Peruvian Adventure

we arrived in puno after a marathon bus ride from arequipa. our send off in arequipa was classic, our collection of peruano men was assembled on the door step of the agency to say good-bye, and we already miss having fun dancing partners and people to practice spanish with. when we arrived in peru, i was a little nervous because we had no more connections. however, cassidy is much more confident than i am, and stepped into the bus station to figure out what we needed to do. the first thing we saw when we walked in was a sign with my name on it. it was such a suprise that i wasn´t sure how to react. a man introduced himself to me and explained that numan´s friend, ronald, from arequipa had called ahead to puno to make sure we were taken care of. palermo drove us to a hostel, where we got a pretty classy room for half price. he also arranged our tours through the islands as well as our future trip to cuzco. we settled in and went out to dinner to a restaurant called la casona. we were seated right by the fire-it´s cold here!-and were immediately served our favorite roasted corn kernels and some fire warmed bread. we than ate a delicious dinner…i had trout and avocado, free pisco sours, and then a dessert similar to cheese cake-yoghurt pie and oca jam. the next morning, we woke early to get on the bus to lake titicaca and bolivia! yes, i just got back from bolivia today, so more stamps in my passport. after passing through immigration and changing some money to bolivianos, we drove into the town of copacabana. no, music and passion didn´t seem to be in fashion, but being a bohemian sure did. there were a lot of vendors selling jewelry layed out on blankets in the sidewalk, bob marley spilled into the street, and amongst all of that, women walked with little felt hats perched on their hats and colorful bundles swathed to their backs. cass and i grabbed a quick lunch of sandwiches, and then met palermo back at the bus. he introduced us to an archaelogist friend of his who lives on isla del sol, and we walked down to the dock to board a sluggish white boat. cass got down and bought us icecreams from a squat indigenous woman, which we ate from the cone with little wooden paddles. the ice cream seemed to be a tradition for all of those returning to the islands from market day in copacabana. we were the only tourists on the boat and sat on top with a leathery old man in a fedora and alpaca sweater and two young indigenous girls with sparkling skirts, thick sweaters, and their long black hair in braids. it was a cold, long ride, but it was fun talking to the girls about their life and aspirations. we waited through several ports before docking, enjoying watching the people of the island unload their coca colas and large bundles. we saw women doing wash in the freezing water of the lake and drying their colorful skirts on the beach or on shrubs. sheep and burros seemed to run wild. finally, we landed at our dock, where we walked down a shaky plank to be introduced to a man whose family ran a quaint yellow hostel on the hill. when we arrived, we were the only tourists in town, and the hostel was incredible, with a commanding view of the intense blue of the lake and the little tableaus of life being played out beneath us in the village. our room had wooly little llama rugs, a sun room with roughly hewn wooden chairs and llama cushions, and bright yellow walls. we were immediately served mate de coca tea by the accomodating juan on a table outside, overlooking the lake. cass went for a walk, while i read and wrote, and juan donned a white chef´s cap and apron to cook us dinner. meanwhile, some dutch guys showed up, which ruined our feeling of isolation. they were also demanding, and often asked that cass translate all that they wanted. cass and i bundled up as it was freezing, and we played with juan´s three daughters, drawing pictures, playing with little crochet puppets i had given them, and braiding hair. all the girls were younger than seven. finally, we ate a delicious trout dinner with vegetables, rice, and french fries (a suprising peruvian staple). this morning, we ate bread, jam, and butter with our tea and then walked back to the dock for the boat ride home. we were accompanied by juan´s brother, who actually owns the hostel. he gave us a very thorough talk about the island´s legends, culture, and agriculture. the altitude was so high, it was easy to get winded, but the distractions of the children running to school and the farms and the animals and the amazing blue expanse of the lake were enough to take my mind of my breathing. we visit the islas flotantes tomorrow and leave for cuzco tomorrow night…hoping to catch my breath some time in between. love you all, thank you for your letters. darcy

