Photo of the day, 5/12/2010: San Francisco and Cusco - a steep street dance-off.

yes, I walked up it

Best. Email. Ever.

WHAT DO YOU MEAN "IF" YOU'LL MEET KIM???

- from Kim yesterday, this was the entirety of the message

Time for three airports and 24 hours of flying-waiting-flying-waiting! Hasta, Cusco. It´s been fun.

Photo of the day, 5/5/2010: NOT NESCAFE!

Also not "Mystique" as referenced in the Lonely Planet guide. The cafe has since changed names, and while I can't remember the new name it's still a relaxed joint with great coffee.

Photo of the day, 5/4/2010: focus play.

Taken from the van driving back to Cusco. I don't understand how the tree in the front is fuzzy and the scenery in the background is fairly crystal clear... but it looks neat. So who cares?

Rafting the Rio Apurimac.

Saturday we visited the Museo de Arte Precolumbian where we saw beautifully exhibited silver, gold and ceramic artifacts from before Spanish colonialization, followed by a very short but very ugly red gallery of colonial Catholic paintings of Christ painfully dying on the cross (the transition to this section reminded me of entering Vegas after a 3 day nature trip in the Grand Canyon -peace zen calm NEON LOUD BRIGHT). Very unnerving.

Anyway, later we got our rafting briefing from a dreadlocked, pleasant young dude.

Alain, our rafting guide

We were going to be one of the first groups going down this season and the river had changed since last season, so it was going to be an adventure for everyone - including the guides. Chevere!

The trip was amazing. On the way to the river we stopped in a small town to visit the market, then spent three hours on a dusty dirt road next to the edge of a 1000 foot cliff with stunning views of the farmland...

... and rocks shaped like condors...

... and rushing rivers...

... and Incan faces in the mountains

We reached the river (and sand flies - you will hear a lot about sand flies in this post), and lunched and explored while the guys got the gear ready.

there, I fixed it!

first view of the Rio Apurimac

Naturally, the "Welcome" rapid started us off. From there it was class 2s, 3s and 4s with names like Minefield, Purgatory (where our gear boat flipped and a bottle of tequila was sacrificed to the river), Indiana Jones, Toothache and Last Laugh. We portaged around some of the roughest rapids and plowed through others in the raft under the great guidance of Alain & crew.

a calm spot

safety kayakers Juan and Rubin (not pictured: gear guide Ephraim)

Fun rapids in a beautiful canyon... In some places the walls went up forever and the stones looked like polished silver from the rushing water.

photo does not do it justice, part I

photo does not do it justice, part II

In other places we left the canyon briefly and were surrounded by small dirt cliffs and green trees or cactus.

photo does not do it justice, part III

photo does not do it justice, part IV

The campsites (Space Odyssey and Wake Up) were next to the rushing river, which I could listen to for days, and once the sand flies went away for the evening it was warm enough to sit outside and stare at the highway of stars.

Wake Up campsite

can't imagine why they call it "Wake Up"

We saw a handful of shooting stars and lots of satellites as well... At the second campsite we had a fire and sat in silence enjoying all four earthly elements for a few hours. Nice.

There must have been a million butterflies over the three days, all different sizes and colors. On the second day we saw condors gliding above, torrent ducks diving into and riding the rapids (sooooo cool!), and a fox wandering on the other side of the canyon. That night I saw a few scorpions and got bit by a spider (painful but otherwise harmless, the damn sand flies were much more annoying).

@#$%^&*

At the end Viki got to try her hand at navigating the raft and successfully steered us to our final landing where we lunched and headed back to civilization. All in all, a fabulous trip.

I may have been a river rat in a previous life. The juxtaposition between trekking (up at 5am or 6 at the latest, leave by 7am, travel as light as possible) and rafting (up whenevs, leave by 10am/whenevs, carry a big cooler of beer and a hand-crank blender for mixed drinks - eco-friendly! I might need one of those) was amusing as well.

Viki leaves today... I am a bit jealous that she will have farmer's markets and a kitchen at her disposal in approximately 24 hours, but on the other hand I still have chicha morada and Andean cheese for a few more days. So glad she could share this with me.

Now I am off to figure out what to do for the next week before I meet up with Kim in Salta. The possibilities are exciting but overwhelming! I need three more years in Peru.

Photo of the day, 5/3/2010: ahhhhh.

