PERU ADVENTURE 1
"Pisco Pete's" version
Thurs. Aug. 23:
Lorraine & Richard came to my house, parked their van, & we took the Cloud 9 shuttle to S.D. airport for the flight to Dallas. At Lindbergh we met others from the San Diego area who were on the tour & on our flight to Dallas. At Dallas we joined others on the tour who had flown in from other airports Our American Airlines flight to Lima arrived bout 1 a.m. where we were greeted by the young woman, Ivonne, who would make this tour possible. She saw to it that our luggage was on board a bus to the El Pardo Hotel in the upscale neighborhood of Lima called Miraflores. We would stay in this very nice 1st class hotel on 3 occasions.
Fri. Aug. 24:
In the morning we were bused over to the interesting National Archaeological Museum and had the afternoon to "do our thing". Several of the women went with me to visit what my guidebook, Footprint: Peru, said were antique shops but were largely stores selling silver in which I have no interest. The 3 women wanted to walk on down to the coast to see the beach so we split up; they never found it, at least that day.
Lima, frankly, is a murky city as in the 7 days we were there, on & off, the sun never broke thru the cloud cover & it is quite smoggy due to most of the vehicles being diesel. It has a very moderate temperature range as it never got hot or cold.
Sat. Aug. 25:
We were bused to the airport & flew north to Chicalyo, a very dusty, dirty, smelly, & bustling city. We were ensconced in the Gran Chicalyo Hotel where we stayed 2 nights. Here we were introduced to the "star" of our tour, Dr. Carol Mackey, a noted field archaeologist who would be our mentor for about a week. She had just left her "dig" at Farfan, which we would visit later. Carol proved to be a delightful woman, funny, informative, & very knowledgeable. She also knows all the best restaurants & bars, where like most of us, she was always ready for a good pisco sour or cervesa when the occasion called for or presented itself (which it frequently did!). We all walked downtown for dinner that evening.
Sun. Aug. 26:
Today would be our 1st day of really getting into what we had come to see. First we took a bus to the market area where a very wide range of goods are sold. What sets this one off from others throughout Peru is the so-called "witches market" where various products used by shamans can be purchased. Carol led us into the section of the market where the special herbs & plants are sold & told us what some of them are. We all enjoyed poking thru the market.
From the market we went to see our 1st, & probably the most famous recent archaeological site in Peru, Sipan where the famed "Lord of Sipan" tombs were found in adobe mounds to the east of the city. Several of the group climbed to the tops of these mounds which are several hundred feet high and overlook a beautiful lush agricultural valley. In the afternoon we visited the excellent Bruning Museum on the outskirts of Chiclayo which has on display many of the articles taken from the "Lord of Sipan" tombs
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Mon. Aug. 27:
We began a 7 day bus trip heading back to the south. We stopped at Carol's "dig" at Farfan, right off the Pan American Highway. She explained what she had found just a day or so before we arrived & related some of the "rules of the game" such as burying the grave so robbers wouldn't get into it as well as hiring men to guard it until she could return to complete the excavation. Everything found has to be turned over to the Peruvian gov't.
After leaving Farfan we stopped at a site known as Cascamayo & Carol took us to the home of one of her "diggers" who, as a sideline, had begun to reproduce exact copies of original work. It was quite interesting to see the home of a Peruvian - he had such conveniences as electricity, a TV, & a stereo. After seeing his work room & backyard kiln we were informed that some of his production, which we had walked by going to the rear of the house, was for sale & that lead to a "feeding frenzy" whereupon almost everything he had out was "gobbled up". This was my 1st clue that I was traveling with some major shoppers!
The landscape of north coastal Peru is most unique with huge totally worthless sand dunes interspersed by lush valleys where the rivers from the Andes make irrigation farming possible. As an example, Lima, gets 1 1/2" of rain a year! Sugar cane & rice are the main crops along with tropical fruits & vegetables.
Late in the afternoon we visited the very interesting site known as "Dos Cabezas" where Dr. Chris Donnan, a noted archaeologist working out of UCLA, has been excavating for some time. It is right on the coast & was originally 1 big mound before the Spanish, over 400 years ago, cut thru the middle to loot. After visiting the site Chris took us to his home & let us examine his workshop & lab where we saw at first hand the painstaking & time consuming job of reassembling broken pots & shards.
After spending a few hours with Chris we continued on south to the coastal fishing village of Pascasmayo where we stayed in an interesting hotel & had a great dinner party with pisco sours & cervesa flowing. Some of us visited an internet café after dinner where we read & posted e-mails. Carol lives here in a small hotel on the same block as one we were in..
