Ollantaytambo to Cusco

 The Sacred Valley is wonderful...It is a super important part of the Inca Empire.  The Urubamba River runs the length of the valley and it is beautiful.  We took the train from Aguas Calientes to Ollantytambo to spend the night.  We stayed in a wonderful hotel with alpaca and surrounding mountains.

When we woke up in the morning, we went to the Inca ruins of Ollantaytambo.  It was a fortress and a temple where virgins were sacrificed and where the Inca managed to fight off Pizarro.  It's huge and terraced and a real climb with our low-land lungs.  We really needed to rest.

This is looking up

We hiked up and looked at all the gates and stones.  It's amazing how tons of granite were taken from a quarry about 8 km away and transported to the site.  The theory is that they got the blocks of granite to the Urubamba River and dammed it up so it flowed around the stone and took it to the site of the temple.  The Inca were ingenious.  An aside:  they were happy to build on the knowledge of previous cultures and used architects from what is now Bolivia to help build Macchu Picchu whereas the Spanish simply destroyed all that was Inca because it was blasphemous and they had a holy edict to wipe out any heretics.  The Inca even had a sure-fire way to build seismically safe: they fit convex and concave stones together so in case of earthquakes the stones fell into each other and stayed up.

Here is a photo of the terraces and the lookout sites.  They also had these amazing echo chambers built into the rocks.  If you clap inside, it can be heard all over the site and the hills.  They communicated this way and passed warnings.

Clap here

Next we checked out the temple of the virgins and the fountains were they were purified.  The fountains are next to the temple and you can see more of the amazing ways the Inca channeled water for irrigation and such.

Next we went to Salinas, where salt has been mined since Inca times.  An underground spring sends salt water up and the salt is mined and sold for cooking and body products.  It's a special pink salt that is very expensive.  Prices are similar to lavender farm on San Juan Island.

Salinas Salt Mines

It's huge...next stop Moray, a huge amphitheater of terraces for agriculture.  Theories are that the Inca experimented with different microclimates to determine the optimal growing conditions for crops.  I am amazed by all they did.

Moray

We viewed a few more sites before heading back to Cusco.  Cusco is huge!!  From up high as we climb out of the Sacred Valley, we can really see the size.

Cusco from up high

Look behind the church.  Our hotel is on the mid left street.  We could hear everything going on.

I also took a picture of part of the Plaza de Armas so you can see where our hotel is and how close we were to the action.  Festivals!!!  There are over 450 festivals per year in the Department of Cusco (think state).

The day before the big festival, there was a mini-festival:  started at 9:00 am and went to midnight!!  All the different groups of dancers paraded past crowds through the plaza de Armas.  When they were done they headed up a couple of blocks away to a smaller plaza where the party began:  drinking and more dancing all night.  And that wasn't even the big one.!!

More about Cusco and Inti Raymi later....

Macchu Picchu

There has been very sporadic internet lately and it's been impossible to blog.  I'm skipping ahead to Macchu Picchu because, well, just because.  I'll add other stuff later, but I'm just too full of wonder to wait. We arrived in Cuzco on Saturday, June, 19.  The altitude hit me like a ton of bricks.  We had medication, but it didn't seem to help much.  My head felt light and I couldn't breathe.  Every step was an effort.  We were determined to adjust so we checked in to our hotel.  It was a stone's throw from the Plaza de Armas and everything happens there.  We couldn't believe our luck.  From our balcony, we could see so much.  During all the festivals this turned out to be prime real estate.

Plaza de Armas just ahead

 We took a quick walk around and looked for what we might need for Macchu Picchu.  The air was so thin and just walking off the plane I began to feel dizzy and out of breath.  We had been taking pills, but they really didn't help.  We ate (too much as it turns out) and after our shopping, I was so sick, I couldn't go out.  Pounding headaches and stomach aches.  I slept while they ate dinner and that helped some.  Also, Macchu Picchu is lower so we did feel better in the morning as we dropped down.

There are many old arches like this one

 Macchu Picchu is spectacular!  But it has to be.  Getting there is a real hassle.  First, because the train route is still messed up from flooding in Feb, you have to take a 2.5 hour bus ride from Cusco to a train stop that has repaired track.  Then you take a 1.5 hour train ride to Aguas Calientes.  When you get there, you wade through stall after stall of people selling everything, some junky and some good stuff.  We arrived around 2:30 in the afternoon, and after lunch we decided to wait until the next morning to go up to Macchu Picchu.  It closes at 5 and we would have had such a short time to stay.

