TheQueen

Thursday, January 31 - Lima

Yesterday was a day of waiting. I think we were all ready to leave Buenos Aires. Certainly Isa was ready to go home to Lima, after being gone for 3-1/2 months.

We returned to the Jose Hernandez museum in Buenos Aires, as it is open on Wednesdays. This museum, explaining the gaucho culture, was a disappointment. Although there were a few very nice exhibits, the exhibits were very few. The best exhibits were textiles - beautifully woven ponchos.

We finished off our afternoon with a stroll up Avenida de la Liberacion, enjoying the shade of its many trees, and lunch. La Cayetana, our Buenos Aires home where the staff is wonderful, let us keep our rooms until our departure at 6:30 p.m., so this day of waiting-to-go-to-the-airport was much more comfortable than might have been.

We arrived in Lima at nearly 11 p.m., having flown for 4 hours and set out clocks back for 3 hours. Where Buenos Aires is everywhere tall buildings and towers, and either very narrow streets or very broad boulevards, Lima is much more open. There are towers, yes, but not everywhere. And the streets are wider, without rows of parked cars squeezed in on each side.

So today we rise and breakfast at Cafe San Antonio, and then set off to run the many errands, among them arranging our travel here in Peru. The Explorandes Agency is very obliging, and by late afternoon B and I have all the arrangements made for our trip - Cuzco, Machu Picchu, and the Amazon via Puerto Maldonado. We shop at Wong, a very nice grocery-cum-variety store. Here you can buy toys, a whole fresh fish, a slice of quiche, a fresh baguette, imported cheese, dim sum, a bottle of wine. And the "bag boys" put your groceries in a trolley and take them out to the car for you. Our helper, John, has finished his study of English, computers,and marketing and hopes to work in the U.S. for a couple of years. He takes this opportunity to practice his English conversation.

We visit Isa's daughter in her turn-of-the-century house-cum-mansion. It is stunning. The courtyard, the high-ceilings, the tile floors, the thick walls, the tall narrow doors, the spare antique decor suggest an entirely different rhythm of life, borrowed from a more gracious era. We leave refreshed.

We enjoy touring about the city with Isa as our guide. She tells us she is of the line of Fangio (Juan Fangio, one of the early formula car drivers) and has nerves of stainless steel. Watching her negotiate the Lima traffic (although I must admit that sometimes I close my eyes and hold my breath), I am convinced that she speaks the truth. Late in the day she takes us to a shopping center on the cliff over the beach. What a wonderful place for a shopping center. We are treated to a beautiful sunset, and wander around examining the shops and watching the people.

In this shopping center there is a museum of Inca gold. We pay our fee, and are given small recorders with headsets. These guide us through the exhibits, explaining each numbered display. The narration and the exhibits are very well done. We learn of the different techniques the Incas used to work metals - gold, copper, and silver - and of the items they made, some for everyday life and some with ceremonial significance. The exhibit concludes with a dark gallery displaying a breathtaking variety of gold knives, cups, vessels, masks, crowns. So many riches, and in the middle of a shopping center. We all agree that this is one of the best exhibits we have seen on this trip. We linger outside the museum, where shops sell fine alpaca ponchos and sweaters, and hand-woven wall hangings. It is as if we need a little time to re-enter our modern world.

We walk up the corridor and back into the mall, where now there are many people. There is something here for everyone, including a huge ice cream shop. In a bookstore we look at a beautiful cookbook with traditional Peruvian recipes and beautiful illustrations. A supplement to the book gives the recipes in English. It is as much a coffee table book as a cookbook. Reluctantly, we leave without it. It just won't fit in the luggage.

We visit a Spanish restaurant for dinner, where Isa collaborates with the waiter to order a selection of tapas, which we enjoy with a lovely Spanish rosado wine. For the first time in my life, I enjoy tripes. They are very tender, cooked in a spicy tomato sauce. We also have stuffed squid cooked in its own ink, squid with potatoes, and a tortilla. The tortilla is a sort of pie with layers and layers of potatoes. It is very good, as are the crisp rolls we are served with the meal.

 

Friday, February 1 - Lima

I'm not sure what we did with our day, but it was fun. We went shopping for a duffel bag at the Persian Market, a large indoor collection of stalls that sells just about everything.

