Peru - The Final Days

OK, the morning after I wrote my last email I woke up and my aunt Cindy asked me if I told everyone about hte hot springs. I said no... so while in the jungle we took a boat up to the hot springs and relaxed in the water while showered by a cool rain). Then she asked if I told everyone about dancing on the table. Again I said no... our last night in the jungle, I got up and danced on the table. So the thing is, when my grandma was in Peru she danced on the table and I couldn´t let her show me up so I too danced on a table. And after I got down, a few others climbed up for a go to. All the fun stopped when the table almost tipped over.

So now that I´ve cleared that up, I´ll continue... I had difficulty staying awake during dinner on our first night back from the jungle, but it did not stop me from hopping in a taxi the next morning with Lorrie, Louise, and Maggie for a day trip to the Sacred Valley. The first stop on the tour was Pisac. Pisac is about 35 km from Cuszo and was traditionally inhabited by the Incan commoners. Apparantely there are about 3400 tombs built into the mountains, but our guide Simon refused to scale the mountain walls with us to show us.

After climbing all over Pisac, we were famished and decided it was time to eat. So Adrian, our taxi driver, took us to a buffet lunch in Urabamba. Immediately after lunch we headed to the Semenario Ceramicas, a ceramics studio and gallery were we all decided to lighten our wallets a bit (me more than others).

The next stop on the tour was to Ollantaytambo, yet another remnant of the Incan powers. This is supposedly the most intact of all the Incan cities, but if you ask me, it looked a lot like the others. I think the draw of the ruins is wearing off on me. We were too tired to take in anymore sites, so we asked Adrian to return us to Cuzco.

June 24th is the largest celebration of the year in Cuzco. It is Inti Raymi (Sun Celebration). Although the festival lasts most of the day and works its way through the city, we decided to just take in the first scene at Koricancha. It is very fortunate for me that most Peruvians are my height or shorter, so I was even able to see a bit of the dancing and see the Inca chant to the sun. After this was over our plan was to head to the other side of Koricancha for brunch, but in order to avoid swimming upstream, we decided to walk around the back and ran right into the parade of all of the characters on their way to Plaza de Armas for Scene 2. This turned out to be very fortunate, because we got the best, unobstructed seats in the house and were able to see all of the beautiful costumes upclose and watch the Inca and his bride/sister get lifted into seats carried off by a number of handsome Peruvian men in skirts.

After the parade and brunch it was time to shop. It was our last day in Cuzco and my suitcases weren´t quite full yet so I decided to work on that. We lost a couple of people along the way, but Maggie and I took the city by storm and each had to visit the ATM multiple times. I´m sure to find a few phone messages from my bank on my phone when I get home.

This morning we woke up and after a quick breakfast of cafe con leche and pan (coffee with milk and bread) we headed to the airport for our flight to Lima. And what better way to spend a day in Lima than to go to a mall. We grabbed a bite to eat and then window shopped til our hearts content but still found we had time to kill so we went to a movie and watched Shrek the Third. In case you have not watched it yet, I recommend it with Spanish subtitiles. It keeps you occupied during the boring parts. After the movie we still had a few hours to kill so we decided to drink... and before you knew it, it was time to return to the airport. In a short time, we will be boarding the plane and you can ask me all about the juicy bits of the trip I left out.

I hope y´all enjoyed my chronicles. Untill next time...

Peru - Back in Cusco

Well, after spending 3 days in the chilly mountains with no electricity and no showers and three days in the jungle with no electricity and only cold showers, I must say that I´m happy to be back in Cusco with no clean clothes but at least I got a hot shower this moring. Now for the details you´ve all be waiting for.