we made it back, barely alive! i am so sore and bruised and scraped up, but that´s just the bad news. we started our adventure by staying in a friend of a friend´s extra room, christened the trash room because of a pile of trash in the corner. we then hung out with a new friend, raul, before leaving on our bus trip. we listened to music and talked about a million things. he and cass even salsa danced in the tiny room. then, it was off to the bus station in a crazy caravan of taxis. we waited forever, worried that our trip would be delayed again. finally, we were on the bus. the road, after awhile, was so bumpy that i came off my seat at least three times, there was no sleeping, even though it was around two in the morning by this time. then, the worst happened, our bus couldn´t make it up a hill, so we had to get out and walk in the cold and the dust. then, it was back on the bus, only to get off again and do the same thing. then, we all switched to another bus, where there was standing room only. we were all so tired and irritable by that time. it reminded me of what i had read about the trains taken in the holocaust, though our experience lasted only three hours. i tried to be tough, because it didn´t seem that bad, but there were the bodily smells of at least sixty people or more, trapped in a tight space, shoulder to shoulder. so many people were sick and our guide kept wiping alcohol over our faces to keep us from throwing up. at one point, i knew i was going to pass out, so our guide, abil, moved so i could sit on the arm of a chair near him and i sat like that for the rest of the trip. i was so tired though that i was resting my head against the seat in front of me, and i even snuggled on this poor peruano woman. then, abil let me sleep leaning on him, and we were finally there. we ate a quick breakfast at chivay of bread and mate de coca and then it was back on the bus until we made it to lunch at cobanaconde. after lunch, we started our trek. canyon de colca is the second deepest canyon in the world, and the second only by 163 meters. cass and i went with the spanish group, which included two girls from spain, a couple that consisted of a brazilian guy and a dutch girl, a dutch guy, two norwegians, a group from france, and us. we hiked the last part in the dark, and as i had stupidly forgotten my flashlight, i shared cass´s headlamp. we went through many wonderful little villages, and even got to go to one of the canyon schools and meet the students…hope my pictures turn out. abil was very informative. we crossed a suspension bridge, walked through several streams, and finally arrived at our hostel, where they had candles burning and dinner waiting. we ate by candle light in outdoor patios with palm leaf roofs. we shared a room with the two spanish girls, julia and suzanna, which was also lit by a single candle. i slept like the dead, but then it was up at six thirty to walk again. the whole trip consisted of standing aside as mules and indigenous people passed by on their business. we walked through desert landscapes and terraced farmlands where we saw chickens, pigs, cows, mules, and lots of dogs. we also saw two condors. the next day, we finally arrived at paraiso, or paradise, and oasis on the canyon floor. i forgot to mention that i ate it hard right by these gorgeous waterfalls and have some spectacular bruise memories to prove it. the oasis was incredible, bamboo and palm leaf shacks, alpaca, sheep dogs and mules everywhere and two cool green pools. we all took a dip and then ate a hurried lunch before climbing out of the canyon again. it was a rough trip that took me three hours, and i was in the slowest group. i walked amongst mules to the sound of scratchy peruvian music from one of the men´s radios. the canyon was spectacular. we were passed by a peruano woman and her son guiding a mule, a donkey, and a horse up the canyon. the woman got of her horse and left the four year old boy to ride alone, which he did, whipping the horse gently with a rope the whole time. when we arrived back to cobanaconde the whole city was dark and the street vendors had let their stands with candles. the restaurant, where we threw down some mate de coca, was also candlelit. after our tea, we went to the hostel, suffered through some freezing showers, and went back to enjoy dinner in our multinational company. we plan to go out with many of them tonight. much love, darcy

