hey there folks....how is everyone doing??? sorry its been awhile since the last update, but life is always busier when school is in session...peru was my end of the school year trip this past june...we have now been in school again since the last week of july....so life has been going at full tilt.....in the time since i have returned, i have had some fun weekends, celebrated my 50th birthday, visited cuba (which will be my next update - wow!) and have decided this will be my last year in panama.....it is time to move on after this year....so the job hunt is on for another school, in another country.....fingers crossed it turns out well.....i do have some things moving forward, so that is exciting!!!!
as for the trip to peru....i went on this exciting adventure for my friend nadine's 60th birthday...it was a bucket list trip for her and i was sooooo glad i could go with her for it....we had a great time and got really lucky for the biggest festival in cusco, peru just before the winter solstice.....it was an amazing experience....also went sand boarding for the first time in my life....tons of fun!!!! so, on with the pictures....enjoy!!!!
this is the main market in cusco, sometimes spelled cuzco, where you can find tourist things - hats, gloves, sweaters, key chains, chocolate - but also where you can find local goods - fruits vegetables, meats, drinks, etc....you can also sit down and have breakfast or lunch....which we did and it was tasty...rice with eggs and veggies....yummy!!!
these are just some of the potatoes you can find in peru....i was reading that peru has over 3500 different varieties!!!! how crazy is that!!! we had a bunch of different sizes and colors of potatoes while we were in peru....
we were soooo fortunate to be in cusco during the Inti Raymi festival - or festival of the sun...it is the week leading up to the winter solstice - june 24....it was amazing and packed with people....there were days dedicated to dancing (these folks were dressed in traditional clothes for one of those days) and a day for environmental floats and a day for saints to be paraded around the city....the festivities were everywhere and sooooo much fun to experience....
peru is where the incans lived - well actually all of the andes were home to the incans....they were amazing architects and builders...the stone in the middle of the picture is simply amazing....it is called the 12 angle stone...there are 12 right angles that have been cut and matched perfectly in this stone....just incredible...and all of the incan buildings were this well put together....just mind-blowing...
because of the raymi festival, many people came into the city for the festivities....which meant we saw tons of folks in traditional dress with their llamas....which was a great way for them to make a bit of money with the tourists...the rainbow flag you see is the city flag....they are quick to point out it is different from the gay pride flag...but it comforted me that this aspect of the flag does not really stress them out....and it meant we saw rainbows everywhere!!!!
some of the traditional dance outfits were wild...this one was worn by some of the tallest women in the dance group and represented a nest for a stork...not sure if they were hoping to become pregnant or what...but it certainly looked heavy to carry....but they carried it off with style and grace and danced with them on....
of course one whole day was dedicated to machu picchu...the incan town on the top of a mountain....many people walk the incan trail to get there, however we did not do that...we took a bus, train, bus and then walked a bit....it was a very early start, but here you see the four of us about to get on the train that takes you to the town below machu picchu....
here is the birthday girl, nadine, and i on the train to the base of machu picchu....very excited for the day ahead....brought snacks and warm clothes to get us through the adventure....
we made it!!!! this is the famous overlook everyone takes a picture at....so excited i got the shot below with no one really in it...as we were there with about 2,500 of our closest friends....but it is a town so people really just blend in i guess....this is an UNESCO world heritage site and is thought to have been built for the incan emperor pachacuti...the outside world did not know about this place until it was discovered in 1911.....it is sometimes wrongly referred to as the lost city of the incans...but that is still being looked for, as this is probably too small for the empire to have been a city of the incans....
this is the quintessential shot that everyone takes of machu picchu and i am so glad i got it....we also experienced a wedding proposal while we were at this point....so cute...and she said yes!!! it was so cool to reach this point and realize so much has happened before you have been around....history is just amazing.....
this is the whole crew at the overlook....we made it!!!!! once in a lifetime adventure with this bunch and it was great, even though two members had really bad altitude sickness - it is a real thing people! - that we all made it to this point to see this majestic place, rich in history and tradition!!!!
