Honeymooning in South America

The Carnivores Guide to Buenos Aires

noreply@blogger.com (Karin) — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 19:34:00 +0000

Ok, we are home and have been so for a couple of days but still... We should really finish the blog in a good way, so there will be a couple of more posts.
Have I mentioned that my husband and I like meat? If not, the below diary might give a hint.

Day 1:
Restaurant: El Desnivel
Meat: 2 * Lomo (one of us ordered Bife de Chorizo but it was Lomo, we are sure)

Advised by our almost local guide, The Windler, we ordered the meat "A Punto" (medium-rare), that was a mistake, it was more to the medium side but hopefully we learnt from it... The bitter taste of disappointment was washed away by generous amounts of wine.

Day 2:
Restaurant: Cabaña Las Lilas
Meat: 1 * Baby beef, 500 g, 1 * Bife de Chorizo

Advised by our almost local guide, The Windler, we ended up in what is considered by many the best restaurant in Buenos Aires. The previous mistake was corrected and the meat was ordered "jugoso" (spelling may be erronous). The Windler rose to a top placement in our hearts, the meat as well. The fact that the bill were almost the double of the price of our hotel bill for 5 nights probably says a lot of our ways of prioritzing.

Day 3:
Restaurant: Pub Gibraltar
Meat: 1 * Hamburger, 1 * Cheese sandwich

My stomach was probably still working with the baby beef, it did not want food at all this evening. From what I understood the hamburger was absolutely ok but there was disappointment regarding missing steak for one day.

Day 4:
Restaurant: La Brigada
Meat: We don't know. It was a secret that wasn't on the menu. It looked like some kind of filé. Or it could have been leftovers. It was the best freaking leftovers anyone of us has ever had. It is hard to think how the regular meat might taste. Something that good can't be legal.

By now we were so knowledgeable in the art of Argentinian meat that we didn't even bother with any french fries on the side - a Caprese sallad was enough, save the potatoes for the bad times.

Day 5:
Restaurant: La Rosalia
Meat: 1 * Chorizo (starter), 1 * 550 g baby beef, 1 * bife de chorizo

Since there was a 40 mins waiting time for the baby beef we realized that a starter wouldn't be in the way. So simple, so tasty! My bife de chorizo was still mooing on the way over to our table, I felt butterflies in my stomach from pure excitement when I cut the first piece. Yarden's baby beef was a bit less rare but the size of this piece of meat was so impressive I could almost see tears in his eyes. Tears of joy of course! We couldn't have finished our stay in a better way.

After this week of eating we have decided to spend all our honeymoons in Buenos Aires. With a bit more tango dancing we can probably manage to have steak for lunch as well (Yarden already tried the concept once, it might work). All restaurants, except for Cabana Las Lilas, is located in San Telmo, the neighbourhood where we were staying. In Puerto Madera, where Cabana Las Lilas can be found, there are plenty of other good restaurants as well. We didn't have enough time. Next time, Siga La Vaca will be visited. And La Cabrera. And possibly some of the restaurants we already been visiting will be revisited.

Bolivian south western circuit

noreply@blogger.com (Yarden) — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 19:06:00 +0000

Bolivia is a country of opposites and extremes. It has big cities and tiny villages, poverty neighbourhoods, with adobe houses, and rich business quarters. You can get a simple lunch menu for less than a dollar or a cup of coffee for the same price at a fancy cafe in Santa Cruz. The places on the altiplano are freezing, airless and dry and the amazon basin is extremely hot and humid.

If the jungle, with its' animals, insects and various plants, is the wildest thing in the Amazon basin then on the altiplano it is the south western circuit, where the air is thin and freezing, the sun is strong and bright and nature just go crazy with different extreme and magnificent views.

We went to Uyuni and booked a 3 days jeep tour of the south west. We were 8 people (6 tourists a guide/driver and a cook) and one jeep, packed with all our food, personal belongings and cooking gear.

In the first day we visited the salt plain. It's a gigantic flat area that's covered with salt (15m deep in the deepest point). In the wet season it's flooded and the reflections are magnificent but when we came it was dry. Most of the plain is protected but some is available for local to extract salt from. A few 'islands' can be found on the plain and there we found big cactuses that grow one cm a year (so some are more then 1000 years old)

View of the salt plain from the car

Karin jumps over the plain

The cactuses

Getting of the salar (the salt plain) we crossed a railway. That railway leads people and mined minerals to Bolivia and to the Chilean border. Here is the view towards the border:

Chile is over the mountains

Next, we arrived to a beautiful lake that was full of Flamingos.

Us, the lake and the flamingos

Flamingos

Flamingo landing

Then, driving on, we arrived to the ¨stone tree¨, a volcanic rock that was eroded by the wind and the sand to the shape of a tree.

El arbol de piedra

On the way we saw a fox. The guide treated him with a sweet wafer and the fox seemed to enjoy it.

Fox chewing a wafer

That evening we stayed at a local village's hostel. The temperatures dropped quickly when it got dark but it was perfectly fine with our sleeping bags and blankets. The cook, who treated us so far very well with meaty lunches and beautiful vegetables, made us a wonderful pizza. The sunset over the local b-ball court was amazing:

Sunset

The second day had a few highlights. The laguna colorada, a beautiful red/brown lake full of Flamingos and surrounded with white mineral supplied beautiful views. We also found a local animal called ¨Viscacha¨, which is some rabbit looking creature.

