peru-perusals - Tumblr blog

peru-perusals · 2 days

Text

Day 13 - Rainbow Mountain

We set off early in the morning, before 7:00, to get on our way towards Rainbow Mountain. Ever handed us all blankets, which I was slightly confused by at first, but which made sense as we fell asleep in the 3.5 hour drive to the trailhead. In the bits where I was awake, the scenery was beautiful and I can only imagine that it was beautiful the rest of the way as well!

We reached the trailhead where hundreds of white vans like ours were parked. We had a brief picnic of bread and tea before starting up the trail.

The skies had thin clouds that looked like alcohol ink. As we hiked, we improvised lyrics to “The Ants Go Marching” but nobody really knew the words. Austyn and I, well rested, stayed with Mario at the front of the pack. The rest of the group took a selfie without us, so we took one with them in the background!

We eventually reached a point near the top. We enjoyed some Chomp! The six of us continued until we reached the very peak, where we had more Chomp, of course.

Photo by Austyn

We waited in line to take a photo with the elevation sign at the peak. The colored hills were beautiful but often oversaturated in photos.

Photo by Haley

As we climbed back down, I rolled my ankle. Luckily, it scared me more than it did any damage and I was able to continue hiking after a few minutes.

Photo by Haley

Photos by Holly

After more group photos and a snack, we headed back down to the vans. We sung a variation on Down by the Bay with multiple part harmony and such verses as “Have you ever seen an elephant wearing a skeleton” and “Alpaca wearing slacks-uh” While we can sing we cannot rhyme. We wouldn’t make a very good improv rap group.

Photo by Holly

We also played Green Glass Door, but everyone got it much quicker than Sherwood campers. We did another riddle about taking things to the moon. I brought a python.

Photo by Holly

We reached the vans and all fell asleep as soon as we were on the road. Lunch was at a buffet restaurant and I enjoyed the quinoa soup and what was essentially popcorn chicken.

There was a parrot outside that was very friendly! It climbed up people and particularly loved Bernadette! She set it down and we rushed to the van before it could climb up anyone else.

We made our way back to Cusco as the sun set!

Photo by Holly

Eventually, it even started to rain! When we got back to Cusco, we said goodbye to Mario and hiked back up the stairs to our hotel.

rushed to get ready for a concert that Holly had read about, at the Cusco center for native art. Holly, Alyssa, Haley and I walked over there and enjoyed the 30 minute demonstration of various music and dances from around Peru.

We slowly walked back, popping into little shops along the way, before we made it back to our hotel. It was a successful evening!

0 notes

peru-perusals · 2 days

Text

Day 12 - Cusco Archeology

We set off to explore Cusco for the day! We started with four archeological sites in the surrounding hills.

The first was a temple of water. It doesn’t seem to follow conservation of mass and no one knows where the extra water is coming from.

Photo by Alyssa

Photo by Holly

The second site was a fortress.

Photo by Holly

Beneath it was a cave that we crawled into!

The third site was a massive rock used for sacrifices. We got to go beneath it and see how they had carved an altar into the rock.

Photos by Alyssa

All the eucalyptus reminded me of the Bay Area!

The final site was the largest, Saqsaywaman. We crawled through a pitch black underground cave, holding onto each other for guidance. It was an incredible experience, I wish we could explore more dark caves! There’s something so peaceful about the dark, especially with friends.

We watched llamas frolic across another circular monument, this one to be filled with water and used as a massive mirror for an observatory.

We reached a natural rock formation and were encouraged to climb it and slide down. What a thrill!

Our final stop was a massive Inca structure with a jagged wall for stability.

Photo by Alyssa

We had begun to leave but Holly requested to climb up to the top of it, so we re-entered and did that.

Photo by Holly

In top, there was the foundations of a circular building and two rectangular ones. This spot also offered incredible views.

Photo by Alyssa

There was a white Jesus statue on the hill that had been gifted by Palestinian immigrants to the people of Cusco for their hospitality.

We returned to the van and headed back into the city center. We explored a massive market in San Pedro Square. They had many varieties of potatoes!

