Story continues, this time in Potosi, Bolivia. And in reality already couple of days back... Yep, turtle speed, I think its an impact of Iquitos, about which I still wanted to write some comments... That in the last post a little later.
After our "death road" adventure we jumped on the night bus to Potosi, a mining town. Potosi is known for its 1800th fame - the richest city in the world, thanks to the silver mines, the hill forms part of the coat of arms of Bolivia. They say, that Spain was salvaged from bacrupcy thanks to Potosi mines... And, that the silver that was exported to spain could make a bridge from Potosi to Spain (one way) and the bones of the people that died in those mines would make the return bridge to Bolivia. Could be true, since they say since the mines were opened in 15xx (sorry, forgot the right numbers...) some 8 million people have died there.
Potosi as the city reminds a little about its rich past, but its not well maintained. Maybe if I had more than 1 day there, I would learn to appreciate it, but it was pretty run down place. Nice, but leaves to wish for more restauration to appreciate it better. The 2 main reasons why to visit it is to go to the mines, and the other less important reason - to see the "casa de monedas", the plave where Bolivian money used to be made.
The mines - there are 3 things about them - silver, the devil, and child labour. All 3 valid up to date. I bought a film about the child labour in the mines but have not seen it yet. But we did see children going in to work there.
Well, in "chronological order": the silver. Seems like the mineral is getting less and less, and a proposal has been to clear the hill, and start diggin into the ground to get more. This was protested, since it has also a simbolic value. Apart from silver, they get some 7 other minerals, but zinc and silver are the main ones. What surprised me was the work mode.. Except the hight of the tunels, it seems that nothing has changed since 18-hundreds... Pure manula labour, from pulling teh wagons to winching up the baskets with minerals. What was weird, when we asked the guide why - she said that it requires lots of investment and the miners dont have it. But, its not anymore the miners who own the mines! Even "cooepratives" are not anymore real ones, but the former miners are the owners of the rights to explore certain parts of the mines, and they hire cheap labour to dig. Basically, it seems like on one hand there is certain pessimism about "we cant do it" in a more modern way, but also that there is some "we like it like it is" and almost a wish to show the victim side of it. As we left the mine, we saw 3 wagons being emptied. This was an example where not much "investment" was needed to make the work more efficient: first they emptied the wagons on the ground, then there were 3 other people with showels putting it in the truck! All of that could have been done by rather simple contrcution being made where the wagon could be pushed slightly more over the edge and the contents emtied direclty into the truck... That does not require high ingeneering skills! So, my observation was, that some of it is kept as "toursit" attraction, but at the same time it did seem that the people were really earning living that way.
The other aspect, the child labour. As we walked in the mine, we saw few minors going in to work the shift. I have to see that movie. Should be a good one, and while its not documentary, it is reflecting reality. This is illegal actually in Bolivia (child labour that is), but again the guide was partly right (although I disagree with half of it) that well, instead of sending them to study, somebody has to get bread on the table. Thus, the kids (i think they are at least 10 years old and most are older) do work in the mines.
Finally, the devil. That used to be one invention of the christians (spaniards) who wanted indeginous people to work there, using the Inca principle of shared labour for the community. When people refused to go into mines they invented the "devil" good "tio", a combination of "good" and "pachamama" (mother earth) as protective symbol of the miners. So, "pachamama" traditions still continue - putting some coca leaves, pouring alchohol in 4 directions (inca tradition) as a symbol of protection.
Well, that was "potosi". The money house I will have to leave for later.
My trip is ending today. In an hour am borading the flight to Madrid, but promise to finish the stories about AMAZING BOLIVIA. I loved it, and wish I had spent more time in Bolivia than in Peru.
Wednesday 2 April 2008
Tuesday 1 April 2008
The most dangerous road in the world...
Travelling and writing blog updates turns out to be not that easy as thought... So, after some silence need to update you on our travel. Those reading Latvian have already had some facts from my brothers blog, but here is my version on the "death road" or the most dangerous road trip outside La Paz.
Firstly - I did it... Joined the group of 10 guys on mountainbikes to get down the something like 50 km with 8 km uphill. Have to say also, that I did half of it on the bike, the other with the bike on the minivans roof and me in the front seat enjoying the scenery. Yeah... first part of some 20 km or even more on the paved road was GREAT! You just sit on the bike, feel the cold, wind, and with me taking it little easy - I also managed to enjoy the scenery at 4600 M altitude. Great mountains! Snow tops and black cliffs, slowly changing to greener landscape as we were descending. Well, in short, I loved it. Even the uphill part was not that bad. Only in one part with gravel I had to get off the bike, otherwise it was easier to peddal than walk.
Then however the second part started... Gravel, downhill, with so little stability that after a while I decided enough, I dont want to join the group of 7 tourists that have died on that road falling off the 200m-300m steep mountain edges, and got in the minivan following the group. Had my adrenaline experience trying to control the bike for some 10 minutes on that road, and then sat back, enjoyned ever changing scenery and took pictures.
What was amasing - the change from the hardly green to luch clloud forests - nice mountain jungle that looks so inviting. Waterfals on the way, the driver being so kind that he stoppped at many nice places so that I can take pictures, while the guys were racing down...
To be true - some guys after experiencing uncontrolled skidding and 20 cm off the edge, changed their positions from the front to the back of the group. So, it was not that easy after all, but I guess if there was no pressure to go fast (guide have to say was not the best one to encourage steady downhill ride... instead wanted me to get in the car) then I would have joined the group on the bike. Heard that for 15 USD you can rent a bike and go down the hill on your own. That would suit me well.
But the main thing - I have done the "death road" in my own way and managed to enjoy it even. Thus can reccomend the ride to others. Pictures you will have to check out later, as I will upload those later on the web when internet is faster.
From La Paz and the bike ride Karlis and I headed to Potosi, the big silver mine city. That however you will have to wait a little to hear about. Meanwhile enjoy latest updates on the Boliva photos.
Firstly - I did it... Joined the group of 10 guys on mountainbikes to get down the something like 50 km with 8 km uphill. Have to say also, that I did half of it on the bike, the other with the bike on the minivans roof and me in the front seat enjoying the scenery. Yeah... first part of some 20 km or even more on the paved road was GREAT! You just sit on the bike, feel the cold, wind, and with me taking it little easy - I also managed to enjoy the scenery at 4600 M altitude. Great mountains! Snow tops and black cliffs, slowly changing to greener landscape as we were descending. Well, in short, I loved it. Even the uphill part was not that bad. Only in one part with gravel I had to get off the bike, otherwise it was easier to peddal than walk.
Then however the second part started... Gravel, downhill, with so little stability that after a while I decided enough, I dont want to join the group of 7 tourists that have died on that road falling off the 200m-300m steep mountain edges, and got in the minivan following the group. Had my adrenaline experience trying to control the bike for some 10 minutes on that road, and then sat back, enjoyned ever changing scenery and took pictures.
What was amasing - the change from the hardly green to luch clloud forests - nice mountain jungle that looks so inviting. Waterfals on the way, the driver being so kind that he stoppped at many nice places so that I can take pictures, while the guys were racing down...
To be true - some guys after experiencing uncontrolled skidding and 20 cm off the edge, changed their positions from the front to the back of the group. So, it was not that easy after all, but I guess if there was no pressure to go fast (guide have to say was not the best one to encourage steady downhill ride... instead wanted me to get in the car) then I would have joined the group on the bike. Heard that for 15 USD you can rent a bike and go down the hill on your own. That would suit me well.
But the main thing - I have done the "death road" in my own way and managed to enjoy it even. Thus can reccomend the ride to others. Pictures you will have to check out later, as I will upload those later on the web when internet is faster.
From La Paz and the bike ride Karlis and I headed to Potosi, the big silver mine city. That however you will have to wait a little to hear about. Meanwhile enjoy latest updates on the Boliva photos.
Wednesday 26 March 2008
Welcome to La Paz: the city of the fit
La Paz - the weird city...
As I wrote yesterday, we have been in La Paz 1 day, now its the second. It is a weird city, and to get to know it better we took a city tour today on a double decker tourist bus. Reccomend it! Even if the information is not that extensive, it does give enough to understand what the city is about.
It is a mixture of old restored, old ruined, old possibly to be restored, semi-new 70th adn 80th horror buldings, new nice, new even more "horror" buildings. Basically, there is NO STYLE to it, but if you take it piece by piece, you can appreciate each of it individually, and likewise do not appreciate some of the horror architecture examples. And, I still like the people! They may ignore you, but its better than last 3 weeks.
What is interesting here as well - the rich part is the South. Normally, the North part of the city is the rich one, but here the contrary. Explication is rather simple - the difference in temperature between El Alto (around 4000 m) and El Sur and its affluent negbourhoods (at 3000 m) is 10 degrees celsius +! Thus, if in the North and altiplano it is 20 degrees, in the South of the city its 30. A good enough reason for the rich to breake the rules.
Since La Paz is situated between two mountain chains, the main street is the lowest part that runs in the valley. This consequently means that whenever you want to go to the right or left side from the main street, you have to climb up.... At 3000 somthing m altitude one needs strong lungs and has to be fit to do it well here. We are trying. Fortunately, the 3000 something is not that high yet to feel bad, but I can´t say I am running up and down the streets. Its more like slow controlled walking where pilates breathing comes handy. They say that by the time I get to Madrid I will have more red blood cells in my body nad the lungs will be taking in more oxygen, but considering that the air is not that good in Madrid, I will also be taking in lots of pollution.. Cant have the good without the bad. I wonder though how it will be going back to the jum - will be running like a sprinter! With all of those red blood cells carrying around oxygen should help the physical form.
The city is overlooked by the ever while Illiani vulcano. Should be some 6500m if not even slightly higher. Yesterday it was covered in clouds, but today we had a nice view to it. You can try and see it in the background of the picture. Have to say it looked more ipressive "live", but..
La Paz also has the highest commercial airport at 4060 m! That I will try on April 2 when going to Lima to catch my flight to Madrid. And i think I will try to get a window seat for this flight.
My scientific brother also told that the weight here should be different. Have not tried yet, but seems like travelling has made me loose some, to the degree that I am worried that I have to start eating double the food as normal! But, I also guess that once I am back at 700m it will all settle to normal. Anyone for weight loss programmes? - go to the high altitudes and eat chicken and rice for a week - thereafter you will long for salads, fruit juices and every time you pass the "polleria" with strong smell of french fries and grilled chicken you will say "no, thank you".
What else, La Paz has more electric wires than I have seen in my life! Well, again the reason is 
simple, they have not put all electircity lines in the ground, but they go over and between the houses. Our double decker tourist bus run into them twice during the 3-4 hour trip. When you check the pictures and see some black lines crossing thse - there is nothing wrong with the camera - those are the electricity and all other imaginable cables. When you see that, then the warning by the bus driver and the guide - "do not raise your arms or stand up" makes perfect sense! When we did rise to take some photos, a careful review of the situation was done before - "wires or no wires"....
simple, they have not put all electircity lines in the ground, but they go over and between the houses. Our double decker tourist bus run into them twice during the 3-4 hour trip. When you check the pictures and see some black lines crossing thse - there is nothing wrong with the camera - those are the electricity and all other imaginable cables. When you see that, then the warning by the bus driver and the guide - "do not raise your arms or stand up" makes perfect sense! When we did rise to take some photos, a careful review of the situation was done before - "wires or no wires".... Part of our tour took us to the Valley of the Moon. Why that name - it looks like you are on a different planet! Supposedly it is the bottom of the sea - that is when lake Titicaca was connected to the sea and after a move of the platos of the Earth, the water was divided, making the Andes and the valley, and the sand stones is now visible. Yep, my scepticism acquired in Peru tells me to double check everything before believing it, but I will leave it to each of you.
