Trip To Peru - Day 14

Day 14, July 8, 2011

Didn’t sleep very well last night.  Carl is still fighting a cold and it seemed like he was up a lot during the night.  We were up at 4:30 am in order to be ready for a 6:30 am departure to Juliaca for our flight to Lima with a stop in Cusco.  We said goodbye to Lake Titicaca during the sun rise!

We arrived without incident and headed to our day hotel, the Juan Carlos.  We dropped our stuff and headed to town to find some lunch at a supermarket.  We settled on chicken empanadas and Boris bought everyone one of the butter cookies that we liked so much for a sweet dessert.  Don and Sue decided to walk back to the hotel while the rest of us walked several blocks to Boris’ favorite mall.  It was underground with all of the favorite mall eateries – KFC, TGIFriday’s, Bembos, Pizza places plus some pretty upscale clothing and jewelry stores.  This mall was quite a contrast from where we had been yesterday.  We arrived back at the hotel with an hour or so to rest before putting our bags out for our departure.  Boris wanted to show us the Barraco district, an area that many artists, musicians, writers, etc live and work.  We walked over the Bridge of Sighs and made a wish.  We walked to the town square and looked into the church where they were having Friday night mass – very few in attendance.
Found our van and were transported to the Costa Verde for our farewell dinner.  I had my first salad since being in Peru for my starter.  My entrée was shredded chicken in Peruvian sauce with rice and ice cream for dessert.  After dinner Boris took us straight to the airport.  We had some initial trouble when we arrived.  We were told that our flight was full and that we would need to take their offer of credit.  I told them that we had to get home and that we had reservations, blah, blah, blah.  They finally agreed and gave us boarding passes.  Our flight to SF was to leave at 12:55 am and Connie and Jan’s was to leave at 1:10 am to LAX.  As it turned out they left on time but our flight was delayed and we didn’t leave until 2 am.  We did arrive in time to make our connecting flight to Seattle but they were boarding when we arrived at the gate so we didn’t make it by much.  We arrived back in Seattle at 1:30 pm and took a taxi to Kari’s home where we had left our car.  Home Sweet Home!

There was something so special about being able to take this kind of trip.  OAT was a fabulous tour company and I would travel with them again in a minute.  We were shown so many extra things that I don’t think most travel companies offer.  We had a small group experience that was outstanding and we had the chance to travel with such dear friends.  We had tour leaders who were really passionate about their country and represented it well.  Did we get tired of all the requests for purchasing handcrafts - YES.  But did we understand that this is the sole income of so many and that they are trying hard to make ends meet even if it is by this means – YES  Our eyes were opened by the poverty of this country and by the blessings and over abundance of our own country.  We had such wonderful opportunities to interact with the people on this trip.  We weren’t just passersby looking and moving on.  We had a wonderful chance to meet the school children and be at their school and see what the living conditions were like in more than one home.  We had the opportunity to get caught up in the excitement of a parade.  We saw the excitement in the school boys' faces as they confidently stepped up to the microphone on the bus and sang us their songs.  We had the opportunity to taste all of the different foods that these people enjoy.   We had the opportunity to experience Machu Picchu in all its glory and mystery not just one day but two days – once in sun and once in fog!  We had the opportunity to visit with people who are living the way they did 500 years ago on floating islands.  We took over 1300 pictures and have whittled them down (cutting out the duplicates) to 700.  What you've seen is just a taste of this country.  It was beautiful, majestic, rich in culture, and people.  The people are what made the trip so special.  Ruins are ruins and they were very interesting but what attracted us always were the people.  Their joy, their giving, their humor, their creativness, their smiles and their pride in their ancestry.  It was a trip of a lifetime and we felt so blessed that we were able to go. 

Trip To Peru - Day 13

Day  13, July 7, 2011

We depart the hotel by 8:30 am on our way to the pre-Inca ruins of Sillustani.  Before we get very far however, we have a “Discovery”.  We hop off the van and see an older couple near the roadway on the ground with stacks of reeds.  They are making mattresses.  Together they lay the reeds back and forth and tie them securely with rope.  They have cut enough reeds from the shallow area of the lake where they grow so profusely for about 30 mattresses.  They will be able to make eight today and be able to sell them in the market place for 12 soles ($4 US) each.  They will last about 2 years before needing to be replaced.

