Good bye Peru!

Our last days in Peru had to do something with sun burns and lots of clouds. You guessed it! In 4 days we had only 3 hours of sun. We spent 2 of them on the beach and got serious sun burns. Rest of the time we spent complaining and trying to cure the damaged skin.

 

We went to Mancora after Trujillo and got there at 5 o'clock in the morning. The bus left us in front of a club full of drunk europeans. That is how we discovered Mancora was a  village for europeans looking for exotic beaches and argentinians looking for some surfing places as their country is in winter season.

 

We camped in a Hostelling International hostel's yard and rushed to the beach. There we spent 2 hours in the sun.

As the sun decided to hide for the next 4 days, we continued our jurney the following day to Tumbes. There we realized that prices are starting to rise, I guess it was the sign we were getting closer to Ecuador.

 

Yesterday we took a tour in Perto Pizarro's reservation of 'mangalares'. A species of tree that grows in the shallow waters of the port or close to some small islands. In one of the islands we saw a big colony of 'tijeretas', black birds with red neck (males) that made funny noises and would fill their throat with air to atract females.

Next best thing about Tumbes is how it helped Borja realize his new calling is the fantastic world of the 'artesanos'. He decided to make a test so we bought some materials for a bracelet.

This morning, after spending the night camping on a beach in Zorritos, near a marine settlement, he completed his first work an decided it's not boring!! We will buy more prime materials, and will spend the rest of our lives travelling around the world with the money Borja will gain from selling his creations. He still has to work on the quality a little bit, as the first bracelet was almost destroyed after half an hour due to some blows while we were packing.

We now bought our tickets to our next destination, Guayaquil, Ecuador. As I said, do not expect us home this year. We are slowly converting ourselves in craftsmen. Want to buy some?

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Así como "no todo lo que brilla es oro", no todo perro sin pelo, es un perro sin pelo del Perú.

 
Seguimos nuestro camino por el norte del Perú. Pero una cosa me está dejando intranquilo en estas ultimas fechas. Llevo casi mes y medio en este país y no llego a comprender a sus pobladores.
 
Si me dijeses que describiera al peruano medio: El peruano es un ser vendedor por excelencia. Por venderte, te venderían a su madre haciendote un buen precio (expresión que recibe el descuento). Por vender, los distintos gobiernos han vendido gran parte de sus recursos (como la explotación de Machu Pichu), hipotecando el país. Sin quejas, sólo unos pobres profesores se quejan porque quieren cobrar 30 soles mas (7,5 euros...). Por no quejarse no se quejan ni de sus carreteras sin asfaltar, ni de la inmensa cantidad de vendedores ambulantes (y la mayoría no vende artesanía...) o de la charla mayoritariamente falsa que dan los vendedores de plantas medicinales en el bus cuando tu te quieres echar una cabezadita.
 
Si me dijeses que describiese su política: su presidente es un delincuente que en su anterior mandato robó y dejó al país en una crisis económica enorme con tasas de inflación de más del 2000%. El ídolo político del pueblo es Fujimori, el que arregló el desarreglo de Alan Garcia (actual presidente) y terminó con el narcotráfico, pero que tuvo que salir del país debido a que también robó de las arcas del estado. ¿Pero como su odiado presidente es presidente y su amado ex-presidente tiene que irse a Japón para seguir su carrera política (si le dejan)?
 
Si me dijeses que describiese sus recursos: Perú es un país riquisimo. Todo su territorio está inundado de bosques, ríos, tiene petróleo, gas, minerales, y atracción turística con sus ruinas, playas, selva, etc. Aún así la gente no cuida lo que tiene. Uno de las cosas que más me ha sorprendido del viaje ha sido la diferencia entre la parte boliviana del Lago Titicaca, limpia y respetuosa con el medio ambiente y sus antepasados; y el lado peruano, sucio y muy explotado.
 
Aquí, solo oigo quejas sobre la conquista española de Sudamérica y como destruyeron la civilización inca (y ni se dignan en aprender el Quechua), mientras que no se fijan en que los propios incas hicieron lo mismo con Chimús, Mochicas o Chachapoyas.
 
