Sillustani, Peru

Sorry, I forgot to post this one.

We did a bus tour out of Puno. I sat next to a young Columbian couple that wanted to practice their English. So we talked the whole day about Columbia and Peru and some about California. They were very well educated. We drove out to a place called Sillustani. The ride out to it was interesting. We watched all the stone farm houses going by and I asked the guide if we could stop and see one so he pulled over and we went inside one. I loved it. This compound was a family compound with four generations living together. They made knitted and woven items to sell and raised all their own food. They were very friendly and offered us dinner. We accepted a small amount of food but we did not want to take all their hard earned food from them. They were poor but very happy and healthy looking. The compound had a garden, an outhouse, a barn for the animals, pigs, chickens, llamas, alpacas, guinea pigs, flowers all around and three living quarters with a stone wall around the whole area. My favorite thing was the guinea pig house. It was a miniature version of the main compound all made out of cut stones with a thatched roof, very cool looking guinea pig house. It was all made by the oldest man living there. All of it was made out of stone work, mostly cut stones that they found around their farm he told us but he had to cut some of them himself when he did not have one to recycle. They fed us a variety of potatoes, red, purple, yellow, white potatoes and some that looked more like carrots or ginger root, some quinoa grain, vegies, pickles, some chicken, breads and cheeses that they made. It was all mostly bland tasting. We talked for a long time and they showed us how they weave and knit. Then we continued on our way.

We arrived at Sillustani and got off the bus again. There was a hike to the site. I was pretty crippled but I made it there. This site is a burial site. The burial chambers were about 40 -45 feet high and about 20 feet in diameter all made from cut stones fit precisely together in a silo shape. The bodies were mummified and place in a fetal position in the center of the chambers. Again the stupid Spaniards destroyed the site and tore down most of the chambers. It was in ruins. The more I traveled around South America the less I liked the Spaniards. I took some pics of the area and then I hiked back to the bus because I was hurting too much.

I made it back to the bus long before it was time to leave so I started to talk to the women selling things in a small market near the bus. A group of them were sitting out in the sun knitting and talking. I started to talk to them and I had fun. They were pretty forward with me and made lots of suggestive comments. I sat down with them and asked them about their knitting. I again showed them that I know how to knit also. They were very shocked to see me knit. We laughed about it. I took some pics with them after they told me all about their lives. They seemed to like to gossip together. Most of them had babies on their backs or were nursing their babies. They told me they started to have kids at about thirteen years of age and have been having them ever since. They were all married but made it clear that they were available. I laughed at their forward comments but again I think they were serious. Finally the rest of the group returned and we climbed on the bus and left to go back to Puno.

I really enjoyed my time talking with the women on the hillside overlooking Lake Titicaca off in the distance. I found the people in Peru to be very open and direct and I like people like that. What you see is what you get. No games just real people. They work hard but seemed to enjoy their life. We should all be so lucky.

Train to Machu Picchu

I was in Cuzco again getting set to go to Machu Picchu. The plan was to take a train from Cuzco and then a bus up the mountain to Machu Picchu. I had met a young girl in Cuzco that was also going solo to Machu Picchu so we ended up traveling together. We were having a good time together. Cusco is at a higher elevation than Machu Picchu is. We would be going down about 3000 feet all together. We took a taxi that my guide had arranged for me to the train station and got on the train. The train is a slightly smaller version of a normal passenger train but it was comfortable. They served us some tea and pastries on the trip then they did a fashion show that was funny. I enjoyed watching the scenery go by as we headed down the mountains. We were mostly running next to a river that was flowing fast whitewater for most of the way. It looked like a good river to raft down. We stopped a few times to pick up or drop off passengers but we finally made it to the station for Machu Picchu. I had a hotel for the night so I checked into it. Then our guide met me at the hotel and we went to the bus stop to take the bus up the mountain to the entrance to Machu Picchu. The bus ride up was kind of sketchy since the road was too narrow for the bus and the hairpin turns were kind of scary but we made it up to the top safely. The sight of the old Inca ruins in the distance made some great scenery on the ride. My guide got us our tickets and we entered the sacred site.

