Onwards to the Amazon, an adventure like no other

For whatever reason I couldn’t fall asleep until well after midnight.  You would think with all that free time to lie around and think I’d have remembered to start taking my anti-malarial, but no.  That thought didn’t occur to me until 5:30 this morning.  And I couldn’t just up and take it then since you have to take it on a full stomach.  Ugh.  Tempting the travel gods again.  But no matter, the sawing (what were they sawing anyway?) and the firecrackers started up shortly thereafter, so any fantasy I had about sleeping in went out the window.

I got up and had a hearty breakfast, using the excuse of the antimalarial to rationalize eating just about everything on the buffet.  Eggs, pancakes, yogurt and granola and a slice of toast were all good.  I ran out to the ATM again before 8 a.m. and the faithful had already staked out their spots on the steps to the church to be in place to watch the procession at 11.  It was darn cold that early too, they were brave.

I packed, facing the likely reality that I will have to check this bag home.  It saddens me, but unless I throw something out I will have to expand the bag, making it too big for the overhead bin.  Bah humbug.  I’ll have to play with it a bit.  I won’t give up that easily.

Maria and Wilman picked me up at 9:30.  We had a nice talk about what I did yesterday and about the festival, all in Spanish.  Maria was good like that, always encouraging me to practice.  About 10 minutes out from the airport, Maria asked Wilman to pull over to show me a roadside table set up from which a local woman was preparing a dish especially for the holiday.   On the table were: whole chickens, whole guinea pig, two types of sausage, beef jerky, seaweed, roe, and an oily egg and onion cake.  This all was assembled in a styrofoam box and delivered to those who ordered it for 20 soles (about $6.50).  This dish is only made for this festival and the eater is meant to take a little bit of each ingredient with each bite.  We were not going to buy the food, but the woman did offer a bit of jerky, which I politely declined.  I would not eat it anyway as a vegetarian, but the sanitation of it all, roadside on a makeshift table and all...I just couldn’t get past that.

As we approached the airport, all traffic came to a halt.  Wilman said that there was an earthquake drill going on.  Everyone was meant to get out of their cars and shelter as if a quake was happening.  It lasted maybe 5 minutes or so until emergency vehicles came though and gave an all clear.  Then it was a bunch of horn honking and aggressive driving until everyone got where they were going.  Imagine doing that on a big holiday?  I got to the airport fine, so all is good.  We were lucky to be that close when it happened.

I checked my bag since LATAM won’t let my 13KG bag anywhere near their overheads and said adios to Maria.  I then had a a bit of a struggle finding my gate, since it’s not very high tech there in Cuzco airport.  I talked to a couple of reps who had said that the flight was running late and would be at gate 5.  Eventually that’s where it showed up.  We left a half hour late but only ended up being about 15 minutes late into Puerto Maldonado.  The terrain is definitely different here, lots of lush trees and forest and murky brown winding river.  It’s also about 300% humidity, which is quite a change coming from Cuzco where it was so dry.

Rawling met me and explained that the schedule had changed due to a large local strike and demonstration against the rising price of gasoline.  For whatever reason, I was now going to Sandoval Lake River Lodge first but we had to wait for a bunch of other vehicles headed to the river to go with us at the same time as a caravan.  The theory being there is power in numbers, I guess?  It was all very unclear and the men driving and guiding us didn’t seem worried.  It was mildly unsettling though to keep having to reroute to dodge the moving crowds of protestors, and not through the greatest of neighborhoods either.  Finally though we approached the river where there were three long cigar boats with a roof and motor waiting.  Rawling told me to sit anywhere in the first one and put a life preserver over my head.  He then handed me a pair of muck boots and a basket lunch.  I was a bit disconcerted that there was a schedule change with no notice to me, but I was going with it.  What choice did I have.

The basket lunch was a fried rice dish wrapped in a banana leaf. It really appeared to have meat in it so I put it down.  Rawling called the office and they said it was soy meat.  I tasted it a bit and it didn’t taste like real meat at all so I ate it.  I was starving at this point.  After about 45 minutes in the motor boat, we hit land and climbed out.  Then the hike started.  It was 3k to our next transition, and I’m going to be politically correct and non-emotional when I say it was absolutely and completely unenjoyable. I was not carrying my backpack but my camera bag is hefty.  It’s 3000% humidity and I’m traipsing through ankle deep mud in boots that don’t fit right.  I got bit by a fire ant and the insect repellant and sunscreen on my face was dripping into my mouth.  Rawling took off at a hare’s pace and kept losing me.   I asked a couple times how close we are and he said something like “100 meters” and then we’d come upon a sign saying 1.7 km left.  As I fought back tears and tried not to lick my lips and eat DEET, I was already writing my Trip Advisor review on this place.  And it was not good.  I wish I could have enjoyed the walk, because it appeared to be the stuff movies are made of, gorgeous lush vegetation, song birds and chirping crickets.  And I was just concentrating on staying upright and not crying.

Miraculously we made it to the next transition, which was a paddle canoe across Lake Sandoval.  The canoe started through a tiny little canal in lush overgrowth, and suddenly opened out into this gorgeous oxbow lake.  I have to say I was impressed.  It was beautiful.  I think I’d have enjoyed it more if I wasnt thoroughly sweat through the to bone and not utterly exhausted, but I can say it was pretty gorgeous.  But if you’d told me a year ago that I’d be in a canoe floating down the river in the Amazon, I’d have told you you’re nuts.  But here I am.

On arrival, we climbed out of the canoe and walked up a long staircase to the Lodge where the manager Erika greeted me.  The setup at Sandoval Lake River Lodge is very strange.  The lodge is one long row of rooms with a common area and dining room at the top of them.  The rooms’ walls are not closed off at the top though so you can hear what your neighbors are up to fairly easily.  There is electricity for most of the day which is good, and a normal shower (not bucket style like in Kenya).

I took a shower to get clean and cool, and there was no hot water to be had, which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing given how hot I was.  It felt good nonetheless.  I put on shorts and a comfy t-shirt and rested for a bit before dinner at 7:30.  No shoes are allowed inside the lodge, so everyone brought flip flops, which is a good idea.

