The beach at Miraflores, Lima
The Catacombs, Lima
Mariel at San Cristobal, Lima
Machu Picchu, Peru
Misty and cool. Way cool.
Inka King and Consort
Step a little further back...
Chechuan mother and child
Our tour bus crashes into a train
Huaycan kids: Mariel, Mariel ...
Mariel's Huaycan classroom
Huaycan cemetery on the hillsideMarty took hundreds of photos on our trip to Peru, but I've culled them down to the ones most representative of our stay there. Aren't you lucky?
Lima is the capital and has about 9 million residents. One of the districts is Miraflores which is right on the beach and you've probably guessed has a lot of beautiful flowers which they must water every day because it never rains in Lima. We also visited a Franciscan monastery famous for its catacombs. The strangest thing about it was that the thousands of bones were arranged by bone type, femurs, tibias, et cetera. There was one pile of skulls and an intact skeleton of recent vintage. We then took a tour on a bus that climbed to the top of San Cristobal which overlooks the entire city. The ride was as amazing as the view in that we had to back up on hairpin turns to let other vehicles pass. One man had a panic attack and demanded to be let out, which he was, followed by his concerned family. The rest of the passengers were crying and praying and imploring the driver to stop. We were the only gringos on the bus. Maybe they've never driven in Costa Rica.
The trip to Cuzco was an adventure. We flew there from Lima and spent the day trying to adjust to over 17,000 feet altitude. Marty and I were both briefly ill, even though we drank coca tea. The next day we took a bus to a train that would take us down to Machu Picchu at about 5,000 feet. The ride took 3.5 hours but passed through lush scenery. We met our guide and took another bus ride to the site.
Machu Picchu is so iconic, it's hard to be objective once you're actually there. Shrouded in clouds and mist, it doesn't seem real. I quickly realized how real it was when I started climbing up the stairway to heaven. The siting and the engineering of the Inka civilization used terracing to make the settlement, moving large boulders from above to below. They took advantage of their altitude for security, and to move water through an ingenious drainage system. Machu Picchu was a sacred site, inhabited by priests and Inkas high on the religious, social and artistic scale. They worshiped the sun and built their settlement to reflect this. The solstices were the most important days of the year for them, December 21 and June 21. Our guide said that since Marty's birthday is June 21st, he's a reincarnated Inkan priest.
We had lunch, got back on the bus and then back on the train to go up to Cuzco. It's worth noting that the entertainment for the trip was a tiger-faced jester dancing up and down the aisle, grabbing women to be his partner. Mariel refused, and he didn't ask me. Then the train crew did a fashion show of vičuna wool that's very soft and expensive, all to the beat of a techno-classic rock mash-up. What a day!
The next day we visited the Sacred Valley, seat of Chechuan culture. Women wear traditional bright woven garb and carry their babies wrapped around their backs. We climbed 500 steps to reach the top of the Chechuan settlement overlooking the valley. The Chechuans, a later civilization than the Inkas, looked to the moon and stars to guide their religious and cultural life. It was on this trip that our bus crashed into a train (see photo). Fortunately, only 2 passengers and the driver were on the bus, and just one of the passengers was hurt, thankfully, a minor cut that would require stitches. They provided us with another bus for the rest of the trip and the trip back to Cuzco.
Here are 2 complaints I have about our Sacred Valley trip. We only toured the site for 2 hours. The rest of the time was spent on shopping stops, which became tedious. The other, more disturbing occurrence was that every time we left our hotel, vendors jumped out at us. All around the city, people shoved their goods in our faces or begged for money. I felt we had a big sign on us that said: Rich Gringos! I've never been to India or other truly poor parts of the world. I visited Guatemala in 2000 and was never accosted like this. The bargaining, however, is the same.
The last part of our trip was the least glamorous and certainly not touristy, but quite amazing. We took a taxi to Huaycan, a part of Lima, but extremely poor and dusty. This is where Mariel is working with the Light and Leadership organization (www.lightandleadership.org). Her house is modern with all the conveniences. She's the house manager, and also teaches some classes. We took a bus up the mountain to tell her students classes would begin again in a week. When they saw her, they came running, calling her name and giving her a big hug. We saw the classroom the organization uses, which overlooks a huge cemetery carved into the hill. Sitting on a dirt background, the mausoleums were the size of small houses and just as colorful. It was a sobering site, but somehow cheerful.
