VEGETARIANOS!!
Not much was blog-worthy today (magificent colonial architecture, beautiful cobblestones streets... the usual), except for one hilarious incident during lunch. We were minding our own business, drinking our coffee and enjoying a sandwich that optimistically called itself ¨caprese,¨ when we heard a disturbance at the table next to us. It appears that there was some kind of exchange between the obviously foreign patrons and their waitress, which prompted her to run towards the kitchen with the cry of ¨vegetarianos!!¨
After the requisite 5 minutes needed to compose ourselves, and a near case of scalding-coffee-ejected-from-
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Day 24 - Thurs 9.16.10
GET THEE TO A NUNNERY
We also took it upon ourselves to cook the first meal of the trip (since our hostal has a shared kitchen) and to have a much-needed taste of home. Though we were somewhat limited by the ingredients we could find at the grocery store, we proceeded nonetheless, undeterred. Peppers, onions, peas, broccoli, quinoa, ginger and soy sauce. Um... I guess we´ll make an Asian stir fry?
Though I will not go into the tragic outcome of this meal, I will make one very important point about Peru. Nothing is what it seems. Nothing tastes the way you expect it to. Not even bottled soy sauce. Leave it to the locals. Fine - four very important points.
Today we got to know Arequipa. Gorgeous colonial mansions, white stone cathedrals and a very lively central square. We spent most of the day walking around, until it was time to
see the Monasterio de Santa Catalina, a massive citadel built in the mid 1500´s to house 300+ nuns who had taken a vow of
silence, and the crown jewel of the city. Two days a week, the monastery stays open after dark in order for visitors to appreciate it as it was back in t
he day - endless corridors, tiny little candle-lit cells, lanterns guiding the way around every corner and lit fireplaces in every communal kitchen.
We went in at around 5pm and got to wander around and see the place both in the daytime and after sundown. It was really an incredible experience. It was also a lot more colorful than we´d expected. It´s common to see houses painted in either bright royal blue or brick red,
We went in at around 5pm and got to wander around and see the place both in the daytime and after sundown. It was really an incredible experience. It was also a lot more colorful than we´d expected. It´s common to see houses painted in either bright royal blue or brick red,
apart from the predominant white of the regional Arequipa stone, and it seems that not a single surface in the monastery was left unpainted. It also twists and turns like a medieval village, where you suddenly walk into a chapel or enormous vaulted sitting room. It was well worth the few hours we spent there, and probably one of the most amazing places we´ve ever visited. It´s really worth doing a quick image search and seeing for yourselves.
We also took it upon ourselves to cook the first meal of the trip (since our hostal has a shared kitchen) and to have a much-needed taste of home. Though we were somewhat limited by the ingredients we could find at the grocery store, we proceeded nonetheless, undeterred. Peppers, onions, peas, broccoli, quinoa, ginger and soy sauce. Um... I guess we´ll make an Asian stir fry?Though I will not go into the tragic outcome of this meal, I will make one very important point about Peru. Nothing is what it seems. Nothing tastes the way you expect it to. Not even bottled soy sauce. Leave it to the locals. Fine - four very important points.
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Day 23 - Wes 9.15.10
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
Today we finally left Cusco, out home base for the last 12 days. The bus ride was uncomfortable and bumpy, as usual, but much better than the ride from the coast. Also, as usual, Joseph spent most of trip reading, and Victoria spent some of it wishing she could read on moving vehicles and the rest of it drooling onto her inflatable travel pillow.
We arrived in Arequipa by around 7pm and checked
into our fabulous Hostal del Cacique, featuring sunny rooms, a rooftop terrace, a shared kitchen and an inexplicably happy 4 month-old named Antonella. We like it here. We don´t, however, like the vegetarian restaurant next door, where we subjected ourselves to the worst meal so far on the trip. Corn chowder, curried vegetables and mushroom salad. Not so bad, right? Unless it all came out of a can that´s been sitting in your pantry since 1976. Mmm-mmmm.
We redeemed ourselves with dessert, however. Amazing nutella crepes and coffee at Istanbul Cafe.
Oh, and Arequipa isn´t too shabby either.
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Lots o´ruins. Ollantaytambo fortress is quite steep, certainly a site to behold. It don´t hold a candle to what we´d already seen, so we rushed through it rather rushedly. 