The view however is nice. Its weirs also to see that the Moon Valley is of a yellow-grayish sand stone, while neigbouring hills are of a red sand stone. An impressive contrast. What we missed out in the trip was a cactus garden. Saw it only from the bus, but supposedly there they grow all imaginable variety of cactuses. If you have a chance, take time to see that as well. We are now back to the city and will head ou for "shopping". As dutiful toursits we have to take some of Bolivian articrafts home. What we got, you will have to come and see when I get home. Until later...
Tuesday 25 March 2008
Drunks are the same everywhere
Hello again - to all of those who are following our trip and the experiences, and to those joining now. We are in Bolivia at the moment, but I wont close the Peru part YET. Some things remain to be said and pictures uploaded.
However, 2 days in Bolivia and the first impressions are: "I like it so far". And, after 3 weeks or so of too much "do not trust anybody" and constant harassment by tour agents and souvenier sellers, I feel relaxed!!!!!
We started off by a slow move from Cusco. The last "lie" on Peruvian side had to be expected - the bus compnay reps selling us tickets showed us pictures of the bus that were NOT AT ALL representative. That it the bus was one of the worst in which we have travelled so far. If you travel from Cusco to Puno, do not take San Luis.... They also said it left "on time" and that of course was not true, and the indicated 6 hours of the trip as well took longer, so by the time we got to Puno to take a minivan to the border city with Bolivia we were risking running late. The last bus neither went on time, or managed to ride the distance in the 3 hours they said, so we arrived to our last Peru town shortly before closure of the Bolivian border.
One thing that was our fault -we did not check that there is 1 hour time difference between Bolivia and Peru, but forutnately with other 10 or so foreigners at the Peru checkpoint 2-3 minutes before Bolivian side closed, I think they most probably communicated that we are about to cross over so that the others wait for us. Well, to finish the Peru travel on a positive note, I choose to believe it :)
Arriving to Bolivia was a pleasant surprise. Road was well paved! The minivan we took to Copacabana at the Titicaca lake was new, the driver extremely responsible, opening the doors for passengers to get it and out, and we found a nice hostel with a view to Titicaca lake.
A less positive surprise awaited us however - there we NO ATMs to cash some money in Copacabana. So, if you go there - take USD or EURO in CAHS. Peru Soles, Argentinian and Chilean money is also accepted in exchange offices. With our 40 USD cash (20 per person) we had to cut our planned 2 nights stay in Copacabana to 1, and leave to La Paz the following day. It was a relaxing town and I would have liked to stay there one more night, but should have taken the money out in Peru...
Copacabana ir worth visiting. It has extremely huge potential for development, but as for now its rather rustic. Lakeside has very basic facilities, but it is nice. There are tours to the Islands of the Sun and the Moon, where the Inca culture was born, and you can stay on the Isle of the Sun. We wanted to, but short in cash had to leave. Maybe it had the extra positive impression on me because it was relaxed - no harrasment by hostel, shop and restaurant owners! After Peru it was great. Just to walk, to see the people and enjoy the calmness about everything there. And if you are there - take the steep walk to the mirador. It opens for really nice views, and you can get down on the alternative route: not taking the steps...
We also had breakfast in the market, trying chicha morada, some doughnut type sweet things, and tea, and during the lunch waiting for the boat to the Island of the Sun watched at the nearby restaurant/bar 3 local musicians (drunk already by then) sing. Therefore the heading - drunk people sing as bad everywhere :) It was funny. Later that night, on our way to La Paz, we had to cross a lake pass on a boat and waiting for the bus to be taken over on bigger platforms (takes slower) had opportunity to observe the dancing and singing at the main square of that town (cant tell you the name now...). There as well, people had been celebrating most probably the whole day long and by 9 pm and many beers later imagine how some of them looked. Not that different to a drunk Latvian, British or Spanish guy, whos wife is trying to get him home. It was funny, but I could also see that people were really enjoying the time.
Late at night we arrived to La Paz, and as my guide book (Spanish) says, the taxi drivers are reliable - we were fortuante to be taken to the hostel by one of those reliable guys. So, our La Paz adventure starts now, and more news will follow.
However, 2 days in Bolivia and the first impressions are: "I like it so far". And, after 3 weeks or so of too much "do not trust anybody" and constant harassment by tour agents and souvenier sellers, I feel relaxed!!!!!
We started off by a slow move from Cusco. The last "lie" on Peruvian side had to be expected - the bus compnay reps selling us tickets showed us pictures of the bus that were NOT AT ALL representative. That it the bus was one of the worst in which we have travelled so far. If you travel from Cusco to Puno, do not take San Luis.... They also said it left "on time" and that of course was not true, and the indicated 6 hours of the trip as well took longer, so by the time we got to Puno to take a minivan to the border city with Bolivia we were risking running late. The last bus neither went on time, or managed to ride the distance in the 3 hours they said, so we arrived to our last Peru town shortly before closure of the Bolivian border.
One thing that was our fault -we did not check that there is 1 hour time difference between Bolivia and Peru, but forutnately with other 10 or so foreigners at the Peru checkpoint 2-3 minutes before Bolivian side closed, I think they most probably communicated that we are about to cross over so that the others wait for us. Well, to finish the Peru travel on a positive note, I choose to believe it :)
Arriving to Bolivia was a pleasant surprise. Road was well paved! The minivan we took to Copacabana at the Titicaca lake was new, the driver extremely responsible, opening the doors for passengers to get it and out, and we found a nice hostel with a view to Titicaca lake.
A less positive surprise awaited us however - there we NO ATMs to cash some money in Copacabana. So, if you go there - take USD or EURO in CAHS. Peru Soles, Argentinian and Chilean money is also accepted in exchange offices. With our 40 USD cash (20 per person) we had to cut our planned 2 nights stay in Copacabana to 1, and leave to La Paz the following day. It was a relaxing town and I would have liked to stay there one more night, but should have taken the money out in Peru...
Copacabana ir worth visiting. It has extremely huge potential for development, but as for now its rather rustic. Lakeside has very basic facilities, but it is nice. There are tours to the Islands of the Sun and the Moon, where the Inca culture was born, and you can stay on the Isle of the Sun. We wanted to, but short in cash had to leave. Maybe it had the extra positive impression on me because it was relaxed - no harrasment by hostel, shop and restaurant owners! After Peru it was great. Just to walk, to see the people and enjoy the calmness about everything there. And if you are there - take the steep walk to the mirador. It opens for really nice views, and you can get down on the alternative route: not taking the steps...
We also had breakfast in the market, trying chicha morada, some doughnut type sweet things, and tea, and during the lunch waiting for the boat to the Island of the Sun watched at the nearby restaurant/bar 3 local musicians (drunk already by then) sing. Therefore the heading - drunk people sing as bad everywhere :) It was funny. Later that night, on our way to La Paz, we had to cross a lake pass on a boat and waiting for the bus to be taken over on bigger platforms (takes slower) had opportunity to observe the dancing and singing at the main square of that town (cant tell you the name now...). There as well, people had been celebrating most probably the whole day long and by 9 pm and many beers later imagine how some of them looked. Not that different to a drunk Latvian, British or Spanish guy, whos wife is trying to get him home. It was funny, but I could also see that people were really enjoying the time.
Late at night we arrived to La Paz, and as my guide book (Spanish) says, the taxi drivers are reliable - we were fortuante to be taken to the hostel by one of those reliable guys. So, our La Paz adventure starts now, and more news will follow.
Friday 21 March 2008
More on Machu Picchu - alternative food places and nice people
did not finish yesterday... patience was exhausted, and in addition the internet was disconnecting regularly, so here we continue - from Cusco. Even the pictures are up (see the link).
Since writing the "privatisation" thing yesterday, some more things happened-
we got cheated again... No, it does not mean that we are stupid and fall for such idiots, but we just could not get the change. Went to play pool, had a drink, and when paying, they had calculated 10% service chasrge from 15 Soles as 2 Soles. It must be the bad school teachers... When reminding the woman to return 50 centavos that she forgot to give as a change, she played dumb... Well, on the positive note - she may have problems with mathematics, so we had to forgive her. With 95% of teachers failing reexamination, what else can you expect from the people.
BUT - of course there are really nice people as well. After being charged the service fee wrong, we of course did not continue eating there, and went to a local fast food stand. If you are in Aguas Calientes, please do cross the bridge (the last one up hill) to the "people´s" side of the town - that is where normal people live and which is not deidcated to tourists. Just crossing that last bridge teh water prices for 2 l bottle drop dramatically - from 5 Soles to 3.50, and there on the corner is this shop where you can get you normal food, and just after that a small "hot dog stand". There you can get very nice burgers, as for the other things I dont know. The woman running the stand also told us that the "service fee" that restaurants charge is going for salaries of people in the kitchen. That is, they dont get ANY salary if tourists do not pay "service fee". After she had worked in a restaurant for 1 days, she decided to quit and open her own food stand. So, this is and AD for her fast food stand!
In general, the town was nice, except yesterday evening we were getting bored. After all day walking in Machu Picchu, we were tired, but not enough to sleep, so with our new friend Camile (from Columbia) we had icecream on the main square, went to play pool, did not go to the hot springs as we would have to buy more staff (or rent - towels, flip-flops) and finally we had a nice time at the fast food stand. I long however for some nice salads! After the easy going evening we went to sleep. Sounds boring...
But, more "crazy" stuff about all the trip to Macu Picchu. "Peru Rail" is an interesting concept. It has been privatised as I read in 1999. While they say its a Chilean compnay, in reality they are British. our theory (not double checked!) is that the british company (will try to check who...) is using a "fake" subsidiary in Chile to pay bribes. And this way trying to maintain clean hands. Cant say they suceed, but at least they suceed in 1 thing - many peruvians are not happy with chileans, since they think its thier idea to rip of tourists who leave Aguas Calientes not that happy. In the picture you can see that I am happy and grateful to Peru Rail for reminding me of going back home. The experience will for sure stay in my memory... This morning taking the train we just had to conclude that they do everything to make tourists feel like at home - except, that this must be the MOST EXPENSIVE railway in the world if you count USD/hour. Also, at the train station I wanted to take camomille tea: turned out to cost 1 EURO (4 Soles)! The day before in the fast food price the "peruvian price" was 1 Sole... Have to say they really succeed in prearing me for coming back to Madrid, and even then I may think that Madrid is cheap! At least the AVE fast train wont seem expensive anymore. Well done!
However we also discovered talking to the fast food standlady, the taxi drivers, the bus drivers, hostel runners (we stayed in a very cheap one... and a very humid one - I would choose a different place next time) that there is enormous citizens activity nad organisation from Cusco to stop all the crazy things government (wonder how much and who is paying them?) plans: they already had 24 hour strike, and as we found out another 72 hours still remain to be used. I am with all 4 for this! No to Peru Rail illegal monopoly, no to building 5and 4 start hotels almost on the Machu Picchu site, but also no to raising entrance fee to the site to 100 USD. The 40 USD we paid I think were more than enough, but if they use the proifit to ensure good maintenance and support to new archeological sites - I am ok with 40.
Will be interesting to follow what wil happen....
Since writing the "privatisation" thing yesterday, some more things happened-
we got cheated again... No, it does not mean that we are stupid and fall for such idiots, but we just could not get the change. Went to play pool, had a drink, and when paying, they had calculated 10% service chasrge from 15 Soles as 2 Soles. It must be the bad school teachers... When reminding the woman to return 50 centavos that she forgot to give as a change, she played dumb... Well, on the positive note - she may have problems with mathematics, so we had to forgive her. With 95% of teachers failing reexamination, what else can you expect from the people.