Thanks for reading one of the longest posts I've ever written.
Lima is the capital and has about 9 million residents. One of the districts is Miraflores which is right on the beach and you've probably guessed has a lot of beautiful flowers which they must water every day because it never rains in Lima. We also visited a Franciscan monastery famous for its catacombs. The strangest thing about it was that the thousands of bones were arranged by bone type, femurs, tibias, et cetera. There was one pile of skulls and an intact skeleton of recent vintage. We then took a tour on a bus that climbed to the top of San Cristobal which overlooks the entire city. The ride was as amazing as the view in that we had to back up on hairpin turns to let other vehicles pass. One man had a panic attack and demanded to be let out, which he was, followed by his concerned family. The rest of the passengers were crying and praying and imploring the driver to stop. We were the only gringos on the bus. Maybe they've never driven in Costa Rica.
The trip to Cuzco was an adventure. We flew there from Lima and spent the day trying to adjust to over 17,000 feet altitude. Marty and I were both briefly ill, even though we drank coca tea. The next day we took a bus to a train that would take us down to Machu Picchu at about 5,000 feet. The ride took 3.5 hours but passed through lush scenery. We met our guide and took another bus ride to the site.
Machu Picchu is so iconic, it's hard to be objective once you're actually there. Shrouded in clouds and mist, it doesn't seem real. I quickly realized how real it was when I started climbing up the stairway to heaven. The siting and the engineering of the Inka civilization used terracing to make the settlement, moving large boulders from above to below. They took advantage of their altitude for security, and to move water through an ingenious drainage system. Machu Picchu was a sacred site, inhabited by priests and Inkas high on the religious, social and artistic scale. They worshiped the sun and built their settlement to reflect this. The solstices were the most important days of the year for them, December 21 and June 21. Our guide said that since Marty's birthday is June 21st, he's a reincarnated Inkan priest.
We had lunch, got back on the bus and then back on the train to go up to Cuzco. It's worth noting that the entertainment for the trip was a tiger-faced jester dancing up and down the aisle, grabbing women to be his partner. Mariel refused, and he didn't ask me. Then the train crew did a fashion show of vičuna wool that's very soft and expensive, all to the beat of a techno-classic rock mash-up. What a day!
The next day we visited the Sacred Valley, seat of Chechuan culture. Women wear traditional bright woven garb and carry their babies wrapped around their backs. We climbed 500 steps to reach the top of the Chechuan settlement overlooking the valley. The Chechuans, a later civilization than the Inkas, looked to the moon and stars to guide their religious and cultural life. It was on this trip that our bus crashed into a train (see photo). Fortunately, only 2 passengers and the driver were on the bus, and just one of the passengers was hurt, thankfully, a minor cut that would require stitches. They provided us with another bus for the rest of the trip and the trip back to Cuzco.
Here are 2 complaints I have about our Sacred Valley trip. We only toured the site for 2 hours. The rest of the time was spent on shopping stops, which became tedious. The other, more disturbing occurrence was that every time we left our hotel, vendors jumped out at us. All around the city, people shoved their goods in our faces or begged for money. I felt we had a big sign on us that said: Rich Gringos! I've never been to India or other truly poor parts of the world. I visited Guatemala in 2000 and was never accosted like this. The bargaining, however, is the same.
The last part of our trip was the least glamorous and certainly not touristy, but quite amazing. We took a taxi to Huaycan, a part of Lima, but extremely poor and dusty. This is where Mariel is working with the Light and Leadership organization (www.lightandleadership.org). Her house is modern with all the conveniences. She's the house manager, and also teaches some classes. We took a bus up the mountain to tell her students classes would begin again in a week. When they saw her, they came running, calling her name and giving her a big hug. We saw the classroom the organization uses, which overlooks a huge cemetery carved into the hill. Sitting on a dirt background, the mausoleums were the size of small houses and just as colorful. It was a sobering site, but somehow cheerful.
Thanks for reading one of the longest posts I've ever written.
2 comments:
One of your longest posts sounds like one great trip! I thought you were joking with the bus wreck caption. I'm glad no one got seriously hurt. Beautiful pictures of Peru. I'm sure Mariel was so happy you could visit her. Your next post needs to be about the food you ate while you were there. You always write great descriptions about food.
Hi Patty, I enjoyed reading your post. I also followed your journey on Marty's FB page.Looks like a great trip.
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