Por cierto, y volviendo a la descripción de nuestro viaje, en esta última semana hemos estado visitando ruinas de estas 3 civilizaciones pre-incas. Las ruinas del Señor de Sipán en Chiclayo, pertenecientes a los mochicas, son tres huacas o pirámides de adobe consideradas un importante hito en la arqueología del continente americano, porque por primera vez se halló intacto y sin huellas de saqueos, un entierro real de una civilización peruana anterior a los Incas. Están todavía cubiertas casi en su totalidad y siguen descubriendo tumbas como la del Señor de Sipan, el viejo Señor de Sipan y el sacerdote. En nuestra visita al sitio vimos a los arqueologos trabajando y sacando piezas de una de las nuevas tumbas descubiertas.
 
Más tarde, visitamos en Trujillo las ruinas de los chimu (el pueblo más extenso que sucumbió ante la invasión inca), "jang-jang", que en lengua Chimú significa sol-sol; luego rebautizada por los conquistadores como Chan-Chan. Es la ciudad de barro más grande de toda América y la segunda del mundo. Sus frisos en las paredes en formas de peces, pelicanos, redes de pescar, etc hace del sitio un bonito lugar. Alli conocimos al perro más feo del mundo, el Viringo, el perro sin pelo del perú. 
 
 

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Chapter 100: the viking ruins

I am coming back with more boring adventures of our trip. This time we reached Chachapoyas, a nice town, that had some ruins of course. A lost ciudadell high on one mountain called Cuelape. It belonged to a lost civilization of white and tall people that according to some theories were vikings.

 

We took a tour as we thought it was easier this way. A minivan that contained one family of 9 members (children, aunts, uncles, etc) and us. Each and one of them were incredibly ugly and impertinent, we had a horrible time with them. Lucky us that the guide was a nice guy and the ruins worth while.

 

This civilization was conquered by the incas in their last years of survival. It was a difficult task as the chachapoyans were a nation of warriors. In their fight, the local nation pacted a treaty with the Spanish and promissed to help them in their war against the incas. When the Spanish obtained the victory, forgot all about their pact and destroyed the chachapoyans too. Nice Spanish conquistadors...

 

The chachapoyans were anyway decimated by a fatal desease that reduced their number from 500,000 to only 10,000. This way they put aside their plans of enlarging the ciudadell and were easier to conquer by the Incas or Spanish.

 

The most interesting fact about the ruins where the way the houses were built: round shape, the tall walls (some of the walls as high as 20 m), and at last but not less interesting, the way they burried their deads (within the walls of their city). We actually saw the bones and took photos too. At the time we were there they were doing some studies in the sacrifice area. They found in a big bowl remains of sacrificed plants, animals and humans (the humans were sacrificed by the incas).  

 

To conclude, the ruins really worth the visit if you go there with a guide. Experts are still working on recovering the site as most of the houses are still under the thick vegetation that gave the place a mystical flavour. 

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El niño que fue regalado

 
El barco llega a lo lejos y Luiza ondea la tela blanca que uno de los niños que miraban atónitos le había dejado para señalizar que queríamos subir. La miraban como si la visita de los pieles blancas no fuera nada habitual, boquiabiertos, mudos.
 
Ya no eramos los "gringos" que bajaron en este mismo pueblo unos días atrás y habian sido la sensación de pobladores y viajeros debido a las caidas, perdidas de chancletas y decoloración de pantalones a colores de la gama de los marrones.
 
Atrás queda nuestra más que interesante visita a la selva amazonica y por delante un largo viaje en barco hasta Yurimaguas (60 horas en total/48 desde ese punto). No mucho ha cambiado desde nuestra salida de Iquitos. En vez de estar en el Eduardo I estamos en el IV un barco un poco más limpio y nuevo. Pero nosotros seguimos yendo en el piso más barato rodeados de hamacas que crecen como si fuese una nueva especie de planta desde el techo para ocupar casi todo el suelo.
 
A los lados no deja de verse la poblada selva con su verde que contrasta con el marrón de las aguas, el colorido de sus pocos pueblos, el azul de los cielos y el intenso rojo del cielo en el momento en que el sol intenta ocultarse tras los negros arboles del horizonte.
 