 

We actually ended up in a luggage store on the periphery of the market, where B found the perfect duffel - it folds into it's own outer pocket. Just the right size for our journeys around Peru. We ate ice cream and whiled away the latter part of the afternoon at the archaeological museum, where there are some prime specimens. For dinner we had "chifa" - Chinese food. And then we packed for tomorrow's early departure for Machu Picchu.

Saturday, February 2 - Cuzco

Today we flew from Lima to Cuzco, a short flight of about 55 minutes, from sea level to 11,000 feet. Cuzco, is nestled in a verdant valley. It is the rainy season here, but if what we see today is any indication, that doesn't discourage any tourists.

We are met at the airport and taken to our hotel, high on a hill on the south side of the valley. The small van just fits in the narrow cobbled street that runs in front of our hotel. The hotel is built into the hillside downhill from the street. The wooden door opens on a lovely courtyard. Rooms are stacked 3 and 4 stories high. Even though we are not in one of the premiere rooms, the view from our window is spectacular.

We take a short walk down the hill to the Plaza San Blas, where a festival is shaping up. This is a saint's day festival for the church in the plaza, and is part of the buildup for carnival, to be held next weekend. Workmen are erecting stands and equipment, and two bands are tuning up near the plaza. They seem to be rival bands, as their uniforms are different. They are polite, however, and only one plays at any given time. The occasional bottle rocket whistles and bangs, adding an edge to the crowd's anticipation.

  At 1:30 p.m., we meet our guide at the plaza and are loaded into a van to be taken to the jump-off point of today's tour; Explorandes has hooked us up with another tour company for this afternoon's activities. After we pick up several more people, the van takes us to Qorikancha, the site of the colonial church Santo Domingo. The church is built on Inca foundations of Qorikancha, once the richest Inca temple. It is chaotic. People are everywhere. We follow the folks from our van, but find ourselves with a Spanish-speaking tour guide. It takes a while, but we are finally put with the right tour guide and are on our way.

  At Qorikancha we see our first Inca wall, a very regular wall built with like-sized trapezoidal stones, joined perfectly with no mortar. The walls are not vertical, but slope slightly inward; the doors are the same.Our guide tells us that this is to strengthen the structure to resist damage from earthquakes. Indeed the structures built upon the Inca foundations were devasted by large earthquakes in 1650 and in 1950, but the Inca walls were undamaged.

Niches in the wall held sacred or decorative objects, including idols representing the gods of those native peoples that the Inca conquered. Some outer walls were decorated with sheets of gold and precious stones to reflect the light of the sun or of the moon. We also learn that for insulation the stone walls were plastered on the inside with gypsum, and the gypsum decorated with intricate murals. There is much more to see, and we see some of it, but the crush of people at this site is oppressive.

  We exit near the church on the Plaza des Armes, and climb now into another bus, to head up into the mountains. Our first stop is at Sacsayhuaman, a huge site with both military and religious significance. The pre-Inca cultures fortified this high ground, and the Incas built on their foundations. The site was also used to celebrate the festival of the thunder. Thunder is rumbling and echoing in the valley below us, so this seems particularly appropriate.

The wide plateau is bounded on either side but terraces with walls of stones. These walls are different. They are not straight, but run along the hill in large zigzags, representing the teeth of the puma. The stones are larger here, and while again perfectly fitted, are of various sizes. The stones interlock with an eye to strengthening the walls to hold the terraced land in place. It rains lightly for a while, and becomes cold. It is as we listen to the guide here, who tells us how the Inca all were one big community and helped each other, that we begin to suspect that our guide may be of a slightly pink political persuasion.

We continue from here to Quenko or Kenko, the Temple of the Mother Earth, where the Inca embalmers used the natural limestone caves to preserve bodies to be prepared for burial. And past PucaPucara, a lookout along the Inca trail; these lookouts were built every 15-20 km on the trail, and were the way-stations where trail-runners handed off messages to the next runner in the relay. We also stop at Tambomachay, a water temple. Here the Inca shaman came to wash not his body but his spirit or aura. It is a peaceful place, and we are entertained by llamas and donkeys and a couple with their dog, herding their sheep. We are invited to dip our hands into the water and make a wish.

We return to Cuzco and take a brief tour of the cathedral. The complex is really the basilica, with a church on either side. One church is from the baroque period, the basilica is in neoclassical style, and the third church is the first built by the Spaniards after their conquest of the Inca. Our tour seems rather haphazard, and we are not allowed to take pictures here.

