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April Update

  It's been awhile since I've posted.  Justin's situation is hard to write about, but I know there are people who want to know what's going on with Justin, my son.  In truth, he is getting sicker and weaker.  For awhile,he made great progress, talking, eating, and getting back into his power wheelchair.   Then he started getting weaker.  His left lung became covered with secretions, and he needed surgery to scrape things out. Then a CT scan revealed more new spine fractures (total of 7).  After that, he just hasn't been able to get over the hump.  This week, Justin decided to discontinue the weaning from the ventilator.  He is on full breath support and can no longer use the voice valve to talk without dangerous oxygen drops.  Pain medication has been significantly increased to help him deal with the pain. It's a tough thing for a 23-year-old to confront one's mortality.  We will continue this journey with Justin to the end to the best of our abilities.  We
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Cristo Blanco

 From Sept 25th, 2022

We were both feeling pretty good when we went to bed on the previous night.  However, morning came at 4 a.m when the hotel kitchen staff started getting ready for breakfast, which is available from 4:30 a.m. until 11 a.m.  Our room was across a small courtyard from the kitchen, but we made the mistake of leaving our windows open.  

After breakfast and coca tea, we left the hotel  at 7:30 a.m. for our self-directed hike to Cristo Blanco, the most famous monument in Cusco.  Make no mistake about it:  this was not a nature hike.  We would walk on pavement across the city, past the tourist areas, and up into the mountainside where working class Cusco lives.

The Spaniards built cathedrals everywhere in Cusco, so I guess it's no surprise that a huge white Jesus overlooks the city.  There were some other interesting sites along the way.


 


We were so focused on getting to the top of the mountain that we took a wrong turn into some ruins.  


A very upset parks employee came up to us and demanded that we buy $40 tickets to keep looking at the ruins.  When we asked where Cristo Blanco was, she gave us a disgusted look and pointed to where we had missed our turn.  I think she said "gringos" under her breath but it could have been something more colorful.


I can't say that I was impressed with the 26' tall White Jesus, but I liked his view.

 

We took a different way back down.  I don't think Julia liked these steps.



But she made it without blowing out a knee. We survived our first steep hike above 11,000' and experienced some  breathlessness but no other side affects. We didn't know at the time that these stairs were a very good introduction for the Inca Trail later that week.

It was only 9 on a Sunday morning.  The city was just beginning to wake up. More on that in the next post.


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greg said…
I once got lost in the barios above Caracas. Well, the people I was with got lost, I was just along for the ride. Very narrow streets that, since they were formed organically out of former slums, curved and twisted all over the place on the steep sides of the valley.
October 17, 2022 at 7:56 AM
John said…
I would love to walk above Caracas, but I think that would need to wait until the political situation changes. Sounds like a dangerous place today from what I've read, although the locals just deal with it.

When Julia was walking down the steep steps shown in the post, we saw a man older than us in tattered clothes and flip flops taking the stairs up two at a time and then veer off on to a dirt path where he scampered up the mountain to a tin shack where he presumably lived. We also later saw an old man, who was blind, feel his way with a cane down a steep, narrow, potholed road. I just marvel at people doing what they need to do because they really have no other choice.
October 17, 2022 at 4:48 PM
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