We took pics at the mandatory first stop overlooking the entire area. I was happy to finally be here. For many years I had heard about all the power people feel when they get here and I was hoping for the same lift. The weather was perfect, warm and sunny with good visibility to see all the features from our lookout up high. We took pics and moved on to the entrance to the city. Our guide explained all the engineering and features of the walls made out of precisely carved stones as we went along. We saw the residential areas of the city and the main governing areas with space for games and assemblies as well as worship and such. Then we went up to see the main source of the energy. A large rock that was carved into an odd shape was the main spiritual source for Machu Picchu. Lots of tourists were standing around it with their hands outstretched trying to get as close as they could to the stone without actually touching it. The claim is that the stone exudes energy and the tourists were trying to absorb as much as they could. Some people standing around looked stoned but not from the energy of the stone. I am not sure what they were on but they looked ripped. They told me it was just from the energy they had been absorbing from the stone. I stood there with my hands outstretched but all I got was tired arms. I have always been more of a science based person and I am not very spiritual whether that is organized religion or energy from rocks and crystals. If you can energize yourself holding your hands near a rock more power to you.

My friend was enjoying herself and told me she was energized by the entire site not just the one stone. She seemed happy. We watched some llamas walking around the site feeding on the grass growing between the stones. I enjoyed that. I was trying to visualize this place before the stupid Spaniards came and destroyed the city. The llamas seemed to help me see the past better--sort of a visual aide for me. We spent hours walking around the large complex. I liked the engineering and all the planning that took water right to where they used it. I asked about human wastes but my guide did not seem to know the facts on that. They must have had some type of outhouse or something I figured but there was no mention of it anywhere.

I was starting to have some problems with my pain from all the hiking around at Machu Picchu and so I was happy when the long day was over and we climbed back on our bus. I looked at my young girlfriend and I told her she looked sunburned. She laughed it off but refused to put on more sunscreen. Big mistake! She got thoroughly cooked by the high elevation sunny day. I had been reapplying my sunscreen all day long and I had a good base tan from living on the beach in Costa Rica so I was ok. Later on in the night she paid dearly for her cute spaghetti strap top and skimpy skirt.

We rode the bus back down to town and we were dropped off at our hotel where we ate a great dinner of classic Peruvian cuisine. It was served family style and I was hungry so I kind of pigged out. My friend had a hard time eating because she was starting to hurt from the sunburn. After we ate I went looking for some sunburn medication. I found a pharmacy just up the road from my hotel and I bought her some. Then we went out to a bar for a few hours of listening to music and rehashing the long days events. It was fun but by the end of the night out she was in tears from pain. We went back to the hotel and I helped her apply the medication to try to relieve some of the pain. She had blisters on her shoulders already. I felt sorry for her but there was not much I or anyone else could do until the damage healed on its own in a few days time. She could not even lie down to sleep. She sat up whimpering all night in a chair. Such is life. Live and learn.

Every Spanish class I have ever taken uses Machu Picchu as a lesson in words for thieves and pickpockets and general crime problems. I found no such problems but maybe we were lucky. I asked around and nobody else seemed to have had any problems with crime either. Maybe the authorities have cleaned up the crime problem around the site, I don't know but we had no problems. I highly recommend Machu Picchu for a visit, but wear sunscreen or you may regret it.

Los Uros, Lake Titicaca

I enjoyed a big breakfast at my hotel in Puno then my guide picked me up and we headed down to the marina to go out to Los Uros which is the floating islands in Lake Titicaca where indigenous people live and work. The taxi to the marina was late but we still made it in plenty of time. My guide gave the taxi driver grief for being late. We boarded a boat and headed out onto the lake about ten in the morning. There were fishermen working nets in the lake. We watched them circle their boats and then drop the net while other boats tried to drive fish into the mouth of the net before they pulled it up.

