Sharry Miller

Happy Day

A plain white envelope with handwritten addresses. My name in black ink brought a little smile to my lips. Real mail, not bills or advertisements or junk, always makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up with a pleasurable tingle. Even better was seeing my friend Maureen's name in the return address. My hands were full of envelopes, but I was able to press the envelope between my fingertips, an action that... Read more →

Peru - Random Observations

Travel patiently: It takes time to understand others, especially when there are barriers of language and custom; keep flexible and adaptable to all situations. As I've written these posts about my trip to Peru and my adventures in the Andes, I found it impossible to include everything I wanted to. Either I wouldn't think of some event or detail at the time I was writing about a given day, or I'd think I'd been blathering... Read more →

Peru - Machu Picchu!

Travel with the spirit of a world citizen: You'll discover that people are basically much the same the world around. Be an ambassabor of good will to all people. October 14, 2013 I'm sorry, but there is really no way I can describe the scope and grandeur of Machu Picchu, nor even begin to attempt to identify or explain the bits and pieces of it. I'm quite confident, as well, that you don't really want... Read more →

Peru - Salkantay Trek, Day 6

Travel with imagination: As the Old Spanish proverb puts it - "He who would bring home the wealth of the Indies must carry the wealth of the Indies with him." October 13, 2013 It was inevitable. After two weeks of nice weather (we just won't count those little episodes of hail), it had to rain on us today. No, not rain. Pour. In and of itself, this was unpleasant, but not a big deal. I... Read more →

Peru - Salkantay Trek, Day 5

Travel lightly: you are not traveling for people to see you! October 12, 2013 In my journal, I called today "a botanist's dream day." For me, it was a second day poking along at the back of the pack, stopping as the spirit moved me to take photos of vast vistas and intimate plant forms. It seemed as if entire gardens grew in the elbows of the trees. As we descended lower, vines began hanging... Read more →

Peru - Salkantay Trek, Day 4

Travel with an open mind: leave your prejudices at home. October 11, 2013 What goes up must come down. After the yesterday's climb to 15,000+ feet, we spent this day going downhill, 3,550 feet down. My knees screamed. But I don't want to get ahead of myself. Before we started our downhill trek, we visited the home of a local woman who lived with her husband very near Wayra Lodge. Maria had spent her whole... Read more →

Peru - Salkantay Trek, Day 3

Travel slowly: Jet planes are for getting places, not seeing places; take time to absorb the beauty and inspiration of a mountain or cathedral. October 10, 2013 Step. Breathe. Step. Breathe. Step. Breathe. I had no choice but to travel slowly. Today was the day that had loomed large in my imagination, the day I had worked hard all summer to be able to defeat. This was the day we were to climb over Salkantay... Read more →

Peru - Salkantay Trek Day 2, Hike to Humantay Lake

Travel humbly: Visit people and places with reverence and respect for their traditions and ways of life. October 9, 2013 What could be wrong when you wake up to the view above? Absolutely nothing. And with a much-anticipated day of hiking in the mountains ahead of us, life in Peru was good. One of the first things I saw through my condensation-clouded window in the morning was a small herd of llamas grazing on the... Read more →

Peru - Salkantay Trek, Day 1

Travel with curiosity: It is not how far you go, but how deeply you go that mines the gold of experience. Thoreau wrote a big book about tiny Walden Pond. October 8, 2013 Finally, we got to start hiking! First, however, we had to travel to our starting point via more ruins and a bug-infested coffee stop. Before that, we met Helen, the second Mountain Lodges of Peru guide who would be with us for... Read more →

Peru - Pisaq, Ollantaytambo

Travel hopefully: "To travel hopefully," wrote Robert Louis Stevenson, "is better than to arrive." October 7, 2013 Another day of being tourists in order to continue acclimating to the altitude. I was beginning to get impatient to get started with the Salkantay Trail trek, but curiosity and fascination with the area kept me satisfied for another day. It didn't hurt that every site we visited required climbing up, up, up so I felt like I... Read more →