so, as it seems by all accounts that my travel partner has abandoned her duties as a blogger, it will be up to me from here on (or until her haedus has ceased) to provide our avid readers with the events and opinions of your favorite, trusted travelers...
we have been in cuenca for almost a week now and we will start working on monday. unfortunately, we do not know who we will be teaching, and we also do not know where we will be teaching. during our first orientation meeting yesterday, we found out that there is a whole entire other CEDEI building on the other side of town that teachers will teach at if they are chosen to teach children. well, since i put in a rather forceful request not to teach children, im hoping that the other CEDEI building will not have to be a part of my consciousness. aside from that request to not teach children, having to work at the CEDEI building across the river would render my new apartment as being all of a sudden not in a great location. if i work in the main building teaching adults, or *gasp&vomit* teenagers, my apartment is only 3 blocks away. other than that discovery, the only other thing that i found out during orientation that was a surprise (aka, contradictory to what i was told during the interview process) was that we may in fact be working on fridays and saturdays. this of course leaving me with a one day weekend, 1/3 the size of what was expected. oh well. in general, however, orientation day no. 1 went well, and the people who i will be working with seem nice and we fun to go out with afterwards. it is an interesting bunch and it is always fun to find yourself doing something random, and gauging the other people you will be doing the random thing with and trying to figure out similarities between yourself and them. in this case, most of the people are women, none with complexions darker than a banana (the inside of one, of course - and this not counting anna who is beautifully bronzed at the moment). but looking past those types of superficial things (though there was an incident where one guy came up to me and told me that i looked like i was ecuadorian - this probably not quite so meaningful for those of you who do not know or remember what i look like, or know what the average ecuadorian looks like - put it like this: i could probably be confused for any race or culture on the planet other than ecuadorian. clearly this was an issue of all darkish-skinned people looking the same to him, and i would have said something to him at some point if he did not begin talking about how if we were going to go out to go dancing, it was really fine because just because you dance doesnt make you gay. for clarification he mentioned that while growing up, his family looked down upon dancing and would probably not approve of him going to salsa clubs. so ok, he is a sad case) and just accepting for a moment the fact that ethnic and 'racial minorities' in europe, america, or australia dont travel this way very often, the people were all nice and i do look forward to seeing what common thread we share that lead us here. cheesy but true.
we sat through a presentation from the leader and founder of CEDEI. american guy who has quite a grand vision for the school. the benefit that CEDEI serves, according to the founder, is to complicate the cultural values of ecuadorians. that is, for example, there was a child he knew - an ecuadorian child who came from an ecuadorian family of lawyers (both mother and father), but yet remarked to his father on one occasion that washing dishes was womens work. being that he came from a family of two successfully professional parents, it must have been invisible cultural values at work that led the child to his conclusion. if these cultural values are complicated and interrupted and made visible (by observing the ways and actions of people like myself and my wonderfully english speaking colleagues), then there may be more occasion to question the cultural values he grew up with and the child will have been given an opportunity for growth probably denied his peers. this 'complication' or 'interruption', you see, does not reflect a value judgement. rather, it is just showing the door that could be opened to a population that may not have otherwise had access to them. he then went on to explain the problems with the educational system here in ecuador - that being that all education is private and usually located only in the richest cities, and public libraries dont exist. then, went on to explain many of the wonderful things that CEDEI does throughout ecuador. these things being starting private schools in various rich cities throughout ecuador, setting up factories for people to work in in their hometowns so as to stop the problem of migration to the u.s. and elsewhere, convincing rural people that they need water filtration plants and that they cannot see the harmful microscopic particles in the water they drink, sending top CEDEI graduates to american universities - all expenses paid (regrettably, he says, most go for mba degrees), and convincing the ecuadorian government that one day the oil supply of the country will run out and that they should have an economic contingency plan. again, this is not meant to be a value judgement of our ways versus theirs - thats what george bush does, not CEDEI - but just a way of interrupting the cultural values that have led to these regrettable situations. he was quick to point out, however, that in the mission statement that the parents of the children see, he leaves out the part about interrupting cultural values. that got a good laugh.
the good thing is that when the day is over, i can return to the lap of luxury, aka, my apartment. the apartment, if i hadnt mentioned it yet, is the most amazing apartment ever built, simply put. you can scream at one end of the apartment and not be heard at the other. there are rooms that i have never even heard of, much less have lived in: have you ever heard of a solarium? we have one. we have 3 bathrooms, 5 bedrooms, the living room big enough to put a tree inside and not even have it be in the way. there is a room for the ironing board. there is a patio and a balcony, washing machine. and though there are some stylistic interior design choices made by the owner (plastic on certain furniture, white table cloth on the dining room table (which anna has already soiled - but dont tell the owner it was anna), fake plants all over the living room (one with a fake bird resting on the leaf of the fake plant), lack of a ping-pong table, etc.) it doesnt matter because there is just too much stuff to complain about any one thing. all this luxury for only $125/mo! now, am i being tacky and classless by using blog space to brag about real estate that isnt even mine? sure. but trust me, its justified. the best part of all is that the apartment comes with 2 kittens. ive never owned cats before, so their behavior is probably more amazing to me than it is amazing, but i find them to ba a constant source of entertainment. the male cat, who ive named 'little lion' because he has a big head and likes to meow a lot - and im sure his meows sound like roars to him - though given the initials of his given name, i have taken to calling him 'll cool j'. the female cat, i am calling 'jaguar'. she is sleek and sneaky. today, we played a game where i was standing in the kitchen and she tried to come into the kitchen and upset the garbage. each time she entered the kitchen, though, i lifted her up and brought her to a different corner of the apartment. so, she would find her way back and try to evade my picking her up. eventually after about 12 times of my winning, she dodged me and proclaimed herself the overall winner of the day. thats ok though...
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believe it!
