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Peru, South America

Machu Picchu

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Machu Picchu PeruMachu Picchu was easily the best place we visited on the entire trip. We spent 10 hours just walking around the site and taking photos and chatting with other people there. Photos just don’t do it justice. I could fill your brain with history of the site, but you could google it yourself. We poached some info from the guided tours, and learned quite a bit of stuff. Here’s your few facts:

Machu Picchu Entrance signHiram Bingham III discovered the site in 1911. The switchback highway that you have to take to get to the site (if you don’t do the Inca Trail) is called the Hiram Bingham highway. You can only wonder what state Machu Picchu was like when he arrived almost 100 years ago.

I bet Llamas weren’t at the entrance to greet his expedition team!

There is a carved rock sundial in Machu Picchu–the Intihuatana. The Quechua name translates as “hitching post of the sun.” If you measure the angles of the Intihuatana they are 13 degrees. FYI: Machu Picchu is 13 degrees from the equator.

Intihuatana

The sundial measures solstices and equinoxes accurately. Not that atypical of a sundial, but it proves that the Incans had intricate knowledge of the solar system. The dial is also aligned perfectly north, and a magnetic compass when held to the stone will go all wacky as the rock is magnetized. Intihuatana is one of the only sun dials still existing from Incan times. Spanish conquistadors destroyed all symbols of Incan religion. Luckily they didn’t find Machu Picchu.

The site is extremely organized; it would have been an efficient little city. The people would have been completely self-contained with agricultural terraces growing enough food to feed the population of Machu Picchu. Buildings are believed to be homes, storage sites, prison cells, baths, and communal areas. All of them are built without mortar, and the stones are made to fit together perfectly. ps: Jon tells me that people were imprisoned for laziness.

The Temple of the Condor (left photo) is supposed to look like a condor in flight. The natural rock in the background looks like wings, and the rock in the foreground is carved to look like the head of a condor. Word is that the Incans used this site for sacrifices. Another interesting rock formation (right photo) was pointed out by some dude we ran into a few times. The rock was carved to look like the mountain range behind it.

Spiny WhorltailObviously we saw plenty of Llamas as we wandered, but that wasn’t all. There were little song birds flying everywhere, and so so so many little lizards! (Really, Spiny Whorltail Iguanas if you’d like to get technical and nerdy. Gotta love google!) One of the people we were talking to showed us a photo of a tarantula she’d just taken. We didn’t see any. She was super relieved that it was a tarantula she’d seen and not a lizard. Bizarre!

Everyone at the site seemed to really appreciate the experience. Usually there is at least one jackass story from every site we visit, but here, everyone was just well, normal if you will. People were really nice too, even suggesting to take photos for each other. Seriously, we must have taken 50 photos of other people and been offered just as many times.

Machu Picchu Peru7We ran into Becky and Ryan, a couple we’d me at the hostel. We also ran into everyone we’d met on the train. Craig, Michael and Michael were still going–that’s them in the photo walking on the stairs. We ran into Andy and Angela for lunch. The three, Andy, Angela and Chad, had hiked to the site in the morning to watch the sunrise. All in all, one of the best days of the trip–an absolutely gorgeous setting, great weather, awesome people.

What more could you ask for?
~j

Peru, South America

Jesus, Mary and Pachamama?

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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.
Peru, South America

Cusco

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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?

 

Peru, South America

Qorikancha

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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.

 

Peru, South America

Taquile

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Taquile Lake Titicaca PeruFrom the floating islands, we boated another couple hours to the island of Taquile. Once the boat docked, we had to climb this rock pathway to the top of the island. The tourists were way slow, and the locals were practically running up the hill. Gotta love the altitude! I’m sure the people from Florida that were with us were hurting coming from sea level. Climbing down the 550+ stairs back to the dock on the other side of the island was much easier.
Taquile is a UNESCO Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage to Humanity for the textile work done on the island. The men knit and the women weave as normal every day activity regardless of age. We bought some of the “traditional” chullo hats. The sales centre was like a collective or co-op with each hat being tagged with a number of the person who made it. I’m guessing that each person receives a portion of the money and a portion goes to a collective. At least that’s what I’m hoping.

