Day 18 - Fri 9.10.10

A LACK OF UPWARD MOBILITY SETS IN

To even things out from the massive physical
exertion and incredible sightseeing of the past 4 days, Friday was primarily spent thinking about, discussing, consuming, and digesting food. A strong preference was given to meals that did not involve walking up or down steps of any kind. A slight exception was made for Cusco´s best empanadas. We also toured the Qoricancha temple - once an Inca temple, then a colonial era Catholic church built atop the Inca walls. The building once housed over 700 sheets of solid gold covering most of its interior surfaces, but, in grand conquistador tradition, the Spanish determined that the ornate golden artwork should be stripped for safekeeping.

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Day 17 - Thur 9.9.10

WE WENT TO MACHU PICCHU

If you´ve ever been there, you´ll understand. If you haven´t, you really should try to make it one of these days. In modern day American college speak, it was the COOLEST THING E-V-E-R. Really mind-blowing, mind-expanding, and mind-your-head because ancient Incas were actually quite short.

This posting doesn´t do it justice, of course, but our pictures hopefully will (more to come).





























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Days 14, 15, and 16 - Mon, Tues, and Wed 9.6, 9.7, 9.8.10

WHINING AND DINING IN THE SACRED VALLEY

Imagine - after having been dropped off in a minibus at the end of a muddy road in the middle of a cow pasture an hour away from Cusco, and then spending the next 8 hours climbing almost exclusively up the sheer sides of some of the largest, steepest, most expansive, and most beautiful valleys you have ever laid eyes on (not counting that time you watched Seven Years in Tibet), you arrive at a lake that is fed by a waterfall trickling down the face of a red mountain with snow capped peaks occasionally visible behind the clouds that are forming not far above you - you see that the 5 guides have already set up your tent for you and are currently boiling water for you to wash your face and drink tea when you arrive. Add to the mix a pack of grazing llamas and horses, a portable toilet tripod chair-tent, and all-you-can-eat soup, and that pretty much describes our 3 day hike. The vivid images in our heads speak for themselves. We will try to download a few of those from our brains for you to look at as well.

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Day 13 - Sun 9.5.10

I THINK I CAN I THINK I CAN I THINK I CAN JUST SIT HERE AND CATCH YOU ON THE WAY BACK DOWN

After a traditional Peruvian breakfast of brunch, the couple of couples promptly sat down to watch some other people eat falafel. Translate: Joseph and Victoria`s friend David Dreyfus, of Habitat for Humanity Bicycle Challenge fame, and his wife Natalie, came all the way to Cusco have lunch in front of us. They then figured that, since they were in town, they would also check out the nearby Amazon, the Sacred Valley, and something called Machu Picchu.

But I digress. Today the fab four set out to climb the 150 meters up to ruins of Sacsayhuayman, overlooking the city of Cusco. Defying all ordinary principles of momentum, acceleration, and physical fitness, the feat was accomplished at the embarrassing pace of roughly 1m per minute. The trip was well worth it, though, if for nothing else than to see a small Mexican man (Roberto) stand next to a 300 ton stone. The structure of the great fortress was originally built to represent the head and teeth of Cusco`s puma-shaped layout, but to be honest that requires a keen perception that perhaps only the Incas themselves possessed.

The evening included a briefing for the upcoming 3-day trek, where we met our guide-to-be Flor and the Catalonians who would provide us with hours of endless amusement. Note: they are not Spaniards... they´re very clear about that, upon penalty of getting-your-head-talked-off-for-3-hours-about-Catalonian-independence-while-you´re-really-just-trying-to-enjoy-your-quinoa-pancake-and-go-to-sleep-because-you´re-at-4200-meters-and-you-have-to-wake-up-at-6-am-to-climb-500-more-tomorrow. Ahem.

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Day 12 - Sat 9.4.10

ARRIVAL OF THE FITTEST

Overwhelmed by their collective filth, Victoria and Joseph resolve to have a small Peruvian woman wash their clothes, in exchange for valid Peruvian legal tender. For many of you this might not be news. For them, this is groundbreaking. Despite a small squabble over the actual weight of the items being washed (there was reasonable evidence to support the theory that her scale was doctored), the transaction is carried out successfully. Stray Cusco dogs no longer scramble when Victoria and Joseph pass by.

This day also marks the beginning of the "we have guests coming over, so behave" portion of the trip. The couple`s friends Sabrina and Eduardo unwittingly flew in from Howard Beach BOAC and didn`t get to bed last night, and now have 10 horrid days ahead of them accompanying Victoria and Joseph on their miserable trip. God help them. The couple of couples immediately went out to have themselves a nice brunch, coffee, afternoon snack, nap, stroll, and overindulgent dinner (see also, days 13 through 20). They also talked about the possibility of seeing some of Cusco`s sights, but the discussions fell apart when all of the participants fell asleep.

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Day 11 - Fri 9.3.10

I´LL PACK A HAT

Armed with fancy imported crackers (Ritz) and local citrus nectar (Fanta), we boarded the 9:30 am chariot out of Abancay bound for Cusco, with a potential stop at the Tarawasi ruins near the town of Limatambo. After an exhilarating 1 hour ride up the Abancay valley, with vast & gorgeous scenery (including the perfunctory Rio-style Jesus on the hill overlooking the town, which seems to be required by law in all Peruvian towns) and a vast and gorgeous ear of choclo (corn) from a woman on the side of the road, we deplaned at the not-so-famous aforementioned ruins.


What Tarawasi is to Peru, that old train bridge you can see off of I95 in Maryland is to the United States. But it was our first taste of Inca craftsmanship, and the stonework was worth the detour. After getting our fill and seeing all there was to see, we were approached by the caretaker of the site who... gave us a tour of the site. Something about an Inca ceremonial bath.

From there, the 23rd cab that drove by finally stopped to pick us up and deliver us to Cusco. Quite a lovely city. So lovely, in fact, that we are still there a week and a half later, at the time of this writing. We finally had acceptable coffee, we finally had our raw salad, and we finally made the big leap into the upper echelon of backpacker haute couture by purchasing alpaca hats.

Enough.