  There is some land in strips behind them and when we ask them if they own this land the man tells us that he does but there isn’t enough land to grow enough food to live on and sell.  When a father has a piece of land and dies it goes to his children. The land obviously has to be divided among them so pieces of land continue to get smaller.  The government has tried to get people to have fewer children since this has become such a problem.  Boris gives them a sol or two for talking to us about their work.

Back on the van we continued toward our destination – Temple of the Dead.  On the way up the hill to the site we see....

Part way up we take a breather.....

Sillustani is a pre-Incan burial ground on the shores of Lake Umayo near Puno in Peru. The tombs, which are built above ground in tower-like structures called chullpas, are the vestiges of the Colla people, Aymara who were conquered by the Inca in the 15th century. The structures housed the remains of complete family groups, although they were probably limited to nobility. Many of the tombs have been dynamited by grave robbers, while others were left unfinished^.  Ancestor worship and kinship were integral parts of Aymara culture, and the chullpas were built to emphasize the connection between life and death.  The insides of the tombs were shaped like a woman's uterus, and corpses were mummified in a fetal position to recreate their birth. Some of the tombs also have lizards carved into the stone. Because they could regrow their tails, lizards were considered a symbol of life. The only openings to the buildings face east, where it was believed the Sun was reborn by Mother Earth each day.

The view from the top of the hill is beautiful and we took lots of pictures here.

After leaving these ruins we hadn’t gone very far again when Silvia asked our van driver to stop.  We had stopped in front of a family’s home.  The homes in this region are different in that they all are surrounded by a stone fence and a stone arched entrance.  A young woman met us in front of her house with her llamas.  She was very pregnant and told Silvia that she was due any day. 

 She invited us into the courtyard of her home and told us we were welcome to look inside her house and take pictures if we desired.  Her home is similar to others we have seen.  One bed in a small area with the reed mattress we saw the couple on the side of the road making covered with llama skins and heavy woven blankets. 

 There was a wooden strip of wood nailed into the wall where her clothes were hanging.  On the opposite side of the room was a table loaded with all of her handcrafts.  Cooking was done in the courtyard in a clay oven.  On a counter there were bowls of four different colored potatoes, quinoa, and cheese. 

They had a special enclosure for their guinea pigs and four chickens that came out of the house as we were going in. 

We thanked them and gave them a sol and headed toward Puno to eat lunch.

As we walked down a pedestrian only street in front of shops we noticed that all of the banks had broken windows and guards standing in front of them.  Silvia explained that the miners had damaged these windows during their protests last week.  All they had to fight with were rocks and mining tools – no guns.  We had a veggie pizza for lunch and coconut ice cream for dessert. 

Sue ordered a passion fruit mousse but since her stomach wasn't up to par, she passed around her dessert for all to try.  I thought it was delicious and reminded me of Kari and Nathan’s wedding cake.  We were trying to figure out how we could make it with the passion fruit syrup that Kari and Nathan had given me for Mother’s Day.  Maybe we could try to make passion fruit ice cream!!  After lunch Boris gave us some free time but we really were done with shopping so Sue, Don, Carl and I walked to the main square of Puno and sat on the steps to the church and people watched.  We have been so blessed with sunshine on this portion of our trip and it just felt good to sit in it and soak up the rays.  After checking out the front of the church to see the architecture that included the puma, condors and mermaids Boris said he had another “Discovery” for us.
 We left the square and headed to the trike line up.  He wanted us to try another mode of transportation so we all boarded the trikes which took us to a market several blocks away.  Trikes are a bicycle with a 2 wheeled seat that sits in front where the customers ride.  