We were able to wander the island for a while before we had a traditional lunch of trout, lima beans, and rice. The small bottled water on Taquile was the most expensive in all of Peru–about $3. But, considering that it had to be shipped from the mainland, and then a porter had to carry it from the boat port to the top of the island, it only makes sense!

Everyone we saw on the island was traditionally dressed. The ladies and young girls all wore a black woolen shawl. Apparently this is not a religious garment, but a functional one for the weather. The temperature varies greatly from sun to shade due to the altitude. The black garment absorbs heat, and keeps the wearer warmer in the shade. Also, the women only spoke in a whisper as they were very shy. Even when trying to sell their handy crafts, they would ask in a whisper.
Experiencing this unique island was a great way to spend the day.
Happy Travels,
~j
Peru, South America

Lago Titicaca

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We found that travel in Peru seems to be set up for the ease of tourists. No day was this more apparent than the day we went out on Lake Titicaca. We arrived in Puno from Chivay via the most uncomfortable van ever (aka 4M bus.) At one point another passenger asked if there was the ability to stop for a washroom break, and the navigator said that it wasn’t possible because it wasn’t safe to stop. It was late, dark and we were travelling as a 2 van convoy that couldn’t be separated.

I don’t know if this was some huge exaggeration, or if we were driving in the most sketchy part of Peru. It seemed fine. Our driver arranged for safe taxis and we were literally whisked in one door of the station and told to go with a woman who whisked us through the building to the back door and into a taxi. I honestly couldn’t tell you what the station looked like one bit.

At 7am in the morning we asked at the front desk if there was a possibility to go out onto the Lake. The clerk panicked! She started making phone calls, and said the boat was leaving but would wait for us. A taxi arrived out of nowhere and literally 11 minutes later we were seated on a boat for a full day tour on Lake Titicaca–the world’s highest navigable lake. (FYI: There are lakes at higher altitude, but they are too shallow to be navigated by every type of watercraft.) The lake is huge. I can only compare it to being on the Ocean or being on the Great Lakes. It took us 1 hour to get to the first set of Islands from Puno, and 2.5 more hours from there to get to Taquile.

lake titicaca mapOur tour guide Vladimir was awesome! He spoke English, Spanish, Quechua and Aymara, and knew a ton of stuff about a ton of stuff. He was a fountain of information and not in a boring way. There were people on the boat from Israel, India, USA, Ireland, Columbia, Peru, Australia, Iran, Italy, England, Holland, Germany and Canada. We ended up chatting with Rolf a guy from Australia who had been volunteering with some tribes in Ecuador, and a kid named Bryce from Indiana. Side note: Bryce’s brother was travelling in Peru last year and ended up getting bitten by a monkey. He had to go home for Rabies shots and completely missed Machu Picchu. Boo-urns!

The first site we visited was the Uros Islands. The Uros Islands are man-made floating islands. Each one is home to 2 to 10 families. Pretty much everything is made from the Totora reeds. Walking on the island is like walking on a spongy mattress. I did feel very set up as a tourist (obviously, that’s why we were there!), but it was pretty interesting just to see people living a completely different way than we every could/would here. The Uros people make money by inviting tourists to the islands, showing them how the islands are built, inviting people into their homes, and just being hospitable. The home we were invited into was smaller than the computer room in my house for a family of 5. There was one totora reed double-sized mattress on the floor, and a few hooks in the wall with miscellaneous clothing on them. That’s all.

We visited a second floating Island, which would be the equivalent of main street I suppose. There was a coffee shop, a general store, and a post office where we got our passports stamped. A few random facts for you: Each island has its own president. If a husband and wife separate, they simply cut the island in half; if they reconcile they reattach the island. Gardens with grains and flowers grow on the islands. Bathroom facilities are on smaller islands behind the main living areas. And, the dead aren’t buried on any floating islands, they are buried in special cemeteries on the main land.

