Speaker 1: Hello everybody, and welcome to episode three of The Dean Lounge.
Speaker 2: I'm thinking like Amex Lounge, Dream Lounge.
Speaker 1: Yeah, the Centurion Lounge, the Chase Lounge, Delta Lounge, the
Speaker 1: Delta Lounge.
Speaker 2: How many lounges have you been to?
Speaker 1: Just hanging out in the Dean Lounge. Mostly, as you've
Speaker 1: noticed by the angelic voice on the other side of
Speaker 1: this room, Kaylin has returned from the DMV and she
Speaker 1: is now gracing us with her presence on this episode
Speaker 1: of The Dean Lounge. I was lamenting on the last episode,
Speaker 1: just before you returned, about that name and about how
Speaker 1: I need to find a new name for this episode
Speaker 1: for this part. I don't. I hate it. I hate
Speaker 1: it so much, and I know I'm the one that
Speaker 1: thought of it, so I feel comfortable saying that I
Speaker 1: absolutely hate it. I was going to bed last night
Speaker 1: and I was trying to think of things that I
Speaker 1: could change it to. By any deans necessary, that's not
Speaker 1: really traveling.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's like you're getting to any destination.
Speaker 1: A Dean's to an end.
Speaker 2: How is that travel exactly?
Speaker 1: It's not. But I'm trying to imagine like a cool
Speaker 1: play on words that also is traveling the Dean Lounge
Speaker 1: is okay, I'll give you like a five six out
Speaker 1: of ten, maybe like a five and a half out
Speaker 1: of nine.
Speaker 2: No, we don't do half numbers here anyways.
Speaker 1: So that's where we're at with the Dean Lounge. If
Speaker 1: you haven't listened last week's episode, go ahead and listen
Speaker 1: to that, because I was kind of the precursor into
Speaker 1: this one. This episode, we're gonna be talking about that
Speaker 1: same trip that I was on, but just a different destination.
Speaker 1: And I feel like they both kind of warrant separate
Speaker 1: episodes because they're both pretty big aspects of that whole
Speaker 1: trip as a whole. This week on The Dean Lounge,
Speaker 1: we're taking a trip south of the border. And then
Speaker 1: we're taking a trip south of that border. Oh wow,
Speaker 1: we're going to Peru. Ooh, and just like in Peru,
Speaker 1: we're going to be drinking some all back.
Speaker 2: I was wondering why you bought that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, I got this for us to drink for
Speaker 1: the Argentina episode, but you weren't here, obviously, and so
Speaker 1: I saved it for this. Actually, I don't know what
Speaker 1: Peruvians drink. I'm gonna let the microphone hear this.
Speaker 2: Little ASMR.
Speaker 1: There you go.
Speaker 2: Thank you so much.
Speaker 1: Well, look at the light on the mountains behind you.
Speaker 2: By the way, Dean Lounge has some great views.
Speaker 1: Great views, free drinks.
Speaker 2: What could you just like the MX Lounge?
Speaker 1: That's right, what could you just like about that?
Speaker 2: Cheers cheers to Peru drinking Argentinian wine.
Speaker 1: Well, I don't know if I mean. Malbick might also
Speaker 1: be Peruvian, although this was made in Mendoz, Argentina, so
Speaker 1: it would have been more perfect for the other episode.
Speaker 2: I'm so sorry I had to go to the DMV, but.
Speaker 1: I'm not going to drink a glass of Malbeck by myself,
Speaker 1: especially or a quarter at ten in the morning.
Speaker 2: So this is great.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so we're keeping it on the same continent at least.
Speaker 1: But yeah, so, as I mentioned in the last episode,
Speaker 1: after the w track in Patagonia, I flew up to Cusco, Peru,
Speaker 1: And I haven't really done much prep for this, so
Speaker 1: I can't give you any specifics. But it was early December,
Speaker 1: I know that, in twenty eighteen, and originally what I
Speaker 1: wanted to do is just visit Machu Picchu. Have you
Speaker 1: heard me talk about this at all? I want to know,
Speaker 1: because it's nice to know if you're asking questions genuinely
Speaker 1: or if you're asking questions just to kind of keep
Speaker 1: the conversation going, like.
Speaker 2: A certain podcast where yeah yeah, where the co hosts
Speaker 2: just ask silly questions.
Speaker 1: Have you heard me talking much about Peru?
Speaker 2: No? Okay, no I haven't. I mean, I know you
Speaker 2: said it changed your life.
Speaker 1: That was the w track that changed my life. But
Speaker 1: this is an extension of that same trip. So this
Speaker 1: one had less of an impact on the life changing aspect,
Speaker 1: but it was still an amazing trip.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I haven't heard you say much about it.
Speaker 1: Great, let's keep that energy going. Yeah. So I flew
Speaker 1: from Portinatalis back to Santiago, and then from Santiago, I
Speaker 1: took up a flight from there to Cusco, which is
Speaker 1: where I would imagine ninety five percent of people that
Speaker 1: visit Machu Picchu fly into. Because it's still kind of
Speaker 1: a bit far. It's got I can't remember. It was
Speaker 1: like an hour or so on a train and then
Speaker 1: like a thirty or forty five minute cab. But so,
Speaker 1: what I was doing when I was planning this trip
Speaker 1: was I was talking to my good friend Ben Higgins,
Speaker 1: who had been to Peru randomly. I didn't even know this,
Speaker 1: and he said that he had hiked the Inca Trail many,
Speaker 1: many years ago, and I was like, oh, my gosh,
Speaker 1: I'm going to Machu Picchu. It's been on my bucket list,
Speaker 1: like it's on everyone's bucket list. Obviously it's a modern
Speaker 1: mart Well, it's not a modern marvel. What would that be?