The mall we went to sold knock offs for every brand you could imagine.  Everything there were reproductions of North Face, Nike, Rolex -  Jackets, watches, cameras, make-up, alcohol, candy, etc.  Everything you could imagine.  I guess Peru does a big business with this type of thing.  Some of the merchandise is smuggled in and some is made in factories here in Peru. We were finished here pretty quickly since none of us wanted to buy anything.  Silvia bought a bag of marshmallows.  She told us when she visited the US she had met some friends in Missouri who had made S’mores for her while they were out fishing and she just loved them!!
We are getting near the end of our adventure.  After dinner we watched the second of the videos Boris wanted us to see.  Another good one about the architecture of the Incas.  We had such a good time at Lake Titicaca and I will remember this place for a long time.  What a joy to be here and see such incredible beauty and meet such nice people.

Triip To Peru - Day 12

Day 12, July 6, 2011

While in Lake Titicaca we have a daily guide named, Silvia.  She is a descendent of the Quechua people (those we saw yesterday on Taquila Island).  Today we are seeing the Aymara people.  But first we head several blocks from our hotel to the very small ruins known as the Fertility Temple.  Inside the walls are bunches of concrete penes.  Some are upright with the heads skyward representing the present world, some are with the heads in the ground representing the underground world and the very large one is a symbol of the heavenly world.  Behind that one is the symbol for a woman.  Women  who had issues with getting pregnant would come to this temple and have a ceremony to bless their fertility.

It is difficult to see but this is an example of how they carry their Inca religion over into the Catholic faith.  The fertility symbol sits on top of the steeple!!

We headed out to a market to purchase some food for the community where we are going for lunch.  After looking for what she thinks she needs and can’t find, Silvia headed across the parking lot to a wholesale distributor and bought a 25 lb bag of penne pasta along with some coca leaves. 

 It was actually smuggled pasta from Bolivia from the same people we are traveling to see today!  For some reason prices in Bolivia are less than in Peru so many items are smuggled in.  We saw many businesses and several homes that had yellow gas containers sitting out front.  Silvia told us this was a sign that they sold smuggled gasoline at this location.  Bolivia may charge $2 per gal of gas while you have to pay $4 in Peru.  These people bring goods into Peru in order for their people to be able to live.  They must pay off the police since it is obvious what they are doing.

After traveling for a while down a dusty dirt road, Silvia yells out “Discovery”.  The bus was pulled over and we hopped off in a large field where we see several ladies dressed in their full traditional garb sitting on the ground surrounded by tarps full of potatoes.  Silvia tells us that they are preparing dehydrated potatoes.  First they have to be frozen and we’ve had temps at night below freezing so once they have been frozen, they are gathered in small piles and stepped on to squeeze out the extra moisture.  Then they are pealed and left to dry in the sun.  This process keeps them for hundreds of years.  All they have to do is place them in water to rehydrate them and they are good to go!  We give the ladies some of our sweet bread that we purchased at the local bakery a day or so ago.  They accept it by opening up their skirts – not using their hands.

Driving just a little further down the road our driver pulled over again to the side of the road and we look outside to a very steep hillside with red rock.  At the top is an archway.  This rock way is used as a footpath.  We see several people coming down or going up the path with burros loaded with hay/sticks.  We pass by a man guiding sheep.  This was an adventure! 

After making it to the top we took several pictures.  On the other side is Lake Titicaca!! 

As we gaze down the other side of the hill we can see women tending to their cattle, sheep or goats.  They sit with them while they are grazing and then they move them to another pasture area for a few more hours.  These people are living just as they have for many years.  Silvia said at lunch time some of the women will gather with each other and have a potluck of whatever they’ve brought for lunch that day.  Maybe be cooked potatoes or hard boiled eggs or bread.  Lake Titicaca is gleaming again today under the beautiful blue skies and sun.    With this view of the lake I stopped and asked Boris if many ex-pats lived in Peru.  He said no.  Then he said there was one man from Belgium who had come years ago to work with these particular people and had ended up staying.  He built a castle type house right on the lake and Boris later showed it to us and we took pictures of it.  He said the gentleman is well known in the area now and he is quite a philanthropist.  The question is how do you help these people but still help them maintain the uniqueness of their lives.  You can’t just show up and impose your western ways on people assuming that it is better.  These people are such a joy to watch.  They are so creative.  They have to work so hard just to survive – if they just had a boost.

