Arequipa and Colca Canyon

Ew! Cuy! Ew! Guinnea pig is not for me, I have to say. Too many remaining hairs.
So sketched out right there. I´m eating a guinnea pig´s haunch... what´s not to be sketched out about? Honestly, they have a really gross fat to meat ratio and the skin is super chewy. It had to be done once but certainly not twice.
This is Colca canyon at the Cruz del Condor (condor cross, see below). It´s above where the condors nest in the side of the canyon. It turns out that Colca canyon is actually the deepest in the world but not here. At this point it´s about 1500m deep. The deepest point is 4100m or something close to that. When we first got there it was ridiculously foggy but it cleared up half decently with time. I promise that we did get to see condors close up (about 10m away) but they always waited until the camera was off, those buggers. They really are awe-inspiring. We´ve seen other really big birds on this trip so I wasn´t sure that I´d be impressed... but they are really really big birds with really really big talons. It truly did take your breath away.
Clayton at the cross which gives Cruz del Condor it´s name. You can see the clouds are still really thick above us.
The Colca Valley, absolutely covered in terracing for farming. There´s nothing THAT spectacular about the valley and the small towns in it except for the sheer coverage of the terraces. Oh and we stayed in a town which had nice hot baths, which is always spectacular.

So we are back in Arequipa for one more day of sightseeing. Tomorrow we have a river rafting trip booked to give us one last adrenaline kick and then it´s the night bus back to Cusco (NOT looking forward to the 11 hour bus ride!). We have a flight from Cusco to Lima on the 22nd and we leave from Lima that night (at 5 minutes past midnight on the 23rd). Then it´s a full day of planes until we finally land in Victoria at 4:30pm. When you take into account the time change that´s about 19 hours of travel. This may be the last post before we get home! Though I may get one more in there in Cusco if anything particularly interesting happens. Lots of love to everyone, we will see you very soon. Merry almost Christmas!

-Dawn

Away for a few days

Hello everyone

We´ve been in Arequipa for about 3 days now after a gueling 11 hours bus ride from Bolivia. We have one more loooong ride and then it´s back to Canada to see all you lovely people! Arequipa is beautiful with gorgeous white stonework (the stones are lava that cooled very quickly). In any case, it´s a great place with a fair bit of colonialism. We´ve done a few neat things, such as watching crazy parades and seeing Juanita the Frozen Mummy which was truly amazing, but perhaps the most adventurous thing we´ve done is eat Cuy. Cuy is a dinner speciality in much of south america but we´ve been avoiding it to this point... because it´s guinnea pig. And their cooked whole (minus the guts) so it still looks like a guinnea pig. I will show you the pictures ASAP... it was somewhat unpleasant, but it had to be done! We also had an alpaca tenderloin which was much more normal.

So today we´re off to the Colca canyon, debatably the deepest canyon in the world (just barely second, actually) and an excellent place to see condors. I feel like a bit of a wimp because we´ve had to cop out and do the bus tour without actually going down into the canyon. It´s supposed to be beautiful but I´ve injured my knee and walking down more than a flight of stairs isn´t really an option. Tear tear, but I guess that we just can´t do everything. We´ll be back tomorrow night from this outing (Dec. 17th). I´ll send post some pictures then.

Lots of love!

