To Arequipa

For this post, I will be writing purely from memory since I didn't get a chance to record this part of our trip in my journal.

So the day after our visit to the restaurant Fallen Angel, we boarded a bus early in the morning headed to Arequipa, Peru's second largest city, about 9 hours from Cuzco. We opted for the day bus because otherwise we would have had to leave the night before, and we had laundry from our Machu Picchu trip to do! Have I mentioned that we line-dried all of our clothing while we were in Peru? Also, that it barely broke into the 60s made for a long process of washing our clothes.

While we weren't excited for a day-long bus ride, we were certainly not prepared for the actual bus. It was similar to the Badger Bus from Milwaukee to Madison, only the seats were closer together which meant we had less leg room. Travis and I sat together, across the aisle from Katie and Derek. Marla had things to do so she didn't come on this trip with us.

We passed a parade! There seems to be a parade every other day in Peru. I'm not sure what this one was celebrating, but there were lots of feathered hats!

Some Llamas/Alpacas hanging out in a field in the middle of nowhere.

Some mountains we got to know on this trip. I think the one in the center is Misti, the backdrop to Arequipa. We were still quite far away when this photo was taken, but that was where we were headed!

About two hours into our trip, the "Lunch Lady" boarded the bus. Instead of offering on-route dining (a la airplanes), the day buses opt for individual vendors who are picked up at certain locations and come bearing local treats. And I use the word "treats" incredibly lightly. The Lunch Lady and her male partner went up and down the aisle, asking if we would like to buy whatever she cooked up that day. And I will never know what she cooked that day, but I pray to God I never smell it again.

She came bearing a big bag full of smaller bags that contained some sort of blackened food item. If I were to take a guess, I would say it was chicken or fish. Rancid chicken or fish. It smelled like a rotting carcass had been brought onto the bus, and the stench wafted up and down the aisle as she solicited her goods to (if you can believe it) willing victims. The stench was so foul, it turned my stomach and left us both desiring a good vomit. The worst part of this whole scenario was not that we couldn't open the window, but that the lady stayed on the bus. For three hours. Three whole hours with her stinky suspiciously black food.

On the other hand, Derek said it smelled good. It must have been our poorly trained American stomachs...

The rest of the bus ride was uneventful. They played an old movie (in Spanish), Little Man, and then we were treated to a Peruvian Idol type show, where performers sang, danced, dressed in drag and performed duets by dressing either side of their body as the artists who performed the songs originally. It was mildly entertaining, but the co-driver forgot to take out the DVD, so we were treated to an hour of the DVD home screen music playing over and over.

Eventually, we made it to Arequipa. Unfortunately, we didn't see someone holding up a sign with our names on it as we exited the bus. After wandering around for 20 minutes at the station, I was stopped by a woman asking if I was Kimberly, and our ride was found. They took us to our hotel, and we were excited to take a nice hot shower after a long day on the smelly bus. Unfortunately, Peru is still a third world country, and we ended up taking a freezing cold shower instead. At least we were clean.

That night, we went out to the Plaza des Armas and got some "American" food: Burger King and Pizza Hut with ice cream cones from BK. It was nice to have something somewhat familiar after having so much Peruvian food. However, these restaurants had their own Peruvian flair (they have different cheese down there, which was noticeable in the pizza) and their portion sizes are much more realistic. I ordered a "medium" from BK, and it was the size of an American small.

Plaza des Armas at night

Enjoying his cone!

One of the most European structures I had yet seen in Peru! The whole square was very European in style. In front of this government building you can see some people protesting. I think we saw a protest at least once a week.

The next morning we got up at 3 am and were picked up for a three hour van ride to Colca Canyon...

Fallen Angel

"We took the train back from Machu Picchu  that evening and saw more mountains along the way.

On Monday (the next day), we 'relaxed' and did laundry. We went to a fun, artsy restaurant known as Fallen Angel, and I took lots of photos. It was Chrissy's last night, so everyone went out, but I wasn't feeling well so I went to bed early.

Each room had a theme of sorts, and the bathrooms were especially neat: in the women's the walls were covered with cracked/shattered mirrors and blue lighting, and the men's had red lights with black walls covered in barbed wire. They had a sort of angel/devil or heaven/hell feel to them.

Some of the artwork

I ordered a steak with potatoes and vegetables...it was incredible!

Chrissy had a fancy cuy (guinea pig) dish.

Our table was an old bathtub turned aquarium with a glass top.

In the courtyard

There were guest rooms upstairs that Katie and I sneaked into, very lavish!

Early the next morning, we got on a bus to Ariquipa, the second largest city in Peru."

Machu Picchu!

Here is the much-awaited post about Machu Picchu!

Saturday, June 2

we  went to MP approximately one week prior to this entry

"Haven't had time to write, we've been so busy  and I've not felt up to writing. I am currently swinging in a hammock in the jungle on the Peruvian border, 12 hours away from Machu Picchu.

SO, Travis, Katie and Derek trekked up the 1000+ stairs, while Marla, Chrissy and I took the bus with Anna at around 6 am. The sun was just peeking over the mountains when we got to the 'top'.

The site was fantastic, much of it has been rebuilt, some remains from the Inca days, and other sections remain crumbling ruins. Unfortunately for me, there was still a lot of 'up' to go once we got off the bus. We stopped for a photo op, then climbed some more and met the Machu Picchu llamas.

Sweaty from their hike up!

We are here at the crack of dawn, but there are already hundreds of people up here! We went down by lunchtime, and the place was PACKED.

Wilian gave us a brief introduction to the site. We learned that the site was 'discovered' by Hiram Bingham, a researcher from Yale, in 1912. The site was known to locals far before this, but he is credited with bringing it to the world. He took almost all of the artifacts he found here to the U.S., and as of today Peru only has 5% of the artifacts from the site :("

The ditch next to the path people are walking on here is a sort of divider- to the right were farming terraces, and to the left was "town"

Some of the farming terraces used at the site. Each level would harvest different crops because they are at different elevations and allowed for greater food diversity!

The shadow seen here viewed in conjunction with the carved stone is the Inca Cross, which represents so many things in Inca culture.  Here is the wiki page about the Inca Cross for more info. The shadow we see is a technique the Inca used all over Machu Picchu, and often held important significance for their astrological calendar. When a shadow fell precisely over one of these well-placed stones, it was a day or time for a ritual or event in Inca culture.

Those are more agricultural terraces behind us!

This central plaza supposedly has great acoustics, so this is where great speeches and announcements were made. 

Turn your head to the side- do these mountains look like a face to you? It is supposed to be the Inca Face.

The site is incredibly complex, with buildings worked into the hillside. There are at least 4 important temples, as well as buildings used as schools, homes, and workshops.

An example of how the Inca worked with the mountain, didn't fight against it, with their architecture. 

Those colored splotches up there are tourists! This should give you some idea of how large the site is!

These are thought to be reflecting pools- they would reflect the stars at night for astrological and mythological purposes.

Another example of how the Inca built with the landscape, and also of their stone-working skills. The sharp edges and  precise fit of the stones are characteristic of Inca architecture.

Inside this enclave there were mummies of Inca elite, adorned in gold. The mummies were removed by Bingham. This area may have been used as a temporary storage for bodies before their ultimate burial.