Tour concluded, we walk up the hill to Plaza San Blas and further up to our hotel (this bus is too big even to negotiate the streets to San Blas) in the gathering gloom. The festivities at the plaza are gaining momentum. The stage is set up with sound equipment. Street vendors are selling grilled meat skewers and grilled corn. The band is playing, but dancing has not yet begun. The the fireworks have been upgraded from bottle rockets to something that makes a really loud crack-bang.

We drink a lot of water, and walk down the hill to a very small nearby restaurant with a wood-burning oven, a deep fryer, and five tables. We are the only customers. The soup is great, as are the stuffed potato and stuffed pepper that we order. As we are finishing our meal, a group of 10 from Maylasia decides to try the place. We give them what advice we can, and leave before it gets any more crowded.

Sunday, February 3 - South of Cuzco

Today our driver picks us up at 8:30. It will be just the two of us with our guide. Whew! Today we visit lesser-known places southeast of the city, but still in the Department of Cuzco. We wait for our guide, Paulo, at Plaza San Blas. While we wait we sample one of the local tamales. Delicious - the masa tastes of sweet corn and the filling is ground meat and onions. It melts in the mouth.

Paulo on board, we travel for about an hour to the town or Urcos. Here we visit the town market. It is large and colorful. We especially enjoy the vegetables - piles of peppers and onions, bags of dried pasta, piles of spices like cumin and paprika. There is something here for everyone. While we are here, it sprinkles on and off. We watch the colorfully dressed Indians. Their hats, B tells me, identifies the region or village they are from.

Next we stop at  a local museum in Huaro. This museum has many petroglyphs and stone objects. Unfortunately, the power is out in the whole town, so it is a bit difficult to see. We journey on to Andahuayillas, where we visit another small museum and the local church, which has great examples of the colonial style carved ornamentation. Still the rain spits on and off. The square here is also decorated and a band plays the same few notes over and over. It seems to be festival day most everywhere. We are warned to keep the van windows closed as we pass through the towns, as it is the custom to throw water at passers by.

 

Next we stop at one of the two Pikillacta sites, this one the well-preserved remains of the aqueduct system that was used to irrigate this fertile valley. This site was originally occupied by the Wari people. When the Incas conquered the Wari, they built upon what the Wari had already accomplished. The water ran from the top of the hill and in channels atop to wall to irrigate the fields on the other side of the valley. There are "gates" in the walls that show the characteristic Inca stonework, although most of the walls are mud-and-rock Wari style.

We go on to a second site, where the Wari and then the Incas lived. The site is walled, and it is very large. The passageways and living areas are well defined. There are storage rooms and gathering areas.

 
I wonder how many people lived here. We are alone at the site, but for one other family. While we are here, the rain dissipates and the sun begins to warm us. We enjoy our "box lunch", served in a small cloth bag with an Explorandes logo, as we travel between sites.

Finally we drive up and up and up a steep dirt road to Tipon, an Inca site. Our guide explains that this was both an experimental agricultural area as well as a temple of water. There are terraces upon terraces, each with precisely etched channel for water drainage.

  There are a few Inca dwellings up near the ridge line. And there is the characteristic ritual bath site. We climb to the top to get an Inca's-eye view, and work our way down slowly. Again, we share the site with only one other family. What a contrast to yesterday.

We are back in Cuzco at our hotel by 3 p.m., and both of us are tired. It takes energy to walk and climb at 11,000 feet! Tomorrow we leave at 6 a.m. for Machu Picchu.

Monday, February 4 - Machu Picchu

We started early this morning - our train, the Backpacker Special, left Cuzco at 6:40 a.m. The journey to Aguas Calientes, the end of the line, takes about 4 hours. The scenery, unlike that on most train trips, was lovely.

The journey starts with four steep switchbacks to get the train up over the lip of the valley that cradles Cuzco. Our views are of the city: red mud brick houses with tile roofs filling the bowl of the valley, and climbing up the steep slopes at its sides. As we skirt the rim of the valley, we can see the Sacsayhuaman site that we visited two days ago.

Soon the tracks join a river, first a tributary of the Urubamba, and then the mighty Urubamba itself. We travel through the wide river valley with rich, red, bottom land. This is the food basket for Cuzco; corn, fava beans, potatoes, squash, cattle, sheep, pigs, and even the occasional donkey or horse. The valley floor is a patchwork of fields. Occasionally we see Inca terraces, and in one place huge Inca stones that form the base of the central pillar for a modern-day bridge.

