February 17, 2009

Cusco, Sacsayhuaman

We started the day with our usual breakfast of tea, boiled eggs, toast, cheese, and jam. I was sure to take my antibiotics today! We decided to spend the day exploring the Inca ruins near Cusco. We had been warned many times that we should not go alone, not go early or late, not take any valuables, not drive our car, not walk in remote parts of the ruins because of robbers. So we were a little nervous but we went alone, drove, took my cameras, and walked everywhere with no problems at all. The four ruins around Cusco are Sacsayhuaman (Tom loves to say that), Qenko, Puca Pucara and Tambo Machay. There are a lot of impressive stones, ceremonial baths, and beautiful views of Cusco.





























We stayed at the ruins until we got hungry and then drove back down into Cusco for a wonderful dinner at PachaPapa Restaurant. I had trout and Tom had lomo cooked in a beautiful wood-burning oven. We just managed to finish before the rain started again.

February 16, 2009

Cusco

Not many photos today! I was feeling too confident and quit taking my antibiotic a few days ago. I paid for it today and spent most of the day sleeping and trying to keep down some liquids. We did go to the South American Explorers' Club and read some trip reports on our possible route back through the mountains. We also tried to do a little shopping in the artisans market, but it was mostly a day for recuperation.









Maggi mushroom soup prepared on our little gas stove for supper and early to bed!

February 15, 2009

Cusco

A day for shopping in the market and doing laundry. We had wanted for some time to have a liquado for breakfast in the mercado so we did that today. The liquado has about 15 different fruits, honey and other natural ingredients. It was really good! Then we tried the quail eggs that are sold by vendors with little quail egg factories - a push cart with quails underneath, a boiler on top to cook the eggs, and salt, pepper and sauces - five eggs for 1 sole. We walked all over town and then stopped for lunch at a restaurant with balconies over the street. The specialty of the day was cuy - guinea pig. Tom had his roasted with potatoes and stuffed peppers. I had mine curried in yogurt sauce. They were both good but very messy to eat! We spent the rest of the day walking around town and bought 5 tuna (cactus fruit) for supper.

February 14, 2009

Puno to Cusco

Today we checked out of our hotel in Puno and wound through one-way streets and impossible alleys until we finally got back out to the countryside. We always prefer driving in the country. We drove about 400 kilometers and it took about 8 hours with lots of stops for photos and a snack lunch of apples and nuts. We stopped to photograph a graveyard and met a young shepherd named Hernando Catchatory. He was ten years old and scared of us. We might as well have dropped from a flying saucer! Some candy made him feel better.

We made it back to Cusco in plenty of time to go to Cicciolina's for tapas to celebrate Valentine's Day. The highlight of the dinner was an earthquake that shook the whole building! We read on the internet later that it was a significant quake in northern Peru but minor where we were.

February 13, 2009

Amantani, Tequile, Uros

What a day for photos! I took over 600 but have tried to edit them down for the blog. Coco and Vicky fixed us a breakfast of pancakes, bread and jam over a eucalyptus fire in their tiny kitchen. We bought some beautiful knit Alpaca caps that Coco made, posed for photos, and then walked down to the port to catch a boat for Tequile.






















Taquile Island appears very close to Amantani but the boat ride takes about 45 minutes. After we leave the boat there is a very long, steep path up to the village. Taquile is much more of a tourist attraction than Amantani and we decided we were glad we chose to spend the night on the smaller, less touristy island. The people of Taquile all dress in very beautiful costumes and there are souvenir shops and restaurants in the main square. The women walk everywhere knitting and spinning Alpaca yarn and have a co-operative to sell their textiles. We spent the day walking around, taking photos, and having a good lunch of trout at one of the restaurants.

This elderly man was knitting and napping. He told us he was 90 years old and when we said he looked younger, he pulled a plug of coca leaves out of his mouth and said that was what kept him young!





We left Taquile on the Milky Way after lunch headed for Uros. Uros is a collection of about 50 floating islands made of reeds in Lake Titicaca. The Uros people make the islands, their houses and their boats from the totora reeds. They live by fishing and tourism. Most of the houses have solar panels for electricity. When we were there, one family was plucking cormorant-like birds for their dinner.











An afternoon storm was approaching so we left Uros for Puno. Before we got there, the canal was blocked with a rope and a guard demanded payment before he would let the boat through. After the men stood and argued for about twenty minutes, the wife of the boat captain jumped off the boat, grabbed the rope and threw it in the canal. We all applauded and continued through the canal.







We ran into yet another carnival parade on the way back to the hotel!!