Macchu Picchu train station

We got up at 3:30 am to stand in line.  It was winter solstice and Luis' birthday.  If you don't stand in line, you can't get an early bus. The busses leave one after another until everyone is up.  It's 20 minutes up a very steep and curving road.  It's pitch black outside and although we were in line at 4:00, we were on the 3rd bus.  All the shops are open to sell coffee and snacks because there's no food up there.

Early morning just off the bus

 We were given tickets to climb WanayPicchu, but it was just too hard.  It's very high and we still weren't handling stairs very well so we didn't try.  We walked up to the high entrance and this is what you see.  We waited for the sun to come up. There are really no words to describe the place.  It's magical, awe inspiring, breathtaking, and so very big.  You cannot imagine how it was done, how the Inca brought these hugh granite stones from 8 km away and how they carved them for perfect fit and to fall into each other for earthquakes instead of coming down.  They were brilliant and creative and had no problems building on previous cultures.  They had no need to destroy what they found as the Spaniards did.

Very early am, first view of Macchu Picchu

 Luis chose this day for our trip up.  It was his birthday and winter solstice and he wanted us all there.  I will never forget that I couldn't breathe, that I was so amazed, that there really was no other place I would rather be.  We stayed up high watching the sun come up and then spent hours exploring the entire place.  When we were tired, we went to this one area and rested.  Luis did some more exploring and took some photos he wanted.  The kids and I read, napped, talked to llamas, and took in the views.

Luis on his 53rd birthday

Our children at the one place their father wanted them to see above all others

They hung out with us and kept us company while we rested

 Every time I opened my eyes while we were hanging out and resting, this is what I saw.  This is my favorite view.  Not sure why.  It felt like home, like my back yard.  When we finally decided to head down the mountain after 7 hours, this is the view I just didn't want to leave.  I felt like everything was alright with the world.  If this beautiful place could last this long, maybe our own footprints on this earth aren't so fleeting.  It is simply an extraordinary place to be. There is a hotel just outside the entrance that costs so much to stay there.  For Luis as a Peruvian citizen, it's much cheaper though still expensive.  We have fantasized about coming here, staying 3 nights and getting up every morning before dawn and going inside to watch the day begin.

My favorite view

 I will post more tomorrow about the rest of that part of the trip.  There is more to say about it and the trip through the Sacred Valley and back to Cusco.

                                                                              
                                                                                

The Trip back to Catacaos and Piura

the flowers from our hotel

Thursday, we left in the morning...checking out was painful-such a beautiful hotel. Lots of amazing flowers, ocean views. Mancora is still coastal desert, but it soon gives way to jungle..we didn't have time to get up there, very near the border with Ecuador. The town itself reminds me of southern California and all the beach towns from Del Mar to San Juan Capistrano. Here are some tropical flowers outside our bungalow. Loved the many colors of bouganvilla.

Our family in Punta Sal (including Reynaldo)

We drove a bit north to Punta Sal, a beach town more family friendly, less partying. Lunch on the beach and then back to Catacaos to finish shopping for jewelry. As mentioned in a previous post, Catacaos is famous for filigree silver work. Here's an example of what they do...they melt it down into thin strings of silver and then form designs.

silver filigree work

Caracaos market

We looked around and headed to the airport.  We arrived early because we had to return our car.  There was a cafeteria upstairs with couches and comfortable chairs and we could order food and hang out on the couches until we had to check in for our flight.  I highly recommend Piura airport ...it's airconditioned too.  Love that.

Mancora: Day 2 Continued--A Wild Adventure

So, for the ATV story. We rented an ATV and a 3-seater car with 4-wheel drive and headed out into the desert. It's technically a dry forest. Marcio was the driver of the ATV and Gillian volunteered to co-pilot. Marcio got the hang of it and took off, driving through Mancora and dodging mototaxis. It involved turning into traffic and I was terrified, but Marcio no...Mariana decided to learn to drive too and drove the car. Luis and I had 2 kid drivers and really didn't know where to look or how hard to pray. The destination was a site with black mud baths where you sit in the warm water and rub black mud on the parts of your body you want to be rejuvenated. Lovely stuff...stinks but it works. We all had smooth skin. On our way back, Renaldo had us ford a river that seemed too deep but he insisted we could make it. Marcio and I did on the ATV; we were wet but safe. Mariana got the car stuck in the middle of the river. We did get it out but could never start it again. Reynaldo hiked up a hill to get a phone signal so we could call for help. His friend came, Mariana and I got a ride from a Peruvian family, Marcio and Gillian rode the ATV back, we got dropped off in town and walked back to the hotel, Luis showed up later on another ATV and we all took showers to wash the mud and dust off.


