And San Francisco was built in the shape of...

Today is Friday and we are in a town called Aguas Calientes which is the last stop before we hit Machu Picchu tomorrow morning. It´s really a sleepy little town that has kind of outgrown it´s surroundings and the only way it can get bigger is to build up. It´s located right on the banks of the Urubamba River and the side of a mountain and they have run out of room. You see a lot of hotels going up and our guide said that the hotels have bought the land/house, razed it and built the hotel in its place.

Yesterday we traveled through the Sacred Valley of the Incas and it was amazing. First of all let me just say that Peru is unbelievably beautiful. Every twist in the road unveils a new vista that is almost more beautiful than the last. We are here at a good time of the year -- the end of the rainy season -- when everything is lush and green, so the mountain ranges are filled with vegetation and the misty clouds at the summits give them a real mystical look.

We stopped off at four ruins and our guide lead us through them. My favorite was Pisac. We took about a 1 1/2 hour hike around the place which lead to the temple of the sun. Like many of the ruins, they were built in such a way that the sun would cast shadows at certain times of the year to mark the longest and shortest days. The ruins were very cool but the hike was the highlight. We traveled on the same trail the Incas walked and much of it was on the edge of the mountain. With very uneven stone paths. And no handrails. Near the top of the mountain where it was easy to get a little lightheaded.

We ended the day in Ollantaytambo and climbed to the top of the ruin that was built in shape of a llama. Seriously, they showed us an aerial view of the ruin and it was pretty clear to see. If we did that kind of thing today I guess NY would be in the shape of a rat. Or Atlanta would look like a toothless hillbilly.

Ollantaytambo was near the top of the mountain where you could look across the valley to the next mountain and see where the Incans carved two images of Incan warriors. Once was on the face of the mountain and the other was on the side so you could see the profile. One certain days the shadow of the profile is cast on the stones at the top of the mountain I think. It´s amazing the things they did with the sun.

The town in the valley was laid out in the shape of a corn cob. Corn was a big thing for them and apparently in the valley is the only where they grow that huge corn I was telling you about the other day. Again, if we did that kind of civil engineering today Philadelphia would be in the shape of a cheese steak and Miami would look like a skillet of paella.

We stayed in a really cool place in Ollantaytambo. Aparently it was owned and run by a woman who used to play volleyball on the Peruvian Olympic team. It is nestled at the base of two mountains and looks like a botanical garden with a ton of different plants and flowers. We didn´t have time to explore the grounds too much as it was getting dark.

It was getting late so we decided to eat dinner at the restaurant there. I got to check off alpaca from my list by ordering the alpaca medallions with mushrooms in a sherry reduction (ok, I have no idea what a reduction is but that´s what Cari says it was). Wasn´t too bad. Wasn´t the tenderest of cuts but all in all it had a nice flavor. I was a little nervous this morning when I woke up to find two alpacas grazing on the front lawn of our hotel. I made eye contact with one of them and I got the sneeking suspicion they were there for me. You don´t want to mess with the alpacas. Maybe I should have just had a salad for dinner.

Tomorrow is the big day. We are off to Machu Picchu. From Aguas Calientes we will take a bus up a winding mountain road and reach the ruins around 7:30 I think. Can´t wait.

Tonight we are heading to the thermal baths (hence the name of the town - Aguas Calientes) to bathe in the "healing" waters. The water is supposed to smell like rotten eggs but if you can get passed that they are supposed to cure everything including that pesky rash that Chris has. Good news huh Dale?

Well I´m off to get my bathing suit on. The locals are in for a treat tonight because I´m sure they´ve never seen anyone as white as me. I´m gonna take off my shirt and light up the town. I´ll come back in a few years and they´ll have a festival in honor of the night the sun did not set. I´m 100% honky.

More to come tomorrow.

B

Chrisco in Cusco.....

