Settling in

The first 2 weeks of school are behind us and we are very busy. Our shipment arrived on the first day of school and we also got the car that day. So we are feeling like we live here, but haven't had much time to breath. The good news is this week the painter came while we were at work and he finished today so we are sitting in our nicely painted house and we feel like we can start to put up some of our stuff and make it feel like home. Just being able to see a difference from our house to the other 11 on the block is refreshing. (Same layout, same furniture, same paint, felt a little bit like Stepford wives. )

This weekend the goal is to get some carpets, get pictures up, and buy some plants. Today after school to get ready for the weekend I went and got a Thai foot massage with two other first grade teachers. A good bonding time and now I am very relaxed and ready to enjoy two days off! In a bit we are going down the street for a few drinks and a relaxing evening with some friends.

Ramadan started last Thursday so no eating or drinking of any kind (including water) in public areas from sunrise to sunset. Young kids can but my assistant is fasting, so every time she leaves the room I gulp down a liter of water. Sean however has fasting students so no eating or drinking out of the dining hall. Kind of is hard to do when you are talking all day in 100 degree weather. Luckily his room is near the dining hall so he can duck inside if he needs to. But once the sun goes down the party begins. So we try to stay off the roads and out of the way of hungry people on their way to food!

Next weekend we have been invited to a breaking fast dinner. It is set up in giant traditional (air conditioned) tents with men sitting around smoking a sheesha (fancy Arabic pipe like thing that boils/burns fancy flavored tobacco) and whirling dervishes. Oh and lots and lots and lots and lots of food. So, the idea of going without for a month is just an excuse for parties of excess every night. At least, though, it is good clean fun with no alcohol. Much easier to deal with than drunks partying every night.

The car that we have is a Mitsubishi Pajero Io (a small Forester sized SUV). We filled it up the first day we had it...7 dollars! I feel like such a bad person buying an SUV, polluting the environment but at least I am not going broke from it. It is good to have a larger car here due to the way locals drive. Last weekend we saw our first SUV taking a corner on 2 wheels. We heard it is really exciting to see them going around and round the roundabouts on two wheels. There are so many deadly accidents the government has really cracked down on traffic fines. Speeding is around 1,000 to 3,000 DOLLARS plus the possibility of jail time. They even have traffic tickets specific to motorcycles driving on one wheel and cars driving on two. Running a red light is minimum of 2,000 dollars. If you are caught (all video) it is your responsibility to check the web site to see what tickets and demerits you have. And you are not allowed to leave the country until you have paid all your fines!

Tea time

Your 23 hour journey from Seattle to Doha nears its end with a brief stop in Damman, Saudi Arabia, 30 minutes flying time from Doha. As you descend into Damman, you watch the flight information tick on the screen imbedded into the seat in front of you.

Altitude: 500 ft
Time at destination: 9:30 pm
Temperature: 104 degrees.

Huh.

A quick ascent and descent later, and you touch down in Doha. With a short taxi after landing, the plane comes to a halt. Leaving the plane, you descend an air conditioned portable staircase to the tarmac. Twenty feet from the base of the steps, a bus waits. Those few steps prove to enlighten you of much of the water consumed from the small airline Dixie cups, and you are amazed at how sweaty your palms have become upon quickly hopping onto the bus.

Quick checks out both sides of the bus fail to reveal an airport. Urban planners must be enjoying themselves here, with an utter lack of obstacles such as vegetation, rivers, elevation, or anything else that might conspire to place a landing strip within a 15 minute bus ride of an airport.

You quickly learn that life here, at least during this part of the year, consists of very quick transitions from one climate controlled area to the next. Leave the bus and sprint for the cool rush of air behind the automatic doors of the immigration area. Reside is said areas, perhaps not so much to perform the official formalities of immigration, but instead to store up energy for the next sprint, this one more confused as you search for your host’s automobile while struggling with luggage. A short ride through town, a quick check of house numbers, and once again rush from the cool comfort of the car to the (thankfully) pre-cooled villa that will be your home for the foreseeable future.

Your co-worker observes that it feels as if one could stand outside, scoop a mug full of air, and brew one’s favorite hot drink with the mug’s contents.

Anyone for a spot of tea?

Ha, we’re back!