Saturday, September 30, 2006
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
cuenca is nice. ideal, in fact.
i had begun my ceviche eating life interested in octopus, the shrimp, the squid. but what i soon realized is that these types of seafood taste roughly the same in ceviche form as they do grilled, fried, or baked. the real treat, when eating ceviche, is the fish. it is the fish that come out with a totally different taste than from any other method of cooking. in ceviche, covered in the lime broth, the fish taste sweet and though chewy during the first bites, the rest will melt into your mouth. delicious. that said, it is always a treat when the ceviche you order contains some manner of shellfish. the ceviche restaurants that line the beaches of máncora, peru all throw in a bit of oyster, and some even toss in a few black clams, turning the broth jet black. ths is an extra.
anyway, the overall analysis of traveling peru is this: peru is a beautiful country, mountains, jungle, beach, etc. however, being a tourist there is very difficult. especially if you are trying to be a 'traveler' who is inherantly not really trying to be a tourist, but some sort of middle figure between tourist and resident. anyway, there is a well established tourist route in peru that involves seeing all of the archeological sights and culminates with cuzco and machu picchu. peruvians have caught onto this fact, especially those in the tourism industry. the result is that wherever you are on this route, you can expect to get ripped off for things, you can expect to not be able to spend a peaceful hour sitting in the plaza because people will come offering your tours to places and otherwise asking for your money, and you can expect not to be able to take a leisurely stroll down the cobblestone streets because of people rushing out at you with menus for their restaurants, offering you massages, or otherwise tours to places. and, you cant expect a leisurely stroll down any other street because the taxis will honk at you (only at tourists though - anna and i did research) incessantly until you acknowledge them even if only to say, 'no gracias' whic in and of itself isnt a problem, but after a while it can be tiresome. the unfortunate result is that you leave peru with a shell around you, always on guard for people who may try to rip you off. its a shame, but you cant really blame anybody. the people have to make their money, and you cant really blame touists for wanting to see peru. the other side of the traveler peru-paradox is that you have to see the places on the tourist route. one cannot go to peru without seeing cuzco, for example. so naturally a portion of your time and money is spent on seeing these places. there are, of course, other places in peru worth seeing. these places may not be on the tourist route, but they certainly are worth seeing. however, distances are so far in peru, that it is a pain, and expensive to visit anywhere, much less a place you dont have to see.
anyway, go to peru, its nice, but try not to get ripped off.
as you cold well guess, we are back in ecuador now, cuenca. so despite the fact that we do have various vague travel plans for the coming months - a possible vacation to argentina, a trip to the galapagos that may happen, bussing through colombia perhaps, beach time in costa rica maybe, leading treks in nicaragua if energy permits - ths blog hereby ceases to be a travel blog. so, if you are reading only to hear little things about various new places, then check back periodically to see if any of the aforementioned vague plans have panned out. if you care to hear about the day to day life of your favorite travel blogger-turned efl teacher, then this is you spot!
so, we got back to cuenca the other night. for whatever reason, ever since we left cuenca some 2 months ago, we have been trying to find jobs in every place that wasnt cuenca. on first glance, i found cuenca to be a bit dull. not totally dull, but not too lively. over time, i was able to appreciate that lack of rip-roaring, frenetic party scene as a plus that will allow me to learn more spanish and really chill and relax. still, there were certain things that were just a bit off center. why didnt our hotel have toilet seats? why was the most popular bar/restaurant, cafecito, so dark? why didnt people sell fruit on the streets?
well, out of habit, we chose to return to hotel pichincha. you may remember this hotel, as it was featured in the peepeepoopoo entry of this blog. to my surprise, not only did the toilets have seats on them, but there were entirely new toilets! the toilets were clean and new, and teh floors of the bathroom were re-tiled. a tub-like thing was built around the showers so that the whole bathroom doesnt flood when you shower. and, there were two knobs in the shower: one that controlled the hot water, and one that controlled the cold water. amazing! before, they had one of those elecrically heated showers, but it was broken so that if you turned the knob a little, a spit-like trickle of freezing water would touch you, but turned a millimeter more, scalding hot water would pour all over you so that you lost 7 or 8 layers of skin each time you showered. eventually you stop trying. the internet service at pichincha, advertised and promised via signs and posters, actually works now. wow.
for whatever reason, the streets are filled with street food vendors. bags of mangoes, sticks of meat, whatever you may want is available right there for you on the street, just like it should be. and also, cafecito, still insistant on being candle-lit, at least draped a white tapestry across the entire ceiling, reflecting some light onto the patrons. now, im not saying that cuenca heard my complaints and reacted to them - but im kind of saying that. as of now, cuenca is the ideal place to live and work and learn spanish while still being in an urban-type environment.
ok, so let nothing stop me.
also, we found an apartment. with the apartment, we have acquired two cats, and since i just finished reading kafka on the shore, im imagining that i will also be able to speak to these cats by the time im done here in cuenca, thus rendering me trilingual.
anyway, the overall analysis of traveling peru is this: peru is a beautiful country, mountains, jungle, beach, etc. however, being a tourist there is very difficult. especially if you are trying to be a 'traveler' who is inherantly not really trying to be a tourist, but some sort of middle figure between tourist and resident. anyway, there is a well established tourist route in peru that involves seeing all of the archeological sights and culminates with cuzco and machu picchu. peruvians have caught onto this fact, especially those in the tourism industry. the result is that wherever you are on this route, you can expect to get ripped off for things, you can expect to not be able to spend a peaceful hour sitting in the plaza because people will come offering your tours to places and otherwise asking for your money, and you can expect not to be able to take a leisurely stroll down the cobblestone streets because of people rushing out at you with menus for their restaurants, offering you massages, or otherwise tours to places. and, you cant expect a leisurely stroll down any other street because the taxis will honk at you (only at tourists though - anna and i did research) incessantly until you acknowledge them even if only to say, 'no gracias' whic in and of itself isnt a problem, but after a while it can be tiresome. the unfortunate result is that you leave peru with a shell around you, always on guard for people who may try to rip you off. its a shame, but you cant really blame anybody. the people have to make their money, and you cant really blame touists for wanting to see peru. the other side of the traveler peru-paradox is that you have to see the places on the tourist route. one cannot go to peru without seeing cuzco, for example. so naturally a portion of your time and money is spent on seeing these places. there are, of course, other places in peru worth seeing. these places may not be on the tourist route, but they certainly are worth seeing. however, distances are so far in peru, that it is a pain, and expensive to visit anywhere, much less a place you dont have to see.
anyway, go to peru, its nice, but try not to get ripped off.
as you cold well guess, we are back in ecuador now, cuenca. so despite the fact that we do have various vague travel plans for the coming months - a possible vacation to argentina, a trip to the galapagos that may happen, bussing through colombia perhaps, beach time in costa rica maybe, leading treks in nicaragua if energy permits - ths blog hereby ceases to be a travel blog. so, if you are reading only to hear little things about various new places, then check back periodically to see if any of the aforementioned vague plans have panned out. if you care to hear about the day to day life of your favorite travel blogger-turned efl teacher, then this is you spot!
