GoGirlfriend: Were there any dietary challenges?

Theresa Thompson: The water was somewhat of a challenge. All the guidebooks warn of catastrophic disaster if you drink Peruvian water, ice, unwashed vegetables, vegetables washed in local water... So we were all super careful with one exception. The national drink in Peru, the Pisco Sour, looks and tastes like a margarita - which we had to try.

We were so proud of ourselves ordering it Peruvian Hospitality"sin" (without) ice so we'd be safe. And while none of us got sick or even felt bad, we found out on the way home that the drink is made from raw eggs.

I'm a vegetarian, so that's always challenging, but the hiking company was fantastic and went out of their way to make fantastic meals for me. Having spent some time in Central America, I expected a lot of beans and rice in Peru but I don't think I saw one black-bean dish the entire time.

It would be hard to sum up Peruvian cuisine - a spicy meat dish the other girls swore by, lots of vegetables, some amazing trout dishes and eggs made many ways.

GG: Can you tell us some of the challenging and frustrating things you faced?

Peruvian AdventureTT: The most challenging experience happened to Betsy. At the end of Day 3, about 40 minutes from camp, Betsy slid on a loose rock and fell. She didn't fall far, thank God, but her ankle immediately turned purple and swelled.

We wrapped it in my 20-year-old Ace bandage from my medical kit and she hobbled down into camp. We elevated it on her pack and wrapped it in a towel dipped in the cold river water. It looked nasty, as I'm sure it felt nasty, but she never once complained.

We knew we had to get up and be hiking at 5 am the next morning. She borrowed the guides' hiking sticks, sucked it up and brought up the rear and hiked for at least 6 hours the next day.

Then she hiked up and down and all around Machu Picchu the next day, 2 more days in Aguas Caliente, 2 more days in Cusco, 1 brutal travel day home. A couple of days after getting back home she had it X-rayed and it was broken right above the ankle and the bone had re-seated itself. It was broken right in half.

These are the kind of women I was traveling with.

Thinking about your own girlfriend adventure getaway? Send us your questions and Theresa will answer them in a future post.

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