Last Friday we all boarded the Inferno at 9:00 to begin our journey to Salkáwasi. It was a long drive high up into the mountains. Once we reached 15,000 feet we stopped to provide some necessary fertilization to what appeared to be a Christmas tree farm for which I´m sure all of the children in Peru will be appreciative of our efforts come December. After a quick, but delicious lunch, we finally arrived in Salkáwasi, our home for the next three nights. Upon our arrival all of the women and children of the village rushed to meet the Inferno for the opportunity to carry all our bags down about 1/4 mile to the power and shower free villa where we would be staying. As if it was not embarassing enough to have them carry our bags (most were older and shorter than me), they all passed us along the way.

When I awoke on Saturday, I discovered that the mattress I was sleeping on had an indention so deep I practically needed a rope to climb my way out of bed. Fortunately, I did not have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, because I never would have made it in time. After breakfast we met with Don Americo in the garden where we worked on becoming one with our mystic side. At one point he had us partner up so that we could spar. Actually we were supposedly sending filiments back and forth, but it seemed more like fighting, or perhaps, dancing. Later in the evening Donna Maria performed a ritual with us to rid us of the evil winds. I felt pretty much the same afterwards as I did before the ceremony so my only conclusion is that I must instinctually close my mouth when the evil winds come a-blowing. But at least I got a nice massage out of it.

I feel as though I´m rambling, so I will try to keep it brief.

Sunday, all of the townspeople performed for us. After each group danced, they would grab one of us to dance the next song with them. After about the sixth dance, I was starting to get a little tired, but at least I´m finally burning off some of the potatoes I´ve been eating. Did I mention that we eat potatoes at every meal? They have over 300 varieties and apparently want us to try all 300.

After one last cold night, Monday, we began our trek to the jungle. If you have never driven in a large bus down a mountain via windy, one lane, dirt road before, consider yourself lucky. There were many beautiful waterfalls along the way, but they typically went right across the road which left the road with many large ditches. Fortunately, the Inferno comes with it´s own bridge. Whenever the ditch was too deep, a couple of the helpers would jump out of the bus and pull a large board out of the trunk and lay it in front of the tires. And if that wasn´t bad enough, if you come head to head with another car or truck, one of you had to back up the windy, dirt road until it was wide enough to pass. After 10 hours in the bus, we all had to board a boat and head downstream about 2 hours into the heart of the jungle, in the dark. When we finally arrived at our lodge, we were so happy to learn that they had showers, that we forgave the fact that they were cold (that ran out real fast).

I woke the first morning in the jungle to the sounds of birds chirping and bugs buzzing which is much like the sounds I went to sleep to. My only hope was that the bugs would be content with their singing and leave me alone, and if that doesn´t work, I brough DEET. I won´t bore you with more stories of meditation and working with the filiments. Instead, I thought I should provide you with an important lesson. The jungle is filled with a lot of beautiful plants, butterflies and birds, but it also has lots of hungry bugs, jaguars, and humidity. So, if you want to visit the jungle, bring lots of bug spray and then go home.

The river was so low that we had to get out at one point and walk in order to lighten up the boat so it could make it back to the bus. We had been in the boat for a few hours so at first it seemed like a good idea to walk (and maybe do our part to elevate the waters of the river). But it wasn´t long before I found myself ankle deep in quicksand wearing my only pair of pants. When I finally pulled my foot free, it was no longer wearing the flip flop it entered the quicksand with. Barbara, one of the others on the tour dug and dug into the sand, but the shoe was nowhere to be found. The lesson: if the pacha mama (the mother earth) wants your shoe, the pacha mama gets your shoe. At least I have more room in my bags for all the shopping I´ve been doing.

If you´ve made it this far into the email, you must be really bored, or you´re afraid I might quiz you. You´ll be happy to know, I´m almost done... today.

The drive back out of the jungle was just as treacherous as the drive in. About half way to the cloud forest where we would be spending the night, I finally realized how to describe to the Disneyland fans reading this what the drive was like. Have you ever ridden Mr. Toad´s Wild Ride? Well, it´s quite jerky, has a lot of turns and you think you just might fly out of the car. It´s just like that except without the music and Disney characters. Although I was happy to make it to the cloud forest hostal, I was also a bit sad since Mr. Toad´s Wild Ride was not over and we had one more day to go before getting back to Cuzco.