Last stop: Salinas. Salt mines, used from Inca times to the present. Quite otherworldly -- some small streams coming out of the mountainside, then hundreds upon hundreds of small pools of different shades of white where the water is left to evaporate. For some ungodly reason, even the people who are still working in the pools are cool with having tourists like us walk gingerly through the site, accidentally knocking dirt into their preciously-extracted salt. What is probably NOT allowed is hiding on a small outcropping of rock above the pools and making a bunch of crumbs trying to assemble your cheese-avocado-carrot sandwich. Not that we did that. The irony of all ironies was that what our sandwiches most needed was... you guessed it... 
On their own again, Victoria and Joseph set out to explore the other major Inca sites in the Sacred Valley. While organized 1 day bus tour to most of the sites are easy to come by (and cheap), they decide that real travellers would look down upon anything offering climate-controlled travel and tour guides with microphones. They really want to be real travellers. They same some real travellers once, and they looked cool. So they decide to venture out on their own, guideless and with only their wits (and public transportation) to save them.
Where was I? Yes, Pisac. They took a taxi up to the top of the mountainside and spent the next 4 hours making our way down slowly around the curving cliffs and hills, between awesome, i.e. awe-inspiring, fortresses, wonderfully preserved Inca terraces, irrigation channels, tunnels cut through the rock, etc. Truly an incredible place to visit. If you should find yourself with only ONE day in Peru, you should go to Machu Picchu. If you have a second day, you´ll probably want to eat somewhere in Cuzco, and find some coffee (see our struggle, infra, Days 1 to 20). If you have a third day, ABSOLUTELY go to Pisac.
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Day 19 - Sat 9.11.10
ÁNDALE CARAJO!
The highlight of today was our somewhat pathetic attempt to view the Peruvian countryside as it was meant to be experienced: atop a beast of burden that diligently obeys one´s every command, at times strolling at a leisurely pace, at others galloping to our heart´s content. We did as we were told and took a taxi back to the top of
Sacsaywaman (or ¨sexy woman,¨ as we have come to know it) and went to one of the many horse ranches found behind the ruins. Everything went very smoothly - a little too smoothly. Especially if you ask Rodrigo (Sabrina´s boyfriend is known by many names), the unwitting author of today´s blog title.
We left the ranch and spent most the next 20 minutes going directly uphill, much to the dismay, panting and excessive sweating of the horses. By the way, it is worth noting that Victoria´s horse was uniquely prepared for the task, because, as our guide mentioned several times and with much derision, he is reserved for particularly heavy loads and strenuous activity. Nervermind that Joseph (who is several pounds heavier than Victoria, by the way) got the scrawny little pack leader, or that Sabrina (who is a miniature woman) got a gargantuan beast twice the size of Victoria´s... Why must Victoria insist on visiting places where people regard her as a freakish Amazon? In Peru, much like in Japan and China, she has been asked to pose and take pictures with the locals for no other reason than the fact that she could eat them for breakfast. Actually, I guess that is somewhat picture-worthy...
But I digress. After finishing the uphill, we enjoyed about 30min of peaceful caravan-style walking, a stop at a generic pile of fallen rocks kindly referred to as ruins by the 12 year-old ¨guide,¨ and were forced to return to the ranch. The horses seem to have been attached to invisible tracks hidden under the Andean soil, because they where absolutely impossible to divert from the trail or predetermined order of animals. We didn´t realize that Epcot Center included a detour through the Andes.
Day 23 - Wes 9.15.10
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
Today we finally left Cusco, out home base for the last 12 days. The bus ride was uncomfortable and bumpy, as usual, but much better than the ride from the coast. Also, as usual, Joseph spent most of trip reading, and Victoria spent some of it wishing she could read on moving vehicles and the rest of it drooling onto her inflatable travel pillow.
We arrived in Arequipa by around 7pm and checked
into our fabulous Hostal del Cacique, featuring sunny rooms, a rooftop terrace, a shared kitchen and an inexplicably happy 4 month-old named Antonella. We like it here. We don´t, however, like the vegetarian restaurant next door, where we subjected ourselves to the worst meal so far on the trip. Corn chowder, curried vegetables and mushroom salad. Not so bad, right? Unless it all came out of a can that´s been sitting in your pantry since 1976. Mmm-mmmm.We redeemed ourselves with dessert, however. Amazing nutella crepes and coffee at Istanbul Cafe.
