Advertisement
Published: December 25th 2006
Cajamarca
Before I start this blog I would like to say Merry Christmas to all of you. Today is Christmas and it is very hard to be away from home. I am, however, grateful for the opportunities that have come my way to make this all happen. I miss everybody right now more than ever but hope that you all have great holidays. I wrote this next blog a while ago and right now I am in Cusco, Peru. I wanna give a couple shouts to my Mom, Dave and Tyler. My Mom is holding together the house and family in Lantzville, while my Dad has been nominated for the Hall of Fame in Victoria for racing! A once in a lifetime achievement! My bro is off to Salmon Arm in Feb to start school...I´m comin to visit ya bro! He also just told me that he´s engadged to his wonderful girlfriend Callie! Your stag is going to be off the chain Bro!!!!! lol. Cole, tighten your belt for the next few months because Brazil needs you! Just don´t spill any drinks on pool tables haha. My Nanny and Pappy are gearing up for yet another classic Xmas feast tonight.
The Plaza
This was the view from our hostel. it was probably the nicest hostel to date that we´ve stayed at...puuuuure luxuryThe first time in 24 years that I haven´t attended but they are keeping a chair empty for me just in case eh Nan?? The rest of my family is probably stealing stools and bringing up the next generation. Burns and Niqi are livin´it up in Sur-Town with tickets to Brazil burning their pockets! See you guys in Feb...and Niqi, spooooooooooon me..bring Buckfast if you can. Nate and John are doing great with the completed trilogy of greatness. They have finished 3 shorts and have pressed them onto DVD so email them and get a copy! I´m in all three films and am going to the top on these guys´ coat tails! nathanreimer@hotmail.com or jonsilverberg@hotmail.com. Email them and get a copy. Also, them I sent you and you´ll get a free back massage with every purchase! I just talked to my main girl Chanel last night...she´s rollin in a brand-new G Ride and I saw a pic...it looks like 22´s hahaha. I can hear you bumpin Jay and TI babe!! Brady´s movin back to the island...WELCOME HOME BOOOOOOOOOOYYYYY. It´s about time...stoked to have a good summer with you again, jiggin´and pimpin out on One-Thirty-Second! My boy Przada (a famous nobody
The Plaza
A near-by church. It looked like it was 1000 years old known as Fatty Down) is still pimpin´mortgages and has received interest by EMI! Who is this guy? Keep peein´ on couches holmie and make sure my seat´s warm when I get back to Vic (nh). You too Jacki lol. My loans will be perfect for you when I get back! No mistakes! My cuz Scott probably has a new flavor of the week kickin´ it on Phelps Avenue, cleanin´and cookin´ hahaha. Give Skylar a hug for me cuz. My boy Sims just got promoted at Wells Fargo to Regional Trainer. Watch out for slugs Jason, and put down the large shot glass! Shar, my #1 in Nanaimo is slangin´Scotiabank mortgages...she´s so hot she´s cold haha hilar. My girl Steph just moved back to Nanaimo from Alberta. That´s the best move you´ve done since I´ve known you sweety! Say hi to Braiden and give him an IOU monkey from me for xmas! And last but definately not least, WUDUP Ramji...I have a couple pics dedicated to you that will be posted soon. Also, I found you a dope lil´ straw hat and a guy that has crazy deals on comfy porch rocking chairs! YOU¨RE SET!
So with all of that
being said, I want to wish everyone I mentioned and anyone I missed (cause I have only 5 minutes left on this computer) a very merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Have a couple drinks for me and throw up a few Cheers´ in my name! See you all in a few months! Here´s my blog I wrote when I visited a cool little town called Cajamarca. Enjoy bitches...
..........
The bus ride to Cajamarca was probably the roughest ride to date. I don’t know why this pass through the Andes was so hard this time given that we’ve passed through them 8 times already. We were freaking ecstatic when we arrived 9 hours later. It was 10pm and we needed a hostel immediately! I read about this place called “Santa Apolonia.” We got there and scored a room with a balcony view of the main square. This place was POSH. It was a bit more expensive but we managed to bargain the manager down to a reasonable rate. So we were BALLIN’ with our mini-fridge, free net, cable tv with all the channels and piney-fresh scent in the room haha.