Tues. Aug. 28
We began the day at Carol's lab in a rented home a few blocks from our hotel where several people who work for her live & do the same kind of work we had seen the day before at Chris' place. We continued south by bus stopping to the site known as "El Brujo" on our way into Trujillo a nice clean old colonial town & where we would stay for 3 nights. Carol took us to a wonderful restaurant that night for another fun-filled evening!
Wed. Aug. 29
We took a bus east of Trujillo to visit the Temples of the Sun & Moon. The 1st is a large adobe mound but nothing more than that, while the Temple of the Luna has been found to have many burial sites, has been largely excavated, & where work is continuing.
We then went south of Trujillo to the monstrous ruins of Chan Chan and then to the coastal resort town of Huanchaco. There were wonderful waves for surfing but no one was in the water. Most of us walked out onto the long pier & then adjourned to an excellent restaurant on a side street where we had a great buffet-style late lunch & on the way out were treated to some sidewalk musical entertainment.
Thurs. Aug. 30
A free day. Had the hotel do some laundry, shopped, & visited local car collection on the premises of a funeral parlor near the hotel. They have some rather interesting commercial vehicles, especially a Model T hearse with a hand crafted wood body in the shape of a casket and adorned by 2 crosses on the top.
Had another great meal with Carol Mackey & we all bid her a fond adieu.
Fri. Aug. 31
A very long & arduous day with a bus ride 1st to site at Sechin which our new mentor, Dr. Doug Sharon, guided us thru. On the way a tire separated from the rim requiring roadside repairs (I checked to make sure none of the tires on our bus were Firestones). Sechin is near Casma so after visiting it we began an incredible ascent from sea level across a 12,000' pass on dirt roads with no safety barriers to the city of Huaraz in a valley at 10,000'. We arrived after dark & were all quite tired - for the 1st time we had the "high altitude" drink, coca tea. The hotel, Andino, where we would stay for 2 nights, was quite nice & very clean.
Sat. Sept. 1
My personal travails with high altitude sickness began at about 2:30 a.m. when I awoke with a headache & recurring bouts of feeling hot & cold. As I had gotten sunburned at Chan Chan I attributed these symptoms to that until I got out my guidebook when I got up about 5:30 & read that these were the symptoms of high altitude sickness. I joined Crystal in the breakfast area to find out she had the same problems overnight. She offered me a "high altitude pill" (I didn't know there was such a thing 'til then). After drinking some coca tea, eating a chewable Pepto-Bismol, taking one of Crystal's pills, & eating part of a croissant I zoomed off to my room and threw up. Following that unwanted event I felt better & took another of Crystal's pills. When Richard E. realized my problem he offered me his bottle of 10 he'd gotten from Kaiser as he didn't seem to need them - the label said you should start taking them 12 hours in advance so they didn't initially do me any good.
Doug said the site at Chavin was really one of the highlights of the trip so Crystal & I decided to "go for it" even though we were forewarned that to get there the bus would climb a 14,000' pass! Several of the group didn't go, staying behind in Huaraz. I didn't feel any better or worse, mostly drowsy, so slept for most of the 3 1/2 hr. ride. The group suggested Crystal & I sit in the front seat which we did but Crystal only got worse, getting up at least 6 or 7 times to return to the "head" in the rear of the bus. Once we had descended into the valley where Chavin is located I felt much better & participated in the tour thru the site which is most unusual with tunnels as well drainage channels. Here we saw llamas for the 1st time.
Crystal was unable to view the site & slept in the bus. By the time we were ready to leave she had perked up & we enjoyed seeing the sights on the way back from our front row seat; most of the rest of the group slept on the return trip. I went to bed early as still didn't feel all that great.
Sun. Sept. 2
An all day bus trip on the Pan American Highway from Huaraz to Lima with pretty scenery in the highland valleys; we stopped several times for "photo ops".
Mon. Sept 3
Back in Lima we visited 2 interesting & different museums, 1st the Larco Museum which displays articles found decades ago on the wealthy family properties in the north of Peru.. The items are beautifully displayed in a very nice building. We also visited the maligned Gold Museum. According to Carol much of what is on display are reproductions as unscrupulous family members had the original artifacts sold after being duplicated. There are many gov't. posters throughout the museum warning that some of the items were not authentic. The Gold Museum is sort of a jumble & is being re-organized as the founder just recently died & had not allowed any changes during his lifetime.