Oh, and Arequipa isn´t too shabby either.
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Day 22 - Tues 9.14.10
SALT SALT EVERYWHERE AND NOT A PINCH TO DRINK
Lots o´ruins. Ollantaytambo fortress is quite steep, certainly a site to behold. It don´t hold a candle to what we´d already seen, so we rushed through it rather rushedly. From there, we hired a taxi for the day to ferry us to Moray and Salinas. Back UP the south side of the valley, into the middle of nowhere (hence the taxi), and then all of a sudden there are these enormous terraced bowls jutting down into the ground. 
This is Moray. Concentric rings of terraces with steps built into each wall, a total of about 100 ft. or more. It looks alien, it looks religious, it looks somewhat unbelievable... but mostly it looks like an experimental Inca agricultural station likely used to acclimate crops to higher altitudes, by slowly moving crops up from the microclimate created at the bottom of each terraced bowl. That´s our theory, at least... which is largely based on the information we could gather from slowly walking by groups that actually paid for guides.
This is Moray. Concentric rings of terraces with steps built into each wall, a total of about 100 ft. or more. It looks alien, it looks religious, it looks somewhat unbelievable... but mostly it looks like an experimental Inca agricultural station likely used to acclimate crops to higher altitudes, by slowly moving crops up from the microclimate created at the bottom of each terraced bowl. That´s our theory, at least... which is largely based on the information we could gather from slowly walking by groups that actually paid for guides.
Last stop: Salinas. Salt mines, used from Inca times to the present. Quite otherworldly -- some small streams coming out of the mountainside, then hundreds upon hundreds of small pools of different shades of white where the water is left to evaporate. For some ungodly reason, even the people who are still working in the pools are cool with having tourists like us walk gingerly through the site, accidentally knocking dirt into their preciously-extracted salt. What is probably NOT allowed is hiding on a small outcropping of rock above the pools and making a bunch of crumbs trying to assemble your cheese-avocado-carrot sandwich. Not that we did that. The irony of all ironies was that what our sandwiches most needed was... you guessed it...-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day 21 - Mon 9.13.10
TAKE ANOTHER LITTLE PISAC MY HEART
On their own again, Victoria and Joseph set out to explore the other major Inca sites in the Sacred Valley. While organized 1 day bus tour to most of the sites are easy to come by (and cheap), they decide that real travellers would look down upon anything offering climate-controlled travel and tour guides with microphones. They really want to be real travellers. They same some real travellers once, and they looked cool. So they decide to venture out on their own, guideless and with only their wits (and public transportation) to save them.
First up, the ruins above the town of Pisac. After a death defying minibus ride over the river, through the woods, etc. etc. and into the Sacred Valley, they arrive at Pisac. A beautiful market town, with some pretty sweet alpaca-felt hats, fuzzy alpaca sneakers, and an impressive music store with a collection of charangos. What is a charango, you ask. A 10-string Peruvian instrument traditionally made from... what else... a small marsupial, i.e., an armadillo. Diego, if you´re reading this, thank you very much for the wonderful suggestion for our blog title,
and we have received your request for a charango. Unfortunately, due to transportation-space constraints (see third paragraph below) we were unable to process your request. Victoria is a bad sister. She knows it, and she feels bad about it.
and we have received your request for a charango. Unfortunately, due to transportation-space constraints (see third paragraph below) we were unable to process your request. Victoria is a bad sister. She knows it, and she feels bad about it.
Where was I? Yes, Pisac. They took a taxi up to the top of the mountainside and spent the next 4 hours making our way down slowly around the curving cliffs and hills, between awesome, i.e. awe-inspiring, fortresses, wonderfully preserved Inca terraces, irrigation channels, tunnels cut through the rock, etc. Truly an incredible place to visit. If you should find yourself with only ONE day in Peru, you should go to Machu Picchu. If you have a second day, you´ll probably want to eat somewhere in Cuzco, and find some coffee (see our struggle, infra, Days 1 to 20). If you have a third day, ABSOLUTELY go to Pisac.
Did Victoria and Joseph eat anything in Pisac? Of course. For some reason, cooking an small empanada in Pisac requires a clay oven the size of a Volkswagen Beatle, and such ovens are ubiquitous in Pisac. The empanadas that come from such oversize ovens are very good.