What a wild day: surfing, ATV's, sunburns, stories to remember for a long time. I think Marcio wanted to drive some more. It was a least 2 hours on the ATV and he has us looking for another place to do it. This is Marcio during dinner at the end of our wild adventure. Surfing photos to come.

From Catacaos to Mancora

After Catacaos, we drove to Mancora...terrible roads. You have to pass cars and trucks or you will never get anywhere. The roads are in really bad condition and an hour and a half drive takes twice as long. We arrived at lunch time and ate at a really great restaurant. Northern Peruvian food is seafood: ceviche and tiraditos.
Tiraditos is a dish made of raw fish and two sauces made from aji (Peruvian chiles). One is made from rocoto, very hot, and one is made from aji amarillo (yellow chiles). In the photo the sauces look heavy and creamy, but they're not. They are very light and mostly chiles blended with other ingredients. These tiraditos were my favorite food so far on the trip. Really yummy!

We found a great hotel, bungalow, for a really good price because it's off season. We had three bedrooms and lots of living space right on the ocean for the same price as two hotel rooms. There was a beautiful pool, outdoor chairs and lounging and the sunset from the pool was spectacular. Although it's winter, the temperatures were around 85 and very comfortable, even at night. For those of us who put up with foggy, cold Bay Area summer evenings, this is a real treat. No sweaters, no cold wind at night.



We hung out until the sun had set and then went to dinner.





We took mototaxis to town and had more seafood, tuna this time. Great ahi prepared Peruvian style. There are always bananas and yucca with very meal. Home and bed. I haven't listened to the waves pounding for many years. Lovely. Up the next morning with coffee and flowers outside the hotel room. Bouganvilla in colors I had never seen before. We headed off to the beach for surfing lessons. Our friend Reynaldo hooked us up with some friends who gave us a great deal. All three kids surfed all morning and Luis got photos of all of them standing up and surfing. Marcio was the star. He loved it and did so well.






We headed back to the hotel for lunch and went off to explore the countryside on ATV's, another hook up from our friend.

Mancora and the Northern Desert

Gillian and Mariana in Narihuala




We spent 3 days in Mancora, which is in the Northern desert of Peru. Our plane landed in Piura and we drove south to Catacaos for a look around. Catacaos is famous for filigree silver and gold work and it's beautiful. The girls and I checked out the jewelry while Marcio reminded us (constantly) that this was his part of the trip and shopping wasn't what he had in mind. We looked around for a bit and headed to an artisan community called Narihuala, where they work in straw (paja). We met a Peace Corps volunteer who was helping the women catalog their work and prepare it for sale. She also made a flier that was left at the tourist information site. They were so happy to know that we received one and that their advertising system was working. Gillian and I bought hats for the beach (no bargaining...the Peace Corps volunteer had taught them well.)


I also took photos of the dyed straw and the sign that shows that these houses belong to the association.


We also found that this area has a little museum because of the pre-Columbian site that was discovered.
It's registered and we had to pay to enter.
Very interesting and old. I loved the church that was added later and two boys followed us around and wanted to be paid for being tour guides. Luis said ok, but tell us what you know. They proceeded to explain about the carvings of interesting sexual positions, etc. and we loved what they had memorized. We paid them.

We also found a family of owls out
in the daytime...don't know the species or why they were out in the day, but they definitely belonged at the site and were not afraid of us at all.

More Amazon Tales

June 4 :
Wild abandon on the Amazon














Marcio doing flips off the boat


On our last morning in the Amazon, we ate breakfast, packed up and took a last boat trip up the river. Where tributaries feed into the Amazon, pink river dolphins hang out. They really are pink although they are born grey, as are the other species that lives there. As they get older, they turn pink or stay grey. It's hard to get a good photo because they don't jump out of the water like ocean dolphins do. It was so exciting to see them, especially for me, because I had missed them the day before while dealing with traveler's tummy. The kids swam in the Amazon, and were so excited.

