http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Izzi/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Izzi en-us Wed, 06 Jan 2010 07:03:37 +0000 Wed, 06 Jan 2010 07:03:37 +0000 I am leaving Peru in a few days so this blog like my Peruvian adventure has come to an end. I've had lots of fabulous ups and notsofabulous downs but it's all characterbuilding. Or so I tell myself pHere are a bunch of photos taken in Ayacucho. The photos are in no particular order. Thank you for traveling with me and...Hasta la prximaFinal Latin American Spanish Word of the Day cuy http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Ayacucho/Ayacucho/blog-258971.html This trip took place way back in December 10 2007.Veerle another Belgian volunteer and I took a day trip to the town of Huanta an hour away from Ayacucho. From Huanta we took a taxi to the village of Luricocha to see the Luricocha canyon. We spent the afternoon walking around Huanta a very modest town with a lot of vegetable production. Best known for its palta production Huantarsquos http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Ayacucho/Ayacucho/blog-258961.html The Semana Santa in Ayacucho is Peru's most famous Holy Week. Many people come from out of town to Ayacucho's 10day celebration consisting of numerous processions and lots of drinkingYou can follow the events of Semana Santa through the photos that I have posted. Oh and Good Friday fell on my birthday this year so I didn't have to work. YayEnjoy. http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Ayacucho/Ayacucho/blog-260052.html This trip took place way back in November 23 2007.On our day off Delphine and I decided to go visit Quinua and the Wari also spelled lsquoHuarirsquo ruins. Early in the morning we boarded a small minivan to Quinua and we got off at the Wari ruins halfway to Quinua. The old city of Wari located 25km northwest of Ayacucho. As the first complex urban center in the Andean area Wari shows http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Ayacucho/Ayacucho/blog-258380.html This trip took place way back in November 11 2007.After a horrendous 4hour superbumpy unpaved road bus ride in a tiny overcrowded bus Dries Kristine Jore and I reached Vilcashuamn. Dating back to approximately 1450 A.D. Vilcashuamn meaning lsquosacred falconrsquo was considered the geographical center of the Inca Empire. There the Inca road between Cusco and the coast crossed http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Ayacucho/blog-252446.html One quite important thing I forgot to mention before I stopped working at the Casa i.e. before Xmas yes way back.Anyway the last month of working at the Casa I was all over the place. I was already doing some translations I was still working with the kids and at least twice a week I worked at the terreno.What is the terreno Itrsquos a large piece of land located a 15min walk away from http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Ayacucho/Ayacucho/blog-228857.html So there have been some changes since I have been back in Ayacucho after my lsquobigrsquo trip. Primarily I no longer work at the orphanage. After three months I still wasnrsquot feeling very happy or fulfilled by my work there so I decided that the best thing for me was to do was to do something else. Now I teach English at a language school located at Centro San Cristbal three time http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Ayacucho/Ayacucho/blog-255517.html Two videos of two bands Grupo 5 and Kaliente are attached to this entry so you can listen to the soundtrack of my Peruvian experience. 'El embrujo' is the Aycucho volunteers' Peruvian anthem. It is so popular that it has been on the radio for five months here and not a day goes by that I don't hear it. MusicadelaSelvatype music is very popular in Ayacucho whereas Limeos pp from Lima a http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Ayacucho/Ayacucho/blog-250034.html HuacachinaThe sandboarding oasis of Huacachina lies 5 km west of Ica and it consists of a lagoon surrounded by towering sand dunes. Graceful palm trees exotic flowers and attractive antique buildings testify to the bygone glamour of this resort which was once a playground for the Peruvian elite. Today it is ruled by partyseeking crowds of international backpackers. I arrived to Huacachina http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Ica/blog-246299.html After Arequipa my trip was suddenly coming to an end and I was looking forward to arriving back to Ayacucho. So I just wanted to speed through my remaining sites. Although northbound I was visiting the south coast of Peru. From Arequipa I took the 12hour Cruz del Sur night bus to Nasca a little town of 53000 inhabitants located on the Panamericana . I was to arrive to Nasca at 5 a.m. and