Travel Log, Friday, June 11, Pisac Ruins to Ollantaytambo

Our plan: wake up early and climb to the ruins. We did wake at 5:15 or so, and we were moving by 6:00. The sky was already light, but the mountains prevent the sun from hitting the town until about 9:00 or 9:30.

The ruins are probably 1,000 feet above the town and the hike is steep, through amazing terraces constructed by the Incas. Some of the terraces are on slopes of 60 degrees or more! Apart from the terraces, the first ruin you see while climbing up is a circular structure, that probably served as a watch tower/lookout - the views to the valley below from here are all-encompassing. From here, we continued to climb to the ancient village of Pasaqá, where the walls and windows of most of the structure, probably residences, are quite well preserved. The trail continues up, to the Intiwatana, which contains temples to the Sun and the Moon, among other structures. The site is huge, and by this time, we are pretty tired, so we sort of bee-lined to the exit (actually the entrance, as most people arrive by bus/taxi and hike down, unlike us) although we admired the Kalla Qasa, an "urban neighborhood" up hill from the trail as we passed by.

We took a cab back into Pisac, and had a big delicious meal before heading back to our hotel to pack and check out.

We boarded a bus for Urubamba, down the valley from Pisac, through some beautiful terrain. The valley bottom is narrow, and the mountains rise steeply on both sides. An occasional break in the ridgeline showed snow covered peaks and snowfields in the distance. Culivated fields, although this is the dry season, were visible quite high up the mountainsides.

We switched in Urubamba from the small bus to a taxi for the final leg into Ollantaytambo. From the driver we learned more about the devasting floods of February. It had rained for two days straight, and the river quickly rose, overflowed its banks, and took out bridges and destroyed adobe houses by saturating their lower bricks. After just two days, the river receded to normal levels, but the destruction remained.

At the hostel we stayed at the first night in Cuzco, the proprietress told us that we could use the kitchen, but they would charge us 5 soles (almost $2) extra to cover the cost of gas. We thought this a little excessive, since in Cuenca, a whole tank of gas, which lasted us about a month, costs only $2.00. But then we learned that a tank of gas in Peru, which is about 1/2 the size of the tanks in Ecuador, costas about 34 soles (almost $13). This is a source of contention among the populace, especially in the Cuzco region where the gas comes from , and it is bubbling up now because the government is planning on exporting the gas to other countries. (I learned later that it is natural gas which comes from this region, and the plan to sell it for about 17 soles a tank. The gas they have to buy is gasified petroleum, which is much more expensive, and the whole situation is benefiting a single businessman in Lima, who is undoubtedly well-connected with the current president.) There have been protests recently in the area, and, as in Ecuador, the preferred method of protest is to close the roads (and rail lines). Last week the organizers announced another "paro" for June 14, as well as June 17 and 18. So, while we had planned to stay in Ollantaytambo for a night, then go to Machu Pichu on the train on the June 12 and return on June 14, we decide to be pro-active. Our thinking is that if there is a paro on the 14th (still actually under discussion) then we´d be stuck in Aguas Calientes for at least an extra day, and perhaps more. Aguas Calientes is the last place to stay before the Machu Pichu ruins, and it has a reputation for overpriced everything. And they distinguished themselves during the February rains, when tourist were stranded there due to the closing of the tracks, by raising prices up to 5x their regular rates!

The ideal solution would have been to change our return to Sunday, June 13, but the only train with available seats was the 10:00 am run - hardly enough time to see the ruins, so we hastily decided to go up tonight, taking a 6:00 pm train. We'll visit Machu Pichu on Saturday, and return on the 10:00 train on Sunday.

On the train, which actually starts off as a bus since the tracks are not yet completely cleared, we met a Limeña going up to Machu Pichu, who told us about a cheap hotel. So we beelined past mobs of hotel hawkers to this place, Hostal Guiller, which isn't too bad, and costs only 45 soles/night ($15) for all for us - a definite bargain.

