Friday, May 18, 2012

Bad luck :(

I'm gonna have to do some backwards blogging given recent events. I wrote a blog each day in the Galapagos last week sharing stories about swimming with penguins and sea lions. Since our boat was charging a hefty $36/ten minutes on the Internet, the entries were saved on my iPad ready-to-publish as soon as I returned to the real world. The "real world" certainly hit me in the face when I got home. Not 24 hours after I returned to Santiago, some greedy ladron (or burglar in Spanish) broke into my apartment and stole my iPad containing said posts, along with the BRAND NEW CAMERA that I bought for our Machu Picchu trip and used to take so many amazing pictures, my computer, beloved Louis Vuitton tote and so much more.

Stuff is...just stuff. The jerks stole a little bit of my enthusiasm about Chile, all the trust I had in my concierges and my post-vacation glow. These things happen anywhere though, so all you can do is smile and be glad that worse things didn't happen. Snickers is the only one that really knows what happened, and perhaps the police can find out more, but at least my kitty is safe and I wasn't home!

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Cuy - or as we know it, guinea pig

Our final day in Cusco was more of a travel day than anything else with the exception of fulfilling our goal of trying two of the local Peruvian "treats"...oh ya, and a visit to Saqsahuaman and the Cathedral.

We started at Saqsahuaman, pronounced "Sexy woman," for some more Inca ruin viewing. After that, we visited the Sun Temple that was overtaken by the Spanish in the 1500s that is part Inca/part Spanish. The contrast reminded me of the juxtaposition of the Moorish architecture seen in Morocco after the Spanish conquest of northern Africa. We ended our Peruvian tour with Felix at the Cathedral in Cusco, viewing gold flaked chapels and a very interesting painting of the Last Supper featuring a woman (presumably Mary Magdalene a la Dan Brown) and a main dish of guinea pig rather than what is typically represented in the work.

Before sending the boys off, we needed one last Cusqueño meal to end Peru properly. Trey had been dying to try the Chicha, a fermented corn beverage that quite frankly, sounds to me like Moonshine. Apparently, you cannot order this local drink at nice restaurants without a little bit of a twist to help the flavor. Even so, after two sips of his drink at a restaurant also named after the drink (Chi Cha), he had had his fill.

The other delight we were encouraged by so many Peruvians to try was cuy, which in fact is guinea pig. I know that it's the same thing we have as a pet back home because I saw their little cages in a market right before they were to be grilled a few days ago in Ollantaytambo. They served the guinea pig with purple corn crepes and a tamarind sauce, but based on the expression on my face after bravely trying this adorable creature, nothing can make you feel better about eating a guinea pig. They serve guinea pig at special occasions and on holidays typically in Peru, according to everyone we spoke to. The price tag verifies this, as 1 kg of meat costs about $80! The price tag should be more of a warnig, however, than an invitation in my opinion, in contrast to other fine meats (like yummy lobster) that ring in around the same price.

Huayna Picchu

Somehow, I convinced the rest of the Beckham troop to climb a daunting steep vertical precipice known as Huayna Picchu, which in Quechua means "old mountain." I have hiked many a mountain (see my Pucon entry in December, for example), but I might have to say that this hike was the toughest I have ever done. It was straight up a giant rock on slick rudimentary stairs built by archeologists. Huayna Picchu was a place reserved for only priests and nobility in Inca times. From the top we were able to see a birds-eye view of Machu Picchu (when the cloud cover wasn't blocking it) that was breathtaking.

After hiking back down very, very slowly, we clambered up to the Watchman's House where another phenomenal view of Machu Picchu can be seen. We dined on box lunches with the help of some llamas who were oddly very interested in our apples before another short hike to the Inca Bridge. Alas, the time had come to return to the bus to make our way back to the train station for our trip back to Cusco.

Machu Picchu

Early morning number 10,000! Thai morning we woke up and hopped in our shuttle with Felix for a short ride to the train station in Ollantaytambo to catch our PeruRail train to Aguas Calientes, the small village at the base of the mountain upon which Machu Picchu sits. The only way to access Macchi Picchu is by train or on foot via the Inca Trail. Once in Aguas Calientes, we hopped on a bus up the windy road to Machu Picchu. We spent the next few hours listening to Felix retell the story of the discovery of the city by Hiram Bingham in 1912 while tromping all over the site. After a less than satisfying buffet lunch at the Sanctuary Lodge, we headed to the Inka Terra where we would spend the evening in the jungle. Trey and I relaxed our muscles in the hot springs at the hotel while my mom and dad tried to recover from the hiking and biking of the past few days with a nap.