DInner tonight was average at best.  We all had a really good cream of asparagus soup for an appetizer.  For the main course, the non-vegetarians had a pretty standard meat and potato.  I had rice, baked potato slices and red pepper and mushrooms in a cream sauce.  I was underwhelmed.  Dessert was half of a canned peach.  Clearly, I’ve had better.

I met the couple I’d be traveling with the next few days.  They are an older couple from Australia who have been traveling in South America since the end of April.  They finish up here with me and then head to San Diego before going home.

I also met our guide, Pepe.  He’s a sweet gentle guy and very friendly.  I look forward to seeing what he can teach me about the wildlife here.

I laid down to sleep at 9:30 and just hoped for a better night’s rest than I had last night!  On the plus side I remembered my anti-malarial tonight!

And then the travel gods gave me a parade

Wednesday, May 30

Today was a rest day.  The last few days have been sort of whirlwind and very active.  They also have started early, which is fine, but not for consecutive days in a row.  It’d be nice to wake up organically, so that’s what I did today.  And even then, I was still awake at 7, but stayed in bed watching another episode of 13 Reasons Why, ‘cause I could.  Little did I know that the first time I got out of bed I’d be hobbled by a pair of very unhappy calf muscles, protesting the events of yesterday.  But I found that a handful of Ibuprofen and some gentle flat-ground walking can do the trick.

Breakfast was good: scrambled eggs, pancakes, some yogurt and pineapple juice.  I headed out around 8:30 and stumbled into some shops to bolster the Peruvian economy.  Hit an ATM to replenish and then took in the Inka Museum.  Armando had said it was a nice collection of Incan artifacts that had been dug up over time by archeologists at various sites.  It was interesting but the state of the museum was kind of sad.  They are definitely not up on security or preservation and I wonder if they have any thought of having a lot of the artifacts last much longer in their current environment.  It covered a lot more civilizations than just the Incas; the pre-Incan civilizations were included too.

After that I was determined to find the Starbucks, which I could see on the second floor in one of the buildings of the main square, but damned if I could figure out how to get up there.  But where there’s a will there’s a way and some sneaking around inner courtyards found me the siren’s sign and up I went.  An iced Americano to go was the best I could do for my usual iced coffee fix.  I took it outside and settled on a bench in the sun to people watch.  While on the bench, I was approached by hawkers offering me corn on the cob, Jello, teeth whitening toothpaste and a tripod.  Never say that travel isn’t surprising.

The hubbub in the Plaza de Armas (main square) near my hotel has definitely picked up.  Overnight they’d constructed a few massive shrines to saints in front of the churches on the square and I’d been hearing bands all morning.  Just as I was ready to move off my bench, a band went by with a contingent carrying a statue of a saint on a pallet, the pallet carried on the shoulders of some very able bodied men.  Where they were going or what the purpose was was a mystery to me.  I’d need to figure that out.

When I’d toured Koricancha with Armando on Sunday I noticed an exhibition of Cuzco school artists, so decided to go back and take it in.  I made my way back, walking a bit through different parts of Cuzco.  Somewhere along the way I found some traditionally dressed women with baby llamas, and I couldn’t resist taking a photo of them (for a fee of course).  After wandering a bit I found myself at Koricancha and walked through the ruins again since I found it so cool the other day.  It’s thought to be a replica of the sun temple at Machu Picchu (or vice versa) which now I can vouch for having seen the sun temple at MP.  The exhibition was on Art as a Means of Christianization.  The Cuzco school in the 1400-1500s was influenced by the Spanish conquerors, who brought some European painters over to teach them the technique of the time.  You can definitely see that in some of the bodies, particularly the musculature that I’m used to seeing in Caravaggio.  I was very much struck by a statue of Our Lady of Hope or “The Virgin of the “O”” because you don’t often see a statue of a fully pregnant Virgin Mary and this was quite beautiful.

There were three other exhibits I saw, one on contemporary master painter Alberto Quintanilla, who really liked two-faced dogs. Another was a mural by Walter Barrientos Deza, which is meant to be a token of the current style of Peruvian art.  The last was a contemporary artist on Light.  The labels were all in Spanish in this part, so it’s hard to say what that one was meant to be.

By the time I was done here it was 1:30 and I hadn’t the foggiest how I would spend the rest of the day.  Spending even more money wasn’t an option, so shopping was out.  I headed back toward my hotel and ate at Green’s, an organic cafe next to the hotel.  I had a wonderful Pisco mule with ginger beer and a sandwich of zucchini, red peppers and cheese on focaccia that was excellent.  It has been ridiculously easy to eat both vegetarian and healthy here, which is a surprise if I’m to be honest.  (Although I will admit that the Pisco mule likely cancels out the healthy sandwich, but hey, this is vacation!)

As I was wrapping up my lunch, I heard the music kick in again and it seemed like a parade was starting.  I decided to go down to the square and take it in.  Well, it seems as though this morning’s little show as I had my iced coffee was just a precursor to the main event.  What I was seeing was the procession of 15 saints and virgins from the 15 neighborhoods in Cuzco heading for the cathedral.  Some of these statues on the pallets have been carried, on foot, from 7 miles away!  Once they enter the cathedral, the statues will stay there for 7 days.  This Corpus Christi festival happens every year, 9 weeks after Easter.  Tomorrow apparently they will be brought out of the cathedral and paraded around the plaza starting at 11.  I will, hopefully, be well on my way to the airport at 9:50 as scheduled.  As much as I’d like to see that, I have a flight to the Amazon to catch!

So I stood there for nearly 2 hours watching this parade.  It was a little bit nuts but an amazing slice of culture served up right on my doorstep.  Each saint or virgin statue had a team of men carrying the pallet it was on on their shoulders.  There’d be some exaggerated pushing and pulling and straining to stay on course and get the pallet up the slight incline to the cathedral.  In front of each pallet was a framework carried by younger boys, in their pre-teens and early teen years, who’d carry the wooden framework like their older counterparts were carrying the statues.  It was funny to watch them match the men’s exaggerated struggles to keep the framework going and on track.  It took me a minute to figure out what the framework was for, and then it happened.  The procession stopped so that the statues ahead could be safely and slowly carried into the church, and all the the statues behind it were set down on their dedicated frameworks.

