Sand Boards, Sand Boogys and Sand Dunes

Megan: Pisac to Cusco was a bit of a rough drive because we were both getting sick from our jaunt up Machu Picchu and it was my first attempt at a short car ride minus gravol. Things didn’t turn out so well with this experiment and the result was an abrupt roadside stop and a nice view of breakfast. Back in Cusco the city was bubbling with its usual mix of grime and loveliness. It was awesome to be immersed in Inca history and the later colonial influence. We checked out Museo Inka on our way out of town and saw our first mummies ever! They looked a bit different than originally imagined—the Inca tied up their dead with their knees tucked up to their chest and palms placed on the side of their face. This position makes it look like the person was terrified, screaming, and in agony at the time of death. Unfortunately we don’t have any pictures to verify since they weren’t prohibited in the museum.  In addition to the mummies, we saw a lot of other really old stuff: ceramics, stone work, textiles, paintings and artifacts documenting the bloody colonial invasion.

Road Hazards--rocks and centerline straddling buses

We were getting a bit tired of the rain and clouds so decided to head back towards the coast. Instead of taking the same way back through Arequipa, we took the less popular path to Nazca. Iain read that this road had been closed for 10 years due to rebel activity by The Shining Path. Luckily for us, the road is fine in the bandit sense, but high rains still pose a potential danger. Nothing too crazy happened to us, but there were many rocks and boulders on the road and rivers spewing out to the highway. We were lucky we didn’t have any problems, although Iain confirms it was the craziest mountain road he has driven to date.

One of many river crossings

Parade? To me Road Hazard

Road Food--Peanut Butter/Nutella/Banana sandwich

River nearly breaching over the road

View From the Passenger Window of the 'Road'

View From the Drivers Window

Oops..

Thanks to Iain’s superb driving abilities we arrived unharmed! Nazca was a bit disenchanting and bad thing seemed to be happening to us there. First, we couldn’t get breakfast anywhere, even though we checked it out the night before and it seemed every street corner served breakfast. Typically we don’t eat breakfast out so this was even more frustrating.  This shouldn’t have really been a big deal, but supper was a disappointment the night before, it was very hot out, and we were getting ‘hangry’ (anger and or moodiness that develops due to hunger). After locating food, things continued to work against us. I bailed in slow motion UP our hotel stairs (which would have been very humorous to witness) and Iain razored a bald spot smack front and centre of his head while trying to give himself a haircut. We took these as signs it was time to leave.

The main attraction in Nazca is the Nazca lines which consist of 800 straight lines, 300 geometric figures and 70 images of plants and animals. They are a mystery to researchers who have proposed several theories as to their purpose over the years. Going rates for flights over the lines cost about $50, but we opted out and checked out the mirador (lookout) for about almost nothing.

Iain: The next stop was Huacachina, an oasis on the outskirts of Ica. Huacachina is known for its impressive sand dunes surrounding a laguna. Sand boarding is very popular here, with two competitions every year ranging from Big Air to a 9 second Slalom decent.   Megan and I signed up from a sand boarding trip in a ‘boogy’. Boogys happen to be old gas guzzling Suburbans and Broncos which have been stripped down and rebuilt with roll cages, axel reinforcements and driven by a driver who lives on the edge of insanity. Our first decent on the sandboards was a humbling experience- I built up speed and suddenly faced planted with authority.  Megans decent was quite similar. After the third run we had gotten the hang of it. On the way back to the town I opted to try the locals ‘kicker’, a hand built sand jump. I asked politely if I could try their jump and if they could give me any last minutes tips on the topic. They asked how much sandboarding experience I had, I exaggerated and said all day (more like 30 seconds) so with a bunch of safety tips they gave me the go ahead.  I managed to get down to the jump without face planting so I figured I’d better make it worth it and to the locals surprise landed a trescientos sesenta (360 degree spin). Excited I climbed back up and added a tail grab to the spin. Imediately I became a town hero and was invited to a free day of boogying/boarding and asked if I would coach, judge and compete in the up coming competition. A boogy mechanic has offered to buy our car at the end of our trip, we just need more information on the paper work.

Next stop Asia.. Peru.