There is something wonderful about having an experience that no one you know has ever had. When we started planning we realized that even though we are headed to the southern Amazon rainforest later in the trip, for Mariana, it wouldn't do. She had to be on and in the Amazon. Although the biodiversity is better in the South, we had to come here, too. Where they swam and where the dolphins are, there are no piranhas. The dolphins know how to avoid them. This trip had the best wildlife...check out the photo of the tree Iguana!! They hang out in the trees. Very different from the other Iguanas we've seen before.




















There were also amazing birds on this part of the river. These really beautiful red birds walk around by the edge of the river and when they fly, they have white tipped wings. We didn't get a great shot of that, but we have a male and a female here.










There were some other interesting birds too. I loved this one. He was completely hidden by vegetation but so beautiful.




We went farther up the tributary to see the famous Victoria Regia, those hugh water lilies. The particular tributary dries up in August. The seed pods fold up into themselves and wait underneath the old lily pad until the rains come. This activates them and they produce the new year's plants. Very cool. The flowers are white or pink and last 3 days.

Heading Up the Amazon

We got up and were taken to the boat to the Heleconia Lodge- a 1.5 hour trip in a high speed boat. Iquitos itself is on the Itaya River, which feeds into the Nanay, which in turn, feeds into the Amazon. We stopped to visit the Boras, a native tribe….they danced, we danced and had to buy stuff from them. Marcio again felt like it was very exploitative and I agreed, but I tried to explain that they make their living selling stuff to tourists. It was uncomfortable and I really don’t think anyone liked it very much. As you head out to the Amazon, the color of the water changes to a sort of cafe latte color. Because the Amazon is so fast moving, sediment never settles; it just gets swirled around. It’s a huge river, very wide and there is no way to get to all of these villages and outposts except by water. The river traffic is varied, small paddled canoes, little outboard motor boats(not western type), and bigger tourist boats.

We arrived at the Heleconia Lodge and checked in and ate lunch. The food is Amazonian: fish, either Dorado or Paiche, pork, chicken, beans, rice. For me, it's very heavy and I was having stomach trouble anyway, so I didn't eat much. There is tons of fresh fruit, incredible mango and papaya, very different varieties. Our afternoon hike was interesting, but not much wildlife: a couple of monkeys from a great distance and tons of insects. No great flowers, which was disappointing. There are those incredible ants that walk long distances with big pieces of leaf: it takes 2 ants, one to carry the leaf and one to stand on top and guard.

Back from the sweaty hike for a swim in the pool and dinner. I spent the rest of the night sick in the bathroom, who knows why. Luckily we had pills and I only missed the morning trip. Kids went fishing or piranhas and only Mariana caught one. She did throw it back though.

First Day in the Amazon

Tuesday, June 1st, we took an early morning flight to Iquitos in the state of Loreto. The plane landed at a small local airport (after passing through security with my shoes on and a full cafe latte, I could see that the security standards are a little looser here) and we were hit by tropical air. Luckily it wasn't too hot. We were taken to a hotel downtown, where we checked in to great rooms and headed out to explore Iquitos. It reminds me of towns in Baja, lots of corregated metal roofs and store fronts with garage style metal doors. The famous taxi motos are everywhere.
We met two who took us to a great lunch spot where we ate river fish on the Itaya River, which feeds into the Nanay and then into the Amazon. After lunch, we called Armando and his buddy who took us to Belen, a floating shanty town with a famous market.
He found us a boat and we were taken on a trip around.



It's incredibly dirty and bathrooms go straight into the river. Once you get over the fact that it reminds one of the Mumbai slums, you can see that everything is there. There are floating churches and schools, and night clubs, and stores. It's a city and people survive. Marcio was extremely uncomfortable and said on our way to the next stop that he felt like a spoiled white boy...ah, yes, his world is expanding.

We went back to the main part of Iquitos and walked around. We saw the famous Iron House (Casa de Fiero) that was designed and built by Eiffel who designed the Eiffel Tower. It looks out onto the Plaza de Armas (each town has a plaza of the same name...it's the main square with the church.)


Towards the end of the day, we looked at old buildings down by the Itaya River. They were made with these beautiful tile patterns and I took photos of as many as I could. Gillian, Mariana, and I took a walk to the Plaza de Armas and looked over the Iron House. We got lost, asked for directions, and ate ice cream from a street vendor (I read later that night that you shouldn’t eat ice cream off the street-it gets frozen and defrosted a lot and can make you sick.