Peru Pt. 3- Inca-riffic!

Off to Cusco, the center of the Incan empire/the "navel of the earth", and the continents oldest conti- nuously inhabited city.  Good reason, it is super charming! 

It must have been quite a sight back in the day when it was nearly covered in gold, but that was all plundered by Pizarro and the Spanish conquistadors.

Before leaving on my trek to Machu Picchu I had to take care of a few errands and plan the rest of my trip, which is rapidly coming to an end.

In the evening I took a stroll around the beautiful town, walking to the Plaza de Armas which was full of activity as the lights lit up the churches, colonial buildings and surrounding hills.  It really is a perfect little town.

The evening was capped off with a lovely chat with Alejandro, a lovely Bolivian bartender at The Lost City, who made me yummy popcorn and a hamburger (which I haven't had in ages!).  No surprise I ended up staying way longer than anticipated.

I had a couple of days before leaving on the Inca Trail to explore town and acclimatize (Cusco is at 3326m) since I lost it after being at sea level for weeks. 

I headed out for an abridged walking tour of Cusco, starting at Mercado San Pedro which was pretty quiet given it was a Domingo.  For once Domingo (Sunday) worked out--- all those churches that are normally closed or charge admission are free when you sneak in during services (and there are a lot of them)!

Randomly outside the market I met Richard from Lancaster, PA who is embarking on a round-the-world trip.  He ended up joining me for the pseudo tour along the cobble stone streets and alleys (originally made for llama traffic), stopping at the plazas and churches, including the Cathedral and the Jesuit's Inglesia de La Compania de Jesus where we had a private tour by someone with a Russian name (he pointed it out as odd).

Oddly, we thought we were entering that church, but instead ended up on the edge of a building overlooking the square- this can not possibly be sanctioned by any authority! It was cool-- a good bird's eye view of the Plaza de Armas.

The Cathedral, started in 1559 on the site of Viracocha Inca's palace using stones pilfered from nearby Sacsaywaman, dominates the square.  Oddly the Cathedral is joined to two smaller churches on either side; Inglesia del Triunfo to the right is reportedly Cusco's oldest.

Seriously this city has a church on every corner--- why did the Jesuits, Dominicans, La Merced and Franciscans all need their own places?

Since yet another star gazing tour was cancelled, I was able to enjoy some tapas at Cicciolina with Richard-- I really think I may be able to get out of Cusco without eating any more rice- yay! :-)  

On the way there I couldn't help holding the baby alpaca the local woman shoved in my arms--  the locals here are certainly enter- prising. One boy chatted me up on the Cathedral steps and I was so excited I could converse with him in Spanish and answer his question of "what is my favorite animal."  I am now the proud owner of a penguin finger puppet (penguins aren't even my favorite, I just knew how to say it in Spanish!)

We also happened upon Qorikancha by the light of the full moon.  These Inca ruins now form the base of Ingesia de Santo Domingo, but were once the richest temple in the empire--- covered in 700 solid-gold sheets, each weighing 2kg.  Plus there were gold statues, alters, etc.  Again, damn Spaniards--- within months the temple had been looted and all the gold melted down.

A new Cocho Museum just opened and offers chocolate making class, so why not- I will need snacks for my trek.  Oddly an American girl from Vermont was the instructor and explained how and where the bean grows, had us roasting, peeling, crushing and finally creating our yummy concoctions with all sorts of add ins (next time less of the spicy chilies).

Randomly afterwards I ran into the Aussies from Pichilemu, Val and Ryan, and had lunch at a charity restaurant whose menus are storybooks and chairs occupied by stuffed animals (sounds cheesy, but was actually kinda cute and could be a big hit in Brooklyn!).  Instead of finishing my walking tour and wandering around San Blas I spent the rest of the day watching rugby.

5am came really early for my pickup for the Inca Trail.  Ouch! The couple hour nap on the bus wasn't quite enough, good thing I only have 4 days until another proper bed.

The next 43km from the Sacred Valley to Machu Picchu would be spent trekking with 13 others, our SAS guides Freddy and Jose and 21 amazing porters and cooks---- only a zillion steps and three high Andean mountain passes in our way.

Despite it being the end of rainy season, the weather was mostly good (it poured down while we were sleeping) and we stopped a lot on the way to hear about the Incas and the sites.

We didn't expect much, but our first glimpse at the porters in action was impressive.  There were kitchen and dining tents where we enjoyed delicious soup and a chicken curry.  These guys have to drag all this stuff up on their backs- amazing!

In Nepal it was the Yaks, on the Inca Trail you have to watch out for the Alpacas-- much faster than you would think.

