Machu Picchu

This weekend Beverly, a friend from the Yanapay hostel from Britain, and I did the somwhat trying but unavoidable Machu Picchu journey. I booked the whole trip through Jesus, a spanish teacher at Yanapay, who also runs a tourist agency. I think we got a fairly good deal but it was a little frusterating following along blindly with some set tour. The hotel room, bus and train transport, guide, and entrance fee was $150. It is amazing the amount people pay to see this wonder. We left very early Saturday moning and had most of the day to just space around Aguas Caliente, the small base camp city for Machu Picchu, and rest up. The town was very touristy and fairly rustic, with half finished looking apartment buildings, no cars, and a railroad running through. It was nestled next to a roaring stream and towering mountains on all sides. After a few unexciting meals we went to bed early and waited for our 5am wake up call the next morning. The Sunday morning arrival at the ruins was a zoo of tourists but I slowly eased into the day and the beauty of the site. The most picturesque moment was the clouds rolling over the mountains and the Inca grounds. After our tour ended, around 9:30am we had a packed snack, rested, and then Beverly and I hiked up Winapichu. This is the mountain you can see towering in the back of Inca ruins. It was a very tiring hour long climb, mostly up rock stairs in the mountain face, but well worth it for the view and experience. I am now back in Cusco and happy to be settling in to my hosel and volunteer routine again.

Cuzco Buzz

I have been in Cuzco now for a little over a week and it has been a buzz of activity. Volunteering, exploring the many tourist attractions around this area, and going out to eat, drink, and dance.

I am here until mid April volunteering with Aldea Yanapay. The organization seems really unique and I have been happy with my experience so far. Yanapay runs a school, a restaurant, and a hostel for volunteers. There are around 15 other volunteers mainly around my age and from the North America or Europe. I work 5 days a week at the school, which is actually a type of after school program, open from 3 to 6:30 and Saturday mornings. It has been perfect timing because the program is just winding up again with the start of the new school year (summer is just ending on this side of the world). There are about 50 children that attend, although Yuri, the director, hopes to recruit 20 more. I am working with the older children. From 3 to 5 I work in the homework area, helping those children complete various assignments. There is also an art area but I am one of the few volunteers right now who speaks spanish (at least enough to get by) so I have been put in the more challenging area. Then at 5 we break into other small groups according to age and I teach an english class. I have been getting by alright, making up small games and activities.

I have also purchased a tourist ticket which gives you admission into various museums and ruins in and around Cuzco. This area is full of Inca ruins, Machu Picchu being the most famous. I will have to make it there at some point, perhaps next weekend. So far I went on two nice day trips, one to Pisaq and one to Ollotantambo. They were both cute small towns, one with a large outdoor craft and food market. From there we went on day hikes up the mountain side and among the large stone walls. The weather has been very nice during the day, with strong hot sun, although it get really cold at night. You always have to have a ton of layers cause a breeze or cloud can change everything.

This week has also been Semana Santa, and there have been tons of festivities surrounding the Easter holiday. Several nights there were large processions through the streets. Ash Friday is the largest day of the celebration here. Me and a friend happened to be invited by a local to come to his family´s holiday meal. It is traditionally 12 platos, courses, although ours wasn´t quite to that scale. His family live about an hour outside Quito and are farmers, although some work in tourist related jobs. It was a unique experience and we were able to see how traditional people live. The mother was very welcoming, however I was a little uncomfortable with what my place was there. We ate a type of corn on the cob with cheese plate, a baked apple dish, a vegetable soup, and fish with a beat salad and potatoes. It was fairly informal and there were many kids running around, some of whom only spoke Quechua, the native language. After the+ meal the boy we originally met and his brother, who were both in their late teens and interested in trying to become tour guides, took us on a nice walk around in the beautiful mountainside and pointed out various plants they grew. In the end we bought a few handycrafts at higher prices than you find in the markets, but that were hand made by this family and I guess in a way it was in exchange for the whole experience.