Isla del Sol and more of Copacabana, Bolivia

This is really the most ridiculous religious process I've ever seen... I try to be open minded about these things, but this is really stupid. They are blessing their cars. Really. They cover the cars with crap, set off fireworks UNDERNEATH THE CAR, and then pour champagne all over it. It's the most bizarre thing, I had to sit and watch for a while, but from a safe distance in case there was a leak under the car while the fireworks were going off. Madness! We've only seen this in Copacabana, I don't know whether or not it's common in Bolivia.
The beach of Copacabana on the weekend! Note the llama for kids rides. Copacabana is the only land-locked nation with a naval fleet but you can understand why when you look out at lake titicaca... it's like looking at the great lakes, you can't see the other side.
This is our first camping site on Isla del Sol. This island is supposed to be about the ruins and Incan history but we really used it to do some hiking. The ruins were neat but the views were better. This particular camp site is on the edge of a bunch of farm plots manned by perhaps 5 families on the other side of this bay.
This is a glimpse of the labrynth (also called Temple of the Sun) which was built by the Incas. This is supposedly where their first leader was birthed by the sun and mother earth. Sort of a Jesus concept. The labrynth was impossible to take good pictures of but it was very twisty and confusing. This spot has been occupied for a really long time, long before the Incas.
This is me at a sacrificial table (mainly for animals, I think). As always, the smoothness of Incan stones is very impressive. Behind me is the Puma Rock (jaguar shaped). This is right next to the labrynth. The mouth is the inward section slightly to the right of centre. Pumas are incredibly important in the religion of all peoples that come from the areas we've seen in South America. They represent power and divinity... when shaamen took hallucinogens they said that they were being possesed by the puma (divinity) and even are represented as turning into them.
This is near our second campsite on Isla del Sol, on the beach next to the northern village (easier for meals). This was a nice site as well but a bit noisier, especially when the local children want to play. These kids learn their manners from their parents who bully tourists into giving them money... the kids did a damn good job of bullying us into spinning them around, but the concept of taking turns was totally lost of them! They really didn't understand what was good behavior and what wasn't, though that's my northern interpretation of good behavior. Rules are very different for children down here.


So now we're headed back to Peru for the last 10 days of our trip (yikes!). It goes so quick and though we don't want to leave the excitement and the learning experience, we're very happy to be going home for christmas. Can't wait to see everyone!

Pictures to go with the words

This is the floating islands in Lake Titicaca of the Uros culture. Each of these little islands is made from reeds (I think I talked about it before).
This is the sunset at the top of a mountain on the island of Amantani (titcaca, Peru side). It was on this island that we stayed with a local family for the night.
We went to a fiesta all dressed up in the local wear. It was a bit hokey (I think that's obvious) but we got our exercise with their crazy running/dancing. I would like to defend my hefty appearance by saying that I am wearing a HELL of a lot in this picture!
This is the family we stayed with. Clayton has recently taken Alice's growing mushrooms and become a giant.
The rinky sailboat! There wasn't much wind so we had to get out of the bay using Clayton Power.

Lago Titikaka y Bolivia

Hola amigos! So we´re now in Copacabana, Bolivia and loving it. This is a beautiful town with a gorgeous lake front, filled with all different types of boats for rent. Yesterday we spent 3 hours sailing in a tiny little boat with a mast that was clearly a tree trunk with the branches halfhazardly hacked off. It was fun, tacking was perhaps a bit more of a chore than normal but we got the hang of it. I´m sorry that we haven´t got any photos for you this time but the internet connection is SLLLOOOOWWWW. But yes I have to highly recommend Copacabana for it´s beautiful weather, incredible cheapness, and excellent Incan ruins. Though I recently had a row with the hotel owner for trying to screw us and decided I needed a pre-lunch Cuba Libre (rummy)... this explains how out of order this entry is.

We were previously in Puno to check out the Peru side of Lake Titicaca and see some pre-Incan ruins. The ruins involved funerary tours built by the Colla culture (incan ancestors). This was really neat in that you could see how the stone working progressed from this earlier culture into the amazing Incan works. Even in the Colla time they were hollowing out stones to equalize weights around the towers they built and making domed roofs without mortar. Very impressive. The trip to the Peru islands in the lake was pretty fun. We started with the Uros culture on the famous floating islands... they build these islands out of reeds and put down anchors. Thus if they don´t like their neighboors they just pick up anchor and float away, or hack away the section that their neighboors house is on (I think this actually happens pretty rarely but it´s a fun idea... I would´ve liked to hack the floor out from one of my old roommates, haha). We then went to another island which was less touristy and stayed the night with a local family. They were fantastic and we left them a big tip and bought some of the grandmother´s work (her name was also Elena, haha). We felt particularly good about this when we found out that the husband had passed away and this was their only form of income. It´s a rough life for people on this island but they sure do have the views to make up for it. We got to dress up in their local clothes and had a little fiesta which was lots of fun... they like to sweat when dancing! Especially the women who are layered in like 3 heavy skirts. The guys just wear funny hats, I can´t wait to show everyone the pictures. The next day we went to the last island on our trip, Taquile. This is the island where men knit... it´s supposed to be a very manly activity there. Unfortunately this island has been rather ruined by tourism and was basically a big shopping centre. But it was a good trip in any case and we feel as though we saw a lot in a little amount of time.