The statues were all decorated and shined up for the occasion with flowers and medals and other embellishments.  The pallets appeared to be of heavy, carved wood.  It was fun watching it and taking some photos to try to capture the emotion behind it.  This is apparently Cuzco’s big event.

I broke from the parade to take in the Museum of Machu Picchu which is right down the street from my hotel.  This has a collection of artifacts that Hiram Bingham and Yale University returned to the Peruvians several years back.  There are also some of his own letters, books and photographs, which were really interesting to see.  I also enjoyed the videos of the specialists who are continuing to do research at the site, and what they think advanced technologies may or may not show them in the future.

I took a bit of a rest before dinner to write up the blog and respond to some email.  And then I went back to Inka Grill for dinner.  That’s where I had my first lunch here in Cuzco.  And in a twist of total non-creativity, I had the same meal, only with a Pisco sour and a Chalipo.  Hey, I don’t know when I’ll get Pisco again!

As I get ready to leave Cuzco I’m surprised by how much I liked it, and I think a lot of that had to do with the procession today.  I’ve never been so fully immersed in a culture like that and I think it helped me appreciate the city more.  To think that when I woke up I didn’t know how to fill a “free day” in Cuzco.  The travel gods offered up a fantastic experience.  Can’t wait to look at my photos!  The weather here has been delightful, bright blue skies and sun, not a hint of rain and high 60s in Cuzco, very comfortable.  I’ve really lucked out.  Let’s hope it continues!

Off to the Amazon tomorrow.  Likely without a connection until late Monday, so I’ll catch the blog up then.

Vale la pena

Tuesday, May 29 

I set the alarm for 6 and was actually up at 4:45 but decided to sleep in longer.  There was no real rush to get to Machu Picchu other than less harsh light for photography. So instead I got up at 6, showered, packed and had breakfast.  I think I was on the bus at 7:15 and in Machu Picchu by 7:45.  The light was so much better, it was worth it.

Breakfast at Inkaterra wasn’t as much fun as other hotels so far.  It seemed to be breakfast light, until I was handed a menu (after I’d already gorged on granola and planned to eat the plantain bread and a muffin, oh and is that dulce de leche sauce to put on a baguette?).  So I just had scrambled eggs after all that and moved on.  I packed two energy bars and a liter of water and off I went.

I was thrilled that the sun was just about over my shoulder when head on with the ruins and directly behind me when off to the side.  I managed to use my polarizing filter, even!  I think today’s shots are far better than yesterday’s which were much later in the day.

I was walking along a path on my own and spotted two free-range llamas on the grass.  They both hopped up on the path in front of me and one of them looked at me, as if to say “follow us” so I did.  Fortunately the camera was on and lens extended and I managed to get two shots off, both of them with me following them and them looking at the ruins.  I’d like to think it was them thinking “this used to belong to the Incas, now it belongs to us.”  The pictures look good on the LCD screen, and if I managed to pull that shot off, it might be the best of my short photography career.  Seriously.  Talk about serendipity.

There are quite a few roaming llamas around Machu Picchu, and a handful of little babies that were quite cute.  I was surprised by how unbothered they seemed to be by us.

I made my way through the rest of the left-hand side of the city ruins and took on the right-hand side.  It was interesting to see but really lost something without a guide to tell me what I’m seeing.  The best I could do on my own was snap some swallows I saw nesting in a wall.  Between the hummingbird I spotted yesterday and these, I might become a birder after all.

By the time I made it back to the exit, where I jumped out to use the toilet, it was about 9:15.  I decided to execute my plan to hike up to the Sun Gate.  It was warm though.  And I might have been slightly over-dressed with the insect-proof leggings.  At least I left one layer at home this time and wore a light jacket which I quickly shed and folded away in my camera bag.  So I went for it.

The climb starts off fairly flat from just below the Guard Shack (so by that point I’d already done a good deal of stairs).  The path is made of large cobbles which were somewhat uneven and the path was a steady uphill grade, but nothing painful.  The uneven rocks and the heat were the main challenges.  Only a couple times did I think about turning back because it seemed silly to over-exert myself on vacation but I also didn’t want to regret not doing it when I had plenty of time left in the day and the energy to do it.  I was ridiculously hot on the way up, but there were shady spots where I stopped to rest which helped.  Over and over again, folks coming down from the gate would say “Vale la Pena” (worth the pain) and I had to think that hearing that so much meant that it would be.

After about 45 minutes, the flat-ish path turned back into steps (as everything Incan must, I supposed) and in 15 minutes I was at the top, at the Sun Gate, seemingly at the top of the Incan world.  And how little Machu Picchu seemed from up there, but too, I could also better appreciate the scale of it.  That it took me about 7 hours in total to comb through the site says something.  I don’t want to think of how many steps I ascended.  There are some things best left unknown.  It is a huge expanse of ruins and, as I found out, impressive no matter how you look at it.  Yes, vale la Pena! 

The descent was far easier.  Going down uses an entirely different set of muscles and momentum and gravity help.  There was one part right on leaving the Sun Gate where a set of 6 really steep steps head straight for the sheer cliff face and there’s no railing or fence.  I wouldn’t look directly down for fear my vertigo would kick in but I also knew I had to get down.  So I sat and went down on my butt until I could turn away from the sheer drop and continue down well away from the edge.  The entire descent took 40 minutes, which tells you either that descending was easier or that I was riding a confidence wave after making it up to the top.

I made it back down around 12:30 and took another walk around the Guard Shack, which is really where the postcard shots come from.  I just needed to soak it all in again before I left.  It’s sort of frustrating because as much as I want to talk or write about it, I just don’t think I can find the words to describe how it’s laid out or how extraordinary it is.  I found it so difficult before I left trying to wrap my head around how it works and what it would like to be there, and even still, now that I’ve been and gone, it’s still hard to conceive.