  Then the valley narrows and follows a sinuous route between guardian peaks. This river here is wide and fast and mud-brown. It is a favorite for white-water rafters. We travel this way for some time, stopping occasionally on a siding to let a Cuzco-bound train pass. In the last several kilometers, we enter the cloud forest. B is the first to spot the bromeliads nestled in the forks of the trees. Our journey ends in, literally, hot waters - Aguas Calientes.

We find our hotel, the Presidente, and check in. No sooner do we get to our room, which backs on the river, than it begins to rain. The noise of the river rapids is so loud it drowns out the rain dropping on the tin roof. After a half hour to unpack and get ready, we meet our guide, Paulo, and head for Machu Picchu. We board a diesel Mercedes tour bus for the 20-minute ride up a steep dirt road. There are many switchbacks, and the turns are built wide to accommodate the buses. There has been just enough rain to turn the surface into slippery mud.

  We arrive at the entrance to the ruins and encounter a small hitch. Our packs, in which we have water, lunch, and a fleece layer only, are too large. The rules have changed, and only small packs are allowed. B and I elect to carry our 'box lunches' in their nifty Explorandes bags (we have an empanda for lunch, and have already eaten our small sandwiches on the train in lieu of breakfast), water, and our rain jackets. We have already donned our rain pants over shorts.

  I cannot do justice to this site. As background, this site was abandoned by the Inca sometime before the Pisarro's final conquest of the Inca in the1500s. Why no one knows, although there are theories. The Quechua Indians remembered the site, and continued to use some of the terraces to grow crops. It is from the knowledge of these local farmers that American Hiram Bingham "discovered" the site in 1911.

It is a very important site, as evidenced by its size, the styles of some of the houses, and the observatories and temples. The Inca were thought to venerate the mountains, and Machu Picchu (as it is known today) is surrounded by three sacred peaks and, behind them, two magnificent mountain ranges. It is not clear today, so we will not see the "apus", or snow-covered peaks, of those ranges.

The sheer size of the place is stunning. My head is full of family houses and store houses and terraces and priestess dwellings and temples and altars and cascading ritual water baths. Our guide studied at the University to learn what he told us of today, and that is only a small portion of what he knows. We climbed up steps and down steps and around corners. Rain came and went. There were people everywhere, although this is definitely not peak season.

Rather than try to tell you what I've heard today, let me just leave you with the pictures that, I hope, will give you some sense of the place.

If you're interested in learning more, I'll find you the right book but be warned - no one really knows as there was no written language for the Inca or any of their predecessor civilizations.

Oh, one other piece of information that is important.

Sites like these were for only the very highest class: the Inca himself and his family and related clans, along with shamans and priestesses. This site, so remote, was reachable only by a pilgrimage on the Inca Trail.

Tuesday, February 5 - Machu Picchu

Last night it rained - really rained - or so they tell me. The noise of the river smashing its way over the rocks behind our hotel was so loud that we didn't hear the rain - even with the tin roof outside our balcony.

By the time our bus arrives at Machu Picchu, most of the mist has dissipated and we are on our way to a beautiful morning. Today our choices are to climb Huynapicchu, the mountain that sits just behind the main plaza of the city; or to hike to Intipunku, the "Gate of the Sun", on the trail from Cuzco to Machu Picchu. Since B has climbed Huynapicchu before, we select the latter.

  We set off up the Camino Inca. The trail is good, and the vegetation sublime. There are orchids everywhere. The guys are intent on hiking, but I take my time and take pictures of the beautiful flowers. The first landmark on this trail is a burial site. The site has been excavated and any remains removed but, high above the city, it remains a very peaceful place.

  Next we reach a tambo, or resting place for travelers on the trail. Here there are residences for the caretakers and travelers. I hear water rushing through the underground pipe that runs under the steps, still carrying water to the city below. The steps probably led to other dwelling places, but now there are only trees and undergrowth to be seen.

On we go to the Intipunku itself, the gateway to the city on the trail from Cuzco. The city is far below us now. We elect to go on a bit on the Inca Trail, to the next guardpost. Here we see our first set of real Inca Trail steps. They are very steep and quite narrow, although these steps are at least at a reasonable height. From the guardpost we get a good view of the last part of the trail carving its way around the mountainside.