The laguna colorada

The laguna colorada from another angle

The Viscacha

That evening we stayed in a small hostel at an altitude of 4,300 m.a.s.l. Unlike the previous hostel we had no hot shower. The temperatures dropped so sharply, when it darkened, that we had to flee inside and hide under our blankets and sleeping bags.

Before we went to sleep the guide brought a bottle of cheap wine and later on we both decided to take a Paracetamol against any headache that might develop through the night (due to the altitude). Unknowingly, we both manage to intake the substances that were a recipe for one of the worst nights ever.

It wasn't cold at all but it was something like that: I would fall asleep for about 5 minutes and then wake up breathless. Taking a few deep breaths I notice that my mouth is so dry that I have to spend a minute or so wetting it and then taking a sip of water. Then, the mixture of bad wine and cheap, originating from a Bolivian pharmacy, Paracetamol, made a mysterious solution in my stomach that released Sulfuric gasses (mainly, but not only, from the front end). So, every time I woke up I had the taste of Sulfur in my mouth and my stomach made weird sounds.

Apart from the sleepless horrible night there were two nice Alpacas there:

Alpacas

The third day was the day of great extremes. To begin with, both our stomachs were extremely not functioning and we felt like shit. (mostly poor Karin). We had to wake up on 5 am and go to see some geysers:

Geyser

Me and my (best) wife in the land of Geysers (can you see how bad her stomach is?)

After that, we went to deep in the local hot springs (at almost 5000 m.a.s.l). It was great, but getting out was cold cold cold!

Mmmm.... Nice

And then we drove on to the highest and most magnificent point, The laguna verde (the green lake). Due to minerals like copper and sulfur it has a greenish color. When it's windy it has the color of turquoise (Luckily it wasn't). It's surrounded by three inactive volcanoes, whose peaks are crowned with snow. The guide told us that NASA is conducting experiments on the top of one of the volcanoes because it has the conditions that resembles Mars's better than everywhere else in the world. At an altitude of more then 5 km a.s.l we took a big breath and nodded (Just kidding, it's easy to breath the freezing air but it's important not to make sudden movements. The oxygen demand causes weakness)

The green lake and the Mars like volcano (and me)

From there we went on a long and almost event less ride back to Uyuni.

The relative train

On a different and geekier note, the tour actually started at a train cemetery next to Uyuni. I found an interesting train there. Not because it was old, Not because of anything trainish or engineering related but because someone grafittied it with an equation from the field of general relativity physics (And not a simple one. It took me a whole course of pure mathematics on general relativity to reach the smallest ability of understanding this equation).

Was the train moving around black holes ? Did the space time metrics and momentum, energy Tensor really mattered for the people who built that train? I doubt it.

It is hard for me to explain how ¨out of place¨ and unrelated this equation is to an antique train in the desert of south western Bolivia but I assure you that it kept me puzzled for more than a couple of minutes.

The train and the equation

Santa Cruz

noreply@blogger.com (Karin) — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 11:15:00 +0000

Sometimes you get a bit travel weary on the road and need to take a break. A vacation from the vacation. We choose Santa Cruz as our holiday destination. There is no real sightseeing to be done, no interesting museums but it is Bolivia's largest and richest city with plenty of restaurants, cafés and shops. We found a lovely hostel with hammocks to relax in, green patios and two funny tucans to rest our eyes on.

What else could a girl need?

Beautiful tucan

Even tucans get a bit shy sometimes...

Yarden is raving about how good it is to be back in civilisation and is calculating how much money we'll need to be able to retire here. I'm focusing on what kind of food we'll have for the next meal. The first night we had an amazing steak dinner, second night pizza.I believe we are ready for another meaty dinner tonight. And in between meals, it is actually possible to get a decent cup of coffee here. Santa Cruz are scoring high points from the Cohens!

Modern city, modern art

Sloth

noreply@blogger.com (Karin) — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 11:13:00 +0000

Well, I know I said not much happened in Trinidad but just a couple of minutes after these photos were taken a police officer came and grabbed this little fella for being in the wrong place. Brutally he was carried by the skin of his neck to another location, the northeast corner of the plaza. He did not attempt any resistance yet the police officers were still poking him with their sticks when he tried to climb over the fence...

24th of September

noreply@blogger.com (Karin) — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 23:04:00 +0000

We've missed a lot of holidays and celebrations on this trip - Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, surstrommingspremiar, kraftskivor and a few birthdays. But we have celebrated 24th of September!

We are not really sure why, but everyone else in Santa Cruz celebrated it so we joined in. The celebrations mostly took place around the main square, cleverly named Plaza 24 de Septiembe and contained army and police marching quite haphazardly, schoolbands playing and a lot of waving of green-white flags.

Bolivian VIPs

I had no idea my husband was so interested in schoolbands, he didn't want to leave...

Some israeli participation, in form of the Rangers' guns, was seen. Nothing swedish anywhere in sight though.

