peru (1 of n?)
Sep. 28th, 2005 09:26 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jaeclecticSo here I am, back from Peru, and it's hard to know where to even begin to talk about the experience. Sensory overload for days on end, extreme physical stress, and intense emotions.
The people in my trekking group were amazingly wonderful. Ranging in age from (just turned) 40 to (going on) 60, in height from 4 foot 10-1/2 inches to 6 foot 4, in profession from nurse to actor to paralegal to artist, we all sweated and laughed and gasped for breath together. The largest number were from southern CA, plus an extremely charming couple currently based in North Carolina but with voices resonant of their NY roots, and one noteworthy character from Alabama. I always find it mysterious and hard to predict which new friendships will last, and particularly when you meet people travelling, often times the connection doesn't really take -- but I think (and hope) I really will stay in touch with a good percentage of these people.
High altitude is a force to be reckoned with. You just don't really appreciate the oxygen content of air until it goes down. Way down.
Honestly, I have so much bubbling in my brain, incidents keep popping up but I can't describe them without context. I think what I need to do is try to reconstruct day by day, or perhaps theme by theme. Or just give up. Maybe downloading photos will help me organize my thoughts...
Anyway, it was great. Amazing. Fantabulous. Even the really hard parts.
Now I'm home, with one day to decompress, unpack, and attack a mountain of laundry. Oh how I wish I had more than one.
The people in my trekking group were amazingly wonderful. Ranging in age from (just turned) 40 to (going on) 60, in height from 4 foot 10-1/2 inches to 6 foot 4, in profession from nurse to actor to paralegal to artist, we all sweated and laughed and gasped for breath together. The largest number were from southern CA, plus an extremely charming couple currently based in North Carolina but with voices resonant of their NY roots, and one noteworthy character from Alabama. I always find it mysterious and hard to predict which new friendships will last, and particularly when you meet people travelling, often times the connection doesn't really take -- but I think (and hope) I really will stay in touch with a good percentage of these people.
High altitude is a force to be reckoned with. You just don't really appreciate the oxygen content of air until it goes down. Way down.
Honestly, I have so much bubbling in my brain, incidents keep popping up but I can't describe them without context. I think what I need to do is try to reconstruct day by day, or perhaps theme by theme. Or just give up. Maybe downloading photos will help me organize my thoughts...
Anyway, it was great. Amazing. Fantabulous. Even the really hard parts.
Now I'm home, with one day to decompress, unpack, and attack a mountain of laundry. Oh how I wish I had more than one.