Our apologies to everyone waiting for the end of our Peru blog. The end of the school year in May and June conspired against us and kept us from finishing and adding to it. (I know it’s a lame excuse, but it’s all I have). The kick in the pants arrived yesterday when I came across a quote in a magazine: “Even a modest, completed project is greater than the grandest good intention.” So here’s for mediocrity (but completed mediocrity!)

Editor’s note: In the interest of time and a failing memory, the following is excerpted directly from Sean’s journal written during the trip.

Side note: That would be a primary source document, which historians might argue is better than anything we could come up with now.

Peru, culminated

April 12
8:00 pm
Today is our 1st day of the Inca Trail. 13 total on the trip + guides. 4 US, 2 New Zealand, 4 UK, 2 Aussie, 1 Irish. All of the non-US are part of an organized tour traveling Quito, Ecuador to Santiago, Chile. Fun group, interesting, and fun accents.
Left Cuzco this morning at 6:00, bus to Ollantaytambo where we picked up this group, then bus to trail. 1st half today was level, then up up up to this camp. Passed by large Inca ruins – was a town and market.
Porters are amazing. Their load is wrapped in blanket, then tied with rope, then another blanket is rolled and formed into shoulder straps. They wear sandals or light tennis shoes, carrying 25 kg, and are often jogging up trail.
Food is amazing – as good as any I’ve had recently and huge quantities.
To sleep now, long day tomorrow.

April 13
Warminuska (aka Dead Woman’s Pass) 4215 meters above sea level
10:00 AM
Personal highest place in life! At home this would be glaciated, but is sub-alpine here. A few snow-capped/glaciated peaks in the background. Fairly warm (50s?), overcast. Spectacular scenery!

April 13
Inca trail night #2
8:15 pm
After pass descended stairs/trail to this camp (3-4 hours more). Camp is across valley from a large ruins called Sayacamarka (?). Lots of nice yellow flowers. Most of today’s trail was on stone paths – very little trail. At camp some members of the group invented a new game called Inca Sticks. 4 m circle (drawn in dirt), use walking sticks to touch opponent’s foot. Quickly gathered a large audience and got one (of the porters) to play. Beautiful glaciated mtn peaks seen from camp, hopefully good alpenglow tomorrow morning (note – no alpenglow happened).

April 14
Aguas Calientes – SAS Viajeros Hostel
6:30 pm
A landslide occured (months ago) on the last leg of the Inca Trail. So after Winaywana, which is usually the camp for night 3, we descended into Aguas Calientes and are staying tonight in the guiding company’s hostel. Boys room and girls room only (note: they ended up overbooking the rooms, so all of our group eventually ended up cramming in together). We get the option to bus up to Machu Picchu in the morning (30 min) or walk (~1 hour). I am going to walk, just because I feel that I’ve come this far, so why not. Most of the group will bus – of the 13, I’d say about a third hike for fun and the rest are doing this for the novelty of the Inca Trail.
Today was only about 3½ hours of walking, mostly downhill on steep Inca steps. Quite treacherous in some places. The porters were amazing, especially on this. Where we would inch down, one step, then matching with the other foot, they would run down, with 25 kilos.
Passed two Inca sites today. First was Phuyupatamarca (“Cloud Level Town”). The trail skirted around the side and then below the ruins, but 3 of us ran up to the top platform (terrace) to see it from the top. This site was especially interesting because you could see how they used the natural terrain in the design of the constructions.
There were a couple tunnels in the trail, where they had carved out natural fissures in the rock. Very impressive.
Mostly foggy but occasionally views opened up and you could see the Rio (River) Urubamba far below, the mountains on the other side of the river, and glaciated peaks beyond.
2nd site was Winay Wana: very beautiful terracing, temple at top and habitations near bottom. (Note: the site’s name translates to something like “forever young” because of the type of orchid that grows in this region blooms year-round)
Dinner soon, then probably sleep because wake up at 3:30 am to walk up.