Off the beaten track

noreply@blogger.com (Karin) — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 19:35:00 +0000

Most tourists fly to Rurre and then back south to La Paz. We decided to go east instead, to Trinidad. So, the day after coming back from the Pampas-tour we got on a minibus that would take us to San Borja, half-way to Trinidad. The roads in this area is a nightmare, covered with a thick layer of fine dust, sometimes more bumps and holes than road with cows and horses walking around. You drive on the side where the road is best at the moment, which to me always seems to be the wrong side. After 5 hours of driving we had finally driven all the 150 kilometers needed and stopped in San Borja. Not much to see, a nice plaza and an ice-cream parlor was the best bet. Insteadwe decided to take a taxi to El Porvenir, another 1,5 hours to the west.

El Porvenir is a biological research station that was built by an american university during the 1980-ies but that has been more or less abandoned for the last 10 years. About twice a month they get some visitors we were told by Walter, the man who is taking care of the place. After a very simple dinner we laid in our hammocks for a while before going to sleep.

At 6 am we were woken up by a cacaphony of parrots outside our window, fell asleep again and were woken up by Walter at 7 am who told us breakfast was ready and our guide and horses were waiting for us. A 4 hour ride around the reserve was scheduled so we got up on the horses and rode off to the Pampas. We saw capybaras, birds and tons of cows. I even saw a cockroach crawl under my T-shirt and didn't scream! I also saw two austrich-like birds, but from quite a distance so I guess it could in fact have been cows as well... However, we looked like cowboys, or at least felt like it!

Two horses and some capybaras in the background

Birds waiting for death

If that isn't two cowboys I don't know what it is...

This is how happy my horse was after the ride - look carefully...

After lunch we walked down to the main road to see if we could catch a ride further west. And, after only 20 minutes a jeep with 3 men in their forties from Santa Cruz stopped. They gave us a ride all the way to Trinidad and refsed to accept our attempts to pay for us. On the other hand we had to live with the seventies disco music that they seemed to enjoy a lot.

Our main reason to go to Trinidad was to catch a boat up Rio Marmoré for about 5 days but no boats were leaving until 3 days later so we decided that would be too much for our quite tight schedule and dropped the boat idea. Other than that not much happened in Trinidad. It is not really a tourist destination so people actually came up to us on the street and in restaurants to ask where we were from and kids were fascinated by my "white" hair.

Trinidad

The Pampas

noreply@blogger.com (Yarden) — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 17:43:00 +0000

Bolivia is an amazing country in many aspects. One of them is the variety of altitudes. La Paz is about 3km a.s.l but when you head north east (hopefully on a plane and not along the death road) the altitudes drop to almost sea level so fast that from the plane it looks like a shear cliff. The Amazon basin here is about 200m.a.s.l (reaching sea level at the eastern coast of Brazil) and it is divided to jungle and pampas, the flat wetlands which are flooded during the rainy season and are home to many different animals.

We took a 3 days tour to the pampas in which we stayed in a cabin on the riverside and traveled mostly by a small boat along the river in search of wildlife. We also went on a 4 hours walking tour to search for Anacondas.

Apart from that we had an early morning and a late night boat rides to hear the different sounds (howling monkeys and such ..) and a couple of rides to nice bars, comfortable located on the riverbank and serve cold bear to thirsty tourists.

One day we went fishing for Piranhas, caught quite a few and had them for dinner.
We saw a lot of birds (Ibises, Storks, Herons and also some predator birds), monkeys, Capybaras, Alligators, snakes and even the local pink river Dolphins. Here are some Photos:

A turtle train

Me and an Anaconda we found

Crazy two headed birds

Pink river dolphins

Small river bird flying

Aquatic bird taking off

Alligator

Capybara

Marabu

Little yellow monkey

A Piranha that I caught (Karin caught more ..)

Welcome to the jungle

noreply@blogger.com (Karin) — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 22:32:00 +0000

The jungle from Rio Tuichi

After lingering a couple of days extra in Rurre it was finally time to get out to the jungle. In 1981, an israeli guy named Yossi Ghinsberg lost his group in the same jungle and had to survive on his own for more than a month before he was finally found. So, let's not tell the israeli mum where we are going until we get back...

We got into a boat in Rurre - Yarden, I, a Czech couple and our non-english speaking guide. Fortunately it turned out that the czech girl spoke spanish so she translated what the guide said into czech, her boyfriend into english and we all understood most of it. Of course, being in Bolivia, the guide knew most names of animals and plants in Hebrew as well. After 3 hours on Rio Beni and Rio Tuichi we arrived at our camp - a few cabins, dining room and bath - very simple but ok.

Our cabaña

In the afternoon we went for our first walk. For 4 hours we walked through thick, green and hot jungle where you don't get one quiet moment. The sounds from cicadas, birds and any other type of animal was really loud, quite surprising. We saw birds, spiders, wild pigs, a snake and even a turtle. To quench our thirst we drank water from a liana and the guide told us about different medicinal and toxic plants.

Downing a liana

Turtle

Tarantula

Snake

Beautiful butterfly

We came back to the camp for an excellent dinner and then Yarden and I went for a night walk with tthe guide. In the pitch black night, only lit up by our torches, the stars and fire flies our guide managed to find frogs, spiders, birds, crocodiles and tracks from puma, jaguar and tapir. Walking along the river, gleaming eyes of crocodiles where everywhere, luckily they aren't very big so no worries. The bigger animals decided not to show up so footprints were all we got. 2,5 hours later we came back to the camp for some sleep.

