South of the Border

OK- I think I have written enough about PERU- I had amazing time there, but basically the last ten days there I hung out in LIMA- A very clean city- at least where I was- Miraflores y San Isidro - mas o menos. I walked basically everywhere as to not take a cab- this got a lot of attention from cabbies. I smoked a pack of lucky strikes- less then a dollar! Actually I dont smoke, but I was bored-- I know, but gimme a break! Im 24 and I can do that.  Okay so Im walking the street of LIMA and smoking and it still doesn't stop the cat calling- ugh! Seriously some of the worst- old men, young men, security guards, business men - etc. WHAT ELSE... went down the coast and saw where the rich limeanos live - a coupld weeks a year. Private Beach communities and we huge difference between the haves and the have nots. okay- then I left of COLOMBIA! COLOMBIA- Bogota- arrive around 8pm- I get my bag real quick and Im actually a little nervous because I dont see my friends. WELL Im not too nervo...

I have offically been neglecting my blog- "sorry blog, you know I love you". But really, I feel bad. I was in PERU and I went to COLOMBIA- I LOVED COLOMBIA and then on the 22nd of March I return to CR! And as soon as I got to Costa Rica, my brother was here, and FAMOUS Hayley was here and I had to get to the beach, find my apartment, get my friends settled start a new job, by the end of the second week I had a second job and all this was happening at once, and thus the blog went on the back burner. SO where was I... ah yea- back to Cusco then the ride to LIMA- this trip wasn't so bad other then the fact there was a landslide blocking the road in the middle of the night and we were set back a little bit... otherwise I got to LIMA no problem and then took a cab to dead g-mamas house.  This was a thursday night and the coolest thing ever... my Friend Ricardo from D.F was in town on Business so I called him and we planned to meet at the park near his hotel in Miraflores! CO...

Refreshed, rejuvinated, re everything.  After the three hour boat ride we arrive at Las Islas Flotantes, Los Uros.  I had heard about these island, but nothing compares to seeing them in person.  From a distance you can see the reeds, and then you start to see that there are structures in the reeds.  Then the boat rounds a corner and on both sides of what we'll call a river through the reeds there are these little community so to speak.  Each island houses about 2 to three families... and each island is made of about 4meters of reeds.  The Uros utilize the reed roots as the base, then the reeds (green part) as the "floor" the roots are cut into cubes (roughly about a cube meter) and then tied together, then the grass part of the reed is pilled on top... the roots keep the islands afloat  and well it was truely a site unlike any other.  It was like a magical fantasy world that one only sees in childrens pop up books.... Speaking of pop up books, so...

I slept like a ROCK! I seriously slept wonderfully here on Amantani. I thought I might get cold, but actually the sun had heated my little adobe room and it was quite pleasant. I had interesting dreams, but that will come in to play later.. Lets just say, I dreamed about a BIG WAVE... and I awoke around 6am.. got my bag ready and waited for breakfast.  Im in the dinning room, so to speak first, then the Germans join me.  They are cute.  The man is pretty funny.  During our Cornmeal Pancake Breakfast (amazing by the way, the corn was ground soo finely, one wouldnt know its corn other then by the taste), we are sitting around chatting.  They talk to me a little in english, but mostly amongst themselves in German.  And they ask me several questions about spanish.. but then the Man says, "do  you know what they call waiters here in Peru?" and I said, "meseros, camareros, saloneros", and he says, "no, like amongst themselves, or between a client and the wai...

After my journey to the top of Pachatata, and after the wonderful sunset, it was really cooling off and the the "coffee shop" was getting warmed up.  About 100mts from the top of Pachatata, there is a little coffee, hotcoco and donut place.  Okay, when I say place dont think roof, nor "real" floor.  But there is a break in the stone wall, a pinic table and a little bit room with a fire.  There you can get two fried bread donuts, with a swirl of chocolate and a coffee or hot coco.. Both for about 5 s/. .. about 2$  Not tooo shabby.  I obt for the hot coco because.. well the coffee is instant.  The old man and the old lady making the donuts and such are sweet. and they got a good little business up here on Pachatata.  Once I get my fill I continue the descent. What a beautiful day! What a Beautiful experience.  Im in awe. I walk down with the Coloradian family and I talk to the mother about her family, her job, her past.. I was really missing...

