Huaca Pucllana

For something to do in Lima we went to Huaca Pucllana. This active archaeological site restricts visits to certain tour times, and each tour must be escorted. Our little guide was quite informative. She told us that Huaca Pucllana was originally about 8 city blocks square, and now is about 3 at most. In 1984 the land belonged by a private business owner, and he was just bull dozing chunks of it for development. Over half of the site was destroyed until the government took possession of the site for preservation. What is left is what has been salvaged beneath the surface.

The handmade mud bricks are all placed vertically, book-end style, to create layers. There are literally thousands upon thousands of bricks; in some you can still see finger prints from when they were made. The pyramid structures are similar style to those of Templo Mayor in that the buildings would be made bigger by adding several different surrounding layers. There would be many prior structures under the most visible top layer. It is tragic to think what sorts of artifacts, tombs, or human remains were destroyed prior to the preservation efforts.

All in all it was worth the short visit to the site.
Happy Travels,
~j

Islas Ballestas: The Poor Man’s Galapagos

Islas Ballestas Pelican

Islas Ballestas is a nature reserve about a 3.5 hour bus ride from Lima. We had to be at the bus terminal in Lima for 3:30am for a 4:15am departure, which meant we left our hotel at 3am to get there on time. Ugh, getting up early sucks, but it was worth it. (I did an earlier post about part of the bus trip.) One thing I forgot was that before boarding bags are searched, and video footage is taken of each passenger’s face. We initially thought the video was for security reasons. When we got home someone told us it was to identify remains of passengers if the bus is smashed beyond recognition in an accident. That’s always reassuring!

We arrived safely at a bus station in Paracas. The bus station was more like a glorified grass hut, but with plumbing. Check out the security device on the toilet tank.

Our guide Luis met us on a tiny dock, we loaded up the boat and were out on the Ocean. We saw (and smelled) a bazillion birds. There were cormorants, gulls, pelicans, blue-footed boobies, and Humboldt Penguins! I heart PENGUINS! We also saw sea lions eating sardines right out of fishermen’s nets. The fishermen were none too happy, but the sea lions were living it up. Luis had never seen a sea lion “con pesca en bocca” in all the years he’s been a marine biologist, so he was super stoked about that.

Paracas CandellabraOn the way to the island, we passed the Paracas Candelabra. The huge geoglyph is hundreds and hundreds of years old. No one knows why it is there, or who put it there. (Pirates, Aliens, Sailors, are all theories.) Word is that the candelabra points to the Nazca Lines, but that doesn’t hold out if you google it. The geoglyph is several feet deep of dust. It hasn’t disappeared due to erosion because it is sheltered from the wind, and it never rains in the area. People are not permitted near the candelabra as the foot prints/tracks would remain imprinted on the crust.

The weather of the Paracas area creates also an anomaly for the Ballestas island. Due to the lack of wind/rain, and the island birds’ ability to produce so much guano an industry has been created. The guano is collected every 3 years to be used for fertilizer. It is illegal to set foot on the islands without special guano collecting permits. Not that that’s something I was interested in! Let’s just say you’re lucky there isn’t smell-o-vision to go along with the photos!

ps: I included a few of Jon’s photos. His zoom was better able to capture the birds.

 

Zippy Zip

Beautiful British ColumbiaFor something to do at the end of August, we went to Whistler for Ziptrek. We’d been talking about going for a while, and then finally had the opportunity. Ziptrek was AWESOME! I took some video, but can’t find the memory card; when I do, I’ll post it.

I hadn’t been to Whistler for a couple years, so seeing the changes that were made for the Olympic village was kind of sweet. There was some construction going on in the main village, and the fence/screen was all photos from the Olympics, which reminded me of how fun Vancouver was for those couple weeks.

The campground we stayed at was great. The outhouses looked like normal outhouses, but had flush toilets, sinks with running water and hand soap in them which was rather posh compared to most campgrounds–not that I’m complaining! We stopped at some Provincial Parks and did some short trails along the way. We ended up visiting Nairn Falls and Brandywine Falls. Both were super pretty. On the way home we drove through Squamish on the Sea to Sky (which I also hadn’t seen since the Olympic improvements). All in all a fun weekend. Gotta love spontaneous weekend road trips.

Happy Travels,
~j

Lima

We ended up having a couple more days in Lima then we had originally planned. The airline we were flying with to Trujillo rescheduled the flight times and made it 100% impossible to visit Chan Chan. Boo.