so, we got back to cuenca the other night. for whatever reason, ever since we left cuenca some 2 months ago, we have been trying to find jobs in every place that wasnt cuenca. on first glance, i found cuenca to be a bit dull. not totally dull, but not too lively. over time, i was able to appreciate that lack of rip-roaring, frenetic party scene as a plus that will allow me to learn more spanish and really chill and relax. still, there were certain things that were just a bit off center. why didnt our hotel have toilet seats? why was the most popular bar/restaurant, cafecito, so dark? why didnt people sell fruit on the streets?
well, out of habit, we chose to return to hotel pichincha. you may remember this hotel, as it was featured in the peepeepoopoo entry of this blog. to my surprise, not only did the toilets have seats on them, but there were entirely new toilets! the toilets were clean and new, and teh floors of the bathroom were re-tiled. a tub-like thing was built around the showers so that the whole bathroom doesnt flood when you shower. and, there were two knobs in the shower: one that controlled the hot water, and one that controlled the cold water. amazing! before, they had one of those elecrically heated showers, but it was broken so that if you turned the knob a little, a spit-like trickle of freezing water would touch you, but turned a millimeter more, scalding hot water would pour all over you so that you lost 7 or 8 layers of skin each time you showered. eventually you stop trying. the internet service at pichincha, advertised and promised via signs and posters, actually works now. wow.
for whatever reason, the streets are filled with street food vendors. bags of mangoes, sticks of meat, whatever you may want is available right there for you on the street, just like it should be. and also, cafecito, still insistant on being candle-lit, at least draped a white tapestry across the entire ceiling, reflecting some light onto the patrons. now, im not saying that cuenca heard my complaints and reacted to them - but im kind of saying that. as of now, cuenca is the ideal place to live and work and learn spanish while still being in an urban-type environment.
ok, so let nothing stop me.
also, we found an apartment. with the apartment, we have acquired two cats, and since i just finished reading kafka on the shore, im imagining that i will also be able to speak to these cats by the time im done here in cuenca, thus rendering me trilingual.
Sunday, September 17, 2006
arequipa the 2nd
so machu picchu was good - great, really. getting there was pretty much just as i said it would be in my blog post, except add a zip line over a river. being there was much better than seeing it in the movies or in postcards.
then, after spending another couple of days in cuzco capitalizing on the hospiality of hospedaje inka, eating papayas, bananas and coffee, we came here to arequipa - for a specific reason.
sure, coming to arequipa is couner-intuitive seeing as how it is south of cuzco and we are, in general, headed north. but, with a little luck and good timing we were able to have a free date today: the day of the bull vs bull fights in a town nearby to arequipa.
we got in yesterday morning from an overnight bus and got to a hostel we had heard of that supposedly had a kitchen. after cooking a lot of healthy food in cuzco, and talking to other travelers over dinner, the idea of a kitchen had become ideal. mind you, we had stayed in a nice hotel in arequipa last time we were here. there was direct-tv, but no kitchen. so, being good travelers, we shunned the cable and opted for the socializing. however, upon entering the hostal, we found that they charged 2 soles for the use of their kitchen. you see, there was also a restaurant run out of the lobby. also, the kitchen as dirty and arequipa is full of good restaurants. so the kitchen idea was quickly put to rest. but it was early and after a night bus, so we decided to stay so we could get some immidiate rest. though, after we agreed to stay and put our bags down, i took a walk to the roof to see what looked from the outside like a nice rooftop lounge. instead, to my horror, what i found were decrepit chairs and dirty laundry hanging everywhere from lines so that you couldnt really walk upright and wouldnt want to sit down. fine, i thought. then i went back downstairs to sleep.
upon waking up and figuring out a place to go, anna and i were set to leave, but anna had to use the bathroom. in the bathroom, anna found no toilet paper, and so, understandably, asked the hotel lady if she could replace the toilet paper. however, to our double horror, the hotel lady stated that the hotel does not provide toilet paper. guests are expected to bring their own toilet paper with them. luckily, like a cub scout, anna is prepared and does carry toilet paper around, but still - who has ever heard of such an abomination? so, after telling the lady that it is a dirty, shameful policy, i suggested hat she put a sign up near the bathrooms informing guests of their obligation before commiting themselves to the point of no return. to my flurry of complaints, she only replied that 'its the bosses rules'.
when leaving today, already furious with the hotel for being the way it is, we still decided to entrust them with the holding of our bags for the day. every hotel weve been to offers this service, and it is nice to not have to carry your bags around all day without a room to put them in. this hotel charged a $.50 fee for this service. unacceptable. and sticking to our priciples (in this case that we disliked the hotel), anna and i decided to entrust the bus company with our bags during the day. they charged a 2 sol fee, but it is expecd from them. anyway, it was nice to get out of the sheister hotel. the name is la reyna, dont stay there. my last bit of revenge was handing them a 100 sol bill for them to change when checking out. this is a fate worse than death in peru (ensuring a reaction akin to the ecuadorian 20 face).
besides, being at the bus station left us in better position to get to la joya, where the bull vs bull fights were to take place. we took a bus about an hour out of town into the desert to get dropped off somewhere at the side of the road, and then wound up getting in someones car who was headed to la joya. was it a cab? i dont know.
the man let us off at the local stadium (you see, we arrived early to get our tickets: good thinking...) sometime near 12 midday when the sun was at its desert strongest. the stadium was about 1 sol away from the center of town according to the cab driver, but fortunately for us, that was only about a 10 minute walk. after we bought the tickets, we undertook this walk along the train tracks and it was actually a bit more strenuous than it would have seemed if only for the heat and the fact that a dog ran out at us at one point, bearing its teeth. this would have been but a silly episode if not for the unfortunate memory of a certain incident last summer ivolving the combination of a dog and my lack of bravery - an event that weighs heavily on annas mind whenever a similar situation arises. and frankly, the memory shakes her to her core for a number of hours. our solution this time was to be vigilant, and to walk with rocks in our hands.
at any rate, we then decended upon lunch, a fanciful feast of soup and then a piece of meat. unfortunately, my love of strange foods has not yet extended to the eating of brains, though i do hear that it is tasty, or else that would have been the soup of the day. however, we opted for the other option, soup containing a piece of meat that needed about 56 chews to break down into swallowable portions. the highlight of lunch being, of course, when a man came by with an oral device that allowed him to make the noise of any animal he wished. he wished for cat this particular time and also carried around a plastic bag with a fake cat tail hanging out, and in his other hand, a club of some sort. he proceded to stand outside of the restaurant pounding the plastic bag with the club while making rather convincing dying-cat noises. one family bought the oral device for their amused 2 year old.
