Peru

Near the end of June I decided that I needed to travel to another country. I wanted to volunteer, but couldn't seem to find anything in my price range. I looked into New Zealand, Peru, Mexico, and some places in Central America, but ended up choosing Peru. The thought of Machu Picchu seemed to good to pass up and I found a very reasonable fare.

I asked a bunch of people if they wanted to go with me, but everyone had work or just did not want to go. I remembered talking to Kalene about traveling when we went to Dordt and decided to facebook her. A week later we had tickets and began to figure out how the trip was going to look.

Friday:
This trip actually started when Kalene and I met in Miami and took a bus to the beach. The water was warm and the air humid..and it doesn't get more relaxing than sitting by a more or less empty beach in nice weather. Did I mention Maimi is hot and humid...it sure is.


-Miami North Beach

Saturday:
Saturday started right at midnight where I boarded a flight to Lima, Peru set to arrive at 6 in the morning. When I got to Lima I sat around and waited for Kalene to show up at 730. Right when she walked to the "greeting center" a taxi had her name on a card and we jumped in a dudes taxi and went to our hostel. By the way, Lima taxi rides are pretty crazy considering.... the lanes don't really mean anything to the drivers...and every start and stop is pedal to the floor...close calls every 2 seconds...I almost got my hand marred by another taxi.

The hostel is in Mira Flores a shopping district in Lima and about 7 minutes walk to the Ocean. Since we couldn't get into our room (separate beds of course..much safer for clothes/valuables)we went to the local Catholic Cathedral to check it out. We ended up staying for the whole mass. Pretty cool to travel to a different country and worship with other believers right out of the taxi. They used an accordion and guitar to accompany worship.


-The Loki Hostel

When we walked out of mass we saw a big sight seeing tour bus and decided to check it out (we still had 3 hours to wait for the hostel). We ended up sitting atop a very touristy tour bus and driving 35 minutes to south Lima to check out ruins at Pachacamac. I don't know that much about the ruins besides they were Pre-Incan because the tour guide spoke really junky English. I did however observe some 5-8 (by the looks of it) grade Peruvian students taking a tour as well. They behaved almost identically to most U.S. students; Talking when not suppose to, pushing each other around, telling secrets and laughing, tough guys walking tough, and generally being just a bit awkward (all pretty hilarious really).


-The tour Bus


-View from the Bus...driving along the coast on the way to Pachacamac


-Ruins in Pachacamac

Sunday:
We woke up very early and flew to Cusco up at 10,800 ft. When we got of the plane the elevation started to get to us, so we just walked real slow and let our bodies get acclimated. Again, we were greeted by a sign with our names and a taxi. The only difference was that this time there was another man with him who said he was going to catch a ride with us. Victor, the extra guy, was very curious what we wanted to do in Cusco, but he also seemed to think I knew way more Spanish than I did so I didn't what he said in response. On the walk up to our hostel we stopped in Victors office, he gave us some options of stuff to do and we determined our whole week. We gave him 700 Soles each and the deal was done. I hoped we made a good decision and we weren't stumped by the elevation. The rest of the day we drank Cocoa Tea (the basic ingredient for cocaine, but used for elevation sickness in Peru) and sat around trying to breath. At night we went down to Plaza De Armas and ate roasted Guinea Pig at a Peruvian Restaurant.


-Plaza De Armas



Monday:
When back to Victors place where we met Fernando a 47 year old with a 25 year old wife and a 1 year old daughter (one of the cutest little girls ever). He rode with us across town to a poor neighborhood where we med Danny our ATV tour guide. We rode up rural trails which led to remote little houses with stray dogs chasing us the whole time. We stopped at an overlook of a city called Pumas Americas and went over some jumps, YAMS as Danny called them. He asked me if I liked Yams and I said I don't know Ive never tried them...what do they taste like. That got him confused. We did the jumps and both Danny and his buddy told me I was crazy. Later stopped by an over look of Cusco and he showed us where the Guinea Pigs were made, where the sports team plays, and a bunch of other highlights of the city. It was a Beautiful and remote tour which made it a lot of fun..and Danny was 22 so we could talk about the differences between the U.S.A and Peru pretty easily,
When we got back into town we ate Jack's Grill an U.S. place with amazing food (I had salami/mushroom sandwich with caramelized onions that were phenomenal). Went to bed early after such good food.