Today we´re going to Isla del Sol, the main island on the Bolivia side. We´re quite excited about it as we get to camp a bit and hike around without a guide. We should be back to Copacabana on tuesday and then back into Peru on wednesday or thursday (heading to Arequipa, for those with a map). Isla del Sol is very important in Incan religion as it was supposed to be the birth site of the son of the two major gods, the sun and mother earth. Hence we´re supposedly in the vagina of the world, which is a bit humorous. Some people still combine this religion with Christianity in very interesting ways... almost as though the Incan religion is the facts of history and the Christian religion is faith. Praying to mother earth is very common practice. Anyways, we must go catch our boat. Lots of love and hugs! Pictures soon, I promise

-Dawn

Salkantay Trek to Machu Picchu! - OVERVIEW 4

Wayna Picchu is a mountain right next to the Machu Picchu site that towers over it, allowing you to get the classic shot from above. The walk up is steep, though, and I think that the walk down may defy logic and actually be steeper. This is a shot that Clay took near the top where those crazy Incans built some stone terracing. He went up with Adam around 11 while I went up alone a little while later. Though I loved the group, it was nice to hike alone for a while, at my own pace.
One of Clay's shots as the clouds are clearing.
Yeah, it's steep. But that might be a little bit dramatic.
By the time I got up there the sun was shining, butterflies were everywhere, people were happy, it was great. This shows the road down from Machu Picchu as well. The trek up took short cuts up and was pretty direct.

Yay I made it! I'm so tired... but yay I made it!

Salkantay Trek to Machu Picchu! - OVERVIEW 3

It rained. We're happy, really. After hauling ass up to Machu Picchy at 5am in the pouring rain (not an easy 45 minutes!) and finding that the lovely dry restaurant in which we could ring out our socks was closed until 11, we may have been a touch on the bitchy side. And yeah, the walk up wasn't easy. You know, I wasn't quite sure that I was getting my recommended dosage of stairs but I think I'm OK now for about the next 20 years. Our 2 hour tour was over in about 45 minutes because we were all so cold and tired. However, we got some chocolate in us (I ate 8 oreos and felt no guilt) and tried again with a bit of hypothermic giggles in us. It went much better this time and started to clear up around noon. We were supposed to be done around then but some of us hung out for a few hours in the afternoon because it was just so much better. The sun came out and it was the classic Machu Picchu experience.

This is the sun temple, the best bit of architechture in Machu Picchu. How in the hell did they do that? Look at how perfectly the stones fit together (no mortar) and curve around... all by hand. The temples show examples of excellent stonework while the living areas are more crude. There were several structures with specific purposes (astrology, art, sacrifice) but the broader pictures are more impressive.
It's really very big. You could wander about for hours and not see everything. The theory is that Machu Picchu was a university of sorts where the most important Incans were trained. Apparently it was abandoned when the Incans realized that the Spanish didn't actually want to be friends. The inhabitants destroyed all the trails to the city, took all their valuables and hid in the surrounding jungle. So the mystery is where this hidden treasure is located. Many thanks to Ash and Luke for scoring a decent tour and actually paying attention.

Richenda - apparently the Virgins of the Sun concept got vetoed when Yale reexamined the burried skeletons and saw that they were actually 50:50 male and female.
What's the deal with this freaking rain?

Hehe this is just humorous. Adam was walking along and was suddenly surrounded by a huge boys school... it was hilarious, a bunch of rowdy little boys walking along the narrow path with tall, white Adam sticking up in the middle, looking around bewildered. Here he is in his class photo. From an archeological standpoint, the big rock mimicks the shape of the mountains behind it.

Salkantay Trek to Machu Picchu! - OVERVIEW 2

Day 3 was through cloud forest and really reminded me of treking the west coast back home on a foggy day. There were lots of fun/sketchy bridges like this one. After lunch we had a bus booked to take us down a road section, though some psychos decided they needed to hike for the entire 5 days. Those of you who know Clay are well aware of what he did. Jet engine. Anyways, the Irish couple left us on this day to take a train/bus combo to Aguas Callientes and we were down to 5 trekers. I have some great stories about this American father-son team from the deep south but I think they should be reserved for drunken conversations when a good laugh is needed. Remind me about it, these are damn hilarious stories.


