Andean Flowers

Ecuador Arrival

I just blew into Ecuador today. My very first impressions are that generally it seems richer than Peru...at the minimum, most everything costs more here! It was one of those humungo journeys to get here. Forced myself awake at 5 am to shower and finish packing and then Jesus my (very hands-on-travel-agent) picked me up at my hotel to take me to the Cusco airport. There I and my stuff got screened, I paid an airport usage fee and eventually boarded a plane for Lima. There I paid a more extensive airport usage fee (about $30) and sort of slept for a couple of hours on a couple of armless chairs until my flight to Quito was ready for boarding. The flight seemed to have quite a few Americans who were on their way to the Galapagos. After we cleared customs they were all escorted by travel reps to their hotels. I meanwhile nabbed a taxi driver who drove me to a particular spot along the highway to catch a peoples bus to Otavalo. Even though I was the only foreigner on the bus, they knew exactly what I was after. They heaved my now quite heavy bag onto the bus and informed me that once we got to Otavalo I could catch a $1 cab to the hotel. (The bus ride was $2). The bus featured a dubbed American action movie and beautiful views of the countryside including an exquisite looking lake. The expected cab driver appeared the moment the bus pulled into Otavalo and I was whisked to my artfully decorated hotel.

My first Ecuadorian discovery was that THE currency in use is the American dollar. Unlike in Peru where dollars are an alternative currency to the sole, Ecuadorian crucero has not been in use for eight years. While in Peru, dollar bills are carefully examined for their veracity, here the bills in use are very beat up...and challenging them seems irrelevant.

Otavalo sports many markets (crafts, animals and food) as well as a complement of interesting museums. It´s late now (and I´m very exhausted from today´s journey), so much to explore tomorrow and Saturday!

The Inka Trail Trek

I´m back from one of the toughest treks I´ve ever taken. It was 3 1/2 days of solid walking--along trails, up steep steps and down very slippery ones. The average trekker was about 25, though there was a scattering of older folks like me. Honestly it was the first time that I have ever felt a bit old. I could not sprint along the steep steps--every time I got winded I just stopped and sort of caught my breath for a bit. On the third day there was a tremendous amount of downhill, as I pounded down the interminable stairs, my toes would feel uncomfortably crammed into my boots. The next day I remembered the old hikers trick of wearing thin socks inside of thick ones, and that did help a bit.

So what´s the trek like? Well everyday about 10 tour groups (ranging in size from 4 to 20) descend upon the last portion of the Inka Trail. Each group has a bunch of porters who carry tents, tables, chairs, cooking gear and fresh food. Our group was served such things as beef, chicken and fish along with potatoes and rice as well as a creamed soup flavored with vegetables. Breakfasts included things like omelettes, hot cereal, bread, jam and tea. And the lunches were hot, too. The porters are super-fit men who run ahead of all of the trekkers, getting to the designated camp grounds (we stayed at three different ones) in time to set up the tents and make the meals.

Groups can enlist a trekking agency to arrange their trek or individuals (like me) can simply show up in Cusco and find a trek to join. My trekking group included three American guys (who I´d met on the boat in Puno), a Canadian girl from Alberta, a Chinese-American girl from San Francisco, two Argentinian guys, and a Brazilian woman. After four days, we did become a "family." On the last morning the cooks made a breakfast birthday cake which was covered with jam, they lit a candle and they all sang "happy birthday" to me.

We had two guides, very fit men in their early 30s who had attended guide school, in which they´d studied Inka archeology and group leadership. They were wonderful, pitching in to carry extra stuff as well as patiently answering all of my questions about every archeological site we stopped to explore.

On the first day we were all picked up at around 7 am at our respective hotels and then loaded into a bus which stopped at Ollantayambo. There quite a few other buses also stopped there to enable us trekkers to buy trip "essentials" like decorated walking sticks, pretty water bottle holders, rain ponchos and coca leaves (for energy). I bought just about everything...

Then a pile of porters boarded the back of the bus and we were driven a bit further to our starting point. Then more local sales people showed up to sell straps for attaching sleeping bags and foam mats to everyone´s backpacks. I took it easy and hired a porter to carry my rented sleeping bag (which was thin and had a broken zipper ugh!), my borrowed mat and my extra gear. After each group was processed by the authorities we began to walk. Our first stop was adjacent to a village where things like water, soft drinks and chicha (homemade corn beer) were for sale. As we walked further from village life, such products became increasingly expensive. Here in Peru I´ve paid between 30 cents and 3 dollars for a medium sized bottle of water!