then we made our way back to the stadium. we were the first people in the stadium and so took seats in the shaded part. by the time anyone else showed up, we had had to move because the shaded part had become the sunny part. a couple of the bulls had been paraded around for no apparent reason and had a rope tied around their horns and head - the other end of the rope tied to a stake in the ground to keep them from going anywhere - and kept standing in the sun for quite some time. this was a good time for me to go up and take a picture, although i didnt really get any great ones because each time they actually looked at me, i flinched. they were a bit agitated and stamped their feet and swung their heads around, snorted from their noses and hollered. also, they really are quite big. i mean, they were taller than me and about 2000 pounds of muscle. i got a a few pictures, mostly of their sides and asses, and looked forward to seeing them fight.
im not a huge fan of the idea of the spanish bullfight. i guess its supposed to be a spectacle rather than a sporting event, fine, but the bull is at such a disadvantage that i cant really see how it isnt just a massacre. the rodeo seems like lots of fun and the bull lives afterwards. and this peruvian bullfight, though all the people of la joya showed up in their favorite cowboy hats and bootlegged wrangler jeans (i dont mean bootleg in the physical sense), seemed to show a certain respect for the wishes and individuality of the bulls: the bulls would be released from either side of the field, sometimes being coaxed along by their trainer, and sometimes charging towards the other bull. in either case, in every situation, the bulls stopped when they met each other and stood still for some time. in the most exciting of cases, they then commenced to butt heads and lock horns and push each other around a bit. the bull who pushed the other bull around the most was deemed the winner. this would take, usually, around 20 seconds to happen. in the more boring circumstances, the bulls would become quick friends and smell each others butts and commence eating grass together. the trainers would allow their bulls to go on like this for some 5 or even 10 minutes before calling a draw and leading the bull off of the field. in this case, the bull always acted scary - bucking, snorting and mooing as it was led off the field. as the people became more drunk, they had a bit less tolerance for these non-fights, but were generally accepting of the bulls preference for passificism. of the scheduled 14 fights of the day, we stayed for about 6.
so, you ask, why were you there for 5 hours? well, between each fight, or non-fight, or bull-social-club-meeting-in-the-middle-of -the-field, it became evident that the whole event was really an advertisement for arequipeña, the local beer - and the beneficiary of a t-shirt purchase by anna. a man with control over a microphone, cd player, and absurdly loud speakers that could be heard from all over la joya, routinely began speaking of the virtues of their local beer, playing songs that sounded scratchy, as though they were the first songs ever recorded, but were about the local beer, and then making noises as though he had just been refreshed by the local beer, ie. 'aaahhhhhhh' (remember, we were sitting out in the desert sun). these interludes lasted 30 minutes each and never failed to also advertise the deep fried guinea pigs that were for sale at the food area. anna and i took a walk over to that area at one point and saw that it consisted of a large pot filled with oil and guinea pigs, some tables where people were eating the guinea pigs, and a clothesline over which 50 skinned, yet to be deep fried guinea pigs were draped. fortunately for the bulls, this was the most gore we encountered that day. we didnt eat any because they were too expensive.
then, after spending another couple of days in cuzco capitalizing on the hospiality of hospedaje inka, eating papayas, bananas and coffee, we came here to arequipa - for a specific reason.
sure, coming to arequipa is couner-intuitive seeing as how it is south of cuzco and we are, in general, headed north. but, with a little luck and good timing we were able to have a free date today: the day of the bull vs bull fights in a town nearby to arequipa.
we got in yesterday morning from an overnight bus and got to a hostel we had heard of that supposedly had a kitchen. after cooking a lot of healthy food in cuzco, and talking to other travelers over dinner, the idea of a kitchen had become ideal. mind you, we had stayed in a nice hotel in arequipa last time we were here. there was direct-tv, but no kitchen. so, being good travelers, we shunned the cable and opted for the socializing. however, upon entering the hostal, we found that they charged 2 soles for the use of their kitchen. you see, there was also a restaurant run out of the lobby. also, the kitchen as dirty and arequipa is full of good restaurants. so the kitchen idea was quickly put to rest. but it was early and after a night bus, so we decided to stay so we could get some immidiate rest. though, after we agreed to stay and put our bags down, i took a walk to the roof to see what looked from the outside like a nice rooftop lounge. instead, to my horror, what i found were decrepit chairs and dirty laundry hanging everywhere from lines so that you couldnt really walk upright and wouldnt want to sit down. fine, i thought. then i went back downstairs to sleep.
upon waking up and figuring out a place to go, anna and i were set to leave, but anna had to use the bathroom. in the bathroom, anna found no toilet paper, and so, understandably, asked the hotel lady if she could replace the toilet paper. however, to our double horror, the hotel lady stated that the hotel does not provide toilet paper. guests are expected to bring their own toilet paper with them. luckily, like a cub scout, anna is prepared and does carry toilet paper around, but still - who has ever heard of such an abomination? so, after telling the lady that it is a dirty, shameful policy, i suggested hat she put a sign up near the bathrooms informing guests of their obligation before commiting themselves to the point of no return. to my flurry of complaints, she only replied that 'its the bosses rules'.
when leaving today, already furious with the hotel for being the way it is, we still decided to entrust them with the holding of our bags for the day. every hotel weve been to offers this service, and it is nice to not have to carry your bags around all day without a room to put them in. this hotel charged a $.50 fee for this service. unacceptable. and sticking to our priciples (in this case that we disliked the hotel), anna and i decided to entrust the bus company with our bags during the day. they charged a 2 sol fee, but it is expecd from them. anyway, it was nice to get out of the sheister hotel. the name is la reyna, dont stay there. my last bit of revenge was handing them a 100 sol bill for them to change when checking out. this is a fate worse than death in peru (ensuring a reaction akin to the ecuadorian 20 face).
besides, being at the bus station left us in better position to get to la joya, where the bull vs bull fights were to take place. we took a bus about an hour out of town into the desert to get dropped off somewhere at the side of the road, and then wound up getting in someones car who was headed to la joya. was it a cab? i dont know.