I could get used to this ...

Photo of the day, 5/2/2010: CHEESE...

... PLEASE! We stopped briefly at one of the many markets around Cusco to pick up a few things for the rafting trip.

Photo of the day, 5/1/2010: nothing says "British"...

... like chips with malt vinegar and a fine beer. Happy hour at Cross Keys Pub is happy indeed.

Photo of the day, 4/30/2010: not my snack.

comes with dunce cap garnish

There are no shortage of vegetarian restaurants, or vegetarian options at regular restaurants, in Cusco. We did eat here eventually. It was alright, but the other vegetarian places were better.

Tipon and yoga.

Friday morning there was some sort of ceremony in the main plaza.

We never did figure out what was going on, and it was fairly uneventful despite all the kids costumed up in their school outfits, so we hit the road.

Took a local bus for $1.50 soles (about $0.50 US) and tried to follow Lonely Planet's advice on finding the Tipon ruins. We got off at the right stop, but wandered through farmland backroads among hogs and cows asking the very nice and very helpful locals for directions, until we finally succumbed to a taxi and thank goodness - it was farther than I expected given LP's instructions. After numerous clarifying questions en Espanol I finally (hoped that I) understood that the nice young taxi driver would wait for us at the ruins and we went off to explore. (He did.)

but first, a cute Peruvian dog

What a beautiful site. This one had canals and fountains for irrigation like nothing we had seen so far.

built for someone's father as a sort of retirement home ...

... think I know another father who would have liked to retire here ...

... this Aquarius wouldn't mind either

There were only a handful of people visiting which, coupled with the fountains, created an almost zen atmosphere (except when the airplanes passed overhead).

old and new collide

The LP blurb is pretty brief and we were visiting guideless this time so I will need to research this one more for the details - but it really was beautiful.

Returned to Cusco with no problem (skipped Piquillacta's ruins nearby - the name literally translates to "place of the flea" which would have been amusing to say we visited, but it was the threat of a downpour that sent us back, not the flea part). Got a snack and I enjoyed a flat white (!?) at Jack's Cafe, and we both enjoyed some goodness at a nearby chocolate shop.

not Nescafe

Then to a great yoga class and back to the hotel for an early night. Think the week-plus of five-sensory overload has finally caught up with us both...

Read the rafting itinerary before bed. "The Granite Canyon of the Rio Apurimac is justifiably gaining a reputation as one of the world's top ten rafting rivers..." Chevere.

Photo of the day, 4/29/2010: it explains so much...

on a trash barrel at the Pisac ruins

Llamas and Pisac.

Thursday the four of us had a tour of Pisac, a small town near Cusco that has more Incan ruins and a huge handicraft market. Before Pisac we stopped at Awana Kancha, a sort of animal sanctuary slash high-end handicraft market. We got to feed llamas and alpacas, saw vicuña and guanaco, and spent a while watching a 40 minute old baby llama start to explore its brave new world.

nom!

might be the first time I saw something that was only 40 minutes old

Too cute. There were a few hungry llamas making an odd, soft mewing sound. I would've expected more of a bleat like a sheep, or at least something loud given their size. These quiet sounds were actually more entertaining to me than the newborn llama.

We also saw more weaving demonstrations and I enjoyed a chicha morada while the others shopped. The crafts were gorgeous and a large percentage of the proceeds went to the individual weavers - a very nice co-op overall.

this was weird though

The Pisac ruins are famous for their terraces (which are amazing)...

... but I found the cemetery fascinating. There are holes across the gorge wall facing the terraces where hundreds of people were once buried in the rock, like a natural mausoleum.

The holes are visible and empty because the graves have been robbed for the gold, silver and whatever tools were buried with the dead to help them in their next life. It must have been quite a process to get the bodies up there and buried in the cliff.

a closer look

The views from the top of Pisac were stunning just like everywhere else...

... and the flora was gorgeous.

The ruins themselves were pretty amazing too.

such straight lines!

But rather than post all those pictures, allow me to share a few of the more unusual ones. The mudslides and flood that ruined a bunch of retired peoples' spring 2010 travel plans also ruined a bunch of peoples' lives in the surrounding area. Peru's government was fairly quick to respond, and provided FEMA-like tents as shelter for anyone who'd lost their home. Anyone. Impressive.

temporary shelter, as seen from the top of Pisac

On a different note, this symbol was prevalent throughout Cusco and the surrounding areas. It represents the four directions (N/E/S/W) and the three levels (sky, earth, underworld) all in one graphic. I regret not buying a necklace of this symbol when I had the chance.