Sin embargo, estar en un sitio tan pequeño a pesar de las delicias de lo que te rodea es aburrido por lo que empiezas muchas conversaciones. Una que nos impactó mucho fue la que iniciamos con un hombre que nos dijo que el chico de 7 años que le acompañaba se lo habían regalado 8 días antes. El hombre parecía tener buena voluntad y hablaba de educarlo como a su propio hijo. Espero que todo vaya bien niño. De todo corazón.
 
Os animo a leer el post anterior que ha sido escrito el mismo dia que este (demasiados dias perdidos...) y a ver las fotos que hemos sacado en la selva. 

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The real jungle adventure and how Borja ate Oscar

You will now read about the most adventurous of our actions during this trip. That is because we went to a place that no guide book ever mentioned and all this just to save a few money!

 

We heard about an amazonian jungle reservation that could be visited. But we would be on our own. So we dared to descend the safety of the boat to Yurimaguas after 160 km down the Amazon and the Marañon rivers, in a tiny village called San Pablo. From there we took another boat to cross the river to the other side. Getting in that second boat was what scared us the most. Borja with his white pants got stuck in the mud and myself fell on the slippery ground almost into the river. From that moment we started to somehow regret our decision and call eachother crazy.

 

But we relaxed a little bit as we arrived to the reservation's entrance (Pacaya - Samiria): they had there a parabolic antenna (great! there is civilization here after all!!) and the person in charge explained us about their projects. Like how to protect the turtles by taking care of their eggs and how to pick up the aguaje fruits directly from the tree instead of cutting them down first (the trees were safe now).

 

Next we went to the '20 de enero' village where we were told we could hire a guide to show us the jungle. That's how we met Augustin, father of 10, that after a few discussions accepted to be our guide. We were supposed to sleep in his suspended house, in the first terrace, where we put our hammoc and tent. That's how my days of eating the same started (eggs, of course, they did not have anything else that wasn't fish for me) and that's how Borja's days of best meals started (fish freshly caught from the river).

 

We took our first walk through the jungle with lots of explanations from Augustin's side. We saw loads of ants, monkeys, weird trees, butterflies, and all sorts of birds. We slowly started to calm down and realize we did a good and courageous thing coming there on our own. That the only danger we were facing were the horrible and numerous mosquitos.

 

In the afternoon we visited the village (really small, only 300 people formed of families each with an average of 10 children). We were actually followed in everything that we did in the village by Augustin's youngest daughters Daniela, Soledad and Eugenia. Every question that we were asking them was answered with just a shy laugh. That was all the answer we were getting.

 

At night, in spite of all the protection against them, we suffered the attacks of various groups of mosquitos. I almost suffocated in the tent trying to avoid them, and Borja chose to directly confront them in his hammoc with the terrorist hat on his head.

 

The second day we went fishing in a small boat made of one tree. The river was full of fish jumping around or just resting near the banks. Augustin was fishing with his small harpoon. He could guess where the fish where hiding and to our surprise was catching loads of them. I did not want to participate into this cruel sport, but Borja was really enjoying himself. They caught a really nice big fish called Oscar. It had orange spots on it and I thought he was really stupid for allowing himself to get killed like that. Anyway, at the end of the fishing trip Borja took the lead and was killing more and more fish with the harpoon. I decided to just admire the views and the tranquility, spot the pink river dolphins that were jumping around us and hate fishermen in general. Borja enjoyed eating Oscar later that day. He said it tasted exquisitly...

 

Just as we returned home, the rain started. It was pouring incredible quantities of water, but only for one hour, so that we could take advantage of the time left until the end of the day. We went visiting another near by village, half an hour of walking through a muddy road. Nothing to see, really, except for the place where the villagers were keeping the turtle eggs waiting for them to hatch. As we were planning to return home, the rain started again so that we had to stop in the house of one villager. In one terrace-like house with legs (for the flodding season) lived a family of 7 children. They had absolutely nothing in there except some covers to sleep on at night, a few clothes, a place where they were cooking and some dry fish. I started wondering what that life feels like, with almost no earthly possesions. I am sure I could not make it. I would at least need a proper shower with normal water, other than the river yellowish one and a decent WC.Not the forrest!!!