the building in the center of this picture is one of the things i really wanted to see....it is the temple of the sun.....the reason why i wanted to see this is because those windows line up astronomically with the pathway the sun takes on the two solstices (winter & summer)....plus, the building is curved which is rather rare in incan architecture....so the building was of some importance...the platform outside of it may have been used for sacrifices and the part underneath it, which you can see to the right, may have been where they buried important people...it is also where they may have honored pachamama....mother earth....just love this structure....
they had quite a few temples and this was the one to the condor....the part of the building you see is shaped like a wing of the condor...and the tree to the left, is one of the only full sized trees they left standing once this place was discovered, to show just how difficult it was to find machu picchu...when it was first discovered it was all trees and vegetation that had to be removed to see what was underneath it....just incredible!!!! if you have not been to this location on the earth, you really should go...it is fantastic.....
this is nadine and i after we have come down from machu picchu....we are celebrating with a passion fruit pisco sour....pisco is a national alcohol, which is distilled from fermented grapes....but is nothing like wine, if you have never had it....later you will see a shot from a pisco distillery....cheers, we made it!!!!
another day of festival in cusco involved the national dish of peru, cui, pronounced quweeee....this is also a dish served in ecuador, so i had experienced it before....also known as guinea pig, this is a roasted cui....you should have seen how many cui stalls were in the square on this day....so many people enjoying this national dish....i however, did not partake ;)
nadine and i hopped a bus 24 hour bus...may be the last time i ever do this....to make it to see the nazca lines....but unfortunately along the way we ran into a farmers protest that shut down the road and made our trip 28 hours instead and we missed the nazca lines...i hope i do get to see them some day, but it was not to happen on this trip...i did see a tuk-tuk like cart that had sylvester and a dolphin on it....my current school's mascot is the dolphin....so i had to take a picture.....
this was a shot from the bus of a lovely sunset picture and the coast of peru....at this point i just really wanted to get off the bus, it was hour 23 at this point....long and tiring....but comfortable for the most part....just not something i am interested in repeating again.....
but once we arrived at huacuachina, the only oasis in south america, we said maybe the 28 hours was worth it....ummmmmmmm....these are the sand dunes and all of the dune buggies in huacauchina...it was a wild location....
here's the pisco distillery we went to....all of those bottles you see on the bar are different piscos...we taste tested quite a few and enjoyed our time here before the last part of the trip in huacuachina....
the sand dunes!!!!! it was incredible and i really had no idea how huge they really were....we dune buggy-ed and sand boarded....some folks used snow boards to do this....and stood up...most of us did not....but these are the dunes around sunset....just lovely....
this was our sand dune buggy....it held about 12 of us and the driver....who was a man after my own heart and loved to drive uber fast down the dunes...it was awesome!!!!
it was also quite sandy, so most of us had something to cover our noses and mouths....not that it mattered once you did the sand boarding...sand just got everywhere....
me and the sand board...this was my last run down, as i wiped out by putting my foot down too early....you can go on your knees or stomach when there are no straps....if it has straps, you can stand and use the board like a snow board....it was a blast!!!!
these are some of the other buggies at sunset....turned out well with the silhouette... it was a great time before we hopped on the last part of the bus extravaganza back to peru....not sure i will do a 24 bus ride again....but the sand buggies and sand boarding were a lot of fun!!!!
this is the coastline in lima, a lovely city, with tons of surfers all year round....it was great to be in cooler weather and to watch them surf from high above.....i wandered around lima for the day and had a fun time in that walk-able, excellent food focused city....maybe some day i will go back....
and for my last shot :) of course, it is me with a beer....the interesting thing about this beer is that it is a national beer with cocoa leaves in it....peruvians chew cocoa leaves to deal with altitude sickness....i got this beer at a tasty place in cusco that served stews, which were perfect for the cold, winter weather....overall peru did not disappoint....machu picchu was incredible, the inti raymi festival was an added bonus and the time of sand boarding got my adrenaline flowing....if you get the chance, i highly recommend visiting....and as always, this post is dedicated to my dad....mulu....
i hope all of you in the northern hemisphere are enjoying fall....please savor some of the color for me...this is the one time of year i really miss the seasons...as the only seasons we have in panama are rainy and dry...enjoy sweater weather for me too.....if you have any questions about this trip, please get in touch and i hope everyone is well and happy.....
peace out....
dani