Lazy Days

I have been having a lot of wonderful lazy days here in Huanchaco. Cooking in the kitchen they have here, oatmeal in the mornings and fresh sandwiches and omlets later in the day. I finished my book and found a new one at a small book exchange. One evening I arranged with a few locals I met and some people from my hostal to have a bonfire on the beach. I put the few dollars out for the wood and we spent the night sitting around the fire with a guitar.

Sunday I went on a day long tour of indigenous ruins around this area. Chan Chan being the most famous and the highlight of my day. We arrived at the site just as it was closing and the late afternoon, early evening lighting was amazing. The site was like a giant maze that opening up into grand plazas. We were the only group at the site at the moment and it was neat looking over all these dessert ruins and beautiful mountains in the distance.

I am having a little trouble motivating to leave and have pretty much put it off to the last moment. Tomorrow night I take a night bus to Lima. I will have one day there and then Friday morning I fly straight to Cuzco. I have promised myself I will leave a little more time to explore Lima right before I fly home from there in May. It is crazy to think that I am about the move onto the 3rd of 4 legs of my trip.

Fried and Eaten Alive

I am happy to say I have finally found paradise after a long, hot, tiring journey through the Peruvian desert in the dead of summer. I was for the most part disappointed with Mancora, known as a very popular tourist hangout. It was basically one strip set smack dab on the Pan American highway. Tons of traffic and unrelenting bugs and heat. I also was new to the coast and got a little over zealous with my beach time. Now I know not to spend the day at the beach as if I was in Maryland. After 3 straight beach days I was burned and suffering from dehydration and perhaps sun poising. Who knows but it was bad and I had to slowly, due to my exhaustion, flee Mancora. Now it wasn't all painful, I was able to do some nice drawing. I also met an interesting artisan from the Peruvian jungle who was travelling with his jewellery and wire work around South America participating in various markets and street vending. After Mancora, I spent two nights in hot, busy cities on my way south, Piura and Chiclayo. Authentic city experiences with few tourists around but for the most time I laid in my budget hotel room recovering and watching MTV and other TV crap, trying to stay cool.

Now back to paradise. Today has been amazingly refreshing. I am in Huanchaco, a beach town near Trujillo. The weather has been amazing, hot but cool enough in the shade and no bugs! My hostel is very nice with lots of other young people around and good places to chill. I spent the morning reading in a hammock, then I did a nice drawing in the shaded courtyard. I went for a seafood lunch, took a quick dip in the ocean and a short lay on the beach, completed my drawing, went for a walk around the mellow town and then watched surfers and the sunset on the beach. I think I will spend maybe 4 or 5 days here and then go straight to Lima where I catch a flight to Cusco on the 14th. There are some good day trips from here to Inca ruins and I will probably go into Trujillo one day.

Also, check out this website show the volunteering I did at the children’s hospital in Quito. All of the photos were taken by me:
http://www.yanapuma.org/BacaOrtiz.html

Vamos Vilcabamba

Last night I left the beautiful tranquilo mountain town of Vilcabamba and crossed the border into Peru. More about beach bumming in Peru later but for now I´d like to reflect on Vilcabamba, probably my favorite Ecaudor stopping point. You can check out my hosteria at www.izhcayluma.com . I had three plus days of relaxation, including a full body massage and a somewhat out of the ordinary hike. The town was set between lush green mountains and my hosteria was about a twenty minute walk out of town with a view down on the valley. I spent the first two days taking it slow with a nice included breakfast, a walk into town for errands, a bite to eat or internet, a dip in the pool, a warm shower, reading and drawing, then a rico dinner. The hosteria had a nice crowd of travellers and its own bar with a chill night life. A couple glasses of wine and a few games of jenga and darts was typical. My last day there I mustered up some energy to go one a hike with 3 other folks. We hiked along a stream with an interesting log bridge cross, then up along the ridge of a mountain with great views. The furthest point was one of the most amazing waterfalls I have ever seen. It had two parts and the mist from the falls chilled the entire area. Unfortunately while we were crossing the stream at the base of the falls one of the girls slipped and landed on her elbow. She was in a severe amount of pain and may have broken something. We had to make her a sling and take it slow for the 2 plus hour walk back.