BUT - of course there are really nice people as well. After being charged the service fee wrong, we of course did not continue eating there, and went to a local fast food stand. If you are in Aguas Calientes, please do cross the bridge (the last one up hill) to the "people´s" side of the town - that is where normal people live and which is not deidcated to tourists. Just crossing that last bridge teh water prices for 2 l bottle drop dramatically - from 5 Soles to 3.50, and there on the corner is this shop where you can get you normal food, and just after that a small "hot dog stand". There you can get very nice burgers, as for the other things I dont know. The woman running the stand also told us that the "service fee" that restaurants charge is going for salaries of people in the kitchen. That is, they dont get ANY salary if tourists do not pay "service fee". After she had worked in a restaurant for 1 days, she decided to quit and open her own food stand. So, this is and AD for her fast food stand!
In general, the town was nice, except yesterday evening we were getting bored. After all day walking in Machu Picchu, we were tired, but not enough to sleep, so with our new friend Camile (from Columbia) we had icecream on the main square, went to play pool, did not go to the hot springs as we would have to buy more staff (or rent - towels, flip-flops) and finally we had a nice time at the fast food stand. I long however for some nice salads! After the easy going evening we went to sleep. Sounds boring...
But, more "crazy" stuff about all the trip to Macu Picchu. "Peru Rail" is an interesting concept. It has been privatised as I read in 1999. While they say its a Chilean compnay, in reality they are British. our theory (not double checked!) is that the british company (will try to check who...) is using a "fake" subsidiary in Chile to pay bribes. And this way trying to maintain clean hands. Cant say they suceed, but at least they suceed in 1 thing - many peruvians are not happy with chileans, since they think its thier idea to rip of tourists who leave Aguas Calientes not that happy. In the picture you can see that I am happy and grateful to Peru Rail for reminding me of going back home. The experience will for sure stay in my memory... This morning taking the train we just had to conclude that they do everything to make tourists feel like at home - except, that this must be the MOST EXPENSIVE railway in the world if you count USD/hour. Also, at the train station I wanted to take camomille tea: turned out to cost 1 EURO (4 Soles)! The day before in the fast food price the "peruvian price" was 1 Sole... Have to say they really succeed in prearing me for coming back to Madrid, and even then I may think that Madrid is cheap! At least the AVE fast train wont seem expensive anymore. Well done!However we also discovered talking to the fast food standlady, the taxi drivers, the bus drivers, hostel runners (we stayed in a very cheap one... and a very humid one - I would choose a different place next time) that there is enormous citizens activity nad organisation from Cusco to stop all the crazy things government (wonder how much and who is paying them?) plans: they already had 24 hour strike, and as we found out another 72 hours still remain to be used. I am with all 4 for this! No to Peru Rail illegal monopoly, no to building 5and 4 start hotels almost on the Machu Picchu site, but also no to raising entrance fee to the site to 100 USD. The 40 USD we paid I think were more than enough, but if they use the proifit to ensure good maintenance and support to new archeological sites - I am ok with 40.
Will be interesting to follow what wil happen....
Thursday 20 March 2008
Machu Picchu privatisation
So we are back in Aguas Calientes after visiting the wonder of the world Machu Picchu. Before going into details of privatisation, have to say that the views from there were really nice, but at the same time if the city was somewhere in the valley, it would never make that impression. it also seems that much of it is restored, that is put together anew in the places where they have found piles of rocks, but when looking from the top sites it at gave impression of a complete city. In short it was nice, but the key was the views from the various places and in conjunction with the surrounding mountains.
To see the site, you better go up there with the first bus at 5:30: as we did. Now seeing how many people were there after 9, 6am was the only time when it was relaxed and nice. 
Afterwards you would not see the empty stairs and would always have to walk around big groups of people. And, that was good exercise. If you check the picture, you can see the black spot on the top of the stairs - its a person... So, it was high climbing - and until I left around 12:30 it was all the time up and down. With all my scepticism - have to say it was interesting, and there in early morning hours gave fantastic views, and if wanted - you could catch a spot and sit alone meditating about life.
Afterwards you would not see the empty stairs and would always have to walk around big groups of people. And, that was good exercise. If you check the picture, you can see the black spot on the top of the stairs - its a person... So, it was high climbing - and until I left around 12:30 it was all the time up and down. With all my scepticism - have to say it was interesting, and there in early morning hours gave fantastic views, and if wanted - you could catch a spot and sit alone meditating about life. I was lazy however to climb up Whyna Picchu (they mountain that you can see in the first picture above). Karlis however did it, and this is how Machu Picchu looks like from there!
Nice, almost regret that I did not go up there, but having enough excitement with some narrow paths to the Inca Bridge, guess I was better off staying with my feet on the ground than loosing balance and falling off the cliff.
Nice, almost regret that I did not go up there, but having enough excitement with some narrow paths to the Inca Bridge, guess I was better off staying with my feet on the ground than loosing balance and falling off the cliff.Well, take your time to see the pictures. They have not been named or ordered, for some you will have to turn your head to see it right, but once we have more time- will try to do the homework.
We heard also something interesting related to the mentality of the Peru government. As indicated in the title, last year the government had passed a decree about opening Machu Picchu for PRIVATISATION. Maybe for har core capitalists this would sound great, but a great heritage of humanity being privatised sounds weird for a European. This however seems to stem well with the mentality of some people in some places we have seen. "What is in my territory is mine". Does not matter whether it has a cultural value for the whole country and historical importance, but if I dig it out I can sell it, keep it in my own private collection, melt it say if its gold and make new teeth, well, anything goes! Fortunately, people in Cusco seem to be different, they went on strikes and manifestations to stop that crazy governmetn idea. And so far they have suceeded.
...More later.
Wednesday 19 March 2008
Near Machu Pichu - alternative access by road
Just a reminder that we are still travelling, and are nearing Machu Pichu. Expectations are set very high, like the prices on the way, so we will see how what we will see tomorrow will meet the expectations. About that later, but this is just to tell you that we are taking the 5.30 AM bus to the entrance to the site, hoping for sunrise and no rain.
Getting as far as to Aguas Calientes (named so because of the hot spring here) which they try to rename to Machu Pichu town, was an adventure itself. It took us 1 full day with another "normal travel time times 2" experience.
Well, firstly, my Karlis and Roberts did not know when they will reach Peru, neither I had planned to join them last year, so booking a hike through Inca trail was not on our minds. Thus, when we decided to get to Cusco, nearest city, and see Machu Pichu, it was too late to book the hike. They say 2-4 months in advance are required.
Another surprise when we finally got to Cusco - the train tickets were priced like those in Norway or Denmark... With a comment of course - for "forigners". Locals can travel for much less, but even for them its too expensive expect as we understood one train named "local". They say that as of June another company will be offering more connections Cuzco - Aguas Calientes and thus maybe the prices will be brought down, but now with 3-4 trains a day, and monopoly on the route the Chielan company that privatised it has been ripping off tourists. Guess a very good business strategy if they plan to sell it when monopoly situation is ended. But, it just contributes further to the image that was slowly built up while we travelled down the coast - as a tourist you pay up to 10 times more than normal price. As one bus driver told us, wanting to charge 50% more on the ticket - "You have dollars - so pay more!". This attitude seems to continue its life sucessfully in some parts in Cusco as well.
So, to avoid supporting the monopoly on the train (at least one way, as we are returning by train), we decided to do the alternative route. Interesting, that practically nobody in Cusco wanted to talk about it! But if you want some nice mountain views, travel with locals on thier buses and minibuses, there is an excellent route:
1. Cusco - Santa Maria by bus, that will cost you 16 Soles (we paid more, as went to Urubamaba first...). Some 6-61/2 hours bus ride.
21. from Santa Maria to Santa Teresa another 2 hours in a minivan 10 Soles, or taxi (5 persons) 15 soles. We went on the last one, as they could not get the minivan full. Driver was great, and careful.
3. Finally, from Santa Teresa you have the option to walk all the way to Hidro (hidroelectro station) and then to Aguas Calientes another 2 hours on the railway that is practcally not used, or take a combi (minivan) or taxi to Hidro and then do the walk. Here we again encountered "peru time" concept. Everybody said you have 2 hours walk to hidro then 1 hour on the railway. We took taxi to hido and it takes 30 minutes, so it was hard to believe that the walk is only 2 hours...., and we can confirm that from hidro to Aguas Calientes it is almost 2 hours if you walk rather fast, and dont take too much time taking pictures. So, instead of 1 hour we were met with 1 hour 50 or so walk to the hostel.
While it does take longer, we had fun. The fun part maybe guys will disagree with especially when my "bus carma" and regular waiting at roadblocs did work this time, and our last taxi leg to Santa Teresa was 5 hours instead of 2, but I bet they had fun when we were coming down from the pass over the 4000 m (and I think at one point even higher) and could see my scared face when we were deriving when pavement ended... Anyway, we reached the end destination without problems and have to admit the driver was very careful. Bet he should have been - because the bus was not near new and one had to be impressed by the maneuvering skills of the driver especially on the land road and the curves.
Views however compensated the scary part. And at night, when we were waiting for the tractor to clear the way for the cars on our last leg, the moon came out, and the weather cleared a bit, and the light play, the jungle (or as Karlis says - could forests) looked fantastic. The roadbloc was also the place where we got chatting with locals waiting to pass, and they told that the tractor had to come and do the clearing work at night (we were there at 10pm) because during the day the owner of the land (banana and coffee plants) on both sides of the road was sitting there and not letting anyone clear the road as it would damage some of her plantations. When they wanted to try - she would throw stones at the tractor, so they gave up, but did it when the woman went to sleep. Wonder how her face looked like this morning...
Well, after sleep in Santa Teresa, the walk on the railway, we got to Aguas Calientes. Do not trust the Lonely Planet description - the ugliest town in Peru... This is one of the liveliest and colourful towns we have seen (not counting the bigger cities like Cusco and Trujillo). Its not even that overpriced, if you manage to get accomodation for 15 Soles (some 7 USD) a night. So, if you decide to travel here - now you know the alternative route, that makes it cheaper, but longer.
With this note I will end, as we have to get up early and that would not be my normal wake-up time... 5.30 bus sounds a bit too much for holidays! But, hope it will be worth it.
Getting as far as to Aguas Calientes (named so because of the hot spring here) which they try to rename to Machu Pichu town, was an adventure itself. It took us 1 full day with another "normal travel time times 2" experience.
Well, firstly, my Karlis and Roberts did not know when they will reach Peru, neither I had planned to join them last year, so booking a hike through Inca trail was not on our minds. Thus, when we decided to get to Cusco, nearest city, and see Machu Pichu, it was too late to book the hike. They say 2-4 months in advance are required.
Another surprise when we finally got to Cusco - the train tickets were priced like those in Norway or Denmark... With a comment of course - for "forigners". Locals can travel for much less, but even for them its too expensive expect as we understood one train named "local". They say that as of June another company will be offering more connections Cuzco - Aguas Calientes and thus maybe the prices will be brought down, but now with 3-4 trains a day, and monopoly on the route the Chielan company that privatised it has been ripping off tourists. Guess a very good business strategy if they plan to sell it when monopoly situation is ended. But, it just contributes further to the image that was slowly built up while we travelled down the coast - as a tourist you pay up to 10 times more than normal price. As one bus driver told us, wanting to charge 50% more on the ticket - "You have dollars - so pay more!". This attitude seems to continue its life sucessfully in some parts in Cusco as well.
So, to avoid supporting the monopoly on the train (at least one way, as we are returning by train), we decided to do the alternative route. Interesting, that practically nobody in Cusco wanted to talk about it! But if you want some nice mountain views, travel with locals on thier buses and minibuses, there is an excellent route:
1. Cusco - Santa Maria by bus, that will cost you 16 Soles (we paid more, as went to Urubamaba first...). Some 6-61/2 hours bus ride.