After a few hours uphill we arrived at camp and added more clothes as the temperature quickly started to drop. It was early to bed (with Calum, my super tall Scottish tentmate who didn't really fit in the tiny tents) since we were all tired from the early start.

It was very early as we were woken to coca tea and Freddy's “Hola Chicoss." Ready for day 2, the dreaded hardest day.

Before leaving we met all the porters and learned what they each carry.  Egg man- huh!  Decided I wouldn't want to be the guy that carries the gas tank.  Freddy told me waiter was really the best gig.

Day 2 is pretty much all uphill and steep downhill, crossing two mountain peaks.  After probably 2 1/2 hours up you reach the first peak known as Dead Woman’s Pass-- wow that last 10 minutes was a killer!  This is the highest point of the trek at 4,198m.  The next 1 ½ hours downhill was hard on the knees.

After lunch it was more uphill, passing the ruin of Runkurakay where we had a long lesson in the rain- I can't tell you anything about it since I just wanted to be somewhere warm and dry.  It reportedly has good views.

One more steep ascent and descent over the next several hours and alas at camp on the eastern Amazon slope where things are a lot lusher.

That night the hot toddies led to some loud drinking games which didn't really do it for me, thankfully I had a dry tent to escape to.

Part of the reason we hiked over both passes on day 2 was to reach the cloud forest before it got totally fogged in.  In was certainly a stunning view upon leaving the tent, but by the time the two Germans we waited for arrived (and then refused to leave with us--- it did not make them popular) things were pretty well fogged in. Grand views of the Rio Urubamba valley- no!  The ruin of Phuyupatamarka and its beautiful ceremonial baths- sorta.  Hundreds more Inca steps downhill- most definitely. :-(

It did clear up just in time for us to visit the terraces of Intipata before arriving at camp 3 for lunch and our first shower in days.  Ahhhhh!

Nearby was Winay Wayna, named for the orchid that grows here year-round.  It was probably the best Inca site we had seen so far and a good warm up to Machu Picchu the next morning.

Our final dinner was quite nice as we said goodbye to the porters. These guys really could not do enough for you and always had a smile on their face.  They even baked us a cake---god knows how they managed that given the facilities.  I do love my postre!

The 330am wake up call was much less enjoyable.  In order to be among the first to Machu Picchu you have to get in line around 430am, sitting on a poncho on the cold ground, to be ready to practically run to the Sun Gate when the entrance opens at 6am.

I personally hated this part since it really was a very quick one hour walk to Intipunku, the Sun Gate (having to pee the whole time), but had no real problem with the “gringo killer” at the end.

I will say, seeing the sun come up while above the clouds was pretty cool. 

But the real event was from the Sun Gate as we watched the clouds lift and caught our first glimpse of Machu Picchu, literally in the middle of nowhere. Pretty amazing!

About 45 minutes more downhill and we were finally there.  4 days and 43km later, in rain, uphill and down, it was all worth it.

Machu Picchu is an ancient city that was never found by the Spaniards and lost until American Hiram Bingham found it in 1911. Since there are no records, no one really knows what it was used for but speculate it was a trade nexus between the Amazon and highlands and a ceremonial center.

Of course we needed a team photo, but “the Germans aren’t coming” since they never really caught up. We were completely exhausted, but the proper bathroom really improved our spirits (just like in Nepal!).

Freddy's "mucho cool"  tour of the site was very extensive, but at points I thought my legs were too sore to go up one more flight of steps. Calum really got into the thousandth explanation about the many sided stones that perfectly fit together and those carved for sacred areas.

Forget the hike up Wayna Picchu- enough is enough. I caught the bus back to Aguas Calientes for some rest and lunch before taking the 5pm train towards Cusco.

The train was surprisingly fun as we compared tips (we were extravagant) and shared a few cervesas with the other groups. The real fun began when we met at Paddy's Pub (very Peruvian, eh!) for team drinks which turned into a 5am dance party at one of the discos.

I felt bad waking Coco up at 5am to let me in, but at least he didn't have to deal with me all day since I slept, only to rise for a massage late in the day and then headed back to bed since I had another early wake up to catch a flight to my next destination.

Peru Pt. 2-- The Real Peru

I had done some kind of charity thing on every other continent (assuming volunteering at an Italian vineyard counts), so felt strongly I should do a little something in South America too.

I realized before I left that I don't really have any real skills (e.g., teaching, medicine, etc.), but I can swim and drowning is far too common.  I got it- I can teach swim lessons!  Wait, there aren't really any organizations doing that?

