Machu Picchu and other sites

One of our fist stops was at a small textile shop where we learned about the kinds of plants used to make certain kinds of dyes for cloth. We got to feel the difference between llama and alpaca and see how it was washed and then spun into thread.Then we learned about chicha beer, which is made out of corn and is left to ferment for a few days, the longer the stronger. We visited the ruins of Ollantaytambu (sp?) and got some stair climbing practice before Machu Picchu. Then we took a train to Aguas Calientes and spent the night there. The big hike was for the next morning

Machu Picchu was amazing. Easy to see why it's visited so often and why it's a UNESCO World Heritage site. We arrived early in the morning to hike Huayna Picchu, which is the big mountain to the right in every picture of Machu Picchu ever. Whew, it was quite a climb but there was a beautiful aerial view of the terraces waiting for us at the end. Climbing um the mountain involved a seemingly never ending series of stairs and lots of water and catch your breath breaks. After descending the mountain and telling everyone on the way down that the view was a amazing, we took a tour of Machu Picchu. Our guide explained that the site was more of a retreat for the scholarly/wealthy Incas way back in the day. The fact that the site was built in the shape of the mountain and more or less flowed with the topography of the site helped in stay hidden from the Spanish, who had a penchant for destroying neat Incan things.
It was amazing to think about carrying heavy stones around to build walls when we were getting winded just climbing a few stairs. But somehow the Incan cut thousands of stones and built walls that are still standing today. We say a number of different kinds of dwellings on the mountain. There were store houses that had second story windows to allow ventilation as well as sites of worship such as this stone that is in the image of a condor.

There were a number of llama peacefully grazing on the terraces but this was only a teaser for the llama/alpaca/all types of dromedary relatives farm we were about to visit! I'm still not quite sure which animals were which but it was fun to feed them and see the variety of colors they came in.

The next day in Cusco we were free to explore and got to see the weekly Sunday parade complete with military processions and dances representing various regions.

Superlatives from Argentina

Brought to you by my nifty pocket Guia.

The subway in BA, inaugurated in1913, was the first in South America.

The Teatro Colon is the most important lyrical theater in Latin America and is one of the five most famous theaters in the world for its acoustics.

The highest mountain in America is Aconcagua, located in the Andes in the province of Mendoza. 

The bus, pen, electronic fingerprint system and dulce de leche are all Argentinian inventions. (Dulce de leche is made by very slowly cooking sugar, vanilla, and milk. It is said that in 1829, Juan Manuel de Rosas' maid had forgotten some sweetened milk she had been heating. The GOvernor tried the sticky brown substance and liked it. )