Back to Pisac and the tour... The market was huge and overwhelming, with ladies constantly pushing their weavings at us. Gorgeous alpaca sweaters, scarves, gloves and hats in "different colors" (their trademark saying) and lots of cool jewelry and tapestries.

nope, still didn't buy you anything

After we shopped we stopped by "the best bakery in Pisac" where we enjoyed pan (bread) fresh from a huge clay oven. We opted not to pick out our own guinea pig for dinner that night though. Just like some US restauants let you pick your lobster from the aquarium, these castillos de cuyes (mini castles serving as guinea pig pens) here let you pick an animal for dinner. I have eaten some interesting meat on this trip but this was a bit much for me. I couldn't even bring myself to take a photo. Those little fuzzy faces!

After the tour we wandered a bit around Cusco, then had a nice vegetarian meal at El Encuentro (fake meat again! yum) and a drink at a funky cafe bar called Witches Garden that I had been eyeing since we first passed it early last week. Cool place.

Another long day with lots of information, culture and food. I think Cusco is the most exhausting (in a good way) city I have visited yet.

Photo of the day, 4/28/2010: an excellent recommendation.

sign at the bus stop to Machu Picchu

Photo of the day, 4/27/2010: at last!

Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu trek: day eight.

Late last night and this morning it poured. We had a brief repreive during breakfast but the drizzle started again as we said goodbye to our wonderful chef/assistant chef and porters and headed out...

And then the drizzle stopped, and then started, and then stopped, lather rinse repeat. It became an exercise of "how hot in my raincoat can I stand to be, because as soon as I take it off I will need it again." It got warmer as we descended into the jungle and the rain finally ceased, for the most part. Our good weather luck was holding out.

entering a cave walk-through during a rainy portion

It was another slow day up to the Sun Temple so once again I treated it as a nature walk. We saw fern trees, fiddleheads, tons of varieties of orchids including the gorgeous MP orchid, and butterflies and birds galore.

Krustyus the Clownus species

Machu Picchu orchid

We also stopped at a few of the ruins along the way. Some were agricultural centers and others were shelters for the folks who maintained the trail back in the day.

room with a view at Intipata

Intipata ruins

Winaywayna ruins

Finally the top of the pass, the Sun Temple!

Viki attempts to greet the sun

And lots and lots of fog! What an odd name for a place in the cloud forest. Our first glimpses of the sacred city did not look promising - we saw it for a few minutes and then it disappeared into the fog.

no, really, it's there

We had a quick lunch and continued on down the pass, stopping at more ruins before the fog and clouds burned off...

Chema explaining the tomb of the high priest where a woman's skeleton was found

... and there was Machu Picchu. What an amazing site.

The weather cooperated as we took a two hour tour of the city. The amount of thought that went into every detail of where things were placed in relation to the sun, and how the serpent/puma/condor and "threes" were incorporated, was really stunning.

Chema showing the stepping-stone like architecture - three steps, of course

The giant rocks were pieced together like a puzzle and the numerous sets of steps carved into the huge naturally occurring boulders were mind-blowing. Puts modern architecture to shame to some degree...

steps carved in one ginormous boulder

Oh right, and the 360 panoramic views of the Andes weren't so bad either.

This is a poor (at best) summary but suffice to say, I was overwhelmed. Both from the cumulative week's events and the site itself.

We got kicked out because of the time, and I think two hours is far too little time to fully appreciate the magic of this place. But as soon as we heard it was possible to climb Waynapicchu to the north, Viki and I decided to return the next morning before our journey back to Cusco.

see you tomorrow, Waynapicchu

It would have been nice to sit with the llamas or next to the peaceful fountain for a little while this afternoon though - next time!

Aguas Calientas is a weird little tourist town by the river. Our hotel is perfect. We had dinner at a nice pizza place that played really bad 80s music really loud, and now we are heading to bed for our early start in the morning. Our guide was quite lively at dinner and shared more about Andean culture and life... The quote of the day is from him.

Quote of the day: "The problem is the Catholic church..." (in response to a question about whether birth control methods are taught to high school kids in the Andes - they are, but the church doesn't like it... what a widely applicable quote though)