Well, the last morning for now in Cusco (or is it Cuzco??....spelled both ways but only see Cusco in town). Yesterday was a free day and we took advantage of the museums and other sites. The museums lacked the content and quality of those in the states but at least there was one mummy to check out! I don´t think the paintings (many of which are religious in nature) are protected from the elements and many other objects were in the open air and subject to Mother Nature. Aside from that I really enjoyed what they did have even if I couldn´t understand a word of the explanations. Leslie, Brian and I together were able to decipher some of it but not most.
I just can´t describe in words how quaint this town is. The fact that you can turn a cobblestone corner to see actual Inca walls or find a unique shop is just one of the many aspects I like. You are surrounded by mountains and the clouds frame it all well. It has rained off an on but nothing significant. It is a bit hard to know whether to wear fleece or a jacket or a short sleeve shirt, etc. I guess that is the fun of it. I really feel safe here too and people are very friendly. You probably can´t get lost if you use the mountains or the plaza to keep your bearings. There are the usual peddlers, one young boy I think we finally got rid of yesterday. I haven´t seen him this morning. He followed us all over even after several of us nicely told him to go away. I think he was probably around 11. I finally told him he needed to leave us alone. A policeman saw us and he went after the little guy. I felt a little bad but we tried to tell him his odds would be better of actually selling a postcard if he spread out his territory and didn´t focus only on us.
Leslie and I hit a few churches and they are quite beautiful. Huge, ornate (probably at one time had real gold accents on the alter, etc.). The food has been a fun experience too. We tried chica, the local beer at one authentic restaurant for lunch. We learned that if there is a red rag hanging from a stick above a door it means that the place is a bar and serves chicha.
The hotel has a really nice, open air courtyard and we´ve spent a couple nights enjoying conversation and the local drink, piscu sour (not sure of the spelling), which is made of some type of brandy and other things. We´ve had great conversations and all of us get along really well in our group. I think we lucked out there.
No pig stories to share here but despite the lack of significant, traumatic events I have loved every minute here. The fact that I don´t know what day of the week or day of the month it is I find to be a really good thing. Now off to Ollantaytambo to see the Sacred Valley of the Incas......

Me duele el estómago

It´s Wednesday and a free day for us in Cuzco. Cari hasn´t been feeling well with an upset stomach and lightheadedness (is that even a word?)and she had a really bad night. She was having a hard time standing last night because she felt faint and sometime in the middle of the night she tried to go to the bathroom and fainted. I woke up when I heard her hit the floor and ran in there to help her back into bed. She was ok and I stayed up with her most of the night to make sure things didn´t get worse.

In the morning I talked with Hans about getting a doctor to see her. It was the same doctor who came to see Hans the day before when he was having the same symptoms. Hans thinks they might have gotten a bug from the fresh Brazil nuts he and Cari ate at the jungle lodge. Apparently the nuts themselves were ok (thank god since I had one too) but the shells might have had a fungus on them. Cari said she had about 4 or 5 of them might have used her mouth to get the nut of one out of the shell. That might have done the trick.

The doctor confirmed the theory and said it was something Cari ate. He prescribed some gatorade, a few things for nausea and her slight fever and said she should be back on her feet by tomorrow.

I got her some gatorade, filled the prescriptions at the pharmacy around the corner and got her on the meds early this morning.

I left Cari to sleep a little and the rest of us walked around the town a little. Chris and Leslie and I went into a few of the museums. Most of them were pretty poor. The contemporary art museum had three rooms with art and a total of about 35 pieces. One of the rooms had about 15 pieces of sculpture, each of them depicting a rather large naked woman with a big ass and even bigger breasts in different contorted positions. They all looked like something you´d buy at Spencer´s Gift at the mall. The detail on the nipples was amazing.

The last museum we went into was the best. It was once a monastary and all of the art was religious. Some really cool stuff in there. One thing I noticed is that they depict Jesus in a much bloodier way than we do. We are used to a very clean Jesus nailed to the cross. Just a hint of blood but nothing too gory. Not these guys. It´s like a Quentin Tarantino version of the cruxifiction. You know what the Peruvians call Jesus? He´s the Royal That Bleeds.

We headed back in time to hook up with the rest of the gang to grab some lunch. Cari was feeling better and wanted me to bring something back for her to eat. We went to another hole in the wall restaurant and ate with the locals. Apparently all the local dogs like this place too. About three or four of them wandered in during lunch. They just came in, checked out the place and left.

Nothing too exciting for lunch. I wasn´t really hungry and they didn´t have anything on the menu that piqued my interest. They did have Chicha though which is a local drink made with fermented corn, mixed with some other stuff and then fruit is added. It doesn´t taste too bad. They serve the stuff in glasses the size of pitchers that you need to hands to pick up. When they drink this stuff they look a bit like little kids trying to drink out of their parent´s glass. About half of their head is buried in the glass and you´re just waiting for the glass to slip out of their hands because it´s too big for them to hold.

Nothing at the restaurant for Cari to eat so I headed to a vegetarian place that someone in the group recommended. I got her a bowl of soup and a sandwich and we hung out for a bit.

Although she was feeling better she didn´t want to venture out with the rest of us to see a Peruvian dance troupe this evening. She wanted to make sure she kicks what she has so she doesn´t miss the next few days which include Machu Picchu.
The dancing was pretty good even though I could swear it looked like the same dance the whole time. I think they just threw on a new hat and shirt and kicked the same steps the whole night.