 

That night, I assisted to the 'Fiesta patria' that the kids prepared for the national day, 28 of July. Really nice dances, jokes, theatrical interpretation of some female hero's execution, a teacher's dedicated song to the country and much more. It was funny, because lots of impredictible things were happening like a dog coming in to eat the false blood the kids used for the asassination of the hero, a dancer's tight costume fell apart, etc. and also emotional because I was part of the public, accepted to their small festivity, a private thing, not for tourists' eyes, but for the parents only.

 

Our last day, we went on another boat trip to a some what hidden lake where some ancient very large birds lived. They were making a wolf-like sound and apparently were really scared of people. Drank water from a liana and admired the fauna that remains an incredible place for us (spotted a slot high on a tree). So much tranquility not spoiled by any modern touch makes you pray to stay like that for ever. For the people never to wish for more and be happy with what they have. But that never happend so far...

 

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El futbol en el amazonas

"Resumiendo, solo un numero reducido de zonas del mundo desarrollaron la producción de alimentos de manera independiente, y lo hicieron en epocas muy diferentes. A partir de estas zonas nucleares, los cazadores-recolectores de algunas zonas vecinas aprendieron la producción de alimentos, y los pueblos de otras zonas vecinas fueron sustituidos por productores de alimentos invasores procedentes de las zonas nucleares. Finalmente, algunos pueblos de zonas ecológicamente aptas para la produccion de alimentos no desarrollaron la agricultura en la epoca prehistórica; siguieron siendo cazadores-recolectores hasta que el mundo moderno acabó con ellos. (...)". Jared Diamond: Armas, Germenes y Acero 1997 (Premio Pulitzer 1998).
 
Y eso es lo que ha sucedido en este lugar, Iquitos; que el mundo acabó con ellos. Desde un paseo de la ciudad llamado el Malecón, se divisa a lo lejos el gran "bosque" del amazonas y varios afluentes del mismo entre esos arboles y nosotros, una ciudad de más de 400.000 personas (no entiendo como puede vivir tanta gente aquí con este calor y esta humedad) con su monstruoso ruido y actividad despertando tempranamente hasta al mismísimo perezoso.
 
Pero Iquitos a pesar de ser una urbe que nos recuerda que el mundo moderno camina demasiado rápido, tiene su atractivo. Quitando lo que es el propio río Amazonas y su biodiversidad (en el próximo capítulo hablaremos sobre ello), el boom del caucho a finales del siglo XIX trajo a la zona muchísima riqueza representadas en las casas decoradas con baldosas o con la adquisición de una casa construida por Gustave Eiffel en París y hoy ubicada en la Plaza de Armas. Pero con el desuso del material y el excesivo aumento de la población también se presentaron la pobreza representada por las casas flotantes (que en época seca como la de ahora no son flotantes) y la zona de Belén con su a a la vez atractivo y horroroso mercado.
 
Iquitos es la ciudad más grande del mundo a la que no se puede llegar por carretera. Para llegar a cualquier punto de la geografía peruana desde Iquitos se ha de utilizar el avión, forma en la que llegamos; o el barco, forma en la que nos vamos a ir. Por ello y porque pasaremos unos días en la selva, no podremos contestar a vuestros mensajes en los próximos días...

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Be careful what you wish for... (too hot in here!!!)

I think the capital of Peru can only be nice if you have good company. We had the fortune to stay with Lucio and his family so that our stay in Lima was really nice.

We saw 2 museums (which makes a total of 6 museums we visited so far in South America): the museum of the Inquisition and San Francisco, the place where all the dead used to be burried (in the catacombs).

That same night, we had a little bit too much of pisco sour with Lucio, Leonor and her friend. In the morning I begun to feel really bad so that we spent all day doing almost nothing.

 

In total we spent 4 nights in Lima, saw all the comercial centers we could, ate in McDonnald´s, Pizza Hut, Mexican restaurant, Dunkin'Donuts, saw 3 movies: Harry Potter, Ocean's 13 and Apariciones, admired the beaches behind the cloud's cortine, played with Junior the dog and enjoyed the family to the max. Plus of course all the benefits from living in a real house again like preparing popcorn to see a movie on DVD.

 

Yesterday we arrived to Iquitos by plane. The weather is very very hot, we are sweating a lot and drinking plenty of water. Of course, we started taking the malaria pills and making plans for the following days.