Tiny crocodile

Dragon fly

The second day contained a 3-4 hour walk in the morning, followed by lunch, siesta and a much needed swim in the river. Then it was time for "artesania", handicraft. The guide and the czech girl where frenetically making rings and necklaces from different kinds of nuts. I made my husband a wedding ring ("it's not comfortable" - does he think that marriage is about comfort??) and the guys were sleeping and reading.

Having fun in the jungle

More fun in the jungle

The last day started early so we could walk a few hours before the temperature became unbearable. This time we walked up to a view point where we could see the jungle from above and hear the howler monkeys howl. In the afternoon we got back into the boat and went to a place to watch colorful parrots screaming loudly before heading back to Rurre.

Look carefully for parrots

Finally some really bad Rio Tuichi jokes:
- The mosquito bites I can stand but the river is Tuichi
- We swam in the river but didn't enjoy it, it was Tuichi

Trees, comes in all shapes...

Rurrenabaque

noreply@blogger.com (Karin) — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 22:32:00 +0000

Only 40 minutes by plane from La Paz is Rurrenabaque (or Rurre as most people call it). It feels like another planet though. While La Paz is a busy, big city that gets cold as ice at night and located at such high altitude that you start to breath heavily as soon as you climb a couple of stairs, Rurre is in the middle of the rainforest, hot and humid, sleepy and easy going. From La Paz you fly in over the snowy Andean peaks that quickly changes to the lush, green Amazon basin. Sweat covers you the moment you step onto the grassy landing strip.

The Andes, so close you can almost touch them

Nice little plane

The town itself is located net to the river Beni and surrounded by two national parks it's a really popular place for tourists. Travel agencies that arranges jungle- and Pampas tours are everywhere. Of course we did both (more about that later though). Unfortunately we had to stay a bit longer because of illness but it was quickly over and now we are up and running again! Other tourists aren't as lucky as us, you can see them sitting on the streets with the orange pants and dreadlocks, trying to sell there handmade jewellery. Some people just don't know when to stop travelling...

Who needs a bridge really?

View from our balcony over Rio Beni

The witches market

noreply@blogger.com (Yarden) — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 17:56:00 +0000

There's a quaint market in La Paz called 'The Witches Market'. Well, it's in the tourists' area so they mostly sell cloths, fabrics and other souvenirs of poor quality but they also sell bizarre substances, dead animals and llama / alpaca fetuses. Here are some photos:

Vendor of dog sleeped magical herbs

Should Karin get a fetus?

Or a frog

Or maybe a decorated armadillo

Where do all the naked Israelis come from?

noreply@blogger.com (Karin) — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 17:26:00 +0000

Bolivia is a popular destinations for israelis. This is extremely visible in La Paz. You see signs, menus and recommendation letters in hebrew everywhere. When going for dinner the first night, Jason, an american that we have traveled with for a while, went into a restaurant to check out the menu and came back and said that it looked like a good place. So we went in. And where met by an israeli restaurant with a few menus in spanish, the rest was hebrew! the strangest thing though were the walls that were covered with photos of naked israelis posing for pictures in the salt lakes, the jungle or on a beach. It seems like some kind of mass psychosis. Maybe it's something that happens to your brain when the sun hits the salt crystals in the huge salt fields wher most of the pictures were taken? Maybe they didn't have to pay entrance if the took off their clothes? Maybe their heads are messed up from being in the army? We don't know, maybe the same thing will happen to us when we reach the sslt fields. If so, I promise you will be able to see the proof on a wall in El Lobo restaurant in La Paz.

People of La Paz

noreply@blogger.com (Yarden) — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 17:49:00 +0000

I strolled around the Plaza Pedro D Murillo, where the presidential palace is, and observed the different types of people (with a long range lens). Here are some photos:

Sleepy vendor

Playing (making noise) for money

Begging for money

Masked shoe-shiner (plenty of those here)

Eating local treat (jelly and cream)

Children of a booth owner

Examining the pigeons

Local woman

More photos

noreply@blogger.com (Karin) — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 20:42:00 +0000

There are more photos from our traveling on Flickr. The easiest way to see them is to click on the Flickr-badge on the right side of this page, just scroll down a little bit and you will find it!

Only for the Swedes

noreply@blogger.com (Karin) — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 20:29:00 +0000

Ibland blir man ju lite sugen pa nagot gott.....

Copacabana i Bolivia servas av A.J. Bergstroms Akeri, lite ovantat!

Peruvian menu

noreply@blogger.com (Karin) — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 20:14:00 +0000

There's a lot of food in the world that you didn't know existed. Things you didn't know that you could eat. Mysteries on how to get certain food is cleared in this menu - Sweater gives trout - stop fishing, just squeeze them out of your sweater!

Cuzco and the Incas

noreply@blogger.com (Yarden) — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 18:47:00 +0000

My idea of the Incas was of course taken from TV and hearsay. I had a mental image of a gigantic and mysterious empire that built cities all over north-western south America for many centuries until the Spaniards came and killed, converted and enslaved everybody. After visiting the city of Cuzco, the Incas capital and Machu-Picchu, their enigmatic hidden city, I think far less of them. Never the less, Some nice photos are attached to this entry.