After breakfast in the cloud forest we had our final circle (think the women´s group in the movie Jerry McGuire). And then back into the Inferno. We decided to continue the tradition of having a fashion show on the return of any long trip in Peru (remember the train ride back from Machu Picchu). I was the emcee and Cindy, Jan, Renatta, and Tony were the models. It was a bit silly, but it helped us forger that at any moment the Inferno my flip and turn into a true inferno. I guess I shouldn´t have been surprised that the Inferno overheated just after we entered the Cuzco city limits. But after giving her a rest and a little water, she got us safely back to our hotel. It was a long week (did I mention we had no power in any of these places?!) but I did get back safely. You´ll have to wait til the next email for the conclusion of my Peruvian adventure. As they say in Jurassic Park... "hold on to your butts!"

Peru - The Tour Begins

Peru, Cont´d...

So where did I leave off? Oh yeah, we returned to Cuzco. The morning of the 12th I was finally able to sleep in. I did make sure to make it down to breakfast by 8:30, which is still quite early for me, at least when on vacation. But I needed my daily sustenance. We spent the day exploring the streets of Cuzco and shopping. I managed to resist mostly, but I did buy a belt on the street from a nice lady carrying her baby boy on her back. In the afternoon the group met for the first time. We went around the circle introducing ourselves and explaining our intent. I explained that I didn´t have one, I just came because my grandma told me to and that seemed reason enough to me. As a group, we all headed to dinner down the street where I tasted my first, and most likely last, cuy (aka guinnee pig). I wasn´t enough to order it myself but when Donna offered me a piece, it didn´t feel right to say no.

The 13th was action packed with group activities. First stop was the coca shop where we learned all about the benefits of coca as well as the importance in the culture on the Andean peoples. The best part of the meeting was the free samples. First we tasted some tea made with honey and lemon, then out came the chocolates and toffee... yum. Christo, the manager of the shop, showed us the dietic benefits of coca by showing us his drivers license from a few years and 20 kilos ago. Next was lunch, I opted for the quinua soup, which was both delisicios and educational as I´ve had quinua in my cupboard for a few months not knowing what to do with it. And then it was time to shop once more. This time Cindy and I went to uncharted territories in Cuzco in search of books for the children in the village we are heading to on Friday. At 4:00 we met the bus driver Dante and he drove us (in the bus I´ve named the Inferno) to a site up the hill from Cuzco where we finally met Don Antonio, the mystic that would be guiding us (spiritually) for the remainder of the tour. He took us into the Temple of the Moon which from what I could gather is also the temple of Pacha Mama (mother earth). We were instructed to close our eyes, picture our life, and forgive our mothers. So, Mom, I forgive you!

Today (the 14th) Dante and the Inferno picked us up and drove us to a lake in the Sacred Valley to meet with the Qèro indians. They live way up in the mountains and apparently walked for approximately two days to "do ceremony" with us. Each one of them, upon arrival came up and gave us a big hug and kiss on the cheek. But the eldest went straight for the boob and the lips. I guess at that age you get what you can get. Most of the time we all sat in a circle and the Qèro spoke in quechua to Don Americo who spoke in spanish to Oscar who translated in english to us. From what I gathered, they were all happy to see us. Later the women sang, from what I could guess, was the quechua version of Kumbaya. This brought many of the women on the tour to tears. Fortunately, I´ve been suffering from alergies that has been making my eyes water, so I´m fitting in quite well.

Tomorrow we head to Salkawasi (sp?), the ancestrial home of Don Americo, where it is going to be quite chilly at night, making me wonder if I should have packed a second pair of pants. After a few days there we head to Manu in the jungle of the Amazon. I doubt I´ll have email access (as there is no power in either place) so those of you enjoying these emails will have to wait about a week for an update, and those that wish I would stop sending them will get a nice break.

Peru - Machu Pichu & More

THE ADVENTURES CONTINUE...

