Peru and Machu Picchu Nov-Dec 2009

The local people protesting
See the paw prints? This restaurant serves guinea pig!

Orchids in the orchid garden at the Machu Picchu Sanctuary Lodge

Machu Picchu!

Machu Picchu--view as we were coming down from the Sun Gate

A local Peruvian woman walking down the street with her dog

A llama--or maybe alpaca--can't remember which

Another llama or alpaca--how cute is that face??!!

Can you believe it? It cracked me up!

Guinea pigs in someone's home. Dinner anyone??

The tunnel fountain

Our family with local Peruvians in the market. See the baby llama near Bill?

Dustin with the local weavers

Bill sacrificing himself to the gods at the Sun Gate

See the glaciers?

Hello Everyone,
Now you get to hear all about our Peru trip. This part of the trip was phenomenal as well, but in my opinion, could not compare to the Galapagos. Out of the whole family, Bill liked Peru the best, which is no surprise given his love of history.

We started our trip by leaving the Galapagos Islands and coming into the Guayaquil airport in Ecuador. From there, we went to a hotel for a few hours to have lunch and to say our teary goodbyes to our good friends. Then we took a very unhappy bus ride (Jensen cried the whole way) back to the airport to board our flight for Lima, Peru. We stayed in Lima for one night, just going to our hotel rooms, getting dinner, and then going to bed. In fact, the kids both fell asleep before their dinner even came. The Galapagos trip had exhausted us!

The next day, we had an early morning, 1 hour flight to Cusco which is the ancient capital of the Incan Empire. Once in Cusco, we took a bus to the Sacred Valley of the Incas, the Urubamba Valley. It was cold and rainy when we arrived, but that was really the only cold, wet day we had. The rest of the week we had fabulous weather. We really lucked out, as we visited during rainy season, but got hardly any rain. However, in Peru, rain is considered good weather, while sunny days, or hail, are considered bad weather. If they get too many sunny days, then they need to offer alpacas or llamas to the gods in order to get rain.

We ate lunch at a local restaurant. The food was great. The kids especially liked a pumpkin soup that was served. At the end of the meal, we were served coca tea, which helps with digestion and altitude sickness. Cusco is at about 11,000 feet elevation, so altitude sickness is a definite concern, especially considering the amount of hiking and climbing that we would be doing. The coca tea tastes a bit like fresh mowed grass. The kids and Bill did not like it, but I did. Coca tea is part of everyday life of the Andean people. They drink it like Americans drink coffee.

After lunch we went to a place called Awanacancha where we got to meet, feed, and pet llamas, alpacas, and vicunas. They are all part of the camel family. I believe that they told us that only the llamas are used as pack animals. Something else I learned during this trip is that we have all been pronouncing “llama” incorrectly. It is actually pronounced “yama” because the double L in Spanish is pronounced as a Y. Once we fed the animals, we got to see how they dye and weave the fiber that they get from the animals. The baby alpaca fur is so soft. On a different day, we were given lessons about how to tell the difference between adult alpaca fur, baby alpaca fur, and what they call “maybe alpaca” fur, which is actually not alpaca at all, but is completely synthetic.

After we left Awanacancha, we went to the Pisac market. This is where the locals shop. You’ll find a bit of everything there. We enjoyed looking at all the different types of fruits and vegetables that were for sale. After that, we drove to our hotel, which was absolutely gorgeous. I could have spent all day just hanging out in the gardens.

Day 2 we visited the Ollantaytambo Complex, which is a sacred Incan fortress. We climbed up and up and up. The view from the top was beautiful. We took lots of breaks as we made our way to the top to ensure none of us got sick from the altitude. It was not a super easy climb, yet there were some people in our group with canes, and they made it! The funny thing about this place was that we had to pay to use the bathrooms. I think that if you didn’t need toilet paper, you could go in for free, but if you wanted the little napkin they gave you, it cost 1 nuevo sol, which was the equivalent of about 33 cents. I was wondering what they would do or say if you needed more than just the one little napkin they gave you.

On the way home from Ollantaytambo, we stopped at a corn beer factory. This is where they make home brewed beer out of corn, called chicha. The preferred corn to use is blue corn. They use purple corn to make a soft drink. The beer is like a light beer, and only has 2.5% alcohol content. You don’t get drunk on this beer; it is like drinking a soda with your meals. It only costs 1 nuevo sol (33 cents) for this huge glass of beer—almost a whole liter!

After that, we returned to our hotel for a traditional Peruvian lunch. There was so much food, and it was so good! I especially loved all the different types of sweet potatoes. The kids were not overly impressed. After we were done eating, we were treated to a Peruvian Paso Horse demonstration. Four horses (with riders) came out and did elaborate formations. And then a man and woman came out and danced together, and finally it was just the horses dancing with the woman. It was beautiful to watch and these horses were obviously well trained. Afterwards, the kids got to ride the horses!

