Peru Archives - Page 2 of 2

Peru South America

Llama Land

We arrived in Cusco yesterday morning after a short, hour long flight from Lima. Cusco was sunny and warmer than Lima, although being high in the Andes, the temperature quickly changes to cool and cold. Cusco sits in the Andes at 10,100+ feet above sea level, which is a about twice as high as Denver and about 2,500 feet higher than Bogota, by comparison. Aside from feeling a bit winded and having a bit of a headache though, it’s not bad.

Our hotel – the Amaru Hostel – is wonderful. Bright yellow with two flowery courtyards and views over rooftops of the city. Our room is small and cozy. We are in the San Blas district of Cusco, which is a short walk from the main square, although that short walk is up (or down, depending on your direction) a very steep street lined with anorexic sidewalks paved with slippery, centuries-old stones. It’s an adventure.

The first day we had the late afternoon, during which we walked the city, getting our bearings, and enjoying the cobbled streets, welcoming squares, and numerous cathedrals and churches.

The city is delightful and is so different from Lima, and even different than other places i have been in South America. Maybe because it is so historic and well preserved, or maybe because of how touristy it is. So far, we like it; lots of places to explore.

Being a very touristy town, unlike on Lima, there are tourists everywhere and the usual touts promoting the best tours, restaurants, souvenirs, etc. English is more widely spoken, but by no means is it universal. I am adding Spanish words and phrases to my lexicon daily.

We went to some of the main cathedrals, through the main plaza, and then to an alleged chocolate “museum” (really just a shop) where i had some wonderful and spicy hot chocolate outside in the square. After that we went walking until we stumbled upon the Mercado San Pedro, Cusco’s main market.

There are stalls selling handicrafts, but it is predominantly a food market. Stalls of produce, including massive yellow squash and white cauliflowers and sinister black corn; aisles of women selling made to order fruit and veg juice concoctions; walls of rounds of white, salty cheese; stacks of bread, both hearty and decorative; aromatic peppers and spices; fresh olives; huge white sacks of quinoa and other grains….It was endless and wonderful.

We bought some cheese and bread before wandering down to the food stalls where people cook and sell fresh from the market meals to hungry locals. Along side that are rows of fishmongers and butchers. The butchers were some of the most remarkable i have seen. The ground was bloody and dogs ran free searching for dropped scraps. Piles of skinned bulls heads lay on the ground. On the counters were mounds of pristine white stomachs, baskets of red hearts, assorted organs, eyeballs, brains, spinal cords, more skinned heads, and stacks of snouts (from what animal i am not sure). I took as many pictures as i could without making a nuisance of myself.

After that we had coffee and a cigar on a patio on a square (it would seem that the smoking rules are more relaxed here) before having dinner and, after yet more wandering, heading to bed.

Today has been a but more of the same – wandering and exploring the streets and sights, eating, picture taking, etc. currently, we are taking a break at the hotel to wait out a particularly cold rain.

I should say, today was especially similar to yesterday because late yesterday, i lost my camera. Not stolen. Lost. I know where i left it. I don’t lose things and certainly not while traveling when i am especially vigilant, but i got lazy or negligent and i lost it. It was a cheap camera, so the loss in that sense is not great. The pictures are all i care about. The only thing that kept my from panicking is that all of my pictures (except from yesterday) were already backed up on the iPad, so nothing was lost. Today we back tracked to the market and a church or two so i could retake some of the pictures. Now for the remainder of the trip Betty-Lou and i shall be sharing a camera. One less thing to carry home for me i guess.

None of this stopped me from getting about a million pictures of the Andean women in their standard and traditional dress of sturdy skirts, woolen leggings, sweaters, long black braids, and tall, brimmed hats. I also have tons of pictures of the women dressed in colorful fancy dress and their baby llamas. Vancouver would be a much happier place if its streets were filled with baby llamas.

I don’t know what’s up for the rest of today, but tomorrow we head out of Cusco for an over night journey that includes Ollantaytambo, Aguas Callientes, and (of course) Machu Picchu.
dale

Peru South America

Barranco

Our final day in Lima was quite relaxed. I had seen most of the things on my list so we just went for a nice meander down to the sea and than over to Barranco, a neighbourhood next to Miraflores, considered to be bohemian. The sun was shining and it was a beautiful day for a stroll along the cliffs and then into Barranco. There isn’t a ton to see there, but it is a nice neighborhood with colorful buildings in just the right amount of disrepair to make them especially charming.

There is a legendary church built by fishermen in the 18th C after being led to shore safely by a phantom light. The church was built on that spot from which the light came. The church was damaged by a hurricane in the 1940s and has been left unrestored and uninhabited – except by flocks of huge, black vultures, making for a creepy site.