We backtrack to the city, and set out for the Inca Bridge. This is a popular trail, and we pass many people along the way. It's not a difficult hike, although some people seem to find it so. The bridge is impressive. A landslide has, however, taken out part of the trail that leads to the bridge. When B was here 35 years ago, he walked across the bridge. It remains to be seen whether the trail will ever be repaired. The middle section of the bridge is logs; in Inca times it was rigged as a drawbridge.

We are all feeling good after our hike, so elect to climb Huynapicchu before lunch. Unfortunately, we find that the limit of 400 hikers per day on the trail was reached half an hour before we arrive. I'm not sure I believe the numbers, but ... what can you do. Just a few minutes ago I was able to take a picture of the main gate to Machu Picchu city with not one person in sight! So we pass through the lower part of the city once more, examining the water features, a three-story dwelling, an observatory, and other sights that we may have passed yesterday, but did not really take in.

We have lunch today at the buffet restaurant of the Hiram Bingham hotel, the swanky hotel just outside the Machu Picchu entrance. Shortly after we claim our table, the skies open and the rain begins in earnest. We smugly agree that it's a good thing we didn't start up Huynapicchu; we would have had to turn back. We enjoy the lovely buffet, waiting for the rain to stop: roast pork, trout, vegetables galore, four different desserts, tea and coffee to follow. Finally, we can delay no more. We give up our table and go out to stand in the rain in the bus line.

As we descend to Aguas Calientes, the rain stops. The bus driver drops B and me off at the bridge, and we walk up to the local museum. There is, we discover, also a botanical garden. Entry fee paid, we elect to visit the garden first (after all, the rain might begin at any moment). We are rewarded with at least a dozen varieties of orchid. Some we have seen from the trail; others are new to us. The bromeliads here are also very happy, as are the banana trees. These tiny bananas are very good; we had some for breakfast this morning, although I doubt they were harvested from this garden. The museum guard tells us there are 20 different species of orchid in the gardens. We must have missed a few.

The museum is well laid out, and we learn quite a bit about Machu Picchu and the Inca empire. For example, there were at least eight trails from Machu Picchu to other parts of the empire. Amazing. There are also some lovely artifacts on display, including some outstanding plates and pots.

We make our way back to Aguas Calientes, where the Urubamba still roils and tumbles, in time to pick up our luggage and hike up to the train station. We exit the train at Ollantaytambo, where we will be spending the next couple of nights. We are met at the station, and hike about a half mile to our hotel. This was not what we expected! But we arrive at last, check in, and find our room to be acceptable. The room is spartan, but the mattresses are sans lumps and the shower is hot, although the washbasin has only cold water. A pizza marguerita tops off a good day, and we learn where to find an espresso tomorrow morning as well.

Wednesday, February 6 - Ollantaytambo

The day is bright and sunny, and our guide is not picking us up until 9:30, so we enjoy a leisurely breakfast and, dodging the moto-taxis, we walk up to the espresso shop. It is a surprisingly urbane shop, in row of shops below the ruins, in the square that hosts the stalls selling tourist Inca crosses, hats, t-shirts, and other souvenirs of this site.  The owner tunes in the radio so that we can hear primary election results; we ask for CNN but end up with Fox News.

Ollantaytambo was the site of the last battle between the Inca and the Spaniards. Perhaps for that reason, the site is described as a fortress. Although it does certainly have military value, we will come to discover that it is more a great temple.

 

Paulo and our driver arrive from Cuzco, and we settle in the van for our trip up a lovely agricultural valley to the village of Huilloc. All along the valley we see the remains of Inca terraces among the fields of corn, squash, and other crops. In some places, the Inca waterworks are still in use, bringing the water from springs and creeks high in the mountains to the terraces below.

The village, Huilloc, is home to any number of Quechua indians, the descendents of the Inca. Explorandes, the Peruvian company with whom we have booked our travels in Peru, has taken on the village as a project. They have donated money and materials to the school here, and bring their clients here to look at the variety of handwoven and handmade goods that the women of the village produce -- from spinning and dying the wool to finished product. We are greeted, as we drive into town, by loud screeching music being broadcast over loudspeakers. We walk down to the school, closed for the summer in this southern hemisphere. Soon, girls and women begin to arrive, their bundles on their backs. They spread themselves in a semicircle on the sparse grass, laying out their wares. All of the women are dressed in the Quechua style. One woman's hat is particularly attractive, decorated with large paper flowers. This is hard. We would like to buy something from each one, but finally narrow our choices to a weaving and a knitted hat.