Later in the afternoon we visited the ceramic studio of a local man named Pablo Seminario. We got to see how he runs his studio and watch as his workers made pottery, based on his designs.

Finally, at the end of the day, just before our dinner, we watched a play based on Peruvian folklore, called Gods of the Andes. The gist of the play was that the Andean people had lost the harmony of living side by side with nature, so they started to fight. Then, the gods came—the god of the Sun, Mother Earth, the Moon, and Lightning and Thunder. All of the gods battled against each other in order to restore the balance and harmony of the world. Once the battle was over, it was said that the gods gave the people the strength to clean their minds and bring back their cultures, and all was harmonious again. Today, this religion is still practiced among the Andean people. They still worship the mountains and forces of nature and still give offerings to Mother Earth. It was also interesting to learn that in Peru, all pictures portraying Jesus Christ show him looking down towards Mother Earth, rather than up towards heaven.

Day 3 we took a train to Machu Picchu. The ride took about 1.5 hours. The scenery was gorgeous on the way up, as we followed right along the Urubamba River. As we got further along the river, our guide told us that people could no longer go rafting on this part of the river as it was too dangerous due to the incredible rapids. And they did look intense!

Once in the city of Aguas Calientes, we got off the train and took a bus up the windy road to the Machu Picchu Sanctuary Lodge. This was where we were going to stay for the night, and it was a beautiful place and very environmentally friendly. There were only a total of about 50 guests at the lodge, so we essentially had Machu Picchu to ourselves for the evening. Unfortunately, they close the entrance to it at 5:00 PM, so we couldn’t really go exploring around at night. It would be very easy to get lost there! But we did go out hiking around that afternoon and got to see a lot because most of the people had to leave to catch the buses back down the mountain. But since we were staying for the night, we could stay all the way until 5:00. Everything was gorgeous and we just kept taking picture after picture after picture! There were wild llamas roaming around. They didn’t seem afraid of anything, and our guide told us that they act as the natural lawn mowers of Machu Picchu.

Machu Picchu means Old Mountain in English. It is also sometimes called the Lost City or the Unknown City. It was built in the 15th century, and was rediscovered by Hiram Bingham, an American from Hawaii, in 1911.

Day 4 We got up early this morning and were some of the first people on the trail to the Sun Gate, also known as Intipunku. The kids chose not to go on this hike, but Bill and I went. It was about a 2 hour hike, round trip—not real hard, so we went at a good pace. This was on our own, so we did not need to stay with our group. We were trying to get to the Sun Gate for sunrise, which we did, but unfortunately, it was so foggy up there that we couldn’t see a thing! The hike up was beautiful though. Sometimes we could see nothing because of the fog, and then all of the sudden, we’d look down and see the entire Inca citadel. On the way back down, I had to go to the bathroom so bad that I practically ran down the mountain! I think it took me half the time to get down as it did to go up. At first I was trying to wait for Bill, but he kept stopping to take pictures and finally my bladder got the best of me and I left him there on the mountain taking pictures.

Before we left to go back down the mountain, we walked through a beautiful orchid garden that was on the Machu Picchu Sanctuary grounds. You would never know that there were so many types of orchids. From there, we headed down the mountain and back to Cusco where we checked into another gorgeous hotel. All of our accommodations were excellent, as was the food!

On our drive back to Cusco, we got to see some really cool glaciers. They were so neat because you’re not expecting to see glaciers in a country right at the equator. I mean, the glaciers weren’t right there, where we could touch them, but they were still so awesome to look at. It was interesting because one minute they’d be there, and the next minute they were gone, depending on the fog. The snowline is at about 13,000 feet, due to the close proximity of the equator.

Day 5 We toured the city of Cusco. We started off at the most important temple in the Andes called Qorikancha. It was the principle temple of the sun god. Initially, the walls were completely covered in sheets of gold. In 1534, the Spaniards built the Dominican church and convent (Convento de Santa Domingo) over it. Regrettably, both were destroyed by an earthquake in 1650, but were rebuilt in 1681.

We learned that there are 8 Peruvian constellations, each in the form of an animal (snake, frog, llama, monkey, fox, hummingbird, spider, condor). Each animal has 2 characteristics, one which is usually complimentary, and the other not so much. For example, if one were to say you were like the fox, it would mean you are both clever and arrogant. It is a tradition for parents to assign each of their children to one of these constellations, based on the child’s personality. Usually the child does not get assigned to an animal until he is at least 8 years old, as it takes time for the child’s personality to develop. Sometimes, the parents will not assign an animal until the child is much older, even into the teenage years.