That is how I came across WAVES for Deve- lopment, a non-profit with the goal of creating "life-enriching experiences in coastal communities through Education programs that develop youth into healthy, empowered adults and Surf Voluntourism programs that engage travelers and transform their views of the world and themselves."

Sounds pretty good, eh!  I can spend two weeks teaching swim lessons, helping with English class and surf lessons AND try to get better at surfing.

Here I come Lobitos, Peru-- a small fishing and surfing town in northern Peru.

Sam, the Swiss volunteer coordinator, met me at the bus from Lima with a fellow volunteer, Loreto from New York.  Jen (Canada) and Tracy (Nantucket) had already arrived  so there were four of us living in the Waves house for the next few weeks.

We started the first week of the school year after summer break (isn't 'little business man' cute!), so it was a little slow getting started since they had all sorts of activities that did not seem to include learning.

Eventually we did get to help out in the 1st and 2nd grade classes-- it was fun teaching colors, animals and days of the week (good thing we were there or they would forever be spelling Wednesday wrong- admittedly it is a tough one).

Surf lessons with 'Shrek' (I accidentally named him since his real name sounded a bit like Ogre-- it stuck, sorry!) were great, but much harder work than you would think.   Besides getting pretty good at surfing, the six boys in the class really liked playing in the water with my waterproof camera-- I have about 1,000 pictures to prove it.

It was all going smoothly until 1) no one showed up for our organized swim lessons and 2) I got deathly ill.

Having a 103.8F fever, chills, mega aches and a bad tummy was not my idea of a good 4-5 days as Loreto (in the picture, not me) and I basically camped out in our room with no TV or Internet.  Perhaps we were delirious, but we did have lots of laughs. 

Some of my favorite Lobitos moments:

Loreto decided she was going to surf at a beach further away in hopes it wouldn't be crowded with "Brazilians" (like a curse word).  Fast forward to an image of her walking back in her wetsuit (half on) through the desert with shoes she made from scrap wood and hair ties to avoid more blisters (and she didn't even get to surf).

"Libre de Anal- fabetismo"- we weren't sure what it was, but we were happy there were free of it since anal- fabetismo sounds bad!  (turns out it is illiteracy).

Laughing hys- terically as we waited for no one to show for swim lessons, all the while listening to the same Presidential campaign song blaring over and over in the main square of Old Lobitos.  We considered rearranging the stones atop the hill to spell out NADAR (swim), perhaps that would have been better marketing since it works for candidates running for local office.

We dubbed Lobitos "the city of dirt" since everything was either sand or dirt and you could never stay clean.  I also had a run-in with a large thorn that went through my flip flop into my heel--- could "poop foot" (there are a ton of stray dogs besides the dirt) be the cause of my illness?  I was walking back from grabbing a cervesa at Cora, a place I only visited in tribute to my niece, so I blame her ;-)

As our symptoms multiplied, Loreto thought we need to flee Lobitos before we got the "Immaculate HIV."

Sporade, our cure and the only thing we ingested for days. What a bad name for a Gatorade knockoff.

Thanks to another expat in town, 'Chef' as I called him, we ate very well.  We even made fresh pasta one night which required a shocking number of us--- I perfected the role of pasta "catcher" since the bulk was ending up on the floor before we used my travel clothes line to hang the pasta. 

I tried to make a chocolate cake and now understand the importance of baking soda, measuring cups and proper sticks of butter.  It was quite right!

Bowling at the oldest alley in South America, built by the Brits in 1903. We had to hire local kids to reset the pins for us when we actually managed to get the ball down the lane (we were convinced they pulled to the right).  Amazingly I went from a winning score of 113 to 59 in the next game--- ouch!

Since my surfing was not going well (not the best location for a beginner since you have to share the wave with some pretty aggressive "Brazilians" who know how to surf), I decided to swim to the pier instead.  Picture the look on the fisherman's faces when I climbed the super tall ladder at the end of the pier- where did this chica in pink come from?

TSUNAMI!(from the devastating earthquake in Japan)  Got out of town! As all the locals heeded advice and headed up the hill with their tiny suitcases we decided to barbecue (and nearly fall through one of the open holes in the ground-- so close!!!!).  At least we didn't try to surf like some others.  A 1 meter wave hit and we were none the wiser.  There was a blackout a few days later, but apparently that is pretty normal.

Pekki, our guard dog, who followed us everywhere and watched our things while we were in the ocean not surfing. I think she sensed I was not so fond of her, so paid me the most attention. We missed her when she fled with the locals during the tsunami.

But the best-- the celebrations of Lobitos' 56th anniversary.  What a blast!

