Return to Arequipa

Arequipa is the reason I originally came to Peru, in order to work with the organization Traveller Not Tourist (.com).

I enjoy life here. The city has plenty to offer, is fairly clean, has pretty colonial buildings and winding streets from Spanish influence, and nature is a close bus ride away.

Upon returning, I went to the TNT office and met up with the more or less house mother of the volunteers, Carmen, her son Sebastian has grown so much!

At Traveller Not Tourist I encountered wonderful foreigners from Taiwan, Australia, New Zealand and England. I did find my dear Paloma and her sisters Sara and Lucero (who just ababy two years ago!). I even recognized several other kids (Mirza, Milagros...).

Now Bonnie and I are off to Bolivia. This should be interesting...

In Honor of the Inkas...

The forlorn llama, gazing at its a grazing grounds

Inka architecture...survives earthquakes centuries later

Rain or shine, it's all mystical

The suburb

All they had were rocks to work with...and they're architecture is amazing times infinity.

Return to Machu Picchu

Bonnie and I again opted for a night bus to Arequipa, where we hopped into a bus to Cusco and insisted the bus helper put in the dvd Indiana Jones that we bought. We were in need of some adventure.

We decided to 'do it ourselves' again, and more or less figured out how to get there and still save at least $20-30 by not doing a tour. (That doesn't sound like much, but in Peruvian dinero, it's a lot AND it's wicked expensive to get to Machu Picchu)

I met up with my old tour guide, Jose Luis, who is now working with the trains. He gave us some great advice for traveling/shopping in the Peru area and helped hook us up with a cheap hostel in Aguas Calientes and a guide. GRACIAS!!!

So here is how you avoid taking a tour:

1. Spend the night in Ollyantambo and buy train tickets in advance. Please note the latest train is also the cheapest (depart at 11pm and arrive at 1ish am)

2. Leave your stuff at the hostel, take a knapsack on the train and get as much sleep as possible.

3. Arrive in Aguas Calientes late at night, in the pouring rain, and allow a hostel tout to show you to a nearby (and cheap, gracias a Dios) hostel.

4. Sleep for 2 hours before getting up and outta there by 4 am in order to buy your Machu Picchu ticket and bus tickets to the site (up high in the mountains)

5. Find correct busline, discover ticket prices have increased for the entrance, and eventually find the guide you've been hooked up with.

6. Fight the mob and get in for a speedy tour, then enjoy the rest of the day roaming the ruins, even if it's raining, wait by the caretaker's hut until a break in the clouds for the post card pic (you may borrow a ché flag from whomever has one).

7. Return to Aguas Calientes and eat at the hostel's sister restaurant, where your backpacks are waiting for you (and nothing is missing)

8. Hop the train back to Ollyantotambo, where you can enjoy a (cheap) night's rest (until the hostel owner's grandsons knock on your door and play ding dong ditch the next morning...only to ask my how i slept once i got up to shower, and give me a kiss on the cheek. they are certainly cheeky little fellows...)

Islas Ballestas

An overnight bus trip from Huaraz immediately followed by escaping Lima on a bus brought us to Ica, a desert town close to Pisco, where the 'Poor Man's Galapagos' exist.

We hopped bus and combi taxi (driven by a 16 year old with a 12 year old helping call for people into the little van...at one point the boy had to jump into the driver's seat, no big deal).

We joined a lovely boat tour (boat rides are amazing in the desert!) and went out to sea and encountered penguins, boobies, sea lions, pelicans, and many other birds. If you have any fear of the Hitchcock movie, I highly recommend you never come here.

Chavín de Huántar

Bonnie by Mary and Jesus

Bonnie and I experienced the WORST tour ever in Huaraz, a beautiful city tucked in the Cordilleras of the Andes, but the tour itself wasted an entire day and only allowed us an hour at a gorgeous laguna (the guide, Hitler, seemed to think that we needed to visit random statues of Jesus and Mary and spend 20 minutes in even more random towns...followed by a stop for supper at an expensive restaraunt, far away from other economical choices).

In the land of the giants, complete with huts like Puddleglum's

So, we did our own tour in Chavín. On the way to this small pueblo, we encountered Narnia...No joke, if you have read The Silver Prince or seen the BBC episodes, we found the land of the giants. It was beautiful.

The vigilant guard

We went to some BC ruins of the Chavín indigenous people, and were closely watched by a guard the entire time, who was crouched on top of a small cabin atop a hill in the middle of the site. I waved to him to be fecitious, and he appeared startled. But he didn´t fall, and we commensed to have a picnic before he decided we needed help finding a table in the picnic area.

The ruins were actually interesting and we went into some underground chambers that were a little creepy and very Indiana Jones-ish. We even saw an incredible artifact, a sculpture in great shape, lighted to seem hypnotic.

Me with the weird sculpture, straight from Indiana Jones

Peruvian Blog Posts/Facebook Statuses That Likely Won't Happen

(as per Blanca and me)

1. So many ways to die here...

2. Are we in Iraq?

3. Scarred for life. You may ask one year from now.

4. What kind of tour guide our you, Frijolero? Hitler?

5. Public urination in broad daylight, skinny dipping in the same daylight, garbage strewn around the beach... God bless Peru.

Bonnie and I had front seat view of being way too close to a semi...That had seemingly unsecured doors.

Huanchaco

We hurriedly hopped a bus from Zorritos and went for a looooong ride to Trujillo, where we met up with local, David, and went to the nearby beachtown of Huanchaco to spend a couple of nights.

This beach was much more touristy, more chill, cleaner, and less offensive than that of Zorritos.

We sunburned a bit (Peruvian coastal line is basically desert), and did some sight seeing at Huaca de la luna, an impressive pre-columbian dig with Moche Indian art (including original colors) still visible. Our favorite is the angry looking god depiction... It's supposed to have combinations of feline/tarantula/scorpion in its not-so-happy face.

When telling people where we were going, I repeatedly said "Vamos a la luna" because I couldn't remember the word "Huacas." Thus, over and over again I (in English) said, "We're going to the moon."

Why not?

Zorritos

After the horrendous border crossing between Peru and Ecuador, we got off the bus at a little beach town, Zorritos.

There was a power outage at 7pm, which wouldn't have been terrible had we not walked a half hour away from the hostel in search of supper. After the street lights went out our pepper sprays were unlocked and ready to go. We ate avocado on bread for a delicious supper in our hostel.

Welcome to the third world.

The next day we realized how dirty the was, witnessed a used pad on the beach, saw too much of several local men, got beaten up by waves (but don't worry, we had our floaties), hung out with soe flamboyant Ecuadorians, went on to cook conger eel for supper with a local, and completed the strange day with a bonfire.

I'm still not sure if it was vale la pena.

Ecuador Blog Titles/Facebook Statuses That Never Happened

(as per Bonnie and me)




1. Aventuras de Blanca [Bonnie] and Mega Queso [me]


2. I'm not positive, but I'm pretty sure the (tasty) mystery meat I just ate was coy [guinea pig]


3. I think I just accidentally participated in a pagan ritual of Pacha Mama [mother earth]


4. Life in Ecuador is a mix between the Sound of Music and Indiana Jones.



5. I do not have any children, yes I'm single, and no - we're not lesbians.