Huacachina

Huacachina at Night, Ica in the background

Stuck Boogy, Driver digging it out with a Sandboard

Our Boogy/Sandboard shuttle

 

First Decent

Cusco and The Sacred Valley

Streets of Cuzco

Before leaving Arica we met up with two travelers from Germany that were surfing and camping their way through South America. We decided to cross into Peru with them, and maybe convoy to our next stop. Prior to entering a country in S.A. you must first exit out of the country you are currently in (in our case Chile). We have had no problems with this process in the past crossing through into Argentina and back again. However, on this occasion at this particular boarder they refused to let us exit Chile because apparently to travel with a Chilean vehicle into Peru we needed to be Chilean residents. Technically, we had the paper work, a RUT (similar to a social insurance number), but it was a paper copy only valid for a short time. The old-timer boss told us all we needed to do was get a new temporary RUT that was valid for a longer period. The next day we got our new paper, headed back to the boarder and got rejected outright again. We found the boss working that day, and he said it was impossible for us to cross here but maybe we could get through by the nearby Bolivian boarder. Feeling bummed and defeated we contemplated what to do next, but thought we would go back once more to get clarification on what exactly the problem was. 

Ninos Hotel

It seemed a little strange that although we weren’t Chileans, and couldn’t cross into Peru that we could cross over into Bolivia. To our good fortune, we spotted a grandfatherly looking man and thought he could be our guy—and he was! He had to argue with a few adamant Chilean aduana’s officers, but when all was said and done we were granted with permission to get the heck out of Chile.

We decided to go to Arequipa for the night since Cusco was too far a journey and we’d be arriving late. Although this seemed like a great idea, its Peru’s rainy season and we ended up getting a little more than a smooth drive into the city. Torrential rain was pouring down and we ended up having to take an alternative route into the city. It turned out the river before entering the city had flooded and buses  were wheel well deep in water. In turn, this backed up traffic from 10 km away and it took about 3 hours to inch our way forward. In the end we couldn’t even cross, but were told we could use a back road. We followed a few other able vehicles up this dark and road but made it in.

Ninos Library

The following day we hit the road early for Cusco. This turned into another long day of driving, but we managed fine and took in the new landscape and had already decided Peru was going to a fantastic part of the trip. That night we stayed at http://www.ninoshotel.com. Owner Jolanada van den Berg is doing some amazing things from the profits of the hotel for local children. The profits from the hotel help fund a program designed to feed and foster 600 ninos between the ages 6-12. In addition, 80 Peruvians are employed at the various centres and other ninos hotels in the area that support the same project. The next day we were able to visit the centre and find out more about the poverty which has been uncomfortable and challenging. I think there is something to this raw grittiness that holds an undeniable truth that most of us don’t want to acknowledge. The poverty is ubiquitous, but while we sympathize from a distance, it is very easy to ignore everyone, acknowledge no one and constantly remain on guard believing that we will be swindled or bamboozled if we pay the slightest attention. Our personal solution to providing something without contributing through monetary means has been by 1) engaging in conversation and always trying our best in spanish 2) showing gratitude and respect and 3) giving food away when it seems appropriate. We’ve also decided to call out other tourists we see doing things that are rude and who are lacking common courtesy. We saw a bit of this in Cusco from the wealthy, flashy people who in our opinion were pretty much asking for trouble showcasing their affluence and bad attitudes. Cusco is known to be a bit of a rough town for tourists and there is no question why with the high-rollers wandering the plaza. 

Sacsaywaman

Sacsaywaman

Water Works

Ollantaytambo terraces

After we got tickets for the train ride to Machu Picchu and entrance tickets into the park we left for Ollantaytambo . We checked out the Sacsaywaman ruins along the way and stopped by Pisac for their renowned market. We left Ollantaytambo the following night for Machu Pichu, but high rains that caused a landside of rocks to cross the tracks meant a 3 hour delay. We only got a few hours of sleep that night at Aguas Caliente (elevation 8000ft) and left at 6 am for the hike up to site. It turned out be more grueling and hot than expected and Iain was shirtless in the first 20 minutes.     This part of the Machu Picchu experience turned out to be the most physically demanding! Highlights of the day included: a) Wayna   Picchu b) the sun dial (radiating energy from the quartz inside the granite) c) the condor  d) the Inca bridge e) petting llamas and f) all ruins in general.

Machu Picchu Baby

MP Local

Moray Terraces, 20 micro-climates used for agriculture experimentation  

Moray Watering System

After our full day of exploring we spent the night in Ollantaytambo and the next day checked out ruins around Moray and went back to Pisac. We’ve taken in more ruins here and the enormous/famous market one more time for spectacular textiles and art. We plan to head back to Cusco tomorrow to do a load of laundry and check out some museums with our boleto touristico.

p.s. our apologies for the lack of mechanical entertainment regarding our car—apparently our car enjoys the high altitude of the Peruvian Andes and we haven’t broken down since our last post J

Valentine's Day in the Sacred Valley

Dreams Do Come True!!

Stone Compass

This is the result of being the only tourists in the market

Quechuan friend/guide

View from Wayna Picchu

Inca Face in the Mountain

Insane River Below Machu Picchu