the man let us off at the local stadium (you see, we arrived early to get our tickets: good thinking...) sometime near 12 midday when the sun was at its desert strongest. the stadium was about 1 sol away from the center of town according to the cab driver, but fortunately for us, that was only about a 10 minute walk. after we bought the tickets, we undertook this walk along the train tracks and it was actually a bit more strenuous than it would have seemed if only for the heat and the fact that a dog ran out at us at one point, bearing its teeth. this would have been but a silly episode if not for the unfortunate memory of a certain incident last summer ivolving the combination of a dog and my lack of bravery - an event that weighs heavily on annas mind whenever a similar situation arises. and frankly, the memory shakes her to her core for a number of hours. our solution this time was to be vigilant, and to walk with rocks in our hands.
at any rate, we then decended upon lunch, a fanciful feast of soup and then a piece of meat. unfortunately, my love of strange foods has not yet extended to the eating of brains, though i do hear that it is tasty, or else that would have been the soup of the day. however, we opted for the other option, soup containing a piece of meat that needed about 56 chews to break down into swallowable portions. the highlight of lunch being, of course, when a man came by with an oral device that allowed him to make the noise of any animal he wished. he wished for cat this particular time and also carried around a plastic bag with a fake cat tail hanging out, and in his other hand, a club of some sort. he proceded to stand outside of the restaurant pounding the plastic bag with the club while making rather convincing dying-cat noises. one family bought the oral device for their amused 2 year old.
then we made our way back to the stadium. we were the first people in the stadium and so took seats in the shaded part. by the time anyone else showed up, we had had to move because the shaded part had become the sunny part. a couple of the bulls had been paraded around for no apparent reason and had a rope tied around their horns and head - the other end of the rope tied to a stake in the ground to keep them from going anywhere - and kept standing in the sun for quite some time. this was a good time for me to go up and take a picture, although i didnt really get any great ones because each time they actually looked at me, i flinched. they were a bit agitated and stamped their feet and swung their heads around, snorted from their noses and hollered. also, they really are quite big. i mean, they were taller than me and about 2000 pounds of muscle. i got a a few pictures, mostly of their sides and asses, and looked forward to seeing them fight.
im not a huge fan of the idea of the spanish bullfight. i guess its supposed to be a spectacle rather than a sporting event, fine, but the bull is at such a disadvantage that i cant really see how it isnt just a massacre. the rodeo seems like lots of fun and the bull lives afterwards. and this peruvian bullfight, though all the people of la joya showed up in their favorite cowboy hats and bootlegged wrangler jeans (i dont mean bootleg in the physical sense), seemed to show a certain respect for the wishes and individuality of the bulls: the bulls would be released from either side of the field, sometimes being coaxed along by their trainer, and sometimes charging towards the other bull. in either case, in every situation, the bulls stopped when they met each other and stood still for some time. in the most exciting of cases, they then commenced to butt heads and lock horns and push each other around a bit. the bull who pushed the other bull around the most was deemed the winner. this would take, usually, around 20 seconds to happen. in the more boring circumstances, the bulls would become quick friends and smell each others butts and commence eating grass together. the trainers would allow their bulls to go on like this for some 5 or even 10 minutes before calling a draw and leading the bull off of the field. in this case, the bull always acted scary - bucking, snorting and mooing as it was led off the field. as the people became more drunk, they had a bit less tolerance for these non-fights, but were generally accepting of the bulls preference for passificism. of the scheduled 14 fights of the day, we stayed for about 6.
so, you ask, why were you there for 5 hours? well, between each fight, or non-fight, or bull-social-club-meeting-in-the-middle-of -the-field, it became evident that the whole event was really an advertisement for arequipeña, the local beer - and the beneficiary of a t-shirt purchase by anna. a man with control over a microphone, cd player, and absurdly loud speakers that could be heard from all over la joya, routinely began speaking of the virtues of their local beer, playing songs that sounded scratchy, as though they were the first songs ever recorded, but were about the local beer, and then making noises as though he had just been refreshed by the local beer, ie. 'aaahhhhhhh' (remember, we were sitting out in the desert sun). these interludes lasted 30 minutes each and never failed to also advertise the deep fried guinea pigs that were for sale at the food area. anna and i took a walk over to that area at one point and saw that it consisted of a large pot filled with oil and guinea pigs, some tables where people were eating the guinea pigs, and a clothesline over which 50 skinned, yet to be deep fried guinea pigs were draped. fortunately for the bulls, this was the most gore we encountered that day. we didnt eat any because they were too expensive.
Saturday, September 16, 2006
translators need apply
at a nice cafe/pastry shop in cuzco, where the floors are clean, the tables wiped down, the empanadas are the second best in south america (so far), and they sell actual apple pie - when one goes into the bathroom, one can still expect to throw the toilet paper in the garbage can. fine, just the way it is. one atually gets used to it. however, one of the more exciting aspects of throwing the toilet paper in the garbage is reading the signs posted in spanish, then translated literally int english, encouraging people to do so. an example:
We will thank to make good use
of the paper, depositing it into
the basket and avoiding the
waste of the same one, taking
care of the environment.
Thank you
WHAT!?
what physical action is to be taken upon reading this sign?
what exactly qualifies as good use of toilet paper? what same one?
i invite you to ponder this during your next trip to the bathroom.
Monday, September 11, 2006
inca trail, sort of
machu picchu is the number one toursist destination in south america, and cuzco is the epi-center of south american traveler culture. that is: if you were to simultaneously be at the internation airpors of quito, ecuador and santiago, chile on a given date, greeting everybody who stepped off of the planes wearing a backpack, two or three months later, you would probably meet 90% of those people again in cuzco. the rest of the people you met in cuzco would have flown directly into lima and gotten as quick as possible to cuzco, either to see machu picchu and leave, or to start spanish classes, a volunteer project, or some such thing. you would see these people walking around the plaza de armas during the day, eating dinner around a table of other travelers at a hostel discussing the best and cheapest route to such and such ruin, or enjoying one of the many identical dance clubs at night. its all very easy and nice here in cuzco.