We walked down and around the paths in the neighborhood before settling in to an outdoor cafe under a tree, where we spent a couple of hours, relaxing and enjoying a cigar before winding out way back to the hotel through busy commercial streets, past colorful graffiti.

By the time we got back it was evening, so we went to a vegetarian restaurant in Miraflores for dinner. What it lacked in atmosphere is made up for in food – delicious vegetable soup with quinoa and ceviche made with tofu instead of seafood. Yum. My expectations for South American food as a vegetarian are so low (aside from the fruit, which is awesome) that it is a delightful surprise to be able to eat something other than potatoes and corn.

The next day we flew to Cuscso. I’ll save that for a separate post, however. All is well. Lima was lovely, but after two and a half days i was happy to move on.

Peru South America

Bullfight

The previous day in Lima we had bought some tickets to the bullfight from a ticket counter at a supermarket. Lima’s bullfighting season runs from late October to early November, so the opportunity presented itself and this was something i had wanted to do for a long time. Admittedly, I think the idea of killing animals for sport or entertainment is morally indefensible, but i still wanted to see it, once. (I don’t eat animals either but i still love the butchery sections of markets. I can’t explain it. I just find it gruesome and fascinating.)

We walked out of the historic centre and across a highway and waterway into an area that is notably absent from the maps of Lima in all of my travel books. Across the way on a hill the slums of Lima are visible, with ramshackle houses seemingly piled on top of one another.

The area is distinctly poor, with buildings crumbling, chaotic traffic, the strong smell of urine, and dusty streets lined with lively but shabby buildings. I loved it. The area was busy with everyone gathering before the fight. Spanish music played loudly, some recorded and some live; men gathered to drink beer and smoke, and women grilled meat on the streets, making impromptu eateries out of a cart and plastic chairs. Most people wore fancy, wide-brimmed white hats, which was about the only spiffy thing in site. (Being the only obvious foreigners in site, i didn’t feel right taking pictures of the people, but i took this picture of a side street.)

We entered the bull ring: the Plaza Del Acho. It is the oldest bullring in the Americas, dating from 1766, and the second oldest in the world. The place was crammed full of spectators enjoying the pre-fight ambiance. Grilled meats, live bands, wine, beer & pico vendors – even a cigar vendor! It was very exciting.

People eagerly waited for the matadors and other “performers” to make appearances before the event. Finally it started. The arena holds 13,000 people was nearly full and we all sat on wooden benches.

The events opened with a traditional Peruvian dance done to a live brass band which played on and off throughout the fight.

Then the crowd cheered as the matadors entered the ring.

There were six bulls that afternoon. Each fight (it hardly seems like the right word but i haven’t a better one) follows the same formula. A bull is released. A half a dozen lesser matadors with fuchsia and yellow capes taunt the bull around the ring; getting it to run through their capes and around them. When the bull gets too close, they run and jump behind protective wooden barricades.

Then to trumpets the picadores enter the ring on horseback. They stab the bull with long spears between its shoulders. This causes the bull to bleed and get understandably pissed off. The bull then charges into the horse, often lifting it up and sometimes toppling the rider. This was exciting. The horses wear armour to prevent them from being disemboweled.

Then the matador appears, at first without his red cape. He begins by taunting the bull and stabbing it with six colourful, barbed instruments, which go into and hang down from the bull’s shoulders.

By now the bull is bloody, angry, and tired. The matador then arms himself with a sword and red cape and begins the dance wherein the bull charges, the matador waves his through the cape, the crowd shouts “olé”, and the matador struts cockily while the bull composes himself. This continues for a while during which time, a few times, the matadors are flipped, knocked down and nearly trampled, or in one case, gored in the leg. The always kept fighting, however (the matadors are pretty impressive. They must get laid constantly.) This was all kind of beautiful and very exciting when something went wrong. Make no mistake, i was rooting for the bull.

Then the matador stabs the bull with his sword, through the shoulders, into the chest, hilt deep. The bull bleeds from his wound and blood pours from his mouth. The bull staggers while the sub-matadors taunt the bull with their capes until it falls down (this is the worst part, in my opinion), at which point someone slits the bull’s throat. The body is dragged from the ring by horses to the sound of cheers. The matador struts around while people throw roses and hats.

It’s pretty cruel and awful, but also very interesting. I am definitely glad i went, though i don’t know if i would again. I loved the cultural experience, and the pageantry, the music, and costumes – i also loved that you could smoke cigars, which i did throughout the event. The torture and killing gives me pause.