Photo by Haley

The day was hot and I was beginning to get weary, so Austyn and I headed back to the hotel. Holly found us ramen and snacks for lunch which she delivered. I slept for most of the afternoon. Eventually Haley stuck her head into my apparently unlocked door and dropped off dinner for me, chicken and potatoes. I fell asleep again after eating. Later in the evening, after struggling to stay asleep for the night, I was invited to go get milkshakes with the rest of the group. We walked down to Jack’s Cafe, a restaurant and bar much too fancy to be using Papyrus as its logo font.

We got milkshakes, hot chocolate, and brownies and spent good time together laughing. We discussed socks and sandals, what liquid we would like to have on tap from our belly button, and state fair husband calling competitions. Tasty treats and lots of laughter was shared before heading back to the hotel.

0 notes

peru-perusals · 3 days

Text

Day 11 - Moray & Salt Flats

Photo by Holly

In the morning, we said goodbye to Aguas Calientes and walked to the actual train station to board our train, not the middle of town where the had dropped us off. While we waited for the train, I wrote in my journal and drafted blog posts.

On the train, we tried Peruvian candies, including a tutti-fruity dinosaur egg and gummy dinosaurs. The dinosaur egg was disgusting and everyone spit them out and the gummy dinosaurs were unimpressive.

We arrived at Ollantaytambo where Ever, our loyal driver, met us with a G.F.U. sign and led us to his van. As we passed through the central square of Ollantaytambo, we saw a massive tent constructed with all of the mothers of the city sitting beneath it. Others were lined up passing gifts towards the tent in in a fire brigade style.

On the way back, we stopped at a little homestay for lunch.

They gave us flowers. Mine had 52. (I only settled on this number after counting them wrong many times. This was the mode, so I stuck with it) The first course was potatoes and cheese, which we stacked with salsa.

Photo by Holly

The second course was a wheat soup with potato. The salsa was excellent on this as well. The main dish was mashed potatoes, chicken, and quinoa prepared like fried rice.

Photo by Holly

We drove a short ways to Moray, an archeological site with concentric circular terraces. Because of the way the wind blows over it, this creates microclimates perfect for growing different crops.

Photo by Alyssa

We walked from the first and most impressive circles to two others that haven’t been reconstructed as much.

Photo by Alyssa

On the opposite side of the site, Ever met us with the van and we continued onward towards salt flats on our way back to Cuzco.

Photo by Holly

Photo by Alyssa

We stopped at the salt pools which cascaded impressively down the hill. There’s a salivated hot spring there and water flows into all the pools and is left to evaporate. It’s harvested, iodized, and sold.

Photo by Haley

We loaded back into the van and made it the rest of the way to Cuzco.

Photo by Holly

I learned how to eat a passion fruit. It was a lot of work and not well suited to being done in a car.

We were exhausted by this point and after we checked into our rooms, we opted for takeout.

We walked down the thin street by the hotel as multiple cars came from both directions in a game of chicken, a remarkably common occurrence on the streets of Cusco.

I got Salchipapas from a local Mexican food place. It was great in concept but poor in execution. It consisted of potatoes and meat. I topped it with mayonnaise and ketchup as well as Guacamole leftover from Bernadette’s tacos.

We hung out and ate our food at the hotel. Holly picked up desserts for us, including a banana cake, an orange cake, and a large strawberry alfajor. The banana cake tasted like a mix between banana bread and oatmeal bake, but not as sweet as either. The orange cake and the alfajores were both great!

0 notes

peru-perusals · 3 days

Text

Day 10 - Part 2 - Machu Picchu (cont.)

Photo by Holly

After seconds, we reentered the site at circuit 1. From this viewpoint we could see the classic view of Machu Picchu.

There were playful llamas up here! One snuck up behind me and tried to eat my backpack.

Photo by Haley

Photo by Alyssa

Photo by Holly

After getting our fill of photos from the higher height, Henry led us through more of the city complex, noting the mystery of how rocks were split.

Photo by Holly

Photo by Haley

We could see Waynapicchu towering over us, the mountain that we had climbed earlier in the day!

Photo by Holly

We made our way to the bus station but Holly, Haley, Bernadette and I opted to walk down instead. We took a steep trail with lots of switchbacks down the mountain until we reached the main road.

Photos by Holly

There was a beautiful suspension pedestrian bridge to cross the river before reaching the butterfly conservatory and retracing our steps from the previous day.