SO after my cat nap, I prepared myself for the hike. We all gathered in the special meeting place.  I thought it was going to be like a secret Incan spot, but it was the communties basketball court. So everyone is there and Angel starts giving us a low down on the community, the people, food, where they go for school, local events etc.  Then it comes time to hike.  And the group is slow.  I got me some long legs and good lungs and I think I acclimate pretty fast to the altitude, so nothing was slowing me down.  I didnt wanna leave the group in the dust, but I couldnt help it.  It was almost more of a challenge to walk slow. Okay, SO F it, Im going up.  There are two peaks on the island, Pachatata y Pachamama (Father and Mother earth). Im way in front of the group when I reach the fork in the road. One path to Pachatata and the other to Pachamama.... there at that very moment was the Colorado family and Fausto, their shamic guide.  The mother a...

SO the night before, Puno was bumping with the excitement of TOLEDO coming to town, and I opted for an early night.. I wanted to save for energy the next day. At 7am Im up, shower and head down to the buffet breakfast.  At 740am exactly, the guide is there to take me to the Puno port.  We take a bici taxi! How cool! Puno is high in elevation and its quite cold, thankfully I have brough a good jacket, gloves and a hat.. But this bici taxi is great.. the wind in our faces, fresh air.. and its completely eco friendly! (we're gonna do this with CREAR- its my new goal).  Like I have said before the bikes drivers are the owners as well, or so I assume, because each one has their own style, kinda reminds me of the buses in Panama City Panama (not Florida)! Now those are a sight! SO cool! Imagine large school buses painting in all sorts of colors, virgin marys and names on the sides, or big breasted women painted on the back of the bus is provacative poses, those buses are unicos...

So I forgot to mention this... My second day in Cusco I was walking around with Carolinas grandson.  We checked out the plaza de armas then decided to head up the hillside and get a good view of the city.  I remember we turned on to Calle Arcoiris.. Rainbow Street.  And on the way up their were several hostel and they all had rainbow flags.  Rainbow Flags on Rainbow street.. All I was thinking was, how cool! Cusco is super gay friendly.  Then I thought about it and there were rainbow flags everywhere! Way to go Cusco.  Woah.  I was really happy Cusco was so proactive, especially for being a city in Latin America.  Way to go progressive Cusco.... But my gay pride bubble was burst when I found out that Cusco region flag is the rainbow and it has nothing to do with gay pride, and has everything to do with Incan history.. NOW that does not mean its not gay friendly, but for the record its not waving the flag for gays, its waving the flag for Incan...

19-2-11: Up at 6:05 am, shower, pack, fruit salad (Sra Carlinas fruit salad is the maxima!- I think all the fruits in Peru help with that), And at 7am sharp Percy is ringing the doorbell and I am off.  He brings me to the bus station, well where the bus leaves from, and at 730am we are on our way.  The bus to Puno... little did I know it was a tour bus, so we dont go directly to Puno, we go from Cusco to Andahuaylillas, Raqchi, Sicuni, La Raya, Pukara and then PUNO.  Lunch is included, but each place we stop is also a tour.. but the price to see the ruins isnt included.  It did not cost much more to buy an all inclusive enterance, BUT I was toured out from the city tour and the sacred valley that I decided not to, SO at the first stop, Raqchi, I pay 1 s/. for the bathroom and then check out the artisania...  I find these two little toros.  Here in the country side, many houses have toros on their roofs. The toros (bulls) are a symbol of good luck and pros...

Okay.. so after waiting for my guide... we were finally ready to head in. At the entrance you have to show your passport and the ticket and then we wait under a roof just near the entrance..  I guess the hold up was getting a guide in English and Spanish.  I opted for spanish, and our guide was good, but he spoke a little slow, honestly.  Its interesting... as I have done several tours by this point, the guides speak spanish, but that does not mean the tourists are spanish speaking, it just means they understand spanish better then English.  Because there were people from Brasil, Italian, etc.. where as I imagine with the english there are people from USA, Canada, and Europe.. interesting.. SO we begin the tour near the top, and out guide explains the history of the Incan realm and the coming together of the preincan tribes (if you will).. It was really interesting, but the rain was a bummer.  MachuPicchu has a misty cloud covering that would come and go ...