Speaker 1: A a historical marvel? Sure, we'll call it that. And
Speaker 1: I was like, I'm going there. I've always wanted to
Speaker 1: see it, you know, I've heard incredible things and it's
Speaker 1: something I've only seen in photographs, so I would love
Speaker 1: to see it with my own eyes. And when I
Speaker 1: was telling him that, he was like, well, have you
Speaker 1: ever considered doing the Inca Trail? And at the time,
Speaker 1: I was willfully uninformed, and I said, I've never even
Speaker 1: I heard of this Inca Trail before.
Speaker 2: I'm surprised by that.
Speaker 1: Well, this is a long time ago. This is five
Speaker 1: years and two months ago, So right before we started dating,
Speaker 1: sixty two years sixty two months ago? Was it right before?
Speaker 1: It wasn't right before, but it was probably about six
Speaker 1: months before, seven months before.
Speaker 2: It's tracks because we're coming up on five years, okay.
Speaker 1: Okay, and and so he was like, I did this
Speaker 1: thing called the Inca Trail. It's a I'm going to
Speaker 1: get this wrong kind of like I did in the
Speaker 1: last episode. It's a four day hike, starting in Peru
Speaker 1: obviously and ending at the ending at Machu Picchu. And
Speaker 1: he just raved about it. He talked about how he
Speaker 1: had like a spiritual experience on it, and just the
Speaker 1: whole endeavor itself was amazing, like he was really proud
Speaker 1: of himself for having done it. And so then, obviously, naturally,
Speaker 1: I went online and looked up what it would take
Speaker 1: to go do the Inca Trail, and I found a
Speaker 1: tour company. I'm pretty sure don't quote me on this,
Speaker 1: but I'm almost positive that you have to have a
Speaker 1: tour guide for the Inca Trail.
Speaker 2: I was just about to ask if you did it
Speaker 2: by yourself.
Speaker 1: Unfortunately, I don't think they'll let you do it by yourself,
Speaker 1: but there probably are workarounds. There is another trail called
Speaker 1: the Salcona. I think that is not the Inca Trail,
Speaker 1: but it still pops you out in Machu Pichu and
Speaker 1: it's a little bit longer, a little bit further but
Speaker 1: that one, I don't think you need a guide for it,
Speaker 1: but I'm almost positive on the in Co trail you
Speaker 1: need a guide because it's all sacred lands. And so
Speaker 1: he was telling me about his experience about how he's
Speaker 1: up there for four days, and I think even though
Speaker 1: he had a guide, he like was he's either by
Speaker 1: himself or with a friend, and he just said it
Speaker 1: was like the concept of being isolated and alone and
Speaker 1: doing all that stuff was amazing for him. So he
Speaker 1: raved about it. I then got online and started doing
Speaker 1: some research, and I found a tour company relatively affordable.
Speaker 1: I'm curious what you think a guided trip to the
Speaker 1: to the Machu Picchi through the Inca trail it would cost,
Speaker 1: because I was surprised by the.
Speaker 2: Price today or five years ago.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I guess it's probably a little bit more expensive today.
Speaker 2: Let's go today, I would say fifteen hundred.
Speaker 1: Oh what would you say five years ago? Thirteen hundred, Yeah,
Speaker 1: you're pretty good. It was it was like ten fifty,
Speaker 1: like so one thousand dollars and a thousand and fifty dollars,
Speaker 1: which I was surprised by. They you know, they carry
Speaker 1: your food, they bring your tents, they feed you. They
Speaker 1: they inform you, they like set up your bed and everything.
Speaker 2: It's pretty nice.
Speaker 1: So thousand dollars for four days, that's like staying in
Speaker 1: a nice hotel for two hundred and fifty bucks a night. Yeah,
Speaker 1: which I guess now that I said out loud, is
Speaker 1: kind of expensive. But you're getting a big experience out
Speaker 1: of this. So I looked it up, I coordinated everything
Speaker 1: and got it all booked, and then after Patagonia, I
Speaker 1: flew up and I think I spent like one day
Speaker 1: in Cusco. Cousco itself is an incredible city. It's very
Speaker 1: hilly and it's got cobblestones everywhere, and I did slip
Speaker 1: on these like steep cobblestone roads a couple of times
Speaker 1: and kind of hurt myself. I think I like busted
Speaker 1: open my toe once, like the right before even going
Speaker 1: on the Inca trail, which was obviously a bit of
Speaker 1: a bummer. But I the guy the company comes and
Speaker 1: picks me up, takes me to the trailhead, which I
Speaker 1: could not even come close to telling you where it is,
Speaker 1: but it was probably about an hour drive from Cusco,
Speaker 1: and I get introduced to the guide obviously, and then
Speaker 1: there's one other guy, this younger German boy, guy young
Speaker 1: man is hiking with me, and he was really cool.
Speaker 1: It was one of those situations where I was expecting
Speaker 1: it to be a group of like ten of us,
Speaker 1: but it was literally just us three the guide, me
Speaker 1: and him, and then the shurpas, which were pretty essential.
Speaker 1: They're pretty amazing. They're so strong and so fast. They
Speaker 1: carry all your stuff for you, Like if you were
Speaker 1: to go on a hike, that's what you would want
Speaker 1: to do.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, well you're my shirpa.
Speaker 1: I'm your shirpa, but I am no shrp. But I
Speaker 1: can't hold a candle to these guys. They're pretty impressive physically.
Speaker 1: So we get there and start hiking. This was also
Speaker 1: the first trip that I bought a camera for. I
Speaker 1: bought a Nikon D thirty five hundred for four hundred
Speaker 1: dollars from Best Buy. Use the kit lenses, which, if
Speaker 1: you word ask me nowadays, never use the kit lenses.