We reached Aguas Calientes and rejoined the others at the hotel. At 6:30, we went out in search of dinner and some stone sculptures I had seen in an advertisement. I had found one on Google maps, on the far side of town, so we headed in the direction, hoping to come across food that looked appealing.

We were flagged down by someone from a little shop that we passed and the pizzas looked good, so we headed upstairs to their restaurant, which had Ed Sheeran’s discography on shuffle. Dinner conversation kept returning to Ed Sheeran as well. Did you know he’s recorded 4 songs with Taylor Swift? I did not, but Haley did!

I ordered a farm pizza which had chicken and boiled eggs and oregano. It was really good, especially when paired with a garlic sauce!

Claire ordered a pancake stuffed with caramel and was generous enough to share it with all of us. It was excellent!

We continued on to the rock sculpture, a giant face carved into stone!

We continued looking for more dessert at a picarones place that Holly had seen nearby. However, we stumbled upon the other 12 sculptures in the series.

Bernadette. Austyn, and Holly went to find picarones, while me and others stuck around at the sculptures. They retuned without picarones, but had found a massive alfajore instead! Many in the group were curious about pisco sour, a sour Peruvian alcohol, so Holly picked up Pisco Sour chocolate which had a satisfactorily low enough alcohol level that she felt comfortable sharing it with us.

As we walked back to the hotel, we passed a picarones stand that I had pointed out on our way over. Holly stopped to wait for fresh picarones while Austyn Alyssa and I went on to a corner store and found the combination of water bottles that was ideal for price and convenience. We got a 7L bottle for S/15 and two 2.5L bottles for S/6. We calculated that we could use the 7L bottle, which was only S/2.14 per Liter, to fill bottles tonight and bring the other two more portable bottles with us for future refills.

We refilled waters, enjoyed picarones, and got settled for the night.

0 notes

peru-perusals · 3 days

Text

Day 10 - Part 1 - Machu Picchu

Photo by Austyn

Friday was the big day! Machu Picchu! We had breakfast on the 7th floor of the hotel with beautiful panoramic views, where I recorded the first of many vlogs for the George Fox Study Abroad Instagram page.

We headed down to the lobby where we met Mario and he gave us our bus tickets and our entrance tickets for circuit 4 and Waynapicchu. Due to overcrowding, Machu Picchu has moved to a circuit model, with different groups having access to different parts of the ruins. We got on a bus which took us down past the butterfly sanctuary and up the mountain to Machu Picchu. We got off and waited in the queue for our entrance time at 9:00.

We entered the site along the agricultural terraces and sat as Mario gave us a brief introduction to the importance of the site.

He also noted key things about the architecture like the aqueduct system and how the bricks were individually carved with bumps and holes on the tops and bottoms so they slotted into each other like Incan LEGO pieces.

Photo by Holly

Photo by Alyssa

We walked around the site to the entrance to Waynapicchu, the imposing mountain often seen behind Machu Picchu in photos. We checked in and begun our assent!

It was essentially one long staircase!

We ran into a group of hikers from North Carolina that were familiar with Fox and knew someone that had graduated from their philosophy program. As we left that group, one of the men begun singing the American folk song “Simple Gifts” as a nod to our Quaker college. Near the top, we reached terraces that we had to climb on all fours like monkeys.

We paused at a landing here and took lots of photos, before climbing farther to the actual peak.

Photo by Alyssa

We took picture with the sign and group selfie over the edge. Bernadette recreated the 1818 painting “Wanderer over a sea of fog.”

Photo by Alyssa

Photo by Holly

We caught our breath and continued over the rocks at the very top, where we took more photos, of course.

Photo by Holly

As the Chomp ambassador that I am, I took a photo with the Chomp that I shared with others at the peak!

Photo by Holly

We had to take a different route down for the first bit, which took us through a narrow tunnel before rejoining the initial path at the base of the terraces.

The way down was faster and we completed the whole trek in just over two hours. Henry led us through the rest of the site quickly as we rushed to our 1:00 lunch reservation.

As the reservation was not under Henry, Holly, Apus Peru, or George Fox, Henry had to make some phone calls before figuring out that our reservation was under G.F.U.

We were seated and enjoyed our pick of foods from a large buffet. My favorites were the Arabic rice and the ham pizza, along with the bread and salsa, of course.

Continued in Part 2!

0 notes

peru-perusals · 3 days

Text

Day 9 - Part 2 - Trains, Butterflies & Cooking Lesson!

