We met many new nice friends - Peru part II

South America » Peru
October 31st 2008

Published: December 6th 2008

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EmmaAndJeanClaude

Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu sits on the top of a mountain with steep slopes on two sides. The setting really is half the experience when it comes to seeing Machu Picchu.

Peru - a great place to meet new friends

Here comes the second part of our story from the vacation trip this summer.

One of the best things about travelling is all the interesting characters you meet and all the new friends you make. We always have mum and dad with us so we are never lonely. But mum and dad are sometimes so boring and dull. You know, they are so old and they are our parents. Parents can be so embarrassing. Everybody younger than 18 who read this know what we are talking about.

On this trip we made many new friends. We will mention them all though this entry. But first we will talk about when we arrived in Machu Picchu.

In the end of the first entry on Peru we were hiking on the Inca Trail. Well mum and dad were hiking, we were riding in dad's bag. You probably remember all of that if you read our previous blog entry.

Eventually, after four days of hard hiking we arrived in the fabled Machu Picchu. Machu Picchu was the most important religious centre of the Incas. The Incas left it when the Spanish conquistadors invaded

The masonry in the wall is spectacular

The masonry is spectacular. Still 500 years after the Incas left Machu Picchu it is impossible to even fit in a paper between the stones in the wall.

the Inca Empire. Machu Picchu was then left untouched until early in the 20th century.

Machu Picchu is today all in ruins. First this made us totally terrified. We thought that this also might be one of those dangerous earthquake zones. But mum and dad ensured us that Machu Picchu have looked the same since it was rediscovered in 1911. This calmed us down a little bit. But we are afraid that we for still some time are going to associate ruins with earthquakes. Too bad that dad likes ruins so much.

Machu Picchu sits on the top of a mountain with steep slopes on two sides. The setting really is half the experience when it comes to seeing Machu Picchu. The other half is the ruins themselves of course. The masonry in the wall is spectacular. Still 500 years after the Incas left Machu Picchu it is impossible to even fit in a paper between the stones in the wall.

Just outside the exit we met, Mr Everest, the first friend we would like to mention here on the blog. Mr Everest travels the World with his mum and dad very much like we do. The

Mr Everest

Just outside Machu Picchu we met, Mr Everest. Mr Everest travels the World with his mum and dad very much like we do.

big difference is that Mr Everest is strapped on a bag most of the time so he sometimes gets to see things from a weird angle. It was nice to meet Mr Everest, especially so because he is a bird. We don't get to meet many birds, hardly any at all actually. Birds tend to fly away whenever we come too close.

After our visit in Machu Picchu we went back to Cusco. From there we took a bus tour to Puno near Lake Titicaca. On the way to Puno we came to a place called Abra La Raya. Here the road crosses a ridge at the altitude 4338 meters. This we just had to take a photo of because that is the highest we have ever been.

The day after we came to Puno we took a tour on Lake Titicaca. On Lake Titicaca we saw something really odd - people living on spongy islands. All other islands we have visited have been hard and solid. It is just like being on real land with the only difference that an island is surrounded by water where as real land isn't. Mum told us that the islands are

Abra La Raya

Abra La Raya. At the altitude 4338 meters this is the highest we have ever been.

different from other islands. These islands are completely fake. They are made from floating reeds that grow in the lake and the islands are manmade. The people on the islands pick the reeds and build the islands themselves. We have never heard of anyone else who has done that before. The people on the islands also used the reeds to build boats. Since there are no bridges between the various islands the people had to go with a boat or swim.

After we came back from the tour to the floating islands we went to an old inca sight 20 kilometres or so from Puno. Mum and dad first told us that it was just another Inca sight. But when we came there we noticed something was not quite like it usually is. Inside this sight there was what looked like hundreds of stone mushrooms. We couldn't understand what mushrooms were for so we asked mum.

Emma: "Mum, why do they had all these mushrooms here?"
Mum: "These stone figures may look like mushrooms but they are not. They are phalli. This place used to be a fertility temple."
Jean-Claude: "What is special with a fertility temple?"
Mum:

Fake island

This island is completely fake. It is made from floating reeds and is manmade.

"That means people came here to worship these stones in hopes of getting babies."
Emma: "But why mushrooms?"
Mum: "Not mushrooms, phalli! They symbolise the male reproduction organ. Or in other words, they are penises."
Emma and Jean-Claude: "Penises?!?"
Dad: "Yes, there are 100 stone dicks here. Sigmund Freud would have loved to analyze that!"

From Puno we went to Bolivia. The border was a very hectic place. There were people everywhere selling everything from fruit to tobacco. To us it didn't look like a border. It looked more like a market. But after some looking we found some policemen who checked mum and dad's passports and gave them all the necessary stamps so it seems like it was a border after all.