The music was interesting too. I really liked it in the beginning, but by the second dance I noticed some similarities. By the third dance I was humming along with the music. I think I could have conducted the band by the fourth dance. It reminded me of the dinner at Ma Li where "I´ll Make Love to You" played over and over and over. And over. Seriously though, the dancing and music were really good.

Well, I gotta go to bed because we have to get up early tomorrow to leave for the Sacred Valley. Cari should be close to 100% tomorrow so it´ll be great to have her back.

More later.

B

No thanks, I don´t have any fingers.

Well it´s Tuesday, our second day here in Cuzco and it´s a pretty cool place. It used to be the capital of the Incan Empire so it´s a lot bigger than I thought it was going to be. I was expecting a sleepy little stop off on the way to Machu Picchu, but this is a bonafide city.

We explored the city a little and saw some beautiful churches as well as some cool shops. We haven´t bought anything yet but we do have our eye on a cool piece of art from one of the local artists.
It really is difficult not to buy anything here. Especially when there is either a little kid selling postcards or artwork following you around the city, or an older woman dressed in one of the native outfits (think Colonial Williamsburg crossed with those characters on Sabado Gigante -- you know, the guy dressed as a bee or something like that) travelling with a llama pressing their noses up against the window of the restaurant of your hotel as your having breakfast asking you if you want to take a picture with them for one sole.
One of the girls on the tour had a little kid follow her all over today. He kept asking her to buy one of his postcards or if not that then buy him a cell phone or a new pair of shoes. I think his name was Cicilio or something like that. We asked him why he wasn´t in school and he would say "maybe later". That was my answer to him when he asked me to buy his postcards.
Finger puppets are another big thing here and you get hit up to buy them all over the place. I got sick of telling everyone "no gracias" so I finally started using the trick we learned in Cambodia and that is to confuse the seller with your answer. For the finger puppet sellers I would tell them "No thanks, I don´t have any fingers".
We went on the City Tour and got to see several of the ruins just outside the city. Really interesting to see some of these. Most were pretty far gone, but there were a few that gave you a glimpse of what the Incans were all about. One was a ruin that was called the Labrynth because of all the tunnels and trails in it. There was a part with an alter where they would sacrifice llamas to Mother Earth. At the top of the ruin were two small stone pillars where it was said they would record the shortest and longest day of the year. In essence they would tie the sun to the two pillars.
We got back from the tour and our guide, Hans told us he would take us to a truly local place for lunch. A couple of the people complained last night that the restaurant for dinner was a little touristy so he wanted to make up for that. Cari wasn´t feeling too well so she decided to skip lunch and stayed in.
We ended up at a place called La Chomba and it really was authentic. It was all locals and they had a band playing. Two guitars and a woman singer who reminded me of Ethel Merman a little. Kind of a big woman with an even bigger voice. I saw that they served cuy and since it was one of the things I wanted to try I ordered it. For those of you who don´t know what cuy is, it´s guinnea pig. This place served 1/2 cuy split lengthwise with relleno which is a pepper stuffed with meat and other goodies. In addition, you get 4 big fried potato balls and a corn on the cob that looks like it was grown by the Jolly Green Giant himself. The kernels were about the size of my knuckle. Lunch is their big meal of the day so this was a lot of food.
Now let me paint the picture of my cuy. On the top section of the plate you have the cuy, stretched out to about 10 - 12 inches long, skin side up with his two legs (claws included) and his head (teeth included) positioned in a way that makes him look like he´s in mid stride. I was told they eat them with their hands so I dug right in. I was told to try the skin but it was like shoe leather. It was too much work and really didn´t taste like anything so I went for the meat. I ripped the hind section off and what I think was the kidney or liver kind of fell out too. I didn´t eat that. The meat was really juicy and as cliche as it sounds, tasted like chicken.
Now that I´ve marked that one off my list I just have to try alpaca. Saw it on a few menus so far but haven´t gone for it yet.
I´m skipping dinner tonight because of the large lunch and I´m staying in with Cari who has gotten a little worse. She has an upset stomach and feels lightheaded. I´m getting her some chicken soup and we are hanging in for the night.
More to come.

B

Here is my post, now get off my back!!!

Well we made it out of the jungle and it couldn´t have been a cooler experience.Dave, I even mentioned how I thought you would have loved being here and was disappointed that you didn´t come. (And I think once in the jungle was good enough for me, so you missed it all.) Although every other girl in the jungle was groped by the wild pig,I decided that I was ok with just Brian groping me when we got back to the room, although I may as well have been groped by the pig cuz he smelled as bad as it did. The food at the lodge was great and I was very surprised at how good it was.