First, a common mistake (by common mistakes I mean mistakes I made), the Incas were not a people, but the rulers. ¨The Inca¨ was the king so at every given moment there was just one (well.. at the end there were two). Other then the ruler there were many social classes but most of the people, the common people, were the same people who existed before the Incas (Quechua or Aymaru speaking tribes).

A second mistake, many people think that the Inca empire existed for many centuries and introduced most of the sciences and craftsmanship to this part of the continent. Actually, they were very strong in building and organisation but they borrowed or copied most of their ideas, methods and even believes (deities, rituals etc') from people they conquered. They weren't the first expansionists but they were the biggest. They existed between 1200 something-1533 and had their expansionist era (that is, they expanded their empire beyond Cuzco to greater Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru and northern Chile and Argentina) only between 1438-1533 when they were vanquished by the Spaniards. It is said that one of the reasons for their swift defeat against the Spaniards is the lack of loyalty of the people they governed (and enslaved).

More reasons for their defeat could be the Spanish armored horsemen, European disease and the fact that the Inca empire was divided between two brothers, who fought each other, when the Conquistadores arrived.

And another very disappointing fact, even though they had apparent knowledge in agricultural sciences (evidence of botanic testing), Astronomy, Math, Building engineering and others they kept none or few records and no written documents (they had a different and rather non-preserving method of knots on strings). And, of course, the Spaniards ruined most of the evidences. It makes the Inca empire more enigmatic and it gives archaeologists a chance to debate and write books but it also makes them boring to the tourists who have to listen to the guide trying to explain (rarely in good English) that what you see in front of you can't be interpreted for more then you see.

Cuzco

The main square (Plaza de armas) of Cuzco

Main cathedral, Cuzco

Once the capital city of the Incas. They named it Qosqo (Q like the Hebrew 'chet') which means the center of the universe. Nothing really important happened here between the Spanish conquest in the 16th century and the discovery of Machu-Picchu in 1911. Since than Cuzco is a central destination for travelers. Never the less, there are beautiful colonial and Inca buildings here and because of the enormous flux of tourists, the entire economy here is constructed on tourism. Everyone here is either works in a restaurant , a hotel, as a tourist operator,as a taxi driver, as a guide or as a thief/robber/beggar.

Another plaza in Cuzco

Colonial courtyard, Cuzco

Fountain in Cuzco

We spent 2-3 days here to tour the city and to arrange a tour to Machu-Picchu and the sacred valley of the Incas. I found the city charming. Despite the many harassments by the locals, who try to sell you stuff and get you to their restaurants/hotel/tour, and the abundance of Israeli affected environment (Hebrew signs etc') the buildings are amazing, the colonial streets kept the narrow characteristics of the Inca ones and the museums, cathedrals and historic sites were worth the visit ... In some sense, Cuzco is more impressive (in my eyes) then Machu-Picchu.

The Sacred Valley of the Incas and Machu-Picchu

We went on an organized tour to the sacred valley of the Incas and the lost city Machu-Picchu. When I asked why was the valley sacred to the Incas the guide told me that it is because of the many species of corn they grew here. The pre-Inca and Inca governed societies based their beliefs and ways of life on their surrounding nature. They worshiped the sun, the moon and the mountains as deities (the Andeans here are really impressive) and kept track of both a religious calender and an agricultural one.

Karin (the sacred wife) and the sacred valley

In the sacred valley we visited ruins in the towns Pisaq and Ollantaytambo. Pisaq is a colonial town. The Inca ruins are on the adjunct mountain. As mentioned before, the locals here lived around the Inca center, at the bottom of the mountain, and only the upper classes lived on the mountain.

Terraces in Pisaq (and a little local playing the flute)

The Inca's method of construction and agriculture on mountains consisted on terraces. The terraces were used not only as farmlands but also to stop the mountains' erosion. It is visible in Colca valley, the sacred valley ruins and Machu-Picchu. In Pisaq there were evidences of experimental grows of different plants including cotton (which is usually grown in far lower altitudes).

Pisaq ruins

A 'Temple of the Sun' (sometimes two) was present in all the places we visited. The Inca's sun temples are round and have windows in specific direction so that the sunlight at sunrise comes from different direction in different seasons and casts different light and shadow of the centerpiece of the temple (which is always natural bedrock). Thus, the Inca followed the seasons precisely. The temple in Ollantaytambo is square because it predates the Incas.

Massive stones in Ollantaytambo's temple of the sun

In the Ollantaytambo ruins there is a massive storage area up on the neighboring bountain. The Incas had gigantic storage that actually sustained the local people for years when the Gold and Silver frenzy of the Spaniards forced them to abandon agriculture.

The Inca's building technique is very impressive. Extremely accurate stone cutting and polishing makes you think that it took them centuries to build their cities. Luckily they had slave labour. In Ollantaytambo and in most of Machu-Picchu there are much more findings that predate the Inca and have other building techniques. Another impressive attribute of the Inca buildings is the constant leaning angles of the walls which strengthened the building against the earthquakes this region is so 'blessed' with. The water to their temples, BTW, is conducted in elaborated underground tunnels from nearby mountains. The quarreys from which they brought the gigantic stones are sometimes many km away.

Ollantaytambo was also where the last major battle between the Inca Manco and the Spaniards (led by Fransisco Pissaro). Before fleeing, The Inca ordered to destroy and cover the trail to Machu-Picchu, which was lost even to the Peruvians until rediscovered in 1911 by an America explorer.