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La Corriente de Humboldt rompe todos nuestros planes de playa

Mi amiga Wikipedia comenta: "Corre desde la isla de Chiloé (Chile) hacia el norte, pero principalmente a lo largo del litoral peruano provocando la anomalía térmica detectada por este naturalista, que consiste en una temperatura media de las aguas inusualmente baja para regiones de latitudes intertropicales y subtropicales. Esta inversión térmica tiene efectos que caracterizan el clima de las regiones litorales en contacto con la corriente: la alteración drástica del régimen subtropical de lluvias, creando una faja de arenales y desiertos costeros fríos, como el desierto de Atacama".

En el colegio me acuerdo que en geografía estudié que en las zonas situadas entre tropicos la temperatura anual resultaba bastante estable y que el tiempo de playa perduraba sin pausa. Pues eso, que esperando el buen tiempo y las horas de playa, nos hemos encontrado con una extensa (por lo menos 300 kms...) nube tipo londinense que ha echado nuestros planes al traste. Humboldt era un desgraciado tipo Murphy que sólo existió para molestar y para desastrar planes magníficos.

Por lo menos los lugares que visitamos eran interesantes sobre todo para el descanso. Paracas nuestra primera parada, es un pequeño pueblo costero cercano a Pisco y a una reserva natural. Su objetivo es puramente turistico y su principal atractivo es la Isla Ballesta (la cual no visitamos), denominada como "los Galapagos pobres de Perú".

Después visitamos Ica y más concretamente Huamachina, un oasis en el desierto entre altas dunas de arena. La leyenda cuenta que una princesa encontró el oasis y se empezó a bañar desnuda mirandose con un espejo de oro. Un cazador que pasó por el area la vió y la asustó. En la huida el espejo cayó, se rompió y causó un maleficio por el cual se convirtió en la charca, ella en una sirena que nos visita en días de luna llena y el cazador en un arbol.

El espejo de oro en algún momento se rompió otra vez ya que la antigua charca se secó y tuvieron que rehacerla artificialmente. Aun así es un lugar muy atractivo digno de visitar. Las vistas desde lo alto de las dunas dejan ver un extenso desierto de arena y sus laderas se llenan de sandborders (la mayoría que tienen menos idea que yo...).

Ahora nos encontramos en la capital, Lima, en casa de la familia de Lucio, un señor que conocimos en Moray (Cuzco). Una familia encantadora que me recuerda bastante a la casa de locos que tengo en España

Machu Picchu, devil´s contract with the incas, and our sufferings trying to avoid monopoly

We started our trip to Machu Picchu by bus, trying to avoid the incredibly expensive direct train. So we travelled during 8 hours to Santa Maria. Interesting trip as the road was badly damaged due to some mountain coming down and destroying part of it. But hey, that only happened to us, normally the road is just fine. From Santa Maria, we took another mini bus to Santa Teresa where we spent the night. And the next day, we walked to Aguas Calientes (closest village to Machu Picchu) during 5 hours. Crossed the Apurimac river not in a normal bridge but in a mobile one, admired the flora on the way and just enjoyed the trip. On the way we met a teenager from Aguas Calientes that told us about one possibility to get inside Machu Picchu without paying. I will not write about it in here, but anyone that would like to know about it we will be more than happy to share it a private email.

On the whole, we paid aprox. 13 euros (including the night we spent in Santa Teresa) for the trip, instead of more than 50 euros by train.

We really gave it a thought about entering for free to Machu Picchu, but in the end we bought the 30 euros ticket. As someone I know kept saying that you cannot visit Peru and miss Machu Picchu.

 

Machu Picchu - Machu Picchu --- what's all that fuss about it? So many people saw it, so many people thought it was great... well, I was expecting the worst. Don´t trust that much when something is just fashionable to see. 2000 - 2500 tourists every day, it's a lot for someone that doesn't like common places.

 

I could only say 'WOW' when I first saw MP and understood in a moment all the praises.

MP it's a hidden place on top of a mountain, sorrounded and protected by other fellow mountains. It's no wonder, the place is perfect for the unfinished inca temple that was supposed to be. Only for a few chosen ones, with lots of temples, energy rocks and water mirrors, full of symbols and mystery. It's high, but not exagerated: 2400m, well taken care of, even though it was done only 30% restauration work. Just behind the ruins, there is a steep mountain of 2700m (Waina Picchu) that the incas decided to make their observation point. It's hard work getting there, but the view is spectacular and different.

