Last Days in Lima

Well, I'm finally home from my latest epic journey: a two-week shoot all across the country followed by an unexpected 14-hour drive from Chicago to New York.  Luckily my apartment is fully functioning and intact, in spite of the fact that I left my window open a crack having not anticipated that a hurricane would blow through while I was gone.  I am extremely fortunate and much better off than many others in New York City, Long Island and New Jersey as I have electricity, heat, hot water, cable and even Internet service.  My office is still closed since there's no power below 34th Street and the subways are just starting to partially open again tomorrow so it looks like I'll be working from home for at least the next few days.

But enough about all that for now.  I've finally reached the final blog post on the specific day-to-day adventures of my around-the-world trip.  I have a few follow-up posts to write over the next few days, but this is the last one about my final days overseas before coming back to the U.S. this past summer after eleven months abroad.  Now that the major posts are out of the way, I will try to gradually update the rest of the stats, figures and photos on the rest of the website so that everything will soon be completely up-to-date.  So on that note, let's get right to it.

On the morning of Monday, June 18th, my parents and I flew back to Lima, Peru, from Cuzco.  We took a cab from the airport back to the bed and breakfast where we had stayed before leaving for Cuzco and Machu Picchu.  It was an overcast and slightly drizzly day so there wasn't much that we could do outside.  We found a place where we could have a cheap prix fixe lunch, which left my parents amazed at the value.  Then in the early afternoon, we took a walk on the promenade along the cliff overlooking the rocky Costa Verde beaches across from our hotel.  My dad had to exchange some more money at the bank so we walked to a commercial area near the Larcomar shopping mall and then continued a bit farther until we reached the end of the pedestrian walk.  Along the way, my parents completely embarrassed me by pretending to make out just like the giant statue of two people kissing in Love Park. When we returned to the hotel, we found a place to have dinner nearby and then headed in for the night.

On Tuesday, I went to go check out a tandem paragliding place across from our hotel since I hadn't had the chance to go hang gliding when I was in Rio.  We stopped by first in the morning, but there wasn't enough wind so the guys told me to try again in the afternoon.  After the aborted paragliding attempt, we decided to head in the opposite direction along the promenade from the day before and walked down a set of stairs to the check out the beachfront below.  All of the beaches on this side of the city are covered in small rocks rather than sand so they can be very difficult and uncomfortable to walk on, especially in bare feet.  After heading back up to the top of the cliff, we veered away from the coastline to try to get some lunch.  I found a roadside place where I decided to stop, but my mother wanted to go back to the place where we'd eaten the day before.  After I ate, they headed off in the opposite direction and I went back to the hotel before going to sit out in the park across the street along the Costa Verde.  I was still hoping to try to paraglide in the afternoon, but my attempt was foiled again as the weather conditions just did not want to cooperate.  I did walk back down the beach again and made arrangements to take a surf lesson at 10:00am the following day.

Wednesday morning, my dad and I walked down to the surf spot about ten minutes from our hotel.  My mother made it over a bit later.  When I got there, the instructor I had arranged to meet was nowhere to be seen.  I was about to give up, when another guy who was set up on the beach talked me into taking a lesson with him instead.  He loaned me a wet suit, but didn't have any booties so it was tough to walk on the rocks.  In spite of the wet suit, the water was pretty cold as it was an overcast and windy day.  The instructor had given me a brief demo on shore before we headed into the water, which actually better helped me to understand the technique for standing up on the surfboard.  I had one of those big foam boards and my instructor would tell me exactly when to start paddling and even give me a push.  Following a few unsuccessful attempts, I was actually able to stand up!  Even though in reality I was pretty far off, I got scared as I got approached the shore so I jumped off after only a few seconds on the board.

After that I was able to stand up a few more times, but also got knocked around quite a bit and took on a small amount of water.  The Pacific Ocean off the coast of Lima is supposed to be pretty polluted so that didn't make me feel too reassured.  Luckily, I didn't get sick.  It was so much fun whenever I got up on the board, but being rocked around while I was waiting for the waves started to make me feel seasick and nauseous.  In the end, I decided to cut the lesson a bit short.  I was still out there for about an hour and was really glad I did it because now I have more confidence for the next time I get to go surfing.

In the afternoon, I tried once again to go paragliding, but it seems I was doomed to repeat my bad luck from Rio.  Finally, just an hour or so before sunset a few guys started getting airborne and they  allowed people to sign up for tandem flights.  I managed to be the second person on line so I gave my dad my video camera and then went inside the barricade to get all suited up.  The one girl before me was there with her boyfriend who stood off to the side to take pictures as she got ready to take off.  She was only wearing sandals so as she began to run with her instructor she tripped and nearly fell before getting dragged back on her feet.  I don't know if it's because they lost speed or there just wasn't enough wind, but right after the pair went off the cliff they went nearly straight down instead of up into the air.  I think the instructor was able to land safely on the beach below, but it was a very truncated and possibly dangerous flight.  After that, the guys running the place told us that there just wasn't enough wind so we were going to have to try again the next day.  I got so close, but given what had happened to the person before me, it was probably best that the rest of the flights were called off.