Speaker 1: They are the biggest piece of rubbish you could possibly get.
Speaker 1: And I was shooting an auto mode, I think, or
Speaker 1: I was like just learning how to use manual mode,
Speaker 1: but I didn't know well enough, so I would just
Speaker 1: revert back to going to auto just because that's I
Speaker 1: wanted to pretend like I knew what I was doing
Speaker 1: by using a nice camera even though I was only
Speaker 1: using an automode.
Speaker 2: What inspired you to buy the camera? You just want
Speaker 2: to take photos on the incato.
Speaker 1: I think my inspiration for the camera was I wanted
Speaker 1: to if you listen to the last episode, which obviously
Speaker 1: you haven't, unfortunately for.
Speaker 2: You hasn't even hurd.
Speaker 1: I knew that I wanted to be I knew that
Speaker 1: I wanted to take traveling seriously and travel to a
Speaker 1: lot of new places, and I knew that I would
Speaker 1: regret not getting nice photos, and so I was like,
Speaker 1: I need to get a camera and figure out how
Speaker 1: to use this thing.
Speaker 2: Do you ever look back on those photos.
Speaker 1: All the time and they're awful?
Speaker 2: But can't you can still appreciate it.
Speaker 1: At the same time, too, though, I looked back on
Speaker 1: photos from another trip that I did, and I was like,
Speaker 1: these photos are so much better than the photos I
Speaker 1: take now. It's so weird how I feel like I've
Speaker 1: regressed a lot in terms of like my photography ability.
Speaker 2: I totally disagree. But we did also talk about moving
Speaker 2: to Colorado and how that's going to spark our creativity
Speaker 2: a bit more.
Speaker 1: I sure hope. So we haven't really been taken many
Speaker 1: pictures while we've been here though, which just moved. That's true,
Speaker 1: we're still moving in. But yeah, that's why I got
Speaker 1: into photography, And honestly, if you're thinking about getting into photography,
Speaker 1: don't do it. It's an expensive hobby.
Speaker 2: Don't discourage people. But it's also a very fun hobby.
Speaker 2: You can buy lenses used, you can buy cameras used.
Speaker 1: It's a money pit, and if.
Speaker 2: People aren't wanting to switch, like say someone's committed to
Speaker 2: Nikon or Canon and they want to switch to Sony,
Speaker 2: you could get lucky with everyone selling their gear. Just
Speaker 2: have to hold out for that.
Speaker 1: Buying used is definitely the way to go. I think
Speaker 1: I sold my last camera for like half of what
Speaker 1: it would have been brand new, So definitely look for
Speaker 1: those deals if you're interested in getting into it. So
Speaker 1: I brought my camera up to the Inca Trail and
Speaker 1: I remember walking through these like big val and there's
Speaker 1: like these old ink and ruins and they were just
Speaker 1: like set in the most picturesque valley I've ever seen
Speaker 1: in my entire life, and it's just so cool because
Speaker 1: you would literally stop and explore these ruins for you know,
Speaker 1: thirty forty five to sixty minutes and then just carry
Speaker 1: on and then in an hour later you'd see another one,
Speaker 1: and then an hour later you'd see another one, and
Speaker 1: it was it was cool. I don't think I had
Speaker 1: the same type of spiritual experience that Ben said that
Speaker 1: he had, but I was also kind of like my
Speaker 1: dopamine levels were already kind of spiked from the trip
Speaker 1: that I had just went on, so maybe that's why.
Speaker 1: But yeah, so that was it. And then, like I said,
Speaker 1: this tour company, as I'm sure most tour companies are
Speaker 1: going to, they feed you every night, every morning, and
Speaker 1: they give you lunch, and it's just so nice to
Speaker 1: don't have to worry about any of that stuff. Like
Speaker 1: kind of similar to the w Track, where they you
Speaker 1: would go to like a refugeo and the would look
Speaker 1: free there, but this way it's like kind of like
Speaker 1: a traveling circus with you. There's probably like five porters
Speaker 1: or something like that, and they'll just be like, all right,
Speaker 1: we're setting up here, and then they two hours later,
Speaker 1: an hour, an hour later, you're eating some delicious soup.
Speaker 2: And eating some Pruvian food and porters different.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I would say porters. I think it all just
Speaker 1: depends on geography. I think Shirpas are like maybe more Asian,
Speaker 1: and porters are more North and South American. If I
Speaker 1: were to guess, all fact check you Asian, African is
Speaker 1: a Shirpa. No, I don't even I don't want to
Speaker 1: say Africa, but mostly Asian. Like if you were to
Speaker 1: go to Nepaul, it's okay, you don't eat easy your phone,
Speaker 1: if you were to go to Nepal. If you were
Speaker 1: to go to Nepal and do everest, you would have
Speaker 1: a shirt, but you wouldn't have a porter. But if
Speaker 1: you were to say porter, you wouldn't be wrong. You
Speaker 1: would just I think it's just a dialect thing, but
Speaker 1: I could be wrong, who knows. I went back in
Speaker 1: fact check some of the things I was saying on
Speaker 1: the last podcast, and I got a lot of things
Speaker 1: wrong after listening back to it. So it's kind of
Speaker 1: embarrassed by that. But but yeah, there was one day there.
Speaker 1: The hiking is pretty easy. There were people of all
Speaker 1: shapes and sizes on the hike, which was cool to.
Speaker 2: See how many miles, is it.