21. from Santa Maria to Santa Teresa another 2 hours in a minivan 10 Soles, or taxi (5 persons) 15 soles. We went on the last one, as they could not get the minivan full. Driver was great, and careful.
3. Finally, from Santa Teresa you have the option to walk all the way to Hidro (hidroelectro station) and then to Aguas Calientes another 2 hours on the railway that is practcally not used, or take a combi (minivan) or taxi to Hidro and then do the walk. Here we again encountered "peru time" concept. Everybody said you have 2 hours walk to hidro then 1 hour on the railway. We took taxi to hido and it takes 30 minutes, so it was hard to believe that the walk is only 2 hours...., and we can confirm that from hidro to Aguas Calientes it is almost 2 hours if you walk rather fast, and dont take too much time taking pictures. So, instead of 1 hour we were met with 1 hour 50 or so walk to the hostel.
While it does take longer, we had fun. The fun part maybe guys will disagree with especially when my "bus carma" and regular waiting at roadblocs did work this time, and our last taxi leg to Santa Teresa was 5 hours instead of 2, but I bet they had fun when we were coming down from the pass over the 4000 m (and I think at one point even higher) and could see my scared face when we were deriving when pavement ended... Anyway, we reached the end destination without problems and have to admit the driver was very careful. Bet he should have been - because the bus was not near new and one had to be impressed by the maneuvering skills of the driver especially on the land road and the curves.
Views however compensated the scary part. And at night, when we were waiting for the tractor to clear the way for the cars on our last leg, the moon came out, and the weather cleared a bit, and the light play, the jungle (or as Karlis says - could forests) looked fantastic. The roadbloc was also the place where we got chatting with locals waiting to pass, and they told that the tractor had to come and do the clearing work at night (we were there at 10pm) because during the day the owner of the land (banana and coffee plants) on both sides of the road was sitting there and not letting anyone clear the road as it would damage some of her plantations. When they wanted to try - she would throw stones at the tractor, so they gave up, but did it when the woman went to sleep. Wonder how her face looked like this morning...
Well, after sleep in Santa Teresa, the walk on the railway, we got to Aguas Calientes. Do not trust the Lonely Planet description - the ugliest town in Peru... This is one of the liveliest and colourful towns we have seen (not counting the bigger cities like Cusco and Trujillo). Its not even that overpriced, if you manage to get accomodation for 15 Soles (some 7 USD) a night. So, if you decide to travel here - now you know the alternative route, that makes it cheaper, but longer.
With this note I will end, as we have to get up early and that would not be my normal wake-up time... 5.30 bus sounds a bit too much for holidays! But, hope it will be worth it.
Thursday 13 March 2008
Leaving Iquitos
Final notes before leaving Iquitos later tonight. I have been so lazy that did not get up at 6am to go and see where the river Amazon is born... But, I have seen the river itself, and spent the whole morning sitting in a cafe on the riverside, observing how it changes and does not change in cloudy and sunny weather.
This morning I was glad to wake up in a normal bed and head out not to a jungle but a town. Maybe other time, in other circumstances would be happier to be in a jungle, but today no. What the night rbought was getting to talk to some Iquiteños: particularly interesting character was Leslie Lucia, as she said 19 years old, with a 3 year old boy. A Brasilian girl who had come to Iquitos 9 years ago with her mother. She was fun, and was learnign English. Am not sure what she does, but what I noticed yesterda because of her and paid attenion today as well, that the normal way addressing someone is ¨amigo¨. A different concept of a friend.
I was trying to observe the people - and again noticed rather much of the polonesian features, but also some strong Asian influence. Am not sure whether there is any, but there were some very beautiful people. The woman at the boat station on my wa back from Fatima village where we stayed the night before guys went off to the jungle looked like she had landed here from New Zealand... from a maori tribe. Another girl on a boat looked like a Thai girl with huge almod eyes and fabulous smile. Guys... well, cant say the most attractive ones though, but the features went as well towards polonesian and asian side.
I spent the evenign in the La Nocturna cafe, having food, fresh juice and later beer with a canadian traveller, and the waitress Tanya, Lerslie Lucia and some kids were just making me laugh. A true relax after some strefull mosquito feeding days. One does not need much...
This made me think about the observations how people changed as we went south from Chachapoyas on the coast. Chacha was nice, calm, and seemed like people were less agressive towards tourists, then Chiclayo with the taxi driver trying to squeeze more money out of us, then Trujillo with guys trying to get us pay for all drinks (we suceeded to divide the bills), and Lima with another taxi driver trying to get us pay more than agreed price. Well, these are some unfortunate examples, but the atmosphere did change little as we headed south. Getting here was weird. Could not really figure out what to think... Guess like everywhere else, it would be the same good and bad people, but I was fortuante to sucessfully fend off some sellers of artesany, and have the fun company last night. This os after all a border city, it is isolated, and here you can get and see everything.
This morning I was glad to wake up in a normal bed and head out not to a jungle but a town. Maybe other time, in other circumstances would be happier to be in a jungle, but today no. What the night rbought was getting to talk to some Iquiteños: particularly interesting character was Leslie Lucia, as she said 19 years old, with a 3 year old boy. A Brasilian girl who had come to Iquitos 9 years ago with her mother. She was fun, and was learnign English. Am not sure what she does, but what I noticed yesterda because of her and paid attenion today as well, that the normal way addressing someone is ¨amigo¨. A different concept of a friend.
I was trying to observe the people - and again noticed rather much of the polonesian features, but also some strong Asian influence. Am not sure whether there is any, but there were some very beautiful people. The woman at the boat station on my wa back from Fatima village where we stayed the night before guys went off to the jungle looked like she had landed here from New Zealand... from a maori tribe. Another girl on a boat looked like a Thai girl with huge almod eyes and fabulous smile. Guys... well, cant say the most attractive ones though, but the features went as well towards polonesian and asian side.
I spent the evenign in the La Nocturna cafe, having food, fresh juice and later beer with a canadian traveller, and the waitress Tanya, Lerslie Lucia and some kids were just making me laugh. A true relax after some strefull mosquito feeding days. One does not need much...
This made me think about the observations how people changed as we went south from Chachapoyas on the coast. Chacha was nice, calm, and seemed like people were less agressive towards tourists, then Chiclayo with the taxi driver trying to squeeze more money out of us, then Trujillo with guys trying to get us pay for all drinks (we suceeded to divide the bills), and Lima with another taxi driver trying to get us pay more than agreed price. Well, these are some unfortunate examples, but the atmosphere did change little as we headed south. Getting here was weird. Could not really figure out what to think... Guess like everywhere else, it would be the same good and bad people, but I was fortuante to sucessfully fend off some sellers of artesany, and have the fun company last night. This os after all a border city, it is isolated, and here you can get and see everything.
Trujillo and single female travellers
Jut a short note on the Trujillo... You may have read the party story, the guys speakign Latvian and German... Well, what Angela found out later was that we had met the guys with not that good reputation. The ¨swiss¨ guy was known for going after European women, marrying them and living on thier account. Seems like a Swiss and a German women found that out too late, and these were 2 divorce accounts of this guy. An Italian was faster to realise it, and dropped all the ¨relationship¨ business before paying for the wedding and guys Europe trips.
The other guy was supposedly local drug dealer. Also chatting up tourists and gettgin his dinner paid. And the others we have not much idea about, but another one of that company tried to sell us an old camera cheeply, and as he said he needed money. At least he was honest about it.
Trujillo was thus a proof that it is beneficial that people thought my brother is my boyfriend! At least I was left in peace. However we had fun, and we managed to split some of the bills.
For female travellers alone however it seems a weird country to travel in. This is second country where I have been and seen that guys are going after their ticket out of the country in the form of a European-American woman. Ok, have to say its not everywhere, but here in Iquitos I have also been told ¨he is single¨ etc, to whad had to say I am not. And my brothers and his friends appearence (both over 1.90 m) helps...
What is worse, the guys working in the hostels are rather actively pursuing girls! Heard from a Canadian guy that he was approached by the girls as well, but seems like men are much more active in trying to get their ¨tickets¨ out of the country.
So, choosing places where to stay may be useful, but otherwise once you learn what it is about, its easier to fend off the unwanted luck seekers.
The other guy was supposedly local drug dealer. Also chatting up tourists and gettgin his dinner paid. And the others we have not much idea about, but another one of that company tried to sell us an old camera cheeply, and as he said he needed money. At least he was honest about it.
Trujillo was thus a proof that it is beneficial that people thought my brother is my boyfriend! At least I was left in peace. However we had fun, and we managed to split some of the bills.
For female travellers alone however it seems a weird country to travel in. This is second country where I have been and seen that guys are going after their ticket out of the country in the form of a European-American woman. Ok, have to say its not everywhere, but here in Iquitos I have also been told ¨he is single¨ etc, to whad had to say I am not. And my brothers and his friends appearence (both over 1.90 m) helps...
What is worse, the guys working in the hostels are rather actively pursuing girls! Heard from a Canadian guy that he was approached by the girls as well, but seems like men are much more active in trying to get their ¨tickets¨ out of the country.
So, choosing places where to stay may be useful, but otherwise once you learn what it is about, its easier to fend off the unwanted luck seekers.
Kuelap the Chacha fortress
Finally, the outstanding notes on Kuelap, the site outside Chachapoyas where it took me 48 hours on the bus to get there. Was it worth it?
As you may have noticed, I like the mountains more compared to the jungle. So, if I had a choice of being 3000 m up in the mountains or 3000 m in the jungle - NO DOUBT would choose the first one. And therefore the Kuelap ¨fortress¨ standing on the top of a mountain at 3000 m altitude was nice. Not just nice, but magnificent.
Some historic data (which you can read on the web anyway): it was supposedly built in 12th century, way before Incas, constructed on the top of the hill, stretching 1,5 km from South to North, and having maximum widths of 120 m. The settlement is surrounded by a murall structure of about 19 m high, and inside you can see bases of houses.
While we all (the group we went with) agreed that there is yet lots of work to be done to see what it really was, we also agreed that is was very nice to get up to and to see it before all the restorative work is finished. Basically, as more and more things are excavated and researched on the South side of the settlement, it starts appearing that the site was not only a fortress as it was believed in the beginning, but had also a religious meaning. It still remains to see whether they had water supplies for storing rain water, but appears that there were no elaborate water supply systems, so everything had to be carried from the spring much lover. My guess is though, that once the achologists get deeper into the exploration work, they will find more and more that is at the moment only left to speculations and imagination, and the culture may appear more elborate than what it seems now.
At first it seems like Chacha culture was not that elaborate, only few ornaments were found on some houses and on some stones, neither they had very elborate terrace system for agriculture, but the way things are built, the round shapes of the houses indicate they were extremely good architechts, and constructed in a way that earthquakes did not damage their structures much. So, in short - see the pictures (the link that we posted earlier) and when I get time I may put comments to those. And, if you like mountains you will like the site.
What else? - well, dont go there without a giude, or if you dont have a guide, read before and prepare for extensive use of your imagination. As said, the work there remanins for some 10-15 years ahead, and imagination is needed.
The question of whether it was a fortress or a religious city, or just a regular city, yet remains to be answered, but it was clear that one could only enter the ¨fortress - settlement¨ through 3 narrow entrances between the walls as high as 19 meters. From a defense point of view, very well designed. What we could not get, was how Incas conquered it. Guess it was water supplies that faded, but that we will have to read up somewhere. Incas however did not stay there long, only some 50-60 years, then the Spanish came. This had helped to retain own languages, while Incas did try to impose use of Kechua. Thus, there are sites that are in Chacha languages, but nobody knows thier meaning.