Travel Log, Thursday, June 10, Pisac

The road from Cuzco to Pisac is well-paved, but half washed out in several places, as the ground beneath it was loosened and washed away by the heavy rains in January and February that closed Machu Pichu for a month and left several thousand tourists stranded. I learned from a lady in the Pisac tourist office that it also completely burried the nearby town of Taray and killed nine people there, and eight in Pisac. Although Machu Pichu made the news, the whole "Sacred Valley" was devasted.

Pisac is a lovely little town, nestled in the Andes, below Incan ruins of the same name. Although the main market day is Sunday, they also have a Thursday crafts market, so after a delicious, if non-typical, lunch (finished with a chocolate brownie, vanilla ice cream, and apple strudel) we shopped! Nikki bought some old money and a small stuffed llama; Mia bought a hat and some earings; Debby got a pendant and some earings; and Don got a sweater, a bracelet and a hat. The market occupies the entire central square, and although it ends around 5:00, workers were still disassembling the stalls and hauling away the wooden tables and bamboo and tarp walls when we came home from dinner at 8:00.

Most of the houses in town (and the ones we saw on the road from Cuzco) are made of adobe. Many have a mud and watttle facades, with images in relief of Inca symbols or themes. I saw a sign at the tourist office for a contest for the best facades, and a taxi driver later confirmed that this is a manner of developing local pride and to improve the town's image for the tourist trade.

Travel Log, Wednesday, June 9, Cuzco

The day awoke sunny but cold, with frost on the roof tiles. The sun seems to rise a bit sooner here than in Cuenca, (probably because Cuzco is further east in the time zone.) and although I could pull the curtain back and see the blue sky, I couldn't pull myself from under the four wool blankets to step out into our cold room.

We all did finally get up, and after a breakfast of bread, jam and tea, we moved to a slightly more down-scale (but warmer) hostel for less than half the price (50 soles, or about $18.00 compared to 130 soles, about $46). After we cooked up a second breakfast in the hostal kitchen, we walked down to the bus station to catch a bus to Tombomachay, the first of four Inca ruins we'd visit today. Tombomachay is about five miles from Cusco, and a small site, with typical tight fitting stonework. Nikki bought a beautiful aplaca wool hat from some vendors at the site, against our wishes, but it 's a beautiful hat.

After Tombomachay, we basically walked across the highway to Puku Pukara, and afterwards, flagged a bus which took us to Q'enqo, where Debby and I had a guide (the girls preferred to explore on their own) and learned a bit about the site. By far the most impressive site of the day however, was Saqsaywaman, only about one mile from Cuzco. It is an enormous site , which includes a huge field with three tiers of large stone walls. At the base is a huge parade field, maybe the size of 8 to 10 soccer fields laid side by side. On the other side of the field is a large rock hill, with terraced flanks and stairs through the middle of it. On the other side of this is a quite large filed, surrounded by a low stone wall. We walked back to Cusco from Saqasywaman, and after dinner, came down to the Plaza de Armas to witness a folklore dance competition. Lots of beautifully dressed kids performing traditional dances in the street in front of the Cathedral.

As I write this at night in the hostal, I can still hear the music from the festival wafting up from below.

Travel Log, Tuesday, June 8, Lima to Cuzco

We had to get up kind of early this morning for our flight from Lima to Cuzco. We arrived around 11:00 and found a hotel near Plaza San Blas. At almost 11,000 ft, Cuzco is high enough to take your breath away, even for us, acclimatized to 8,500 ft in Cuenca. Or perhaps it was the 2 days we spent at sea level (Lima and Guayaquil) that thickened our blood. Anyway, I'm a bit out of breath.

Cuzco is a beautiful old city, with lots of narrow pedestrian alleyways and churches and plazas. Itis also incredibly touristy, with prices to match the demand. This applies to hotels and restaurants, as well as entrance fees. ($8.00 to go into the Cathedral!, $46 for a pass to about 10 archeological sites in and around Cuzco and a couple museums, up from $20 just 2 years ago.) Most of the store fronts in the historic district house art galleries or artesian shops (sweaters, paintings, etc.) The trick seems to be to focus on the architecture and not the stores inside.