Reflecting on all we had seen, we left and went back to Miraflores for a vegetarian dinner and sleep. A very full day indeed.
d

Peru South America

Miraflores to Market

Day two in Lima started with breakfast at the hostal El Patio. Bread and olive spread, coffee, fresh juice and fruit. We started with a walk down to the sea. Lima sits along cliffs overlooking the ocean and on the cliffs is a wonderful pathway that meanders through parks, all with lovely views of the water and surfers catching waves.

Along the way Limeños were out for Sunday jogs and dog walks with some people working out with outdoor gym equipment that was set up along the way. We walked down to Larcomar, which is a very South Florida feeling outdoor mall, which also had some nice cafes with great views of the ocean, where we had a coffee.

We walked back to the hotel and then caught a taxi back to central Lima. We arrived at the Plaza where a marching band on horseback played triumphant music in front of the palace with other mounted men in full regalia waited on a side street for some sort of procession to start. We didn’t wait long enough to figure out what was going on but it was pleasant to take in the sights for a while.

We were on a mission to go to the central market for lunch. The central market is an enclosed, three story structure with vendors selling meat, produce, various other food items, and housewares. The meat sections were busy with various animals being butchered for sale, and the produce sections were colorful stalls selling familiar and exotic items. I love both equally. I dragged Betty-Lou through aisles of dead chickens, cow stomachs, and pigs feet before we bought some fruits (plums, pitaya, & granadilla) and had a fresh strawberry juice at a counter.

We had lunch at one of the counters next to the fish vendors where all the locals were eating (mind you, i didn’t see anyone aside from locals in the place). Betty Lou had some kind of mystery meat dish and i managed to wrangle a salad and some rice and beans. Eating vegetarian in South America always requires some extra explanation.

After lunch we walked through Lima’s small and crowded Chinatown before heading to our main destination for the day: the bullfight.

To be continued…

Peru South America

Arriving in Peru

Lima!

We arrived mid-morning to a bustling airport and busy traffic as we made the drive in a taxi to Miraflores, the area in Lima in which we are staying. Miraflores being a slightly upscale area (by which i mean not slummy) centred around a pleasant city park (Kennedy Park) and extending down to the sea. Our accommodations – the Hostal El Patio – are delightful. Simple but comfortable rooms around a colorful and charming patio.

Miraflores is a pretty long walk through some not so interesting areas to the centro historico, so we have been taking taxis to that area. On day one, after settling in, we taxied to the Plaza San Martin, and then commenced walking around central Lima. Many large, stately buildings in classical styles with the unmistakable south american colors (yellow, mostly). The area around the Plaza de Armas is particularly lovely.

We walked the streets, checking out churches and side streets and stopping to photograph the guards at the national palace. The streets were busy with traffic and pedestrians and people selling random toys, candy, and other odds and ends. We walked over to the Monasterio de San Francisco, still a working monastery, but with a beautiful church and grounds to tour. Underneath the buildings are catacombs, filled with bones and crypts. (No photos allowed.) Though they were neither as labyrinthine or bone-filled as those in Paris, i still dug them. In certain areas we were directly below the cathedral and small vents above us let through light and the sound of the mass carrying on.

After that we headed back to Miraflores and to Kennedy Park where we looked at some art on display and marveled at the number of cats. Kennedy Park is an unofficial cat sanctuary. The place is filled with cats – beautiful, healthy looking cats roaming free, napping, sitting in trees….

We had dinner on a pedestrian street just off the square after which I went for walk and smoked a cigar before bed.

Some initial observations. Lima is certainly a lot fancier than Quito or Bogota. By comparison, it is clean and feels far safer and less dodgy. Very few children begging (unlike Quito) and there are not soldiers and armed guards on every corner (unlike Bogota). Very little graffiti. No packs of tough looking stray dogs. It’s very nice and i have enjoyed looking around, but i would rank it as somewhat less interesting than those other cities (since i prefer my cities on the dodgy and dangerous side).

Very little English is spoken, but thankfully my Spanish (what little i know) has come a long way. (Thanks to Duolingo & Sesame Street.) Betty Lou knows only two phrases – “i am a woman” and “with cheese” a but she says them beautifully.

The weather is perfect; a bit cool in the mornings and evenings, and warm in the afternoon.

Smoking? Well, it seems that Lima has gone the way of much of Europe and North America: no smoking indoors or on restaurant patios. (Although as i write this i am on the patio of a cafe, so there is some flexibility.)

And that was day one in Lima. We did also get some tickets to a bullfight, but that deserves its own post.

Wandering North

Category: Peru

Llama Land

Barranco

Bullfight

Miraflores to Market

Arriving in Peru