I stopped in the cafe at the exit to gulp down a Gatorade and have a cookie.  I used the bathroom again and headed to the very long bus line, which only took about 20 minutes to move along (again, they’ve got the efficiencies and organization down pat here!)

Once I was back in Aguas Calientes, I went back to my hotel and had lunch at the Cafe Inkaterra there.  I had a celebratory Pisco Sour and a bottle of water to try and rehydrate.  Then I had a great salad with lima beans, peppers, tomato and Peruvian cheese.  My main was a vegetable rigatoni in a cream sauce.  I have to say, the veggies here are stunning.  I love the zucchini, artichokes and peppers I’ve had so far.

I still had an hour to kill before I met my luggage back at the train station (a courtesy of my hotel) so I went back to the hotel grounds and sat in the pool area and watched and photographed hummingbirds for a while.  It was quiet and relaxing, which is just what I wanted after the day I had.

I’m on the train back to Cuzco now.  It left Aguas Calientes at 4:43 and arrives some time after 7 or 8.  I can’t tell which.  I’m tired enough that I might sleep.  At least my stop is the end of the line so I won’t wake up in Brazil.

All in all I’m thrilled with my experience at Machu Picchu.  It was worth the wait, the cost and everything it takes to get here.  I’m glad I had two days to explore it and give me the leisure to do the hike on my own today.

Mindblowing Incas

Monday, May 28

Today was the day I’d been waiting for.  Really, the reason I’m here, the rest is just gravy.  Machu Picchu.  It’s been a long wait.  Back in high school I took Spanish with a teacher who taught us more than just how to speak Spanish but also about the cultures and countries that speak it.  I once won a poster in her class at the end of the year that was that quintessential Machu Picchu shot.  And here I was about to go there, finally.  I thought of her this morning as I made my way up there.

I had an early start, getting up at 5:30.  I could have stayed in bed longer but I just couldn’t sleep any longer, having fallen asleep around 9:30 last night.  I don’t know if it’s the fresh air, the exercise of traipsing up and down all these stairs at the ruins or the altitude but I’m sleeping exceptionally well.  Hearing a bunch of folks leave for the train station at 4:45 made me feel like I was going to be late.  My train wasn’t until 8:00 but still...

I showered, applied sunblock and bug repellent and headed off for breakfast, which was in the same dining room as dinner was last night.  It was a nice breakfast with scrambled eggs, breakfast rolls and a sort of breakfast cake, mango and granola.  Now, I’ve been making my own granola at home lately and this was quite different.  They use the ingredients that are native to the area, so this was made of corn, quinoa and a little bit of coconut.  I had it with some freshly made strawberry yogurt and it was quite good.  This hotel, was a very nice alternative in a somewhat not so nice little town. I don’t know where I’d have stayed if I didn’t stay there!

Armando picked me up at 7:20 and we walked less than 5 minutes down to the train station.  The one thing I can say for both the train and bus service to Machu Picchu is that they are incredibly well organized.  The whole system runs like clockwork.  We boarded our train at 8:00, climbed into our pre-assigned seats and off we went.  As Maria told me earlier this week, my small carry-on suitcase was fine but anything bigger wouldn’t have worked.  The only holds for luggage were at the doors to the trains like European trains have.  I’m not sure what folks would do if they showed up with anything bigger.  Most everyone else got the message and had a small knapsack that could fit under their seat.  I am glad I unloaded my Amazon clothing and left it at my hotel in Cuzco since Armando was doing a lot of schlepping my bag around today.

The train ride was 90 minutes and quite scenic.  Included in the fare was a snack and a beverage.  I had mango juice and a piece of carrot bread that was really good.  Along the way we saw the official start of the Inca Trail and it was kind of funny to see the folks starting their 4 day hike waving and jubilant as we were about 20 minutes from the entrance gate.  I imagined that’s quite an accomplishment.

Once we got to Aguascalientes (or Machu Picchu Town), a gentleman from my hotel was there to collect my bag.  He would bring it to the hotel where I’d catch up with it tonight.  Miracle of miracles, that actually happened!  It’s SO organized!

Aguascalientes doesn’t have much to make you want to stay here.  The restaurants and shops are overpriced and not terribly inviting.  Thankfully I didn’t have much time to kill once we got off the train because we walked directly to the bus line.  Buses leaves every time one is full and it’s a constant stream of buses heading up and down the dozen or so switchback turns up to Machu Picchu.

When we got to Machu Picchu, it was about 10:30. We had a few things to do like use the restroom, leave my two coats (so much for layering) at the baggage check since I didn’t want to haul them all over the site and by now it was already pretty warm, I’d say high 60s to low 70s and full sun.  I couldn’t have asked for a nicer day.

Armando started out by walking us up to the guard shack, the route for which has several great places to get nice overview shots of the entire site.  It seemed the higher I got, the more unbelievable it got.  I was finally here seeing this, walking in the steps of the Incas and Hiram BIngham himself. And with every step and every new discovery, I wondered how and why the Incas did this.

There is just so much to the site, it’s difficult to articulate it.  The actual city is set gently between two mountain peaks: Huayna Picchu and Machu Picchu. On the sides where the city isn’t being held up by those two peaks, there are sheer drops down.  Way down.  From the city upward on one side are terraces, not for farming but for reinforcing the structure.  At the top of the terraces is a guard shack that was used to oversee the city and allow for lookout for invaders.  

There are a number of temples within the sight, but none so important as the Temple of the Sun (of course, this has become an obvious theme).  It of course has at least one window that will point to the sun on the summer solstice.  Again, another common theme.  Inca was really meant to just be the king at the time, not the entire people living here then.  So there’s the house of the Inca and the bedroom of the Inca, meaning the king.  

There are a few fountains and also drainage systems and an aqueduct.  I mean really, in the mid 1400s?  They were splitting rock, carving rock to fit and hold without mortar, moving tons of stone from miles away  and oh yeah, they were embalming bodies and doing surgery using a scalpel made from obsidian, which is still what scalpels are made of today.  Go figure.  To say they were ahead of their time in this sort of technology is an understatement.  That this all remains mostly standing (some parts restored) is a testament to their skill and expertise.  To say I’m ridiculously impressed by all this is also an understatement.