Next up: the trip down the valley to Ollantaytambo. They took ¨one bus... and another bus...¨ and a mototaxi and then a small bus at about double its earthly capacity, with the unhappy pair stuffed into a space about the size of... well, let´s just say that it was much smaller than a clay oven in Pisac. It was really crammed. It was uncomfortable. After 20 minutes of this, once both Victoria and Joseph lost feeling in their legs, they recalled with chagrin their passing up the option of climate-controlled busses and tour guides with microphones. Whatever. What doesn´t kill you makes you stronger. Or, as they say in Catalonia, lo que no mata, engorda.
Evening: Ollantaytambo, a hostel with a lot of cats, and a DVD of the movie Big Fish. Nice little town, small streets still from Inca times, with accompanying water channels next to the sidewalks. And god bless foreigners who come to Peru and open restaurants. We salute you.
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Day 20 - Sun 9.12.10
THINGS TO DO IN CUZCO WHEN YOU´RE DEAD
The morning consisted of a Peruvian sendoff brunch for Sabrina & Umberto, who were heading back to their real lives with a day´s stop over in Lima. Their presence will be sorely missed, and their absence will be felt like a removed liver. Thanks for joining us, Sabrina and Alberto. Following in the grand Peruvian sendoff brunch tradition, the coffee was bad, service was nonexistent, the ketchup was tomato jam, and the food was oddly-spiced.
Now you may be thinking: If these people are supposed to be backpacking and roughing it on $25 per day, why is there all this interminable complaining about food and drink? Don´t these people have anything better to concern themselves with?
(1) Quick answer: No, not really.
(2) More cultured answer: Joseph and Victoria spent the rest of the day exploring Cuzco´s panoply of museums. In particular, the Museo de Historia Regional, the museum of the Qoricancha site, and the Museo del Arte Popular. Joseph enjoyed the photos from turn of the century Cuzco. Victoria explained the art to Joseph.
(3) Honest answer: These museums were included in the boleto tursitico (tourist ticket) that Joseph and Victoria had to buy to visit the nearby Inca sites, so they only visited these museums because they were free. Joseph also took a break from the extrenuating 3 hours of museum time to get himself an ice cream cone. Hey, come on... the city actually has a street named after ice cream vendors. Seriously. Heladeros. Look it up.
On the subject of high culture and histo...er... food, decent take-out falafel is available in Cuzco. Or at least it was on Sunday night.
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Day 19 - Sat 9.11.10
ÁNDALE CARAJO!
The highlight of today was our somewhat pathetic attempt to view the Peruvian countryside as it was meant to be experienced: atop a beast of burden that diligently obeys one´s every command, at times strolling at a leisurely pace, at others galloping to our heart´s content. We did as we were told and took a taxi back to the top of
Sacsaywaman (or ¨sexy woman,¨ as we have come to know it) and went to one of the many horse ranches found behind the ruins. Everything went very smoothly - a little too smoothly. Especially if you ask Rodrigo (Sabrina´s boyfriend is known by many names), the unwitting author of today´s blog title.We left the ranch and spent most the next 20 minutes going directly uphill, much to the dismay, panting and excessive sweating of the horses. By the way, it is worth noting that Victoria´s horse was uniquely prepared for the task, because, as our guide mentioned several times and with much derision, he is reserved for particularly heavy loads and strenuous activity. Nervermind that Joseph (who is several pounds heavier than Victoria, by the way) got the scrawny little pack leader, or that Sabrina (who is a miniature woman) got a gargantuan beast twice the size of Victoria´s... Why must Victoria insist on visiting places where people regard her as a freakish Amazon? In Peru, much like in Japan and China, she has been asked to pose and take pictures with the locals for no other reason than the fact that she could eat them for breakfast. Actually, I guess that is somewhat picture-worthy...
But I digress. After finishing the uphill, we enjoyed about 30min of peaceful caravan-style walking, a stop at a generic pile of fallen rocks kindly referred to as ruins by the 12 year-old ¨guide,¨ and were forced to return to the ranch. The horses seem to have been attached to invisible tracks hidden under the Andean soil, because they where absolutely impossible to divert from the trail or predetermined order of animals. We didn´t realize that Epcot Center included a detour through the Andes.
broseph -- victoria much funnier than you. have her write from now on.
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