The next day was our final day in Peru before our flights back to New York.  In the morning, the weather still wasn't cooperating so my parents and I took a taxi to the city center to go to the Museo de Arte de Lima.  It was our first time actually going downtown away from the beaches of Miraflores.  The art museum was undergoing renovations so only a few exhibits were open.  One of them was an overview of all of the museum's recent acquisitions from all different eras of Peruvian art.  The other three were contemporary art exhibits, including one called "Milagros de la Torre," which featured several series of photographs.  One series was printed completely in the negative.  Another exhibit by artist David Zink Yi featured several large-scale pieces, including a video project showing a man blowing on a trumpet until he nearly asphyxiated himself.  The last exhibit, "Liquidacion," was comprised of several black and white films.  One showed scenes of a man walking around a campus and another opposite it simply showed a hand turning rocks of different sizes over and over.  According to the curatorial description, the films were supposed to "invite us to reflect on different social, historical and architectural development aspects," though I don't think any of us were particularly impressed.

After leaving the museum, we walked around the park out front and checked out a public art display of aerial photographs from various neighborhoods around Lima.  Then we had a prix fixe lunch at a nice outdoor cafe.  Nearby in the park was a theater and drama school where we got to watch students practicing an assignment right outside the building.  As the afternoon stretched on, we took a cab back to Miraflores, where I checked on the paragliding situation one last time.  Since it was still a no-go, we took another walk on the promenade and as we were resting on a bench the ground suddenly began to shake.  It turns out it was an earthquake!  Luckily since we were already outside we didn't have to worry about anything falling on us.  It actually wasn't that strong and didn't last for too long.  It was still an interesting story to bring back from our final afternoon in Peru.

A few hours later, it was time to head to the airport.  My parents had an overnight direct flight to Newark on United, but I was flying Spirit to LaGuardia and had a layover in Fort Lauderdale.  The original plan was for my parents to come pick up me once they landed in New Jersey, but that was not to be.  I'll save that exciting story for my next post later this week.  It sadly reflects heavily upon the events of the past few days.

City of the Incas

I'm currently on my way home from a two-week work shoot following the arrival of Hurricane Sandy along the East Coast.  Our Monday night flight from Austin, Texas, to New York was canceled so we flew instead to Chicago and have been driving back from there ever since.  Tonight my producer and I are holed up in Youngstown, Ohio, and hope to make it home tomorrow.  I hope all my "loyal readers" out there are safe and sound after the storm!  I actually just recently surpassed 10,000 page views so I guess that's something to celebrate.

To finish up the tale of my travels (only one or two posts left!), we head back to South America where my parents had met me in Peru in the middle of June.  After a few days at the high elevation in Cuzco, we headed down by train to the town of Aguas Calientes just outside the ancient Incan city of Machu Picchu.  A car picked us up early in the morning to make the 20-minute trip to the train station where we boarded a tourist train for the four-hour ride.  My dad had considered not coming along since he still wasn't feeling that well, but in the end decided it would be better to head down with us to a lower altitude.  On the train, my parents and I sat next to another American family with two daughters about my age and a son and had a nice conversation with them while we ate breakfast and watched the beautiful mountain scenery roll by outside the windows.

When we arrived in Aguas Calientes, we dropped off our luggage with a porter and met the guide who was going to bring us up to the ruins.  There were about a half dozen other people in our group who joined us on the shuttle bus that brought us up to the top of the peak.  It took about 20 minutes winding back and forth up switchback roads for us to reach the entrance to the park.  Crowds were already starting to form, but since we got to the mountain at around 10:00am it luckily wasn't too congested yet. 

We walked through the front gate, down a short path and got our first view of the city spread out all around us.  It is exactly like it's pictured in photos, but obviously even more remarkable in person.  Our guide brought us to an out-of-the-way spot where he gave a short talk about the history of the Incas and how they built the stone city in the 15th century.  The 7,000-foot high site was built on a series of terraces hewed into the steep Andean slopes surrounding Mount Wayna Picchu, which overlooks the ruins.  It was abandoned only 100 years later during the Spanish Conquest.  The city was "rediscovered" in 1911 by the American historian, Hiram Bingham, who was brought there by some local Peruvians.  Our guide brought us around the main part of the site, showing us the Temple of the Sun (which you can't actually go inside), the Royal Tomb, the Three Windowed Temple, the quarry, the solar clock/observatory and all the other highlights.