This was also the place where I learned about Inca strategies in conquered cities and lands... Gosh, they were war criminals! (By current standards). Basically, they entered the place, took some 50% of population and sent them over to another territory, thus extinguishing the languages, local habits and traditions, and imposing Kechua as only language, by moving own people to live there. Strategioes seem very familiar.... Did Stalin study that? Now we would call it genocide, since it was done with purpose to extinguish other populations, and guess some of the 20th century leaders really took example of that.
Another discussion Karlis had with the guide was, how Spaniards, led by Pizarro and only 160-170 men could conquer all the area?! They had the suppressed nations on thier side - all of those who did not like Incas and they were also lucky to capture the main Inca guy in Cajamarca immediately that saved them much fighting. Must be many other factors, but wont go into that discussion, just remain saying that it is rather incredible, but it happened.
What is interesting, the people in Chacha look different. Incas did not leave much of genetics there, so people are relatively tall, and with lighter skin. Now of course the mixture is greater, but we did not see many ¨andian¨features. Those will of course increase we head to Machu Pichu, the Inca headquarters.
Another site we passed, but did not enter was a Chacha cemetery. They had a tradition of bussying people, then later taking thier bones and reburrying the walls of the houses in Kuelpa, or leaving in the cemetery. And, we are talking of a cemetery on a cliff! Since the structure of mountains here is less stone more mud, they did extensions-platforms on the ¨cliffs¨made of mud, stone and who knows what, since they still stand! When you see all the mudslides and road blocks, I would think the road constructors would have to analyse the contents of the burial site platforms to use the same mixture for fortifying the sides of the mountains when they dig out a road... But, that would be too much ¨long term¨thinking. So far we have noticed too mcuh short term thinking, but have to admit that resources seem to be scarse, despite abundance of natural resources! Good governance maybe would be useful...
BUt, back to the cemetery - that was also¨round houses¨ on the extended platforms and built the same way as the houses in Kuelap. View from afar was great, but unfortunately, we were late in dropping off one of our coturists for the bus and did not go up there. This only means, I have a reason to return, as there were many things left unseen.
As for myself, I think the factors that contributed to liking Kuelap very much were, among other things, the process of 48 hours getting there, learning to know people, and also the process of getting to Kuelap itself from Chachapoyas. Supposedly it takes 3 hours, but with my luck it took more, as usual... We happened to see another rumbo... or road block. This time not mud, but stones (with some mud of course), and we had to climb over it.
The road goin up in the mountains was not the widest or best built one, so having parts of the road almost distroyed, was of no surprise anymore. And since the road ended in Kuelap, it was also fun to see 2 taxies (we guessed - from Chachapoyas), who were stuck on the other side of the road block and could serve the rote ¨roadblock - Kuelap¨ for something like 5 days until they would clear the way for them to return to the city. Guess it was good business for them, since it seemed there was sufficient traffick of people and not only of tourists, but also peopl living in the 4-3 villages that were between the Kuelap and the road block, and no transportation.
We were also contemplating whether falling down the slopes would hurt or not?... Sure, our conclusion was that while it is not that steep, there was practically no trees or other stronger vegetation examples that would allow to hold onself in one place, and therefore the fall would be if not lethal, then would definitely hurt. And, with that conclusion we remained certain that none of us would like to try it. Even less so in the car, so at one point of our ¨roadblock - Kuelap¨ driving part, we actually had to get out of the car to the guy can drive over another mud+stone pile, while we walked over it. This of course can not compete with Karlis walking from Ecuador borded to San Ignacio where he lost his shoe in the mud, but was enough adventure for me. At least we are told that further south where we are heading , the roads are supposed to be better, and so we hope.
Agh, and on our way back from Kuelap, on that roadblock where we changed cars we met a cuople that was sitting on our last row in the Lima - Chacha bus, and one more girl. They were to rech 72 hours by the time they got to Kuelap. Guess also an adventure for them, as they were not doing the Chacha - Lima trip more than once-twice a year.
Here we finish with history, and more stories on Incas and their conquests will follow as we are heading south.
As you may have noticed, I like the mountains more compared to the jungle. So, if I had a choice of being 3000 m up in the mountains or 3000 m in the jungle - NO DOUBT would choose the first one. And therefore the Kuelap ¨fortress¨ standing on the top of a mountain at 3000 m altitude was nice. Not just nice, but magnificent.
Some historic data (which you can read on the web anyway): it was supposedly built in 12th century, way before Incas, constructed on the top of the hill, stretching 1,5 km from South to North, and having maximum widths of 120 m. The settlement is surrounded by a murall structure of about 19 m high, and inside you can see bases of houses.
While we all (the group we went with) agreed that there is yet lots of work to be done to see what it really was, we also agreed that is was very nice to get up to and to see it before all the restorative work is finished. Basically, as more and more things are excavated and researched on the South side of the settlement, it starts appearing that the site was not only a fortress as it was believed in the beginning, but had also a religious meaning. It still remains to see whether they had water supplies for storing rain water, but appears that there were no elaborate water supply systems, so everything had to be carried from the spring much lover. My guess is though, that once the achologists get deeper into the exploration work, they will find more and more that is at the moment only left to speculations and imagination, and the culture may appear more elborate than what it seems now.
At first it seems like Chacha culture was not that elaborate, only few ornaments were found on some houses and on some stones, neither they had very elborate terrace system for agriculture, but the way things are built, the round shapes of the houses indicate they were extremely good architechts, and constructed in a way that earthquakes did not damage their structures much. So, in short - see the pictures (the link that we posted earlier) and when I get time I may put comments to those. And, if you like mountains you will like the site.
What else? - well, dont go there without a giude, or if you dont have a guide, read before and prepare for extensive use of your imagination. As said, the work there remanins for some 10-15 years ahead, and imagination is needed.
The question of whether it was a fortress or a religious city, or just a regular city, yet remains to be answered, but it was clear that one could only enter the ¨fortress - settlement¨ through 3 narrow entrances between the walls as high as 19 meters. From a defense point of view, very well designed. What we could not get, was how Incas conquered it. Guess it was water supplies that faded, but that we will have to read up somewhere. Incas however did not stay there long, only some 50-60 years, then the Spanish came. This had helped to retain own languages, while Incas did try to impose use of Kechua. Thus, there are sites that are in Chacha languages, but nobody knows thier meaning.
This was also the place where I learned about Inca strategies in conquered cities and lands... Gosh, they were war criminals! (By current standards). Basically, they entered the place, took some 50% of population and sent them over to another territory, thus extinguishing the languages, local habits and traditions, and imposing Kechua as only language, by moving own people to live there. Strategioes seem very familiar.... Did Stalin study that? Now we would call it genocide, since it was done with purpose to extinguish other populations, and guess some of the 20th century leaders really took example of that.
Another discussion Karlis had with the guide was, how Spaniards, led by Pizarro and only 160-170 men could conquer all the area?! They had the suppressed nations on thier side - all of those who did not like Incas and they were also lucky to capture the main Inca guy in Cajamarca immediately that saved them much fighting. Must be many other factors, but wont go into that discussion, just remain saying that it is rather incredible, but it happened.
What is interesting, the people in Chacha look different. Incas did not leave much of genetics there, so people are relatively tall, and with lighter skin. Now of course the mixture is greater, but we did not see many ¨andian¨features. Those will of course increase we head to Machu Pichu, the Inca headquarters.
Another site we passed, but did not enter was a Chacha cemetery. They had a tradition of bussying people, then later taking thier bones and reburrying the walls of the houses in Kuelpa, or leaving in the cemetery. And, we are talking of a cemetery on a cliff! Since the structure of mountains here is less stone more mud, they did extensions-platforms on the ¨cliffs¨made of mud, stone and who knows what, since they still stand! When you see all the mudslides and road blocks, I would think the road constructors would have to analyse the contents of the burial site platforms to use the same mixture for fortifying the sides of the mountains when they dig out a road... But, that would be too much ¨long term¨thinking. So far we have noticed too mcuh short term thinking, but have to admit that resources seem to be scarse, despite abundance of natural resources! Good governance maybe would be useful...
BUt, back to the cemetery - that was also¨round houses¨ on the extended platforms and built the same way as the houses in Kuelap. View from afar was great, but unfortunately, we were late in dropping off one of our coturists for the bus and did not go up there. This only means, I have a reason to return, as there were many things left unseen.
As for myself, I think the factors that contributed to liking Kuelap very much were, among other things, the process of 48 hours getting there, learning to know people, and also the process of getting to Kuelap itself from Chachapoyas. Supposedly it takes 3 hours, but with my luck it took more, as usual... We happened to see another rumbo... or road block. This time not mud, but stones (with some mud of course), and we had to climb over it.
The road goin up in the mountains was not the widest or best built one, so having parts of the road almost distroyed, was of no surprise anymore. And since the road ended in Kuelap, it was also fun to see 2 taxies (we guessed - from Chachapoyas), who were stuck on the other side of the road block and could serve the rote ¨roadblock - Kuelap¨ for something like 5 days until they would clear the way for them to return to the city. Guess it was good business for them, since it seemed there was sufficient traffick of people and not only of tourists, but also peopl living in the 4-3 villages that were between the Kuelap and the road block, and no transportation.We were also contemplating whether falling down the slopes would hurt or not?... Sure, our conclusion was that while it is not that steep, there was practically no trees or other stronger vegetation examples that would allow to hold onself in one place, and therefore the fall would be if not lethal, then would definitely hurt. And, with that conclusion we remained certain that none of us would like to try it. Even less so in the car, so at one point of our ¨roadblock - Kuelap¨ driving part, we actually had to get out of the car to the guy can drive over another mud+stone pile, while we walked over it. This of course can not compete with Karlis walking from Ecuador borded to San Ignacio where he lost his shoe in the mud, but was enough adventure for me. At least we are told that further south where we are heading , the roads are supposed to be better, and so we hope.
Agh, and on our way back from Kuelap, on that roadblock where we changed cars we met a cuople that was sitting on our last row in the Lima - Chacha bus, and one more girl. They were to rech 72 hours by the time they got to Kuelap. Guess also an adventure for them, as they were not doing the Chacha - Lima trip more than once-twice a year.
Here we finish with history, and more stories on Incas and their conquests will follow as we are heading south.
Wednesday 12 March 2008
Failed jungle expedition
For those who do not know yet, we flew to Iquitos, to see the Amzonian jungle. And, as the heading notes, it a failed one for me... In short - conclusion was that I do not like being eaten by moskitous, not having possibility of taking one or another kind of shower (or a swim) and on occasions being treated by the guide like a 20 year old ¨wannebe Tarzan (or Jane in my case)¨. Maybe its not a failed trip after all, since there is a lot to tell, but can say that if someone will try to get me back for a ¨nature¨trip into jungle, they can pack their bags while I will enjoy another peak of 3, 4 or more thousand meters.
The decision to come to Iquitos was made in Lima. After Trujillo we went to Lima to meet up with Karlis (my brother) friend Roberts. While thinking of going south or taking couple of days in Iquitos, the ticket price guess was decisive to come over here. So far, so good. Flight was excellent (with LAN), but then we started walking around to find a hotel. What we did not know, they have APEC summit (or one of group meeings) here, which means all the small but cheap hostels are booked. Eventually, we did find a place, and the first day was spent in the city and heading out to a laguna, where I did swim, and we also saw like a mini zoo with variety of local animals. So, the day was good. Hot, humid, but good.