Speaker 1: I want to say it was like thirty five, okay,
Speaker 1: could be it for four days. One of the things Where'm
Speaker 1: going to FactCheck and be like, oh, it's actually twenty. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, it's not a lot, it's less than it's
Speaker 1: less than you think. But like I said, there are
Speaker 1: people of all shapes and sizes, people of all speeds.
Speaker 1: So like while we weren't hiking with these people, you
Speaker 1: would kind of all camp in the same area, and
Speaker 1: then the next campsite would also be kind of in
Speaker 1: the same area. So you would occasionally see the same
Speaker 1: person over the course of a few days and not
Speaker 1: really interact with them much other than like the friendly nod.
Speaker 1: But there was one person in particular I remember, who's very,
Speaker 1: very slow, and you could tell that she was like
Speaker 1: struggling a lot with it. But what was cool was
Speaker 1: by the end of the trip in Machu Picchu, I
Speaker 1: sell her again in Machu Picchu. So it's like it's
Speaker 1: just very clear that you could you don't have to.
Speaker 1: There are certain limitations again obviously, but like you can
Speaker 1: make it just it just you're going to take a
Speaker 1: little bit longer, but your your pace doesn't really matter,
Speaker 1: as long as you make it.
Speaker 2: To the end.
Speaker 1: Goal. I remember on the second day is the second
Speaker 1: day was the hardest day. I think there's like the
Speaker 1: most of her I can't remember the name of this
Speaker 1: this section of the trail, but it's pretty steep and
Speaker 1: pretty long, and I like hustled up to the time
Speaker 1: of this pass that you have to cross over and
Speaker 1: then descend on the other side. And I really wanted
Speaker 1: to fly my drone. And this was back before I
Speaker 1: knew anything about drones and like where you can fly them,
Speaker 1: where you can't fly them, what's legal, what's not legal.
Speaker 1: And I don't think it was technically illegal to have
Speaker 1: flown my drone, but it was definitely frowned upon, like
Speaker 1: it's a sacred valley and the last thing they want
Speaker 1: is people like infecting it with noise and all that stuff.
Speaker 1: So I jumped over the side and I kind of
Speaker 1: hid myself in the bushes and I like got out
Speaker 1: my drone and I was about to fly it. And
Speaker 1: not like a marshall, like a ranger. Oh no, they
Speaker 1: didn't actually see me. Someone else, like another I think
Speaker 1: it was another guide, was like you definitely should not
Speaker 1: fly that there. I look it for like thirty seconds,
Speaker 1: put it back to my bag, and you know, gracefully
Speaker 1: left and understood. And then the next morning I woke
Speaker 1: up to rangers shaking my tent, like asking if I
Speaker 1: was flying a drone, and of course I said yes,
Speaker 1: and they're like, delete all of the footage right now,
Speaker 1: like you have to delete all the footage, like it
Speaker 1: was a big no no. So if you're thinking about
Speaker 1: flying your drone, they've even cracked down more.
Speaker 2: To say, this is five years ago. I bet now
Speaker 2: it's way harsher.
Speaker 1: Yeah, they've definitely, at least in North America, I imagine
Speaker 1: it's got to be the same elsewhere too. They've cracked
Speaker 1: down quite a bit more with the drone laws. So
Speaker 1: just be very aware of that. You can't fire a
Speaker 1: drone in every country, Like we just went to Tanzania
Speaker 1: couldn't even bring the drone, So just keep that in
Speaker 1: mind when you're doing that. But then on the last
Speaker 1: day when you're into Machu Picchu, you what you do
Speaker 1: is everyone lines up on at this gate right before
Speaker 1: Machu like mile four miles right before Machu Pichu, and
Speaker 1: they can't open the gate until a certain time in
Speaker 1: the morning. And we me and my German friend who
Speaker 1: I was hiking with, and the guide obviously he was asking.
Speaker 1: He's like, yeah, like it's kind of up to you guys. Tomorrow.
Speaker 1: You can wander in whatever time we want, or we
Speaker 1: can be the first ones into Machu Pichu. And both
Speaker 1: of us were like excited and eager, and so we're like,
Speaker 1: we have to be the first ones in there. So
Speaker 1: he said, Okay, we're gonna wake up at three. The
Speaker 1: gate opens at five. We'll get to the gate at
Speaker 1: like three point thirty and just wait for an hour
Speaker 1: and a half for them to open it and we'll
Speaker 1: be the first in line. So we wake up, we
Speaker 1: go to the gate, and we are fortunately the first
Speaker 1: in line, but like within twenty minutes, it was probably
Speaker 1: one hundred people behind us. So thankfully we got there
Speaker 1: when we did. They opened the gate at five on
Speaker 1: the dot, and we like sprinted the next four We
Speaker 1: didn't sprint, but we were at least jogging for half
Speaker 1: of it, which was hard for me because I'm not
Speaker 1: an endurance guy. So jogged for the last four miles
Speaker 1: and got into Machu Pichu as the sun was rising
Speaker 1: and there wasn't a soul in the park and it
Speaker 1: was the most incredible thing because normally when you see
Speaker 1: Machu Pichu and immediately following like once they opened the
Speaker 1: main gates too, it just is crowded and so packed,
Speaker 1: people everywhere bumping shoulders. But we had it all to
Speaker 1: ourselves for like thirty minutes, which was really cool. And
Speaker 1: if you have the chance to get there and do
Speaker 1: the contrail, I highly suggest you try and do something
Speaker 1: similar because that's a that's an experience that you can't
Speaker 1: really replicate, Like you can go visit Machu Pichu, but
Speaker 1: being there alone is something that you kind of have
Speaker 1: to work for and earn or somehow get incredibly lucky,
Speaker 1: I guess. So if you're thinking about going, consider doing that.