Machu-Picchu

It is considered to be a must in the entire continent, it's the reason for Cuzco's flourishing economy and it is also the reason why the small town that reside below it, Aguas Calientes, is a totally touristic and overpriced place. Nether the less, after much unearthing and reconstructing (about 25% of the place is reconstructed) Machu-Picchu, residing on a steep mountain and accessible only through certain trails (and today, a bus) has preserved much of the Inca's splendor (most of the findings are, however, in the US and all the mommies that were found here were burned .. Because of the fear of diseases) of mighty architectural skills.

We got up early and our guided tour started at 6:30. Later, we climbed the near peak to take pictures from above. The city's shape is supposed to remind a Condor (Cuzco is in the shape of a Puma .. the other animal in Inca mythology is the snake and they represent the 3 levels or universes in their religion) and it is hard to force your imagination to see it. On the other hand, when standing on the opposite side of the site it is easy to see that the mountains form a very nice head shape.

Nobody knows why it was built and who lived there (Cuzco was the capital). Even today, a much larger city is being uncovered in the amazon basin. To me it seems lame that a giant empire, even if week and defeated, leaves no evidence. That is why I won't bother with any more details and let the pictures speak for themselves.

Karin and the Andes in the entrance to MP

MP and the face like mountains

MP as seen from WaynaPicchu, the near mountain

The temple of the sun in MP

MP and its terraces

Karin loves MP

The center of MP

Llama in MP

El Condor F***ing Pasa

noreply@blogger.com (Karin) — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 23:19:00 +0000

I'm continuing my ethnological research in order to answer our reader's questions. Today the focus has come to music!

Before coming to Peru I had one association to Peruvian music - El Condor Pasa on pan flute. After more than 2 weeks in Peru not much has changed... Of the music I've heard here about 75% is pan flute and of this half is El Condor Pasa, a fourth "Andean music" (the kind of music you will hear if you're getting a massage in spa's) and the rest is old Elton John, Phil Collins and Celine Dion hits in pan flute versions.

At every possible chance the Peruvians will throw in a pan flute performance - in restaurants, in the local bath, on the bus, in every freaking street corner... And they will try to sell you their CDs and get some tip, not caring a bit that they were standing 50 cm from your ear while you were trying to talk to your husband. And their friend who never learned to play will be dressed up as an Indian, dancing and making bird sounds in some strange clay instrument.

When they are not thinking about the tourists Peruvians seems to have a weakness for the eighties, I really have had the opportunity to listen to Samantha Fox, Roxette and Fine (Five?) Young Cannibals on this trip. And Rick Astley. I had completely forgotten about him, how could I...

There is of course some modern, local music. R'n'B (how do you write that??) with a lot of latino influences, Ricky Martin-style singers and Beyonce in spanish, but really, who cares the least bit about that??

Colca Canyon

noreply@blogger.com (Karin) — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 20:05:00 +0000

After a day in Arequipa we got on a tour to Colca Canyon, the second deepest canyon in the world with another Peruvian canyon on first place and Grand Canyon on third. Colca canyon is mostly visited for the possibility to see condors, but it is also filled with small towns, pre-Inca terraces and beautiful views.

On the way to the canyon we made short stops to watch vicuñas, a llama-like animal, stock up on coca tea and coca candies (good against altitude sickness and perfectly legal since in its natural form the coca leaf doesn't give you "highs" or is addictive).

We arrived in Chivay, a small town in the northeast end of the valley, in time for lunch and then checked in at our hostel. To get a room with a double bed in this country is very easy - you ask for a "matrimonial", then you say you are married and that you in fact are on your honeymoon (luna de miel) - works like a charm every time, hostelowners have even switched beds from one room to another. Also at this hostel it worked, we were given the "married room" according to our guide...

In the afternoon we went to the hot springs, just outside the town, where we soaked our tired bodies in out- and indoor pools for a couple of hours. In the evening we went to a restaurant to see a local dance show in classical turistic style. Of course, both Yarden and I were dragged on to the dancefloor to dance. Wonderful...

Yarden shows his moves on the dance floor

The following day we were up before sunrise in order to get to the Condor Cross early in the morning when the condors are most visible. But we also managed to squeeze in a couple of stops in villages on the way to look at inka terraces, churches, tombs and maybe some shopping... A bit after eight we got out of the bus to take a walk for about 30 mins to the Condor Cross. On the way we saw one condor close by and felt quite happy that we at least had gotten to see one. But when we reached the cross there were condors everywhere. For two hours we stood, together with hundreds of more tourists, with our heads lifted to the sky, our cameras snapping picture after picture and just enjoyed the performance.

Majestic condor

Going in for landing....

The condors are impressive creatures, they can be over 3 meter from one tip of the wing to the other with a weight of 10-15 kg. The young condor is brown and it's only when they are around 7 years old that they change to the characteristic black and white plumes. Since it's so big it has difficulties to take of for flying which is why they stay high up on the mountains so they can use the wind.

