Land of the Llamas

Well as luck would have it I am wrapping up the libre part of my trip here in Peru this week. Next Monday I jump back into the real world, sort of, and hopefully start work in La Paz, Bolivia. Although, as of right now, I havent heard from my boss in more than 2 weeks.

My last week has been eventful and hopefully the following stories will provide some entertainment. I spent one day in Panama City, Panama with the intention of seeing the Panama canal. As the educated traveller, I informed my cab driver to take me to the Old Town area. Well, it is completely shut down... they are redoing the whole area. Seeing as I had no guide for Panama I was immediately operating from a position of weakness. But the taxi driver was cool and hooked me up with a good hotel, I think. Then my luck got even better... a torrential down pour started while on the way to the hotel. So instead of the canal I saw the inside of my hotel room (it was a nice room with cable) and the restaurant in the lobby.

The following morning I left for Peru. Upon arriving in Lima, the first thing I witnessed was the squalor of the slums just outside the airport. Not really sure what the most telling characteristic of these slums was... perhaps the lack of roofs on homes. I mean that is pretty basic I thought.

Anyways, I was quickly wisked in my cab to the comforts of the tourist section of Lima. The city is a beautiful colonial setting on the Pacific Coast and amazingly clean for its size. I was very impressed with the downtown area. I was also shocked by the confidence of Peruvian women. In my first few hours in Peru I was approached by a handful of women. And one of them was a very cute girl of maybe 19 years. This may explain my positive impression of Lima. Actually, one of the best parts of my time in Lima was the wicked bowl of Sebiche that I got. The other highlights were the catacombs full of human remains (San Francisco) and the torture devices (Musem of the Inquisition).

From Lima (sea level), I headed up to Cusco (3300 meters)- tourist mecca. The trip looks to be 600 kilometers on a map... however, the Andes get in the way. I left at 9pm Saturday night and arrived 6am Monday morning... if your counting, and I was, that is about about 33 hours i think. The trip was made all the more interesting by my first police interaction.

Someone hoisted my bag from the overhead compartment when I foolishly fell asleep on the first 17 hour bus. Silly me. The police were quick to point out how dumb that was before telling me that since it was Sunday there was nothing they could do and to continue on to Cusco. Of course, when I arrived in Cusco the police indicated that the only logical thing to do was to head back to Arequipa (the intermediate stop 14 hours away) and file a report there. After a couple more meetings at the police station I finally got a report filed. The big turning point in the investigation was when I met with the jefe. Picture me sitting across from a guy in full military dress, me wearing blue drabbing shorts, flip flops, a t-shirt with a beer glass on it and my hat on backwards. Another classic moment at the police station was trying to get an officer to help me while he was busy playing Pac Man.

After the aggrevation of being robbed and dealing with Latin police, I was about ready to give up on Peru and just head to La Paz. But luckily I realized just how stupid that would be. So I hit the town and saw the sites of Cusco. Cusco is immaculate. Very clean. It is also a very colonial city in appearance. And I am quickly realizing that Peru has had a lot wealthier history than Guatemala as exhibited in its churches, museums, roads, etc.

On Wednesday morning, having learned nothing from getting robbed, I headed out by myself and hiked into the Sacred Valley north of Cusco. There are four Incan ruins with in 6 miles of Cusco. It was exactly what I needed to reset my anxiety. The Sacred Valley sits in between the lush green mountain tops of the Andes. The hike was breathtaking (yep - i am still using that word).

This morning I hopped on a train and headed for the #1 attraction in Peru, Machu Piccu. Amazingly situated in the midst of the peaks of the Andes. This is a site that everyone should go see. It is awesome.