Speaker 1: It's definitely worth it. There's another thing, wal Quina Piachu
Speaker 1: or something right next door to that you can like
Speaker 1: elect a hike if you want to. Did that, and
Speaker 1: that's really cool too because it brings you up an
Speaker 1: adjacent peak and you can look down into Machu Pichu
Speaker 1: and just kind of see it from a different anglet
Speaker 1: you're not really used to seeing. So that's my advice
Speaker 1: with Machu Pichu afterwards, I went into the town I
Speaker 1: think it's called Machu Pichu City, like literally right at
Speaker 1: the base of Machu Picchu. I've said Machu Pichu so
Speaker 1: many times. It's starting to feel like such a weird
Speaker 1: word to me now because I've said it so many times.
Speaker 1: Machu Pichu City's at the base of Machu Pichu. And
Speaker 1: I got a hotel there just so I could like
Speaker 1: relax and enjoy the area.
Speaker 2: Hotel not a hostel.
Speaker 1: It was a hotel room, I think, not shocking for you. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I can't remember why, but I don't know if there
Speaker 1: are hostels in that town, maybe that's why. And the
Speaker 1: hotel was like fifty bucks, and so it didn'tally make
Speaker 1: sense for me just to share a room. And I
Speaker 1: was stinky, just want to shower and lay in my
Speaker 1: bed naked kind of thing, you know. And I remember
Speaker 1: going to a restaurant in Machu Pichi City and like
Speaker 1: looking at the menu and there was guinea pig on
Speaker 1: the menu, and just out of pure curiosity, I was like,
Speaker 1: give me the guinea pig please, And if it came
Speaker 1: out to me as like a cutlet or like some
Speaker 1: sort of drumstick or something I think I would refine.
Speaker 1: They literally flash fry a guinea pig and it's on
Speaker 1: your plate, and it literally looks like it could just
Speaker 1: be like a skinless or a hairless guinea pig, you know,
Speaker 1: but it's like it's fried and you're just expected to
Speaker 1: take a fork and knife and start cutting away into it.
Speaker 2: So you didn't eat it.
Speaker 1: I think I took a bite of it, and then
Speaker 1: they were like, if you flip it over and rip
Speaker 1: up in the rip cage, you'll see the heart and
Speaker 1: you can eat the heart and that's really nutrient dense
Speaker 1: and you should eat that.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1: I think I had two bites of it, and I
Speaker 1: was like, yeah, i'll take a I'll take a salad please,
Speaker 1: no vegetarian. Yeah, but I will say I ate alpaca
Speaker 1: that same trip in Cusco, and it was delicious serve
Speaker 1: more like a patty style thing, so I didn't feel
Speaker 1: like I was eating an outpaka. There's a thing, there's
Speaker 1: like a disconnect that we have with our food. We
Speaker 1: feel less guilty about eating, like chicken nuggets, for instance,
Speaker 1: you would eat a chicken nugget, but you would never
Speaker 1: eat a chicken.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Like if they flash fight a whole chicken and
Speaker 2: expected me to cut into it. Yeah, Or imagine like
Speaker 2: if you just well, we eat rotisseery chicken and that's
Speaker 2: basically just a headless chicken.
Speaker 1: That's true, I guess, but I just I find it
Speaker 1: hard to picture you eating like a chicken, like skinning
Speaker 1: a chicken and then cooking it and then eating it.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Well I'd only recently started eating chicken again, so yeah,
Speaker 2: that wouldn't work for me.
Speaker 1: Even a fish, Like, even if I were like catch
Speaker 1: a fish, I would don't think I would have the
Speaker 1: heart to cut it up and cook it.
Speaker 2: Well, like those fancy places or if you're broad, they
Speaker 2: typically serve you fish as a whole, entire fish, eyeball
Speaker 2: and all. Yeah, and you just have to go into it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you hate that when the eyeballs oh yeah, oh yeah.
Speaker 1: So just keep a lookout for those guinea picks because
Speaker 1: they might sound tasty.
Speaker 2: But that does not sound tasty.
Speaker 1: But it's something you gotta try.
Speaker 2: You can never have a guinea pig as a kid, No,
Speaker 2: we only had a dog.
Speaker 1: What's something you gotta try. I didn't want to go
Speaker 1: to Cusco and not get the guinea pig and then
Speaker 1: like I get home and my friends are like, you
Speaker 1: drow the guinea pig? And I couldn't say, and I
Speaker 1: have to say no.
Speaker 2: But it's not like Peru is known for its guinea pig.
Speaker 1: I know. But when are you ever going to get
Speaker 1: the chance to eat a guinea to see? When are
Speaker 1: you ever going to see guinea pig on a menu?
Speaker 2: That is something that's great about you is you do
Speaker 2: you'll try anything once it like pigeon.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that was your decision to order the pigeon, wasn't it?
Speaker 1: And the alpaca. I will voucher alpaca. It was delicious.
Speaker 1: In that same trip, I also journeyed out to Montana's
Speaker 1: de las Semana Colores. I actually don't remember the name
Speaker 1: of it, but it's the Rainbow Mountain, which I'm sure
Speaker 1: you've seen pictures of, have you.
Speaker 2: I think so, yes. It's just the way that you
Speaker 2: said that reminded me of Bridesmaids when she's like in
Speaker 2: Las Celeas and La Biblioteca, when she's like trying to
Speaker 2: speak Spanish but she can. Yeah, that's not that you
Speaker 2: can't speak Spanish. But by the way that you said,
Speaker 2: it was similar to her.
Speaker 1: You're right, I have no idea what I'm saying. It's
Speaker 1: like the Las Montanya's de Colories or something like that.
