Winding Roads To Cuzco

We have arrived in Cuzco. After waiting for the bus until 9:30pm, although we were supposed to leave at 8pm, we finally departed on our "semi-cama"(partial bed) bus for Cuzco. We were instantly served some sort of chicken with rice and and indiscribable dessert of some sort of jellied fruit. I was already feeling rather ill from all the exhaust and noise in Ica, and my head had been throbbing for 2 days, so a bus with warm uncirculated air and questionable food aroma didn´t do much to aid my situation. The seats reclined and a foot/leg rest pulled out so we were able to sleep in our "semi_cama" seats. As we pulled away from Ica and began to climb into the desert mountains I was glad that we were asleep since some of the roads boardered sheer cliffs and were nothing more than packed dirt without guardrails. I put my faith in God and my trust in our driver and closed my eyes under a clear starry sky.

I awoke to the winding roads along a beautiful river winding though the canyon toward the Andes. The mountains rose before us and the scenery gave way to small villiages, mountainside farms and rushing creeks and rivers. We continued climbing into the Andes as the bus proceeded to have a movie marathon (5 movies in one bus ride at an intolerable volume). As we drove deeper into the Andes we saw snow capped peaks much like the appearance of the Swiss alps. Houses perched on the edge of cliffs over rivers made of homemade adobe bricks. We frequently had to stop to avoid hitting herds of miniature horses and milk cows being driven down the highway. We stopped several times and the driver added water to a overheating bus, then finally crested the final mountaintop and laid our eyes on Cuzco, the city nestled in a valley, climbing the hills and mountains around it.

We arrived to find that our Lonely Planet South America Guidebook, aka our trip bible, had gone missing and found ourselves at a loss of where to go or what to do. We decided to go to the Plaza de Armas, these plazas are in every city and are usually the center of the city and tourism. Once we got there we saw a book fair and found that if we return tomorrow we can purchase a guidebook for a mere 150 soles, or 40-50 dollers. A bit expensive, but because it is such a necessary resource, we will return. We then proceeded to search out a hostel that had been reccommended to us by a fellow traveler Christoff. Without a city map we were at the mercy of the locals. One man saw that we were clearly lost and looking for something and rather than just giving us some quick directions and going on his way he lead us all the way to the street of the hostel. Up flights of stairs we went, and with 40 lb packs at 10,000ft/3300m we were sufficiantly out of breath. When the man left us we proceeded down the street to be met by a woman asking if we were looking for a hostel, when we gave the name, she told us that was her hostel and instantly offered a room for 3 at 15 soles apeice, the very price we wanted to pay.

After settling in we set out to check out the city, get a map and get some food. We found a french owned restaurant where we indulged in mexican cuisine, and excellent deseert. Full and content, armed with mate de coca for the altitude we set out to do some shopping where Jordan found a llama wool beanie for 5 soles or $1.75 and I found a cool ring. We all got ideas for other things and also found some genuine Peruvian dark chocolate. Indulgence. Chocolate from the orgin. Afterward we return to our room, the chocolate dissappeared and we all felt the call of sleep, at only 8pm!!! But after interrupted sleep on the bus, it is a great idea. Tomorrow we set out to see the city, check on our Machu Pichu trip and find our native hosts, friends of Sophie´s : Margarita and Alfredo.

On our way to Cuzco, Peru

Satuday dawned again with excellent weather and the most annoying patter of pigeons on our roof. In a place where it never rains, none of the roofs are water proofed and so are only thin boards secured to the top of the cement walls. The pigeons make a horrible racket as though they were racing eachother around the roof, and I don´t reccommend them as an alarm clock for anyone. Sophie and I woke up slowly, Jordan was already gone somewhere, and soon we were greeted by him with gifts of fresh bread, fresh oranges and fresh grapes from a market he had discovered. We ate for a tenth of what we had all been paying.