We made it to Cuzco, which is really beautiful. I thought the altitude wouldmake me sick, but all that made me sick were the pills that I started taking 2days ago.Go figure. Brian and I walked around for about an hour and a half just to check things out.Most people stayed behind and chilled. Weare staying at what used to be the palace of an Incan royal. It has an open courtyard and our room is directly off of the courtyard.It is very quaint.We are about to head to dinner. More to come soon...

Dave you have now heard from me...happy?

Be back soon,
Cari

Hey, these boots are not real leather from Italy!

We are now in Cuzco, trying to decide whether or not to walk around town for short while before dark or to stay at the hotel and adjust to the altitude. We have opted not to take the pills, Hans ensures us that drinking coco tea and taking it easy will do the trick for our stay. The tea does not taste good but I seem to be doing ok so far (aside from feeling like I am on a boat that is lightly swaying).

The jungle was amazing. The boat ride to the camp was pretty uneventful and I thought the jungle would look different. A lot of climbing up rickety stairs and through mud and muck to get to camp but well worth it. The place is like summer camp on steroids. Very nice, clean place despite where we were. Yes, the rooms are open to the jungle and yes there was no electricity in the rooms...only candlelight....and only cold showers. It was fantastic! The first day there we hiked for 20 minutes into the jungle and then climbed 120 feet up a canapy tower to see over the jungle. Awesome view of the Tambalya River (spelling probably wrong) at sunset. Only eight people at a time could be on the observation deck and all four of us witnessed two macaws pass right by us...almost close enough to touch. Beautiful birds, they travel as partners and both are equally as bright in color. Our guide, Sally, said they did this just for us that they don´t normally fly so close.

The hikes.....must wear knee high boots, deet, sunscreen, a have a positive attitude about mud. A lot of walking, mostly level ground, deep into the jungle. Saw monkeys, different kinds of birds and on one trip a pig happened upon us on the trail. The guides were quite surprised and told us all to stay still. The pig, a girl, had to put her face between most of the girls´ legs (by our calves) I guess to mark us. She stunk and then we did too. Turned out she was most likely a domestic pig that had wondered off. Some of us that were violated are seeking counseling during our stay.

Yesterday we took a trip up river to visit a local shaman who taught us about the
native plants and how they are used. He let us sample some of his remedies, including one that is supposed to increase your sexual prowess......

Cuzco is a wonderfully quaint city, with rich architecture and culture. Have already seen llamas on the street and some buildings have Inca stones for their foundation. Looking forward to seeing more tomorrow.ç

Our tour guide is great. His first name is Hans and he is Peruvian. His mother is German. Our tour group consists of folks from UK, Canada, California and Switzerland. We have met other nice folks from all over the world. Our jungle tour guides, Sally and Geraldine who are also from Peru, were awesome as well. Really good tour so far.

So off for now! Hope all is well in the states!!

If a pig and a woman fall in love in the jungle can it last?

We have survived the jungle. It was really amazing.

We left Lima early in the morning on Friday and took a flight to Cuzco for a 20 min layover before flying to Puerto Maldonado where we met up with our guides, Sally and Geraldine. Seriously, two Peruvian girls named Sally and Geraldine. All I could think of was that old Flip Wilson skit where he dressed up as Geraldine.

We dropped our big packs at the lodge and packed our day packs with what we´d need for the 3 days 2 nights we would be in the jungle. Ok, here´s the part where Cari and I totally miscalculated. Not completely sure how we did it but we only brought enough clothes for 2 days. So, we had to wear the same thing more than once. And it was hot. And it was muddy. And I sweat like a fat woman in a fur coat. So, I smelled like many of the animals we saw.

From the lodge we took a bus for about 20 minutes on a road that resembled the Santa Fe trail. This thing had pot holes that you could lose a family of four in. I think we traveled about 2 miles in the 20 minutes. Part of the delay was that we had to pull a local in a truck out of the mud. They couldn´t get their truck started and they were blocking the road. We hooked a rope up to our bus and pulled them out. As we were walking to our boat we saw them pass by. I guess they have AAA out there.

Our boat ride was pretty cool. Not much to see but it was nice to get out on the water and feel the breeze. It took us about 1 1/2 hours by boat to get to the jungle lodge.

I gotta say, the lodge was more than I expected. Really nice. Definitely still in the jungle, but it was nice to come back to a real shelter. Our rooms had two beds with mosquito nets and a "private" bath with a view of the jungle where the locals and guides set up lawn chairs to watch the tourists take their showers. I must have put on a pretty good show because in the morning one of the locals was offering me his daughter´s hand. I asked him to throw in a llama and we had a deal.