Purchases made, we head back down the valley to Ollantaytambo. On the way we dive into yet another copious lunch in the now-familiar flour-sack Explorandes bag. This time there is a sandwich with some kind of cured beef that is particularly good.

At the ruins, we grab our water bottles and our tickets, and head through the gate. Paulo takes us first to the temple of the condor. As you look at the picture, use your imagination. Look at the line of the hill -- can you see the condor's head, facing left? And his wings, drooping from the top of the hill. In the hillside there are many shelves and a few niches, probably for leaving sacrifices to the god.

Then we begin to work our way to the top of the ruins. We see residences of the workers, storehouses, a good example of how the thatch roofs were attached to the stone houses, the wall that surrounded the city - something new, as Machu Picchu had no city walls. Finally we arrive at the summit, where we see the great altar. This again presents something new.

The huge pink granite slabs are separated by narrow decorative carved stone strips, and the faces of the slabs themselves are carved with various representative figures. One is the so-called Inca crosses; others are representations of animals.

And clearly the builders were not finished here. The quarry from which the huge stones were carved is across the valley, some 6 km away. The stones were brought down the hill from the quarry. How to cross the river? Our literature tells us that the builders diverted the river from its course, around the stones. And the stones were then moved by man-power up a series of ramps to the temple. Rounded and wetted stones were put under the huge blocks to aid their movement.

Can you imagine the number of men it took to move one of these? B and Paulo are trying, but, despite their best efforts, the stones do not move.

But we do see similarities - the precision carving, the protuberances which conjecture says were used to lever the stones into place, the gates, the double-jambed doorways, the interleaving stones in the walls, the regular trapezoidal niches, the juxtaposition of pre-Inca and Inca construction. While the site itself may not be as impressive as Machu Picchu, the ruins (and the town, too, as you will learn) are most impressive.

Sated, we leave the ruins. Paulo tells us that tomorrow's tour of the Sacred Valley is cancelled. A van will pick us up at 8 tomorrow morning for the trip back to Cuzco. Tomorrow the entire Department of Cuzco is demonstrating, and transportation will be shut down. The protest is against the central government law that would allow private companies to run the archaelogical sites.

Later in the afternoon, B and I go for a walk through town. There is a main square, and we find the local marketplace not far from the square. We walk uphill through narrow cobbled streets, water burbling merrily down the foot-wide channels on one side. People live here, in courtyards behind the original double-jambed Inca doorways that survive today from some 500 years ago. Incredible.

We have a very nice dinner in the restaurant across the street from our hotel. B has an alpaca brochette, and I dine on pasta. We get back to the hotel to find a message telling us to be ready to leave in the morning at 6 a.m. Accordingly, we pack before we go to bed.

Thursday, February 7 - Waiting

We are ready at 5:30 a.m. for our ride to Cuzco. When the van has not arrived by 6:30 a.m., Senora Julia, the proprietor of our hotel, Munay Tika, shoos us to the breakfast room. Breakfasted, we return to the spacious hotel lobby (once a bar) and we read and play with the computer, waiting. At 8 a.m. we telephone our Explorandes contact. He will call the office and call back to let us know what is happening. Finally we get the news - our ride will arrive at 2 p.m., more-or-less. We manage to have a conversation with Senor Julia in our mixed Spanish and English. We talk about today's protest, and what it means.

We spend the morning sticking close to the hotel. There is little traffic on the normally busy street outside; last night huge tour buses followed one after the other. Senora Julia offers us lunch; chicken soup with vegetables raised by her own family, salad, and organic potatoes. She is so gracious. At 1:30 p.m. our ride arrives, a typically dilapidated taxi.

Our journey to Cuzco is brief. We pick up a passenger to help clear rocks from the road. In these protests, the people put rocks - some small and some very large - all across the roads to obstruct traffic. At one point we take a back road, and we are clearly the first to have done so. The men pile out to throw just enough rocks off the road to clear a path for the little taxi.

Nearing Cuzco, we come to a more serious barricade. A large wood supporthas been toppled into the street, and at either side old tires have been doused with fuel and are burning. Our driver and our rock-thrower get out and converse with the men manning the barricade. The men back off, and the men manage to shift the wood support just enough to let the taxi through. In the back seat I hold my breath, hoping there are no leaks in the gas tank.

