Photoblog for Ollayantambo trip

Moray - the circular maize which was used by the Incas to grow crops at different micro climatic temperatures (each consecutive line increases by 5 degrees)

The Girl Gang (L2R): Maja, moi, Esther and Christina

 The Salinas - Salt Flats

Hairpin bend of a road ungraciously winding it´s way down

Hillbilly poser making a comeback. Before the hike down the Sal

inas

The river & bridge which led to salvation aka Ollayantambo

 Tolkien´s Ollayantambo village - in the Sacred Valley

Unfortunately these photos do not do the magnificence or size of the mountains justice

Inca ruins situated high up on the mountains

Maja eating cow´s heart on a stick. A delicatessen for 1Sole (R2.70)

Woman carrying food used to fatten up the guinea pigs (see previous entry)

 And the hike up to the Pisac Ruins

During your walk up you hear pan flutes. This was one of the pan flute playing villagers who told us about the area and ruins.

 Fluit fluit my storie is uit :-)

All the Way to the Top

Every day Peru teaches me something. For the most part it is a mixture of gratitutude and humility. Gratitude for the enormous expanse of my blessings. Humillity in terms of the stark reality of abject poverty that forms part of everyday life here.

We have it good in South Africa, we really do. Don´t let people try to convince you otherwise. We have cosy homes, where everything functions. We have food on the table and a warm bed to sleep in. We are loved by family and friends. We are abundantly blessed.

Towards the end of last year I went through a severe sorry-for-myself period. Feeling that life was unfair, that I had been dealt a raw deal at work. I was so caught up in my fantastical web of misery that I ceased to exist.
I have learnt (through the error of my ways), that we never have to feel that there is no way out. When one door closes a passage of a thousand windows open. I need to tatoo that on my forehead. It is too easy to forget when that one door slams shut.

Just a note on my posts. I have not managed to write about my last weekend, because the week was gobbled up skyping in the afternoons and organising my tour to the Amazon. A dream come true. For 12 glorious days I will be soaking up the best of Iquitos and the surrounds, at a retreat known as the Hummingbird Centre. During this time I will have no access to any electronic devices or electricity. It will be me, myself and I facing herself.

My retreat is a bit ´out there´ and on the spiritual side. Perhaps best to leave the explanation at that. Without getting into too much detail, the retreat where I will be staying specialises in Ayahausca ceremonies, which are conscious altering experiences. I don´t know how to describe it, but you basically come face-to-face with your ego, your fears, and anything in your life you may have suppressed. It is also a visionary experience, one whereby you gain insight into your life and yourself.

You come back a changed person. I have heard and read enough testimonies to nullify any lingering doubt I may have had. One of my Australian friends at the Spanish School, Nick, told me about this centre and about the Ayahausca ceremonies. I have wanted to participate in one, but was hesitant as one really needs to find the RIGHT place. The Amazon seemed like the perfect setting. I will have the honour of working with some of the best shamans in the area. The experience will not be entirely euphoric (to say the least). However it is my calling and regret will stay with me for the rest of my days if I don´t do this.

When I look back, I thought I deserved a medal for folding away all my security blankets back home. But nothing has prepared me for this life altering experience I´m about to embark on. It may sound melodramtic. It is not. There are certain things we just can´t explain in the physical world. The ayahausca experience is one of them. I need clarity in my life, about what was and well, about myself. I believe this experience will turn all those questions into statements, so that I may pursue a life of purpose and meaning.

Back home I felt like I was chasing my tail, achieving, but not the type of achievement that rings true with meaning. I hope to find it here, but I already know that just by being true to yourself, a plethora of experiences open up which bring you closer to where you need to be.

Weekend in Ollayantambo
But enough with the philosophical musings. There was a weekend past that was incredible. With three German friends we boarded the local dodgy-end of town bus and headed down to Moraz, which was the beginning of our adventure. After a bus journey spent standing the majority of the way, inbetween local Peruvian villagers, of all shapes and sizes, we arrived in one piece.

Once in Moraz, Esther (who speaks fluent Spanish) managed to organise a taxi to our two touristy stops for the day. The first being Moray, which consists of circular rings, each seperated by 5 degrees. The Incas built the Moray about 500 years ago, to experiment with growing crops at different microclimatic levels. To be honest, I did not understand the ecological geometrics behind it all, but it was a complicated and highly intelligent system that farmers today would struggle to implement.

After that walk, we headed off with the taxi to the Salinas, which are an impressive mass of salt flats, lined up for kilometers like a massacre of fallen dominos. The salt flats were created as a result of the salt found in the mountains, which were (as my friend Maja explained), created millenia ago, by ocean water that had flowed at that level.