Travel Log, Monday, June 7, Lima

We woke up early to get to the airport at 6:00 for our 8:00 am flight to Lima, Peru. We arrived about 9:30, got to jump to the head of the immigration line (thanks to our kids) and got a green light when we pressed the button on the baggage review - meaning we were allowed to walk right out! We skipped the official airport taxis and walked to the main street outside the airport where we got one into town for about 60% of the cost, or about $7.00. (The exchange rate, although it was as high as $3.30 soles per dollar, is currently about $2.80 soles per dollar.)

We got to our hotel in the historic center (a 300 year old building FILLED with art, both old religious paintings, the owner's impressionist-style works, and statues and paintings purchased from friends and art students) and headed out to see the changing of the guard at the presidential palace, a few blocks away. Lots of ceremony, with formally dressed guards and a military band behind the gates, and police in riot gear in front of the gates. After lunch, the girls decided to have some down time, so Debby and I wandered around town. The center is free of buses, which keeps down the noise and pollution. This part of Lima is quite nice, with a nice mix of old architecture, and fairly non-descript buiildings. Although historic, it is also a modern city with lots of consumer goods and shops.

Travel Log, Sunday, June 6, Cuenca to Guayaquil

We spent the night at Jaime and Rita's, and we slept in. Around 8:00 I went for a run, to try to shake my chuchaqui. Afterwards, we shared a leasurely breakfast with them, and around the end of the morning, I finally delivered my last piece of work - a CD with the files to print the German version of the flyer for the Fundación El Arenal. Around 1:00, Maria Fernanda and Pichi came by, and Pichi gve us a ride to the Terminal Terestre. Although we got on the "wrong" bus to Guayaquil, it was actually a nice ride, and only took about 30 minutes longer than the one we should have taken.

Despedidas

With our time in Cuenca coming to a close, we've been having lots of "despedida" type events. It's a chance to say goodbye to friends, and it has come in a number of forms:

Nikki: Last week we housesat for some friends who rent a VERY nice house, in the hills overlooking Cuenca. Nikki was waiting for this opportunity to have a birthday party, so that she could impress her friends with how rich we are, which she definitely could not do using our teeny two bedroom apartment. Although officially a birthday party, it was a great opportunity for her to get together with all her school friends (and some others) and she had a blast! It was also a great opportunity for us to see how well integrated and acculturated she has become, kissing all her friends on the cheek, etc, because she never shows us this side - she won't even speak Spanish to others if we are around! Today, the last day of classes (for her - we are pulling her out early to travel), they are having a party for her in her English class.

Us, at Rita and Jaimes: Last weekend we threw a despedida at our ex-host families house, and it was great. We invited all the people we have developed relations with over the past year, and it was really fun. It ended around 1:00 am with a bunch of us sitting around the dining room table, drinking Zhumir, and me understanding about 10% of what was said!

Debby and I, at Fundación El Arenal. Betty, the director of the foundation where both Debby and I have done some volunteer work this past year, invited us over on Wed. at 5:00 for a tea. When we got there, we discovered that this too, was to be a despedida, with the whole staff gathered to eat cake, drink tea and thank us for our work this past year. It was really quite touching.


Debby, with her University of Azuay English class. Thursday was Debby's last day of teaching at U of Azuay, and her students threw a surprise despedida for her. She was expecting just a little something during the last hour of class, but when she arrived, they were already in the classroom (unusual enough!) and had prepared a grand feast for her. The room was decorated with balloons, there were toasts, speeches, pictures, dancing, wine and apologies for not being more diligent students. Debby graciously complimented them on their cultural norm of putting people first, (which, it goes without saying, is why they missed so many of her classes!)

Mia: On Friday, the last day of classes for Mia, her friends have prepared a despedida for her. Her whole class had a year-end party at Yungilla, and she had a blast. It has been quite a year for her, and quite a end of the year. Yesterday she came back from class with her shirt completely covered with signatures and best wishes from her friends.

With that, our stay in Cuenca comes to a close. Our adventures will continue for a few more weeks. We've got a couple of weeks in Peru, and then a month more in Ecuador. It's been a good year!