Arriving by foot for lunch, we approach the little community of people we are about to meet. We’ve learned how to say hello in their language and since they love to shake hands, we proceed to shake hands and say hello.  They told us their names and wanted to know our names and what we did for a living.  One of the ladies was sitting on the ground tending a fire that she was getting ready to roast potatoes in.  After the fire was ready she invited each of us the throw however many potatoes we wanted to eat for lunch into the fire.

  While we visited with them every one of them was doing something with their hands.  Some were spinning yarn, some were cleaning wool, some were  knitting. Everyone was contributing to the community, even the ladies in their 70-80s.  I guess there is probably no retiring in Peru.  If you don’t work, you probably don’t eat!

It took about 15 minutes before the potatoes were declared ready!  We followed everyone to the benches set up for us while the community gathered in three groups and sat on the ground to eat their lunch. Each group of the community spread a large cloth full of the cooked potatoes/beans in front of them and just ate with their hands. 

We were served organic food that had been grown by the Aymara community. Below is what was offered and as simple as it was, it was good and hearty and very much appreciated.

Cooked white potatoes, roasted fava beans, fried cheese, quinoa bread fried and some not fried, quinoa risotto, two kinds of salsa (one cooked and one not) cow cheese, rehydrated black  potatoes and chako (clay sauce).  After this portion of the meal we were served the traditional quinoa soup which was filled with vegetables and so warm and tasty.  We had delicious mint tea after lunch.

After lunch of course we had the chance to purchase their handcrafts.  I selected a small knitted llama finger puppet that I thought I could tie a string to and add to our Christmas tree this December!  Something small to remember this special place.

Before leaving, the community wanted to share a song or two with us.  They all stayed seated and clapped their hands as they sang.  We sang ”My Country Tis of Thee”  back to them.  Before we climbed back down the hill to our bus, we shook everyone’s hands once more.  We had been the first group of tourists to visit them in two months due to the miners unrest in this part of Peru.  They depend upon our coming as a source of income for their community and seemed so grateful for our being there.

When we returned to the hotel we would normally have had a little down time before dinner but Boris suggested since it was such a beautiful day out that we all go for a walk.  Everyone agreed and so we proceeded to walk up the long driveway from our hotel to the center square of this small village where we were staying – Chuciuto.   We checked out the church that was built in the 15^th century and seemed to be decaying on the outside.  This community would not have the funds to take care of it I’m sure. 

 Boris told us that he had a video he wanted us to watch after dinner so Connie suggested that we try to find some popcorn to eat while watching.  There was a tiny store on the square but all they had were three small bags of already popped corn.  Each bag was $ .50 so we bought all three of them to share.

After dinner we all gathered in the lobby area of the second floor where our rooms were and huddled under blankets since it was so cold and watch the National Geo DVD of The Ghosts of Machu Picchu. 

It was an excellent 50 min video that I wish we had seen before going to Machu Picchu.  Connie had taken the popcorn and added her pretzels and Cheetos and put the mixture into Ziploc bags for each of us!  Very creative….

Carl seems to be fighting a cold so we are in bed right after the movie around 9 pm.  Our time here is starting to come to a close.  I’m ready to return home but love this area so much with its beauty and generous people.  And the feeling of ‘what more can I do’ hovers in my mind.

Trip To Peru - Day 11

Day 11, July 5, 2011

After a breakfast buffet of cold cereals, yogurt, breads, thinly sliced ham and cheese, scrambled eggs and teas we departed around 7:15 am for a ride to Puno harbor where we caught a boat to the Uros floating islands.  Our boat probably held about 40 and we had another tour group from Spain with us as well as some individuals with us from other countries.

We had about a 15 minute boat ride to these amazing islands.  There are about 50 individual islands all made out of reeds.  Each of the islands houses about 5-7 families.  We were greeted by the ladies on the island all dressed in bright outfits of full skirts, and long sleeved bright bolero type jackets each with their own style of hat. 