We walked down the Salinas until we found a bridge and then a road. It started pelting down as we were heading down. Clever me had nada raincoat or cap and was saved from influenza by the generosity of my friends who loaned me all they had spare to save me from getting drenced. Once we hit the road we successfully flagged down a van that looked like it could (potentially) double up as a taxi and headed to Ollayantambo.

This little village looks like it jumped out of J.R. Tolkien´s Lord of the Rings. Ollayantambo lies in the centre of GIGANTIC mountains, which tower up into the heavens. I have never seen anything quite so spectacular.

We found a quaint little hostel and I had the first warm night´s sleep since my arrival in Peru. The next morning we woke up at the crack and took another dodgy taxi and then bus to the village of Pisac. Pisac is another tourist mecca, renowned for it´s incredible market. Here you will find garments, alpaca blankets, leather handbags, scarves, sockes and ponchos of every discribable colour. You will also find really good choclo, which is steamed corn served with feta-like cheese and a herby green sauce.

After a quick walk around the market, we headed up to the ruins in the mountain behind Pisac which Lonely Planet refers to as ´training for Machu Picchu´. That is a gross understatement. For two solid hours we climbed a 90 degrees skyward, panting for oxygen along the way. The effort was well worthwhile, having an INCREDIBLE view of Pisac and the other mountains as we crescended our way up.

Along the walk there were Inca ruins, jutting out of the unforgiving mountain. Carrying my water bottle and tiny backpack seemed like torture up that steep incline, so how exactly did the Incas manage to create temples and outposts all the way up?

We were blessed with good weather for most of the journey. Just as we rounded the last bend and ruin, the heavens opened up again. We got to the end of the hike, drenced but happy. We flagged down a taxi and made our way back to the market, where we sat down with the local villagers to a wholesome meal of lentils, veg, rice and broiled chicken. It was warm and filled all the right holes. We all suffered from troublesome tummies for 48hrs after that, but the experience was well worth it.

Maya, Ester, Christina and I felt it was an incredible weekend. Totally unplanned, winging it all the way, and somehow everything just worked out. I know I have a guardian angel that helped us to flag down the right taxi, find a great hostel and kept the rain at bay for the majority of our hike.
It is the same guardian angel that saved me from having everything stolen when our apartment was broken into last weekend. Both my flatmates were robbed of their cameras, cellphones, ipods, hundreds of soles each (Celene 400Soles, Jonas 800). My room was somehow left intact. Luckily a little voice told me to lock away my passports and credit cards in the bottom of my big hiking bag. The keys I took with me. The robber obviously did not want to draw attention to himself by making his way out with a huge padlocked hiking bag.

So I continue to keep my faith in my Guardian and Maker who is continuing to bless and look after me every step of the way. This weekend will be spent packing up my life here in Cusco (for the time being) and getting ready for my Amazonian adventure which kicks off on Wednesday night. After a 21hr bus journey to Lima, I fly out to Iquitos early Friday morning. Just hoping the past three weeks of Spanish pays off, so that I end up on the right side of town when I have to flag down a taxi to the hostel in Miraflores.

But as mentioned, I feel that I am divinely guided and protected and have faith that this journey continues in much the same vein.

From an ever colder Cusco,
xxx

Fancy Having Your Pet for Lunch?

Peru is a different place.

As much as I wanted to chain myself to a tree to stop guinea pig being killed for Peruvian lunch, I have learnt relatively quickly, that as visitor to this beautiful country, one has to respect traditions and ways of being.

My guinea pig restaurant experience formed part of the weekly Friday class outing. It was uninimously decided that all groups would go to a local restaurant to eat ´cuy´ (Spanish for guinea pig). Again, the restaurant is not a place you would find in Lonely Planet. Our teachers are great that way, showing us the local experience, void of tourist. As I am a semi vegetarian (eating fish), the idea of having an a pet for lunch totally freaked me out.

The group getting ready for the ´cuy´ experience

Sign welcoming us to the best Guinea Pig in Cusco

But when in Rome, tag along. I had potato instead, and went along for the ride and experience. The restaurant can only be reached by local taxi, about a 15min drive from San Blas, in a relatively new area above Cusco, known as Santiago.

As you will see from the pics, the entire guinea pig is spread out across your plate, with little feet, hands, claws and head still intact. I considered fleeing the table. But I stayed, convincing myself that this was another culturally enriching experience. I wasnt partaking in the eating, but seeing the little carcases lined up around the table, made me feel like a mass murderer.

