11/08/06 - Passport Stamp Numero DOS!

[I prepared this post last week, but my home computer hit the skids while I was uploading photos. I'm borrowing a computer now and don't have access to my travel pics at the moment, but I'll post more photos to go along with the email/story below, just as soon as my computer get out of the techy hospital!]

Tonight I’m sitting at my computer again, reading through emails sent out by yours truly nearly three (GASP!) years ago. Damn, time really flies.

Focus...Use your words...

The last travel email I posted on this blog (not counting the non-travel-related June 9th and 16th posts) was about the Colco Canyon trek that Jax and I did from Arequipa. The next travel email I sent out from South America was dated almost two weeks later, and by then Jax and I had made our way to Bolivia, via Lake Titicaca.

This email is a long one and so, rather than write a long intro (as previously promised), I think I’ll post more photos than usual – the images really do speak for themselves. As always, thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy!

Passport Stamp Numero DOS!
Date Nov 8, 2006 12:52 PM

Hello all,

We've been traveling around quite a bit over the past week or so and I haven't had a chance to get to the computer, so this is going to be a long one! Since Halloween, we've visited Machu Picchu, Lake Titicaca (Puno(, and entered Bolivia. I may have to compartamentalize my thoughts here...

CUSCO

Halloween in Cusco was a BLAST! Everyone dressed up and went out together. The manager of our hostel - Ben - even brought out a birthday cake for me! Our costumes were a succuss - before we left, Ben stapled them to a wall in the hostel bar and had us autograph the wall with a sharpie. Fun fun! The weather in Cusco has been pretty cold and rainy. One day when we were walking around, it started to hale out of nowhere! Good thing there was an Irish pub nearby...

One of the popular dishes in Peru - and apparently throughout South America - is Cuy, or guinnea pig. A couple of days after Halloween, Jax and I ventured out to a little village near Cusco with our friends Steve, Clare, and Will, for some authentic Peruvian cuy. Well, I have to admit, when it came right down to it I had to go with the vegetarian plate. The cuy is cooked in a brick oven - just like pizza - and is served WHOLE, with the stomach on the side, stuffed with herbs. Wow! It was a true experience! Everyone seemed to enjoy it...although not everyone said they would try it again.

We left Cusco to visit Machu Picchu for a few days - see below - and when we returned on November 5th, there was a huge party in the works at the hostel. The English residents at our hostel organized a huge bonfire and fireworks show in the backyard, in honor of Guy Faulkes day - they even burned a Guy Faulks manequin in the fire, as per tradition. I believe the story is that Guy Faulks is this dude who tried to blow up Parliament one November 5th long, long ago. Now, every November 5th, there are bonfires all over England, complete with Guy Faulkis dolls, to celebrate the valiant historic effort! I think.

MACHU PICCHU AND WAYNAPICCHU

here are lots of ways to get to Machu Picchu from Cusco - we opted for a bus/train/bus/walk option. From Cusco, we took a bus to this little town called Ollyontantambo and stayed the night there. In the morning we took a train into the rainforest, to Aguas Caliente - the closest town to Machu Picchu. We spent the (rainy( day exploring this little mountain town, which is very toursity due to its location right next to Machu Picchu. In the morning, we headed out early and caught the first bus up the mountain to the ruins. What luck! We had great weather and not too many crowds for the first few hours. The photos really speak for themselves - I'm uploading them now. In the middle of the main city ruins, there's a huge open space, believed to have been used as a marketplace. Now it is occupied by a family of llamas, who keep the grass well groomed.

*Note to self> if I were a llama, I would totally live at Machu Picchu.

If you are standing at the 'main city door', looking down onto the city ruins, you will see the profile of a face in the mountains behind the city. The mountain which makes up the nose is called Waynapicchu, and you can actually climb to the top of it and look DOWN onto Machu Picchu. Jax and I decided to do the hike - the weather was nice, and we had taken the easy road up to the ruins anyways. So we set out on this little path. OH MY GAWD. This was seriously the steepest thing I have ever climbed in my life, and it was SO exhillerating! The pathway is actually very well maintained and there are even steel guide-ropes installed in some places. And yes - you NEED the guide ropes! At the top, there are several places where you have to climb up Inca-built staircases, where each stair is about the size of a standard red brick, and everything on either side of the staircase has fallen away (I had to talk myself through that one(!

One of the really cool things about this hike is that occasionally we would pass other hikers, and there were people up there of ALL different ages and abilities. Very cool. The skies opened up and dumped cold rain on us on the way down - we were very grateful to have gotten clear photos from the top!

On our way back through Machu Picchu, after the Waynapicchu excursion, we passed BUSloads of people just arriving, in the middle of the rain. Ha ha! The bus down the mountain follows a steep switchback pattern, which you can see in the photos from the top of Waynapicchu. There are local kids who run straight down the mountain, beating the bus at each switchback turn! If we hadn't done the Waynapicchu hike I would have felt like such a lazy lump, after watching those kids!

LAKE TITICACA - Puno and Copacabana

After one night back in Cusco (for the Guy Faulks bonfire( we boarded a train headed for Puno, on Lake Titicaca. We opted to take the train rather than the bus so we could see the scenery along the way. Good thing the scenery was incredible, because the train took 10 hours, compared to the bus' six! My favorite part of the train ride was coming through mountain passes, where we could see snow and ice on the ground but the local folks were still out in the fields, taking care of their crops and livestock. Farmers don't have fencelines here, so they tie their livestock to stakes in the field - I think it looks like they tie up the male animals and, for the most part, leave the females and babies free to roam. Late in the afternoon, we passes through a HUGE lightning storm - it was all around us, in the hills! We arrived in Puno in the evening - it was FREEZING! I bought a hat a bum gloves from a lady on the street. Ahh.

The next morning, we got on a boat in Lake Titicaca and took a tour out to the floating reed islands. There are dozens of floating islands in this part of the lake - they literally have to anchor to the lake floor to keep from floating away! There are usually 5 - 8 families living on each island. And hey, if you don't like your neighbor, you can cut off a piece of the island and float away, or jsut move your little hut to a new island! We rode on a traditional little reed boat in between a couple of the islands - Jax made friends with the captain and got to paddle for a bit. The people who live on these islands actually use solar panels, provided by the government, to generate electricity.

After the floating island tour, we hopped on a bus to Copacabanna, in BOLIVIA! The trip was only a few hours and followed the lake for most of the way, with spectacular views! At the border, we changed money, got Peru exit stamps, Bolivia entrance stamps, and walked about 200 yards across the border before we could re-board the bus. Hooray! Passport stamp numero DOS.

Now we are in Copacabana, on the Bolivia side of Lake Titicaca. We'll probably stay here another day, then head southeast to La Paz. We will probably move quickly over the next few weeks, so I'm not sure when I'll have this much time at the computer again, but I'll send more updates when I can! Take care, everyone!

Hasta luego,

Aubrey