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Published: November 21st 2008
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Watching the 3rd World Series Game from room in Tumbes
This a kinda random pic - but wanted to show my support for the Phillies! :) Brian, his dad, and Willie were actually at this game...I'm so jealous! Go Phillies! Hello, All! I am finally catching up on my blog, and am posting the last part of Brian’s trip in Peru (sorry for the long delay). Brian was here to visit for about a month from mid-Sept. to mid-Oct. and the last week he was here we took a vacation to Cusco and Machu Picchu (a must-see when visiting Peru). For my fellow Facebookees, Brian has already posted a lot of pictures from our trip on his Facebook, but I assure you there are at least a few different ones in this entry. Also, sorry but this entry is a bit picture-intensive (THERE ARE 3 PAGES OF PICS...SO BE SURE TO SCROLL THROUGH).
Those of you who don’t remember and are having a hard time keeping up with all the places that I’ve traveled to in Peru, I was in Cusco for two weeks when I first arrived in Peru in June (look for Cusco on the map posted in 2 or 3 entries ago). I took language classes there and traveled quite a bit in the region and therefore have already told lots of stories and posted lots of pictures about Cusco and the Sacred Valley. But I loved
it so much, I wanted to take Brian! If you want a recap you should see the first 2 or 3 blog entries I posted. Brian and I visited many of the same places that I’ve already talked about so I won’t bore you with these things.
We started out our vacation by taking a 20 hour bus ride from Tumbes to Lima (holy cow!) from where we took a 1.5 hr flight to Cusco. We spent our first day in Cusco meeting up with friends and traveling to the Sacred Valley to go white water rafting. This was the first time for all of us to do this (except for Brian who constantly regaled us with his expert experience with Class 4 rapids) - but these rapids were only Class 3 (which was quite all right with me). One of the coolest things about the ride was that the river goes right through the center of the Sacred Valley which is in the heart of the Andes - it was incredibly beautiful! And fun! If you have never traveled to South America and never experienced the Andes, you should definitely add it to your ‘bucket list’. The Appalachian
Mountains are beautiful (especially in the Fall - which many of you are enjoying right now!) and my Colorado friends would argue that the mountains in Colorado are beyond all others - but the Andes are definitely not even comparable to any of these. I will have more to say on this again later.
We spent two days in the middle of our vacation making the journey and seeing Machu Picchu. Machu Picchu is probably the most famous thing to see in Peru. Everyday it draws hundreds of tourists from around the world, so many tourists that the Peruvian govt. put a limit on how many people can enter the park per day. The Incan ruins were originally discovered in the beginning of the 20th century and were slowly uncovered and restored in the 60s and 70s, and are pretty incredible. Many people actually hike the Incan Trail which is a trail that goes through the Andes from Cusco to Aguas Calientes which is a small tourist town right outside of Machu Picchu. Many groups of hikers walk the trail everyday (again, so many that the Peruvian govt. put a limit to how many people can be on the
White Water Rafting in the Sacred Valley
Me, Brian, my friends Howard, Beverly, and Matt met up with us in Cusco and we went rafting together in the Sacred Valley. trail per day). It takes 3-4 days to hike the trail. Brian and I really wanted to do this, but didn’t have enough time (or $$)! So we took the train to Aguas Calientes, stayed the night, and then took a 10 min. bus up to Machu Picchu at 6am to be one of the first people there in the morning. Maybe one day we’ll actually get to hike the trail. Machu Picchu was definitely a little spooky when we arrived there early in the morning - it was raining, and it was foggy and misty. But as it got later in the morning it warmed up and the sun came out and were able to see all the surrounding mountains. After our tour of the ruins in the morning we hiked up the mountain, Machu Picchu, which was a whole lot higher than we thought before we started the hike. We hiked almost straight up for a little over an hour, then we stopped and turned around - the view was fantastic. We spent a few hours just staring at all the mountains surrounding us - it was indescribable.
For the rest of our vacation we spent time
just hanging out in cafes, touring around Cusco and the Sacred Valley, and taking pictures. It was so nice just to spend some time together (without having to do work) before Brian traveled back to the States. We really miss each other, but we know that this is only a temporary separation. I think this is showing us that we CAN be away from each other for extended periods of time…although we don’t really like it. But it makes us better appreciate the time we have together. Don’t get me wrong, we definitely have our moments….well, at least I do, where I need to cry a little . I am looking forward to coming home in a month to visit Brian and everyone else for the holidays. It will be good to be home and to see everyone!
Oh, one more thing…while all of you were celebrating Halloween in the States, Peruvians and other Latin Americans were celebrating the Day of the Dead (Nov. 1-2). This is something that I learned about in Spanish class when I was in High School…but it was completely different actually being able to experience for myself. Weeks before the holiday people were scrubbing
Rafting
Don't worry...none of us fell out and polishing the tombs of loved ones in cemeteries (it took me awhile to understand why there were always so many people ‘cleaning’ in the cemetery). The night of Nov. 1st everyone (and I mean, EVERYONE) spends the night in the cemetery partying….it’s a huge celebration. There are candles and flowers everywhere, and it’s a time for everyone to remember their deceased loved ones and spend time with their living ones. This celebration continues into the next day and a bit into the next night. I caught the tail end of this holiday and was able to visit a cemetery during the last night (there weren’t many people there still) and the next morning (and witnessed the aftermath). I saw a few families honoring their loved ones…I included some pictures at the end.
I hope you all are well…please don’t hesitate to drop me an email and tell me how you are!! I like to be caught up on what’s going on in your lives!
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