Guess when making choice of the tours, we went for the cheapest one (sounded similar as slightly more expensive one) and the result was - some ¨untold¨ facts. We were reassured that there is a bathroom (toilet), but when we got there... well, there was a latrine, in the woods. Karlis took pictures, and when back in Lima will try to download it. Getting to that place was also in a small transport boat without life jackets. Not the best idea on the Amazona river for those like me who dont feel too safe swimming. Basically, one can also say - why did you go... But, we got to our camp. That was a family house, where we were given thier bedroom I think. House as well interesting, but that was ok part. People were nice as well, except what I did not like at all that when we were served dinner (meals included in the price) everybody was sitting around and looking how we eat... Ok, ok, we are tourists, but give some privacy - we were not staring how they eat.
Despite all the small not so nice facts, I however have to say that the day was ok. We went on Amazon river, then went walking through some coastal villages, went to a place where a guy kep some local animals for couple of months just for such purpose as us, before releasing them again and getting new ones... We also went by boat dolphin watvhing and saw some grey dolphins. And, we had some good food - fish and rice (for a change to chicken). So, in all we went to bed at 8 , and with some good-bad sleeping (mosquitos must have already been in the net when we got below it). And today, it was raining, so I just reconfirmed to myself that I have seen enough of the jungle and am heading back with public transport to Iquitos.
The first day here also was nice. We went to see lake Quistococha, with the small zoo. There I managed to swim! It was safer :) Except, the first moment was not at all refreshing - water must have had over 30 degrees - it was just too warm! had to swim further into the lake (not that far though) to get some refreshment.
The Quistochocha lake (laguna) was the place where we saw most of the animals, that in the jungle you just dont meet... they feel you before you even notice there could be anything. We saw the pink river dolphin which later in the river never showed up, x number of moneys - cappuchino brown monkey which tried to catch camera while Karlis was taking picture, cappuchino white fron monke which we later in the jungle trip got to hold and take pictures with (ugh, real tourists), others (dont recall the names), the caymans, crocodiles, turtles of different kind. So, if you want to see the animals before you go into jungle here (to recognise them in case some show up) take a trour there. Reccomended.
Well, with this, my Jungle tour will end. Maybe I will head tomorrow to see where Amazon river starts, but otherwise will fly tomorrow evening to Lima then Cuzco and the South.
The decision to come to Iquitos was made in Lima. After Trujillo we went to Lima to meet up with Karlis (my brother) friend Roberts. While thinking of going south or taking couple of days in Iquitos, the ticket price guess was decisive to come over here. So far, so good. Flight was excellent (with LAN), but then we started walking around to find a hotel. What we did not know, they have APEC summit (or one of group meeings) here, which means all the small but cheap hostels are booked. Eventually, we did find a place, and the first day was spent in the city and heading out to a laguna, where I did swim, and we also saw like a mini zoo with variety of local animals. So, the day was good. Hot, humid, but good.
Guess when making choice of the tours, we went for the cheapest one (sounded similar as slightly more expensive one) and the result was - some ¨untold¨ facts. We were reassured that there is a bathroom (toilet), but when we got there... well, there was a latrine, in the woods. Karlis took pictures, and when back in Lima will try to download it. Getting to that place was also in a small transport boat without life jackets. Not the best idea on the Amazona river for those like me who dont feel too safe swimming. Basically, one can also say - why did you go... But, we got to our camp. That was a family house, where we were given thier bedroom I think. House as well interesting, but that was ok part. People were nice as well, except what I did not like at all that when we were served dinner (meals included in the price) everybody was sitting around and looking how we eat... Ok, ok, we are tourists, but give some privacy - we were not staring how they eat.
Despite all the small not so nice facts, I however have to say that the day was ok. We went on Amazon river, then went walking through some coastal villages, went to a place where a guy kep some local animals for couple of months just for such purpose as us, before releasing them again and getting new ones... We also went by boat dolphin watvhing and saw some grey dolphins. And, we had some good food - fish and rice (for a change to chicken). So, in all we went to bed at 8 , and with some good-bad sleeping (mosquitos must have already been in the net when we got below it). And today, it was raining, so I just reconfirmed to myself that I have seen enough of the jungle and am heading back with public transport to Iquitos.
The first day here also was nice. We went to see lake Quistococha, with the small zoo. There I managed to swim! It was safer :) Except, the first moment was not at all refreshing - water must have had over 30 degrees - it was just too warm! had to swim further into the lake (not that far though) to get some refreshment.
The Quistochocha lake (laguna) was the place where we saw most of the animals, that in the jungle you just dont meet... they feel you before you even notice there could be anything. We saw the pink river dolphin which later in the river never showed up, x number of moneys - cappuchino brown monkey which tried to catch camera while Karlis was taking picture, cappuchino white fron monke which we later in the jungle trip got to hold and take pictures with (ugh, real tourists), others (dont recall the names), the caymans, crocodiles, turtles of different kind. So, if you want to see the animals before you go into jungle here (to recognise them in case some show up) take a trour there. Reccomended.
Well, with this, my Jungle tour will end. Maybe I will head tomorrow to see where Amazon river starts, but otherwise will fly tomorrow evening to Lima then Cuzco and the South.
Thursday 6 March 2008
"Priekaa" in a bar in Trujillo
Still in Trujillo, and the first party we had. Dancing salsa until 4 am... With latvian-danish-german-english speaking peruvians!
After a day of culture and pyramids, we were of course up to try the other culture of this city - local drinks and dancing. Together with Angela, our Swiss companion, 3 of us headed to a nice rock bar, and after enchange of the usual "where are you from" with a group of birthday celebrators, we got a response to our "we are from Latvia" with "cheers" but IN LATVIAN. Imagine, our curiosity was growing, as the phrases like " es tevi milu" ( I love you), "es milu jusu meitu" (I love your daughter), "sipols" (onion), and the regular ones "loti labi" (very good) and "paldies" (thank you) were coming from that table. By the nature of the phrases we of course could guess where it came from... It turned out to be more complicated... A guy from peru meets a latvian girl in Denmark and thus speaks not only the phrases in Latvian, but a perfect Danish. Talk about globalisation.
The surprises did not end there, others knew everything about musci festivals in Switzerland... And, by the end we were told that this is the MetalInca band. Have not heard them playing anything, but would be interesting to see what they are up to.
So, we joined this company of +/- 30 year olds and spent the rest of the night dancing salsa (learning that is). Today... had to check out at 12 so its a bit hard no to have enough sleep after all the testing of rum made in Trujillo, beer made in Trujillo and other things we have no idea where and what from they were made of, course picu sour (am not sure if that is the right spelling though).
Tonight we are off to Lima though. Weekend there, in Miraflores should also be nice, so updates will follow. The group of Karlis and myself will be growing to 3, as Roberts, friend of Karlis with whom he has been travelling last 3 months, should also join us. But now, we are heading off to try the chiviche, local raw fish dish that we have to eat here, before leaving to Lima. About taste of that - later.
After a day of culture and pyramids, we were of course up to try the other culture of this city - local drinks and dancing. Together with Angela, our Swiss companion, 3 of us headed to a nice rock bar, and after enchange of the usual "where are you from" with a group of birthday celebrators, we got a response to our "we are from Latvia" with "cheers" but IN LATVIAN. Imagine, our curiosity was growing, as the phrases like " es tevi milu" ( I love you), "es milu jusu meitu" (I love your daughter), "sipols" (onion), and the regular ones "loti labi" (very good) and "paldies" (thank you) were coming from that table. By the nature of the phrases we of course could guess where it came from... It turned out to be more complicated... A guy from peru meets a latvian girl in Denmark and thus speaks not only the phrases in Latvian, but a perfect Danish. Talk about globalisation.
The surprises did not end there, others knew everything about musci festivals in Switzerland... And, by the end we were told that this is the MetalInca band. Have not heard them playing anything, but would be interesting to see what they are up to.
So, we joined this company of +/- 30 year olds and spent the rest of the night dancing salsa (learning that is). Today... had to check out at 12 so its a bit hard no to have enough sleep after all the testing of rum made in Trujillo, beer made in Trujillo and other things we have no idea where and what from they were made of, course picu sour (am not sure if that is the right spelling though).
Tonight we are off to Lima though. Weekend there, in Miraflores should also be nice, so updates will follow. The group of Karlis and myself will be growing to 3, as Roberts, friend of Karlis with whom he has been travelling last 3 months, should also join us. But now, we are heading off to try the chiviche, local raw fish dish that we have to eat here, before leaving to Lima. About taste of that - later.
Trujillo and the local cultures
I owe you all the 2 days in Chachapoyas yet, but will get back to that soon! Promise! Meanwhile, a quick update on the end of the first week of my travel, from Trujillo.
After leaving Chacha, we headed to Chiclayo, almost on the coast. As we have figured out (or, read in the guide book), both Chiclayo, Trujillo and other places on the coat having some green are oasis. In principles the coast is a desert, but with the main occupation industry being AGRICULTURE. Sounds crazy, but thats how it is. Couple of years ago heard some news that in Turkmenistan the then still living president decided to send uzbeks to the Karakum dezert to do agriculture... Maybe he thought learning from the acient peruvian cultures would work there as well... Unfortunately, there is a huge BUT - there are no mountains that provide enough rain to do that in Turkmenistan.
Being in the dezert is interesting... People say "we hope it does not rain". Yes, agree, difficult to understand that, but having seen the sand, the sun and felt the heat, I think Latvias rainy days I will appreciate the rainy days more. Its not that people do not want rain, and it does rain here, but once in 10 years! Well, with el niño or la niña (smaller...) phenomenon, it has been weird here - rained in April last year... Ok, but getting back to agriculture, they do have shugar cane plantations, maize, and everything else that can grow in this heat. Water systems are acient - the cultures well before AD used channels from the nearby mountains, where it rains a lot, to irrigate the fields, and this tradition continues now.
All of this we learned by visiting Sipan museum in Lambayeke, Tucume pyramids near Chiclayo, and yesterday, the Chan Chan city just outside Trujillo, and nearby Huaca de la Luna pyramid. First impression about the Tucume was - well... piles of mud. Since all the structures there and everywhere else, including houses they build now, are made of sun dried mud bricks, when it rains, the mud bricks somehow turn into mud. It looks like when kids (and adults) build sand castles in Jurmala, except they are like 100 something meters high. Well, after slight dissapointment in Tucume, we went to the museum of the Lord of Sipan (another pyramid place), where they had discovered some 15 toombs of royals full with artefacts of Muchi culture. Have to say, Sipan museum was the best we saw 2 days ago! Impressive work on jewlery, arms and it must have been a heavy burden to carry all that stuff around! There were also signs of human sacrifices, and am glad that we dont live in those times. How stupid can it be, when the king dies, they sacrifice his wife, the mistresses, an army officer, some animals and in some occasions some children.
The toombs dicovered indicated that the cultures here were very macho, UNTIL, in el Brujo complex (also near Tucume) they discovered a toomb of a queen. Finally, the myth that the men have been the only rulers has been destroyed, and maybe that will help to adjust the macho culture. Unfortunately, we miss the museum of the new finding, as they will open it in 10 days. But, it should be one of the places to visit for anyone coming to Peru later.
Well, after the Tucume pyramids (the disappointment) we were up for a pleasant surprise in Huaca de la Luna. Amazing discoveries and acheologists work. We could see walls with original paintings, the patterns of decorations and the patien diggin has opened up for the view and imagination the real extent to the pyramids. Have not been in Egypt, but these are pyramids! of up to 5 temples build upon each other (that is - new temple for a new ruler).
After the pyramids, we went to the biggest mud city I have seen. Chan Chan monument. It was interesting to see the inside of a remains of a palace, but would be also nice to see the extent of the city from a brids view. Maybe also, we were a bit tired after the morning pyramids and impressions, but it was interesting. They have been thinking to build a platform where you could see the parts of the 22 sq km city from above, but so far that is not yet done.