Peru, South America

Cruz del Condor

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Cruz del CondorLet me start this little entry by saying I absolutely LOVE the show Departures. Almost every country featured on the show makes us want to book plane tickets to the destination. Luckily, we had been planning to go to Peru for a while before we saw the Peru episode. I find it funny that when Scott and Justin went to Cruz del Condor there weren’t any birds to be seen. And, I also find it interesting that they left because it was too touristy for them. Because of that I imagined there would be way more people there.  After all, Colca Canyon is one of a few places to see Andean Condors in flight.

Cruz del Condor wasn’t too over populated, but there were several people who were incapable of following simple “do not cross” signs which was hugely annoying and disrespectful. We are standing there on the precipice of the second deepest canyon in the world, why on earth would you cross boundary lines? You know that if you plummet towards the bottom you’re not going to be alright, not to mention that the nearest “hospital” capable of dealing with life threatening injuries was probably hours and hours away in Lima. Dummies!

Still, Cruz del Condor was an excellent afternoon and opportunity to take some pictures of the gigantic birds. I took a lot of photos! Unfortunately, my camera doesn’t zoom as well as I would like it too, so I’m adding some of Jon’s shots to mine for this entry. Note to self…get a new camera before the next adventure!

Peru, South America

Know what I like? Llamas!

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On the second day in Arequipa we were picked up at our hotel for the Colca Canyon and Cruz del Condor tour. Because everything was arranged by the Casa de Avila, we didn’t really know what to expect. Our guide David (Dabeed) spoke both Spanish and English which was handy because we had about half and half for the people on the tour. There were people from Chile, Peru, Brazil, Argentina, USA, and us from Canada. We met a super nice couple from St. Louis – Jill and Jason. David was actually pretty awesome. He knew a lot of information about the people, culture and areas we drove through. I learned more than I expected.

Llama Crossing Sign
For the first day of the tour we drove from Arequipa to Chivay. We stopped several times at handy craft sites set up at strategic points along the route. (Pretty much every where you go there is someone trying to sell something.) We drove through the Salinas y Aguada Blancas National Reserve.

map-arequipa-to-cruz-del-condorThe reserve is home to thousands of Llamas, Alpacas and Vicuñas. Seeing the little camelids in fields on the side of the highway was sweet. I did feel like a total tourist taking photos of them–kind of like people taking photos of Big Horn Sheep on the highway in Banff or Jasper.   FYI:  The novelty wears off if you frequently see the animals on the morning commute.  In total tourist style, I took the photos!

The highest point along the route was Patapampa Pass at 4910m above sea level. (That’s over 16,000ft above sea level for you non-metrics.) We stopped for Coca tea and candies pre-trip. Neither of us had the tea, but both of us ate the candies. I don’t really know how they work, but they help with the altitude. The most we felt was a little short of breath and tight chests. I’m sure the Diamox helped negate any other symptoms we might have had. One poor lady on the tour was barfing from the altitude.  She was not doing well.

Mirador de Los Andes
Translation: Viewpoint of the Andes stretch of the volcanic mountain range in the Central Andes

It was pretty amazing to see all sorts of stone piles, similar to Inukshuk, all along the road. I asked David  for an explanation.  He explained that the  Apachetas are built as an offering to Gods. The people believe that high points are sacred, and try to emulate that with the stones. First they dig a little hole and bury something of importance, maybe their own hair, and then they build the Apacheta on top of the offering. There were literally thousands of Apachetas along the way.

Our stop over for the night was in Chivay, which is this dusty little dust bowl of a town. The Colca Inn was amazingly cute accommodation, especially since we didn’t even select it ourselves. We went out for dinner as a group with everyone from the tour. There was traditional music and dancing. It was all fun and games until we had to participate in the dancing. One dance around the restaurant and I felt as though I’d run a marathon. Score one for altitude that night.

Peru, South America

Casa de Avila

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We stayed at the cutest place in Arequipa. The Casa de Avila was more than accommodating for all of our requests. We arrived in Arequipa at 5am. They had arranged for a taxi to meet us at the airport, and to have our room available for early check-in. They also arranged for our 2 day Colca Canyon trip and our bus tickets from Chivay to Puno. The room was super cute too. Casa de Avila was within walking distance for everything we wanted to see and do in Arequipa which was a huge convenience. I love this little place!
Casa de Avila