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What Goes Up…Must Go Down
We start the descent in the early afternoon. A dusty, rocky, steep trail that switchbacks down the 1000 meters to the bottom. One thousand meters…that’s one kilometer straight down. After climbing the heights of Dead Woman’s Pass on the Inca Trail, there was nowhere to go but down…to the bottom of the deepest canyon in [...]
Continue reading...Lake Titicaca…hee, hee, hee…
19. July 2009
When Jason first saw Lake Titicaca on the map of Peru all those months ago, he giggled like a schoolboy and said that we had to go there. It definitely has a name that makes us all laugh and the joke is not lost on the locals. The lake is shared by Peru and Bolivia…Peru [...]
Continue reading...How To Just Let Things Happen In Puno
14. July 2009
I’d heard that Puno was the asshole of the earth. People said ‘don’t stay there, just head to the islands’. I figured it couldn’t be that bad. We took a tourist tour bus from Cusco to Puno. On board was a guide who explained all the sights along the way. We stopped at four historical/cultural [...]
Continue reading...Machu Picchu
11. July 2009
The history of Machu Picchu is a mystery. Was it where the great Incan Pachacutec instructed his people to hide during the Spanish invasion? Was it the great economic center of the Incan culture? Or was it built as a prison to house those that had committed heinous crimes? In it’s current state it is [...]
Continue reading...Inca Trail Trek
9. July 2009
Having not done much trekking in my life, I can’t say where the Inca Trail Trek rates in terms of difficulty. What I can say is that with a porter to customer ratio of 1.4 porters for every customer (plus a chef and two guides), I have to think that this might be on the [...]
Continue reading...The Porters of El Camino Inka
7. July 2009
I can hear them well before the sun rises. They are up breaking camp, preparing for the day, making us breakfast. They each carry 25 Kg on their backs over the same trail that I struggle to negotiate. They leave after we leave, pass us on the trail, and arrive at camp before us. They [...]
Continue reading...Playing Fair While Learning Spanish
5. July 2009
It’s easy to find a Spanish school in Cusco, they are a dime a dozen. It’s more difficult to find one that offers a great program, is flexible, and gives back to the community. We found that, and more, at FairPlay. Run by John, a Dutch fellow, and his Peruvian wife, FairPlay is a not-for-profit [...]
Continue reading...Inti Raymi: Festival of the Sun God
29. June 2009
Inti Raymi is celebrated near the winter solstice on June 24th every year. It is an Incan ceremony that is performed in the native Quechuan language rather than Spanish. We arrived in Cusco 2 days prior to the actual ceremony and the city square was already abuzz with people and bands and general merriment being [...]
Continue reading...Getting High in Cusco
26. June 2009
The plan was to take our time getting to Cusco from Lima. We were going to spend a few days, stopping along the way at Nasca and Arequipa to split up the journey. Then we learned that the Inti Raymi festival was happening in Cusco on June 24th so we thought we would head straight [...]
Continue reading...Lima, Peru
23. June 2009
We had heard plenty about Lima before arriving, most of it negative. People told us that it was dirty, and big, and dangerous and menacing – that we should spend as little time as possible there. We ended up staying 5 and a half days…and we quite liked it. Sure it’s big (>10 million!) and [...]
Continue reading...Riding My Way Through It
18. June 2009
I have a confession to make. I hate flying. Yep…I, know…around the world…gonna have to fly. The idea of this trip was to do something unusual. To experience new cultures, hear new languages, see new things…step out out of our comfort zone. ‘One Giant Step’ refers to that leap of faith required to step out [...]
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Wanna-be expat. Giant Stepper. 
Welcome to OneGiantStep.
I'm Gillian. In 2009 my partner, Jason, and I set out to travel the world for a year.
Now we're looking for something more long term; a place outside of our 'home and native land' to hang our hat; another Giant Step along the path.
Come along as we figure out where to go and how to get there.
23. July 2009
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