As for Trujillo - a really nice place. Historically, also the first city to gain independence from Spanish, a strong commercial centre, and one of the best preserved cities in Peru. It is small, but its nice. Therefore, when in Peru, go to Trujillo! Not only for its wonders outside the city, but also for the city itself.
After leaving Chacha, we headed to Chiclayo, almost on the coast. As we have figured out (or, read in the guide book), both Chiclayo, Trujillo and other places on the coat having some green are oasis. In principles the coast is a desert, but with the main occupation industry being AGRICULTURE. Sounds crazy, but thats how it is. Couple of years ago heard some news that in Turkmenistan the then still living president decided to send uzbeks to the Karakum dezert to do agriculture... Maybe he thought learning from the acient peruvian cultures would work there as well... Unfortunately, there is a huge BUT - there are no mountains that provide enough rain to do that in Turkmenistan.
Being in the dezert is interesting... People say "we hope it does not rain". Yes, agree, difficult to understand that, but having seen the sand, the sun and felt the heat, I think Latvias rainy days I will appreciate the rainy days more. Its not that people do not want rain, and it does rain here, but once in 10 years! Well, with el niño or la niña (smaller...) phenomenon, it has been weird here - rained in April last year... Ok, but getting back to agriculture, they do have shugar cane plantations, maize, and everything else that can grow in this heat. Water systems are acient - the cultures well before AD used channels from the nearby mountains, where it rains a lot, to irrigate the fields, and this tradition continues now.
All of this we learned by visiting Sipan museum in Lambayeke, Tucume pyramids near Chiclayo, and yesterday, the Chan Chan city just outside Trujillo, and nearby Huaca de la Luna pyramid. First impression about the Tucume was - well... piles of mud. Since all the structures there and everywhere else, including houses they build now, are made of sun dried mud bricks, when it rains, the mud bricks somehow turn into mud. It looks like when kids (and adults) build sand castles in Jurmala, except they are like 100 something meters high. Well, after slight dissapointment in Tucume, we went to the museum of the Lord of Sipan (another pyramid place), where they had discovered some 15 toombs of royals full with artefacts of Muchi culture. Have to say, Sipan museum was the best we saw 2 days ago! Impressive work on jewlery, arms and it must have been a heavy burden to carry all that stuff around! There were also signs of human sacrifices, and am glad that we dont live in those times. How stupid can it be, when the king dies, they sacrifice his wife, the mistresses, an army officer, some animals and in some occasions some children.
The toombs dicovered indicated that the cultures here were very macho, UNTIL, in el Brujo complex (also near Tucume) they discovered a toomb of a queen. Finally, the myth that the men have been the only rulers has been destroyed, and maybe that will help to adjust the macho culture. Unfortunately, we miss the museum of the new finding, as they will open it in 10 days. But, it should be one of the places to visit for anyone coming to Peru later.
Well, after the Tucume pyramids (the disappointment) we were up for a pleasant surprise in Huaca de la Luna. Amazing discoveries and acheologists work. We could see walls with original paintings, the patterns of decorations and the patien diggin has opened up for the view and imagination the real extent to the pyramids. Have not been in Egypt, but these are pyramids! of up to 5 temples build upon each other (that is - new temple for a new ruler).
After the pyramids, we went to the biggest mud city I have seen. Chan Chan monument. It was interesting to see the inside of a remains of a palace, but would be also nice to see the extent of the city from a brids view. Maybe also, we were a bit tired after the morning pyramids and impressions, but it was interesting. They have been thinking to build a platform where you could see the parts of the 22 sq km city from above, but so far that is not yet done.
As for Trujillo - a really nice place. Historically, also the first city to gain independence from Spanish, a strong commercial centre, and one of the best preserved cities in Peru. It is small, but its nice. Therefore, when in Peru, go to Trujillo! Not only for its wonders outside the city, but also for the city itself.
Tuesday 4 March 2008
Language in Chacha
A side comment or an observation: the language is rather intereting in the area. As if people would like to save time. they would end verbs with ¨s¨ but cut some sillabus inbetween. It took time to get used to ¨pasams¨ (pasamos), ¨vams¨ (vamos) and similar words, but once you master it, it gets easier. And it does give a character to the region! Enjoy it when you are there.
Trying to get to Chachapoyas.... in 48 hours
So, from Lima the next destination was supposed to be Chachapoyas, taking 20 hour bus ride, to meet up with my brother, who was coming in from Ecuador.
Going ahead of the events - I did meet my brother, and we went to Chachapoyas, and we have left already, but all has its time.
A mystery place Chachapoyas - getting there was not easy. Firstly, it takes time to find a bus company that goes there! Once you get there, or rather on the road you see many, but as a newcomer to the country you have few possibilitiues to really get into the bus system here. Well, its not that bad - guess I wrote it - each bus company has its own terminal, ticket office, departure zone and fortunately they are located in the same area of the city. But finding the ones that goes whee you want to, means walking aound. If anybody wants to go to Chachapoyas (or Chacha for further reference), use Movil Tours. They do seem better, although their website does not work. In any case, you cant get your tickets online and arriving to their bus termina will be necesarry. I made a mistake taking Civa. Well, not really a mistake - the credit has to be given to the drivers - they were excellent! But, the bus was not the newest and I saved 10 soles to go with them, but that I guess cost me comfort. Got a seat 52 (there are 53) that meant last row. And with that the adventure started.
For the context - you may have heard of heavy floods in Ecuador (for that see my brothers blog in the links, but it will require that you read Latvian), and that ment also constant rains in Northern Peru. This after all did affect my travell, and at one point I was ready tot turn back to the coast, but did not do it, because communications with my brother were not possible as we both were out of reach of any mobile network for most of the time of this trip.
We left Lima at night with some delay (Peru time...), and the first part on the Panamerican highway was great. I even managed to sleep! That was a miracle, but prooved useful laterf. We passed through the desert, the oasis of Trujillo, Chiclayo and some othe places, and got to Lambayeke. See the link in the photos - the gas station and neaby mill San Jose. Well, thats how the villages on the road looked like. More pictures to follow. From there the road took us in to the mountains towards Amazonas. By this time all was going smooth, we even got breakfast served on the bus, and after good nights sleep slowly started to learn who the fellow passengers were. The road from Chiclayo into Amazonas is nice. Ascending the mountains we were fortunate to have nice weathe to see the views. Only briefly we were in the clouds, but otherwise all was nice. On the descent we got our first ¨rumbo¨ or a landlide or whatever in that given plce gan block the road.
So, the first time was mid day, we did not know what has happened, but the line ahead was so long that did not go to see it. Here I first time learned the ¨Peru time¨ concept. Delay in Lima does not count. They told us that in 30 minutes we will be able to pass, but it took 3 hours. As I learned later, when a time is given you at least have to multiply it by 3. So, this time it was more, but multiplication by 3 or 4 actually seems to work in general!
As a side note - they love diminutives here. For those with some Spanish knowledge, you would here many ¨ahorita¨, ¨minutito¨ which means that it will take longer than if they would say ¨ahora¨...
Well, the 3 hours sitting on the road were spent well. Learned that one of the women sitting with us at the end would have to spend another 8 hours walking-riding-taking a boat to get to her village once we arrive in Chacha. Another had to get to Kuelap (one of the sites we visited - moe later), others also would have to travel hours. Considering that we would with the delay arrive around midnight, this would of course not happen the same night. Well, and as we all were hungry, shared the latvian bronw bread that I had by accident with me with some, and of course had to answer many questions -why are you travelling alone? Are you married? Where are you goging? Why are you going to Chacha... Etc, etc. It helped to say that I will meet my brother in chacha, othewise a concept of a woman travelling alone was not that clear to many. But, this was the time when some of the passengers heard about my brother, whom they would meet later.
well, time passed by and finally we started moving. As we got to the landlslide site, could see huge rocks that had fallen, and a path cleared as wide as to get trucks and buses though. Here again - the credit to the drivers!
With this we thought our delay will only be those 3-4 hours, but no... that was not it!
at 8pm we got to a place called Los Naranjitos (again the diminutive). In English - the ornges place. There was no sign of oranges there, only bananas, but the story is not about that. We were stopped there. The road was covered in mud, and passing through the village was not possible, because of another landslide. And, we were stuck there for 12 hours - another night in the bus. When we saw the place next day, I think the mud had taken down some 50 m of the road, and the road maintenane people had managed to BUILD a part of that road in one night! All respect! Again, the photos are not that great, but there were some. Will try to organise them by the events later (this means ¨times 4¨ and it could be after the trip- am getting used to Peru time).
This night however was good. First the drivers did not know whether to turn back to the previous town, or stay there. Reason - couple of days before in that are there was a robbery attack on one of busses (as I found later, 2 of the guys were cought soon after that). But after realsing that there were some 12-15 buses, trucks and other transport, an attack would have to be very organisd, so it was safer to stay there. There we were, all lined up and happy... (its irony ...). This meant to know the fellow passengers even better, and since the bus was too hot (lights off, aircon off, windows cant b opened, door closed...) with some we were standing on the road and soon drinking cubalibres, loca champagne (inca cola taste, with bubbles and some alcohol) and beer, and even visited nearby food stand (shack with 3 tables where you could get everything) for ore beers. Company was great - both from our and the next bus. The guys with drinks in the picures are those how were up almost all night: mapamundi (map of the world - because he was the only one who knew were Latvia was), bombero, Christian and others. I however was so tired by 2.30 that I had to go to sleep! Missed eating chicken stock at 4 am in the food stand, missed more conversations, but had great fun listening to jokes, talking about travels and almost was persuaded that after Chacha will have to head into Amazonas. Housing and gude
services were of course offered, but with the details of housing offer wont bore you :)
well, so I went to sleep, and after some hours, got up to realise that finally will be leaving beloved Naranjitos, and with that the company of Mapamundi, Bombero, Christian and others.
The rest of the travel involved moe waiting, more talking and when we were stuck for another 6 hours at the pass to chacha which sis closed during the day for road works, my brother arrived! By then our bus already had imagined him, and now they got to see him. Since before I was the only ¨gringa¨ or ¨gringita¨ as the others were calling me, now we were 2. Kids had fun, we took loads of pictures, and after 48 hours arrived to Chacha! Tired, but found a nice place reccomended by Luis, also once of co-passengers, and slept to preapre for the next day adventures. About those, later....
Going ahead of the events - I did meet my brother, and we went to Chachapoyas, and we have left already, but all has its time.
A mystery place Chachapoyas - getting there was not easy. Firstly, it takes time to find a bus company that goes there! Once you get there, or rather on the road you see many, but as a newcomer to the country you have few possibilitiues to really get into the bus system here. Well, its not that bad - guess I wrote it - each bus company has its own terminal, ticket office, departure zone and fortunately they are located in the same area of the city. But finding the ones that goes whee you want to, means walking aound. If anybody wants to go to Chachapoyas (or Chacha for further reference), use Movil Tours. They do seem better, although their website does not work. In any case, you cant get your tickets online and arriving to their bus termina will be necesarry. I made a mistake taking Civa. Well, not really a mistake - the credit has to be given to the drivers - they were excellent! But, the bus was not the newest and I saved 10 soles to go with them, but that I guess cost me comfort. Got a seat 52 (there are 53) that meant last row. And with that the adventure started.
For the context - you may have heard of heavy floods in Ecuador (for that see my brothers blog in the links, but it will require that you read Latvian), and that ment also constant rains in Northern Peru. This after all did affect my travell, and at one point I was ready tot turn back to the coast, but did not do it, because communications with my brother were not possible as we both were out of reach of any mobile network for most of the time of this trip.