Mountain-biking to Moray

Thanks to Mom's efforts not to go on a "sissy tour" of Peru, we ditched the tour van today for a mountain bike. The day's sight-seeing began with a fairly strenuous 13 km bike ride across the Peruvian countryside. We rode through small towns and saw the authentic way of Andean life in the Sacred Valley. My mom decided to entertain herself (or distract herself from the pain in her thighs) by counting the different types of animal poop she rode over in her bike. By the end of the morning, she had reached 6 (& a half)! Pig, bull, goat, sheep, dog, llama, and what very well might have been human. We made our way to the Inca archeological site of Moray. There are four impressive terraced circular "greenhouses" remaining at Moray. We enjoyed a picnic lunch of salad and yogurt before hopping in the van to drive 20 minutes to Maras. Once in Maras, we hopped back on the bikes for a 6 km technical (and a bit scary) ride to the salt mines outside of Maras. The mines have been in operation since Incan times and are still fully functional today. After 19 km of riding, we were ready to call it a day and head back to Sol y Luna just before it started to rain. On the ride back, we were treated with a gorgeous double rainbow that you could see from end to end. Amazing!

We took advantage of the hotel's nightly show offering upon our return to Urabamba where we saw a strange Cirque du Soleil-esque rendition of Incan religion played out on stage. A condor representative of the heavens battled with a snake who represents the underworld. The battled ensued to convince a man portraying a puma, the Incan god of the present life, to join their side. As in any culture, the condor ultimately lured the puma away from the serpent to the forces of good.

Monday, May 7, 2012

Sacred Valley

Early mornings seem to be a theme on this trip, and the beginning of our visit to the Sacred Valley was no different. Felix, our guide for the next few days, arrived bright and early to embark on our journey into the Sacred Valley. We began the day with a stop at what I would call a llama petting zoo where we were introduced up-close and personal to llamas, alpacas, and vicuñas. We also were shown the Andean style of textile weaving by some local women.

Our trip continued on to Pisac, an ancient Inca town where we saw some of the typical agricultural terraces used to grow corn and potatoes in Inca times, as well as some ruins of storage houses, living quarters, a temple and a cemetery in the side of the mountain.

After visiting Pisac, we headed to Urabamba for lunch at a fabulous little place called El Huacatay. Felix then led us to Ollantaytambo, a formidable stone structure where massive terraces climb to the peak of a mountain. This town was the valley's main defense from neighboring enemies. Unfortunately, due to news of the arrival of the Spanish, construction was never completed. Nonetheless, the climb up the 500-something stairs to the top was well worth it (or at least I thought so, however my mom might have her own opinion).

We returned to Urabamba for the night to our private little villas at Sol y Luna. The hotel is a treasure in the middle of nowhere complete with a ranch and botanical gardens on the property. With natural beauty, of course, comes natural things - which Trey and I discovered when encountering a rather large scorpion in the bathroom!

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Lima, Peru

As some of you know, this week is the Beckham family trip to South America. I flew to Lima on Monday night to meet up with my brother (Trey), and my mom and dad. We spend the next day dining at La Rosa Nautical for lunch followed by a tour of the Larco Museum and Iglesia Santo Domingo in the old city center near the plaza where the main Peruvian government buildings are found. As it was May 1, or Dia del Trabajador as they call it in Peru, many of the other sightseeing spots were closed for the day. Fortunately, we had enough to do in order to fill our day before meeting my friends Jackie and Eduardo for drinks at the hotel. It was nice for my family to get a chance to meet some of the people I have become friends with in Santiago.

After enjoying a couple of pisco sours , we went to dinner at Astrid y Gaston (see my Valentines Day entry for the love story behind the real Astrid and Gaston). The restaurateur is famous all over South America, and especially Peru, as he is Peruvian. We were offered complementary champagne with dinner in celebration of the restaurant's nomination as one of the best 35 restaurants in the world. Our food was excellent. They have my vote!