Final Week in Peru - Arequipa, Colca Canyon and Lima v2

Killawasi Lodge

We finished off our stay in Peru with a visit to the historic city of Arequipa and the small town of Yanque near Colca Canyon, the Grand Canyon of Peru.  In Arequipa, we visited a museum which tells the story behind several frozen bodies found on peaks around Peru and Chile.  The highlight of the exhibit was the almost perfectly preserved body of a child who had been sacrificed to the gods by the Incas on top of a neighboring 20,000+ foot tall mountains.  The remains and sacrifice and burial sites were discovered recently when glaciers melted on one of Peru’s volcanoes.  It is extraordinary that the Incas climbed these tall snowy peaks so long ago without any modern climbing gear – especially the children who were typically about 10 year old.

At 16,200 ft on the way to Colca Canyon

Our travels to Colca Canyon took us over 16,000 foot passes and we stayed again at 14,000 feet.  The Peruvians believe coca, which is from the same plant that cocaine is made from, is an amazing cure for many aliments, including altitude sickness.  We agree with them and drank a lot of coca tea and ate coca candies and cookies during our high altitude journeys.

With Korel and Gilda

The canyon was splendid, but next time we want to hike to the bottom in order to fully see its beauty.  We had hoped to witness the condors gliding through the canyon with their 12-foot wingspan, but rainy weather kept them in their nests.  Our canyon trip was enhanced because of many wonderful people we met, two of whom - Korel & Gilda - we will visit later in the trip in Turkey.  Our hotel, Killawasi Lodge, was also wonderful.

We rented an apartment in Lima for our last few days and pretended that we were expats.  We caught up on laundry, email and rest.  Next stop Chile!  We'll be there from February 4th until March 8th.

Random high altitude vendor

Huge ruins near Yanque

On the (very) high plains of Peru

Lake Titicaca - The World's Highest Lake at 12,503 ft

We pampered ourselves with a day aboard the Orient Express train from Cusco to Lake Titicaca.  We were entertained non-stop with fashion shows, Pisco Sour cocktail making lessons (Peru’s national drink), and elegant meals as we spent 10 hours passing through small towns scattered throughout the beautiful countryside.  We continued spoiling ourselves with a night at a comfortable hotel overlooking Lake Titicaca.  

After a day of indulgence, we decided we needed to get outside our comfort zone so we ventured from Puno to a small community on the lake.  The adventurous 3-hour drive took us back in time 100 years.   Scattered sporadically along the road were mud brick homes with grass roofs.  Pigs, sheep, donkeys and cows were tethered outside the mud homes or in a random pasture while a herder sat watching them.

The locals were dressed in vibrant wool clothing.  The women wore long skirts and triangular hats with two oversized pom-poms on top.  Most men and children wore llama-wool hats and many layers of clothing.  The locals seemed to live a simple life of farming, caring for their livestock and raising trout.  

We stayed in our host family’s mud brick guest rooms and ate our meals in their communal dining room.  The two children who lived there befriended Luke and Ryan and took them on adventures around the village.  They played soccer with a deflated ball, dug rocks up on the beach and challenged each other to a board game.

We also visited the floating islands on the lake.  The people there harvest peat moss (which floats), lash it together and put reeds on top to make a floating island.  Six families lived in squalid conditions on the 30m x 30m island we visited.  

Our experience in this rural lake community made a lasting impression on all of us.  It is the most memorable experience we have so far in Peru and Chile.  To learn more, read the story Christy wrote and watch Luke and Ryan’s videos.  

Christy's essay is here.

Luke's video is here.

Ryan's video is here

Machu Picchu - A True Wonder!

So what do you write about a world wonder.....I wonder!  And we did wonder, or more accurately, we were awed.

We broke away from Cusco to visit one of the most famous locations in the world.  The highlight of our three day, two night journey down from Cusco was Machu Picchu.  In fact, many people journey to Peru solely to make the "pilgrimage" to the mountain top city.  For us, given the time we have, it is only one of four segments of our time in Peru. 

Check out the crazy bridge down to our left on the cliff face!

There are many theories about what happened at Machu Picchu and in the end, it seems to us (based on our guide's information) that the least elegant is the most likely.  It was an outpost of the Incan empire, built to project power into more territory and provide access to the jungle.  Maybe 600 people lived there in a community similar to most other Incan villages of the time, although in a much more spectacular location.  It was likely abandoned due to a disease outbreak as the Spanish extended their reach into the mountains.

Building a city on top of a mountain, in such incredible natural beauty, is the wonder of Machu Picchu. The spectacular stonework and fine detail is beautiful and mind-boggling considering the tools the Incans had available to them more than 500 years ago.  While it does have the mystery of a "lost city" and it is hard to imagine a more spectacular natural setting, Machu Picchu didn't strike us with the spiritual power and doesn't seem to have the cultural significance of a place like Angkor Watt. 

Our day at Machu Picchu felt like a cross between hiking through the most beautiful natural scenery that you can imagine and spending time in an ancient city admiring the beautiful architecture.  We marveled at the craftsmanship and dedication exhibited by the builders and we left amazed at the feats of engineering and construction skills of the Incans.  The most astonishing parts are that the structures they built 500 years ago still stand (not sure our house will still be standing!) and that the city was built and thrived over a period of only 80 years before being abandoned.

