Peru. Simply amazing. We squeezed a lot into every day and so it seemed to me as though we'd gone for more than one week. A quick run down of what we did:
Day 1: Flew from DFW>>Miami>>Lima. We arrived in Lima quite late so we went on a taxi ride through the city to check out all the lights and night life. BUT we also waited for over an hour for our bags to arrive. LAME.
Day 2: City tour (in daylight of Lima). We saw the Church of Santa Rosa, the Cathedral of Santa Domingo, and the San Francisco Church (with catacombs and lots of skulls!) Also we saw the Incan ruins of Huaca Pucllana--they used library stacking to build it. (you'll understand when you see the picture below) We stayed at the Casa Andina hotel in the Miraflores (tourist) district of the city. We saw where the president lives and a more beautiful JFK memorial park than the one Dallas has. During the day we went shopping and I bought lots of gifts for my peeps and I got myself a really nice Alpaca Jacket. Mom and dad got baby Alpaca wool stuff--but they didn't have what I wanted in baby. Baby wool is the first shearing of the Alpaca and it is so light and soft but still incredibly insulating. We then went to get an oceanside view of the coastline. Incredible! We saw the sunset and it made me realize that the same beloved pacific ocean that I see from Encinitas California was the same one I was seeing in Lima.
We also saw a painting of the Last Supper--this was what I wanted to do my thesis on a while back--that is, the Last Suppers painted how they vary according to the culture they were painted in. This dinner table was circular--symbolizing the cyclic nature of life the natives believed in and the main course was guinea pig, a local favorite!
Day 1: Flew from DFW>>Miami>>Lima. We arrived in Lima quite late so we went on a taxi ride through the city to check out all the lights and night life. BUT we also waited for over an hour for our bags to arrive. LAME.
Day 2: City tour (in daylight of Lima). We saw the Church of Santa Rosa, the Cathedral of Santa Domingo, and the San Francisco Church (with catacombs and lots of skulls!) Also we saw the Incan ruins of Huaca Pucllana--they used library stacking to build it. (you'll understand when you see the picture below) We stayed at the Casa Andina hotel in the Miraflores (tourist) district of the city. We saw where the president lives and a more beautiful JFK memorial park than the one Dallas has. During the day we went shopping and I bought lots of gifts for my peeps and I got myself a really nice Alpaca Jacket. Mom and dad got baby Alpaca wool stuff--but they didn't have what I wanted in baby. Baby wool is the first shearing of the Alpaca and it is so light and soft but still incredibly insulating. We then went to get an oceanside view of the coastline. Incredible! We saw the sunset and it made me realize that the same beloved pacific ocean that I see from Encinitas California was the same one I was seeing in Lima.
We also saw a painting of the Last Supper--this was what I wanted to do my thesis on a while back--that is, the Last Suppers painted how they vary according to the culture they were painted in. This dinner table was circular--symbolizing the cyclic nature of life the natives believed in and the main course was guinea pig, a local favorite!
Rabbit family, yes this is your future household Ravi! These are related to both the rabbit and the chinchilla and are found at Machupicchu.
Mom at breakfast...They had crepes and tuna fruit?!
Library stacking construction, they look like books on shelves, right?
Nativity Scene--where is JESUS? Did somebody steal him?
This just reminded me of Hui.
Skulls and bones in the catacombs of St. Francis.
Home of the renowned Francisco Pissaro
The FAM with Santa Rosa, the patron Saint of Lima
I do this to my dog all the time, so it was reassuring to know other people do the same.
My new friend with awesome beanies!
JFK!
Sunset
The coastline
THE LARGEST McDONALD'S I'VE EVER SEEN. It goes on and on and on. Ridiculous. I couldn't even get the whole thing in one shot!
Day 3: We flew to Cusco: the point where the ancient culture of the Inca was centered. We stayed at the Hotel Monasterio, an old monastery converted into a 5 star hotel. Complete with a chapel! They had Christmas music or Gregorian chants playing all the time in the walkways and the serenity was preserved. Because Cusco was a tad bit rainy today and the fact it was Christmas, we only went to one site: Sacsayhuaman. Because we only did one site, our tour guide took us to a nativity market. The Nativity is a big thing in Peru. They add a new something to the family's scene every year! And all the Nativities have LLAMAS! And they don't put Jesus in until Christmas night, it's really cool actually. So there are these 'in' sandals in peru and they make them miniature for baby Jesus, which I thought was awesome. Yeah, I even saw Crocs for Jesus. These are kind of analogous to the Nazca Lines. From the ground they are just huge boulders but from an aerial view they are the head of a puma. Also I saw my first llama of the trip here! For dinner we went to this organic Peruvian restaurant and the food was out of this world.
Potato bread!
The flight over there, I accented only the green.
The welcome committee at Cusco Airport.