The second day involved a hugely steep climb over a pass--at one point I doubted I´d make it, but I did. Being one of the last in my group to force my way up, they all applauded when I arrived:) The third day was a really long hiking day and by the time my tired body got into camp, it was already dark. That final camp was adjacent to a restaurant which became filled with loads of young Argentinian trekkers who whopped it up most of the night. I was just grateful that the restaurant staff willingly recharged my camera battery so I could shoot as much of Machu Picchu as I cared to the following day.

Arriving at Machu Picchu by foot is pretty amazing. One approaches the sun gate...and then gradually the classic overlook. As we got closer to the main site, day-trippers began to appear, people who were neatly dressed and bathed and who were being led around by guides in many languages. Having gotten up at 4 that morning (so that our porters could pack up the entire camp and get onto a train back to Ollantayambo in time to meet another group), I was truly exhausted during our tour of Machu Picchu. And then a couple of hours into exploring this once hidden city, it began to rain. Not just a little rain, but enough to pour down my plastic poncho and absolutely soak my pants. I began to feel progressively more and more miserable--the combination of being horribly sleep deprived and wet led me to take the tourist bus into Aguas Calientes. There I met up with the rest of my trekking family for a final meal, goodbyes and then a hot shower and much needed sleep.

Today I did very little other than take a long soak in the thermal baths that give this town its name and buy a T-shirt that proclaims that I survived the Inka Trek. Tonight I catch the train back to Cusco. And then tomorrow I fly to Lima and then onward to Ecuador, arriving in Quito. My plans are to catch a bus to Otavalo for a couple of days before connecting with Andy to go to the Galapagos Islands.

Off on a Trek to Macchu Pichu

Today was a day of pulling things together to get ready for my 4-day trek up to Macchu Pichu. This morning I took an extremely uneventful bus ride from Puno back to Cusco. It was one of those very safe tourist busses which showed some American action adventure movies to complement the serene Peruvian countryside filled with corn, potatoes and herds of sheep. I´ll be visiting Macchu Pichu on my birthday (Jan. 15)...and then staying at a hotel in Aguas Calientes where there are nearby aguas calientes (hot springs). If you want to try to call, I´ll be getting into my hotel (Oro Verde) after 6 pm (EST) (after 3 pm PST) and the number there is 011-51-84-400507

Around Taquile Island

Taquile Island

After one of the roughest boatrides I´ve ever experienced, I slowly walked up hundreds of cobblestone steps onto the island of Taquile. Unlike Amantani, homestays are rare here. Craftworkers abound, spreading their wares the moment they sense another boat of tourists is about to explore their otherwise quiet island. Women spin wool as they walk, perhaps in an effort to not waste a moment of time in making the many hats, belts, and purses that are their specialties. Ultimately the island prospers as a result of tourism....and everyone who is interested in more soles does all they can to dress native, make stuff and sell stuff. After several hours of exploring, including running into tourists from all over the world, we piled into our boat and enjoyed a relatively placid three-hour ride back to Puno. Tomorrow I return to Cusco and the following day I´ll partake in a 4-day/3-night trek along the Inca Trail, ending in Machu Picchu.

Views from Amantani

Beatriz Makes a Soup

Potato farming on Amantani

I Become an Inca Woman

Children of Amantani

The Island of Amantani

Next we travelled about three more hours out on Lake Titicaca to a real island, filled with 2,500 Quechua speaking people. The ride got a little rough, but fortunately I´d taken my new favorite drug of choice, Bonine, and didn´t turn green for a minute! Next a bunch of local housewives boarded the boat and each of them took 3 to 4 travellers into their homes for the night. I was assigned a woman named Beatriz whose husband was off in Puno picking up her 19 year old daughter who was studying tourism at the university. Meanwhile I got to chat with Beatriz and her 13 year old daughter. She cooked a bunch of typical dishes which included lots of potatoes, quinoa, barley, carrots and onions. And we talked about her very clear choice to live on the island rather than following the footsteps of her siblings who have gone to live in Puno and Lima. She likes how peaceful it is--there are no cars and very limited electricity. (The electricity that does exist is produced by solar panels--a delightful jump into the 21st century!) I wandered around taking pictures, distributing balloons to small children and chatting up a variety of the island´s residents. After dinner there was absolutely nothing to do -- the cobblestone streets were pitch black so I went to sleep. The next morning Beatriz invited me to play dress-up in some local clothes and then we took pictures. After that it was time to get back on the boat for one of the roughest rides I´ve ever experienced (thanks to Bonine I survived beautifully) and onto the island of Taquile.