Condor couple

Young condor

Condors in Peru

noreply@blogger.com (Karin) — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 22:38:00 +0000

Arequipa

noreply@blogger.com (Karin) — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 19:58:00 +0000

After a day of rest in Huaraz after our trek we continued our trip southwards by bus. First 8 hours to Lima, where I decided that Lima is in fact a mucho depressive city with a constant cloud parked over the city. It's huge, dirty and polluted so after 2 hours in the bus station I was thrilled to get on the night bus to Arequipa. Just another 14 hours...

Peru really is a strange country when it comes to its nature. We drove on a highway that went through sand dunes that feel steeply into the ocean on one side. And then it continued with stone desert and every now and then a town with half-finished houses and garbage everywhere. It's all very boring to look at. But then you also have the amazing mountains and canyons and green valleys.

Arequipa's Cathedral with volcanoes in the background

After almost 24 hours on buses we finally arrived to Arequipa, Peru's second largest city and with its 760.000 inhabitants it only has a tenth of Lima's population. And it is so much nicer. It's a nice colonial town with beautiful buildings surrounded by high volcanoes around 6.000 m.a.s.l. One of it's bad sides though is that it's a victim of many earthquakes, the last big one in 2001. But they keep rebuilding it over and over... Tired after the bus ride we didn't do much, walked around in the picturesque city center, visited a museum and booked a tour out of the city.

Around Plaza des Armas

There are about 3 taxis for each person in Arequipa

In the evening we went on a date and had a beer on one of the balconies overlooking the magnificent Plaza des Armas. So, to sum it up, Arequipa was a very nice stop on our journey. Beautiful, friendly and you can actually breath the air without choking.

Look how happy girls become when someone takes them on a date!

Attack of the insidious cross-dresser

noreply@blogger.com (Yarden) — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 18:12:00 +0000

The streets of Peru are known to be unsafe. Pick-pockets, drug dealers, corrupt police officers, thieves and even robbers lurk in the darkness and wait for an innocent tourist to come by.

The most horrid criminal mind in this Andean country is the insidious cross-dresser. Here is just an example of his (or hers) foul atrocities:

A dressed cross, Cusco, Peru

A few groups of local people are protesting against the police's inability to deal with the situation. Among them I.N.R.I (Indians Not Really Interested) and P.S.Q.R (People Seriously Quaff Rubbish) who decided to take their protest to the streets:

Locals protesting

Terrified, we decided to flee to Bolivia.

Food

noreply@blogger.com (Karin) — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 18:03:00 +0000

Many readers turn to us with questions related to our travels. They want to know more about what's happening in this part of the world and if we can explain different habits and customs. One of the most common questions is about food - what are we eating, what are others eating, how does it taste...the list is endless. And really, who could be better than me to answer questions about eating?

I want to start with a confession though. Something I'm a bit ashamed of. We haven't had ceviche yet, Peru's national dish. And no guinea pig either. We have had some Pisco Sour though, which is Peru's national drink, they even have an official Pisco Sour-day here. I didn't like it too much, it reminded me too much of an unfortunate evening during my high school years (remember the whisky sour Frida??).

What we eat is basically rice and chicken. Since my husband takes great pride in being the only tourist in a reastaurant we often end up in smole hole-in-the-wall joints with a bunch of locals staring at us while we are trying to decipher the menu of the day. The typical menu consists of a soup that up 'til this day we have not been able to understand what sort we will be served. Doesn't matter though, it always turns out to be potatoes, carrots and unidentified, suspicious pieces of meat/chicken/intestines... Sometimes surprisingly tasty. After the soup comes the main course, normally one of the following choices: chicken, fried fish, lomo saltado (some kind of meat hidden undera thick layer of fried onion and tomato) and finally something with a strange name that we have absolutely no idea what it is. Always served with rice, sometimes also with fries. To this the one and only drink is of course Inca Kola. Sometimes you get lucky with your order, sometimes less so. One thing that never disappoints though is the price - together with a drink the check is normally 8 soles (approx 2 USD).

Another staple in our food circle is the quarter of a grilled chicken served with french fries, tiny salad and sometimes a drink for 5-7 soles (1,5-2 USD). This can be found at a multitude of Pollerias everywhere in Peru.

Yarden at a Polleria

The third cheap option is to go to a Chifa, a chinese restaurant. They serve pretty much the same food as in the other restaurants but it has more chinese sounding names.

Logical menu - first you eat, then you pay!

Then of course, sometimes one of us says - I don't know about you but I'm on my honeymoon - and then we end up having alpaca steak and some wine, or a coffee and a sandwich for three times the price of an ordinary meal. But it is nice!

Funny people...

No, there will be no eating of dog on this trip!

Multi-religious experience

noreply@blogger.com (Karin) — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 16:14:00 +0000

Sometimes you find yourselves in situations you really wouldn't want to be part of but there is absolutely nothing to do but trail along. Yesterday was such a time. After a 4-day trek in high altitudes getting on a bus and head back home (or to Huaraz in this case) should be a piece of cake. Well, it just wasn't. This was where the real adventure began.

Packed into a minibus, the most common public transportation in Peru, together with about 16 other, we started to climb on a serpentine gravel road. At the top I looked out of the window and saw the most amazing serpentine road going down on another mountain. I turn to Yarden and just when I'm saying "look at that crazy road" I realise that it is the road that we are going down. It is a narrow road, sharp curves, plenty of crosses as memorials over people that didn't make it and we're sitting in this minibus that has seen better days. I squeeze Yarden's hand hard at every curve and release it a bit every time we make it through. Yarden says that he definitely hope there is a God and I answer that I believe in all of them at the moment. Whoever will help us through I'm ready to pray to.

