Final Installment: Sacred Valley & Machu Picchu

Senor in slippers

After a week in the city, it was marvelous to relax on the resort side of Peru. Our hotel, the Rio Sagrado, had amazing views, a glass shower overlooking the river and mountains with a rainfall showerhead, and delightfully comfy beds! Out in the middle of nowhere, we felt peace and relaxation. And fever, chills, nausea, etc.

There was a freaky fashion show on board

The train to MaPi was just as fun as the ruins, running alongside the Urumbamba River. We staggered through our guided tour of the lots Incan City and learn about how smartly it was built, avoiding geological fault lines, sun dials as calendars, and irrigation systems made out of stone cut by hand. Really cool!

Genius!

Urumbamba River, no rafting allowed

The never ending trip reports are over (minus the details about swimming in our underwear at South Beach on the layover). Here are all the Sacred Valley photos...

THE END!

Installment 7: Cusco

Plaza de Armas

Cusco marked the turning point in our health so food became less of a treat here. It is also where we met up with our friends, had the Gringo Dinner, got $10 massages, yoga'd in the mountains, hiked to our first ruins, and felt the European influence in Peru.

Ruins at Sexy Woman (a.k.a Sexy Mama, a.k.a Sexy Lady)

La Catedral

This is how Jake felt about the museums

See all Cusco photos here

Installment 6: Arequipa

Earthquake proof archway made of volcanic sillar

Loved the food and views in Arequipa! The insane taxi drivers...not so much. Our B&B was totally adorable complete with WI-FI and cocoa tea, so what more could we want?

El Misti, active volcano

We toured the Monestario de Santa Catalina where the second daughter of every family had to go live as a nun to pray for the family and save them from damnation. Once they entered the gates, they never left again. It wasn't all bad though because they had servants and luxurious living quarters (for the time).

Nun city

We met Juanita the Ampato maiden, a young Incan girl who was scarified to the gods on Mt. Ampato. She was only found recently in '95 when a nearby erupting volcano melted her icy cave and she slid down the hill, preserved like Demi Moore for all time.

Our cute B&B, Casa Arequipa

We also shopped, see the Arepequeno ladies trying to get Jake to buy more baby alpaca goods by forcing him to pose in sweaters and hats.

No alpaca were hurt during this photo shoot

See all Arequipa photos here

September is the new July

It's official, I have little creatures habitating in my tummy causing me pain so now I am on Cipro and an anti-nausea med until the South American hitchhikers leave my body. If you want more details, read between the lines.

Several big changes are in store for me (and isn't it all about me) in the next few weeks. Such as:

1. A new gym! Should I join LA Fitness or the YMCA? Both are closer than the JCC and offer more classes...
2. My new .30 job working with students in transition -lots of research and planning before the center opens.
3. A new church? We tried out a new contemporary church in our neighborhood called Bloom and really liked it!
   

And now, from the U.S Open, it's Rafael Nadals' biggest fan...

Congrats Susie & Sam!

That's me in the foreground, I guess I need a color job

Susie and Sam joined the Married Club yesterday! They had a wonderful wedding at Solera, awesome tapas, and the best wedding cake I have ever had (BTB, I think I have a parasite so the fact that I ate the cake on my stomach shows how delightful it was)! Erin & Andrew returned from Seattle and are expecting a baby friend (tell me you read DListed). Other fun Winonans and honorary Winonans were there like Ann& Chris, Jill & Shawn, Laura, Jennie, Alisha & Juan, Chelsey & Nick, Stacey & Eric, John, Brandon & Katie, Ryan & Megan, Jess, Penny and on and on. I won't name names but most of these people were slightly intoxicated (Jake Seltz).


My camera was acting up so I didn't get any good pics... if you are reading this, send me pics!

Installment 5: Peruvian Culture & stuff

Traveling to Peru was my first time in South America but I figured it would basically be like southern America, maybe somewhere in Texas? Never having been to Texas this assumption did not help me so luckily I was completely wrong.
People
The people were incredibly nice and extremely patient! B&B owners, cab drivers, waiters, and even old men on street were all very kind. One kid, who was trying very diligently to get us to buy something, politely warned of a known pick-pocket, even after we refused to buy his wares. How is that for hospitality?

Language

Because Peruvians are so nice, they went out of their way to let me mutilate their language and engaged me in conversations. Luckily, many Peruvians speak slowly so it was an excellent place to butcher Spanish. Jake (Spanish minor and former Mexico & Guatemala study-abroader) was a much better speaker than I was as he could conjugate verbs, however I just nouned people to death. On the last day, after "adios-ing" all week long, I learned from Ross that they don't say "Adios", they say "Ciao! Ciao!".

Poverty
As you can imagine, there is a great disparity between the rich and the poor. Our five star resort in the Sacred Valley was next door to campesinos living in poverty. Near the big cities there are more educated and wealthy people whose children attend private school, but also many poor selling handmade knitwear, earrings, paintings, and food on the streets, often with a baby slung on their backs. Seeing the poor children out late at night broke our hearts! As we drove though the city, we saw homes on the hillside, many made of concrete blocks with red tile roofs. In the countyside, homes were made of dried mud bricks, many on bean & potato farms.

Climate
It's hot. They may not know it what with all the mittens and sweaters, but coming from MN, I can assure you that 80 and sunny during the day and 40's at night is perfection.

Shopping
No Super Targets but check out the Cusco market





Religion
I think they all like this guy...


City reports on Arequipa, Cusco and Sacred Valley coming next week...hopefully.

Happy Birthday Ang!

I enjoyed our PJ breakfast party! Hope the rest of your day is wonderful, just like you!