we are stuck in arequipa! however, i think we will get to leave tonight. as i mentioned a bit at the end of my last entry, there is a huge protest here with road blocks, processions, rock and bottle throwing, and a lot of flags and yelling. however, it is very safe. the protesters are frustrated with all of the stories that are not boycotting too, and for this they are throwing things at the stories that are open, so everyone is at the ready to pull down their metal door and close up when the parade comes by. however, it is not dangerous for the people in the streets, it is just frustrating because no one can get out and no goods can come in. however, we{ve had the most fascinating discussions with people about the political situation and have learned so much about the different types of people here, as well as a lot more spanish. a lot of you have asked more about numan (i knew i{d been spelling his name wrong). he was definitely the best find we{ve made here. not only did he provide us with a more entertaining ride from huacachina to nazca, he set up all of our plans in nazca, took us out at night, drove us to arequipa, and set up our trip here with friends of his, who have since given us a free place to stay, driven us around, taken us out, etc. we did pay him quite a bit, but he also gave us a lot of benefits and free things and took such good care of us. like so many people here, money is tight for him as he cares for his family, paying for their water, lights, and food each day. he has nine siblings, but they are all grown and he is the baby. so, he only takes care of his mom and niece, still it{s a huge job. anyhow, doing great and still having fun. cass is done, so i am too. love, darcy

once again, so much to write! our last night in nazca, we asked our guide to accompany us to arequipa. he was thrilled and the next day we were off in his car again. it was an amazing trip which began with a trip to a really small museum ran by his friends (this is not a surprise as numon has friends everywhere he goes). the museum was incredible. we were able to see all the information we{d been getting come together. each family group of the nazca people had an animal that represented them, like the parrot, the monkey, the condor, etc. so, the lines may have represented the different family groups. to explain the lines to those of you who had questions, the lines are these huge figures made by hand in the dirt. the top of the sand is dark, and underneath is white, so the people used sticks and their hands to make these figures. they also surveyed with strings and sticks to make the figures symetrical and the lines straight. so, in the museum, we were able to see more mummies, textiles, ceramics, the actual sticks that were used to make the lines, and most exciting, mummies of animals that no longer exist in nazca{s current climate-like monkeys, parrots, condors, that the people of nazca had conserved. these were the evidence that maria reiche used to prove that the lines were actually made by the people of nazca and it was awesome. the people here live in such a close relationship with their history that numon just picked up ancient skulls and ceramics in the cemetary like he was cleaning up his room. afterwards, we drove through a lot of desert, and saw another figure made by a different culture, a canyon made by tectonic movements, etc. the coastline was incredible as we drove south and we stopped at a place called puerto inca, which consisted of only an upscale hotel with little casitas based on incan architecture. however, we went just to visit the ruins. the incan fisherman had a community built by the sea for processing marine products. there was also a common tomb and catacombs. again, it was an incredible casual relationship with history as i found a piece of textile on the ground that numon agreed was probably thousands of years old, of course, i put it back, but it will likely just wash to the sea. it{s really an incredibly different attitude toward history, or maybe not. afterwards, we stopped for lunch in a sea town where numon{s family had spent their summers and where some of them still live. his cousin{s wife served us a lunch of white fish, french fries, rice, and vegetables. it was delicious. we had a long drive, but we broke it up by translating bob marley songs for numon, talking about our lives, or just anything that came up. finally, we arrived in arequipa, and it was easy to see how beautiful the city is right away. we got to see some parts of it quite a few times as we were lost and could not find the hostel we wanted, and when we did, it was full. we finally found one and it was crazy. the ceiling was about fifteen feet high and there was a sort of bamboo wainscoating around the bottom of th wall. the beds had blankets with the nazca line designs all over them and under a florescent light on the wall, there was a textile with an incan figure on it. the shower was the bathroom, or vice versa, ie. there was no stall. anyhow, we went straight to bed, and the next morning we had breakfast overlooking the plaza de armas while listening to an andean band. we spent the day exploring the santa catalina monastery, which was huge and beautiful and a city in itself. there were incredible oil paintings, murals, and a million little rooms, false staircases, and geraniums everywhere. that night, numon and i ate at another restaurant overlooking the plaza de armas (central square) at sunset. it was beautiful to see the cathedral framed by the colors of the setting sun and the snow capped mountains in the distance. numon had to leave that night. afterwards, cass and i went out for drinks at a little bistro that was cozy and beautiful. we tried a few more of peru{s many delicious coctails and then went back to the hostel and to bed. this morning, we ate with a friend of numon{s at a little vegetarian restaurant and have spent the day just lazing around the city and doing a little shopping. we are planning a three day trek into the canyon de colca which will include seeing condors, natural pools, and staying in bamboo huts in homestays. we are looking forward to it. today has been a big day for protests. it{s not terribly dangerous, but as the protests are about transportation taxes getting into and out of the city is sometimes difficult, so we are leaving at one in the morning to prevent problems. numon took us to an agency run by his friend, and we are getting a great price and a secure trip. anyhow, more to explore! love to you all, thank you for your posts and also for passing on the site to so many. xoxoxo