Photo by Holly

We waited on the platform until it was time to board our PeruRail train to “Machu Picchu Pueblo,” also known as Aguas Calientes. As we’re visiting Machu Picchu too, I’ll use the name Aguas Calientes here for clarity.

The entire train ride was about 1.5 hours long. We ate our lunches, but mine was pretty bad. The bread was soggy and the pork was flavorless and dry. We played more Village Idiot and another game called Speed where you are moving quickly to create sets of 4. We also arm wrestled and played table football with a cell phone, which I suppose was closer to table hockey.

At one point, Holly fell asleep and every one of us took a picture of her sleeping from our perspective.

Photo by Haley

When we reached Aguas Calientes, the train dropped us off not at the station but just in the middle of the city. A man with a G.F.U. Sign greeted us and brought us to the hotel to check in.

All six of us were in adjacent rooms on the 4th floor with Holly on the second. We decided to take a bit to catch our breath or explore and Mario would meet us in the lobby at 5:10 for a cooking lesson and dinner at 5:30.

All of the students opted to walk to a butterfly garden while Holly visited the hot springs that the town is named after. We walked down along the road until we reacted the butterfly gardens.

We passed a statue of what can only be described as a creature.

We only had limited time before we needed to be back, so we anxiously waited for our guided tour of the butterfly garden to begin so that we could get back on time. Eventually, the tour began with pointing out some of the plants used before moving to a room with a microscope where he showed us eggs and tiny caterpillars under a microscope. Then he showed us a wall full of Tupperware with butterflies in different stages of development. He selected two, one which he released outside and the other which he released into their greenhouse.

It was hesitant to fly away, so it chilled on our hands for a bit. Haley got her Disney princess moment!

We took some more pictures of butterflies before rushing back up the hill to our hotel.

We got there right on time and Mario took us to the restaurant. They led us to a table and we were skeptical if we’d actually have a cooking lesson. The chef kept coming by and delaying our lesson. Eventually, they led us down to the kitchen where we were given masks and hair nets. They demonstrated how to make Causa.

Photo by Holly

Potatoes: Mash yellow potatoes Add 1 spoon of lemon juice and 1 spoon of olive oil Add a yellow chili sauce Mix well Ceviche: Cube raw trout Add 2 spoon of lemon juice and 1 spoon of olive oil Add yellow chili sauce with mayonnaise Add a pinch each of garlic, ginger, cilantro, and red chilis Add thinly cut onion strips and mix well Assembly: Press potatoes into a large cookie cutter Add a layer of avocado slices Add in half of the Ceviche Add the rest of the potatoes Press well until top surface is smooth and flat Add remaining ceviche on top Add two slices of fried plantain Add blue eggplant and orange chili sauce on plate as decoration Enjoy!

Austyn and Claire went first, then Haley and Alyssa. Bernadette and I went last.

Photo by Holly

She drew a flower with the blue eggplant sauce and I drew the Peru logo with the orange pepper sauce.

We tried all the Causas and picked our favorites. We thought that was all the food, so we ate almost all of it!

Photo by Holly

Then, they demonstrated how to make Lomo Saltado, but only Holly got to try her hand at it. Beef was tossed with peppers and tomatoes in soy sauce, oil, and wine.

Photo by Holly

We headed back upstairs and they delivered a plate of Lomo Saltado to each of us. It was delicious, the best Lomo Saltado we’ve had!

We headed from there down to Aguas Caliente’s central square. There was a live concert happening and booths were selling picarones. There was also a celebration at the Catholic Church. This community has a lot of immigrants, so the church serves as a social and community hub to recognize all their different heritages.

We headed from there back to the hotel and turned in for the night!

0 notes

peru-perusals · 14 days

Text

Day 9 - Part 1 - Ruins

The next morning, I packed up my stuff and dropped it off at the front desk before heading into the town with Holly. We both wanted to hike and had done a bit of research on local archeological sites, and had found a free one to start with. We walked down a long street which turned out to be a dead end.

We backtracked and eventually found the correct entrance to the site.

After a bizarrely formal process with our passports to enter a free site, we started our trek up the mountain.

Photo by Holly

It wasn’t an insignificant height difference, as my water bottle popped as I opened it.