So.. if you have been following.. you know I had two options for my journey to the actually ruins of Machu Picchu... well I opted for number 2, and I slept in until 7:30am, got ready, had breakfast... well actually I woke up around 4am to examine if I wanted to go to WaynaPichu, and I saw that it was a little rainy, so I decided to not climb... Okay.. SO I had a great breakfast, Coffee with sweeten condensed milk, fruit with yogurt and little wheat balls- like super mini puffed wheat. Then they brought me two eggs when I asked for one and sweet bread.. TWO words, I didnt have thymus for breakfast.  Check out is 9am, so I leave my big pack with the hotel and head out on the town.  A quick email to the fam. and by 10am Im on the bus to Machu Picchu... I arrive and there are guides everywhere waiting for their people or waiting for clients to choose them.. I had a guide, Milagros, but she wasnt there yet so I just waited around.  At this time is wasnt raining, but I had br...

After the journey to the top of mtn Potucusi I return to the hotel and all I want is a hot shower.  As I have mentioned the shower in Cusco was little more then a trickle of hot, so as you may imagine I hadnt had very relaxing showers for the past week.. .. Not that I NEED a hot shower, in Costa Rica that wasnt even an option, but when its hot thats okay, but when its cold out.. how can one NOT have a hot shower.  Okay.  SO I get in.. YES HOT water, GREAT water pressure, soo far soo good.  I even decide to shave, oooh la la.. but then, right when I am in the middle of everything, shampoo in the hair, half shaven legs, etc.... the shower goes from hot to warm and then the pressure drops and its getting cold.  Great, I think, someone else is starting to take a shower and this place does have enough water.. so I wait, thinking things are going to turn around.. but they dont.  Then I turn my water off and try to listen to see if the room next to me is...

During my check in, the front desk man also hows me a little map of the town and mark a few keythings people like to do when they arent going to Machu Picchu.  There is a HUGE artisan mercado-bored, resturants and bars- broke, an orchid garden- Im not 50+, oh and he mentions, some people like to climb this mountain not far from here, it has some really difficult parts, you cant go alone )but we help you find a guide), takes about an hour and it an experience of your life...  okay soo he didnt exactly say that, but thats what I heard.  So like I said, I wanted to take a nap, but now thatthis option is in my head I really cant just sit aroundin myroom waitingfor the morning (thats when I have my ticket to enter Machu Picchu).  So I head up to my room... It is basic and right along the river.  I decide to climb the mountain but its only around 10am, and i want the rain to let up, so I tell the front desk Im DOWN for the climb, and I would like to d...

So as I was saying the morning to ride to Machu Picchu.  Again I am pleasantly surprised by the organization of Percy and the tour, because at 5:10am (Feb. 17th) a skinny Cusceno, named Maguum picks me up and we head to the center to get two more travelers.  They are an older couple from Chile and due to the early hour, no one talks for about the first 30mins... But I finally brake the ice by asking if i can turn up the radio.  Maguum was bumping some good typical music and I wanted to hear. I was a mix of the region music popularized with cumbia. I love cumbia and with a cusceno beat,it was great.  So we pass through the rolling hills and mountain sides of the valle sagrado... in the higher elevation they cultivate papas and once in the valley one starts to see the variety of crops, corn, strawberries,apples, melons, carrotts, tunas (catus fruit.  in Mexico they eat the nopals and the fruit is used more for salsas due to its b...

Ok.. so all is planned.. the guide for the Valle Sagrado will meet me at the house at 7am.  She meets me, takes me across the street and two seconds later a bus picks me up, we head in to the center and wait for our guide and the rest of the tourists.  But Im in shock.. How slick was that? Seriously the timing could not have been better...  But the plan for the day is to take the tour of the Valle Sagrado, the Incans life source.  This is where most of their food supply came from, including over 3400+ different types of papas and I dont even know how many different types of corn they got, but lets just say this is where everything grows.  It is pretty inpressive.  SO the tour is planned and since lunch is included I didnt even think about bring money.... and guess what?  First stop... an artisian market. and Guess what?.. In Jan 2010 when Peru had an earthquake... many many people in the Valle Sagrado lost not only their houses, but their lives, and th...