The lake had reeds growing all along the shoreline. These are the reeds that the islands are made from. They cut the reeds, dry them and then bundle them into long tightly tied bundles which they then tie together on top of the previously placed bundles. The bundles at the bottom just rot away eventually. They also make their boats and houses out of the same bundles of reeds. I really liked the boats. They had either one or two hulls and some of them had fancy designs and faces on their bows. The boats were either poled along or paddled sometimes with a combination rudder paddle and sometimes with separate rudder and paddles. A few of them had small outboard motors on them either gas or battery powered.

We passed a few of their boats on the way to the islands. The people in the boats were always friendly and waved at us. Some of them were fishing and some of them were going to or coming from the market in town and some of them were water taxis moving people around the lake from island to island or shore. We had to stop at a controlled point to enter the area around the islands. I noticed a water tower on the first island I saw. The had plumbing for drinking water I guess. We drove up to the first island and the people came out to greet us. We docked the boat against the island and carefully climbed out onto the floating reed islands. The inhabitants were all dressed in very colorful clothes. I had to laugh at some of their hats perched on top of their heads. Real character showed through in their hats. We assembled in a circle and sat on some reed bundles while our guide gave us a history of the islands and the culture from early days to the present. Then some of the people showed us how they cook and what they eat. There were demonstrations of making clothing out of raw wool and a discussion about the fishing in the lake. They had a few trout in an enclosed lagoon on the island. The trout in the lagoon were up to almost two feet long and several pounds. I wanted to go fishing. After the show we broke up and people that came out with me on my boat started to shop for handicrafts the locals were selling. Since I don't buy anything I wandered around.

A fancy reed boat was coming in to land on the island and I reached out to have them throw me the line and when they did I pulled them in close to the dock. We started to talk and I told the owners of the boat I wanted to go for a ride on their boat. They immediately agreed to take me and some of my friends out for a ride on the boat. We piled on the boat and pushed off the island. The man was using a pole to push and paddle with and a woman dressed in hot pink with long black braids with tassles on the ends was at the rudder/paddle combo in the stern of the boat. Since I was sitting near her I started to chat with her in Spanish since she did not speak English. She had three kids from on to ten years old, but was single and according to her own comments, she was in the market for a husband. The man she was on the boat with was her uncle. She was laughing all the time and started to act all suggestive with me. She told me she wanted me to be her new husband. We all got a laugh out of that. But she persisted with flirting with me the rest of the day. We had a good time. She tried to talk me into staying the night that night and told me if I did I would never want to leave again after she was done with me. I did not doubt her for a second. She was serious I am sure. But we cruised around for a while and then the uncle wanted to take us back to the island for lunch. We went back. I climbed off the boat and she grabbed my ass as I tried to step off. I laughed at her but one look in her eyes and I knew she meant business. My friends and I thanked them for the ride and gave the uncle some cash for their time. Then we went to eat some lunch. My tour group had lunch included but I branched out and had some fresh fried trout that they pulled out of their lagoon and cooked up for me. My girlfriend or future ex wife, from the boat came over and sat down next to me. She was aggressively trying to get me to stay the night. I shared my trout with her and we talked some more. I tried to gently let her down by telling her I had to go back to town because I took medication that I needed which was back at my hotel. She offered to take me to go get it in her boat. I couldn't win at her game. I should have just taken her up on her offer. Finally the tour operator collected us to go to the next spot and I extricated myself in the group. She gave me a pouting look when I left.

We went to another island after the first one. It was mostly the same with a greeting and some handicraft sales but they did some more history and demonstrations too. They told us about how they make the islands and boats from the reeds. It was interesting. A boat takes about two months to make and lasts about a year before it gets too waterlogged to use anymore. I would have liked to have taken one back to the San Francisco bay area just for the curiosity factor. After this stop we drove around in the boat to see some sights along the shoreline and then we headed back to Puno.

I enjoyed my day. I was nearly raped by the one woman but all is good. She was fun to hang around with for a couple of hours. I might have taken her up on her offer if I had felt better but I was not feeling so good and I was on a tightly planned schedule. She will find her new husband I am sure. I kicked back at my hotel and rested. I was pretty tired. We were at 12,700 feet and I could feel it now. The next day I was going back to Cuzco then on to Machu Picchu and I was looking forward to that.