I’m writing this at 6:06 pm on August 15, 2016 and I’m deep in the Amazon rainforest.
I’m completely disconnected from the rest of the world, no wifi, no electricity (I’m typing this quickly to conserve battery power) and although I’m in a place where danger is potentially lurking around every corner, I can finally feel myself relax.
I’ve spent the last 10 days in a constant state of packing, unpacking, re-packing, checking and double checking the status of my camera batteries. I’ve been washing my dirty, sweaty, stinky clothes in the small sink of the shared bathroom at hostels and hoping they will air dry in time to pack them up the next morning. I’ve complained to myself about the weak wifi connections and the questionable sheets on my beds. I’ve wandered around aimlessly in three completely different cities not knowing anyone. I’ve smiled at strangers hoping for any form of friendly reciprocation yet finding none. That is, except for the long-held stares from local men on the street that make me wish I wasn’t walking alone.
It's all worth it because right now I’m in a place where not many have traveled and where the wildlife vastly outnumbers the humans.
I’m in a place where I’ll experience raw Peru.
No more loud, honking traffic, no more dusty roads and pollution, no more lines of tourists with Indiana Jones gear and selfie sticks, no more taxi drivers yelling “Lady, taxi!” trying to entice my business.
Now, all I will hear as I drift off to sleep tonight are the buzzing cicadas, the whistling night birds and the chirping crickets.
Yesterday I traveled all day after having spent two days visiting the gorgeous Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu and Aguas Calientes with some great people who are now new friends. After experiencing the stunning views of the Andes for two days I returned to Cusco and immediately sought a tour agency that would take me deep into the Amazon. Lucky for me I found one that was set to leave the very next day at 6 am.
At this point I’ve realized that this is the busiest trip I’ve ever taken. Every day so far I’ve been traveling somewhere. You probably don’t know this about me, but I’m the type of person who needs time to adjust to situations, I don’t know why but sometimes I feel like I just need a minute to figure out how everything works and how I can get things done. That has not been the case for this trip. No, this time I just threw my apprehension to the wind and haphazardly booked flights, bus trips, train rides and tours back to back.
That’s how I went from Florida to Lima to Huaycan to Cusco to Aguas Calientes, back to Cusco and now I'm not even sure where exactly I am. All I know is that I'm sitting on a bed encased in a mosquito net wondering what the heck kind of animal is making the whirring clicking and whistle sound.
I went into the bathroom that’s about 100 feet from my bunk and as I lifted the lid of the toilet seat something launched itself from the seat and landed on the bathroom door in front of me. My first thought was,
“Ok Heidi, do not scream, it probably won’t kill me… well I am in the Amazon so it could kill me but let’s not think about that right now.”
I let out a big sigh of relief when I see that it was a really adorable frog just trying to blend in. I like frogs, frogs are cute.
I’m back in my room and there’s a bead of sweat running down my neck from behind my ear. It's dark now and I hear the leaves outside rustle from a shy breeze. I’m silently cheering for it to fight its way through the screened window and envelop my face for a few seconds of bliss.
It’s been an intensely hot and humid day. I’ve spent the last 12 hours in a small bus driving on dusty gravel mountain roads with sharp switchback turns. I've had my breath taken away from the panoramic views of the mountains. I've also had my breath taken away from the sharp realization of the sheer drop off only a couple feet away from the edge of the road we're driving on. The road is wide enough for two cars to pass each other as long as one sees the other coming and has time to pull over to let them pass. This is why the driver blasts his horn before each turn- to give a warning that he's coming 'round the bend. Eventually we climb to a high enough elevation to be above the clouds. This only adds to the suspense since now visibility is at a minimum. Even though I've got a healthy case of stress sweat happening by the end of this trip, I'm glad I took a bus. I was able to fully take in the beauty of Peru's landscape and I definitely recommend it for anyone who wants to travel through the mountains of Peru.