A short way down the road a policeman climbs into the taxi wtih us to ride a short way. Evidently there has been some rock throwing, so he will protect us. We pass the rest of the way through the town without incident.

We arrive at the familiar San Blas square, where we meet our Explorandes escort, and go once again to the Tika Wasi. This time we have a really nice room on the second floor of the new section of the hotel. We relax and listen to CNN for a while, then stroll down to the main square and have a drink on a glassed-in balcony with a view of the square. A group of men, singing and chanting and escorted by the policia, march around the square. They are soon gone, and the square settles into normalcy - people sitting on benches, youths playing a sort-of soccer, children running and laughing.

We stop at a market on the way up the hill and buy cheese and crackers for dinner. Tomorrow we are off for Puerto Maldonado and the jungle!

 

Friday, February 8 - Puerto Maldonado, and Rio Madre de Dios to Reserva Amazonica

Today we made the short flight from Cuzco to Puerto Maldonado, where we will catch our ride down the Madre de Dios river to our jungle resort in Peru's Amazon basin. The resort, Reserva Amazonica, is operated by an outfit called Inkaterra. Inkaterra has a number of enterprises going on its 10.000 hectare (~25,000 acre) property along the river; facilities to support researchers studying frogs or plants or insects; creating industries in the native village, for example extracting and bottling Inkaterra's own "Citronella Splash" natural insect repellent.

We are picked up at the airport in an open-sided safari truck. I feel conspicuous - the truck has room for dozens and B and I, along with our escort, Anabel, are the only passengers. We check in at the Puerto Maldonado facility, and then ride down to the river to board our boat.

The boat, which looks much like the one you see in the first picture with this post, is tied off amongst a cluster of similar boats. Getting our boat untangled from the mass and out on the river is the first adventure. We learn that running the boat right up along the side of another boat is common practice. No fear here for fragile fiberglass hulls -- they're all sturdy wood.

We travel downriver for half an hour to Reserva Amazonica. Our driver runs the prow of the boat up onto the muddy landing, and we walk up a sturdy plank and up the wooden steps to the lawn. We are escorted to the Eco Center, the building where all our activities at the resort will begin, and greeted with a glass of passionfruit juice -- with ice! What a treat. We are each issued a pair of Wellington boots (familiarly known as "wellies"), rubber boots that come almost to the knee, with heavy tread on the bottom, the footwear of choice here. It is the rainy season, after all, and a week ago, after very heavy rains, the river flooded a lot of low-lying areas. So there is lots of mud, and in some places some very deep puddles.

We repair to the Main House for lunch. Our waiter hands us a menu - four course lunch with multiple selections for each course. We start with an appetizer of fried yucca, move on to salads, and then to fish for the main course. Mine is grilled catfish, yum. Then dessert. What a way to start off. Sated, we roll back from the table and proceed to our bungalow.

The bungalow is charming: screens provide ventilation, and a ceiling fan helps as well. There is a sitting area at the front, closed off with folding doors from our twin beds with mosquito netting. Cotton robes and sandals made from recycled tires sit on our beds, along with a fan made from recycled plastic and reeds. A small basket in the bathroom holds "natural" shampoo and conditioner, and small bottles of citronella insect repellent. Our luggage is waiting for us. So we unpack and relax for an hour.

At 3:30 we don our long-sleeved shirts, tuck our long trousers into our wellies and report to the Eco Center for our first activity, a walk in the rain forest. Before we walk, we meet our guide, Uriel, who explains the range of activities available to us. We are a group of four; B and I, and Don and Jane, farmers from Suffolk, England. They are accustomed to wearing wellies, they tell us, but not while on holiday! We select our activities for the next couple of days.

Then we set out for our walk. Uriel arms himself with a machete, and we venture into the jungle. We see ants - army ants, red ants, leafcutter ants - and termites, as well as a group of saddleback monkeys traveling through the trees. Many of the trees have fruits that are not at all familiar to us. Uriel tells which are edible, so that we'll be able to eat if ever lost in the jungle. We learn the call of the tinamu, a ground bird - a curious "tick-clock" sound. And, of course, there are mosquitos. As long as we keep moving on the trail, the mosquitos are tolerable, but when we stop to examine something they attack without mercy.