We left Lima at night with some delay (Peru time...), and the first part on the Panamerican highway was great. I even managed to sleep! That was a miracle, but prooved useful laterf. We passed through the desert, the oasis of Trujillo, Chiclayo and some othe places, and got to Lambayeke. See the link in the photos - the gas station and neaby mill San Jose. Well, thats how the villages on the road looked like. More pictures to follow. From there the road took us in to the mountains towards Amazonas. By this time all was going smooth, we even got breakfast served on the bus, and after good nights sleep slowly started to learn who the fellow passengers were. The road from Chiclayo into Amazonas is nice. Ascending the mountains we were fortunate to have nice weathe to see the views. Only briefly we were in the clouds, but otherwise all was nice. On the descent we got our first ¨rumbo¨ or a landlide or whatever in that given plce gan block the road.
So, the first time was mid day, we did not know what has happened, but the line ahead was so long that did not go to see it. Here I first time learned the ¨Peru time¨ concept. Delay in Lima does not count. They told us that in 30 minutes we will be able to pass, but it took 3 hours. As I learned later, when a time is given you at least have to multiply it by 3. So, this time it was more, but multiplication by 3 or 4 actually seems to work in general!
As a side note - they love diminutives here. For those with some Spanish knowledge, you would here many ¨ahorita¨, ¨minutito¨ which means that it will take longer than if they would say ¨ahora¨...
Well, the 3 hours sitting on the road were spent well. Learned that one of the women sitting with us at the end would have to spend another 8 hours walking-riding-taking a boat to get to her village once we arrive in Chacha. Another had to get to Kuelap (one of the sites we visited - moe later), others also would have to travel hours. Considering that we would with the delay arrive around midnight, this would of course not happen the same night. Well, and as we all were hungry, shared the latvian bronw bread that I had by accident with me with some, and of course had to answer many questions -why are you travelling alone? Are you married? Where are you goging? Why are you going to Chacha... Etc, etc. It helped to say that I will meet my brother in chacha, othewise a concept of a woman travelling alone was not that clear to many. But, this was the time when some of the passengers heard about my brother, whom they would meet later.
well, time passed by and finally we started moving. As we got to the landlslide site, could see huge rocks that had fallen, and a path cleared as wide as to get trucks and buses though. Here again - the credit to the drivers!
With this we thought our delay will only be those 3-4 hours, but no... that was not it!
at 8pm we got to a place called Los Naranjitos (again the diminutive). In English - the ornges place. There was no sign of oranges there, only bananas, but the story is not about that. We were stopped there. The road was covered in mud, and passing through the village was not possible, because of another landslide. And, we were stuck there for 12 hours - another night in the bus. When we saw the place next day, I think the mud had taken down some 50 m of the road, and the road maintenane people had managed to BUILD a part of that road in one night! All respect! Again, the photos are not that great, but there were some. Will try to organise them by the events later (this means ¨times 4¨ and it could be after the trip- am getting used to Peru time).
This night however was good. First the drivers did not know whether to turn back to the previous town, or stay there. Reason - couple of days before in that are there was a robbery attack on one of busses (as I found later, 2 of the guys were cought soon after that). But after realsing that there were some 12-15 buses, trucks and other transport, an attack would have to be very organisd, so it was safer to stay there. There we were, all lined up and happy... (its irony ...). This meant to know the fellow passengers even better, and since the bus was too hot (lights off, aircon off, windows cant b opened, door closed...) with some we were standing on the road and soon drinking cubalibres, loca champagne (inca cola taste, with bubbles and some alcohol) and beer, and even visited nearby food stand (shack with 3 tables where you could get everything) for ore beers. Company was great - both from our and the next bus. The guys with drinks in the picures are those how were up almost all night: mapamundi (map of the world - because he was the only one who knew were Latvia was), bombero, Christian and others. I however was so tired by 2.30 that I had to go to sleep! Missed eating chicken stock at 4 am in the food stand, missed more conversations, but had great fun listening to jokes, talking about travels and almost was persuaded that after Chacha will have to head into Amazonas. Housing and gude
services were of course offered, but with the details of housing offer wont bore you :)well, so I went to sleep, and after some hours, got up to realise that finally will be leaving beloved Naranjitos, and with that the company of Mapamundi, Bombero, Christian and others.
The rest of the travel involved moe waiting, more talking and when we were stuck for another 6 hours at the pass to chacha which sis closed during the day for road works, my brother arrived! By then our bus already had imagined him, and now they got to see him. Since before I was the only ¨gringa¨ or ¨gringita¨ as the others were calling me, now we were 2. Kids had fun, we took loads of pictures, and after 48 hours arrived to Chacha! Tired, but found a nice place reccomended by Luis, also once of co-passengers, and slept to preapre for the next day adventures. About those, later....
Monday 3 March 2008
Lima - busses, beer and market
Now Lima, the capital of Peru. Was told a lot about it: dangerous, gray, not interesting... So far, ok. I like the cities, but after 1 day in Lima cant say much yet.
As 90% of toursits so was I staying in Miraflores. The affluent district with modern apartment houses, old villas and smaller houses, and SAFE. I also noted, after returning from a day trip to the centre, that the air there was fresher and the ocean breeze in the evening felt nice and refreshing. So, definitely after seeing only some parts of the city, the return to Lime will mean staying in one of the hostels in Miraflores.
Trying to be ¨local¨ - also a stupid idea, as I cant be more ¨gringa¨ than I am - took the bus to the centre. I think it was 40 minutes. But, as long as the bag is kep in your hands, it safe. and costs only 1 sole, which is like 25 Euro cents. The bus ride also gave insight into some of the habits of people. I think we passed at least 30 language schools, many university branches, professional schools. Dont think I have ever seen so many education institution in one avenue (the avenue was those 40 minutes ride without many traffick jams). And what was more interesting, the different institutes had thier own uniforms ' noticed dentists, of course in white overcoats, and secretaries-office managers from one of many schools: only women, in red vests, white shirts, short balack or red miniskirts. Hm.... Could not help thinking about gender stereoptypes, but, ok, this time will leave the professional considerations at home.
While in Lima experienced also the difficult bus system... Well, to give credit, the busses are ok! but from the passengers point of view - to choose with which company to travel - that is the most difficult part. Just before entering the older part of the city, there is a crossing of 2 avenues, where you will find mostbus companies with thier own terminals, ticket offices and information. So, if you want to travel in Peru, you have to know which companies exist, and where to look for them. Otherwise, you can spend 1 day standing goping between those to get the necesarry information. That only because not all phone numbers that you can find on the web work... The concept of a bus station seems to be rather foreign, although they say there is one place in Lima where busses of some companies let off passengers, but to get out of the city, you will have to fing your bus station for the company you have the ticket for.
Then, after all the practicalities, went to the old town. Nice. Not too many people, but neither too much to see. I liked though the colonial 2 storey houses with wooden balconies, and the houses are not only white, but also green, blue and whatever other colour you can imagine. So, in short nice and seemingly safe, but we weretold the contrary.
The day trip to the centre was done in company of 2 girls from the hostel- Ingrit from Belgium and Martina from Germany. Guess being 3 of us made it easier, because Martina said that the day before when she was walking around alone she was constantly approiached by people who wanted to help her. Well, we managed to walk without calling for too much attention and eventually got back to Miraflores without incidents, but after trying ouytanother menu (this time I had option to choose meet), beer and taking some fotos. But, I will be back in Lima in a week, so will let you know more.
As 90% of toursits so was I staying in Miraflores. The affluent district with modern apartment houses, old villas and smaller houses, and SAFE. I also noted, after returning from a day trip to the centre, that the air there was fresher and the ocean breeze in the evening felt nice and refreshing. So, definitely after seeing only some parts of the city, the return to Lime will mean staying in one of the hostels in Miraflores.
Trying to be ¨local¨ - also a stupid idea, as I cant be more ¨gringa¨ than I am - took the bus to the centre. I think it was 40 minutes. But, as long as the bag is kep in your hands, it safe. and costs only 1 sole, which is like 25 Euro cents. The bus ride also gave insight into some of the habits of people. I think we passed at least 30 language schools, many university branches, professional schools. Dont think I have ever seen so many education institution in one avenue (the avenue was those 40 minutes ride without many traffick jams). And what was more interesting, the different institutes had thier own uniforms ' noticed dentists, of course in white overcoats, and secretaries-office managers from one of many schools: only women, in red vests, white shirts, short balack or red miniskirts. Hm.... Could not help thinking about gender stereoptypes, but, ok, this time will leave the professional considerations at home.
While in Lima experienced also the difficult bus system... Well, to give credit, the busses are ok! but from the passengers point of view - to choose with which company to travel - that is the most difficult part. Just before entering the older part of the city, there is a crossing of 2 avenues, where you will find mostbus companies with thier own terminals, ticket offices and information. So, if you want to travel in Peru, you have to know which companies exist, and where to look for them. Otherwise, you can spend 1 day standing goping between those to get the necesarry information. That only because not all phone numbers that you can find on the web work... The concept of a bus station seems to be rather foreign, although they say there is one place in Lima where busses of some companies let off passengers, but to get out of the city, you will have to fing your bus station for the company you have the ticket for.
Then, after all the practicalities, went to the old town. Nice. Not too many people, but neither too much to see. I liked though the colonial 2 storey houses with wooden balconies, and the houses are not only white, but also green, blue and whatever other colour you can imagine. So, in short nice and seemingly safe, but we weretold the contrary.
The day trip to the centre was done in company of 2 girls from the hostel- Ingrit from Belgium and Martina from Germany. Guess being 3 of us made it easier, because Martina said that the day before when she was walking around alone she was constantly approiached by people who wanted to help her. Well, we managed to walk without calling for too much attention and eventually got back to Miraflores without incidents, but after trying ouytanother menu (this time I had option to choose meet), beer and taking some fotos. But, I will be back in Lima in a week, so will let you know more.
27 February Madrid - Lima
Hi to everybody!
Welcome to those who wanted to read my adventures and had to wait for couple of days for this first note. I could make up many excuses, but rather will start with the first impressions, that is getting to Lima and first advices from my fellow travellers.
Welcome to those who wanted to read my adventures and had to wait for couple of days for this first note. I could make up many excuses, but rather will start with the first impressions, that is getting to Lima and first advices from my fellow travellers.
In short about the flight - Iberia 6651, this time packed to the last seat, and my guess - because of 51 passenger from San Isidro church in Lima coming from a pilgrimage trip in Israel. I was fortunate that my ¨E¨ seat- the very middle you can think of - was occupied by a kind woman and I could take her aisle seat to stretch out legs. However, have to say that after flying Lufthansa to Vietnam last year, Iberia was luxury! Enought leg space, good food (that of course is a relative term) and happened to have nice co-passengers and the crew. So, if you want to fly to South America, Iberia is not a bad option.
Terminal 4 in Madrid is neither a bad place to be, but, an advice - if you want to cash some money, do it outside. The 1 atm machine they had, did not work... Nothing surprising after 1year in Spain.
The nice woman next to whom I was sitting was Lucia, if I recall some 74 years old, but neither myself or Eduardo, the other passenger sitting next to her could believe it. 3 of us had great fun- guess especially them as they were giging advices to the "gringa" who was going to Peru first time. One of them was the portions of food that I have to expect will be huge... But so far (4th day in the trip) I have not noticed that. What I have noticed that ¨chicken and rice¨ that marked the start of the trip in Iberia 6651 has been following me though for the last 4 days: seems like the menus that once can get never includes anything else but rice with chicken. Chicken sometimes being soft and nice, and sometimes being a rubber piece impossible to digest.
One I have to say that the first impressions that I got because of my 2 co passengers Lucia and Eduardo - people being very nice - has also followed me through the first days of the trip.
My flight ended with a promise to Lucia that when I am in Lima after my first legof the trip, we will have to pass by her place, and as Eduardo said - we will meet there for a huge party. If that will happen - will let you know later.
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