A great beginning to a new day, we packed up our things and checked out of our hotel, our host then caught us a taxi, then asked if we wanted one, and arranged for us to be taken to the bus stop in Pisco that would take us to Ica, where we would catch the bus to Cuzco. We bid him a thankful farewell and set off. Upon arrival to Pisco we were informed by our driver that our pre-arranged fare would take us only to central Pisco, and the bus station would be available for a mere 2 soles more apeice. We grudgingly agreed(again), and were taken to a corner, where we were issued a 3 sole apeice ticket from Pisco to Ica which was about 35 kilometers. Upon arrival in Ica we inquired at the local bus companies about fare to Cuzco and finally found the cheapest at 80 soles for the 18 hour trip into the mountains and to Cuzco, to which we will arrive around 2pm tomorrow afternoon (our bus leaves at 8pm). After aquiring more funds from a bank we trekked back to the bus station and purchased fare, and were (very thankfully) able to store our packs there so we could tour the town without our houses on our backs.

We set out, found a restaurant serving delicious cheap cuisine and ate....oh it was good. The most common lunch/dinner here is fish or chicken cooked a couple different ways served with either white rice, homemade french fries, or beans and preceeded by either a fresh vegetable salad or a noodle soup. When we first began eating we thought we were just being served tourist food because it consisted of a lot of white rice, noodles and home cut french fries. As we have come to find out that is a pretty standard meal, although the fish and vegetables are much better than in the states because they are FRESHer than anything I have tasted in a long time. I am even eating the tomatoes, which is a miracle for anyone who knows me.

We then found two bread shops and indulged in amazing sweet breads, cupcakes and bought a loaf for the 18 hour trip so we have some snacks. Now we are just passing time, awaiting our departure this evening, and then....to Cuzco.

Lima to Paracas, Peru

Well.....it has been joyous, and we´ve only been here for about 4 days, but being transported into another world, using another language, and acclimating to another culture has distanced us beyond the limits of time. It is though we have been here ages already. On Thursday we decided to leave Lima and so we packed up, checked out of our hotel and hit the streets of Lima in search of the bus station. We walked along under partially overcast skies, dirt at our feet and people everywhere, horns were honking, taxi and bus hustlers were yelling and we walked, single file through it all with 40lb packs. When we got close to the bus station we asked a nearby policeman where the station was. He pointed down the street and told us it was around the corner. As it was we were in the very neighborhood where a fellow hosteller had been robbed the day before, so we looked a bit skeptically down the abandoned street. Seeing our doubt and a bit of fear, the police officer told us to follow him and patted his gun, explaining, "You´re safe with me." Sure enough, right around the corner, there was the bus station. Upon arrival the police officer offered a few measures of precaution for protecting ourselves, our money and our belongings and bid us farewell.

After purchasing the bus fare we found that we needed to go to the other bus station on the outskirts of town by the Pan-American Highway in order to catch the bus. We had 3 hours so we thought we would be economical and take a bus. As it was there was only one bus to take us where we needed to go and despite the aide of the bus stop workers running out in the street trying to get the bus for us, it was to no avail. We decided to just take the taxi for a bit higher fare, but more direct and sure. When we arrived at the bus station our bags were tagged and loaded and we were ushered to a posh waiting room with TV and sofas to lounge on. When the time came we loaded up on the bus and left Lima, never to return, but no great loss there.

As the city faded away we were greeted by the Peruvian coast, blue ocean leading up to desert shores. That´s right! I too was shocked to see great expanses of desert and dunes stretching out as far as your eye could see. Every so often you would dip into a valley were a river drained to the sea and suddenly the landscape would change before your eyes from desolate wasteland to lush green farmland with rows and rows of cotton, corn, sugarcane and chicken farms. Chickens are raised here much like the states. They are grown in houses that are hundreds of feet long and about twenty feet wide with small cages where the animals can barely move. The desert was also broken up by settlements of luxury homes on the water in the middle of wasteland. I wonder how fresh water is procured for such lavish gardening?