Just after we passed the border we met the next friend. And this was not just anybody, this was Miss Piggy from the The Muppet Show. It was not so fun to see her though. It was actually pathetic. Miss Piggy used to have style. She used to be pretty. She used to be angry and bitchy too, but she was pretty. But it was obvious that her acting career went down the drain after the Muppet Show

Reed boat

The people on the islands used the reed to build boats.

was cancelled in 1981. When we found her she was sitting in a dirt pit all covered with filth. It was so sad to see it. It is really tragic to see old heroes sink so low. She really has fallen a long way from her former glory.

When we were in the USA we met Kermit the Frog. Next time we meet Kermit we have to tell him what a mess his old fiancée is in. Maybe Kermit can help her somehow.

In Bolivia we went to an island called Isla del Sol. When we walked across the island we walked on a road that in a funny way actually looked like the Great Wall of China.
Jean-Claude: "Well I could see that it looked like the Great Wall of China. I was born in Beijing in China so I know the Great Wall very well."
Emma: "I have visited China once but then I never got to see the Great Wall."
Jean-Claude: "I am going to show it to you next time we go to China."

When we came back from Bolivia we went with mum and dad to a place called Colca Canyon. Colca Canyon is the second deepest canyon

Mushrooms?

Mushrooms? No, they are big penises... That would have been a nice one for Sigmund Freud to analyze

in the World after Cotahuasi Canyon. Cotahuasi Canyon is also in Peru but mum and dad insisted on going to Colca Canyon instead. It is so typical of mum and dad to settle for the second best.

Colca Canyon was nice so visit. The views were spectacular but it irritated us that we didn't get to see the deepest canyon in the World now that we were so close.

In the Colca Canyon we met the next little fellow we would like to talk about - it was a sheep. The day when we met the sheep he was on duty. He was talking care of a small boy while his parents were on the fields harvesting the crop. If you look at the picture you can see that the sheep has his guard uniform on. The Peruvian guard uniforms look somewhat different from guard uniforms elsewhere.

The Colca Canyon is more than 1000 meters deep where we entered it. Mum and dad both happily walked down in the canyon but on the way up mummy cheated. Dad walked all the way up, carrying us as usual, but mum took a "taxi". A taxi in Colca Canyon

Border to Bolivia

The border to Bolivia was a very hectic place.

means that she rode a donkey up. Mummy is strong so she wouldn't have had any problem walking up if she had wanted to. She took the donkey only for the fun of it.

When we all came to the top we had a talk with the donkey. She said that she walks up and down into the canyon every day. Half of the times she does it carrying a tourist on the back. Carrying our mum was all in a days work for the donkey. Here is an interesting thought: Dad carried us up the canyon just like the donkey carried mum. Does that mean that we can say that dad is our donkey?

The donkey in Colca Canyon told us something really interesting. A few weeks earlier he had a famous guest as a visitor in his home. It was Donkey from the movie Shrek. Donkey was here on vacation. He really wanted to get away from the busy life in Hollywood for a few days. If you want to get away from everything few places are better than Colca Canyon. Colca Canyon is pretty much in the middle of nowhere.

On the end of

Miss Piggy

After we passed the border we met Miss Piggy from The Muppet Show. She has fallen a long way from her former glory

our trip in the Colca Canyon we visited a spa. Walking up and down a Canyon is no problem for us toys, as long as dad carries us that is. But visiting a spa is not fun, not ever. Cuddly toys in general don't like getting wet. We can't understand why mum and dad insist on visiting all these spas everywhere. Haven't they learnt that we just don't like it?

When we travelled from Colca Canyon back to the civilisation we passed a high plain where we found some vicuñas. We really wanted to see talk to the vicuñas but they didn't want to talk to us. We had to settle with a photo of a warning sign saying they were there.

In the last days of the vacation mum and dad had something really interesting left for us. We went to this place called Nazca. There we went up a plane to look at the desert. At least that is what we thought we would see. It turned out that in the desert there were dozens of paintings and many more lines and geometrical figures. The entire desert was full of them. At first we just thought

"Help me with the lid"

Jean-Claude: "Mum left this. Let's open it! Help me with the lid!" Emma: "No more beer for me. I remember the one I tasted in Dublin much too well..."

it was interesting. But then we started to wonder who had created them. Especially when we saw some people on the ground and we could see how big they actually are. The paintings are 50-100 meters across and some of the lines and the geometrical figures must have been maybe 20 och 30 kilometres. These pictures are called the Nazca Lines. Mum and dad say that these figures and lines were made by people living here about 2000 years ago. But that doesn't make sense to us. Mum and dad ought to understand themselves that these can't have been made by people. Mum and dad have paintings on the walls at home. The largest of these paintings is just over 1 meter wide. That is a typical size of a painting. The paintings in Nazca are 50 meters wide. So, mum and dad just have to wrong here. People don't make 50 meters wide paintings, simply because you can't have a 50 meter wide painting in a house. But who made them? We think it might have been the Sand People from the planet Tatooine. The sand people really likes sand so it makes sense that they make pictures in the sand too, doesn't

Looks like the Great Wall of China

When we walked across Isla del Sol we walked on a road that looks like the Great Wall of China.

it?