i have no idea how i am going to keep up with the experiences weve been having. also, i have to go without capital letters or apostrophes because i don{t understand the keyboards here. the bracket means an apostrophe. sorry. okay, so we were planning on leaving huacachina when a guy that worked at the hostel told us his friend was headed to nazca, and for ten soles, he could take us. i know, i know, it sounds dangerous but he was a guide for tour groups, and it was faster, cheaper, and probably safer for our stuff. anyhow, it turned out to be the best thing we ever did. he was able to show us so much and we got to listen to all this great music of peru. dad, you would be very impressed with his cornering. he{s crazy, but he may be the best driver we{ve had. anyhow, as we entered nazca valley, he showed a formation in the rocks called the face of inca, or the incan face, i dont{ really remember. the valley was this fertile farmland around the rio grande (or not so grande in cass{s opinion). he also pulled over to give us a demonstration about the insect larva found on cactus that the people of the valley used to crush and dye their textiles. he told us about the different types of flights we could take over the lines and then took us to the mirador, a tower to see two of the figures. the figures of hands and trees were the only things we could see from the tower, but the really sad thing is that the panamerica goes right through one of the figures. which cass and i think is really sad and telling. anyhow, we went out that night with our guide and his friend to a reunion for tour guides and we ate some very peruvian food, at least i think it was really peruvian. we ate yucca, beets, and a meat i couldn{t really identify. my guide is bugging me right now to talk about our route to arequipa. anyhow, to finish quickly, he arranged two flights, so that both cass and i could go up as copilots in a small, four passenger plane where we could really see the lines. the plane banked hard and it was the craziest flight i{d ever been on. afterwards, we went to a cemetary (and i of course thought of you, dad). the tombs there had been robbed a thousand times over, but what was left was incredible. the people of nazca had hair several feet long, and it is still on the skulls. and there are a bunch of mummies, and bones all over the ground. broken bones and pieces of ceramic. it{s the craziest thing. in the tombs, there were private spaces, communal spaces, and familial plots. i have so much to say on that, but not time in which to say it. we also saw gold and ceramic processes and then went dancing again. today, we{ve talked our guide into coming with us to arequipa. i should stop calling him our guide because he is like our old friend and i feel like i{m planning a road trip back home. i{m sorry to say that i don{t know how to spell his name, but it{s like newman in english. he is awesome. he even made us say whisky, like grandpa john, when we were taking a picture. thank you for all your postings. grandma, your spanish is better than mine, dad, you are the star of the graveyard, laura your kindergarten stories kill me, and mom i love you. xoxoxo d