Visiting Around Lake Titicaca-Uros

Yesterday I boarded a slightly rickety boat along with about 15 other travellers (largely backpackers doing Peru on the super-cheap) for an overnight visit to several of the islands near Puno. First we visited Uros which is a man-made island formed from sod-blocks made from dried reeds. It´s quite close to Puno and collects a huge amount of tourist traffic. When we arrived we received an orientation that verged on the hillarious as our local guide placed a series of miniature (Monopoly game style) reed houses on a platform to demonstrate the two housing styles on the island, then he produced a small reed boat and finally he produced a small pail full of fish to demonstrate the local diet! Next we were invited to buy things (of course) and then we took a short ride on one of the reed boats. The whole thing was too fun for words!

Peruvian Potatoes

There are many varieties of potatoes that are grown in the Peruvian Highlands. Here are some that were being sold at the Mercado Central. (The last ones are peeled and soaked in water.)

Puno Market Foods and Vendors

A Second Life for Las Cosas Electronicas

In one of my many walks through Puno I found the Mercado Central--a bit like LA's Grand Central Market, but with a uniquely Peruvian flair. My favorite was the Electronics Department wherein all fashion of discarded American TVs, computers and DVD players were receiving a second life. I would love to find a way to ship things down here! (This city is completely littered with Internet Cafes in that everyone loves to chat, play games and surf the web and almost no one can afford a home computer.)

Anthropology and Tourism

Today I released myself from the blaring world of Peruvian Tourism. For once no one was hounding me to buy stuff, listen to factoids about Inca history or begging me for a sole for the privilege of posing for a photo. Instead I just wandered around this rather normal city--a city nestled on the edge of Lake Titicaca. I found my way to the local university and over to the anthropology department which appears to include the tourism department. I started to wonder whether tourism majors (a most popular field of study here in Peru) took just enough anthropology classes to become tour guides! And then from my very American perspective, I faced that it would be quite unlikely that anyone here engages in anthropological studies of tourism. (Something that at this moment I have way too much to comment upon!)

People Looking very Native

Inka Archeology

The Inka Empire achieved many architectural feats. The trapezoidal shapes prevented destruction during earthquakes. (The earthquakes were considered punishment from their gods.) The last image is a gateway along the famous Inka trail (a portion of which I´ll be trekking along next week.)

Folkloric Dancers

One evening in Cusco I had the opportunity to watch this fantatic dance troup. Their costumes and choreography was just amazing.

Andean Dogs and A Couple of Pigs

The Altitude Knocks Me Out

Yesterday I took a tourist bus from Cusco to Puno which is on the edge of Lake Titicaca. The ride was extra long because it included stops at several archeological monuments, another look at Llamas, another buffet lunch and a lot of commentary from a largely Spanish speaking tour guide. When I was placed in seat 23 in the bus (about the middle) I already felt a bit nervous. Could I keep my eyes on the road enough to avoid motion-sickness? (For anyone who knows me even a little, I must either drive or sit in the front passenger seat, otherwise I turn green within minutes.) Anyways, trying to be a good sport about it, I lasted about a half-hour and then felt so nauseous I faced I had to deal with it. I stumbled to the front, looking so pale that they quickly placed me in the seat next to the driver. All went reasonably well as we pulled into one touristic spot after another and had many many chances to buy alpaca sweaters, woven belts, cute little knitted hats with ear extensions and painted gourds. Every church, remnant of the Inka Trail, view of the snow-covered Andes featured indigenously dressed vendors. Unlike India, there is no begging here. Everyone is selling something, even if it´s just the opportunity to pose for a picture (looking National Geographic-native)

The day went reasonably well as I tried to take pictures recording all of this. The only one I couldn´t get was a Llama posing in front of a sign declaring that American Express is accepted! (The Llama kept moving in that it wasn´t getting a tip for posing...) Then when we pulled into the last archeological monument based in some small town, my whole body began to shiver. Figuring I had a fever, I took some ibuprofen. Nothing much happened. Then one of the bus assistants told me I looked like I was really sick. ¨Si,¨ I told her. I could barely walk. So they summoned a young woman who had a bicycle taxi to get me over to the local clinic which was about five blocks away. At the clinic, a wise looking nurse took my temperature and blood pressure and confirmed that I had a really bad fever. In centigrades I was registering 38 while normal is 28...and my blood pressure had skyrocketed as well. They gave me three different pills, two to take right away...and one for an hour later. I have no idea what they were. All I knew was I needed help! Anyways eventually my hands felt warm enough that I no longer needed to wear the cute little Inka mittens I´d bought the day before. Upon arrival in Puno, I was given some coca leaf tea and slept for many many hours. And when I awoke I felt much much better!

Street Sales Children