We all sat on some logs made from reeds while they explained how they made their islands and kept them in good repair.  I noticed when we first walked on the reeds that in some places you felt like you were sinking in a little bit.  They showed us how they cooked, made reed houses, reed boats and reed mattresses. 

The ladies here are known for their embroidary work and they were sewing while our guide, Silvia, was explaining with the help of the young man how they cut the reeds to make their islands float and how they have to replace the reeds every two weeks.

 The ladies showed us how they bartered for everything they needed since they didn’t have much money.  They put on quite a little show for us - very comical!

 When they need to use the bathroom they would get in their boat and row to the shallow section of the reeds and do their thing there.  They didn’t want to muck up the lake or area around their island.  Two of the islands have schools so the children row themselves to school.  Each one of the people on the island took one of us to their homes and showed us the inside and then had each of us ladies dress in their native costumes so we could take our picture.  Pretty comical! I felt like a giant next to this lady!!

 They didn't have or use toothpaste or toothbrushes but used instead the end of the reeds after they had been peeled.  We tried chewing these reeds - very light weight and bland tasting but sort of like sterofoam - that's the closet I can come to the texture.

                                     We had a ride in their week old reed boat that was beautiful.

 They then proceeded to show us their handcrafts which were for purchase.  The young man that showed Carl his house could speak some English and explained to Carl that he was 17 yrs old and was engaged.  His fiancé was living with him and as soon as they lived together for a while and determined that this was who he wanted to be with the rest of his life, he would marry her.  These people take marriage very seriously and it is a life time commitment.  They may live together and have children together before the marriage takes place but once they can afford to get married it is for the rest of their lives.   The wedding takes some planning because everyone on the islands is invited and the partying lasts for a week and the couple, if I understood correctly, is responsible for carrying out the party so it could be rather expensive for them.  The inside of his home.

As we boarded one of their reed boats to take a little tour of several other islands, the women gathered at the island’s edge and sang several songs to us – one in Japanese.  They ended with “Hasta La Vista, Baby”.  

 Our original boat picked us up from another floating island and we were off to the next island of Taquila where we would have lunch with a community. It was an hour's ride away.

Taquila island has 3000 residents (pre-Incan descent) and their houses are scattered among the steep hillside overlooking Lake Titicaca – beautiful view.  We hiked up a hill and across a pasture or two before finally arriving at our destination.   We were invited to have a delicious lunch of guinoa soup, fresh grilled trout from the Lake and coca leaf tea.  The people that live on this island are pre-Inca descendents and have survived for hundreds of years on this island.  They elect three mayors every two years who are married and well respected in this community.  One of the mayors is in charge of the rules – don’t lie, don’t cheat and don’t be lazy.  The second mayor is in charge of social issues – the man deals with the other men and his wife takes care of the women’s issues.  The third mayor is in charge of land rotation.  They have their island sectioned off into six sections.  Three of these sections are farmed for three years while the other three rest.  During the resting time those sections house animals who deposit their manure as a way of giving back to the land.

After lunch we hiked further up the hillside to the main town square and church area.  We stopped and took pictures of the view.  Many of the mountains we saw in the distance belonged in Bolivia.

Hiking back down we made our way to our boat for our 1.25 hr boat ride back to Puno harbor.  There we met our van who took us back to the hotel.  We had an hour rest before heading back to the dining area for dinner.  Seems like we’re always eating!!  Tonight was grilled veggies for starters and then a chicken pasta veggie dish for the entrée and chocolate chip ice cream for dessert.  This group of tourists really likes ice cream.  During dinner there was a large electrical storm with heavy rain and hail and lightening over the Lake that put on quite a show.  The roof over our heads was tin and it was hard to believe the sound was deafening and we couldn’t hear each other talk at the dinner table!  We had a sunny day today and were quite relieved that the rain waited until the evening.  We were also very glad that the ladies had not purchased those ponchos in Cusco – our temps today were probably 55-60 and it was perfect hiking and boating weather.   We were all hoping that the rain would pass and we would have a repeat performance of our weather in the morning.