Speaker 1: I'm trying my hardest here.
Speaker 2: Okay, great, it just reminded me of it.
Speaker 1: And oh, so I guess just to backcheck a little bit.
Speaker 1: So I took the train back from Machu Pichu City
Speaker 1: into Cusco because obviously I didn't end where I started
Speaker 1: because I had hiked forty miles or however many, and
Speaker 1: so I took a train for like an hour, and
Speaker 1: then I was still like an hour forty five minutes
Speaker 1: away from Cusco from the train station, so I had
Speaker 1: to take a cab the remainder of the time. It
Speaker 1: was like it was more expensive than it should have been.
Speaker 1: I was like forty bucks on the on the taxi
Speaker 1: ride there, she would like pick other people up and
Speaker 1: like it was like an uber share ride, but she
Speaker 1: would just pick other people up. And she was very nice.
Speaker 1: She had a whole family. I was trying my best
Speaker 1: Spanish to, like, you know, be nice and friendly to her.
Speaker 1: And then I had done prior research on how to
Speaker 1: get to Rainbow Mountain, and you can only go there
Speaker 1: with tour groups as well, at least like getting there,
Speaker 1: cause it's like a two or how long was it
Speaker 1: three or four hour drive from Cusco to get to
Speaker 1: the trailhead for the Rainbow Mountains, and I wanted to
Speaker 1: be there alone by myself and beat everyone else there.
Speaker 1: And so I knew if I went with the tour group,
Speaker 1: but they would leave later and there would be a
Speaker 1: big bustload of people that would get there with me.
Speaker 1: So on the way to Cusco in this taxi, I
Speaker 1: asked the girl, Hey, could you drive me to the
Speaker 1: Rainbow Mountains tomorrow morning at like two am? And she
Speaker 1: like reluctantly agreed. And it was expensive that time. I
Speaker 1: think that was like one hundred and twenty bucks or
Speaker 1: something just for her to drive me out and then
Speaker 1: drive me back, which I guess for eight hours of driving,
Speaker 1: that's actually a really good price by American standards. But
Speaker 1: got to the trailhead, hiked up. It was dark for
Speaker 1: who knows how long, and Rainbow Mountains high it's probably
Speaker 1: like twelve thirteen, fourteen thousand feet, so similar to like
Speaker 1: a mountain peak here in Colorado. And I'm hiking it's dark,
Speaker 1: I can't see anything. I go over this pass. I'm
Speaker 1: huffing and puffing and just keep on trucking along. And
Speaker 1: like an hour or two later of hiking, I like
Speaker 1: passed by a random hiker and I was like, hey,
Speaker 1: do you know where don de sta las Montanes de Corodes?
Speaker 1: He was, ah, I'm ego, I e any points behind
Speaker 1: me where I just came from. And I was like,
Speaker 1: oh my god, I walked past the Rainbow Mountain. I
Speaker 1: didn't even realize it.
Speaker 2: Because it was still dark.
Speaker 1: It was dark, and like, I walked over this mountain
Speaker 1: pass and I was like, this might be it, and
Speaker 1: I looked around. I was like, ah, there's no colors here.
Speaker 2: Like, whip out your phone, it's your flashlight.
Speaker 1: No, I should you have a head lamp? No? I
Speaker 1: should have and had I walked past the freaking Rainbow Mountain.
Speaker 1: I was so so mad at myself because, like, I
Speaker 1: spent all this money to hire a taxi cab to
Speaker 1: bring me out there so I could be alone on
Speaker 1: the top of the mountain by myself for however long
Speaker 1: it took for people to arrive there, and I could
Speaker 1: have been there an hour before.
Speaker 2: Oh you were an hour past the mountain.
Speaker 1: I walked an hour past it.
Speaker 2: I thought you were just like just missed it.
Speaker 1: And then I had to walk an hour back, so
Speaker 1: I was two hours later than I should have been.
Speaker 1: I was so mad, and I walked back. I walked
Speaker 1: an hour past, but it probably took me thirty minutes
Speaker 1: to get back because I was like walking with a purpose,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. And so I got to
Speaker 1: the summit or at the past I guess you could
Speaker 1: call it again, and there was like these two older,
Speaker 1: definitely native people, like making some tea or something up there.
Speaker 1: Just them too, like they look like they were almost
Speaker 1: like setting up a shop to like sell goods to
Speaker 1: the tourists that were visiting. And thankfully I still had
Speaker 1: it to myself. I actually looked down passed from where
Speaker 1: I started the day, and then I saw like the
Speaker 1: droves of people coming up, like you know, dozens hundreds
Speaker 1: of people coming up. It still would have taken them
Speaker 1: like another forty five minutes, so I still had it
Speaker 1: to myself for a good thirty forty five minutes. But
Speaker 1: that was a great experience. I would say if I
Speaker 1: were to do it again, like if I were to
Speaker 1: do it with you, I would probably just go at
Speaker 1: the tour company because it's I want to be alone.
Speaker 1: It's it's like a twenty dollars bus ride with them
Speaker 1: or one hundred and twenty dollars taxi ride.
Speaker 2: That's not so bad. And how long does it take
Speaker 2: you to go to the top when you don't miss it.
Speaker 1: It'll probably take forty five minutes to an hour.
Speaker 2: That's crazy because it for the fourteen ers you've climbed,
Speaker 2: it takes you hours and hours an hour.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, you're driving, you're driving up like twelve thousand feet.
Speaker 1: You're driving up pretty far. The road is pretty scary.
Speaker 1: Even the girls like, I've never driven up here before
Speaker 1: and it's dark, and she's like, I'm kind of scared.