i wanted to write yesterday, but couldn´t as we were too busy adventuring. we started the day early with a very packed bus ride to the coast, to a town called paracas, it´s really more of a district of pisco (where we had our first, but certainly not last, pisco sour–no worries, grandma, not as strong as rumoured). from there, we took a boat ride to the islas ballestas, off the coast of paracas. the boat ride was crazy. look forward to some very classic shots of cassidy and i in fishy orange vests. we hope to have shots of some very awesome mullets we saw too. there were all kinds of birds. the birds actually made a kind of paint by numbers landscape against the sky and we were really overwhelmed, and of course, pooped on. there were also sea lions and seals. we then went back to the dock town of paracas and from there took anothere bus ride to a museum, where we learned a lot about the wildlife of coastal peru. after that, we went to a rock formation called the cathedral and the red beach, which were both gorgeous. our favorite part of the day, though, was lunch. we ate right on the water….a different version of this than in california, as i mean actually on the rocks, i could touch the tide from where i was sitting…we got pictures of this too. had my first real peruvian food, rice, potatoes, and fish. the best was the snack before lunch, almost popped corn…in such huge kernals…perfect with our cervezas. then, it was time to go back to pisco where we hopped on a bus to ica, and then took a taxi to huacachina. we met some fabulous nurses on the bus, they were so young and so interested in talking to us white girls. they wrote out some slang words so we could sound cool. they also invited us to a party on friday, but i´m not sure we´ll be here. we got into the hostel, casa de arena, and it was like real world peru. there was already a party going on, loud music, people around the pool, etc. we met a guy named renee who talked us into barbeque, interestingly, his dad lives in fremont, ca. we ate dinner with some israeli guys, who were very nice. it´s been very interesting to see people´s perspectives on the world. i also adopted a peruvian dog (not permanently, of course) and now likely have fleas. he was sooooo cute. he put his paws in my lap and slept curled up by me outside. he also pushed his nose into my door and came into my room. que lindo. well, there are other people waiting on the internet! much love to everyone! thanks for posting, and we´ll write soon…on to nazca.
love,
darcy

thanks to all of you who posted! we are in miraflores today and loving it as it is by the coast and a little ritzier than our neighborhood in breña. we still love our family and were joined by a dutch couple at the b and b last night. they are both so well traveled and excellent in speaking spanish. they told us some pretty crazy stories as they have been driving a rental car all around peru for the last six months. our breakfast today at the b and b was delicious and simple. we filled up on rolls with peanut butter, jam, and drank down a lot of nescafe. we are hoping this will allow us to skip lunch and save on our money. i just noticed cass is done typing, so i must finish too. dad, i´ve heard quite enough about my car being a ýellow blight.´ lay off the french fries, i don´t want a fat family to come back to and also great work on the song for grandma´s birthday! esp. tim´s version. we plan to take a bus to pisco este noche and see some animals and take a boat trip there, then we will drop down to nazca from there, check out the lines, etc. i think we are on the gringo loop, though we have seen few other travelers and the kids still stare at us, but since we are staring at everything too, fair is fair. laura, you would love all of the street´pets,´lots of cute faced dogs and skinny cats. this city is so loud and surging and shrouded in fog. got to go…love you all.

I just wrote a huge description, which I accidently deleted. All else goes well, our luggage arrived, our host family is incredible, we love the bed and breakfast, and we succesfully exchanged our money. The b and b has a wonderful open courtyard with a red floor and lots of plants. Up a spiral staircase is a rooftop patio that overlooks a neighborhood in Breña, with geraniums and wash on the line everywhere. There is also a very healthily crowing rooster nearby our place. They have hung the walls with travel posters and there is a relaxed warm feel to everything. Everyone here has been so warm and helpful. Cass is the perfect travel partner and we are off to a good start. The perfect omen was seeing Ann Briscoe, a fellow Oak Crest teacher at the gate in LA. She was leaving for New Zeland. It was great to see her and her husband and it made me feel very lucky about the trip. Much love to everyone…now to find dinner. XOXOX

My day of departure draws near. It’s hectic trying to wrap up the school year, move out of an apartment, and plan for a trip all at the same time. I just got my shots today and, boy, are my arms tired. I promise to avoid being this lame in the future; blame it on my recent injection of various vaccinations. Mom bought me the Lonely Planet guide which I hope will be a help. We take off from LA at 1 AM. Who leaves at 1 AM? Well, us, I guess. Anyhow, this is just getting started so keep coming back!!!