After one of the best meals of my life - a deluxe seafood spread so large that I barely finished it($20) - I hung out with a bunch of my new friends, but had to leave early to catch a few hours of sleep before my taxi came at 3am to take me to the airport. The cab driver didn´t speak a word of English, but when Money For Nothing by the Dire Straits came on the radio he belted out that song word for word. He had no idea what the lyrics meant, but I have never seen someone so excited by a song before.
To greet me at the Cuzco airport was Adam, a good friend from Olympia. He and his wife will be in the Cuzco area for the entire time I am here, which will be a really good thing since he is fluent in Spanish. He´s like my personal translator. Him and Allison are also a load of fun and I am stoked that we get to travel around here together.
I noticed the altitude immediately. Walking up two steps I was panting and light-headed and the sun felt so intense. I went up the to the rooftop of the hostal for a cup of Mate de Coca (Coca leaf tea) which has been used by locals for thousands of years to help with the altitude and to give energy for the harsher climate. Time will tell if it works...
In the afternoon, I met with the contact for Apus Peru Travel, the company that I am the Environmental Advisor for. My job is to go on various treks with the company, observe, assess and analyze their environmental impact, come up with recommendations and create a training guide for the employees to follow to decrease the impact their tours have on the environment. Other companies will benefit from this and hopefully will integrate this into their practices in order to prevent the government from shutting down the trails to Macchu Pichu to prevent irreversible degradation to the trails, communities and the ruins. After our talk, I am really excited to work for this company and feel that I will be making a tangible difference here.
It was to bed early as Adam and I were off to Pisac early in the morning. Cuzco is very different from Lima, but I like Cuzco thus far and am really excited to explore this city and the rest of the Sacred Valley.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Lima Recap
I spent 3 amazing days in Lima. Despite what almost all travel books and other travelers say, I loved Lima and look forward to going back in about 3 weeks. The weather was perfect, the beaches are beautiful and seem to go on forever, the food is, well rated in the top of the world for good reason. And the people are amazingly helpful and friendly.
I had just come back to my hostal from breakfast and this well-dressed lady came up to me and asked if my beard would grow a little bit more. Not sure what her angle was, I cautiously answered yes. She exclaimed, ¨Perfecto!¨ She was a film director and wanted me in her next commercial for Peruvian cell phones. Thoughts of stardom and celebrity status quickly vanished when I realized I was leaving the next morning for Cuzco. I guess Lima just wasn´t ready for me to be a celebrity.
That morning I hailed a cab and headed for El Centro, the historic main square of Lima. WOW!!!! Beautiful! I went through the Cathedral which is spectacular to the max. I also took a tour of the Church of San Francisco, which has catacombs underneath it. For 200 years, everyone who died in Lima was buried there. What an eerie place, but definitely worth the visit.
After that I was sitting on a bench and a middle aged Peruvian man sat down beside me and started speaking fairly good English to me. He wanted to improve his English for job prospects and in return would teach me Spanish while he showed me the highlights of his city. Sounded like a good deal to me. We saw many neat non-touristy places, including Chinatown, even though I didn´t see any Chinese people there. After about 2 hours of practicing language and learning about Lima, we went for a snack and a refreshment. He sat next to me and put his hand on mine. I looked up immediately and he said it´s Peruvian custom. I read Peruvians don´t have the same sense of space that we do, but I never read about this custom. He was telling me about his family, when out of the blue he tried to kiss me in the restaurant. He again tried to tell me it´s a Peruvian custom, but I didn´t buy it this time.
I returned to Miraflores and saw some people I met earlier. We went out and met some Peruvian girls who took us dancing. Nothing like dancing with Latinas to make me feel reaaallly humble about my dancing! Whether it´s attempting to speak Spanish, or dance Salsa, or try their food and drinks, Peruvians are excited and happy that we just make the effort. And what better way to learn a new culture than to just go ahead and try.
I had just come back to my hostal from breakfast and this well-dressed lady came up to me and asked if my beard would grow a little bit more. Not sure what her angle was, I cautiously answered yes. She exclaimed, ¨Perfecto!¨ She was a film director and wanted me in her next commercial for Peruvian cell phones. Thoughts of stardom and celebrity status quickly vanished when I realized I was leaving the next morning for Cuzco. I guess Lima just wasn´t ready for me to be a celebrity.
