Clouds & Mountains

Fun Fact No. 48: Fanny packs. So if you're from England, you're already offended, but it's kind of funny that people in Peru (especially men) wear fanny packs EVERYWHERE. 1989? Nope. 2007. Granted, I'm no fashion plate, but it is kind of funny that fanny packs are the backpack or purse of Peru.

So after some more time off from blogging, I greet you again but this time I am refreshed! I got back on Thursday night from a 6 day vacation in Lima and Cusco with Kami and Shun and let me tell you, it was spectacular. Here we go:

Friday, April 13. Eva Ayllon in the HOUSE!
Eva Ayllon, perhaps the most well-known singer of Peru, was HERE in IQUITOS on Friday and she was amazing! She mostly sings Afro-Peruvian songs and she has a deep, rich, better-than-Aretha voice (if you can believe it) and she was absolutely electrifying. Unfortunately, I couldn't stay for the whole show because I had to catch my plane to Lima.

Saturday, April 14. 2am travels...
So my friend Zeudy spent the night at my house and I got home from Eva Ayllon at 2am. We grabbed a mototaxi to the airport for our 4am flight. I had been sleeping a good 9 hours a day for a few weeks now, which served me well for the next 48 hours of non-sleep. We got into Lima at 5:45 and headed straight to Zeudy's friend's house for breakfast. Her friend's mom was a lovely woman named Gloria who reminds me a lot of Esther Raizen, Michal's mom, and she was a delight. We went to Miraflores where Kami and Shun were staying in a gorgeous hostal that's actually a mansion divided into lots of little rooms. It's a neat place and imagine our surprise when we found out the next day that the owner had kidnapped his cousin and his cousin's son and starved them to death in one of the rooms. Spooky!

Regardless, after not sleeping now for over 24 hours, I was doing pretty well. We went to Punta Hermosa (see above photo) south of Lima and swam in the ocean all day. Mario was in Lima also, so we met up with him and just relaxed. That night we went to eat in Barranco, a very hip part of Lima and then Kami, Zeudy and I went back to the hostel. We slept for about 4 hours before we had to get up to catch a 6am flight to Cusco.

Sunday, April 15. Altitude?
Shun, Kami, and I got into Cusco at 8am and Lilia was there to meet us. What a reunion! It was so SO good to see her, and it was a gorgeous day in Cusco, sunny and warm. We went to the hostel and slept for a few hours to catch up a bit, and then Kami and I went to Lilia's house for lunch. Since I live practically at sea level in the Amazon and in Texas, I was really expecting the altitude (3,700 meters or 11,500 feet) to get to me, but I was completely unaffected. Kami, on the other hand, got pretty ill pretty quickly and had to rest. The extreme cold of anywhere in the shade and the night didn't help. Seriously, I don't do well in cold climates. AT ALL.

Monday, April 16. Hot Springs.
We woke up bright and early to catch the 7am train to Aguas Calientes, a small town just at the base of Machu Picchu. The train ride was glorious: 4 hours of amazing landscapes with mountains, rivers, villages, snow-capped peaks, bright blue skies. Aguas Calientes is the most touristy town I have EVER been to and it was quite expensive also. But our hotel was gorgeous and was right on the banks of a river with rapids which was the perfect music for a good night's sleep. Outside our window were the river and the steep cliffs leading up to the clouds. Just amazing! That evening we went to the hot springs and soaked for an hour or so. It was just heaven!

Tuesday, April 17. Man or nature?
We woke up early to catch the 5:30am bus to Machu Picchu. Thank goodness we did, because we were the first ones there. And what a sight. It was misty and rainy, which made it that much more magical because we were touching LITERALLY TOUCHING clouds! And I can't figure out what is more impressive: the brilliant nature that God created, with steep, moss-covered cliffs or the clever architecture that the Incas created out of those same cliffs. We climbed to Intipunku, the temple of the sun, where we could see the clouds coming and going, like curtains opening and closing on a gorgeous set. It was unbelievable. We were there until 3:30 in the afternoon when we finally caught a bus back to Aguas Calientes to grab the train back to Cusco.

Wednesday, April 18. Valle Sagrado.
The highlight of the trip for me was the Sacred Valley. Lilia came to pick us up with her cousin Saul at 9am and we went to various and sundry ruins throughout Cusco. They were all really neat until we drove out to the Sacred Valley. (And I got to drive! It was so nice to drive a CAR after driving a motorcycle for so long! I prefer cars!) This was completely awe-inspiring. If anyone doubts that there is a higher being out there somewhere, just head on out to Sacred Valley. Seriously, folks, I have never ever seen anything so beautiful in my life. And while I haven't necessarily seen that much, I have been around, and this beats the Grand Canyon, Tenarife Island, Bali, Ghana...wow. I was just awe-struck. I'll upload the pictures later. I'm still processing.

After our day-long tour of the valley, we took Lilia out for Japanese food. It was a kick to see her trying tofu, sushi, and teriyaki chicken for the first time. We had a ball!

Thursday, April 19. Homewardbound...
I left Cusco at 6:30am. Zeudy picked me up from the airport and we went to downtown Lima and then to her friend's house for lunch. I got back to Iquitos at 7pm to my housemates who were having a party for Monica. It was just wonderful to see them, although I do wish I had the chance to go to Puno with Kami and Shun, who will be coming here on Monday.

I have so much more to say than this blog entry, but I'll save it for later because I'm still processing. But it was a wonderful vacation. Completely wonderful. I feel refreshed and rejuvenated and I'm ready to bring it on.