We also learned that Cusco was built in the shape of a puma, which is considered the most powerful animal in the Andes. The genitals of the puma guarantee transmission of culture, honor and religion to the next generation, which is why they built this most important temple there.

After visiting this temple, we headed out of town to Sacsayhuaman, a spectacular temple. The name means “head in the shape of a zig zag”, which is the shape that this temple was built in. It is the shape of the lightning god; he is still worshipped today because he brings the rain. This temple took over 100 years to build, over 4 generations. The temple was built from gigantic stones weighing 90-128 tons each! Each stone was fitted into the other with extreme precision, needing no mortar between them to hold them together. Bronze tools were used to build this temple because the rock was made of limestone.

Upon returning to the city, we came across a protest in the middle of one of the city squares. Apparently the people were protesting about the rates they pay and poor service they receive for water. They also were protesting because they wanted the water treatment plant to be farther out of town. This protest seemed very peaceful, though there were many police officers around. It was fun to watch because it gave us a good feel for the local people, how they dressed, etc.

After that, we went to the Basilica Cathedral. This building was started in the 1560s and had a huge baroque influence—lots of excessive decoration. There were also lots of mirrors, which represent the beginning of life. Most of the artwork was done in the 1700-1800s. There was a painting of The Last Supper, and the meal that was being served featured a guinea pig! We were not allowed to take pictures inside this cathedral, but seeing that guinea pig really cracked us up, and we wished we could have gotten a picture of it. Guinea pig is a common food in Peru. If you see little footprints on the outside of a restaurant, it means that they serve guinea pig there!

We ended the day with our group with a nice lunch at a restaurant close to our hotel. I had this awesome fruit for dessert. I can’t remember what it was called, but it tasted like caramel, and it was covered in chocolate! It was so good! Bill and the kids did not really like the meal that was being served (it was a fixed menu), so guess where they ate? Yep, they found a McDonalds in Cusco! The rest of our day was free to shop, etc.

Day 6 We flew out of Cusco and back to Lima. Jensen had developed a cold, and was not feeling well, so she and I, as well as Dustin (he was done with touring by that time), went straight to the hotel after we landed, while the rest of the group went to the Larco Herrera museum. This museum holds the best private collection of pre-Columbian art in Peru. After that, the group visited the historical center of Lima, which included the Plaza Mayor, Government Palace, City Hall, the Cathedral, and the Archbishop’s Palace. They also visited, and had lunch at Casa Aliaga, one of Lima’s first colonial mansions. It was built in 1535 by Don Jeronimo de Aliaga, and has been inhabited by the Aliaga family ever since!

That evening, some of our group departed back to the US. But our flight did not leave until the next evening, so we had some time to enjoy Lima. One of the things recommended to us by our guide was to see these fantastic fountains. So we took a cab to see the fountains, and it was so worth it! There were all these really cool fountains, and at night, they lit them up, and since it was close to Christmas, they had them choreographed to move to Christmas music! The kids did not think this was going to be very exciting, and we only thought we’d stay about 30 minutes, but we stayed at least a couple of hours. The kids had a blast. There was a fountain like a tunnel, and you could walk through it without getting wet! It was really a lot of fun.

After that, Bill, Jensen, and Dustin walked to the nearby mall and saw the latest Twilight movie, New Moon. It had just come out in the theaters, and being that we have no theaters here, Jensen was thrilled to get to see it. And it wasn’t even in Spanish! I think that was her highlight of Peru! I know—sad, but true.

Day 7 Our tour was officially over. Everyone from our group had departed back to the US. We spent the day hanging out at the mall until it was time for us to head to the airport and catch our flight to Spain. I think the flight was about 11 hours, and then we had a 12 hour layover in Spain, which ended up being even longer because our flight was delayed. We ended up leaving Spain at about 2:00 in the morning, and then of course, they tried to serve us dinner at that time! Bill was not happy about that! We just wanted to sleep! But so much for that! We got into South Africa the next day, stayed overnight there, and then took off the next morning back to Lubumbashi, and finally, one more flight to Fungurume! Whew! I think all in all, in the 3 week period, we took 13 different flights! The trip was definitely worth it! Hope you enjoyed hearing all about it.

Just a few more interesting facts about Peru—90% of the people are Catholic; an average, middle class person makes $180/month; there are 3 languages in Peru: Spanish, Quechuan, and Aymara; Pisco Sour is a famous Peruvian drink; rainy season is in the summer—they get 68”/year; when you see oxen on a roof, it means prosperity; 18 is the age for everything—drinking, voting, driving, marriage, etc; voting is mandatory—you will be fined if you don’t vote; in the last presidential election (2006) there were 22 candidates! Now you know a little more about Peru. Bet you didn’t know you were going to get a history lesson, did you??!!

Cheers!

Laurie