We made it up to the guard shack and back down (god, the steps are treacherous) and through half of the city and we just ran out of time.  We spent almost 3 1/2 hours on that much alone.  I still have the other half of the city to do and I’m considering hiking up to the Sun Gate, which is way up over the valley and is the last stop of the Inca Trail before descending down into Machu Picchu on foot.  It all depends on the sun.  Today I was shooting photos directly into it, which was making it really tough to not blow out the highlights and balance the light.  I’m aiming to go early tomorrow and get some golden light photos hopefully before the harshest light of day.  After that and seeing the other half of the city, I’ll see how I feel and what the weather is like before I commit to that hike.  I need to be out of there by 2:30-ish to make the train back to Cuzco.

Lunch was at a nearby hotel that had a large buffet.  It was pretty good fixings and hit the spot.  I didn’t realize how hungry and thirsty I’d gotten in there.  I had a slice of veggie pizza, some ceviche (not as good as others I’ve had), chips and awesome guacamole, sweet potatoes in honey sauce.  We hopped on the bus and came back to Machu Picchu.

Here at the hotel, I was reunited with my luggage and had to say goodbye to Armando.  Tomorrow I’ll be on my own at Machu Picchu and making my way back to Cuzco after that.  Armando was a wonderful guide and I learned a lot from him not just about the history and culture I was experiencing but also about life in Peru.  I’m very pleased with what I’ve seen in such a short time here.

The hotel I’m in here, the Inkaterra, is a bunch of casitas (little houses) sectioned off to accommodate 3 or 4 guest parties in each.  It’s finer living than I’ve had to this point with nice easy chairs and a fireplace.  The bathroom is gorgeous and I can’t wait for a shower here.  I do wish I had more time here because there are a bunch of nature walks I could do on the grounds as well as a trek to see spectacled bears rescued and kept nearby.  So if anything I think I’d ask for another night here before moving back to Cuzco.

Dinner tonight was in the hotel dining room.  We had a choice of a 6:00 or 8:00 seating.  I figured I’d be out cold by 8 so I chose 6.  I wasn’t terribly hungry but had a nice salad with apples, sunflower seeds, avocado and vinegarette.  My main course was a zucchini stuffed with smoked peppers over beans and quinoa with a cheese topping.  It was really quite good.  The waiter convinced me to have dessert so I had a chocolate globe filled with coffee mousse.  Hey, I earned it.  And the hotel gave everyone a welcome drink, so I had a Pisco sour as well as a Chilcano, which was Pisco, ginger ale, lime and bitters.  It was good too!

Time to head to bed again.  I’m amazed and blessed to have had this experience.

Mindblowing Incas

Sunday, May 27 — Part 2

Armando and our driver Wilman picked me up at 8 a.m.  Our first stop of the day was back up on the hill where Sachsayhuaman is to see Christo Blanco, a large white statue of Christ (think, Christ the Redeemer only smaller) that was gifted to Cuzco as a thank you gift at one time by the Palestinians.  It sits high up over Cuzco and is floodlit.  I saw it last night from the main square in Cuzco.  The view over the city from up there though was spectacular.  I’m amazed at how much larger Cuzco is than I thought. I thought it was a town but it’s actually a good sized city with almost 500,000 inhabitants.  It’s a short city though, with no true skyscrapers and a lot of adobe roofs, so it’s very monochromatic nestled at the base of the mountains.

Our next stop was Quenco which is known for its mysterious cave that is thought to have been used to enbalm and mummify the dead.  That the Incas were smart enough to realize that a deep dark cave with limestone slabs would be cold enough to do that kind of work and do it before the bodies rot is pretty impressive.  But getting the stone up into the hills where they built with it is quite a feat too.

Then it was off to Pukapukara which was meant to be a lookout for the Incas to keep watch and be warned of incoming evildoers.  About all they could do if anyone nasty approached though was club them or use a sling shot on them, as nothing else has been found in terms of Incan weaponry.  But given how high up the lookout is, it gave an advantage to the Incas, knowing that someone was coming long before they actually arrived.

Pisac market was our next stop, where there was stall after stall of Peruvian crafts and handiwork.  I fell hard for some jewelry (of course) and a woven wool tapestry of cats that I had to have.  There are a LOT of alpaca products out there and it will be near impossible not to splurge on a sweater or something.  There are a lot of small mats made of alpaca that have Maisie and Simon written all over them.  I’d of course have to get two to keep the peace.  It was amazing to see how many handmade things are made here.

I am hoping what we did as we left the market doesn’t come back to bite me.  But Armando bought me street corn from a vendor at the entrance to the market.  It was a huge cob that was in a large vat of boiling water.  She pulled it out and put it in a husk and we ate it just like we do at home.  It was sweet and crunchy and really good.  I just hope I don’t end up sick from it.  I just wasn’t thinking and really wanted to try it.  Fingers crossed.

Lunch was at a hotel that offered up a wonderful buffet.  I’d already found the quinoa (created here) and polenta with three types of spicy salsa and sauces when Wilman told me about the ceviche on the other side of the room.  Damn.  Nothing worse than loading up one plate to only go and load up another.  I had more great ceviche and causera, which is mashed potato stuffed with avocado.  The avocado here is so good.  And potatoes are ubiquitous.  Armando said that there are hundreds of types of potato here.  And corn too.

On our way to our last stop, Armando had Wilman pull over to the side of the road.  We bailed out of the car on a two-way highway and crossed the street.  We came upon one of many cacti that I’ve seen here.  Armando wanted to show me what looked like a white fungus growing on the paddle of the cactus.  He scraped some of it off and flipped it over and I saw a tiny black beetle.  The beetle, he said, was feeding off the sap of the cactus.  And with that, he smooshed the beetle in his hand, revealing a gorgeous deep crimson dye that is used to color alpaca yarn.  I was amazed that he knew that and cared enough to stop to show me.  He also showed me a large plant called a “century plant” because it only blooms once in its life and then withers away.  It has a large bulb at the bottom that contains a sweet juice used at home.  We know it best as a blue agave plant or a “tequila plant”.  Very cool.