http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Ica/Nazca/blog-246295.html Before I headed for Arequipa I almost got stuck in La Paz because the roads from La Paz to Copacabana were being blocked by bus drivers protesting for better insurance. Every other day they would temporarily allow some traffic through and of course the ticket price increased. In the bus from Copacabana to Arequipa around 9 hours I met Therese a very interesting Norwegian girl who was traveli http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Arequipa/Arequipa/blog-246258.html So on the way from Copacabana to La Paz all of a sudden the bus driver barks at everybody to get off It turned out that we needed to take a 15 minute speedboat ride across Titicaca although didn't turn out to be so speedy after all since we experienced engine troubles as the bus and our luggage were transported by a different vessel. Hilarious Except nobody mentioned this at the ticket offi http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/La-Paz-Department/La-Paz/blog-245533.html Most people who come to Copacabana take a trip to the nearby Isla del Sol a very important site in indigenous mythology. The island has been identified as the birthplace of several deities including the sun the bearded white godking Viracocha and Manco Capac and his sisterwife Mama Ocllo the first Incas. Most modernday Aymar and Quechua peoples of Peru and Bolivia accept these legends http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/La-Paz-Department/Isla-del-Sol/blog-244922.html The original reason for my whole South Peruvian trip was exit Peru as my tourist visa was about to expire 90 days. I crossed the frontera on January 1 2008 the last day I was lsquoallowedrsquo to be in Peru. Generally the rule is that if you overstay your tourist visa then you have to pay 1 for every extra day that you stayed which is reasonable. However corruption is a lucrative http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/La-Paz-Department/Copacabana/blog-244614.html So in Cusco Jore and I got on a night bus to go Lake Titicaca. We were headed straight to Copacabana a little resort town on the Bolivian side. However once the bus got to Puno a city on Lake Titicaca near the border with Bolivia we realized that Jorersquos carryon backpack was missing All of Jorersquos most important things were in it including her passport camera with Machu Picch http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Puno/Lake-Titicaca-/blog-244578.html As Jore and I wanted to experience Machu Picchu fully we gave ourselves two full days for it. We were planning to buy our train tickets individually but since it was the day after Christmas the tickets were sold out Our only remaining option was to go with a tour operator costing 150 covering transportation entrance fees and a guide which surprisingly turned out quite well. So on March http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Machu-Picchu/blog-241890.html So itrsquos finally time to update you on my big trip around the south of Peru.First stop Cusco the oldest continuouslyinhabited city of the Americas and the capital of the Inca EmpireAfter a 22 hour bus ride yes you read right 22 Jore and I arrived to Cusco in the late afternoon of March 24th. There we met up with Dries and Kristine and we all had a lovely Christmas Eve dinner along http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Cusco/Cusco/blog-241888.html So while I am writing my travel experiences there will be a couple of entries that backtrack but I hope you enjoy them anyway.A bunch of events connected with the Casa Hogar that were quite neat A few weeks ago Walter an American Christian missionary and his wife organized a Comida Mexicana to benefit the Casa. Many Peruvians as well as many volunteers showed up and we ate yummy tacos. http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Ayacucho/Ayacucho/blog-228848.html The following are a bunch of random collection of lsquohappeningsrsquo and observations in my daily life in AyacuchoVista Alegre. Throughout my days here I keep making mental notes of what I need to mention in my blog because there are so many things that are just plain weird here so I might repeat some of the things from previous blog entries too lazy to backtrack. In Vista Alegre the http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Ayacucho/Ayacucho/blog-228836.html 1st off There are no dogs on the streets What a relief although there are none in Ayacucho either itrsquos just in Vista AlegreCarmen Alto.2nd off The shopping is unbelievable Honestly I am a city girl at heart and I am at my best in shopping malls.To tell you the truth I wasnrsquot planning or expecting to spend two days at a mall but the family that I was staying with mor http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Lima/Lima/blog-228555.html