Our trip from Cusco to Machu Picchu took us through the lush Sacred Valley that is surrounded by jagged peaks and filled with stone ruins and we made several stops at significant sites.  If Machu Picchu is the wonder of the world in the Sacred Valley, it is hard to classify Ollantaytambo.  It is the Incan equivalent of the Pyramids and one of the finest examples of Incan construction that remains.  When the Incans got serious about building, typically for temples and royal buidlings, they used huge stones fitted together like a jigsaw puzzle - no mortar, just stones that fit together perfectly and with numerous corners so that they could withstand earthquakes and require virtually no maintenance.  30 tons stones were not uncommon at Ollantaytambo.  Considering the quarry was 5 miles away on a hillside across a major tributary to the Amazon the feat of just getting the stones there is impressive. Doing it without the wheel and creating virtually perfect joints with all the surrounding stones makes it almost beyond comprehension.  It was the site of the only major defeat of the Spanish conquistadors, as well as the final stand of the last Inca (or Incan king) before he fled into the jungle with his remaining followers.

Our time up the Sacred Valley was well spent, fitting in several great experiences and supported by two great guides.  We also managed to find two very nice hotels to stay in along the way.  Whether for the history, the spectacular scenery or the incredible architecture, we would recommend a visit there to anyone!  Oh and Ryan lost a tooth while we ate lunch at Machu Picchu - the most memorable tooth loss ever!

Cuzco - Our Spectacular Home for a Week

Cusco, the capital of the Incas and the longest continuously inhabited city in South America, became our home for the week. We booked a room in an apartment-hotel on the hillside of San Blas reachable only on foot via an unending set of stairs. You would not think stairs would matter to our athletic Colorado family, but Cusco is at 11,000 feet.  We soon became accustomed to the elevation and settled in our new home.

We all attended 4 hours of class a day at Amauta Spanish School.  Jay and Christy took classes together and the boys each had their private instructors. The teachers were wonderful and they also had several who were great at teaching kids. They played games, did drawings and went on field trips to the chocolate and cultural museums.  We still butcher the language, but know enough to get around.  We will be in Spanish speaking countries for 2 months and hope to take another week of Spanish in Chile. This is the way to learn a language!

Cusco is a vibrant travelers paradise and reminds us of Nepal. It is an old city with narrow cobblestone streets, splendid churches, Inca ruins and centuries of history.  Not  to mention that it is the "Navel of the World", according to Incan beliefs.  Most of the buildings appear decrepit from the outside with clay walls and tin roofs, but inside are quite lovely. Because of its elevation, it is chilly and the buildings are only heated with space heaters (because of the clays walls).  Even though it is summer in Cusco everyone lives in their alpaca sweaters, scarfs, hats, mittens and socks.

Cusco caters to the trekkers and visitors headed to Machu Picchu.  Diverse restaurants abound that serve the local drink of Pisco Sours, which taste like a margarita but is made from grapes. Shops line the streets and alleyways selling everything from junky trinkets to high end baby alpaca wool clothing. 

Our days in Cusco were spent in Spanish class until 12:30, followed by excellent lunches and exploration of ruins, churches and museums or just relaxing in the apartment. A highlight was our climb to Sacsaywaman (pronounced like sexy woman!) above Cusco.  This immense ruin was once a religious and military base for the Incan people. Their building techniques were impressive as they assembled large rocks together without mortar and in a way that withstands the frequent earthquakes. Luke and Ryan enjoyed exploring some dark caves and a natural slide of polished rock at the ruins.

Departure and Lima - A Wonderful Starting Point

We set out on our big adventure early on a Thursday morning.  Thanks to Dunbar for getting up VERY early to get us there.  In contrast to our last departure from DIA, we felt like we didn't have any luggage.  Since we will be traveling from country to country without a home base we tried to pack as lightly as possible.  In the end, we managed to get our luggage down to a daypack and a suitcase each.  3 of the suitcases are carry-ons (European-sized!) and the last one is slightly larger than carry on (since we have to check one with toiletries)!

We arrived in Lima expecting a big city that we could not wait to get out of.  Instead, we fell in love with Lima's people, food and seaside parks. Lima skyrocketed to our favorite city in South America and is a place we would be happy to live (not that we are leaving Boulder).

Peru's people are warm and welcoming and have been making sure we understand their culture and have the best experience in their country. They are even patient with our limited Spanish, which is quickly improving due to daily opportunities to practice (if we want to eat or get anywhere)!

Most restaurants are run by a passionate owners who attend to our every need. If we have not tried one of the Peruvian specials, they bring us out samples. So far we haven't convinced ourselves to try cuy, which are guinea pigs and the local delicacy.  It is hard for the kids to eat their class pet, but the alpacas have not been so lucky.

We found the best food and restaurants in the world in Lima.  The food is a fusion of flavors from many cultures and the Peruvians take advantage of all their different climates to grow fresh "everything."  For example they have 3,000 different types of potatoes.  Our favorite restaurants were La Mar, which took service to a whole new level with their use of iPhone technology, and Huaca Pucllana Restaurant that overlooks illuminated pre-Incan ruins.

We stayed in Miraflores, a suburb of Lima, which has a beautiful park system that runs along the ocean for miles. We strolled along the pathways stopping for the kids to join in a game of soccer and to have an early dinner at a restaurant on an a ocean dock that over looks the surfers playing in the sea.  Hang gliders soared above, except for the one that crashed by the beach making us glad we did not pay to take a ride.  Lima was a pleasure to stop in and we even look forward to visiting again as we leave Peru for Chile at the beginning of February.  Next stop: Cusco (and Machu Picchu)!