 

As I said before, the incas never got to finish this incredible place. Afraid of the Spanish conquistadors, they took off to other hidden places like Choquequirau, one of the last bastions. The american proffesor that descovered it later found it in an almost perfect state of conservation, a deserted town, with most of the sacred objects in its places.

One of the guards gave us an inside theory about what happened to the incas. It is said that they are still alive in some hidden, cursed vally and caves. People that have tried to get there, lost their way and never made it. Some sort of dizziness combined with unseen mazes leads them to different paths. Also the inca treasure that is said to be great and in incredible quantities is protected by the same devilish spell. There could only be found little remains that compared to the main treasure is nothing but sand.

 

In the end, MP is a mystical place if you allow it to be. You can come there with a group of friends, talk loud, disturd the others and not understand anything about the place. Tourists go there with different objectives as we could observe: some really looking to find the mystical thing in every rock, some looking for good pictures and some just following a fashion wave. It's strange though that even like that, all cathegories conclude it's a great place to see. 

 

I recommend it for the pictures, for the fashionable or for the mystical. But not for the way back!! That is another story that left us with bad memories and acking bones and muscles. We had to walk back from Aguas Calientes to Ollantaytambo more than 35km on the train rails. Partly due to the professors' strike that haven't received a raise in 5 years and were blocking all the routes and partly because we refused to participate in the money thirst of Peru Rail and the peruvian government. We thought it was a shame and embarassment and suffered for it too! But hey, no statement was ever made without a little bit of suffering!!!

 

To relax and recover our poor bodies we are heading today to the peruvian beaches, hope to relax under the sun and get some brown skin. Will let you know how it goes :) 

 

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Tributo a la Pachamama (Madre Tierra)

 
"Hoy día 5, ha sido el dia que más cerca me he encontrado de Dios. Más bien de Jesucristo y su pasión. Mirando hacia el polvoriento camino sin poder levantar la vista debido a la energía que podía desperdiciar o por la desilusión que siempre me entraba al ver el camino restante, mis pies avanzaban debido a la voluntad de luchar por algo. El sol pegaba en mi nuca con un poder antes no experimentado y yo era incapaz de derramar una sola gota de sudor, por lo menos no llegaban a mi camisa. Yo no llevaba la cruz de todos vosotros pecadores, pero llevaba mi propia cruz, unos kilos de más. Aquel puente en la lejanía era mi redención, mi paraiso, el momento en el que este interminable descenso terminaba y el ascenso comenzaba".
 
Este era mi pensamiento unos minutos antes de iniciar una ascensión en la que ascendimos 1500 metros en 6,5 kms, que creo que fue mi paso por el infierno por igualarme en este escrito con un ente religioso de tanta importancia, y unas horas después de que se nos perdiera la mula que llevaba todo el equipaje (por suerte nuestro guía Samuel la recuperó en algún pueblo cercano).
 
Menos mal que la Pachamama interpuso su gran conocimiento ante el mismo Dios y me entregó lo que yo buscaba, ese desierto se convirtió en selva y el final del camino borró todo gesto de dolor de nuestras caras. Las ruinas de Choquequirao se encontraban ante nosotros majestuosas.
 
"Estoy en la plaza central de Choquequirao, y a la única persona que veo es a Luiza. Estamos tirados en el verde con el ruido del viento y el río cómo unicos acompañantes. Se respira un aire tranquilizador que nos embriaga, que nos baña. El pequeño arbol del centro de la plaza representa perfectamente lo que son estas ruinas. Él crece hermoso, colorido y con ese afán de vivir que sólo los más grandes poseen.
 
Viendo estas piedras sólo pienso en la oportunidad que se perdió por avaricia. La oportunidad de conocer a un pueblo muy desarrollado espiritualmente que hubiese aportado muchas cosas diferentes al afán de destrucción europeo o al capitalismo que reinará. Sólo pienso en aquellos incas que vivieron aquí y que eran capaces de sentir todos los días lo que yo siento ahora mismo: tranquilidad espiritual, devoción por lo que me rodea y gratitud".
 