Speaker 2: Like one of those one lane roads where yeah, well too,
Speaker 2: and you could fall off the cliff.
Speaker 1: Yeah, there's like big cliff on the one side, obviously
Speaker 1: no guardrail, but I yeah, I mean, I don't know
Speaker 1: if i'd necessarily advise it. Of course, if you're if
Speaker 1: you have the means to do it, it's a one
Speaker 1: hundred percent worth it. But it wasn't like, you know,
Speaker 1: I guess that's not true because I guess once the
Speaker 1: crowds rolled in, I got really annoyed with having people around,
Speaker 1: so I left right away. So I guess that being said,
Speaker 1: if you're kind of the similar way to me, get
Speaker 1: there early before everyone else does, because I wasn't able
Speaker 1: to enjoy it with other people around, I guess kind
Speaker 1: of thing.
Speaker 2: I'm curious about the drive down because that's when all
Speaker 2: the tour buses were coming in. Yeah, probably massive, So
Speaker 2: how like, how are you going down technically two lane
Speaker 2: but it's one lane road and.
Speaker 1: Clear it's wide enough, I think. And those people are
Speaker 1: so they're just like so naturally skilled at driving those
Speaker 1: scary roads. I feel like too, like they're so their
Speaker 1: their awareness of their car position is so much better
Speaker 1: than Americans were the worst at that. And also I
Speaker 1: ended I also did like some side hikes and stuff,
Speaker 1: and so I got back down at like ten am.
Speaker 1: And at that point I'm sure no more buses are
Speaker 1: coming up because they're probably already gotting get up there
Speaker 1: by like eight am, you know what I mean. So
Speaker 1: so yeah, so I did Machu Pichu and Rainbow Mountain
Speaker 1: and then just before that too, I did the w Teck.
Speaker 1: So I think on that hike, I on that trip,
Speaker 1: I hiked probably like one hundred miles or one hundred
Speaker 1: or so miles, which was at the time, hands down
Speaker 1: the most I'd ever walked in my entire life.
Speaker 2: Look how far you've come.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean I still couldn't walk one hundred miles today,
Speaker 1: but I could do it. I could do it eventually.
Speaker 1: It was just a lot for some for a novice
Speaker 1: like myself, for an amateur, if you will. But yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, I would say, if you're going to South
Speaker 1: America and you don't have Machu Picchi on your list,
Speaker 1: put it on your list, because it's amazing. There were
Speaker 1: some other things in Peru that I really wished I
Speaker 1: had done, like gone to Wakachina. I said that earlier,
Speaker 1: No I didn't. The Wakachina, I think is a town.
Speaker 1: It's like a town in an oasis with like these.
Speaker 1: It just beautifully picturesque. I wish I could go back
Speaker 1: and do that. And there's a few other like mountains
Speaker 1: that I want to climb out there, but maybe save
Speaker 1: that paranlether time. But yeah, trip changed my life. Between Patagonia,
Speaker 1: Machu Picchu and Rainbow Mountains, it was hands down the
Speaker 1: best trip of my life. Even to this day, I
Speaker 1: always advise people to visit those areas if they can.
Speaker 1: It's it's tricky because Machu Pichu is obviously so well known,
Speaker 1: and so it's so trafficked, and so any chance you
Speaker 1: can get to like avoid being around crowded people in
Speaker 1: a typically crowded area, I would say, take it, which
Speaker 1: is kind of contradictory to what I was saying earlier
Speaker 1: about the Rainbow Mountains, But but yeah, that's my two
Speaker 1: cents on those, on those two places.
Speaker 2: Do you think after these two trips you became the
Speaker 2: Dean that I know you as versus bachelor Dean.
Speaker 1: Yes, that's what I kind of mentioned in the last trip.
Speaker 1: This was like around the last episode. It was like
Speaker 1: a turning point for me, and I don't know why.
Speaker 1: I really do think it was Patagonia that that turned
Speaker 1: turned something around in me, but I'm not really sure
Speaker 1: what specifically it was, but yeah, it was, it was.
Speaker 1: It was a good, good chance. It was a long
Speaker 1: time comment because I needed.
Speaker 2: To do something, you know, I don't know, I didn't
Speaker 2: know you then, but any TV. Yeah, and that guy sucked,
Speaker 2: he thought, but he was he was a little lost.
Speaker 1: I was going through my camera roll to like figure
Speaker 1: out when I went on these trips and like what
Speaker 1: exact dates I was there, And so I would see
Speaker 1: a picture like a selfie I took myself like five
Speaker 1: or six years ago, and I was like, dang, that
Speaker 1: guy is hot, like so hot. And then I look
Speaker 1: at the mirror and I'm like, that's I don't even
Speaker 1: look this. I'm not the same person.
Speaker 2: It's ridiculous.
Speaker 1: I'm serious, I look so different. Well, you're right, it's
Speaker 1: I look so similar but so much less attractive than
Speaker 1: I was back in those days.
Speaker 2: You're way too hard on yourself.
Speaker 1: It's just crazy. Man. Time is a cruel mistress. Anyways,
Speaker 1: that's gonna do it for this week's episode. Next week
Speaker 1: I will talk about something and so I sure hope
Speaker 1: you don't make it.
Speaker 2: Maybe Guatemala maybe no.
Speaker 1: No, I appreciate you going in, but I'm gonna go
Speaker 1: chronologically on the WHOA Yeah, and I might like, you know,
Speaker 1: two Destination episodes and then like one photography episode two
Speaker 1: Destination three. Maybe it'd be three and one, but yeah,
Speaker 1: I still need to figure that out. If you guys
Speaker 1: have any cool names for this podcast besides the Dean Lounge,
Speaker 1: please let me know. Just slide into the DMS.