After our guided tour ended, it was time for us to have lunch.  We made our way out of the park to a restaurant right next to the entrance.  Three or four of the other tour group members joined us at our table, including a young Japanese guy who was studying medicine in California.  We had a pretty decent buffet lunch that was part of our package deal before heading back into the park.  Most of the other tour members had to get back to Aguas Calientes to catch the train to Cuzco, but the Japanese guy joined my parents and I for the afternoon.  Once back inside, we decided to hike 20 minutes down a trail to the Inca Bridge.  The bridge is part of a stone path that was cut into the cliff face leading westward out of Machu Picchu.  It spans a 20-foot gap over a 1,900-foot drop.  Visitors can't actually cross the bridge any longer, which is probably a good thing since it looks rather frightening.  I was able to walk right up to the edge of it before a barrier blocked my progress.  After making it back from the bridge, we wandered around the stone structures for a little while longer before catching the bus to the bottom of the hill.

The shuttle bus dropped us off at our hotel in Aguas Calientes where we were able to pick up our bags and get into our room before going into the village for dinner.  We ate at one of the typical tourist places so it wasn't really anything special, but luckily everyone was feeling better by this point so we all were able to eat dinner for the first time in a few days.  Back at the hotel, we had to get up bright and early the next morning so after taking showers we all got ready for bed.

The alarm went off at about 5:00am the next day, alerting us it was time to wake up to see the sunrise.  We got one of the first shuttle buses back to Machu Picchu, but by the time we arrived it was already starting to get light out.  This was actually probably a good thing since it gave us enough visibility to climb up the steep hill to the Watchman's Hut without tripping all over ourselves.  Luckily, it took a while for the sun to actually rise over the mountain peaks so we didn't miss much of anything of great importance.  We met our Japanese friend once again at the top where we were able to catch the sunrise as it slowly illuminated the whole city down below us.  It was definitely a magical sight to witness in spite of the hundreds of other tourists gathered to see the same thing.

After sunrise, we made the arduous trek up to the sun gate high above the city walls.  For those who trek to Machu Picchu, the view from the sun gate is the first they see of the city after several days on the Inca Trail.  We did it in the opposite order, but it was still pretty majestic all the same. I can imagine it's a completely amazing sight for hikers who view it for the first time coming up from the other direction.  I sat meditating for about 15 minutes with Tibetan chants (I know, wrong region) playing on my iPod since it was so peaceful and serene.  It was then time to walk the hour back down the trail with my parents.  When we got to the bottom, my mom went to rest while my dad and I tried to find the Mortar District where there are two carved-out stone circles that form reflecting pools, which were once used as large mortars.  My dad wanted to try to get a better picture of the reflection of the sky, but we had the hardest time finding the right room.  The city became a maze that continually led to dead ends, including one where we ran head on into a llama that was munching on some grass.  We nearly gave up before finally finding the spot, though the lighting wasn't quite right to the get the shot that my dad wanted.

Following one final glance at the ancient wonder, we decided to head back down the mountain to Aguas Calientes.  We wandered around the small village for a little while and then sat down by the river in front of our hotel before walking to the train station.  On the way back through the mountains there was a crazy fashion show right in the middle of our train car.  Our cabin attendants showed off alpaca wool to the beat of loud pumping music in an effort to sell the clothing items.  It was amusing to watch, but the clothes were insanely overpriced.  When we arrived back in Cuzco, there was a driver there to meet us.  On our way to the hotel, I commented to my parents that I was having a bit of a hard time with having everything completely taken care of for me and not having to constantly think about how to get from Point A to Point B.  It was a total departure from my normal routine and actually made me feel a bit lazy.

That night we went back to the"organic" restaurant where my dad and I had gone the first night in Cuzco since my mom had not been able to join us then.  Fortunately this time we were all acclimated to the altitude and were able to enjoy a good meal.  I did, however, pass on a second stab at the alpaca steak.  The next morning, we got up early once again for the short ride to the airport.  We boarded a plane and were off to Lima for the last few days of my journey.

I'll post more photos from Machu Picchu and all the photos from Cuzco in the next few days.  I don't know if I'll have internet once I make it back home, but I'll do the best I can.

In Peru With the Parents

On Wednesday, June 13th, I flew from Buenos Aires to Lima, Peru, where I arrived just before 5:30pm.  My parents were meeting me in Lima to spend the last week of my trip with me before I flew back to the U.S. after 11 months away.  They had told me they were sending a taxi to come pick me up at the airport, but when I walked out of customs into the waiting area, they were standing there with a sign (as if I wouldn't recognize them.)  It was definitely a surprise to see them, though I'd had a secret suspicion that they might come meet to me so it wasn't a total shock.