Choquequirau, asentamiento inca ubicado sobre el río Apurímac, encierra un simbolismo particularmente significativo. Para los pobladores de su región representa el último bastión de resistencia indígena durante la conquista; para los viajeros extanjeros del siglo XIX era parada obligatoria, a pesar de la enorme dificultad de acceso; y para la flora y fauna del área es un santuario que alberga a diversas especies en vías de extinción. En la actualidad estas formidables ruinas reciben alrededor de 6000 visitas por año (los guias están dentro de este número), muy lejos de la nueva maravilla de la humanidad, Machu Pichu, que recibe entre 2000 y 2800 visitas diarias.

 

Después de 64 kms en 3 días, de bajar desde los 2900 hasta los 1500, de subir desde los 1500 hasta Choquequirao a 3100, y de realizar estas subidas y bajadas en sentido inverso; llegamos a Cuzco con cara sonriente. Habíamos resistido, primero al ataque de la muerte, luego al ataque de la voluntad y más tarde al ataque de nuestra falta de energía y habíamos terminado ganando. Habíamos visto una parte de la cultura inca que no muchos han visto (aunque lo verán porque se hará más y más conocidas) y el esfuerzo mereció la pena. ¡Vaya que mereció la pena!

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Comercial center = a center full of comercials

Not too many adventures in Cuzco so far. But lots of plans :)

 

Cuzco is the most beautiful city we have ever seen in Peru. Loads of tourists and very high prices. That makes the streets look clean and the buildings in the center very nicely maintained. Going shopping here is a drag. Everybody is calling you to their shop and it gets you really tired in the end.

 

We are located in an excellent hostal called 'La Estrellita'. Very friendly owners, central and cheap. Also they have a notebook where tourists have put down their tricks on how to avoid paying all the enormous entrance prices to all the monuments or the train ticket to Machu Picchu. Some colombian girls even made it to Machu Picchu without paying the 40 $ entrance. Now that is something!!

 

So far we visited the city, and some sorrounding ruins in Maray. Weird circle like fields where the incas used to grow plants. We actually had the fortune to meet one couple that was in the alternative farming and that explained to us loads of strange theories that had to do with the sun and the other 4 elements (water, wind, earth, fire). According to them, those ruins were nothing but an excellent use of those elements that produced with a 'cosmic orgasm' good, strond, quality, free of deseases seeds that were later used in the agriculture.

 

Today we entered for free in some inca ruins in Chocay (searched for an alternative entrance). It wasn't much, but it was a good practice as we are planning in entering without paying on other sites too.

 

For the following 5 days we have a different plan. We want to do a trek to Chockeckirau, some inca ruins very much like the Machu Pichu. Only that these ruins were discovered a short time ago and the access route is by walking only. We are supposed to hire a guide and a donkey to carry our stuff. The trek will only last for 3 days, but we need 2 more to get to Cachora (nearby village) and come back. We are really looking forward to reaching those ruins, as the inca trail to Machu Picchu is completely booked until september. So this is the next best thing!

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"Los perros lloran porque nosotros evolucionamos" - Cartel publicitario Peruano

 
Nuestros pasos y nuestros malos sextos sentidos nos llevaron a la zona del río Colca. Esta es una zona preciosa con un valle con numerosas explotaciones agropecuarias de estilo inca (en terrazas) y pre-inca (en el llano) que dan un toque de color al mismo. Desde el marrón más oscuro hasta un verde llamativo pasando por todos los colores pardos imaginables.
 
De todas formas, esta región no es conocida por las excelentes vistas del valle, sino por el cañón que más allá se va desarrollando por la acción del río. Un cañón que tiene un desnivel de 3400 metros, lo que quiere decir que dobla la altura del afamado Cañón del Colorado.
 
Allí, en ese lugar recondito de la tierra, habita una de las aves más grandes de nuestros tiempos, el condor. Elegante en el vuelo los primeros condores que salieron de sus nidos, buscaban las corrientes de aires calientes para salir del cañón y buscar carroña por los alrededores. Mientras realizaban numerosos giros en circulo por debajo de nosotros, la guía nos dió una serie de explicaciones curiosas sobre el animal y su simbolismo social.
 