After our walk, we cross the grounds of the reserva to the wellie-wash, two hose bibs with spray attachments on a raised wooden platform. The grounds of the reserve are cleared of undergrowth and sparsely planted with a mixture of mature trees and shrubs. In the trees are the long woven nests of the weaver birds, and we hear their musical calls often. At the edge of the forest we see a group of squirrel monkeys who have come to check out the Reserva. And lurking near the main house we see a small brown agouti, snuffling the grass in its search for insects and grubs.

Wellies parked on the porch, we repair to the shower. And then we're off for a night cruise on the river. We motor up and down along the banks, and one of the guides shines a spotlight toward the banks, looking for wildlife. We see two white caimans, the smaller of the two species of crocodiles that live in this jungle-river habitat, as well as nightjars, a kingfisher, herons roosting in trees, and numerous bats.

Dinner, served from 7:30 to 9 in the Main House, is a simple buffet. This is reassuring after the overload at lunch. We return to our bungalow to find it softly lit with kerosene lamps, beds turned down, and mosquito netting lowered. We must be up early tomorrow for the canopy walk.

Saturday, February 9 - Canopy Walk and Wetlands, and a Farm Visit

The staff early-bird knocks on the side of our bungalow at 5 a.m. Time to get dressed and have breakfast before we set out for the canopy walk. We dress, but for the wellies, and head for the dining room, where it seems that the staff must be as reluctant as we to rise so early. Jane, Don, B and I are the only customers. We are breakfasted and ready to walk by 6:15.

Today we find out why Uriel carries the machete. We head out on the same trail we walked yesterday, and branch off to another trail that is a shortcut to the towers of the canopy walk. And here we come to our first really deep puddle. Uriel leading the way, hacking off sticky branches and obstructing vines, we wade almost to the tops of our boots through the water. At the second puddle, we are not quite so lucky - Uriel goes in over his boot tops.

We retreat to try another path. This one, too, is flooded in places. We alternately wade carefully, following in Uriel's footsteps, and walk through the sticky mud. Once again Uriel's boots fill with water, but this time he finds that the staff has been working on an alternate trail.

We arrive with dry socks (except for Uriel) at the canopy walk. There is a screened building here with running water, and chairs set up as for a lecture. We take advantage of the facilities, and then walk to the tall wooden tower that is the beginning of our walk.

The walk is a series of swinging bridges, anchored between platforms built around tall trees, or, in this case, the tower. We walk one at a time across the bridges. Up here, there are no mosquitos, only birds and butterflies. We hear red howler monkeys somewhere in the distance, but do not see them. We see cuckoos with their long, long tails, and huge buzzards circling on the thermals. It is very peaceful way up here. We linger, talking and laughing.

Finally we come to the last bridge, and descend the second tower that marks the end of the walk. From here, we take the trail to the wetlands. A sturdy, wide wooden walkway shows us the way. Last week's rains have left the wetlands pretty much flooded, and the mosquitos are voracious. We don't linger.

We are back at the resort in time for washing wellies and showering before lunch. Again we are offered the four-course menu. This time I choose the tropical fruit plate for dessert, and sample the passionfruit, served in its the bright orange shell. Spoon in some honey, and spoon up the soupy flesh, complete with black seeds. Yum. There are also some pieces of starfruit on the plate; these are very sour and I am grateful for the honey.

In the afternoon, we board the boat with a party from Denmark and our guide, Uriel, to visit a nearby farm. We arrive to find that the farmer and his wife have gone to Puerto Maldonado, but their young son, Elton, is there to host us. He is maybe 10 years old. He carries a long wooden pole with a long, stout wire affixed to the end and finished in a narrow hook. He uses this to pick the fruits we sample on our visit. We see bananas, plantains, starfruit, cherimoya, mandarin oranges not yet ripe, yucca and various other citrus fruits, as well a cocoa nut tree - chocolate in the raw!

There are also lovely ornamental plantings, including a tall cactus that we think is a night-blooming cereus. Uriel limbers up his pocket knife to cut samples. I abstain for the most part - this is what they have warned us about. Drink only bottled water and eat only fruits that have been peeled while in Peru, we were told. The mosquitos are vicious. I keep splashing the citronella, and carry the small fan from our room to whoosh the mosquitos away from my ears and neck.

Back at the reserva, B chooses to go on a night walk in the rain forest, looking for spiders and tarantulas and other denizens of the night. I opt for a shower and a seat on a couch in the Main House, with a glass of wine and my book to entertain me. We will be up early again tomorrow for an all-day trip.