The best way to see the Nazca Lines is from a plane. So we decided to buy tickets for a standard tourist plane ride over the lines. Before we left on the plane ride the pilot let us have a look at the cockpit. The pilot thought it was so fun to meet us that he even took out his own camera and took a photo of us. Perhaps he has read our blog or maybe heard of us somewhere else. Anyway, it was very nice of him to let us see what the cockpit looks like. It is not often you have the chance to do that.

From the plane we had a great view of the Nazca Lines and we saw many of them. But we didn't think it was enough. When we had seen a few lines we got addicted and wanted to see more. So in the afternoon we went to a place where you can see one Nazca Line from the ground. It is a flat piece of land where there is a long almost completely straight line. On the end of this flat land there is a small hill you can

View of the Colca Canyon

We went with mum and dad to Colca Canyon, the second deepest canyon in the World. It is so typical of mum and dad to settle for the second best.

climb and see the line really good. When we think about it this Nazca Line actually look like a landing strip, like an airport of sorts. That makes us wonder if the sand people maybe created these lines and figures to make it possible to land with spaceships here. We are going to look into that. Maybe one of the elders in the Jedi Council knows more. We have to go and ask them one day.

But there are also other interesting places around Nazca. The next day we went to see a place where there are some old graves. These graves have been excavated by both grave robbers and archaeologists. The grave robbers dug up what they wanted and threw away the rest whereas the archaeologists where methodical and carefully cleaned and documented their finds. They should let the grave robbers go to archaeology school so they can learn how to become archaeologists too.

Near the old graves there is a museum. When we were there we got very confused because the guide said there was a mummy on display. We thought he said that mummy was on display. But mummy was with us in the car so

Sheep on duty

This sheep we met was on duty. He was talking care of a small boy while his parents were on the fields.

she couldn't be on display. In the museum the guide happily pointed out an ugly thing and called it mummy. It must have been a mummy, because it said "mummy" on a sign. But it wasn't our mummy because our mummy was right there with us. Mummy was actually standing there watching the mummy. It must have felt strange for her to both be a mummy and watch a mummy. Like an out of body experience or something. Since the guide so happily pointed out the mummy we think the mummy was his mummy. What other reason does he have to be so proud of it? But that doesn't make sense either because that thing was so ugly. That thing was so ugly and if you have such an ugly mummy you are not happy about it. And he was happy. Anyway we are happy that ugly thing it not our mummy. Our mummy is not ugly. Our mummy is beautiful.

Among the old graves we found a lot of bones. These bones had been dug up by the grave robbers we mentioned above. They were not so interested in the bones so they just threw them on the

"Taxi" in Colca Canyon

On the way up from the canyon mummy cheated, she took a "taxi". A taxi in Colca Canyon means riding a donkey.

ground when they found them.
Jean-Claude: "But that was good for me. I like bones. I found a good one and chewed of it for a while."
Emma: "How could you do that? Sometimes you are so disgusting. Sometimes you behave just like a dog."
Jean-Claude: "I've got news for you, Emma. I am a dog."
Emma: "I know that. But that doesn't give you the right to behave like a dog."
Jean-Claude: "I am a dog and than it is all natural to act like a dog. I have to act like a dog."
Emma: "You don't have to act like a dog and more often than not you don't."
Jean-Claude: "Like?"
Emma: "You travel the World. How many dogs have you met that does that?"
Jean-Claude: "... not many... ...if any...".
Emma: "You have a blog. How many dogs have you met that has that?"
Jean-Claude: "... not many... ...if any...".
Emma: "You are going to be a Jedi apprentice soon. How many dogs have you met that are that?"
Jean-Claude: "... not many... ...if any...".
Emma: "Your mum and dad are humans. How many dogs have you met that have human parents?"
Jean-Claude: "... not many... ...if

Another spa... Why?

We can't understand why mum and dad insist on visiting all these spas everywhere

any..."
Emma: "Now do you get it?"
Jean-Claude: "OK. You win. I don't have to act like a dog... But the bone was good...".

The last stop on our vacation was Lima. There we went to a park by the seaside where they have these really interesting sofas. They were all made of concrete and covered with colourful pieces of glass and stone. They were nice to look at but not very comfortable. We tried to sit on it but it was too hard on our soft butts. Not many people were sitting on them either but a great many were taking photos instead. Is that a failure or a success when you construct a sofa nobody sits in but everybody takes photos of?

In Lima we found two signs we have to mention here.
Jean-Claude: "The first sign really appealed to me. It was the welcoming sign to a hostel called 'Flying Dog Hostel'. The sign had a big happy looking dog on it! My kind of place!"
Emma: "I liked the sign too. The dog was really cute."

The second sign was for a travel agency named 'Jedi Travel'. That's the travel agency we are