April 16
On plane from Cuzco-Lima (then with connections back to Medellín)
9:00 am
No entry yesterday because we got back so late. Woke up yesterday in A.C. at 4:00 am. By 5:00, 5 of us + Victor (guide) were walking up trail to Machu Picchu. Pouring rain, but hot because climbing stairs. At top we had our passports stamped and sat for 30-45 minutes until they opened. Victor stayed out all night because he had nowhere to sleep (hotel screwed up). So he was very tired and slow. Still raining when we entered, and very soaked and cold. However, very nice to be there without hordes of tourists.
M.P. is so hyped, I wasn’t amazed while there, but it was quite large and interesting to explore. Especially interesting: Condor temple (natural rock looks like condor’s outspread wings); working sundial with broken corner from TV camera falling on it; attention to buildings’ and windows’ alignment with solstice sun, cardinal directions, and important mountains.
Done with guided tour by 9:00, went outside park to get hot drinks. Rain stopped and entered again to explore and photograph. Ran into Mike and Jo (Kiwis in our group) and I went to climb Huayna Picchu with them (note: this is the steep peak you see behind the ruins in every postcard picture of M.P.). Heather stayed in the ruins to photograph. Had to sign trail register to climb. Many stairs, hugging cliff, cable handrails for support (1st we’ve seen in Peru). Steep but not slick because made of granite and sees lots of use. It was impressive the number of people on trail, given its technicality. Good views from the top, but more worthwhile for the hike than the views. Large boulders on top, along with ruins, terracing. Very exposed. I wonder how may people died building these on such steep cliffs. Descent was a bit scary – 1st an exposed slab with thin foot placements, then very narrow steps down with wall on left and terraces on right. Had to place foot on (the) step sideways and sidestep down. A bit vertigo-inducing.
Met Heather at entrance and took bus to town. Lunch, then left via train at 3:50 (others in our group would leave 1 hour later). Annoying passengers sitting across from us, and with ~30 inches legroom between the facing seats. Arrived in Cusco at 8:40. Met the group at Jack’s Café for dinner. Nice conversation with James, Leann, Chrissy. Bed at 11:00, woke today at 5:00

April 16
Overall impressions
Tour groups – good or bad depending on group…Sacred Valley tour poor to OK, Inca Trail hike excellent, lots of fun.
Inca Sites – arrive early for no groups…Exploring Cuzco by Peter Frost in excellent and had more info than Sacred Valley guide…guides on site are sometimes helpful, especially Javier at Puca Pucaru (He gave us the entire tour in Spanish, very pleased with ourselves on how much we understood, and when we didn’t we were able to use sign language to Spanish to clarify).
Inca Trail – felt a bit weird with catered meals and sleeping, but I’m glad we did it. I’d like to return and see less touristy sites without a tour company (you are required to be in a guided group to walk the Inca Trail). We had porters carry sleeping bags and mats, and felt fine over entire trip (note: however, we were somewhat acclimated due to living in Medellín, at altitude).

As always, you can visit our Flickr site, or more specifically, our collection of photos from Peru, to see pictures.

Semana Santa Day 4- Part IV

Sacred Valley, A guided adventure in 4 parts
Chinchero

It is getting dark and we are driving on, out of the Sacred Valley back towards Cusco. In the distance we can see the snowcapped mountains of Mt. Veronica (Wilca Wanka) and Puma’s Paw (Puma Wanka). As the sun is setting we pull into the small village of Chinchero, or the birthplace of the rainbow. We take the small cobblestone streets up the hillside. Here villagers have their stores open and are sitting drinking their coca tea and watching the tourists parade up the hill. The time of day is perfect and the street lights bathe the street in a warm and inviting glow.

As we reach the top of the hill the street opens into a small square outside the church. A small market is set up here and children play in the grassy area in the center. The backdrop to this city square is a massive Incan wall that now sits just below the colonial church. The church is built on the old Incan foundation and stones of the former religious, political, and military complex were used to build the church.

We look off to our left into the darkened valley were there are remains of the Incan fortress that sat along the old Inca road between Cusco and Machu Picchu. Due to our late arrival it is very difficult to see and the chill of the altitude is starting to set in. We head to the inside of the church to see the artwork and get warm.

This church dedicated to the Virgin of Montserrat and has a large beautiful alter with hundreds of mirrors used to reflect the alter candle light into the room. In small alcoves, with large Incan walls there are beautiful 17th century paintings from the Cusco school. Many of the paintings portray Mary’s life, including her childhood. This theme of Mary’s early life is seen in many works of art throughout Cusco and causes us to reflect and question how much of her early life is known and recorded. Neither of us remember any mention of her childhood in our Sunday school classes.