That morning I hailed a cab and headed for El Centro, the historic main square of Lima. WOW!!!! Beautiful! I went through the Cathedral which is spectacular to the max. I also took a tour of the Church of San Francisco, which has catacombs underneath it. For 200 years, everyone who died in Lima was buried there. What an eerie place, but definitely worth the visit.
After that I was sitting on a bench and a middle aged Peruvian man sat down beside me and started speaking fairly good English to me. He wanted to improve his English for job prospects and in return would teach me Spanish while he showed me the highlights of his city. Sounded like a good deal to me. We saw many neat non-touristy places, including Chinatown, even though I didn´t see any Chinese people there. After about 2 hours of practicing language and learning about Lima, we went for a snack and a refreshment. He sat next to me and put his hand on mine. I looked up immediately and he said it´s Peruvian custom. I read Peruvians don´t have the same sense of space that we do, but I never read about this custom. He was telling me about his family, when out of the blue he tried to kiss me in the restaurant. He again tried to tell me it´s a Peruvian custom, but I didn´t buy it this time.
I returned to Miraflores and saw some people I met earlier. We went out and met some Peruvian girls who took us dancing. Nothing like dancing with Latinas to make me feel reaaallly humble about my dancing! Whether it´s attempting to speak Spanish, or dance Salsa, or try their food and drinks, Peruvians are excited and happy that we just make the effort. And what better way to learn a new culture than to just go ahead and try.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Day 1
After travelling for nearly 36 hours, including overnight in Miami Intl airport, I have reached Lima, Peru safe and sound, if not exhausted. I have been here for 3 hours and absolutely love the place!! I have had a real good feeling right from the start. The first thing I notice is the warm temperature, humidity and copious movement and noise.
There were two Peruvian ladies on the plane next to me who were concerned with me travelling by myself, so they gave me their numbers and their families contacts throughout Peru so I could stay with them during my travels. Then, another lady on the plane has a friend that runs a hotel near Cuzco and said I could stay there for free. Next thing I know, other people are offering me advice and places to stay and contacts. It was like an auction where everyone was trying to outdo the other person to help me out! What kind of bizarro world is this? I love the Peruvians!!
The drive from the airport to the hostal was an experience I will NEVER forget in my life. Never. There were guys in pedal carts and pedestrians weaving in and out of fast moving traffic, with near accidents seemingly every block. There were slums next to new buildings and noise upon noise, just plain chaos. But the streets were lined with the most beautiful flowering trees and plants, which seemed to balance the chaos. The remarkable thing was that there weren´t any accidents and my driver was the most relaxed person I know, singing along to the 60´s music from his car. So, to relax I joined along singing. haha.
I headed down to a restaurant a block from my hostel in Miraflores to satiate my intense huger and thirst. The staff took a shining to me and made Happy Hour in my honour giving me free Pisco Sours and chichas, the Peruvian drinks. I will tell you about these drinks in another blog. They deserve their own blog.
Well, I am exhausted and looking forward to a restful sleep, on a mattress with a pillow.
There were two Peruvian ladies on the plane next to me who were concerned with me travelling by myself, so they gave me their numbers and their families contacts throughout Peru so I could stay with them during my travels. Then, another lady on the plane has a friend that runs a hotel near Cuzco and said I could stay there for free. Next thing I know, other people are offering me advice and places to stay and contacts. It was like an auction where everyone was trying to outdo the other person to help me out! What kind of bizarro world is this? I love the Peruvians!!
The drive from the airport to the hostal was an experience I will NEVER forget in my life. Never. There were guys in pedal carts and pedestrians weaving in and out of fast moving traffic, with near accidents seemingly every block. There were slums next to new buildings and noise upon noise, just plain chaos. But the streets were lined with the most beautiful flowering trees and plants, which seemed to balance the chaos. The remarkable thing was that there weren´t any accidents and my driver was the most relaxed person I know, singing along to the 60´s music from his car. So, to relax I joined along singing. haha.
I headed down to a restaurant a block from my hostel in Miraflores to satiate my intense huger and thirst. The staff took a shining to me and made Happy Hour in my honour giving me free Pisco Sours and chichas, the Peruvian drinks. I will tell you about these drinks in another blog. They deserve their own blog.
Well, I am exhausted and looking forward to a restful sleep, on a mattress with a pillow.
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