This paragraph is donated to the
The Road to Cumbemayo
A quick shot taken on the way history of the city so if that bores you jump to the next one haha. Cajamarca is the one city that Peruvians can pin-point the time and place of the end of the Incan Empire before the Spaniards invaded and colonized and created a Spanish South America. At their height, the Incans ruled from northern Columbia to mid-Chile. Around the year 1530, the Empire was run by 2 sons of an Incan king. One son, named Atahualpa ruled the north. He recently conquered the region of Chiclayo to Cajamarca; converting around 6000 people to his cause. In 1532, a Spanish leader named Pizarro came to Cajamarca with a tiny army less than a quarter the size of Atahualpas. Word got back to Atahualpa that Pizarro and his army were coming to the area. He met Pizarro and granted him permission to rest his army in a near-by area. The following day Atahualpa had a meeting with a Spanish king. He met him and was greeted by a sales pitch to convert to Christianity. Atahualpa was so offended at the thought that he grabbed the bible and threw it on the ground. The Spanish King was so offended that he sent
The Road to Cumbemayo
One of the viewpoints. In the horizon you can see a mountain. Just over it is a gold and silver mine owned half by Peru and half by Canada word back to Pizarro to attack at whatever the cost. Because of their position that Atahualpa put them in, Pizarros army was successful due to their more advanced weaponry and was met with little resistance due to the fact that the people saw Pizarro as a savior, due to Atahualpas recent conquest. So all of the sudden he had the backing of over 6000 people. This shifted the whole dynamic of the Incan Empire and caused an internal collapse of a 300 year rule. The Spaniards held Atahualpa as a prisoner, even when he gave them massive amounts of gold and silver for his release. He sent word back home (in Quito) to aid in his escape. The Spaniards caught wind of this and sentenced him to death by fire at the stake. He accepted Christianity in a bargain to get him a less painless death, hanging.
There, I felt I had to contribute a bit of history and figured this was the best city to do that. If you read that, props to you! If not, pick up a book and put down the joint Rahim hahaha
In the morning we went to a tour company to
The Road to Cumbemayo
That´s me trying to get a hold of my half. It´s actually the 2nd biggest mine in Peru find a trip to this historical rock-fortress site called Cumbemayo. We got to the office 30 minutes before they left which gave us a bit of bargaining power (haha we’re getting use to this). So for $5 we got transportation there, an English speaking guide (hard to find), entry to the area, and transportation back! On the way up we stopped at a view point and were told that just over the mountains in the distance, there was a gold and silver mine owned half by Peruvians and half by Canadians! It’s the second biggest mine in Peru. After that we went to Cumbemayo. This place was spectacular. The sheer size of the rocks was jaw-dropping. On the path to the bottom I was mauled by a group of about 15 girls on a tour who were amazed to see blonde hair and blue eyes haha. They were pulling on my shirt and took turns posing individually with me for photos. When I told them I had to leave (cause my group was waaaay ahead by the end of that fiasco) I blew them kisses and they SCREAMED! Hahahaha it was the weirdest thing. I felt like a Beatle hahaha.
The Road to Cumbemayo
The view of Cumbemayo from the road Definitely a weird feeling!
We finished our tour and went back to town. We wanted dinner so we went to this Italian restaurant for pasta and wine. Here we met this girl named Claire who was from the UK and traveling by herself (very ballsy haha). We had dinner and a couple bottles of wine; she was a really cool chick. We told her that we were going to the Incan Baths in the morning at 6am and she was interested so agreed to come with us.
Let me tell you, after a few bottles of real Peruvian wine, 6am is not an easy thing to do! The only thing that got me up was Claire waiting outside for us on a bench. I got my shit together while Miguel puked in the bathroom haha. He decided to sit the trip out so Claire and I went without him. We went so early because every book recommends this due to the amount of people that go in the afternoon and the simple tranquility of an early morning soak and massage. We started with a leg massage from water jets along a stone-floored walk-way. After, our personal tubs were
Cumbemayo
Finally arrived! waiting with all-natural thermal water. We soaked for around 40 minutes, complete with jets that massaged your feet, legs, back and neck. After that, we did a sequence of showers. The first was a shower with crazy power, the second was 2 shower heads that created a cascade of water from a couple angles, and the third had like 6 heads at different levels. Once squeaky clean we enjoyed a 30 minute full body massage. I’m sure you’re relaxed by just reading that…imagine how I felt afterwards. I was jello-pudding daaaaaaaaa.
I got back to the hotel and Miguel was understandably choked that he missed that lol. We spent the rest of that day chillin’ and planning a trip to Chachapoyas. This is a city that is very close to this place called Kuelap which is like another Macchu Pichu but more spectacular and less visited. Nobody goes there due to the travel time and conditions to get there.
Kuelap is considered to be the gem of Peru so that was enough to make Miguel and I plan a 20 hour bus ride there…
Advertisement
Tot: 0.177s; Tpl: 0.015s; cc: 9; qc: 59; dbt: 0.1132s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Rahim
non-member comment
Merry Christmas Weary Travellers
Just writing to wish you and Miguel a Very Merry Christmas and a soon to be Happy New Year!! Just wanted to let you know that im writing this to you while im at work and im absolutely DAYDREAMING of a HUGE CHONGER right now.... so you know what, screw this reading CRAP cuz Mary Jane im coming right on home to you as fast as i can BABY. Hahahaha!! Happy "HO"lidays and best wishes from your friends back in Vancouver.. PS. Cant wait to get my hat and Chair cuz you know i would be in dat shit with a fatty for like WEEKS at a time HAHAHA. Keep on having a Blast and know that while you're missing out on Home... Home's missing out on YOU! Peaccceeee