Notes on Lima

My first weekend here I decided I loved Peru, and I haven't had to change my mind since. Lima reminds me a bit of Miami. There are palm trees everywhere and there's greenery everywhere. The medians all have grass and flowerbeds and are very well kept, just like the yards in front of houses. I've been to three malls so far and they were both huge and very nice, two had open air walkways. Some familiar faces in terms of restaurants are KFC, Papa John's, Pizza Hut, Burger King, Subway, Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, and of course McDonald's. Even though there are lots of these fast foods restaurants Peru definitely has its own unique, delicious cuisine that I'm only beginning to experience.
Peru basically invented food. Way back when, Peruvians domesticated potatoes, pumpkins/squash, tomatoes, avocadoes, quinoa, and various corn varieties. They make drinks out of corn, chicha morada (purple corn with spices) and various types of chicha beer (fermented chicha). Fried corn nuts (just like our corn nuts) are eaten as snacks, and so are toasted and salted individual corn kernels (surprise, they taste like popcorn). I had some recoto relleno (chile relleno cousin) which was a spicy red chile pepper stuffed with a meat sauce (kind of Sloppy Joe-esque) with a cheese and potato pie/cake on the side to cool off your mouth. Had some tasty chicharones (just like Garcia's!) that I could have definitely eaten another plate of, accompanied by huge corn kernels (forgot to mention, the corn on the cob they eat here has quarter sized corn kernels, no joke, so there are 10 kernels per row on a cob of corn) and habas (lima beans, which you're supposed to peel but the shell isn't really that tough). I can't wait to try guinea pig, or 'cuy.' We had some stewed alpaca this weekend and it was pretty tasty, kind of like a beef roast. Authentic ceviche is next on the list of things to try, yum. Also the chicken a la brasa (grilled) is recommended and I have to give the local burger chain Bembo's a try! Inca Kola, the national soft drink, is delicous in its own quirky way. It's highlighter yellow like Mountain Dew and tastes like bubble gum, so you know it's healthy.
There's a large Asian population here so there are tons of 'chifa's on every corner. The food they serve is supposed to be kind of a mix of Chinese and Peruvian but so far it's seemed mostly like Chinese food (which is still super tasty) but I'll just have to try more and see!
Carambola (starfruit) juice = delicious. The famous maracuya (passion fruit) is here, of course, so I can get my fix. Hoping to get my hands on some fresh papaya soon too.
Taxis are an adventure here and very different from Argentina. After you flag one down you have to see if they know the place/intersection you want to go to. Apparently the government changes street names willy nilly so you have to give directions in terms of major streets and landmarks like gas stations and supermarkets. After the approximate location has been agreed upon, you can negotiate price. So far it seems like you should be able to get anywhere you want to for under 15 soles. And of course if the cab driver doesn't give you the price you want you can wave him on his way and grab another taxi. The one advantage of this system is that the cab driver will take you where you want to go as efficiently as possible to save himself gas whereas in BsAs he could run up the meter driving you in circles if you weren't sure where you were going. On the downside, no one has a GPS so if you're going somewhere obscure and you're not quite sure where it is, you're out of luck.

Peruvian money

Currency is in soles (S/.) and centimos. There are 5, 2, and 1 sol coins.

Lujan and Dia del Campo

Our last full weekend in Argentina we visited Lujan and a nearby estancia. The only place we stopped in Lujan was a famous cathedral.The cathedral was, as Catholic churches in South America tend to be, huge and beautiful. Outside of Lujan we visited an estancia, or working farm that hosts visitors. There we saw a number of traditional dances and dress and had a delicious meal. I'm pretty certain all of the dances were from Southern Argentina since that is 'gaucho' territory. The gaucho is sort of the cowboy of Argentina. He roams the open plains (Pampa) with only his horse and his knife. Typical dress is boots, kind of balloon like pants, jacket, hat, and belt with knife. He is supposed to be an excellent horseman, hunter, and all around outdoorsy kind of guy.
We were served some delicious meat empanadas upon getting to the estancia and after being welcomed with a dance we were allowed to roam around the estancia to look at all the animals. There were turkeys, peacocks, chickens, geese, a goat, emus, cows, horses and dogs so this kept us busy for a while. We got to take a short carriage ride and do a little horseback riding.
Lunch started off with salad and bread, then chorizo, blood sausage (tried it, not my favorite), chicken and some tasty beef. We were entertained by more dances after lunch and eventually everyone joined in and danced too.
After lunch we watched some games of skill on horseback. A small ring (about the size of a bracelet) was hung on a large metal frame (large and tall enough for 3 on horseback to pass under) and the object was to catch it on a small stick the rider holds. The rider approaches the ring and frame on horseback at a full gallop. Only one of the 5 or 6 riders was able to do it. After each had a few tries at this game, a larger ring was hung on the metal frame and the riders carried much larger poles. The riders didn't have too much trouble with this and quite a few were able to catch the ring on their pole.

Teatro Colon

A belated entry, but our last week in Buenos Aires we saw an opera at Teatro Colon. It was a piece by Wagner and we got some seats in the 'Women's Only' section following the recommendation of the ticket office. We were in a 'standing' section so of course we sat, it was a bit of a squeeze but you could get by sitting cross legged on the floor. I'm not acoustics expert but everything sounded great from as far away as we were and we could see everything on stage.

 Lovely stained glass above the cafe.

Machu Picchu pictures

Up here