our first night here, we cooked (anna cooked) vegetable stir-fry and lots of people said it looked good. we sat around the table in the outdoor common area of our hostel that looks out over all of cuzco, and ate and listened to people talking, and talked to them too. at the table was a polish guy who was either an archeologist or studying to be an archeologist, or just liked to talk a lot about archeology, or just liked to talk a lot about himself, or some combination of the above. there was a quebecoise who was leaving in the morning for arequipa. and, there was a german girl who had arrived the same day we had. at some point during the speaking of the polish guy, he managed to identify a viable route to machu picchu. you see, the route to machu picchu that everyone would like to do deep down is teh inca trail. however, since everyone would like to do it, only those with lots of money and forsight wind up doing it. generally inca trail tours are around $300-$400 and need to be reserved 3 or 4 months in advance. such riches and forsight aggravate the jealousy of more hardened backpackers and the expression of this jealously is the discovery of a variety of cheaper and more uncomfortable backroutes to machu picchu. the obvious one is the train from cuzco to macchu picchu and back. however, this too is an intermediary between true hardened backpacker-dom and rich, well planned, tourism. admitting to having a train ticket to and from machu picchu does not identify you as a true outsider to backpacker culture, but yet will most likely exclude you from 98% of the conversation amongst other backpackers in cuzco, which focuses on the best and cheapest, often complicated routes to machu picchu.
the polish guy/archeologist/expert on every single thing in the entire world, woke up early one day, took a 6 hour bus to a place called santa maria, then a 2 hour van to a place called santa teresa. from there, he walked 5 hours along the train tracks to a place called aguas calientes, in the dark. aguas calientes is the last town before machu picchu, and features, of all things: hot water. there are hotels to stay in there, but the polish guy recommended bringing a tent and that if you dont have a tent, that it is ok and safe to sleep outside just on the ground, in your clothes because it is quite warm and also a waste of money to get a hotel room since you will be arriving at night and leaving in the morning, before the crack of dawn to get to machu picchu at sunrise, as you must. there is a bus from aguas calientes to machu picchu, but it costs $6 each way, so it is therefore recommended to wake up even earlier and climb the steep staircase for 2 hours. it is more rewarding that way, apparantly, and when you return from machu picchu to aguas calientes, you will have earned your dip in the hot water. also, of extreme importance was to buy jugs and jugs of water because the water at aguas calientes was a full $.50 more than what it costs in cuzco. as well, tuna fish and granola bars were the way to go for food, as aguas calientes seemed to know that they had you trapped there. this is how the polish guy did it, and then he did the same on the way back, though he cheated a bit, having hitched a ride on the back of a truck from a hydroelectric plant midway between aguas calientes and santa teresa, to santa teresa. other than that hiccup, he represents, of course, the cheapest and most harcore way to arrive at machu picchu. and, upon hearing his story, anna, myself, and the german girl agreed to emulate together, except that we agreed to stay in a hotel in aguas calientes.
we were to leave the next morning after the next, and as anna and i were going to visit some other ruins the next morning, the german girl offered to go and buy the bus tickets for us, since she was going to be hanging out in cuzco all day. that evening, i was cooking beans and in the kitchen was one of the owners of the hostel. i decided to verify the story of the polish guy and practice my spanish all at once. in her opinion, it wasnt terrifically safe to walk along those tracks at night. the polish guy said it was fine because it was warm, the train didnt run at night, and we are in a ful moon period, so there was plenty of light. the hostel lady said it wasnt terrifically safe, although she didnt know of any particular bad stories. we considered her advice, but then there was the aspect of teh german girl having already bought our ticket thus sealing our fate. the advice of the hostel lady concerning that was that we could always just re-sell the tickets and get ones for the night time. it seemed a good plan, and we waited to tell the german girl of the change. however, she never arrived. in her not arriving, anna and i devised a modified harcore plan that may actually have saved more money than the polish guy:
we would leave on the bus for santa maria at night, the next night, on the last bus, which was at 8. get to santa maria around 3am and catch the van to santa teresa to get there at around 5 or 6am to commence our walk to aguas calientes, at which we would arrive at mid-day or so. we would spend the rest of the day relaxing in the hot water. also, whereas bringing tuna and granola bars was probably wise, with all the money we were saving on having take a night bus rather than paid for a night in a hostel and left in the morning, we decided that we could in fact splurge on water in aguas calientes, as jugs of water may get heavy to carry during the 5 hour walk along the tracks. the only loose string was on how to get back. getting back the same way we came would mean that machu picchu would have become an uncomfortable 4 night affair for a morning worth of ruin viewing. in the absence of the influence of hardcore travelers, anna and i decided that taking the train back would not be so bad.
still, the german girl did not show up and we did not see her until the next morning when she announced that she had spent the previous day in bed and on the toilet with stomach diffiulties, and therefore could not have bought our ticket as she had prmised. this would have been supremely annoying had we maintained our original plan. but since we didnt, we informed her of the new plan, to which she agreed whole-heartedly except that she would not take the train back with us. however, she begged that we leave not that night, but the following night, as she was stil a bit weak from her episodes the previous day - this as she sat reading and smoking a cigarette. however, we agreed, as it gave us some more time to see sights in cuzco. and, since she was so weak, it then became our responsibility to buy the tickets, which we agreed to as well because we had to get them anyway.
buying the bus tickets was a breeze, as we were able to get the front seats of the bus (with the most leg room), and for a cheap price. the train tickets proved a bit more difficult, as all of the seats in "backpacker class" were taken, so we had to buy 1st class tickets which were, of course, more expensive. however, to cut down the cost, we bought tickets from aguas calientes to a town about 2 hours from cuzco, from which it is possible to take a bus back to cuzco for less than $1. so in the end, the train ride halfway back to cuzco, including the bus from the town (hard to pronounce - something like, ollyatabambo) will cost us about the same price as a ticket all the way back to cuzco in "backpacker class." still more than what the german girl wil pay.
we are currently awaiting 8pm and bus ride no.1.
so, where do we rank?
our first night here, we cooked (anna cooked) vegetable stir-fry and lots of people said it looked good. we sat around the table in the outdoor common area of our hostel that looks out over all of cuzco, and ate and listened to people talking, and talked to them too. at the table was a polish guy who was either an archeologist or studying to be an archeologist, or just liked to talk a lot about archeology, or just liked to talk a lot about himself, or some combination of the above. there was a quebecoise who was leaving in the morning for arequipa. and, there was a german girl who had arrived the same day we had. at some point during the speaking of the polish guy, he managed to identify a viable route to machu picchu. you see, the route to machu picchu that everyone would like to do deep down is teh inca trail. however, since everyone would like to do it, only those with lots of money and forsight wind up doing it. generally inca trail tours are around $300-$400 and need to be reserved 3 or 4 months in advance. such riches and forsight aggravate the jealousy of more hardened backpackers and the expression of this jealously is the discovery of a variety of cheaper and more uncomfortable backroutes to machu picchu. the obvious one is the train from cuzco to macchu picchu and back. however, this too is an intermediary between true hardened backpacker-dom and rich, well planned, tourism. admitting to having a train ticket to and from machu picchu does not identify you as a true outsider to backpacker culture, but yet will most likely exclude you from 98% of the conversation amongst other backpackers in cuzco, which focuses on the best and cheapest, often complicated routes to machu picchu.