We wandered around the first set of ruins, Incan storage buildings, before following the trail to a second set of ruins and back down.

Photo by Holly

The others, while hanging out at a cafe, spied on us with binoculars!

Photo by Austyn

We still had more time before our previously decided upon lunch time, 11:00, so we headed across town to explore an open air market.

Photo by Holly

We recombined with the rest of our group at the restaurant but it wasn’t open yet. We walked around the neighborhood, looking for any restaurants that were open and in our price range, up to S/37 per person.

We tried a few but almost everything was closed. I finally found one and while they weren’t really open yet, and table cloths hadn’t been put out yet, etc, they welcomed us inside and we ordered. I got a passion fruit juice and a pork sandwich. A very distinguished 4 year old was the only other person in the restaurant.

The food was taking awhile so we requested that all of it be put directly into to-go boxes. As soon as it was ready, we headed off to the hotel to grab our bags and meet up with Mario, who walked us down to the train station.

Photo by Alyssa

0 notes

peru-perusals · 14 days

Text

Day 8 - Part 2 - Hike

We drove for a bit, headed towards some ruins that had a trail back to Ollantaytambo through the mountains.

Unfortunately there was construction on the road and we had to take a different route. We ended up following the river along a section of the Inca trail at the base of the valley.

We saw examples of the pre-Inca agricultural terraces still in use, though the irrigation practices in place today are deteriorating the wall.

Photo by Alyssa

There were flying steps along the terraces to let people climb them more easily.

There were cows grazing along the river and lots of beautiful views!

We eventually reached Ollantaytambo and, after getting back in the van, initially went to the wrong hotel, “Tiki Wasi Valley.”

We got back in the van and drove across town to the right one, “Tiki Wasi Valley 2” and checked in.

The tour company had provided lunches but we were so full from the potatoes the community had provided for us that we didn’t eat them at lunch time. They became a perfect dinner that we ate in the dining area of our hotel.

Later that evening, Haley, Bernadette, Alyssa, Austyn, and I went out to explore the city and find a snack. We stopped at an ATM, but I couldn’t get my card to work. However, I did get mango ice cream, which made up for it!

Austyn and I went back out a bit later and I had more success at the ATM. A great hike and a great day!

0 notes

peru-perusals · 14 days

Text

Day 8 - Part 1 - Textiles Demo

Photo by Holly

On Wednesday morning, we packed up our daypacks with clothes for three days and checked the rest with the front desk.

After breakfast, we loaded into the van to head out from Cuzco, through Ollantaytambo, deeper into the sacred valley!

We drove up through the mountains to a little community called Patacancha were welcomed by a group of women with neon orange skirts!

They introduced themselves one by one with how greatful they were to Apus Peru (our tour company) and their number of kids, ending with their name.

We introduced ourselves by name and expressed our gratitude for their hospitality.

They gave us teas and other drinks. I made a hot chocolate with mint leaves!

We walked over to a small building where the had set up a textile demonstration.

First, they showed how to shear the alpaca fur with a broken piece of glass. They did note, however, that if they were shearing a live alpaca, they’d use scissors to avoid having a sharp blade near the animal’s skin.

Second, they washed the fur using a soap plant. They rinsed it in the sink.

Third, they showed us how to spin it into yarn. The yarn was tied onto a top and spun to thoroughly twist the yarn. The twisted yarn was then rolled around the spool. The yarn was tied to the top of the top and the process was repeated. We all got to give it a shot. I wasn’t very good at it, but Austyn was a natural, and the women wanted her to stay there in the village.

Fourth, they demonstrated how they dyed the yarn using natural dyes, but also discussed using brighter artificial dyes.

Finally, they demonstrated how they weave patterns into a scarf or a tablecloth. They looped yarn across two sticks held in place with stakes pounded into the ground, then they used multiple tools to separate the strands into a top and bottom so they could thread another spool through it.

Photo by Holly

Austyn got to hold one of the little kids while we watched the demo, much to her enjoyment!

Photo by Alyssa

They opened up bags of all of their wares and we all sifted through colorful handmade wool and alpaca items. I bought a colorful wool scarf handmade by a woman named Mercedes!

Photo by Holly

Afterwards, they surprised us with a meal of a fried meat and potatoes, which was delicious. Even their tablecloth was colorful!

We said our goodbyes and headed back to the van.

