no choice but to do it this way through peruways even if we checked for tickets 4 months ahead jm and i agreed in advance to look for a guide at machu picchu itself rather than doing it in advance it s prohibited to go inside the unesco world heritage site without a local guide which made a lot of sense given the invaluable history contained in the ruins and how people can be quick to abuse and destroy without proper guidance the massive foot traffic from tourism placed areas of machu picchu at risk of sinking we reached the bus stop rather early they implemented a scheduled system to control the amount of people inside machu picchu at every moment this meant you had to follow the correct bus schedule to bring you there there was a guy at the bus stop who introduced himself as elvis offering his tour guide services however he couldn t speak in english so he recommended his friend raul instead jm and i took an instant liking to raul he told us learning spanish is easy by quoting the song despacito pasito a pasito suave suavecito nos vamos pegando poquito a poquito step by step soft little we are getting closer little by little raul was well versed with the history of the quechua people he carried a clearbook filled with colored prints of images he used to talk about the inca civilization from him i learned that the ubiquoutous french brand in decathlon was in fact the correct term to describe the inca people they were ethnic quechua people over time people started referring to them as incas which is supposedly a term to refer to the rulers of the quechua people together we took the bus from aguas calientes to the entrance of machu picchu we waited a few minutes for our slot to be cleared in and we finally stepped in the revered and once unfound secret of the incas the purpose of machu picchu remains unconfirmed to this day raul shared with us that archeologists unearthed bones of people from other areas making it seem that machu picchu may have been somewhat of a university a mecca for learning in the region where master artisans were sent to train and teach according to stories when cusco fell to the spaniards the inca ordered the people to abandon machu picchu so that the city would be left untouched no one was to speak of it and true enough it remained undiscovered for more than 300 years until an american explorer discovered the site the sensation of realizing we were finally at machu picchu was indescribable i was in awe of mankind s capabilities to be granted the chance to witness the beauty from a civilization now gone to imagine how they performed calculations even to my modern mind far advanced to execute such a majestic creation they created meaning and symbolism from a combination of what they made and the nature that surrounded them needless to say it was incredible to be there after going around the site and learning about the different hypotheses researchers have based on what remained standing we bade goodbye to raul since he wasn t going to accompany us up to huayna picchu the trail was well marked you followed the same path up and down often with steep angles as high as 60 jm told me to take my time while we had a train to catch that afternoon we figured we could make it at a tempered pace i definitely took my time thanks to my previous experience of trekking in nepal it honestly didn t feel that bad after all i realized i had scared myself by reading how treacherous the hike up was but since i knew it would be over within 1 2 hours i wasn t that worried in nepal i had to keep going for almost 6 hours a day the thick vegetation also helped you could never really see the top until you reached quite close this meant you didn t get the chance to think of how far you still were all you had to do was deal with the steps right in front of you raul said that climbing up huayna picchu carried spiritual significance and symbolized a spiritual journey when you finally descend down you pass by a tunnel signifying your rebirth the vista on top was well worth the tiring hike from the summit machu picchu looked so small and from there its famed condor shape was visible the condor was one of the 3 sacred animals of the inca civilization along with the jaguar and the snake the final hike also known as the stairs of death was so steep with one wrong step readily putting you at risk of a fatal fall i was so happy to have reached the top with jm at the same time overcoming our misunderstanding the night before and conquering this challenge together though jm is a person of few words i felt she shared the same sentiment when we reached town again we treated ourselves to a hearty meal at one of the restaurants along the stairways of aguas calientes jm ordered trucha trout while i had the popular lomo saltado we lingered for awhile over lunch recounting the precious memory we had just secured together a testament to a friendship lost and found just like the ancient city of machu picchu it was a total of 13 hours of travel from aguas calientes to puno a combination of train van taxi and bus that was right after the hike to huayna picchu without so much as a shower while mostly tiring i loved the dark bus ride you could see the multi tiered lights from the cities showing the mountainous landscape even in the darkness the stars were numerous and visible i had my playlist of choice and i was right where i needed to be to feel the pain in my heart my breakup with gurj was the catalyst to this trip for that i am grateful it was a necessary break to figure things out to gain a new perspective and to find my way back most especially it was a chance to once again feel like anything was possible puno when we reached puno i told jm that i really wanted to take a shower we just had to wait for another 5 hours to be able to check in to our floating accommodation right in the middle of lake titicaca but i just couldn t go on in that state of grime we found a hotel that accepted us for 2 hours just to freshen up when jm and i once again reunited in singapore months later she told me she observed that i was less relaxed than before yeah i have more non negotiables now like that time i wanted to take a shower at puno i told her in agreement puno was a quiet town we wanted to end here to experience the uros culture that remains alive at lake titicaca using dried totora reeds that grow in the lake they weave man made floating islands where they have houses shops schools and even churches in the same way they make reed boats the yellow from the dried reeds combined with other colors provide a vibrant pop of color to the deep blue misty lake our agenda here was just to relax before we caught our flight back to us jm to return to her waiting phd and i to visit family and a friend we booked an accommodation on the lake itself through solar panels and a water filtration system they are able to provide a shower