Christina about to devour her Cuy

After the meal the teachers told the students to open up the heads, as there is a MINISCULE little bone inside (lodged somewhere behind the brain) that is shaped EXACTLY like a ´zorro´ (Spanish for fox). It is believed that this bone holds immense spiritual power if you consume it by throwing it into your glass (if consumed any other way, all spiritual power is lost). The belief is that on the night of consuming this bone, you will have vivid dreams revealing your future. A cheaper version of visiting a psychic. Tomorrow I will be able to report (after chatting to my friends), whether this belief holds true.

As we were settling our account, I heard squeaks eminating from the basement of the restaurant. When we went outside to wait for the taxi, they were busy offloading crate-fulls of guinea pig. Seeing the cute little balls of fluff being stuffed into a bag, making their way to the execution palace was the pits. Our teachers told us that before each guinea pig is killed, a prayer is given to mother earth and the animal is blessed for sharing their body for human sustenance. The German girls felt this was a lot more humane than back home (where animals are force fed in tiny spaces, under artificial light). So everyone felt that lunch was justified.

The crateful of cuys being bagged for lunch

On a less macarb note. Yesterday I went on a mini trek to the Inca ruins above San Blas, known as Temple of the Moon. I went with two friends from school and a professor in Incan history (that happens to live in my hostal). The first part of the trek was incredibly steep, but the landscape was totally worth the climb. Ofcourse Pablo (the Incan history prof) gave us lots of interesting info about Incan history during the trek.

Temple of the Moon - the tin houses form part of the excavation camp

This ruin is currently being excavated by archeologists, and for this reason entrance is still free. Once we got to the top of the site, there were Peruvian tour-guides sitting there giving us all sorts of fascinating info (if you listen you pay, as I later found out..*another lessson learnt*).

There was a round sundial, which the Incas used to indicate time. There were also carvings of snake, birds and puma - out of solid stone. Sadly, parts of the bodies were missing. All three animals represent different stages of the afterlife. The puma - the present life, the snake - life after death and the bird - life before birth.  

The round Incan sundial

View from the top of Temple of the Moon

There was also a large cave being excavated, with a big hole in the roof. On the night of soltice, the moon illuminates the entire cave into a wonderworld of light. The window-like structure in which I am sitting is also carved out of solid stone - (how they did this with minimal tools still baffles my brain). The Incas believed that man came into existance through portals that looked like windows. Very much like the one I am sitting in. After death, the spirit returned to the afterworld, through this window. For this reason, Inca mummies (who were respected Incan priests) were often brought out and placed in these windows during the day time and offered food & drink.

Sitting in the window to the After Life

The scenery is stunning, and only a foretaste of the weekend to come. Tomorrow morning (after I move to my new residence), three German girls from my school and I will be visiting The Sacred Valley. We will be sleeping in Ollaytambo tomorrow night, and heading through to various Incan ruins,
Moray, Salinos and the famous market of Pisac. REALLY looking forward to it.

On a more personal note - had a really rough week. Missed home and familiarity a lot. Felt as if the walls of the apartment in which I am staying was swallowing me up. Didnt help that the week itself was uneventful. School finishes at 1pm and found myself ambling aimlessly around the streets until night descended. All the German girls live far out, so felt pretty alone after school. I know that this experience is making me stronger, but it remains a sinking feeling.

My mom always says that no matter how desperate you may feel during the night, there is always a new day break, a new day. So for now, I will remained focused on a BRIGHT new day and all the adventure it holds in store.

Peru - A Culinary Feast (with a view)

I cant believe it is Sunday already. The week passed in a flurry of activities and as a result I haven't managed to do an inkling of the studying I set out to do.

All good intentions aside. The first part of the week was spent finding warm clothes. Every day I wear just about every item of clothes I own, and even bought a mother of a poncho, which wraps around me like a blanket. When I went to celebrate St Patrick`s day in my new blanket on Thursday, I realised to what an all-time low my coldness has plumeted.

St Patricks day was celebrated in Cusco much like other parts of the common-wealth world, with lots of balloons hanging from every Irish pub in the city. Gringos (foreigners) sporting hues of green, face paint and wigs. We even saw a gremlin running around. Sadly I didnt take my camera, as pocket theft happens. Better safe than sorry.
 

Every Friday my language school organises an outing to one of the noteworthy places in the surrounds. These outings are typically not museum or church based (there are hundreds to visit here), but include things like the black market, animal shelter for exotic species illegally smuggled over the border, visiting the local Cusquenean restaurants (that you won`t find in Lonely Planet) and other such things.

Our class (two German girls, myself and our teacher) visited the Molino (black) market. Here you can find just about everything you need, including cheap camping and hiking gear. It is not unusual to see pig`s head being fried up in the corner, or other vile carnivorous dishes. There are enough smells to keep you entertained for millenia and the food, well, is typically Cusquenian. Food which any sane foreigner would not touch with a barge pole.