On my second real day in Peru, we woke up early (5:00 AM) to take the train to Machu Picchu. They have invented a series of switchbacks to take us up the hill out of Cuzco. It takes about an hour to to get to the next station. The irony of this is that the station is only 17 KM away and takes about 10 minutes by taxi. I certainly hope that the train came to Cuzco before cars were readily available... I´ve been drinking a lot of coca tea since I arrived to reduce the likelihood of altitude sickness (or altitude experience as Maggy likes to call it - since she´s the only one suffering.) As a result of all this tea I was starting to wonder if I was seeing things because when we got to the first switchback I saw a man in uniform. Then at the next switchback I saw another, only he looked exactly like the last guy. By the fifth switchback I mentioned this to my aunt who was nice enough to point out that he was the switch operator and was jumping on and off the train at each switch to make sure things went smoothly. It is good to know that the hallucinations haven´t started just yet.

A few hours later we arrived in the town of Aguas Calientes (a.k.a. Machu Picchu Pueblo). What better way to enjoy the day than go to the hot springs after which the town was named, right? Well we grabbed our suits and headed up to the hot springs entrance and tried to ignore the fact that the water was brown and that Sunday is obviously the day of the weekly shower for the locals and just enjoy, the somewhat slimy and smelly lukewarm soak. Fortunately the shower lived up to the town name as it was blessedly hot.

Monday, we woke up at 4:30 (did I mention that I´m not a morning person) so that we could eat breakfast before taking the first bus to Machu Picchu at 5:30. I wish I could describe what I saw so that you all could understand the breathtaking site of it all. However, neither words nor pictures (although I took a lot) would do it justice. We wandered around, shivering, waiting for the sun to come up. Then my Aunt Cindy and I decided it was time to climb Wayna Picchu. It was a tough climb but I´m happy to say that we were only passed by one group on the way up and they were all 8th graders, so I didn´t feel too bad. We were able to get a birds eye view of the entire site. It definitely makes you wonder how Machu Picchu was ever lost, and after it was lost, how it was ever found again. But I for one, am happy it was.

I can´t tell you much about the train ride back to Cuzco since I slept most of the way. But I was awake for the fashion show. That´s right... they put on a fashion show to the song "Are you going to San Francisco?" They walked up and down the aisle of the train as if they were on a catwalk in Paris modeling sweater after sweater. If the song was a sign that I should buy a sweater, it unfortunately didn´t work.

Well, now that I´ve crossed Machu Picchu off my list, I´m most looking forward to the opportunity to sleep in. Even sleeping in ´til 6:00 AM would be an improvement over that last few day.

Stay tuned...

Peru - The Start of a New Adventure

Hola from Cuzco,

After nearly 24 hours of traveling, we finally made it to Cuzco at 7:00AM this morning (that´s 5:00 California time). We landed in Lima at about midnight and spent the night in the airport. As my parents always say, I´ve always been a good sleeper, and didn´t have too much trouble sleeping, first in a restaurant booth and then in the terminal waiting area. What I´m not so good at is waking up. Although there was a number of people bustling around the airport and many announcements on the loud speaker, I slept right through it all and would have missed the flight altogether if I was traveling alone. Fortunately my Aunt Cindy and her friends were watching my back.

Has anyone seen the movie about the soccer team whose plane crashed into the Andes? Well, after flying over the Andes on the way to Cuzco this morning, I started wondering who I would eat when we crashed, as we surely would considering how close we were to the mountain tops. In looking around the plane, I found that most people didn´t look like they had enough meat on their bones to keep me going for very long. Fortunately, we eked by and made back to solid ground in Cuzco. I spent the rest of the day sleeping because airport and airplane sleep doesn´t count. We just finished a spectacular dinner of chicken and french fries. I love that french fries are the starch of choice in Peru, but it did make me wonder how everyone stays so skinny here. Perhaps its the altitude?

That´s all for now. Stay tuned for my adventures from Machu Picchu. We leave on the early train tomorrow.