Another “almost” stop was in some town on the way known for the high quality of their cuy, or guinea pig.  Armando mumbled something to Wilman and the next thing I know we’ve pulled over and some local lady is running over to the car with a guinea pig impaled on a broomstick, having just suffered the spit roasting of its little life.  I remember seeing herbs like rosemary and thyme sticking out of the stomach.  Armando encouraged me to get out but I was 1) traumatized from the sight of it all and 2) I don’t eat meat!  So off we went. But I appreciate them trying.

Finally we arrived at Ollantaytambo.  This is a very small town in the Sacred Valley with an incredible spread of Incan ruins.  I’d read that it is really underrated by many, but I had no idea how crazy good it would be.  When you approach it, you first see a series of reinforcing terraces leading up the mountain to some obvious building, which turns out to be the Temple of the Sun.  (See, the Incas were really all about the sun, there are temples to it everywhere and they made a point of paying homage to it by paying attention to when it rises every day). But after first examination, it dawned on me that the terraces spread farther right than at first glance, that there are building built high up into the side of the mountain and even “storage units” for fresh vegetables on the other side of the main lot in front of the ruins.  They’re everywhere.  And if I’d known that this was this vast, and this interesting, and this amazing, I’d have booked a full day here just to hike this all (after getting past the acclimatization).  It’s nuts.

The climb up all those steps wasn’t horrible.  It took maybe 15 minutes with two stops on the way.  I’ve done longer and more torturous step mill workouts at the gym, but at sea level. I didn’t break a sweat but I was certainly feeling my age, or maybe just lack of oxygen.  Along the way Armando would have anecdotes about how many people it took and how long to build this, where the stone came from, how it came here.  It’s purpose was a “resting area” for pilgrims making their way to Machu Picchu, but it also became a fortress and lookout at various points in the region’s history.  The views from the top weren’t anything spectacular but the satisfaction of having done it was worth it.  The stone work is stunning, how every stone is perfectly carved to fit the ones around it.  Cooler still was that I could see the upper reaches of most of the ruins right from the grounds of my hotel.  The locals here can see this all the time!

After the ruins, Armando and Wilman dropped me back at my hotel.  The Pakaritampu is quite lovely. There are a few houses on the property that each have five or so rooms.  There’s a reception building and a restaurant and bar building. The grounds are lusciously manicured and gardened with a beautiful array of flowers.  It’s a 3 minute walk to the train station and about 10 minutes up to the main square, which I did once I was alone.  The highlight of that journey was the ice cream I got on the way (cappuccino and Cusco chocolate in a cup) and being able to see the sun go down on the ruins.  The rest was a near death experience.  There are no sidewalks and the streets are narrow, so getting around on foot is dangerous.  Once I got up into the town there was no where I’d want to chance eating at, so I made a loop around the square and  headed back to the hotel.  Thankfully I can eat in the restaurant there.

After a bit of a rest in my room, I headed over to the restaurant for dinner.  No one was in there yet but I could be seated anywhere and they were ready to serve.  I ordered a quinoa vegetable soup and the most un-Peruvian dish of veggie lasagna (I am craving veggies big time, plus I’d already had ceviche today!). I also ordered my now usual Pisco sour.  

(Pisco sour, by the way, is a local drink made of Pisco, which is a local grape brandy, lemon juice, simple syrup and an egg white for the foam on top.  It’d be a great hot weather drink at home, very refreshing!)

No sooner had my Pisco sour been delivered than an elderly couple came in and of all the other 88 seats they could have sat in this 90-seat capacity room, where do you think they sat?  You got it, right next to me.  So for the next 45 minutes I had to listen to this woman complain to her husband not only about this trip, but every other trip they’ve ever taken.  She was to me everything I worry about becoming as I get older.  To top it off they were American, surprise?!?  Ugh.  So to numb the pain I asked for “uno mas” Pisco sour.  Why not? I’m on vacation.  Dinner was delicious though and it was a joy to just cross the lawn back to my room.

One thing that is immediately noticeable here is the number of dogs out on the streets.  I assumed at first that they were all strays, but when I asked Armando, he said that people here keep them as pets and let them out to wander all day and call them in at night.  Cats are kept as pets too, but aren’t let outside.  Funny how that’s the opposite of what we see at home.  My mind is tired from all the things I’m learning!

Up early tomorrow to head to Machu Picchu, finally!

Sunday morning musings

Sunday, May 27

Sunday morning musings...since I was asleep by 9:30 and up at 6:00 (quite possibly the longest contiguous sleep I’ve had since my medical leave) it’s 7:30 a.m. and I’m already showered, packed, breakfasted and I’ve been on a walk to hit an ATM.

A few things I noticed or learned yesterday:

This whole thing about cuy, or guinea pig, is mildly upsetting for a vegetarian.  It’s been 4 years now since I’ve eaten meat so it’s not like I never did or I don’t appreciate it, but a guinea pig is meant to be a pet.  I dug a little deeper on this Peruvian speciality and Armando said that they are the meal of choice for the birthday boy or girl, even into adulthood.  I asked how they are raised and he said that each kitchen would have a pen in it where they are raised.  Somehow I just thought it would be more impersonal if you had to go and buy it at the store.  But no, you raise it in your kitchen and one day, whack!  You decide it’s dinner.

But the guinea pig fascination goes way back.  In the main cathedral yesterday, I saw a painting of the Last Supper, which was a pretty typical depiction of Jesus and his apostles gathered round a table.  Except the platter in the center of the table had a guinea pig, four legs up, ripe for eating.

Armando, our driver and I had an interesting conversation about the food here and how it is all fresh and organic for the most part and that’s why obesity doesn’t seem to be a problem.  Indeed, it’s hard to find junk food, or not as easy to find junk food as it is in other places in the world (I’m looking at you U.K. Newsagents and your ridiculously tempting British chocolate).  I have no worries about gaining weight on this trip.  Unless I eat about 80 gallons of ceviche at every meal it’s really unlikely.  Armando couldn’t believe that our culture in the U.S. has sunken so low as to have the likes of “My 600 Pound Life” and that the problem exists to that extreme.  I haven’t seen anyone even remotely chunky here.