Moving on we stopped in Chinca (I think that was the name of the first town) which was a wine town similar to Napa or Sonoma, then proceeded on to Pisco. From Pisco we left and drove a few more kilometers to Paracas, a sleepy beach town nestled in the Bay of Paracas and just a few kilometers from the Paracas National Reserve Park entrance. After being in a bus for four hours it was refreshing to get out, strech my legs and breathe in deep breaths of sea-sweetened air. We began the trek down the center of town in an effort to find a clean cheap place to stay. Its the off-season now, so we knew if we played our cards right we would be able to strike a deal. After touring the hostals the Lonely Planet book suggested we were given a generous offer by a friendly guy who owned two hostels and a travel agency. We checked out the rooms, bargained, and flipped rocks in an effort to choose in our sleep and food deprived state. We finally decided on a room with two beds(Jordan prefers the floor), a private bath with hot water and a nice patio outside our room with a glorious view of the beach and bay. After washing up and settling a bit we set out to find something to eat. The town sports a glamorous tile boardwalk that is about 50 meters long, lined with restaurants on one side and a view of the beach and bay on the other. As we walked by, various hustlers ( I need to find a better word for them) tried to entice us to eat their cuisine, which was terribly overpriced. We finally settled for a small restaurant on the outskirts that was a bit less lavish.

Friday dawned quietly with plenty of sunshine and a fresh sea breeze. We relaxed and then went to the same restaurant for a desayuno(breakfast) of bread with butter, a fruit bowl of banana, papaya, apple and pineapple, and our choice of fresh juice, coffee(Nescafe) or tea (in this case Mate de Coca which is a mild helping of cocaine from the coca leaves and is legal in several South American countries and is said to help with altitude, or just give so much energy that you don´t notice the altitude). After breakfast we decided to head out to the Reserve on foot, despite the protest of our travel guide host who insisted we pay for a tour. Now when I think of "National Reserve" I think of green forests and such. This reserve consisted of thousands of acres of desert whose coastline happened to host penguins(the warm water variety), flamingos, dolphins and an Incan ruin in the shape of a candalabra. We decided to try our luck at walking, though our host warned us that it was 13-15 kilometers of desert!!!!!! We made it to the museum/bird-watching area, which wasn´t too impressive, then pressed on to the bay on the other side. Sophie decided to head back to the hotel so Jordan and I set out. About 1 kilometer up the road some locals stopped and gave us a ride to the bay, which was huge and absolutely beautiful. A little gathering of restaurants(probobly just for tourists) was on a small peninsula that extended into the middle of the bay. On the left side towering desert cliffs called the Cathedral obscured the horizon, while to the right the coastline curved sweetly toward the entry of the bay. Jordan took a swim then we hiked to the top of a small hill beside the restaurants to view the bay in its entirety.

After relaxing for a bit we ate a VERY expensive meal (on the expensive scale here), and then geared up for our return trip back across the desert along the road. No offers of rides this time and after 10-12 kilometers of desert we reached the outskirts of the town in late afternoon.We walked through luxury neighborhoods with walled yards and exquisite gardening, all with backyard pools and boats. We finally joined Sophie at the hotel and refreshed for dinner. We had seen some vendors on the boardwalk before who were selling necklaces, earrings and bracelets of semi-precious stones such as amazonianite, peruvian opal, amber and turquoise. We all made perchases and friends with these Peruvian/artist/hippie types as they taught us how to weave the materials and shared with us about their country and asked us of ours. It was a sweet time and it felt real, not just a bottled tourist experience, but hearing of real life from a local. These people travel all over the continent selling their wares at tourist spots, craft fairs and such. They have seen and experienced a lot. There was one woman and two men. Such friendly, helpful, loving people. We didn´t even bargain when we bought necklaces, they had all given us free gifts from their trade, what more could we ask for, than some new friends and excellent practice in our new language.

Arrival and first day

Well we have arrived. Our plane was classically late and customs, while organized, were a bit of a drag, though everything seems to move slowly when you have been trapped in the waiting rooms of airports and airplane seats. We finally receieved our much-coveted ¨Peru¨stamp in our passports and proceded to baggage claim. There we found that Jordan´s tent had mysteriously dissappeared from his pack, although no harm or mangling of the straps that had secured it was evident, the tent was gone none the less. Dissappointed, but determinted we proceeded to exchange our American dollars for Peruvian soles and proceeded through customs without incident. By now it was 1 am and we were glad to have booked a driver from our hostal to meet us at the airport. The wonderful guy had waited since our intended arrival time of 10:30pm, and was now just as tired as we were, but openly shared about Lima as we drove through the abandoned streets. The hostal was everything the website had presented it to be (surprisingly enough) and we found ourselves in a maze of dormitory-style rooms created from an old mansion. With an internet cafe on the first floor and a restaurant on the 3rd, with lots of interesting and informative people inbetween, we had found a winner. Jordan and I were both glad to brush our teeth, and go to bed with the promise of breakfast with Sophie in the morning.