the polish guy/archeologist/expert on every single thing in the entire world, woke up early one day, took a 6 hour bus to a place called santa maria, then a 2 hour van to a place called santa teresa. from there, he walked 5 hours along the train tracks to a place called aguas calientes, in the dark. aguas calientes is the last town before machu picchu, and features, of all things: hot water. there are hotels to stay in there, but the polish guy recommended bringing a tent and that if you dont have a tent, that it is ok and safe to sleep outside just on the ground, in your clothes because it is quite warm and also a waste of money to get a hotel room since you will be arriving at night and leaving in the morning, before the crack of dawn to get to machu picchu at sunrise, as you must. there is a bus from aguas calientes to machu picchu, but it costs $6 each way, so it is therefore recommended to wake up even earlier and climb the steep staircase for 2 hours. it is more rewarding that way, apparantly, and when you return from machu picchu to aguas calientes, you will have earned your dip in the hot water. also, of extreme importance was to buy jugs and jugs of water because the water at aguas calientes was a full $.50 more than what it costs in cuzco. as well, tuna fish and granola bars were the way to go for food, as aguas calientes seemed to know that they had you trapped there. this is how the polish guy did it, and then he did the same on the way back, though he cheated a bit, having hitched a ride on the back of a truck from a hydroelectric plant midway between aguas calientes and santa teresa, to santa teresa. other than that hiccup, he represents, of course, the cheapest and most harcore way to arrive at machu picchu. and, upon hearing his story, anna, myself, and the german girl agreed to emulate together, except that we agreed to stay in a hotel in aguas calientes.
we were to leave the next morning after the next, and as anna and i were going to visit some other ruins the next morning, the german girl offered to go and buy the bus tickets for us, since she was going to be hanging out in cuzco all day. that evening, i was cooking beans and in the kitchen was one of the owners of the hostel. i decided to verify the story of the polish guy and practice my spanish all at once. in her opinion, it wasnt terrifically safe to walk along those tracks at night. the polish guy said it was fine because it was warm, the train didnt run at night, and we are in a ful moon period, so there was plenty of light. the hostel lady said it wasnt terrifically safe, although she didnt know of any particular bad stories. we considered her advice, but then there was the aspect of teh german girl having already bought our ticket thus sealing our fate. the advice of the hostel lady concerning that was that we could always just re-sell the tickets and get ones for the night time. it seemed a good plan, and we waited to tell the german girl of the change. however, she never arrived. in her not arriving, anna and i devised a modified harcore plan that may actually have saved more money than the polish guy:
we would leave on the bus for santa maria at night, the next night, on the last bus, which was at 8. get to santa maria around 3am and catch the van to santa teresa to get there at around 5 or 6am to commence our walk to aguas calientes, at which we would arrive at mid-day or so. we would spend the rest of the day relaxing in the hot water. also, whereas bringing tuna and granola bars was probably wise, with all the money we were saving on having take a night bus rather than paid for a night in a hostel and left in the morning, we decided that we could in fact splurge on water in aguas calientes, as jugs of water may get heavy to carry during the 5 hour walk along the tracks. the only loose string was on how to get back. getting back the same way we came would mean that machu picchu would have become an uncomfortable 4 night affair for a morning worth of ruin viewing. in the absence of the influence of hardcore travelers, anna and i decided that taking the train back would not be so bad.
still, the german girl did not show up and we did not see her until the next morning when she announced that she had spent the previous day in bed and on the toilet with stomach diffiulties, and therefore could not have bought our ticket as she had prmised. this would have been supremely annoying had we maintained our original plan. but since we didnt, we informed her of the new plan, to which she agreed whole-heartedly except that she would not take the train back with us. however, she begged that we leave not that night, but the following night, as she was stil a bit weak from her episodes the previous day - this as she sat reading and smoking a cigarette. however, we agreed, as it gave us some more time to see sights in cuzco. and, since she was so weak, it then became our responsibility to buy the tickets, which we agreed to as well because we had to get them anyway.
buying the bus tickets was a breeze, as we were able to get the front seats of the bus (with the most leg room), and for a cheap price. the train tickets proved a bit more difficult, as all of the seats in "backpacker class" were taken, so we had to buy 1st class tickets which were, of course, more expensive. however, to cut down the cost, we bought tickets from aguas calientes to a town about 2 hours from cuzco, from which it is possible to take a bus back to cuzco for less than $1. so in the end, the train ride halfway back to cuzco, including the bus from the town (hard to pronounce - something like, ollyatabambo) will cost us about the same price as a ticket all the way back to cuzco in "backpacker class." still more than what the german girl wil pay.
we are currently awaiting 8pm and bus ride no.1.
so, where do we rank?
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
to do or not to do
so at the risk of angering the traveler gods, we have decided to not do the colca canyon trek.
well, it all started in huacachina. a few things happened. first: we saw our first sunlight in a number of days. for whatever meteorological reason, most of the entire coast of peru is a desert and it is also foggy and chilly for about 10 months of the year. the two months not chilly are not the months we are here, if you were wondering. so, as weve traveled and enjoyed coastal peru, it has not been because of the weather. then, we arrived at ica and its nearby desert oasis town of huacachina. this, though part of the coastal desert, was exremely hot and sunny. also, the main feature of this area are its giant sand dunes. for whatever reason, the dunes surrounding the oasis are larger than any other dunes in any other area. surrounding the oasis is one paved road, and lining that paved road are a number of restaurants and shops to buy traditional peruvian clothing, and hotels. out of the back door of any of these establishments, you can begin walking up the dunes. so, also lining the streets are people calling out to you to rent sand boards (snowboards that you use on the sand). this is the main activity of huacachina, and being what it is:
a) sanboarding
b) in the desert and therefore brutally hot
c) you need to get up to get down, and climbing the sides of sand dunes is not a quick process
this main activity of huacachina is generally over within a couple of hours at the most. leaving 22 left in the day. what then?
well, unlike many other places weve been in peru, or ecuador for that matter, huacachina has a very active sit-in-a-hammock-at-the-side-of-a-pool-and-read-a-book culture. this we did for a few days. and although a person cannot do this forever (they say), it was ice to do for a couple of days. nice enough that it got in our blood a bit.