Photo by Holly

0 notes

peru-perusals · 19 days

Text

Day 7 - Part 3 - Cusco Dinner

Marita left us with a handful of riddles before saying goodbye. Answers to the riddles are at the end of the post!

1. How do you put nine cows in eight boxes, with only one per?

2. How can half of twelve be seven?

3. How do you draw a square with three lines?

We arrived in Cusco and disembarked the bus. The van driver who picked us up skillfully navigated Cusco traffic, where cars regularly squeeze past each other on the sidewalk. We dropped off our stuff at the hotel before being picked up by our guide, Mario, and the woman that Holly had been communicating with, Lorena.

We walked to Santa Catalina street with lots of shops and went into a restaurant and sat by the door in a table that was angled because it was clearly too long for the space. We sat down with Mario, our guide, and said goodbye to Lorena. The waiter tried to bring us free Pisco Sour, but Holly turned it away, as it is alcoholic.

As with other restaurants, we ordered three courses. I got stuffed potato, Alfredo spaghetti, and cheese cake. The stuffed potato was closer to a croqueta than a baked potato, as it was meat and carrots and other goodies wrapped in mash potatoes and fried. It was excellent.

The Alfredo Spaghetti had undisclosed mushrooms which was very disappointing.

The cheesecake was closer to flan than American cheesecake and the only sweet portion was the crust. It still tasted pretty good!

We watched the same set of dancers keep changing into different outfits and performing dances from different communities.

Photo by Holly

On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at a little shop to buy more water and watched as the stray dogs chased each other around in the street. We walked back to the hotel settled in for the night.

Riddle Answers:

1. 🄽🄸🄽🄴🄲🄾🅆🅂

2. XII cut in half horizontally is VII

3. Just put the three lines inside of a square!

1 note · View note

peru-perusals · 19 days

Text

Day 7 - Part 2 - Raqchi

Photo by Haley

When we got back on the bus, Marita prepared us for the archeological site we were to visit by giving us some background information.

Did you know:

- The city of Raqchi and its archeological site follow a straight line with other prominent archeological sites

- These shapes and patterns span the globe, across “independent” civilizations

We reached Raqchi and entered the archeological area.

Marita pointed us in the direction to go and followed after us, running wildly across the grass. The full group of people from the bus stood around while Marita exuberantly described the main structure, which was a central wall and the remains of a few pillars.

Did you know:

- The key numbers are visible throughout the architecture at the site, 1 door and 2 windows paired together (3), 4 total chambers, 7 stepped Andean cross, and 11 columns per row.

- The creators of the structure are anonymous

- There are architectural wonders of the ancient world around the globe, but they couldn’t have all been done by the Inca, something else must have helped

We walked over to another courtyard with slightly angled alleys between buildings: thinner at their base. We sat in the shade while Marita gesticulated wildly.

Did you know:

- The Raqchi site was used for many purposes, including meditation by saying various sounds, but most commonly “hummmmmmm”

- Every culture has gods that come from the sky above

- We have been to the moon and mars

- We are considered gods by the Martians

- The US government has admitted the truth about UFOs

Marita clarified that she wasn’t trying to make us believe anything, but that she just wanted to give us all of the evidence and let us draw our own conclusions.

Photo by Alyssa

We got word from Alexander, the bus driver, that there was civil unrest in nearby towns and they were threatening to block the roads, trapping our bus. We rushed to the bus and left the area as quickly as possible.

Photo by Holly

We were supposed to stop at a different cathedral, but it had been severely damaged by recent seismic activity. Instead, we stopped at a different town, Huaro, and visited their cathedral, named after Saint John the Baptist.

Photo by Alyssa

The walls were entirely covered with murals, some graphic and disturbing like the one depicting hell and satyr-demons torturing humans. The geometric wood patterns on the ceiling looked very moorish.

Upstairs, on the ceiling of the Organ loft, there were paintings of animals by people who had clearly never seen the animals.

Continued in Part 3!

0 notes

peru-perusals · 19 days

Text

Day 7 - Part 1 - Bus Ride

Photo by Holly

On Tuesday, we packed up and enjoyed breakfast in Puno before the van arrived to take us to the bus terminal. We put our bags beneath the bus, and climbed in. I sat with Claire with Haley and Alyssa across the aisle, Bernadette and Austyn in front of us and Holly behind. Our tour guide was named Marita and was very animated. She taught us a lot!