En una tradición que viene desde la tan desarrollada sociedad inca, el condor es imagen de lo espiritual y el toro de la tierra. Para observar lo que pasará en el siguiente año, el condor es atado en la espalda del toro para expresar la lucha entre lo espiritual y lo carnal. Y por supuesto lo que se ve es una lucha. El toro quiere expulsar al condor de su lomo, con rápidas carreras y saltos; y el condor quiere conseguir lo mismo mediante picotazos y aleteando sin parar. La lucha termina con la muerte de uno de los dos animales, habitualmente el condor.
 
Otras aves vuelan entre ellos, como pequeños halcones; pero sus 3 metros de envergadura no pasan desapercibidos en el cañón. Por cierto, ¿sabeis que algún tipo muy culto preguntó si los condores eran capaces de elevar a las personas al más puro estilo señor de los anillos?
 
Ahora mismo nos encontramos en Cuzco (¿porque los peruanos lo escriben con S?). Esta parte se la dejaré a Luiza para que lo explique. Sólo quiero decir dos cosas, es una ciudad muy bonita donde no me importaría parar un tiempo. Todo se verá.
 
PD: Los Cañones del Colca es un lugar muy interesante para la visita, pero eligiendo el tour correcto. Nosotros elegimos el tour de dos días, casi todo en camioneta, mucho tiempo dentro de ella y demasiado tiempo libre sin nada que hacer. Recomendamos fervientemente el tour de 3 dias con trecks dentro del cañón. Sin ninguna duda será mejor que éste. 
 
 

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A few days ago we crossed the border to Peru. Wanted to check out the other side of Lake Titicaca. Incredibly as it might sound, on the peruvian side the lake is dirtyer. Garbage, old boats, loads of algaes...

 

The most interesting and one of the most particular sites we have ever seen were the Ouro's islands. Some artificial islands, constructed with the help of a floating plant that is used as the floor of the islands. The villigers have to change the floor every week, otherwise the plant will roat and the island would disappear. It's funny because whenever there is a big storm, they can wake up in a different side of the lake. It takes up to 3 days to get back 'home'.

Each island had around 40 ocupants, not bigger than a parking space in front of one building. The Ouros thought about this form of life when the mean Spanish conquistadors came to their natural territory. Afraid that they might get killed or suffer in vain, they retraited themselves to these man made islands.

 

Men would go fishing all day, and women of course would stay home and watch the children, prepare food and knit carpets, clothes etc. for the visitant tourists. The same calm atmosphere as on the Sun Island. Probably the sunny weather and the lack of cars and streets would contribute to the tranquility of the place. Nowadays though, just like in any other traditional place, most of the children decide to stay in the big cities inland. So that the population of the weird islands is decreasing every year.

 

What did we like best? The boat ride we had (in a traditional hand made boat), the little ibis chicken that ate meat to grow up and of course the observation towers each island had. The view from up there is spectacular, it's an image you never would belive it could exist. Definitely one of the strangest places to live we met so far.

 

Our next destination was Arequipa, the second larges city in Peru. We were fortunate enough to find a beautiful cheap hostel with internet and TV, just in the center of the city. 

Everything seemed more expensive after Bolivia and we have to get used to the high prices again. Also, we receive more quality for everything so I suppose the exchange is fair.

 

We've decided to relax on my birthday, take it slow, eat a lot and watch some TV. Also the America's cup has started which makes Borja really happy and interested. I get bored after 3 minutes and usually fall asleep. But hey, at least he gets to see those incredibly long football matches.  (beah!!!)

 

Have to thank here for all the 'happy birthdays I've received from friends and family. Also for the 4 very useful presents I've received. Even though I will have to carry more weight from now on :(

 

Well, right now we are on our second tour in Peru, visiting the Colca canyon. They say it is double in height than the Colorado canyon and it's the second highest in the world. Did not see the canyon yet, we will get there tomorrow. Today we've just arrived in the high altiplan again and spent a nice evening in a restaurant with a local band playing music and some traditional dancers.

 

By the way, we are going to see condors!!

 

 

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La multi ani Luiza!!!!!!! Feliz Cumpleaños!!!!!! Happy Birthday!!!!!!!!!!