First we got to march in their 1-block parade in front of the Mayor (it was rumored the Mayor was boozing it up in Talara until the early hours, hence the delayed start). 

Everyone in Peru seems to goose-step, but we just couldn't!

The LPD (Lobitos Police Department) was in force, although they always seemed to be in force, patrolling town in teams of at least five.

There was also great people watching, for instance the woman wearing the "Money Before Bitches" t-shirt-- don't want to be her friend.

Finally we were feeling better, so celebrated with some wine and a good meal before joining the locals in Old Lobitos for some beer and dancing (the band was really good).   The gringos showing up made quite a stir.  Loreto, Sam and I danced with a bunch of locals and drank all the free beer offered.  As you can see, the school security guard maybe had a little too much of that free beer. ;-)

And the highlight, we finally got to meet the newly crowned Miss Lobitos, Sam's favorite after Miss Tourism Talara!

All kidding (and germs) aside, WAVES is doing a great thing trying to help the local community, not just coming for the good left break and contributing nothing. 

The kids will learn a lot more English, the boys in the surf class will gain confidence that will hopefully motivate them to consider something beyond fishing or mototaxi driver. 
 
Hopefully Henry will become a successful photographer thanks to the equipment provided and personal attention he has received from volunteers like Loreto.

Perhaps the women who cooked us lunch every day in their houses will have extra income and see how they can grow that by catering to all those "Brazilian" surfers.
 
I am really sorry I got sick and couldn't help as much as I had intended, but I left with lots of good memories and new friends (I have not laughed so much writing this blog!)

It is definitely an ambitious undertaking and I wish WAVES all the best and look forward to all the updates.

Peru Pt. 1- Canyons to Capital

I am American again after crossing the border into Peru.

It was a long and very cold bus journey from Copa- cabana, Bolivia to Arequipa, Peru, traveling through Puno, but the scenery continued to be stunning.

I have seen a lot of people selling odd things on buses, but this may have been the best--- wheels of (stinky) cheese that people were actually buying. What are you supposed to do with a wheel of cheese on a bus??? 

I arrived late to La Casa de los Penguinos where I was greeted by the extremely helpful Dutch owner.

Arequipa, Peru's 2nd largest city known as Ciudad Blanca (White City), is really a lovely spot.  There is a lot to see, but I mostly enjoyed just walking around the grand, white colonial buildings and observing the goings on in the Plaza de Armas with its cathedral (that has been reconstructed many times due to earthquakes) and colonnaded balconies.

Before I did any sightseeing, I first wanted to book a 3-day tour to Colca Canyon with Land Adventures.

When booking the tour I met Raul who invited me to join friends for lunch.  It was nice to get a local's perspective and help ordering typical dishes of the area.  I even ended up meeting them for dinner, drinks and dancing (at the disco for locals, not tourists) before I had enough and wanted desperately to go home.  Not sure if it is true, but getting home is a little more challenging since you can't just hail one of the million cabs on the street since they have been known to kidnap.  Eventually one of Raul's "trusted cabs" showed up to whisk me away. Yay!

In between lunch and dinner I took a private guided tour of Monasterio de Santa Catalina, a large convent divided into three cloisters: Novice, Orange and the Great Cloister (you could easily get lost in here).

The convent was absolutely fascinating, mostly because the inhabitants didn't exactly seem so charitable.  Back in the days it was the place for the 2nd born of very wealthy families (you had to pay a dowry to enter).  Once they entered the convent they never saw their families again, but they did own and furnish their own apartments and came with servants, so it didn't seem so tough.  After some church reforms, the nuns had to give up their servants and live communally--- can't imagine they were too excited about that.

I had intended to head to Colca the following morning, but the Dutch couple (Yvette and Fette) had their luggage lost by the airline, so we had to wait a day.

Believe it or not, I was actually quite productive and spent the bulk of that day updating my resume in preparation for returning to the real world. 

Finally, a crazy early start to canyon country.

Colca Canyon is 100km long and up to 3,000m deep, the 2nd deepest canyon in the world (no the Grand Canyon is not #1, in fact Colca is more than twice as deep as the Grand Canyon; Cotahuasi in Peru is #1, 150m deeper than Colca).

Along the way we stopped at Cruz del Condor to see the graceful condors gliding through the sky-- an impressive site.  Afterwards we started the 1,100m hike down into the canyon (ouch, my knees!).  It started to rain a bit post lunch, but we made it to our host family relatively dry. 

Amazingly the bedroom made of mud bricks was also dry, as was the kitchen where Roy prepared all our meals (including pancakes) over an open fire (thankfully we didn't try any of the guinea pigs they had caged outside).