-Kalene and Me riding the ATVS


-Overlooking the town of Pumas Americas


-overlooking Cusco

Tuesday:
Woke up ready to go bungee jumping, but due to a planned strike on the railroad station/all over Cusco we went to Machu Picchu. The strike was mostly College students ticked off because the bus fares jumped up from 50Soles per ride to 70 soles. After we found out we checked out the Cathedral in Plaza De Armas called The Church of La Compañia. We took a listening tour and heard all sorts of interesting things. One such was a painting of Saint Layola standing and holding a Bible over laying Heritics who introduced lies all over Europe and the world....heretics such as Luther and Calvin.
At 2 we took a taxi through Chinchero and Urabamba to Ollantaytambo where we found our train almost ready to leave for Auguas Calientes (hot water). The train ride through the Urabamba (sacred) part of the Andes gave me a new appreciation for high mountains. It is like there is another higher level with spires on top of the regular high mountains. Once we made it to Aguas Calientes we went right to bed.


-In front of the Cathedral


-View from the Cathedral



Wednesday:
Rise and shine at 430 to make it to the early buses up to Machu Picchu. We made it in the "lost city of the Incas" at 7 and walked across the ruins to Waynapicchu the mountain past Machu Picchu. It was a very steep hike but it offered a birds eye view of the city that is second to none. After we came back down we toured the Temple of the Condor, the Temple of the Sun, the Agricultural section, and the housing district. The whole thing was an experience I will never forget...the mountains that surround the city are absolutely ridiculous...and the city itself is so unique. Really, it is impossible to put into words. I could keep trying but it would be in vain.
We walked 2 more hours down to Aguas Calientes totally about 10 hours of walking. I was already cramping before we made it back to the hotel, but I managed to get in and drink enough water to loosen up. There was a lot of Peruvian women who were handing out massage pamphlets and Kalene and I could not pass it up, so we got full body massages and then fell asleep promptly after word.


-One of the first things I saw when i walked in... and next was....


-Machu Picchu


-Sun gate


-from Wanyapicchu


-on the highest point of Waynapicchu


-Sittin on the ledge







Thursday: (a word that many Peruvians could hardly say in English...they said it Tuusday)
Took a train to Ollantaytambo and a taxi back to Cusco. The roads were all covered with large and small rocks from the strike the day before. Once we brought our stuff back to the hostel we went Bungee Jumping off the highest bungee jump in the Americas and the 9th in the world. 122 Meters...which is...over 400 ft straight down. (check out Actionvalley.com ) The jump was a lot of fun..its hard to explain the feelings you get when you just jump off the platform and are free falling towards the concrete and earth below. If I had to try I would say its like AAHHH!!!---I MISS HOME!!!---IM GONNA DIE!!!---THIS IS CRAZY AWESOME!!, or at least something like that.


-getting ready to go for it.


-hanging around

The best way to to see it is to go to Actionvalley.com

Friday:
Left for Para gliding in the morning and sat around a cliff overlooking Urabamba for hours until it got windier. We actually went to Chinchero and had some lunch and then rushed back to the mountain when we heard word it was windy. Met some girls from the UK as well as Minnesota. Para glyiding with a small Peruvian man, Edgar, strapped to my back was a very surreal thing. Floating in the air over a "sacred" valley when the sun was starting to set is something I will never forget. Running off a cliff to be picked up by the wind was also very cool. When I was in the air I had to consistently tell myself to relax...supposedly its a man trait to want to have control of stuff going on around you...rarely more obvious than when flying in the air without a plane.


-The valley


-Getting ready to take off


-me and edgar


-Janine (Girl from the UK) flying beside me


-my feet and the valley

Saturday:
Flew back to Lima and did some shopping at Polvos Azules the "black market" so to speak...but don't worry I only bought myself stuff here. We actually had to give directions back to our hostel at miraflores because the black market was on the opposite side of town. When we got back we went to the Art District in Mira Flores and I bought a couple small paintings. The rest of the day I hung out with friends I met at the hostel...pretty diverse group; A Brazilian girl working as a vet in Peru, two Irish guys, a Dutch guy, German guy, Australian girl and guy, a girl from Israel, and the Canadian I came with...I was the only USA guy.

Sunday:
Slept in. Went to the San Francisco Convent in downtown Lima and ran into a guy that I recognized from my flight to Lima the week before. We talked for a bit...a Swiss engineering intern in Lima for 6 months. The Convent had 150 guys who would spend 2 years separated from the world. I could hear them when I strayed off from the tour for a bit. The church also had some pretty cool Catacombs underneath it. 50,00 people buried under the cathedral..thus lots of bones. One cool thing about the Catacombs is there is appropriate Bible Verses next to the big graves. Kinda nice to have that to keep some good perspective.
After we got back I read my book Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt for a while and then hung out with my hostel friends again. Said goodbyes to the new friends and then packed up and went to the airport.

Now I am glad to be home...it took a solid week to be convinced, but it came. Also, with all the safe travel and safety in general I am very very thankful for your prayers...and obviously God for answering them.

Peace