With Maja and Sandra infront of El Molino - the black market

Which brings me to my next topic. Food.

My ceviche dish

The Restaurant`s choice - enjoyed by my friends

Cusco (and I`ve heard Peru) is a culinary paradise. Be prepared to loosen your belt a notch or two after visiting. There is an amazing array of local dishes, infused with other South American flavours. One of the most famous is ceviche, which is cold pickled fish, with a highly toxic lime content and can be extremely spicy. The Peruvians eat VERY spicy food. Even if you love spice (like I do) always ask for the watered down version. You will be glad you did.

I had my first ceviche yesterday, at the best ceviche restaurant in town, which was full to bursting with local Cusqueneans. Other students had discovered this gem of a restaurant on one of the Friday excursions. You have to take a taxi there, which only costs 3 Soles (if you bargain). The main ceviche dish costs 20Soles. I went all out and ordered half ceviche, half shrimp, which set me back 25 Soles. The strong lime taste can only be managed in small amounts (that was my experience), hence best to mix it up with another dish.

The servings here are ginormous and there is no way you can finish it all. A typical menu consists of a three course meal and most restaurants serve these for between 12-15 Soles. The main meal is eaten in the afternoon and always (without exception) consists of soup, a main meal of your choice (there are normally about three), a small dessert if you are lucky, and juice or coca tea.

Most Cusqueaneans eat off the streets or in restuarants, as it works out cheaper than making your own food. If you are brave, you can attempt the corner vendor, but be sure to use your own in-built hygiene detector to decide whether it is kosher.

The are enough bakeries to drive you mad for the sheer mass of them. The students at my school always pop in during break time to buy the famous empanada, which is pastry stuffed with cheese or meat. This is a carbohydrate calorie bomb, but TOTALLY worth it.  

The goodies on display at the bakery

Celine and I in 7th Heaven

There are more than enough stairs in Cusco to build up a wicked appetite, if you dont faint in the process that is. Acclimatisation is key to attempting the stairways, and many special places can only be reached by foot.

We walked the thousand steps (so it felt, not sure how many there were) to Christo Blanco yesterday. He looks like Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, on a smaller scale. At night he is lit up and one can always see him stretching out his arms in blessing over the city. It is a heck of a climb to get there and you have to stop every few hundred metres. The photo only shows one part of the climb. It is not unusual to feel dizzy and spaced out for most of the walk, but the human body is a work of art and manages to adapt quickly.

Stairway to heaven (aka Christo Blanco)

Christo Blanco (translated - White Christ) which overlooks the city from His mountaintop

After our feeding frenzy we went home to have a little siesta, and hit the town running last night. We went to one of the most famous bars, known as Mythology. The evening started off with salsa classes, boasting a spectacular display of salsa expertise to sweaty gringos, who were all too keen to learn. Yours truly was also spun around by one of the instructors for a few beats, and it was a lot of fun. After the salsa show, the contemporary club tracks started playing.

In the midst of all the fun there was a police raid. All club goers got booted out into the street by the masses of army clad police, because the club (apparently) had no licence. What that means I still can´t tell you. Apparently this is routine drill in Peru, and at first we all thought it was a drug bust. This dampered the evening a bit, but not our spirit. We headed off to a rastafarian bar, where a rasta band was playing an ecclectic mix of Bob Marley infused Inca tunes. There was a lot of incence and a small fire in the middle, and I had the feeling that I was watching an old Incan ritual. The music certainly inspired old worldly clan feelings. Another magical experience that is hard to do descriptive justice. You have to hear it, to be swayed by it:-)

I'll end by posting pics from my apartment - as you will see I am extremely blessed with an amazing view over Cusco. Next Saturday I have to move to a pipsqeak apartment above the school, which I will share with two other students. So have to enjoy the last sanctity of space this week.
Despite the beautiful view, I try to spend as little time as possible in the apartment, purely because it is frostbitingly cold. This morning my water got turned off just before 9am, which meant that I just had enough time to shower, but not to fill up all my water buckets and bottles to see me through for the rest of the day.

View from my apartment

I do miss my first-world comforts a lot, as well as healthy food, a warm bed and just warmth - generally. I miss being able to cook decent food (not for want of trying) and a cuppa coffee or tea when I wake up. I am learning a heck of a lot about myself in the process. One being that I am spoilt and love my creature comforts.

Cusco still remains a place that steals your heart, despite risking your life on the narrow cobbled roads and being harassed at every street corner and feeling like a walking ATM. It is the place of legends and I look forward to discovering more of the magic.

Photoblog for Peru - 1st Impressions



The narrow cobbled streets - where car and man meet



City Square

With traditionally dressed Cusconian

The vibrantly colourful parade