Speaker 2: Slid into the DMS.
Speaker 1: Oh, DMS, that's not a potential name, but it's a good,
Speaker 1: good play on the place.
Speaker 2: With Dean, but very few that are travel worthy.
Speaker 1: That's right, all right, that's gonna do it for this
Speaker 1: week's episode of The Dean Lounge. Please do in next week,
Speaker 1: where maybe we suck just a little bit less. I
Speaker 1: wanted to jump back in here real quick and just
Speaker 1: run over some, uh, some facts about Machu Picchu. Do
Speaker 1: you have any I'm gonna ask you like questions and
Speaker 1: see if you can answer them and obviously feel no
Speaker 1: responsibility to to them correct because I don't think many
Speaker 1: people know these. Do you know what Machupicchi means? If
Speaker 1: you were to guess, you like macho.
Speaker 2: Big peak?
Speaker 1: Oh really close, it's old peak. Huh yeah, that's a
Speaker 1: really good job. If you already guess how many buildings
Speaker 1: are on Machu pit or in Machu Picchu, what would.
Speaker 2: You guess, I'm sorry, buildings, Yeah, like in the in
Speaker 2: the ruins, I'd say like.
Speaker 1: Twenty five, yeah, one hundred and fifty. Isn't that crazy?
Speaker 2: And then I thought, knowing nothing about it, what do you.
Speaker 1: Think Machupicchi was made for back in.
Speaker 2: The days temples. Uh, it's a sacred temple land.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean that's that's pretty much what it says
Speaker 1: here on the internet. It says a royal estate and
Speaker 1: a secret ceremonial center.
Speaker 2: Pretty smart.
Speaker 1: What year do you think Machupicchu was discovered in the
Speaker 1: modern world?
Speaker 2: I mean, the first time that came in my head
Speaker 2: was eighteen twenty, but I'm gonna go with seventeen fifty.
Speaker 1: So pretty well known fact, I guess, but little known
Speaker 1: unless you look it up. So maybe it's not a
Speaker 1: well known fact. It actually wasn't discovered for a long time.
Speaker 1: It was built. Let's see what year was it built?
Speaker 1: Fourteen fifty a d. So, I guess that's actually more
Speaker 1: recent than I was expecting. So it's six five hundred
Speaker 1: and seventy five years old. Let's say five hundred and
Speaker 1: seventy four years old. It was discovered most recently. How
Speaker 1: would you say this? It was discovered by white people.
Speaker 1: Let's say that because that's kind of how white people's
Speaker 1: track history when we start discovering things.
Speaker 2: It was discovered by a version of Christopher Columbus.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it was actually a professor Hiram Bingham in nineteen eleven.
Speaker 2: I'm surprised he didn't name it after himself, just call
Speaker 2: it Bingham.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Bingham chew. I wonder if he like discovered it
Speaker 1: and then maybe did some more research and discovered that
Speaker 1: already had a name Manchu Picchu or something like that.
Speaker 2: But I feel like, yeah, white men are so yeah,
Speaker 2: stick with.
Speaker 1: A name like Hiram Bingham. Though, I'm wondering if he
Speaker 1: was white.
Speaker 2: Yeah, maybe not.
Speaker 1: He sounds more Indian to me. Hiram sounds Indian Muslim.
Speaker 1: I don't know, it sounds Muslim to me.
Speaker 2: Um.
Speaker 1: Oh wait, well, the next one almost answered one of
Speaker 1: our questions. A long standing dispute between Peru and Yale University,
Speaker 1: where Haram was a professor at has existed over the
Speaker 1: artifacts collected by Bingham during his exploration of the site.
Speaker 1: Yale maintains that they own the items, while Peru insists
Speaker 1: they were given them on loan. So it's pretty much
Speaker 1: exactly what you're just saying. The guy that discovered it
Speaker 1: wants to keep the items well, or at least the
Speaker 1: university belongs to.
Speaker 2: He discovered it, but like, yeah, those items are not
Speaker 2: his definitely sacred.
Speaker 1: So like give them back, they're definitely perus.
Speaker 2: I don't know who owns them now, so still Yale.
Speaker 1: I think he'll still probably hasn't Yale.
Speaker 2: This is quick. Tangent sucks. Have you heard about the
Speaker 2: twin the triplet? Uh controversy? No story for another time,
Speaker 2: A story for pop culture.
Speaker 1: Kailin sounds good. Did you know that Machu Picchu was
Speaker 1: also used as an observatory to look at the stars.
Speaker 2: Oh wow, that's amazing. Where the star's beautiful?
Speaker 1: Oh? I don't remember. Oh, but I'll tell you what
Speaker 1: I'm sure they were. I mean, like I said, Rainbow
Speaker 1: Mountain is up that fourteen thousand feet?
Speaker 2: You never looked up.
Speaker 1: I don't look up, only down. Machi Picchu is probably
Speaker 1: It's not that I would. I would guess nine thousand
Speaker 1: feet for Machi Pichu. Let's uh, I'm going to google
Speaker 1: that real quick. Eight thousand feet? What did I say?
Speaker 1: I think I probably said nine thousand. You weren't listening,
Speaker 1: It's okay, I was. I talked so much sometimes I
Speaker 1: chee myself.
Speaker 2: No, but al's making noise. I thought I was getting
Speaker 2: into something.
Speaker 1: Oh he might be Anyways, those are my Machu Picchi facts,
Speaker 1: fun little snippets. If you ever had a dinner party
Speaker 1: and you tell someone about him, Haaren Bingham, karam Bingham,
Speaker 1: karam Bingham. I don't know anyways, Thanks,