Children here are the cutest in the world and I don't care that I've only seen a tiny bit of it. This conversation is OVER (inside joke, appologies). A bit more of Day 3... replace deciduous trees with coniferous and you've got BC west coast rain forest.
Day 4 started with a cable car, which is always fun. Don't Steve and Adam cuddle well?
The men on the 4th day. Every day had some sort of challenge. This one brought us intense sun all morning while we hiked along dirt/sand roads. I sweat buckets, which made me hungry, which brings me to one of my favorite parts of treking hard: chocolate bars. It's like you're supposed to eat them, they're almost HEALTHY, I love it. Ok, no one cares about my passion for chocolate, back to the trek. The afternoon was all along train tracks which was a bit tough as you had to watch your feet. However, when you did look up it was always to see lush greens that a camera just can't capture (well, mine can't). We got into Aguas Callientes that night and had a shower! With hot water! No shower head but we musn't be picky now. The next morning had a 4:00 wake up call to get up to Machu Picchu for 'sunrise'...

Salkantay Trek to Machu Picchu! - OVERVIEW 1

So this is an attempt at an overview of the Salkantay trek which ended at a town called Aguas Callientes. This town is at the base of Machu Picchu. The trek is a total of 70km (might I point out that the Inca Trail is only about 40km) with a peak height of 4600m, a new record for us. It was just stunningly beautiful at points and perhaps the most rewarding trek I've done, though it was really very difficult at times. We were lucky to have an excellent group that were almost always in good spirits and incredibly supportive. OK here goes -

The group! Minus Clay who is our photographer. Senor Steve the punk rock journalist from South Africa in the green, Ash and Luke from Ireland/Aussy in the front right corner (IT and psyc don't seem to do them justice... perhaps they're professional partiers), our well-supplied humour department in the form of Adam the radio host/very serious political journalist (sorta) from Aussy is sitting above them, Carmen in the top left corner was the retired mama from Spain with pipes of steel, and sitting next to her is our guide Henri who I'm pretty sure has some walking/flying combo worked out considering how fast he can go. And me in the middle! The first day was the hardest for me. The three hours in the afternoon had a fair bit of up and shocked my muscles pretty good, making me rather dead for the three hours in the afternoon. The reward for the day was the beautiful glacier looming in front... I tried hard not to think about how I was going to get around it the next day.
Me after the first set of switchbacks on day 2. DAMN I was exhausted, but really ridiculously proud of myself. I gotta say, I brought my A game to this day. This probably had nothing to do with the mad amounts of coca, tylenol, diamox, arnica, and chocolate that I ingested. Clayton crossing the valley towards the second round of up that brutalized me a fair bit more. Clay was lucky enough to be born with some sort of powerful jet engine that allows him to powerhouse up hills at supernatural speeds. Jerk (said with love). This engine theory probably explains the funky noises that he often makes. In any case, the entire group made it up to the 4600m pass in about 3 hours from a starting height of 3700m, with varying amounts of pain. I had been absolutely terrified of this part of the trek and was really proud of all of us for givin'er so hard.

Side note: givin'er and giv'er are apparently Canadian terms. For those unaware, they mean to work it, basically. To be hardcore and determined. You can giv'er on a trek, on an assignment, on a night out drinking, in bed, etc etc.

Day 2 wore on and on. I think we hiked for about 11 hours; 3 up and the rest down. By the end of the day I don't think any of us could have managed to walk through Cuzco, much less further along the trek. The change of terrain was really interesting, going from the alpine pass which was pretty devoid of life, through valleys/bogs with HUGE rocks randomly scattered about, and down into cloud forest. The last bit was rather dangerously steep with lots of loose rock but we all made it down alive. The joy of this campsite was the hot spring pool nearby. We sat in there during a thunder storm and were totally surrounded by mountains being lit up by thousands of fireflies. It was a pretty spectacular way to reward your sore muscles, though I think we all could've used a few more days of rest and recouperation there.