and a toilet our room had glass panels that made the room feel like an oven during the day i had to protect my läderach chocolate from melting by putting it outside where the cold wind chilled us enough to necessitate a blanket i struggled regulating my temperature shifting between indoors and outdoors constantly throughout the day because it was too hot inside and too cold outside the landscape was a beauty to behold you could see bolivia from a distance though that was part of our original ola plan i had to forego it to take this rare chance to see my family in the other half of the globe the night at lake titicaca was cold but we had enough layers to keep us comfortable vidal our host supplied us with a generous amount of blankets together with his family they prepared a simple yet delicious dinner that evening jm even remarked that was her favorite meal from the entire trip in the morning we left to transfer to a hotel in the mainland and just while away our remaining time in peru we both flew back to cusco before finally separating we had a long layover so jm and i took advantage of it by dining at a fancy nikkei peruvian japanese fusion cuisine restaurant we looked out of place as hell but we didn t care because we paid the bill go to a salon and buy some alfajores we couldn t believe it was ending just as we couldn t believe when it began i was grateful for jm who was patient with me throughout the trip i asked her at one point why she bought a large gallon of water for us when we were at cusco when i observed she barely drank water from her bottle she told me that she noticed i drank a lot of water which was true i consumed more than a liter of water every day since she was the one who carried that heavy water bottle for us it made me realize how she accommodated me in more ways than i saw there is another part of this trip of which i wished to write about hopefully another time right before i boarded my flight from la to singapore i accepted the job offer the next day i was back at work and submitted my resignation this is partly why it took 6 months for me to write down this entire trip unfortunately to the detriment of the finer details and with that the quality of what i have written nevertheless i hope i have done some justice to this trip worth commemorating malecon de miraflores barranco ceviche cusco plaza de armas at cusco cold bread at san pedro market perro mi favorito view from the atv to moray maras salt mines with dr christian agua de florida pisac my dream christmas tree at the pisac market cuy with rolando abel with his piccolo palcoyo a brief moment of sunshine and some editing abel with the family ollantaytambo david rebecca s pa rebecca jm the wrong entrance side for pinkuylluna machu picchu raul pointing up towards the peak of huayna picchu our room at lake titicaca nowadays the uros people incorporate plastic into the totora reeds to make them last longer my peruvian tan nikkei sushi to end the trip gracias pacha mama christineasuncion travel uncategorized leave a comment october 27 2024 october 29 2024 36 it s my first time to be assigned at a far end of this terminal it s so deep in that there is no toilet until quarter of a kilometer later the airport is modestly barren so i am able to find a quiet area for myself i have a clear view of planes consecutively taking off behemoths of aluminium defying a fundamental force of nature to which part of the world are these people off to i wonder to a holiday or to a burial to sample novel cuisines or to be confined in a new office when the time of my departure draws close i walk to my gate to be among my fellow passengers there is a duo that talks so loudly i can clearly understand what they re saying from a distance to my misfortune they sat right across the aisle from me when we boarded thankfully the ambient noise while flying was so loud there were a few moments when i could barely make out their words from an arm s length in a few hours i would be with my family reunited for a short celebration of my 36th year typing that out is slightly horrifying it s a number i don t draw any significance from nor do i want to associate it to myself there is a great amount of restraint required from us to conduct acceptably sane lives i thought about this on the plane s final descent as i was strapped in a cramped budget airlines for nearly four hours the idea of unstrapping my seatbelt and jumping around to shake off the discomfort seemed bizzarely liberating considering i had been required to sit still for several hours would that really have been crazy to do or is it crazier to subject ourselves willingly to immobility there are several questions that circle in my head like vultures they re waiting for answers in some world the answers sound absolutely logical and sane and in another it sounds like the death of something commitment over freedom responsibility over sovereignty money over happiness on a separate note there is a half finished blog about my wonderful trip in peru that is waiting to be finished most weekends there is something else that needs to be done or i am just not perfectly inspired to continue writing so it sits there whether the ideas are marinating to perfection or going stale into triteness remains to be seen however i would be remiss to skip recounting that despite these brackish moments of adulthood connections to certain people have kept me afloat while i have lost a few people in the process of ageing i have gained both renewed and new connections friendships and kinships that continue to light the fire of purpose in me people who make me feel my presence and words mean something to them i am so grateful christineasuncion blog entries 3 comments september 27 2024 september 30 2024 feelings what would it take to take you away you are often the bane of my existence the wretch that keeps me up at night clutching at my chest and trying your best to strangle me with your grip the fellow prisoner that pulls on my ankles when i m already about to walk into freedom the gag that shuts me up and keeps me small and despicable the darkness that i constantly need to run away from what have you given me in return heavy words no one will read sunken eyes carved out from tears sometimes i wish to no longer feel nothing would matter and i will be free one day death we will meet please be kind and don t let these feelings in christineasuncion blog entries prose poetry leave a comment june 6 2024 june 6 2024 success resounding triumphs are so often celebrated a rescue a new baby straight as a race won keys to a new house a coveted title if not for experiencing profound darkness i would have not recognized the victory in a silent moment persistent doubts dissolving a thought reprocessed a genuine prayer of gratitude true acceptance solidified resolve a smile given to a stranger a renewed desire to live...