Llamas in the rain!
Cusco City
Peruvian Baked Potato! Ishanee, you would have died when you tried this pico!
Hotel Monasterio
Peppino or sweet cucumber--it's actually in the melon familyDay 4: Ok so today was a jam packed day because we couldn't do much yesterday. It was INTENSE. So we started off with two Inca sites that we didn't see yesterday. Puca Pucara and the Temple of the Sun. The temple of the sun kept its Inca foundations but was converted into a church. The Incans used no mortar to build but stones that interlocked and they're MASSIVE. Then we went to Tambomachay (an aqueduct) and then the best place--a LLAMA/ALPACA FARM. Ok there are 4 types of Camelloids in Peru: the domesticated Alpaca and Llama and then the wild Vicuna and Guanaco. I got a chance to see all 4 which was definitely pretty cool. So people in the highlands (which ironically is in the sacred valley) do not necessarily speak Spanish. They speak a native dialect called Quechua which is really interesting. They don't teach it in schools but they teach it at the university level to preserve this dying language. And the way you learn it otherwise is from your parents. I also tried Peruvian Banana chips and chocolate (which tastes like hershey's...gross). After the farm we went to the ruins at Pisaq, which was a bit of a hike to the top, but was filled with terraces, the Incan contribution to farming. (We use terrace farming in my backyard's vegetable garden). Then we had this DEEEEELISH lunch at a Hacienda. We had quinoa made risotto style. And Peruvians have the best dessert. They're innovative people. And the Hacienda itself was beautiful. After the Hacienda we went to a place called Ollantaytambo--a village that still keeps its Incan layout of a town. The sewage system was in the shape of a giant snake and the stairs are all beautiful rocks. Behind this village there are the ruins of the old terrace grounds. This was really cool, Chaya you'll enjoy this, they were pioneers of plant evolutionary biology. Like ancient genetic engineers. This place is quite high, so they planted all the seeds of new plants here and cultivated the best strains that would be adapted to this sort of climate by a sort of natural selection. Then they grew a whole bunch of that type and distributed it to all its communities. I was like woah they thought about soil type, irrigation, and weather to come produce the most resilient types of fruit, grain, and vegetables.
Me and the original Inca walls at the Temple of the Sun. The walls are all inclined--it's the way you differentiate them from Spanish walls.
This little stone is the only stone that is not 'perfect'-ly cut in the entire temple. Anthropologists believe it was the Incan way of showing the Gods that humans were in no way perfect. I thought this was poetically beautiful!
All the windows were perfectly in line!
Sacsayhuaman--these zigzags are the hair on the head of the puma.
Tambomachay--flowing water that maintains a constant flow rate in both the wet and dry seasons. Makes you think, eh? The Incans were amazing.
Feeding the Alpacas!
The baby Alpaca is sooo cute--3 weeks old. But he wouldn't leave mommy's side. And momma llama kept an eye on me for sure.
LLAMA
Vicunia, behind the fence of the llama farm. Vicuna fur is the finest fur in the world and these can only be sheared every 3 years. The only way to capture them is to kill them and now they are super protected and are on the endangered species list. A scarf made from their fur goes for US$500.
This was the nicest llama in the whole place and it was the cleanest. FAMILY LLAMA =)
Yet another llama.
Hug a Llama!
Different natural ingredients used to make dyed wool. There's even burnt orange! (I stole back some moss that dyes things burnt orange...shhhh don't tell!)
Guanaco!
This girl lives in her traditional native style and these 14 families care for llamas and are sponsored by the government. One of these families is from a tribe that had first human contact only about 50 years ago!
Pops and the Sacred Valley of the Inca.
Ruins at Pisaq
Niche Buddies!
That person or that black dot in the center of the picture is Mom!
Snake shaped drains! Sounds like Slytherins would have fun here haha!
Markets
Welcome to the Hacienda
Lunch with Lucho, our tour guide!
Ollantaytambo
The city keeping the original Incan consturction--water is flowing down the stairs on either side of me--it reminded me of either National Treasure, El Dorado, or Indiana Jones!
Our hotel in Yucay--used to be a conventDay 5: We took a train to Machupicchu. We went along the river and saw parts of the Inca trail (see below) and people walking it. We went through the cloud forest and this rainforest. It was breathtaking. We got to the train station and had to take a bus up to the monument, luckily our hotel was right next to the monument. We went around the ruins and got our first aerial view of the place. WOW. That is all. The whole experience was deeply moving. We were up in the clouds, it was as if you were in heaven and so close to the Infinite. I felt that this part of the trip was a spiritual revitalization. Pictures cannot do justice to this feeling or this atmosphere. No joke. AMAZING. I totally walked through clouds. It was awesome. We hiked up to the Sun Gate and because Mom was with us, it took a bit longer than expected. The Sun Gate is the entrance from the Inca Trail into Machu Picchu so we were really high up--as in one with the clouds. Also the walk down was a bit slippery because of the descent of the clouds. So we were the LAST ones to leave Machu Picchu that day it was awesome seeing the whole thing empty and untainted with tourists.