The morning dawned without the sun, but with a healthy amount of brick dropping, or something of the like. We were both awakened by what sounded like bricks falling through the ceiling and hitting the tile floor with resounding sounds. Though the hour was decent, what a way to wake up!!!! We brushed it off and got dressed, and went to meet Sophie. SOOOO great to see her and hear of what her 2 days in Lima have held for her. After breakfast we set out to see the city, which although it is grand in size and population (around 9 million) is rather boring apart from its many plazas. We journied to Miraflores, the newer outer part of town that is right on the beach, or on the cliffs above the beach. We wandered around there and saw a great skate park and BMX track right on the beach, had a marvelous 3 course meal for $1.50 and then took the long and arduous journey by bus back to our part of town. During our bus ride we met a guy named Lorenzo who was 21 and studying English at a local university. We were unsure of where to get off the bus and he gladly guided us back to Plaza de las Armas, which is 4 blocks from our hostel. The plaza was blocked off by police barricades due to protest demonstrations due to a visit from the president. The country is in a bit of healthy turmoil as elections come up on June 4, in Cusco. If one party wins there will be war with Chile to reclaim previously lost territory and settle old grudges. Due to the proximity of the elections and the circumstances of a winning party the police went to extreme measures to secure the Presidential palace which is in the Plaza de las Armas.

Upon returning to the hostel Sophie, Jordan and I sat down and began to roughly sketch out our trip, since we are done with Lima and ready to move on. What began as a rough sketch became an outline, since it takes so much longer to travel between destinations here due to road conditions. With the advice and encouragement of John, one of our fellow travelers we planned a jungle expedition as well as visiting some national parks and such(more on those soon!). We bit off a bit more than we can handle and realized a detailed trip schedule will be necessary if we intend on reaching Costa Rica by the end of June. Not to be pressured or worried, but to fulfill one of our main goals, which is to attend Spanish language school and improve our spanish.

The city is okay, but I would rather see the country and the wildness of the untamed jungles. The people here, though in a city, seldom speak English, which is both challenging and refreshing, though sometimes frustrating when you can´t communicate well. Challenging and and refeshing though because it is forcing us to remember and improve our spanish speaking skills daily, and gives a true authentic feel, rather than the mexican spanish speaking thing in baja. All in all, its been a great start, apart from the missing tent, which we hope to soon recover. Tomorrow we depart from Lima to the south to see ¨Poor Man´s Galapagos Islands of Peru¨ whose names I can´t remember. Buenos noches.

the day before 5-22-06

Well I have arrived in San Francisco and eagerly await the arrival of my brother Jordan, who should arrive sometime this evening. I was drivn down by some great friends; Dana and Calub Englert. Last night I finally finished my final paper for my English class at 1:30am, so school is finally, finally done. My bag is packed and I have to continually check myself because I reherse and continually find myself going over a mental checklist of things I need. There must be at least 32 checks by each item by now if they were actually scibed on a peice of paper.
I should get some sleep, considering the fact that I only claimed 4 hours last night, and this night is sure to be close to the same, seeing as we anticipate catching the shuttle to the airport at about 5:40am. The Ozzfest tour bus is at our hotel and I keep waiting to catch a glimpse of a band member or something rediculous like that. As if I even listen to any of those bands anyway, but a brush with celebrity.....i'll pass.
Well, not much to say, although it hasn't "hit" me quite yet, except when I tried on my pack and found the 40-50 lbs to be rather staggering. I am certain of one thing, my physique is destined for improvement, whether I try or not, there is not really a choice when I"m packing 40-50 lbs of dead weight with me.

A Beginning, or almost. 5-21-06

SO the journey is almost afoot, tomorrow at 8 am I depart for San Francisco to take in the sights, a hotel room and my last night in the States for the next 2 months!! Craziness. Tonight I relinquished my phone and my car to trusted individuals and am now hindered only by a short 3 page english paper (my english final incidently), and the final packing of my bag!!!! Oh yes and about $100 of coin to roll for my final deposit for my trip!!!
Keep looking for more posts, pictures and stories of unseen adventure as the summer unfolds!!!