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Published: November 4th 2009
Right out of the gate I am going to mention that the Peruvian cuisine is amazing but that its really triggered what the doctors would refer to as loose bowel movement and for those who are unfamilier with the term its the ¨The Shits¨. It all started when we were in Mancora, Peru:
We were excited to finally come face to face with the Pacific Ocean and the many adventures it contained. The first thing on our list was to get surf lessons and through our Canadian friend Matt we were able to hook up and get our first surf lessons at Victors Surf Shop. We both managed to get up and ride the wake during our lessons.
What we were most excited about by far were the National dish of Peru and the National drink. They were both nothing shy of a disapointment, Ceviche there national dish is made up of raw fish fillet marinated in lemon juice, salt, garlic, onions, and are served with chips. But after eating a few nights of it we woke up one morning sick and were in bed for the next couple days. There national drink known as Pisco Sour is phenomenal made
from Pisco, lemon juice, sugar, and egg white. It perhaps sounds like a girly drink which it is but you have try before you judge it!
Another highlight in Mancora was the celebration of Keiths 19th Birthday in which we went all out in Folkerts style (good food). We ate at two different places for Breakfast, our highlight being a chocolate drizzled pancake filled with fruits and an ice cream scoop. We attempted surfing for the afternoon and ate at a Mexican Restaurant. Our dinner was perhaps the best part of the day as we ordered a large pizza, a few pisco sours, and topped it off with a large nutella pizza covered in fruits. But since it was his 19th we went for a second dessert and got a fruit pie and chocolate torte with ice cream. Its hard to think that people actually think we are going to loose weight down here when all the food is so cheap and there is nothing more we love than food.
After a week in the sun and having been burnt to a crisp not to mention all the hours on the toilet we headed to Lima. We decided to
go dutch (cheap) on the 18 hour ride down the coast which turned out to be a pretty bad idea. The reason being that our legs were squished full on side ways, we were also right beside a toilet (which on most rides tend to overflow and leave a gross smells), and we had people parading all night to the toilet. Lima was a beautiful city, very modern, and once again some great food as can be seen by one of our pictures where Keith is holding a burger in what looks to be filled with hickery sticks.
We were all too excited for Cusco and ended up leaving Lima after a couple days. We decided that we would pay to travel in style for this 24hour ride which was well worth it. Finally we arrived in Cusco, got settled in and immiediatley could see how beautiful it was. There was old archeticture everywhere and was awesome just wandering the streets aimlessly amazed by everything. One afternoon we were in the local market shopping around when we heard a live band outside and saw that there was a huge parade going on, so we quickly ran out there and saw
a huge procession all dressed up in funky looking costumes and bands blaring away. It was pretty crowded on the street and while Zack was going to take a picture he felt someones hand go in his pocket and out of instinct slapped it away, it was a little pregnant lady trying to pick pocket him! Zack looked at me and asked me if I had my wallet, feeling around I realized that the little pregnant lady and snagged my wallet without me noticing!!! Frantically running around we eventually phoned home and in no time, thanks to Shannon and my Mom the cards were all cancelled!
There was also one night in particular that was crazy, we dont exactly know what they were celebrating but throughout the day lots of the locals were building these huge bamboo stuctures. Zack and I had no idea what they were for but found out that night, they had wired these towers with tons of fireworks that would go off, one after another till all the fireworks were done. It was quite something to see, way better then our fireworks at home and a lot more dangerous as we were only 20 feet
away and felt the air of some fireworks straying off into the crowd. It is really hard to describe, you had to be there to get it, and even then we were still confused about how it works.
Next was our big hike up the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. We were super excited leading up to the day but again our stomachs were not feeling up to par, so finally the day came and we werent feeling so great but being the troopers we are put a smile on and enjoyed almost every second of it. The whole trail was amazing, the second day was by far the toughest reaching up to 4,200 meters at the summit of what they call ¨The Dead Womens Pass¨(name speaks for itself) but with Inca ruins along the way you didnt always have time to think about how tired you actually were. We had beautiful weather the whole way which isnt normal for this time of year, and had a great group of only 4 which we loved because it took way less time to organize and were able to get places a lot quicker then with a bigger group. Our guide Roberto
was also first class as he could go on forever about the Inca ruins and the history-culture of the Incan people. The food on the trek was also amazing although we didnt always have lots or everything because of our digestion problems it was so tasty. Then getting to Machu Picchu at sunrise was worth ever penny ...not much else to say other then amazing!!!
Finishing the hike we took a few days to recover and find out where we were going to go next, going to the bus station we only had 122 soles left in money and didnt want to take any more out because of the ridiculous charges. We found one going right to La Paz that would cost 120 soles so we were litterally broke. It didn´t help having no money when found out that we had to pay tax at the bus station, but we somehow managed to convince them and got through.
One of our more exciting adventures occured at the Peruvian Bolivian border. We got our passports stamped on the Peru side and as we were about to cross the border we had some Peruvian border guards stop us and motion for
us to come into a building for a drug check. It hadn´t occured to us then since it was still early in the morning that it made no sense what-so-ever to be checked by these Peru guards going out of the country. Once we were inside they pulled us one by one into a dark room, as I got into the room the border guard asked me if I had any money which I literally didn´t, without checking my bag for drugs which was the ¨reason¨we were in there he let me loose. he asked Keith and the same thing happened to him they merely touched his bag and asked him the same question. We found out later by a German who had ran into the same border control, that he had been robbed blind and had over $300 stolen by these corrupt border guards. Turns out he told them that he was carrying money, so they got one guard to check his bag and the other to check his wallet. So as he was trying to keep an eye on both items being checked he hadn´t notice that they had stolen his cash until he got out. He went
back though and raised his voice at the border guards yelling at them that he wanted his money back, some locals heared the commotion and a mini riot had started. He luckily got his money back, we were just glad that we weren´t carrying money on us.
We made it safely to La Paz nonetheless, it is the highest elevated capital in the world. There international airport has runways twice as long as any where else in the world because of the high altitude it is a lot more difficult for plans to take off. We are heading to the jungle to Inta Warra Yassi where we will be helping rehabilitate exotic animals such as monkeys, big cats, and smaller organisms who have been abused and sold in the black market. You may not be hearing from us for a little while as we are staying there for a couple of weeks. We love you all and thank you for you continual support and prayers
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Uncle Al
non-member comment
Wow!
I'll say it again - Wow! You guys are having an amazing time and having quite the unique experiences! Great pictures of awesome scenery! You'll have to do a big travelogue presentation when you get back. I'm sure you've heard about Duane and Shelyse's wedding. What a fantastic day it was. Keith, your dad was crazier than ever on Sunday evening at Wayne and Judy's new house! Keep on having fun! We're praying that God will continue to keep you safe! Sending our love, Uncle Al and Aunt Sue