Did you know:

- Mathematics is the language of the universe

- Everything in the universe is composed of numbers and shapes, particularly 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, and 11.

Our first stop was an archeological museum, where our tour guide primarily discussed this statue.

Photo by Holly

Did you know:

- The Andean peoples had 3 important animals, Condor, Snake, and Puma

- The Puma represented Fire

- Every living thing has an energy

- The core of the human energy is at the base of the spine.

- The sculpture has 6 skulls in the back plus the one it’s holding, totaling 7.

- Decapitation is just a way of getting rid of the bad energy

- This fire puma can climb up your spine through your 7 chakras

- Scientists say that we only use 4% of our brain (with Einstein and Steven Hawking etc using 7%)

- The fire puma unlocks the rest of your brain

- When it reaches your head, then you will gain clairvoyant powers and get a halo, just like Jesus, Buddha, and the saints.

- The 3 pumas on the sculpture represent the mental, the physical, and the Astral.

- We can synthesize Carbon 7 from Carbon 12 using only our brains

- Carbon 12 is the most abundant material in the universe and makes up 1/5 of our DNA!

- Carbon 7 has 6 protons, 6 neutrons, and 6 electrons

- 666 is the key to the future reality, not the antichrist, which is the biggest lie spread by the Catholic Church

- The truth of reality is hidden in ancient sculptures, we just need to understand it

I learned so much! She also showed us around to a display of belts and other artifacts.

Did you know:

- Traditional Andean head bands were really used to protect the third eye

- Belts like those on Amantani, are really used to protect the energy core at the base of the spine

We looked around the gift shop and was tempted by very colorful shoes!

We reloaded onto the bus and made our way over the top of the mountains between Puno and Cusco before stopping for lunch.

We enjoyed our food and the live music, who played an Andean adaptation of Sound of Silence, to our amusement.

Behind the restaurant were hammocks and a swing set with beautiful views.

Photo by Holly

More places should have swing sets in scenic places.

Photo by Holly

Continued in Part 2!

3 notes · View notes

peru-perusals · 19 days

Text

Day 6 - Part 3 - La Casona

We said goodbye to Mario and walked back up the pier to where the van was waiting. There were multiple beautiful hand painted Inca Kola ads along the waterfront!

Photo by Holly

Exhausted, we crashed for a few hours at the hotel.

Later that evening, we ventured out to find a restaurant, La Casona, that had been recommended by both Henry and another.

We went upstairs into the restaurant and I ordered “Pollo Suprema de la Pobre” or supreme chicken of the poor. It was supreme in every way!

Photo by Alyssa

The dish consisted of massive breaded chicken fillets on rice and French fries topped with fried banana, a fried egg, and sprouts.

I was so full! Also in the restaurant at the time was a construction themed birthday party with an excavator shaped cake that looked quite familiar!

We walked through a handful of tourist shops on our way back to the hotel and turned in for the night!

1 note · View note

peru-perusals · 21 days

Text

Day 6 - Part 2 - Taquile

Photo by Holly

Henry showed us examples of different traditional clothing, particularly those related to courtship and wedding traditions, such as how the hat men wear changes before (right) and after marriage (left)

Photo by Holly

As a man, I need to be prepared for a number of tests that my bride’s family might give me, including but not limited to:

Sacrificing a pig

Digging holes

Skinning potatoes

Preparing Fava Beans

Traditionally, the couple would live together for two years to ensure compatibility before marriage. Upon their marriage, the bride’s mother would cut off her hair and use to make a compression belt for the groom. We also discussed the justice system on the island and the honor/shame based punishments.

Photo by Holly

The father of the household we were at demonstrates how a local plant could be turned into a soap or shampoo!

Photo and Collage by Holly

We had a tasty lunch of trout from the island or vegetable omlettes. I got trout, but got to enjoy Austyn’s omelette that she didn’t want. Best of both worlds!

However, the highlight of the meal was the salsa and the fried dough, similar to fritters. The dough was fried because there isn’t ovens on the island to bake the dough into bread traditionally. The salsa was the best I’ve ever had and we ate it with everything, just as we had on Amantani, from the fish to the omelette and especially on the fritters. According to Henry, these are the ingredients:

- Onions

- Tomatos

- Chile

- Lemon

- Cooking oil

- Salt

There also seemed to be a leaf of some sort, possibly cilantro.