I’ve had no problems with altitude so far, which I attribute to taking the Diamox since Thursday.  I was winded coming up the steps to the third floor of the hotel the first time but since then I just take it slow.

The pisco sour was divine.  It would be the perfect summertime drink at home: light and slightly fruity and sweet with an egg white foam.  I enjoyed it.  And will enjoy a few more when I get the chance.

Breakfast this morning was scrambled eggs and toast (with golden berry marmalade) and a glass of passion fruit juice.  I was going to get a Starbucks on my wandering but it wasn’t open yet so I’m nursing a hotel coffee here in my room.

In my attempt to keep my camera bag light for my day trips, I’m jamming a lot more stuff into my suitcase.  It’s at the boiling point, so I’m leaving my hot weather gear here in my backpack.  I’ll be back on Tuesday to stay for 2 nights, so I’ll catch up with it then.  I’ll deal with getting it all back in there later.

I will definitely not gain weight here

Saturday, May 26

I’m fairly certain LATAM factored this into their flight schedule, but we boarded the plane at 10:30 and didn’t get cleared to leave until 11:28.  We landed at 12:20 in Cuzco, which is only 20 minutes later than scheduled.  I got the distinct impression that this happens.  A lot.  The good news is that the airport is tiny.  It’s nestled between the mountains and is only one one runway.  Landing here was interesting because I spied the runway from the sky and we looped around the mountains to line up with it and tuck down in between the biggest peaks.  Heart attack time, not for the fearful!  By the time I’d deplaned from my row 28 seat and used the restroom, my luggage was already coming around on the carousel.  Hallelujah.

At the airport I was met by Maria, who was essentially a fixer for Inka Natura, the company I am traveling with.  She had a driver take us to my hotel near the main square and cathedral in Cuzco.  I had a cup of coca tea (to counteract any effects of the altitude, we’re at 12,000 feet here) and waited to check in.  She gave me a great map with some recommendations for meals nearby and said she’d meet me with my guide after lunch.  And off she went

The hotel is nice.  The location is right off the square and it’s pretty quiet.  The square itself is pedestrian only which is nice.  There are two big churches and a bunch of shops and restaurants hidden beneath a really nice wooden facade that evokes another era.  I ate at Inka Grill where I had pumpkin soup and a mixed vegetable salad with tomatoes, egg, beets, artichokes and a whole load of avocado which was so good.  I learned very quickly that it’s hard to find a bad-for-you meal here.  Everything is fresh and not junky, it all feels healthy, which I suppose is a good thing.

My guide for the rest of my stay in the Sacred Valley is Armando.  He’s a very sweet guy who clearly loves his subject matter.  He also loves to take pictures, so I have about 50 of me at all the places we went to today!  That will be great at Machu Picchu!  We started out in the main square, Plaza de Armas where he gave a history of the square and the Inca king commemorated by a statue there.  Then we went into the main cathedral of Cuzco which was just gorgeous.  We entered through the chapel, which was mind-blowing enough with it’s beautiful ornate gilded altar and the doll-like statues of the Virgin and angels.  Then we branched off into the main church and it was even prettier.  The problem is though that this wasn’t original Incan, but rather influenced by the Spanish who came in the 1500s or so and basically destroyed whatever they could while looting for gold and silver.    The main altar in the church was silver and just spectacular to see.  We walked around a bit there and saw the catacombs beneath the altar and the Christ of the Earthquakes.  Now this one is a great story...

Back in 1650 or so, there was a massive earthquake in the Cuzco area.   People were freaking out.  Then they took this statue of Christ on the cross down and proceeded through the square with it and the earthquake stopped.  So they think it has magical powers and they continue to do the processional every year on Easter Monday.  That they’ve had earthquakes since then doesn’t seem to deter the believers.

From there we walked to Qorikancha, which is a temple to the sun.  This was another place that got built over, this time by the Dominicans.  Armando was funny though, he showed me the walls of what is left of the original Incan complex and said that it is “Incan Legos” because no mortar or cement was used, just an interlocking stonework.  It was fascinating to learn that given how tightly set the rocks are.  It’s also another one of those places, like Newgrange and Stonehenge, where on a certain day, in this case, the summer solstice, the sun would stream into a strategically placed window on to the golden chair where the Incan king would be sitting.  How they managed to get that right and also build walls and the like that last forever is really quite an achievement.

After that we drove up to Sachsayhuaman (pronounced “sexy woman”, which is a little odd to keep hearing over and over again!). This is a megalithic complex built of limestone. It wasn’t meant to be a complex but became one when the Incans fled central Cuzco and took cover up there on the hill in Sachsayhuaman.  This was another one of those architectural wonders that made you question how on earth they got this done with no heavy machinery.  I was dwarfed by it all and yet they managed to get the rock here, prop it up and stack it so that it never topples somehow.  For hundreds upon hundreds of years.

Armando and our driver brought me back to the hotel and I went to get some water and an Inca Kola (soft drink) for later.  You can’t use the sink water even to brush your teeth, so bottled water is a must even for that.

Dinner tonight was at Limo’s, another restaurant that Maria recommended.  I really wanted to try ceviche, and I did!  I had a Pisco sour to start (acclimatizing to the altitude be damned!) with a cold mashed potato with a hot miso ceviche on top (this was a fusion Peruvian-Japanese restaurant, I should add) and then I had ceviche which is just raw fish marinated in lime juice and with really spicy chili pepper.  It was awesome.  And again, the whole meal felt really healthy.  I’m certainly getting my protein.

Caught some kind of Peruvian dance show in the square on the way back to the hotel which I watched for a few minutes, but to be honest I was dead tired and freezing cold.  As nice as the afternoon was in the 60s, it drops to the 30s overnight.  I have the heat cranked in the room right now.  Up early for an 8 am start.

