In short, Peru was awesome!! Michelle and I had a great time exploring (although we spent a good amount of time on long bus rides) and Peru has a distinctly different character from Ecuador, so it was cool to see a different part of South America. Peru, surprisingly (not sure why this surprised me) is much poorer than Ecuador. Due to the exchange rate (3:1) things were cheaper (which we appreciated greatly), but in general, Peru seemed dirtier and less kept-up than Ecuador. Still a great country though. Despite their obsession with llamas. I’m not organized enough to make this fluid, so it’s going to be disjointed and crazy, in mostly-chronological order.
LIMA: Would describe it as grimy. Capital of Peru, but definitely not the coolest city. We had some sketchy encounters, but enjoyed walking around the historical section for a day. Very cool architecture. On that first Sunday, I think we went to 4 masses in 1 day while exploring the churches. It was impressive.
Cool Story: As it was the Sunday before Christmas, we accidentally got caught in the middle of a traditional parade while exiting an internet café. There was a statue of the Virgin (I think) being carried on the shoulders of men down the street, in very ceremonious fashion to slow dramatic brass, engulfed in tons of flowers and incense. Tons of people surrounded the float, and everyone walked facing her, which means a majority were walking backwards down the street. In front of the float was a troupe of dancers and drummers, all painted in blackface wearing cowboy hats and sacks. We think these people were supposed to represent slaves. In front of this group was another dance group dressed as gypsies who would occasionally stop, fire up their loudspeaker and all perform a dance in the street. At the very front of the parade were nuns dressed in deep purple, swinging incense through the empty street.
Insert 20-hour bus ride through the Andes here. Includes expensive, but worth it, bus fare, 3 movies, Welsh friendships, beautiful scenery, and serpentine roads through Peruvian landscape.
CUZCO: Amazing city. Loved it. Super cool with a really distinct culture. As the capital of the Incan empire, there’s still lots of culture and history around. All the buildings are built out of the same red-dirtish clay bricks. Awesome old buildings. Very touristy, but cool. We saw lots of old ruins that have been built upon over the years and incorporated into more recent structures.
Cool Story: Went to a Dominican monastery built on ancient Incan ruins. It was cool to see how well preserved everything was. We went to the Convento de Santo Domingo del Cuzco, and the ruins were called Qorikancha. It was cool to see that not all Westerners destroyed culture. Some (like the Dominicans and the Jesuits) actually valued knowledge and tried to preserve the indigenous culture and knowledge. The knowledge of the Incas really was amazing. It is also interesting to see how familiar indigenous cultures can be. Lots of the Incan folklore/knowledge/beliefs were really similar to Hawaiian ones.
It’s also really cool to see how old permanent things last. In 500 years, I am fairly certain that this ancient history will outlast even our modern society. They built their societies to last, while ours simply aren’t. The permanency of things is simply not valued in our age. Churches, ruins, and culture that has lasted for over 500 years, while today if it’s 50 years old, it’s considered historical.
Insert collective taxi, train ride, and Aguas Calientes here. Monopolies on transportation and accessibility are not appreciated (US priced tickets to Machu Pichu almost made me broke).
Machu Picchu: Oh. my. god. Awesome. A lot smaller than you’d think it was, but still so cool. Hidden away in the mountains, shrouded in clouds, it’s understandable how it could just be passed over by the Western world. The preservation of the city is incredible too. The only thing lacking is the thatched roofs.
Cool Story: Michelle and I had already been there since 6am, so for 4 hours already. We were soaked and cold due to the constant rain. We’d initially passed over the observation hut in hopes that it’d clear up later and instead explored the rest of the ruins while it was still early and relatively empty. By 10 we went outside to get some hot chocolate and food to rest and perhaps warm up again. After about an hour of recuperation (trying to de-hypothermize Michelle) we decided that it was very minimally clearing (I use the word “clearing” liberally; more like it was pouring a little less) and damned if we were going to come all the way to Machu Picchu without getting to that postcard-viewpoint up at the observation hut. So we rallied and went back up the mountain, altitude, rain, and all (at this point my obnoxious hyper-optimism and Michelle’s pessimism emerged). Right as we got to the top, the clouds began to part and we could see the entire ruins below us. We ran to the highest point and for the brief 10 minutes we were up there, it was completely clear and we were able to get our pictures and see everything. Once we were done, the clouds rolled back in and covered the city in mist again. It was the best Christmas present we could’ve asked for..
DSCN5755-us at Macchu Pichu
More long bus rides, and being cold as we discover that Ecua-Pants do not insulate at all.
Puno: The city itself has very little to distinguish itself, but Lake Titicaca was really awesome. Nene and I both loved being on the water again. We took a tour and visited 2 of the many islands in the lake. The first was one of the coolest things I have ever seen: artificial, floating islands. See the picture below for their explination of how the islands were formed. Hehe. Basically, just several meters of stacked reeds. It was very squishy to walk on. Really fascinating. Very cool architecture that Nene and I geeked out to. We also visited a second island (foto above) called Taquille, which was pretty and we just got to walk around and have lunch on. I also bought awesome fingerless-llama gloves. Yay for supporting local economies! It was interesting because these islands really function as strong communities, where everything is shared, even the busniess and tourism that comes to them. A very cool little microculture in the middle of this huge lake.
AREQUIPA: After another long bus ride, we went to Arequipa, also known as ¨The White City¨which just made me think of Lord of the Rings the whole time. As Peru´s 2nd largest city (not Cuzco, suprisingly) it was cool and pretty and fun. We saw lots of architecture and another monastery, which was equally cool. Apparently the city gets its reputation from the special rock that they used to construct everything with. It was a beautiful city with definite character. I really liked this one.Cool Story: We saw ice mummies!!! 500 year old girl who had been left on the top of one of the mountains as a sacrifice to the gods. Very cool. (Haha, get it? Cool? Harharhar...)
After this, we took another long bus ride back to Lima to catch our flight out. Whirlwind 12 days, but awesome! Will post more pictures eventually (forgot them at home so I can´t upload them from the internet café where I am now) as well as my "ridiculous Peru adventure list" that I compiled during our trip. I´m so glad we got down to Peru! It was an awesome adventure with a great travel companion!
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