After finishing our meal, we hiked back down to a different dock where Mario was waiting with our boat.

We rode back to the mainland. I slept for much of the trip, but joined Alyssa on the roof to watch as we approached the reeds.

Continued in Part 3!

1 note · View note

peru-perusals · 21 days

Text

Day 6 - Part 1 - Taquile

Photo by Holly

We woke up early the next morning to a breakfast of pancakes, tea, and bread.

Photo by Holly

We said goodbye to our host parents and headed back to our boat. After about an hour on the water, we got to our next island, Taquile.

Photo by Holly

Henry asked if there were any weddings happening today, but there were not. Rather than hiking to the highest point, we made it up to the main square.

Photo by Holly

We could see Amantani off in the distance!

Holly and I climbed up the stairs to the top of the market building before joining the others in the handicraft market. Bernadette bought a tablerunner!

Photo by Holly

We met Henry at the designated point and he brought with him a wedding band in full feathered regalia! They performed for us and invited us to dance in the main square.

Photo by Haley

Photo by Holly

From there we hiked to another homestay for lunch!

Continued in Part 2!

1 note · View note

peru-perusals · 22 days

Text

Day 5 - Part 3 - Sunset

Photos by Holly

As the sky was getting darker and darker, we headed back down the mountain, watching lightning flash in the distance. More and more stars appeared overhead.

We reached the homestay and I collapsed for a brief nap before dinner.

Dinner started with a similar soup but without quinoa and followed by a potato dish. Mario, our boat captain, and Henry both joined us for dinner. We discussed our host father’s job as an engineer, coordinating the construction of water distribution systems on the island.

We were invited to a “disco” club on the island that started at 9:00 and would go until 5:00am. We were all tired, but all but Haley decided to go.

They dressed us up in their island’s traditional clothing, which for men was a poncho and tall beanie.

Photo by Holly

We walked through a bunch of backyards on our way to the club, which was filled with primarily tourists and their guides. Local musicians played drums, pan flute, guitar, a 6 string ukulele, and multiple bass guitars.

We did many circular dances with syncopated steps, which I watched others to get the hang of. It was one woman’s birthday, so they celebrated by singing happy birthday and giving her a cake. After a few more circular songs, we did a partner dance song that became a line dance with a tunnel!

Photo by Holly

We made out way back to the homestay just as it began to pour, squashing our plans of sleeping outside and stargazing.

5 notes · View notes

peru-perusals · 22 days

Text

Day 5 - Part 2 - Amantani

Photo by Haley

We arrived to Amantani, and we disembarked our boat. Henry led us up to our host parent’s house.

Photo by Holly

Our host mother, Olivia, welcomed us and showed us to our rooms. We settled in before being called down to lunch.

We were served an excellent quinoa soup with potatoes, carrots, celery, fava beans, served with bread. It was incredible and everyone ate their fill. We were surprised to find that that was only the first course and a second course was brought out! This had potato and more vegetables and the most excellent cheese! It was a circular disk, thinly sliced, with an uneven texture. It was very fresh and squeaked with every bite. It had been lightly fried as well. I ate my own cheese as well as the cheese of everyone who didn’t like cheese. Stuffed, we all settled down for naps.

After an hour or so we got up to head on a hike up to the top of the mountain. The paths were very steep and given the altitude we were all out of breath! The expanse of water gave the illusion that we were at sea level. Henry heard me make that comment and joked that the 13,000 feet of extra elevation was negligible.

Every time we paused to catch our breaths, Henry told us more about the local culture, particularly the ways that the people have blended their indigenous religions with Catholicism and Seventh Day Adventism. He assured us that we never walk alone because we walk on the earth, through the air, beneath the sky and along with our ancestors.

We hiked up to a visitor center where the path split with paths to the temples of Pachamama and Pachatata, Mother Earth and Father earth respectively. Pachatata was busier, so we headed towards Pachamama. In the distance we could see the royal mountains of Bolivia.

However, this gave us a great view of pachitata in the distance!

There were numerous beautiful stone archways on the way up, all freestanding!

We reached a lookout point just in time for sunset.

Continued in Part 3!

0 notes