All Aboard!
The Inca Trail stopping point seen from our train
Incan ruins seen from the train
Our first view of the Monument!
The family at Machu Picchu!
I just LOL everytime I see this picture!
The entrance into the monument!
At the Astronomical Observatory of the Incans
Pyramid, Llamas, and Shyam--what more could you want?
BABY LLAMA--see Eric, they're mowing the grass
View of MP from the trail leading to the Sun Gate.
The staircase to nowhere.
The SUN GATE!
Alone at MP--so serene and beautiful
SWEEEEEET
Our Hotel at MPDay 6: Machu Picchu during the day, then the train back to Cusco. During the day we hiked up to Wayna Picchu, the mountain behind Machu Picchu. That was amazing. The view was spectacular and only my dad and I went. Then we hiked back down, saw the llamas eat the grass in Machu Picchu (the reason they don't use lawnmowers, lol), then headed off to the train. From the train we took a different route to drive back to Cusco, so we saw the snowcapped Andes this way (remember it's summer down there now). The land is filled with fertile farming communities and they all are so peaceful and un-mechanized. Everything is done by hand. It's phenomenal. Then we went to the Cathedral in Cusco, which was closed on Christmas and it was beautiful. They have the original cross of the conquest, a Jesus made of llama leather known as the Christ of the Earthquakes because one time during a quake a procession was held to save the Jesus and the quakes stopped, and a really cool function called Corpus Christi. This celebration is akin to the Incan Solstice celebrations in which there is a procession of their 14 mummified kings. Similarly, statues of saints from around the region come and have a procession around the main square, and instead of the usual number 12 in the Christian faith, the number is 14. On that day there are no social classes, everyone wears the same clothes and eats the same food and drink the same local homemade beer. (it's made from corn and the local women sit around in a circle and chew kernels and then spit it into a giant vat to be fermented, and the spit helps the fermentation...GROSS) We also went to the only Indian restaurant in Peru that night for dinner.
Hiking up to Wayna Picchu
Machu Picchu from a terrace on top of Wayna Picchu
Zoom In!
Parentals at the botanical gardens at our hotel
So our train provided entertainment--they put on an alpaca wear fashion show--it was so funny to watch as they strutted down the aisles, you know after they themselves had served us refreshments.
SNOOWWWW CAPPED ANDES
I just love the colors in this one!
Agricultural Land
Pointe Tejas! lolDay 7: Back to Lima--We just hung around and did some shopping. We tried some local vegetarian cuisine which was really good. In the evening I saw the NCAA Volleyball Semifinals (Texas vs. Stanford) in Spanish ESPN--that was exciting. Then we went to go see the singing/lighted fountains, only to realize major tourist sites in Peru are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays...umm okay?
Day 8: Leave Peru :( Lima>>Miami>>DFW
What I learned:
Peruvians are simple people. They have no economy fail like us. Most of its economy is from agriculture,
I took a count of the college symbols I saw while in Peru, and yes you guessed it--POINT TEXAS!
Tally:
Texas: 5
Florida:2 (I told two girls that went to Florida to go kick some Bradford @$$ for me :))
Berkeley, Emory, UPenn, Penn State, Cal Poly, Harvard, UNC, Michigan: 1
I love being a tourist.
I saw a lot of similarities between Peru and India & Malaysia.
I also felt that Rome:Florence::Lima:Cusco.
Inca Kola is a bright yellow soda that is the Coke of Peru...mmmm
So the Incans thought that Spaniards and their horses were one entity--like a centaur, I found that amusing. They also thought that Spaniards ate gold because no amount could satisfy them.
Like the Indians and Harry Potter, Incans had a pure blood caste system, which caused their demise. Because the low bloods hated the way they were treated by the upper class, they sold out their locations to the Spanish, too bad they had no clue that the Spanish were waaaay worse than the Incan Aristocrats.
I want to do the Inca Trail with some close friends some day. It's a must. A 4 or 9 day strenuous hike through the mountains and the Incan ruins. You have porters that are cheap to carry all your stuff and they wear sandals made from Goodyear or Firestone tires, lol.
Peruvians were accommodating to our vegetarian needs. They made special dishes for us. We like them (the peruvians and the food).
I've tried a whole bunch of new fruits like Tree Tomato, Tuna Fruit, Luccuma, Peppino (sweet cucumber), and Chirimoya (custard apple).
So the thesis idea I have: The permissibility of Christianity to allow the people they're converting to retain some of their native identity by analyzing art during the era of conquest.
