COLORFUL PERU, COSMOPOLITAN QUITO

June 28, 2017

APOLOGIES: Due to technical difficulties and abilities, there are no photos posted to this blog as yet. I am attempting to resolve this and will update. 

UPDATE: PHOTOS HAVE NOW BEEN ADDED. THANKS FOR YOUR PATIENCE!

Posting almost daily on Facebook is a helpful way for me to record each days’ activities. But there are those who do not have facebook who are following this blog; and the challenge is to share and avoid being too repetitious. Your indulgence is appreciated.

Lima is a very mellow and modern city. We ate some great meals in upscale restaurants all over the city, including a fun evening with Hailey Titinger, my niece Alex’s life-long friend and travel partner, due to the wonders of social media. The cuisine heavily features hot peppers and cilantro…not the best for me…but I gravitated to the more Asian-fusion direction that they also feature.

Maria and I enjoyed strolling around the San Isidro and Miraflores neighborhoods, people-watching and shopping. The changing of the guard at the Presidential palace, Pizzaro’s crypt at the national cathedral, walking the elevated malecon along the coast, watching the hang-gliders and surfers…all enjoyable.

The pace picked up once we flew on to Cusco. The city is 11,000+ feet above sea level, and the altitude really kicked our asses. Good thing to have gone there first, to acclimate to the altitude to be able to hike at Machu Picchu later in the week. The night we arrived there were parades in the town square, celebrating Cusco, the entire month of June. People were out in force, dressed in traditional attire…so authentic and charming. Cusco exists on tourism as the gateway to Machu Picchu and the people there are proud to share their heritage.

Everywhere we went, people could not believe how well we spoke Spanish. People consistently commented on our command of the language, to which we would reply, “Vivo en Mexico y ella es Puertorriquena.” It was surprising and flattering to hear their praises.

Our wonderful, patient, knowledgeable and enthusiatic guide, Silver, from SA Expeditions, joined us in Cusco and took us to Saksawaman, where the Incas created their terraces to farm their food. We toured Qorincancha, a former Incan palace, taken over and adapted by the Dominicans after the Incas were conquered.

Our second day of touring, Silver took us to a town of weavers, where we were shown how the alpaca wool is cleaned, treated, dyed, spun and woven into beautiful blankets, accessories and garments. We then went through the Sacred Valley on to Marasal, a huge salt mine, on our way to the Vistadome train ride onto Machu Picchu.

The big day, the big climb: Machu Picchu is one of the 7 wonders of the world. It is purely remarkable to think that 600 years ago, the indigenous people built this entire “city” at the top of 9000+ foot mountains. The place was specifically selected because of the position of the surrounding peaks as well as the winding river below which they believed mirrored the Milky Way and was highly spiritual. We climbed up and down the uneven stone stairways taking in the amazing views and incredible structures built over a 200-year period in the 1400-1600s. A truly remarkable feat! Both what they built…and the fact that we climbed it! The only down side are the tons of mosquito bites that days later continue to be painful, itchy and annoying.

Maria headed back to NYC and I moved on to the mountainous region of Quito. Quito feels like many cities in the US. They function on the US Dollar…I’ve never been to any foreign country that does not have their own currency. They have tons of traffic here, they use diesel and they’re pretty lax about emissions, so the air can be stinky; and at 7000+ feet, it’s already a challenge to breathe here. There are exquisite flowers everywhere, and a dozen roses costs $2. Most everything else feels a bit more expensive than Peru and elsewhere in South America. The city has abundant Dunkin Donuts, KFC, and Subways along with the 2 big burger guys. I have not succumbed, despite the fact that I have not taken to the native cuisine.

The first day I did what I usually do in a new city: the hop-on-hop-off bus around the whole city. We went to a city-wide overlook with the statue Panecillo. I’ll be returning to a couple of the districts that we drove through on the tour, most notably the historic center.

On Saturday, I hired a driver who quickly became my guide and my friend, Patricio. We went 2 hours north of town to Otavalo to the big weekend market. And then to the Parque de Condors to see the famed South American big-bird. He also took me to Ibarra and a recreational lake as well as the town Atuntaqi, where a lot of clothing is made.

And then Sunday, he took me to the equator, Latitude 0, where there are 2 separate museums and monuments identifying this landmark. There were many experiments with water, magnetics, power, balance, etc. and I successfully balanced an egg on the head of a nail. Pretty cool.

The coolest thing, by far, was meeting with a shaman at the Mitad del Mundo exhibit. He gave me some dirt in my hands, had me smell it, pray with it, and then throw it into the fire. He then fanned the fire around my body while he chanted prayers and blessings for me. It was really powerful and very special.

Just not sure how much more blessed I could be.

NEXT POST: I’ll be looking to write again sometime after my Galapagos trip and my 2 weeks in Colombia with Rich! 

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