the next thing that happened was that we met a few people who had been to arequipa before coming to huacachina who gave us the report on the colca canyon trek. they told us that it is actually 6 hours from arequipa, that you have to begin walking at 1 am on one day, then, the next day you begin walking at 3 am. this to get to the area where you can see condors by the appropriate time. condors are cool, but the timing of the whole thing isnt. in fact, we heard a number of reports from people that the colca canyon trek wasnt as much of an enjoyable experience as it could have been, so, sitting by the side of the pool soaking our feet, anna and i decided not to do the colca canyon trek. we decided that we have, and will do a great number of treks during our time here, and that when all is said and done, our having been in south america and enjoyed it will not hinge on whether or not we have done the colca canyon trek - or any one activity for that matter.
the traveler thing of doing more seeing more and then talking about it can be addictive, but we resisted... that is the moral of that...
instead we have come to arequipa just to enjoy the city, which we have very much. it is called the white city because all of the architecture of the colonial center is built with white stone. its interesting. also, there are lots of good restaurants. our first night here, we tried out a good steakhouse. we are in the more steaky parts of the world now, being so close to chile, wihch is close to argentina (where there is good steak!), so we gave it a shot. the steaks were amazing and large and only about $10, which completely blew our budget, but is still a good deal for what we got. the only weird thing about it was that on the bill was a sliverware charge. now, i understand if a restaurant wants to charde a bit for service or whatever and include it in the bill, but to do so under the guise of a silverware charge seemed a bit silly. if for nothing else then that i would have been more than happy to eat with my hands like usual.
anyway, the next day, i ate what has to be considered the second best ceviche ive ever had.
and, last night, i ate alpaca. yes, alpaca - the cute little animals that we make sweaters out of. i ate one. it was good. tasted like deer. tough. but not tough enough for my teeth...
so we are still in arequipa and we are about to go see this museum that has a mummy in it. im not entirely sure of the history of the mummy, and really, im not really entirely sure of where the museum is. see, we have been looking for the museum all morning, having consulted lonely planet (by the way, im having huge issues with lonely planet. i suspect the writers of that book weild way too much influence over the minds of unsuspecting travelers - and in turn over the countries they write about , but perhaps that is another issue for another day), people, hotel staff, etc. the museum still hasnt shown itself. for a break we decided to come in and do internet, thus spawning this - my latest blog entry.
oh, and by the way, if you were wondering - sandboarding was fun and arequipa is beautiful surrounded by glacial mountians and a volcano on one side, and desert on the other. both are immidiately visible...
well, it all started in huacachina. a few things happened. first: we saw our first sunlight in a number of days. for whatever meteorological reason, most of the entire coast of peru is a desert and it is also foggy and chilly for about 10 months of the year. the two months not chilly are not the months we are here, if you were wondering. so, as weve traveled and enjoyed coastal peru, it has not been because of the weather. then, we arrived at ica and its nearby desert oasis town of huacachina. this, though part of the coastal desert, was exremely hot and sunny. also, the main feature of this area are its giant sand dunes. for whatever reason, the dunes surrounding the oasis are larger than any other dunes in any other area. surrounding the oasis is one paved road, and lining that paved road are a number of restaurants and shops to buy traditional peruvian clothing, and hotels. out of the back door of any of these establishments, you can begin walking up the dunes. so, also lining the streets are people calling out to you to rent sand boards (snowboards that you use on the sand). this is the main activity of huacachina, and being what it is:
a) sanboarding
b) in the desert and therefore brutally hot
c) you need to get up to get down, and climbing the sides of sand dunes is not a quick process
this main activity of huacachina is generally over within a couple of hours at the most. leaving 22 left in the day. what then?
well, unlike many other places weve been in peru, or ecuador for that matter, huacachina has a very active sit-in-a-hammock-at-the-side-of-a-pool-and-read-a-book culture. this we did for a few days. and although a person cannot do this forever (they say), it was ice to do for a couple of days. nice enough that it got in our blood a bit.
the next thing that happened was that we met a few people who had been to arequipa before coming to huacachina who gave us the report on the colca canyon trek. they told us that it is actually 6 hours from arequipa, that you have to begin walking at 1 am on one day, then, the next day you begin walking at 3 am. this to get to the area where you can see condors by the appropriate time. condors are cool, but the timing of the whole thing isnt. in fact, we heard a number of reports from people that the colca canyon trek wasnt as much of an enjoyable experience as it could have been, so, sitting by the side of the pool soaking our feet, anna and i decided not to do the colca canyon trek. we decided that we have, and will do a great number of treks during our time here, and that when all is said and done, our having been in south america and enjoyed it will not hinge on whether or not we have done the colca canyon trek - or any one activity for that matter.
the traveler thing of doing more seeing more and then talking about it can be addictive, but we resisted... that is the moral of that...
instead we have come to arequipa just to enjoy the city, which we have very much. it is called the white city because all of the architecture of the colonial center is built with white stone. its interesting. also, there are lots of good restaurants. our first night here, we tried out a good steakhouse. we are in the more steaky parts of the world now, being so close to chile, wihch is close to argentina (where there is good steak!), so we gave it a shot. the steaks were amazing and large and only about $10, which completely blew our budget, but is still a good deal for what we got. the only weird thing about it was that on the bill was a sliverware charge. now, i understand if a restaurant wants to charde a bit for service or whatever and include it in the bill, but to do so under the guise of a silverware charge seemed a bit silly. if for nothing else then that i would have been more than happy to eat with my hands like usual.
anyway, the next day, i ate what has to be considered the second best ceviche ive ever had.
and, last night, i ate alpaca. yes, alpaca - the cute little animals that we make sweaters out of. i ate one. it was good. tasted like deer. tough. but not tough enough for my teeth...
so we are still in arequipa and we are about to go see this museum that has a mummy in it. im not entirely sure of the history of the mummy, and really, im not really entirely sure of where the museum is. see, we have been looking for the museum all morning, having consulted lonely planet (by the way, im having huge issues with lonely planet. i suspect the writers of that book weild way too much influence over the minds of unsuspecting travelers - and in turn over the countries they write about , but perhaps that is another issue for another day), people, hotel staff, etc. the museum still hasnt shown itself. for a break we decided to come in and do internet, thus spawning this - my latest blog entry.
oh, and by the way, if you were wondering - sandboarding was fun and arequipa is beautiful surrounded by glacial mountians and a volcano on one side, and desert on the other. both are immidiately visible...
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