At around 7:00pm we leave the church and wind our way back through the streets of town. We stop and look at a few vendors’ wares and then climb back onto the bus for the 20 minute ride back to town.

Semana Santa Day 4- Part III

Sacred Valley, A guided adventure in 4 parts
Lunch and Ollantaytambo

We stop for lunch at a buffet style restaurant in the town of Urabamba. It is nothing special, having been set up primarily for the different tour groups coming through. There is good conversation and we get to know the other members of our group a bit better while we sample stewed llama and alpaca meat. With our bellies full we head on to the next stop, Ollantaytambo.

Ollantaytambo, or the resting place of Ollantay, was initially inhabited by the Antis ethnic group. This group's name was mispronounced by the Spaniards as Andes, and thus the name of the mountain region was named after the people who lived there. Ollantay was an Antis chieftain who helped Inca Pachautec conquer the northern Peruvian coast. Ollantay fell in love with the Inca’s daughter, however, and as in most legends of love, this was denied because of Ollantay’s less than worthy origins. Ollantay rebelled against the Inca and moved to what is now Ollantaytambo. Later he was crushed by Inca Pachautec, who then developed this town as his royal estate.

Before we reach the ruins themselves we drive through the narrow streets of town in our large tour bus. Water channels run down the middle or sides of each street. Ollantaytambo is the only Peruvian Inca settlement in use that still retains the original layout in the shape of a trapezoid. We reach the main square, where locals have set up their fruits and vegetables on the steps. Everyone is in traditional dress and the color red is everywhere. As we walk down a side street we walk through a small tourist market and look straight up into the monumental terraces that scale the steep mountainsides.

This is the view, with the addition of thousands of archers, that Pedro Pizarro and his Spanish troops were greeted with right before their devastating defeat during their conquest of the Incas. In 1537, right after his defeat at Sacsaywaman, Manco Inca garrisoned his forces here. While the Spanish retreated in a hailstorm of arrow fire, Manco Inca dealt his final blow. He broke dams that redirected the Urabamba River, flooding the plains and sinking the fleeing Spanish horses. However, the Inca's victory did not last long. Later that year the Spanish regrouped, quadrupled the attacking forces, and stormed the fortress a second time. Manco Inca, seeing his position as hopeless led his army farther into the jungle to his last stand at Vilcabamba.

We carefully climb over 200 steps up through the terraces and enter the religious sector. Walking along one of the top terraces we pass through the remains of the Temple of Ten Niches. Around the corner we find 6 huge stones polished flat, standing upright and creating an unfinished wall. On the wall you can see carvings of the Southern Cross and the three-level Incan cross. These huge alter like stones were moved from 6 km away, down one side of the valley, across the river, and up the hillside to their present location. Evidence shows that the Incas never forded the river with the stones, but instead would drag the stones to the river’s edge and then redirect the river around the stones before continuing on dry land.

We then pass through the residential sector of the ruins back down the terraces and into the Baño de la Ñustra, or “Bath of the Princess”. Here there is a smoothly polished rock with a fountain. While we are there a young boy is busy playing in the water and presents an irresistible photo opportunity.

Across the valley from this point we can see several buildings carved high into the mountain side. These buildings were food storage houses. To us they seem so far away and inaccessible up the opposing mountain side. Can you imagine waking up in the middle of the night and craving a snack? Historians argue that the locations of these storehouses are logical because the coolness and ventilation provided helped preserve the food. Above the storehouses in the rock face of the mountain is the (naturally formed) face of a bearded man with a large sack of gifts on his back. This is not Santa Claus but the mythical father of the Incas, Manco Capac, the son of the sun. Mythology says that he emerged from Lake Titicaca and declared Cusco the navel of the Incan empire.

Semana Santa, Day 4: Part II

Sacred Valley, A guided adventure in 4 parts
Pisac Market and Pisac Ruins


One of the reasons the town of Pisac is so well known is its local market. (Even featured in this year’s season of the The Amazing Race!) It is open three days a week, Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday. Sunday is known to be the most traditional day because it is when people wear traditional dress, their Sunday best, not for the benefit of tourists but because of their own tradition. Also, on Sundays when mass lets out in the town square at 11:00 the entire congregation leaves the church in a colorful procession led by the mayor of Pisac. We had read, seen pictures, and heard from friends about how amazing this market was. We couldn’t wait to see it.