LIma PeruAlmost 8 million people live in the capital of Peru. Lima is a typical metropolitan area with lots of great things to see and do, but not where we really want to spend a lot of time.

We stayed near the ocean in Miraflores which is the touristy, newer, upscale, aka “safer” part of Lima. There were several parks and a shopping mall within walking distance from the place we were staying. Larcomar overlooks the Pacific Ocean, and is partially outdoors which would never work in Canada. Being able to watch paragliders from the mall was pretty cool though. We wandered from the mall to El Parque del Amor where the famous sculpture ‘El Beso’ is located. The park was a lot smaller than I expected, and not nearly as interesting.

There was only 1 brief moment where I didn’t feel 100% safe in Lima. We were on a very busy touristy street, and there was a 2 person team trying to pick pocket us or something. One was trying to distract Jon with maps etc on the left, and the other was just way too close for comfort on my right. We quickly shut that situation down. I don’t keep stuff in my pockets anyway, so they wouldn’t have gotten anything but lint. Otherwise, Lima seemed fine. Police were everywhere–police on Segways, police with dogs, and police with full riot gear. That dog’s name is Rocco. True story. He can do loads of tricks. His policeman handler was making him pose for photos. Safety first right?

Everyone we’d talked to about Lima along the trip said we had to visit the water park. Approximately 13 million US was used to renovate the park and create the water fountain circuit. (Which is ridiculous given some of the social situations in the country. I suppose the park is a revenue source?) The park is huge, it has the worlds highest water fountain at 80m. It was beautiful, but not as spectacular as I’d hoped. (Seriously, I was more impressed with the water show at the Bellagio.)

Not to be a total downer about Lima, it was just a complete change of pace from everything we’d been doing in Peru. On a positive note, I did enjoy the architecture. Some of the buildings were gorgeous. (ps: the historic district of Lima is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.) Along with beautiful churches, the Plaza Mayor also has the Presidential Palace (the Peruvian White House if you will.) Every day there is a changing of the guard–complete with marching band. Most of the police force with riot gear was out during the marching ceremony.

We visited several of the cathedrals including the San Francisco Monastery and Catacombs. The catacombs were eerie. Thousands of bones were arranged in mass graves. When someone died, their family was not permitted inside the catacombs; only monks were allowed entry. Eventually, the monastery ran out of space, and instead of being honest, they just kept piling people on top of more and more people. The bones are in a pit several meters deep. Pretty creepy really.

Here are a few photos from the city.

 

Hearts Café

Someone on a TripAdvisor forum had posted about Hearts Café. Jon knew I’d make him stop there as soon as he read about it. I’m a sucker for charity, especially one that helps women and children, so I couldn’t possibly say no.

 Hearts Café is in Ollantaytambo, in one of the corners of the Plaza de Armas square. It is a small unassuming building, but I know it does amazing things for all sorts of people. Let me tell you, this little place moved me to tears. The story of the café’s origin and founder, Sonia Newhhouse, is just insane. It proves that one person really can make a tremendous difference. I’ve added the text from The West Australian Today article featuring the café:

76 Year Old British Woman who lost her heart in the Peruvian Andes
by Chris Olney, The West Australian Newspaper
June 21, 2007

There’s a small cafe in the corner of the plaza at Ollantaytambo in the Sacred Valley, high in the Peruvian Andes, that offers a surprising selection of food.

Besides the best cappuccino in the valley, there’s quarter pounder veggie burgers, lasagna and farmhouse chicken casserole. Not the usual Andean fare.

But the food is not the only surprise at Hearts Cafe.

The driving force at Hearts is Sonia Newhouse, a 76 year old British woman who five years ago decided to cut her ties with the UK and travel to Peru. She arrived in Lima in 2002 with all her possessions packed into two suitcases.

“It was liberating,” she said. “I had no latchkey , no car. I had never been to Peru and I soon realised the first thing I needed to do was learn the language, so I enrolled in a Spanish School.”

Fellow students encouraged her to travel to Cusco, the ancient capital of the Incas. After 2 years, altitude sickness (Cusco is 3450m above sea level) forced her to move to the Sacred Valley, which is a few hundred metres lower than Cusco. There she became involved with the women living in six villages which make up the community of Huaran.

