Norma and I have returned from our trip to Peru and Bolivia. What an experience! We saw strange creatures up in the mountains – a rabbit with a squirrel’s tail, llamas, alpacas, giant condors, and an assortment of bugs and butterflies. Our first dung beetle rolled llamas do do along a trail for our entertainment. The air was thin at altitudes of about 5000 meters and coming from sea level at 98 degrees to this at 45 degrees took its toll on all of us. Cocoa tea and candy helped, it is illegal to take this stuff out of the country but it really helped us survive on this vacation.
First we flew to Lima, spent the night, and then grabbed a buss to Nazka. Here we flew over the ancient drawings that can only be seen from the air. The sky was clear and we had calm winds to make this a picture taking frenzy. You can clearly see the monkey, hummingbird, spider, and the spaceman as well as others. That afternoon, we went to a 1000-year-old cemetery. It was out in the desert all by its self. The grounds were strewn with bones and cloth used to wrap the mummies. A thousand years of grave robbers has taken its toll. The state now guards these graves night and day and there are a few tombs, which have been opened for display.
An overnight buss ride took us to Arequipa. Here, we done a city tour and the following day took an all day tour to Colca Canyon, where we watched the giant condors soar on the air currents created by the mountains.
We grabbed an airplane and flew to Cuzco the next morning. This is a great tourist town with lots of museums, cathedrals, and ancient ruins. When the Spaniards forced the Catholic religion upon the Indians, the Indians didn’t openly resist. The Virgin Mary became the earth goddess and etc. The only clues that the old ways still exist are in the paintings and music. One cathedral had a local painting of the last supper with all of the local dishes on the table including guinea pig, a local favorite. Another picture depicted the conquistadors crucifying Jesus instead of the Jews. It is a mixed up world.
From Cuzco, we took a train to Machupicchu where we spent two days exploring the lost city. The climb up the mountain trail to the gate was made difficult by the thin air, but was well worth it. To view the city from the far away gate was a real thrill. After viewing nearly every ruin back in Cuzco, we headed to Puno on lake Titikaka. From here we visited the floating islands, a real turist trap and other pretty attractions. We then took a buss to the southern part of the lake in Copacabana , Bolivia. We visited ruins on the islands of the sun and moon and went back to the mainland and finished our trip with a look at Tiwinaku near La paz.
I am extremely glad to have taken 3 months of Spanish lessons in Puerto La Cruz, English wasn’t widely used and we had no reservations past the first night. Buss and train terminals were a challenge as well as restaurant menus.