Our bus pulls over in the parking lot and we are told we can get off to look around, but be back in 15 minutes! Shocked, we run off the bus at full speed. We had come with the idea of buying some specific things and getting great pictures. Instead we find ourselves in our own Amazing Race. We opt for shopping. We see a woman selling traditional Peruvian tapestries, top on our shopping list. We start the polite chit chat, then the bargaining begins. As Heather haggles, Sean tries to ward off pick pockets and snap a few pictures at the same time. We leave with 5 beautiful tapestries, wallets intact, and about 30 seconds to spare to get back to the bus. We never even made it to the main square! Before frustration and disappointment can take time to settle in we are off for the ruins. We make a mental note about tour groups; you can pack a lot in, but what are you missing while you are rushing between sights?

The Pisac ruins sit high on the hillside above the town of Pisac. Again, like at Sacsaywaman, the rocks that built the huge Incan complex of Pisac were dismantled by the conquering Spaniards to build the Spanish city below in the more sensible area of the valley floor. But the amount of ruins that remain are amazing and much larger than we expect. Again on the tour we can only see a small part of the ruins - we could take a day or two exploring. We head off to the religious sector.

We walk along a path that curves along the mountain side. Pan pipe music floats up to us from a young boy sitting on the rock serenading the Apus or mountain gods. Farther in the distance are the ruins of the priests’ dormitories and domestic sector. Then we turn right and head up hill, through the Incan gate to the old city of Pisac. We are now in the remains of the religious sector.

Here there are three well preserved temples. The temple of the sun dominates the area with its Intiwatana stone-or hitching post of the sun. According to Incan tradition the Temple of the Sun would have been completely covered in gold. Next to this temple stands the Temple of the Moon, once covered in silver. Farther on are the ritual baths and fountains.

We try to take a few pictures, cropping out the hundreds of other tourist groups on their Sunday whirl wind tour of Pisac. Hot and sun burnt, we head back to the bus, passing the piper boy walking up the path. We ask to take an up close picture, offer him a small tip, and rush to catch up with our ever moving tour group.

Semana Santa, Day 4: Sacred Valley, A guided adventure in 4 parts

Part I- Voting, The Sacred Valley, Urubamba River, and the Milky Way

Today we are taking our planned tour we purchased the first day with helpful Katherine, who got us to our hostel from the airport. The plan is an 8:30am-6:00pm tour of the Sacred Valley. But remember we are running on Peruvian time. The bus picks us up at our hotel at about 9:00am and we meet the others on the tour: An Aussie couple, an older English gentleman, 2 Peruvian women traveling with their English friend, a French woman about our age, and four others from the states, all about our age, who we talked with quite a bit. There was Tom from NYC via San Jose, Denise and Billy from San Diego, and Hoang from Washington D.C.

After we have been on the bus for about 20 minutes we reach the outskirts of town. Our bus pulls over at a service station. The driver gets out, gets into a cab and drives away! We find out from our guide Guillermo, who arrives about 5 minutes after the driver leaves, that because today is Election Day in Peru our driver has decided to quickly go and vote. One must always do their civic duty. About 45 minutes later he returns and at about a quarter after 10 our tour begins.

A little less than 30 minutes away from town we make our first stop: an overlook of the Sacred Valley and the Urubamba River. El Valle Sagrado, or the sacred valley, is fertile farm land that lies along the Urubamba, Willacamayu, or Vilconota River. It really is just one river but the confusion comes from the use of Spanish and Quechua (traditional Incan language still used by most locals in their homes and daily lives) as well as the tradition of naming rivers in sections. Most people now refer to it as the Urubamba River. The valley stretches through 300km of the Incan empire. However, the term Sacred Valley usually refers to the section between the towns of Pisac and Ollantaytambo that we will be visiting today.

From this overlook we are able to see a long, straight stretch of the river the Incas called the Willacamayu, or sacred river. Incas believed it was the earthly counterpart to the Milky Way, which they called Mayu, or River. During the summer months the path of the Milky Way would be shadowed on earth by the path of the Willacmayu, or Urubamba River.

This heavenly significance is one reason historians believe that all the major Inca sights on the river have large temples dedicated to celestial viewing. All of which, including Machu Picchu, far down river, have the Southern Cross and other constellations featured somewhere in their construction.