“I was shocked at how poor they are and how few resources they have,’ Mrs Newhouse said. “I decided I wanted to help them become more self sufficient and independent.”

“I formed a working group and asked them what they needed most”

“Of all the things they need they thought only of their children. They wanted a nursery school. It was very humbling”.

The women told her that a Spanish-language nursery school, or pre-primary, would give their children the chance to learn Spanish before attending Government Schools. They only know the native dialect, Quechua, at home. If the children could not speak Spanish they were at a disadvantage from their first day at school.

A mud hut has been allocated for a nursery school in Canchacancha, one of the six villages, catering for about 40 children. But the school needs a teacher and equipment.

That’s where Hearts Cafe comes in. The money raised by selling meals, tea and coffee will help pay for the nursery school. It’s a big ask. Mrs Newhouse estimates $US20,000 $23,600 a year is needed.

Although she has never run a cafe, Mrs Newhouse is a nutritionist and in the 1980s set up one of the first factories in London producing frozen vegetarian meals. She rented a shop in Ollantaytambo and opened Hearts in March. After seven weeks she had raised 1900 sols (about $480).

“I decided to spend this on much needed medicines for the women,” she said. “Many have serious gynaecological problems. We desperately need volunteer doctors and nurses.”

Mrs Newhouse is training local people to cook and run the cafe, which provides another source of income for families. But she spends every day there to make sure things run smoothly.

Ollantaytambo is en route to the Inca Trail and Machu Picchu, and as the tourist season gets into full swing there is little doubt the cafe will do a roaring trade.

 Hearts Cafe Ollantaytambo PeruWe stopped to eat at the café on the way to Aguas Calientes and on the way back to Cusco. Both times the food was great. Our server was super friendly, and he remembered us from our first visit. I only wish I’d been more prepared, and had brought school supplies or clothing with me instead of just a financial donation.

The NGO, Living Heart Association, is not a hand-out organization. They focus on education and self-help in the projects they’re running. So far, the café is responsible for a water purification project, a home for abused women and abandoned children, and medical support for people living in the Sacred Valley area. The café focuses on Educational Support, Nutrition Issues and Family Planning. They provide breakfast and lunch to 400 school children and abandoned elderly Peruvians every day!

Living Heart focuses on sustainable activities like growing vegetables in scholastic gardens. How many schools in North America have an organic garden on school grounds?! (Really, the kids here are fed nuggets and tater tots, or something equally vile, and have no clue how or where real wholesome food comes from.)

If you’re thinking of visiting Peru, or know someone who is, please tell them about this little place. It is truly a gem. Also, if you want to send anything to Sonia at Hearts Café the address is:

Sonia Newhouse
c/o Hearts Café
Plaza de Armas, Ollantaytambo
Cusco, Perú

Donations of school supplies, medicine, clothing etc are all needed. ps: Packages cannot weigh over 5kg, and all clothing must look clean and new or will be confiscated by customs. If you want to contact Sonia e-mail hearts.cafe@hotmail.com

 

Yellowstone

I’ve really been trying to get through most of the Peruvian adventures before I start on the next trip. We’re not going anywhere exotic or off the continent, but we are going to Yellowstone in September. I’m excited for a road trip to a US Park. Don’t worry, I’ll finish with Peru for the most part.

ps: I was feeling like a slacker with the European entries as well. For a while the photos were overwhelming, but I got them done. The drafts that have been sitting unpublished for so long are now up for your reading pleasure skip back to July 2009. You’ll notice a few little updates. True story.

You’re welcome!

Jesus, Mary and Pachamama?

If you’ve been reading all along, you’ll know that I’ve promised more on the taxi drivers and more on Pachacutec. There is a connection, I promise, ok, maybe not so much Pachacutec, but Pachamama. Read on…

To preface this post, let’s say that neither of us is a particularly religious being. I have done a bit of world religion studies just for personal interest. Jon, however, has a completely irrational secular love of Jesus. (Which I think really scares people who have never met him before, and he’s wearing a shirt that says “Jesus Loves Me”. Either that, or they think they share his (non-existent) beliefs and it is all good.) We both enjoy visiting churches and sites of worship, so it all works out well when we’re traveling.

Festival CrossYou may know that a huge majority of Peruvians are Catholics. Roman Catholicism is the official state religion, and obviously plays a major role in Peruvian life. As we were driving, several of our taxi drivers made the sign of the cross over themselves, and just kept on driving. (Pedal to the metal! Please save me Jesus?) Also, there were religious icons hanging on wind shields and rear view mirrors of every vehicle we were in.

