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Llamas and such--- (Peru)

(Nov 13-20, 1997)

Hi everyone! It's time for another country installment...

In Lima, we stayed at a nice old-colonial style hotel, which was run by a very soft-spoken gentleman, Enrique, who collected ancient ceramics and heartily studied astrology. When he found out I was in the computer field, he explained that he had all the software worked out for a project and just needed the right portable hardware to run it. With this program, and the exact second of a person's birth, this gadget could predict anything in their life. I'm sure it would sell, but I told him I had other interests....

Anyway, the hotel was next to the national stadium, so we were able to enjoy the Peru-Paraguay game in all its glory from our room.

Only one goal was scored (by Peru), but fireworks were shot off and confetti spewed out onto our street several times during the action.

This hotel also featured a cantankerous parrot who liked mangoes and spent its days outside our window. Karen tried communicating in English and Spanish, but it mostly squawked at us.

The traditional nightlife in Latin America usually centers around dancing and music at places called "Pena's". We went to a Pena Folklorica in a community gymnasium which held around 500 people. This place served local food as well as booze. We didn't go for a bottle of J.D. for $50, but we sipped 'Pisco Sours' - a mix of a grappa, egg-whites and lemon juice.

There were only around a dozen tourists for the several hundred locals. The show started with traditional dancers and music, but later the crowd joined in with impromptu square and 'crack-the-whip' dancing. We met a couple Peruvian ladies - a dancer and a high-school

English teacher, who blabbed to the show's cheesy emcee that we were on our honeymoon. This got us up in front of the whole place to dance with the folk-dancers. These penas go on to 3-4amin the morning but we bowed out and got some rest.

We were preparing for our 18-hour bus ride to Arequipa. Luckily we got on a "service royal" bus with reclining seats and tv - but it was still 18-hours on a bus. We traveled along the coast of Peru which is a very barren ugly place. Thankfully we eventually headed east to the Andesand to the city of Arequipa.

We spent most of our time trying to get out of Arequipa. The stopped running the day we arrived and all but one airplane company had just closed down that week. So we camped at the airport for a couple of hours and got the last two seats on a flight to Cuzco.

Cuzco, at 12,000 ft., was the seat of the Inca Empire. We spent three exhausting days trying to see it all. There are ruins of a sun temple that at one time were literally covered in sheets of gold (that is before the Spainards came and snatched it all away). The Spaniards also built colonial style churches on top of all the exquisite Inca temples - or they tore them apart and used the stones to build their colonial mansions.

We saw many alpacas and llamas around Cuzco, too.

We spent one day at Macchu Picchu - the infamous "lost Inca city" high up in the Andes-not discovered until 1911 by an American anthropologist. We had to take a 4-hour train ride to the site which was a test of our vertebrae on its bumpy track. After the train, you need to take a bus up a steep hillside. We got on a bus full of 16-yr old high school girls on a field trip. They all fell madly in love with Don's "beautiful eyes", and were very disappointed to find out that he had just married. When we arrived to the site, Don spent the first 20 minutes getting his picture taken with each and every one of them.

Unfortunately, there was a serious fire at Macchu Picchu two months before and a quarter of the site had been burned. But it was still very impressive, although over touristed.

The next day, after a breakfast of expresso made with instant coffee (in most places we have been cafe au lait consists of steamed milk with a thimble of instant on the side), we embarked on another full day tour around Cuzco. My favorite was the Inka ruins of

Ollaytambo. This site exemplified many of the skills of the Incans--

Though there was a very fertile valley for crops, many terraces were also built up the hillside since different strains of corn and potatoes prefer different altitudes. They had also built grain and seed storage houses high up on a mountain with cooling veins built into the foundation.

The architecture included interlocking stones for strength and expansion joints for flexibility. The Incan astronomy was sufficiently advanced that it is believed they knew the earth was not flat due to the difference in shadows at the equator versus farther south.

Also on this tour, we visited a shop where an American anthropologist was teaching the local weavers how to sell directly to the public and tourists, rather than being ripped-off by middle-men.

Many of the women had 5-10 children and unemployable husbands, so this program really helped them get by. We bought a beautiful ceremonial poncho made by a woman with seven children and a husband who drinks to forget their enormous debts - we hope the money can be used by her to feed her family and not her husband's drinking problem - but we're doubtful.

Back in Cuzco, we were looking for a place that served the traditional dish of "Cuy", aka roasted Guinea Pig. Instead we ended up at a place with excellent truffles and cheesecake. Oh well, I wasn't sure I could handle the little eyes staring up at me, anyway.

The next day, off we went to Puno on a 12 hour "deluxe" train. The train to Machu-Pichu had a preponderance for slamming side-to-side, whereas this one preferred catapulting up-and-down.

It was pretty neat seeing a whole train-car full of tourists and their guidebooks launched into free-fall. I learned to sit with a heavy slouch to avoid damaging my spine with the jolts. This train traveled through the antiplano, and we saw many farmers with sheep, cattle, and llamas. At some train stations we were greeted by traditional Peruvian music-groups, panhandling from the tourist train.

Puno was a fairly stinky town and we couldn't leave fast enough, so we hired an entire bus to ourselves to take us to the Bolivian border, and that's where we will leave you for now.

Until next time....

love to all,-don & karen

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