Half-way down the road the minibus stops. In front of us is another bus that also has stopped. Turns out the other bus' steering wheel stopped working. Not something you want to happen at a serpentine road. Everyone gets out of the buses, we speak a bit to a couple from the other bus, that we met on the trek earlier. They seem a bit shaken and don't look forward to get into the bus again. After an hour the drivers fixed the problem and everyone gets on the bus again. The couple joke about having us call their mother's if they don't make it, it doesn't feel completely as a joke... The rest of the way down is nerve-wrecking. I try not to look at the road.

In Yungay we switch to another minibus to Huaraz. This time it's a paved road and it feels safe. Should take about 1,5 hours to get back. After 1 hour a high noise sounds and the driver brakes fiercly. Everyone gets out of the bus, gets their bags and tries to catch another ride as fast as possible. We end up staying on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere for about 20 minutes until another minibus stops and picks us up. We finally arrive to Huaraz at 7 o'clock at night and I have rarely been so happy to be alive!

High-altitude dreams

noreply@blogger.com (Karin) — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 16:57:00 +0000

You would think that sleeping in a tent in a national park, surrounded by snowy peaks and beautiful nature would cause you to have serene dreams filled with horses gallopping over fields, glittering mountain lakes and healthy activities. Not in my world. I woke up one morning realising that I had been dreaming about the following things:

- I was going to a Sting-concert. Everyone tried to get in without a ticket but I was cool and had tickets.

- I was playing golf with Jack Nicholson. He was mad most of the time.

- I accidentaly cut of 2-3 mm of skin from my mothers nose with a knife. She said it was ok but I knew it would hurt like hell.

- My fridge was filled with cakes. Big tasty cakes with loads of chocolate on.

I guess the fact that I was seen as cool for having tickets to a Sting-concert must have had something to do with the lack of oxygen. Playing golf with Jack Nicholson however is always cool.

Good thing I have action filled dreams at least!

The Santa Cruz Trek

noreply@blogger.com (Yarden) — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 17:23:00 +0000

The Santa Cruz trek is probably the most beaten in the Andes around Huaraz. Nonetheless, it promises some of the best views of the Andes. We decided to go for it because it's probably one of the few treks that gets to nice places in 4 days only and because we wanted to do it ourselves, that is with no guide or donkeys.

So, after buying a map, gas canisters for cooking and renting a tent and a better sleeping bag for Karin we went to the market and bought all the food needed for a 4 days hike.

The next morning we hopped on a bus (that is a transit packed with 20 people) to Caraz, a town 2 hours north of Huaraz and from there a collective (a private car that collected passengers in the market) to Cachapampa, where our journey begun.

Climbing on the first day

The first day of the hike was difficult. We ascended from 2800 a.s.l to 3800 a.s.l in what seemed to be an endless climb. Both of us had trouble dealing with the thin air (really, at 3500 a.s.l you get 40% less oxygen in every breath) which meant fatigue, heavy breathing and even headaches. We had very little attention for the beautiful Andean valley we were walking in. Only towards the end of that day, when we were really tired we noticed the first snowy peaks that were waiting us.

The view while ascendeing, first day

The first evening and night were rough. The temperatures dropped sharply after the sun disappeared behind the mountains so we rushed to make our dinner and go to sleep. An interesting thing happened when I was trying to cook rice with water that I previously purified with Iodine pills. The purified water has the color of apple juice (and the taste of Iodine) but when reacting with the starch in the rice it turned blue. from that incident and on we used non-purified water to cook.

The first evening

The night was hard for me. I had an headache and felt sick. Those are signs of altitude sickness. It takes time for the body to produce more red blood cells and expand the used areas of the lungs to adapt to the thin air.I was gasping and felt like a fish out of the water. Eventually, I got some sleep. Karin seemed to have an easier time.

The second day was an easy walk. We didn't gain more than 400m and the Andes were glorious. We both felt the signs of the altitude when climbing or even getting up quickly .. You just get dizzy. That evening we had a carbohydrate rich dinner because the next day was supposed to be the hardest.

A mountain lake, second day

The second night was freezing. The drinking water we kept in the tent was fine but the cooking water we kept outside partially froze.

The third day was the challenge day. It begun early with a nutritious oats, banana and raisins breakfast that we cooked without leaving the tent because of the cold. In the first half of that day we climbed to the Punta Union pass at 4750 a.s.l and descended to the valley on the other side. The ascent was slow. We had to stop very often and to advance very slowly.

A lake on the mountain side, third day

Views from the ascent to the pass, third day

The view from the pass is amazing. Snow covered peaks, glaciers, pools and valleys spreading to the horizon.

At the pass (to which we'll call Debelstin pass)

On the pass

Both sides of the pass

A blue bird we found on the way down

The last day was supposed to be event less but still we managed to loose some time straying of the course (completely my fault) and spend hours on the collectivos back to Huaraz on roads that serpentined in a very scary way down hill and on a vehicle that just broke down in the middle of the way to Huaraz. Eventually we got there, already in the dark, and concluded the experience as taxing but beautiful and rewarding.

The view of the last day