Seriously though, it was pretty au natural. The room had two walls and the back was open to the elements. Thankfully nothing crawled in bed with me. We woke to the sound of howler monkeys and macaws. Some of the lucky ones heard the "growler monkey" on several occasions from my bathroom.

One of the highlights was experiencing a "wild" pig on one of our hikes. Apparently this has never happened before with our guides and the looks on their faces was pretty funny. You could tell they really didn´t know what to do. I´ll let Chris tell you about the special connection that she and the pig had. Sparks were flying. The pig kept following us down the trail and even tried to get in our boat as we left. Chris must have made a real love connection. I´d be worried Dale.

Today we traveled to Cuzco and I have a feeling I´m going to like it here a lot. Very old world feeling about it.

More to come tomorrow after we´ve explored this place.

Hasta lluego.

B

Leslie´s not in Kansas anymore!

¡Hola Amigos! All is well here! Although we made it safely, it was not without adventure. Our flight had probs at the gate in Dallas, so we had to RUN to catch our flight to Miami. When we got there 15 minutes after board time, they hadn´t even begun to board. We said a quick prayer that our luggage would make it and stood in yet another line. We had a delicious midnight dinner....and it was really good...or i was really hungry. And then settled down to rest. Well, tried, but my seat wouldn´t go back. So I got about 1 1\2 hr sleep on the plane. We had forms to fill out and I had the pleasure of sitting next to a little Peruvian lady who told me to fill out her forms for her. Of course, at 1 a.m. I couldn´t thinkof the words "no comprendo" so I did the best I could and hoped she wouldn´t be pulled aside at customs!!!! She then had a conversation with me of which I had no idea what she said. But she was very sweet!! Chris and I got to the hotel around 5 a.m....which by the way, we are on Olathe time...woo hoo! and the employee invited us to go up to the second floor and wait for...well, whatever. I stretched out on one couch and got another hour or so of sleep....good sleep! We have spent the day so far wondering around Lima close to our hotel, showering up and preparing for lunch and touring. To my friends and family...when I post, I will have my name in the title. It has been a wonderful experience already....biggest challenge is the language barrier. I am sure my EspaÑol will be proficient upon my return. Well, we fly to the jungle tomorrow....so it will be a few days before you hear from us as Brian said...but we will be in touch. We have to take a pocket knife to the jungle....hhmmm, wonder what that is for!? It will definitely be the Kansas version of Survivor for the next couple of days! Love to all, especially Mikayla and Catie!!! Les

Maybe It´s Just You Dave

Well the four of us made it to Peru without any trouble. Cari and I spent a night in the Miami Airport that reminded us of a horror movie. I think we were the last two people - other than the TSA employees - at the airport at midnight. We literally walked through a couple of the terminals to meet up with Leslie and Chris and all we saw were the security folks. A little weird.

And all the shops closed at 9pm so we had live off of Pizza flavored Gold Fish and Twizzlers.

But we made it and that´s all that matters. We don´t remember much about the flight from Miami because both of us were out like lights as soon as we hit our seats. We didn´t even eat the dinner they served.

We met Chris and Leslie at the hotel (it´s nice) and set out for a little coffee and breakfast. Cari ordered a latte and low and behold it came out in a nice big sturdy coffee mug. Very different from the froo froo pinky-out cups that Dave got last year every time he ordered a latte. Must be you Dave.

We are just hanging out waiting for our meeting tonight with the rest of the group. I realized I didn´t print out my insurance form from GAP Adventures so if anyone from work reads this tell Tracy, Derrick, Bethann or Rick. I sent them an email with the details of what I´m looking for and where to find it in my Outlook. Hopefully someone will be able to email it to me.

Well, that´s all for now. We are headed to the jungle tomorrow morning so maybe we´ll post something later tonight before we go since we won´t be able to for the 2 days we are without electricity.

Brian

It's a new year and I'm off on another adventure with my brother. All those years as a pesky little brother, constantly asking me, "Come on Chrith (he couldn't say his "s"s) play with me!" and he has once again gained a captive audience! This year I am excited to say that Brian's girlfriend, Cari and my friend Leslie are joining in the adventure. He is outnumbered 3 to 1.....poor guy doesn't know what he is in for.
While I enjoyed beyond words our previous trip to Vietnam and Cambodia, I am equally anticipating the experiences I will have in Peru. However, I am concerned about Brian consuming aji de gallina (spicy chicken)....actually I am more worried about his roomie, Cari, on that one.

Please write us!
Chris