Arrived

Friday, May 25, Part 2

Quite possibly the smartest thing I ever did was to call and change that flight from Boston to Fort Lauderdale.  My instinct paid off because the flight I was meant to be on didn’t leave Boston until after I was boarding the flight to Lima.  Oh brother, that would have been fatal.  But no worries, I made the Lima flight with plenty of time to spare and even got to choke down the one vegetarian offering in the entire Fort Lauderdale airport.  Food Network Kitchen has a passable black bean and rice burger with fries, in case you ever need to know.

The flight to Lima was harmless.  I dozed off and on while binge watching 13 Reasons Why (highly recommend, the soundtrack alone is worth it).  We arrive pretty much on time and it was a smooth flight overall.  I was thrilled to find my long-unused knowledge of Spanish is kicking in pretty quickly and accurately as I was able to chat with an older couple in line with me last night.  JetBlue was looking for 7 volunteers to stay another night in Florida since the weight of all the checked luggage was beyond what is permissible.  Their offers started at $200 and last we heard the takers fell for $800.  We were talking about how crazy that is.  They actually held boarding until they had the volunteers.  It probably would have been smarter for them to control the checked luggage, but hey, who am I?

It was easy enough to deplane and get to Immigration.  There’s a customs form they give you which itemizes what you’re allowed to bring into the country, like 2 cameras, 2 cell phones, 4 memory cards (OOOPS...) Anything more than that and you have to pay duty, even if it’s for personal use.  I’m pretty sure I have about 7 memory cards, but sue me.

In the Immigration line there was a guy right behind me, sort of flashily dressed with dark hair and large black glasses.  He was clearly of South American descent but no one was giving him a second glance.  He got out ahead of me and I saw him hit the sidewalk to be surrounded immediately by a security contingent and swarmed by a bunch of girls screaming “OH MY GOD” and “PHOTO PLEASE PHOTO” in Spanish.  So he was someone.  A Google search proved useless.  I inadvertently had a brush with fame.

The Wyndham hotel I stayed at for the overnight is quite literally across the street from the terminal, not even a 2 minute walk.  It was quiet for the most part, as flights seemed to stop overnight.  I was at my hotel and in bed within an hour of landing (Immigration ate up most of that).  When flights started up in the wee hours though, every time a plane took off or landed, it would set a car alarm off right outside the hotel.  Annoying.  I think I got maybe 6 hours of sleep which should be ok to get by.

A really nice employee at the hotel showed me where I had to go for Departures (again, right across the street but right instead of left) and said I would have to check my luggage if it is over 8KG.  My regular carryon is 13.5KG so there it went.  I will now spend the flight to Cuzco praying it makes it with me.  I have my camera, iPad and iPhone with me, along with glasses and medication.  I’ve spent the hour I have here checking out the shopping (Alpaca wool, jewelry) and drinking a Starbucks iced coffee (bought my thermal travel mug for the collection!)

I’ve been taking the anti-altitude sickness medication for 2 days now, as directed.  I hit Cuzco today and spend a day there at 12,000+ feet.  I’ve been mildly concerned about all the warnings about how to acclimate, but I guess we see today how I do.

Flight to Cuzco in an hour.  Back on the other side.

The week leading up to departure

Friday, May 25

As usual, I did my very best to work myself up into a lather in the week leading up to the trip.  Last week I was sick, some sort of post-NYC trip fatigue and almost-headcold had me feeling like ass until 2 days ago.  But that passed.

Over the weekend I noticed that my layover in Fort Lauderdale, which I though I had scheduled to be 3 hours or so, was only 80 minutes.  And landing mid-afternoon in FLL at this time of year is dodgy, with all the thunderstorms around (as I know from my Miami Spinning Conference days).  So I called JetBlue Monday morning to try to change to an earlier flight.  The change fee plus difference in fare was $550 but I convinced myself that getting there 5 hours early for the flight to Lima was worth the peace of mind and not losing a day in Peru.  Then I mentioned to the phone rep that I thought maybe the schedule had changed because I’d never allow such a short layover.  And voila! They had changed my flights and now that the change was their doing and not mine, the flight change was free!  So that passed.

Then I spent three days ruminating on all things snake and fearing the absolute worst out of my trip to the Amazon.  I remember the beginnings of this trip, as I was on medical leave last fall and taking my wildlife conservation class with Jane Goodall.  She was the one that encouraged me to experience another ecosystem and body of wildlife.  She also seemed, in her stories, seemingly fearless of snakes.  “Leave them alone and they’ll leave you alone,” I remember her saying.  Nevertheless I worked myself up into a great case of intestinal distress turning to dread yesterday.  Had I made a terrible mistake doing this?  Is it worth the anxiety? Somehow I talked myself down (a gin and tonic likely helped) and I slept well and woke up this morning ready to go.  So that passed.  (Sort of)

I’d just showered this morning when I found the notification from JetBlue that my 10 a.m. flight will now leave at 11:45, but that I should still get to the airport on time for the 10 a.m. flight.  So a flight delay indeed has happened, but I still have a 3 hour cushion in Fort Lauderdale if all things go as planned right now.  If I’d been on the later flight, I’d be weeping in my cold brew right now.

I am excited to see a new country, a new continent, a new ecosystem or two.  I’m thrilled beyond belief to go to Machu Picchu and I struggle to wrap my head around what it’ll look like.  I want to use my Spanish (how rusty can it be?) and meet the people.  It’s just that every place new to me pushes me outside my comfort zone, and I think as I get older that adds a level of stress.  I think of someone like my travel-idol Anthony Bourdain and how EVERY trip he takes is new to him (mostly).  How does he do this trip after trip?  How is he not in a chronic state of anxiety/trip stress/intestinal distress?  It’s been a while since I’ve been somewhere entirely new to me.  That was 2013 when I first went to Africa and I remember the same anxiety which has now been replaced with a longing and a passion that I have for no other place.  And this stress cropped up for China before that, and Russia before that.  I know I overcome this and will likely love the hell out of it.  This is why I work, this is why I do what I do.  I love to travel and experience what’s out there for us.

It’s 3 hours from here to Fort Lauderdale, a 3 hour layover and then 5 1/2 hours to Lima.  I should be in bed around midnight, schedule gods and prevailing winds considered.