Every town or city we visited, no matter how big or small, had a main square with a large cathedral. Several places we visited were celebrating festivals of Saints or Holy Days. No one we asked could explain what the exact occasion was, just that a festival was taking place. In Cusco there was a band marching the streets that grew in size each time we crossed paths–eventually, they were marching with a procession of costumed dancers. In Aguas Calientes, the music from a parade about town was non-stop until almost 5am. All of these festivals create a huge sense of community.

However saturated the country may be in organized religion, it is also holding on to Incan customs and traditions. There are native cultures – like the ones on the Uros Islands or Andes highlands, who still believe in ancient practices. For example, on Taquile, the custom is that a young couple lives together for 5 years before getting married. They live in the man’s parents house, and having babies during this time is perfectly fine. You could see how the church would have issue with that.  Maybe?

So, one belief system mixes with another and the people seem to be alright with it. You can see this in the cathedrals themselves. First, some of the stones used in the Cusco Cathedral were looted from Sacsayhuaman, and there is Incan iconography on the church exterior. There is also a beautiful cedar choir area that has some intricate carvings that represent Pachamama hidden in with the carvings of the saints and popes. Vladimir, our tour guide for Lake Titicaca, explained that many people meld Christianity with Pachamamist practices.
Marcos Zapata Last Supper Cuy
Peruvian painter, Marcos Zapata, has also put his own spin on The Last Supper. His version shows Jesus and the disciples dining on cuy and drinking chicha. This painting is in the Cusco Cathedral, but photos were not permitted. If you were lucky, you may have received a copy in post card form!

And just so Pachacutec doesn’t feel left out, there were monuments of him in more than one city we visited. Here are the dorky photos.

Cusco

Cusco, PeruCusco is a wonderful city. There is so much to do and see in a relatively small area (not that Cusco is small just seems like everything is close enough not to be overwhelmed or frustrated by the logistics of it all.) The place we were staying was right off of the Plaza D’armas, and it was really cute and clean.

They had a communal sun room, communal kitchen with a TV and computer area and all the tea you could want for free which was great because it was fricken cold at night. Only one day was a little frustrating as the water stopped working completely. Apparently there are random water restrictions in the City of Cusco that residents have absolutely no control over.

In Cusco, we ended up purchasing the Boleto Turistico, which is necessary to visit most, but not all, of the ruins, museums and monuments. We used ours to visit Sacsayhuaman (a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1983), the ruins at Ollantaytambo and Pisac (as previously mentioned). We also visited the museum at Qorikancha. We had hopes of visiting Tipon as well, but by the time we saw all of the other sites there was no motivation left in me for a 5 hour round trip.

Cristo BlancoWikipedia has a panoramic photo of Sacsayhuaman.  Check it out. While at Sacsayhuaman, we went to Cristo Blanco as well. It was a bit of a trek, but I wanted to see it.  You can see the tall white Jesus from Cusco. He’s kind of like a mini Christ the Redeemer. (Cristo Blanco was a gift from Palestinians settled in Peru to Peruvians.)

We walked Av El Sol, one of the main streets, and saw the monument of Pachacutec, but didn’t have time to do a tour. More on Pachacutec later. We also found the famed 12-sided stone in the Incan wall on one of the side streets of Cusco, Hatunrumiyoc. ps: Kind of weird that there is a police officer guarding the rock.

Hatunrumiyoc
Bet you just counted the sides didn’t you?

 

Qorikancha

On the first day in Cusco (during the hail storm), we went to Qorikancha.  Qorikancha was an Incan Temple of the Sun until the 16th century when the Convent of Santo Domingo was built on the Incan temple. The site is a mixture of Incan and Baroque building techniques as there are still Incan walls supporting the convent.

Word is that Qorikancha had panels of gold lining the walls of the court-yard that were designed to be bathed in sun. (Qorikancha means “courtyard of gold” in Quechua.) A lot of the gold was used to pay a ransom for a captured Incan, Atahualpa, whom the Spaniards killed anyway. Then, when Spanish Conquistadors sacked Qorikancha, they seized the remaining gold and melted it down.  Legend has it that a massive gold disc was hidden somewhere by the Incans. That hiding place has yet to be discovered.