The next morning we had a short walk through a few villages, sampling different kinds of cactus fruits (neither was very good) on our way to the Oasis for a quick swim and lunch.  It was a pretty hike, passing waterfalls, animals and huge agave plants, and of course the beautiful vistas.

Unfortunately now we had a 6km hike all uphill just as the heavy rain started.  I must say 3 1/2 hours uphill in the rain is not as bad as it sounds, but I don't plan on doing it again.  Nor do I plan to eat egg soup (yuck)-- at least our host knew how to make a delicious hot chocolate as we huddled around the electric heater for warmth with the young Canadian bartender who mixed a cocktail every other day, maybe.

With all our clothes still damp we headed back to Arequipa with a stop at a small village and hot spring.  It was nice to finally be warm after shivering the last couple days. 

I was also pretty warm on Cruz del Sur's overnight bus to Ica, the town closest to Huacachina.

Huacachina is an oasis surrounded by huge sand dunes. Although I wasn't planning to swim in the green lagoon, I was happy to pass the super hot days sitting poolside at El Huacanicero Hotel (even if they did make me pay for the mayonnaisey sandwich I refused to eat). 

The real attraction here are the areneros (dune buggy) rides--- like a roller coaster minus the rails.  Imagine going at high speed up a sand dune and they dropping over the edge.  So fun (and scary)!

To make it even better, there were numerous occasions to sand board down the dunes, some of which were really huge and kinda scary.  Besides getting sand everywhere I had some bruises on my hip bone from when my board went over a few rocks on the way down.  It was really a good thrill!

While there I also visited some local vineyards for some wine and Pisco tastings with Lynette, an American I met on the bus from Arequipa.  Peru is not known for their wine (for good reason) and Pisco is better left mixed up with something sour than straight up (= lighter fluid).  The best part of the day was when the traditional vineyard let us stomp on grapes- a first for me (it was sticky and there were lots of bees to avoid).

It was only 3 1/2 hours from Ica to Lima, where I arrived with Lynette to HQ Villa, a really lovely spot owned by Misha and Michael.

People generally don't have much nice to say about Lima, but I thought it was okay.  The first day Lynette and I walked all over Miraflores to the ocean and the LarcoMar shopping mall that is interestingly built into a cliff (and felt just like a US mall, shockingly).  Actually Miraflores felt a lot like walking around LA.

We hopped a local bus to see a fountain show in the park, but for some reason the nice security guard told us it was closed and to come back tomorrow.

Despite everyone saying downtown Lima is dangerous, I cabbed it down there for a quick look and found it rather pretty.  I also didn't think it felt particularly unsafe, especially with the police presence in the main square.  The Plaza de Armas was the heart of Pizarro's 16th C. settlement and the center of the continent-wide Spanish empire.

We arrived just in time for the changing of the guard at the Palacio de Gobierno, residence of Peru's presi- dent. It was quite an elaborate affair with a band playing as the guards goose-stepped away. 

The Monasterio de San Francisco is also a top attraction for its bone-lined catacombs (I found it a little creepy). The library with 25,000 ancient volumes was also really interesting.  They claim the way the cathedral was built protects it from earthquakes, but I still think I would prefer to be elsewhere (I had actually slept through an earthquake while in Arequipa-- an aftershock from New Zealand!)

The Plaza San Martin was also lovely surrounded by beaux arts architecture.  Funny story- the statue of Madre Patria in the middle of the square portrays a llama on her head (it was meant to be a crown of flames, but apparently flames also means llama- oops!) 

Just a short walk from one square to the other (plus a McFlurry since I can't pass them up!) and it was time to head back to the safety of Miraflores for my hair appointment-- it was just like home, except I couldn't really explain what I wanted him to do (and it was WAY cheaper).

That night we did manage to get into the Parque De La Reserva's El Circuito Magico Del Agua to see the dozen fountains all lit up, one even had a laser light show to cheesy music.  It was nice, wholesome fun for the locals who played in the fountains.  We even ran into the security guard from the night before-- he was very happy to see us again (I can't believe we stand out SO much!)

However, I fit right in at Gaston's new restaurant (Gaston is Peru's celebrity chef)- it was just like being in NYC.

I also felt at home at the ceviche restaurant, La Red, where I dined with Lynette before hopping on yet another overnight bus to Talara, 17 hours north of Lima.

The traffic out of Lima was maybe the worst I have seen, but luckily, like Chile, they have street performers entertaining you while stopped at red lights.  In Santiago I was impressed by the juggler standing on someones shoulder, but juggling huge knives while on a unicycle trumps all!