It was rush hour when we left the airport so it took a little while to drive over to the Miraflores neighborhood where our hotel was located a few blocks from the beach.  We finally did arrive and I dropped my bag off in our room before we left again to go get some dinner.  None of us were all that hungry and my parents had eaten a big lunch so we found a cafe within walking distance where all had some sandwiches.  It was warmer than it had been in Buenos Aires so even after the sun set it was a nice walk back to the hotel.

The next morning, we had to get up early again to catch one of the first flights out to Cuzco.  We took a cab to the airport and then had a short, direct flight to the 11,000-foot high Andean city.  An English-speaking guide with the tour company that my dad had booked our trip to Cuzco and Machu Picchu through, met us at the airport with a driver.  She drove with us to our hotel and explained a bit about the city and our four-day tour along the way.  I was feeling a bit woozy from the plane flight and my mother also seemed to be affected by the altitude so when we got to the hotel we took a short rest while my dad went off exploring.  Then in the afternoon we all wandered over to the main Plaza de Armas where celebrations were underway for the final day of the Catholic Corpus Christi festival.  As we stood in the crowded square, the 14 saints of Cuzco were carried on floats from the main cathedral in a procession around the plaza.  Somber bands played over one another in a cacophony of music.  It reminded my parents and I of the Semana Santa festivities that we had witnessed in Sevilla, Spain, when they visited me during my semester abroad.

As my dad ran around taking pictures, my mom had to sit down because she had a pounding headache.  After watching the procession for about an hour, we'd all had just about enough sensory overload and so we headed back to the hotel.  The high altitude was really getting to my mom so she drank cup after cup of coca tea and then lay back in bed.  At that point, my dad and I were for the most part feeling fine so we went out to dinner at a nice organic (or so they said) Peruvian restaurant.  I decided to be adventurous and order the alpaca steak because I couldn't bring myself to try guinea pig since I'd had one as a pet.  The alpaca was actually not all that bad.  We brought my mom some plain pasta back and she was able to eat a few bites.

All seemed fine until the middle of the night when my dad suddenly woke up and started getting sick.  It woke me up too and I felt really bad, but there was not much that I could do.  In the morning I offered to get everyone coca tea (which is supposed to help with the altitude) but my dad was not a big fan.  My mom, however, drank the stuff like it was water.  I went off to get my laundry washed and then in the afternoon we had our city tour of Cuzco.  My dad still wasn't feeling well, but my mom was doing better so the two of us went by ourselves.

We met up with the rest of the group in the Plaza de Armas and went inside the Cathedral of Santo Domingo where we got to see some of the saints from the day before up close.  It was interesting to learn how Peruvian traditions had been interwoven into the Catholic symbolism.  A painting of the Last Supper, for example, included a cooked guinea pig as the main course.  The choir loft appeared to be made of a dark wood carved with traditional religious symbols, but on closer inspection also featured naked Incan idols.

From the church, we traveled to an actual Incan site downtown called the Korichanca or Temple of the Sun.  During the time of the Incas around 4000 priests and their attendants lived in the temple confines.  It was a glittering palace with gold panels lining the walls.  The gold is now gone, but many of the original walls still remain intact, integrated into a Dominican convent, which has since taken over the space.

Getting back on board the bus, our tour group headed out of the city center into the hills surrounding Cuzco to visit some of the Incan archaeological sites.  The first stop was Tambomachay where we had to climb a small hill to get to the ruins.  During Incan times the stonework was used as a site for ritual bathing and hydraulic cascades of waters still remain, though they're no longer accessible.  From Tambomachay, we went down to Q'enqo, another Incan ruin that features an underground chamber.  No one is exactly certain of the chamber's function, but the theory is that the cold stone slab shaded from the sun was used for ritual sacrifices or embalming nobles.  The last stop on the tour was at the Sacsayhuaman Fortress where we arrived just as the sun was setting.  The site is known as a fortress because of its immense terrace walls made out of large polished dry stones that fit tightly together without mortar.  It was definitely a magical sight to see as the sunset turned the rocks a rosy color.

On the way back down to Cuzco, we stopped at a warehouse where vendors tried to sell us all manner of alpaca wool garments, but the prices were pretty steep.  When we arrived at the hotel, we convinced my dad to come join us for dinner where my mom and I ate pasta, but my dad could barely manage a few spoonfuls of soup.  We learned the likely reason why a few days later.  Apparently when up at high altitude, it can take a longer time to digest food.  That's why my dad had trouble when he lay down in certain positions and why he had no appetite.  Unfortunately, we realized this a bit too late, but luckily the problem soon solved itself when we headed down to a lower altitude the following day.




I'll post the photos tomorrow.