In addition to the 2 museums we also visited Pachacamac, an important Inca site on the outskirts of Lima, and then went downtown to see the old colonial are of Lima. Here Ivonne took us thru the large cathedral on the main square & to a, at least to me, more interesting nunnery replete with catacombs.
That evening, exhausted, had cervesas & pisco sours with 4 or 5 other members of the entourage in the hotel bar - I confessed it was my birthday & they embarrassed me by singing "Happy Birthday". Howard & Shirley joined up with us today.
Tues. Sept. 4
We were bused to the airport & flew down to Nazca, about a 1 hr. flight. We were then loaded onto smaller single engined & 1 two engined planes & flew over the Nazca Lines. With the hard banking of the plane it was hard to photographs the Lines & as it got quite hot in the cabin I also didn't feel too well.
The area's main topographical feature are massive sand dunes, one of which they advertise as the highest in the world - they are hundreds of feet high with absolutely zero vegetation.
On return we went to a stunning resort in neighboring Ica for noon lunch - with pools, cabanas, shops, gorgeous architecture we felt like we were in Palm Springs or Las Vegas! There was a nice shop there which after lunch got a lot of patronage (as usual)!
Wed. Sept. 5
Everyone was excited. Today we're going to fly up to Cuzco. Flight only took about an hour so we had the afternoon to cruise around this most interesting city of about 350,000.
I would say this is the first time we ran into, let us say, massive tourism. As soon as we left the airport structure we not only were accosted by gobs of vendors we were photographed by a very enterprising soul who showed up later at our hotel with cards having our photographs on them for 5 soles (about $1.25). When we got off the bus at our 1st class hotel, Liberatador, there was another entourage of vendors waiting for us. Almost any time we ventured out the front door of the hotel we were besieged!
We picked up a new local guide, Juan, who showed us the various cathedrals on the main plaza downtown. About 10 of us ventured to the highly recommended Inka Grill on the plaza and had an excellent dinner with some dishes.
Thurs. Sept. 6
Juan, our Cusco-Machu Pichu guide, took us to the big Inca ruins above the city at Sacayhuaman. After visiting these ruins we stopped at an alpaca specialty shop where a great frenzy of buying ensued (naturally) following an explanation & demonstration on alpaca & baby alpaca by the woman who seemingly owned the place.
Most of us went to another restaurant on the downtown plaza that eve. for chow & live entertainment which everyone greatly enjoyed as they had a 5 piece band + dancers.
Fri. Sept. 7
Many of us left luggage at the hotel in Cuzco, where we would return a few days hence. We left early in the a.m. for the busy train station - our 1st class train was full. Cuzco is at about 11,000' elevation but to go to Macchu Picchu you have to climb a low range of mts. This was by far the most interesting train ride I've ever taken as the train has to make "switchbacks" to ascend the steep grade. There were about 5 cars in our train, each with it's own separate engine, but all controlled by the front one. We were scheduled to arrive at Macchu Picchu train station at 9:30 a.m. but a car on another train leaving Macchu Picchu had broken down & had to be moved so we sat in a beautiful valley for about 1 1/2 hours. Everyone got off the train, struck up conversations, (several of us with a stewardess from NYC who we would run into 2 or 3 more times in the next week), & took photographs. As soon as the train stopped at this railroad junction vendors appeared as if by magic - several purchases were made (naturally)! We finally got into Macchu Picchu where we were again besieged by more hordes of vendors! Our luggage was left at the train station to be picked up by us later - Juan immediately took us to the bus area & then up to the famous city.
Unfortunately the area has become a monstrous tourist trap with the 20 min. bus ride costing $10 & entrance into the city $25! There were hordes of tourists & this was the "off season" - hate to be there when it isn't! As usual Ivonne was there to facilitate ticket purchases, etc.
Photographs, which we had all seen, just can't do justice to the incredible scenery. When we arrived the tall steep mts., bathed in green, were partially cloud covered - just an incredible panorama. Juan gave us a highlights tour - several of the group tried to get chummy with alpacas that were roaming around but the animals would have none of it.
Howard slipped on a rock, cutting his leg & requiring 7 stitches, but he quickly & gamely recovered. Almost everyone was bitten by mites or mosquitoes & several of the members, esp. Larry as I recall, had brought insect repellent which was passed around. Walter ended up with a badly swollen left hand which persisted for several days - I got about 5 bites on my right arm.
By the time we returned to the town to get our luggage it was dark. We had to carry our luggage probably 100 yds. along the train tracks to the hotel & then climb up to it - I was totally exhausted. The very nice & interesting hotel has a number of bungalows spread over the side of a hill - I had to have help finding my room but managed to finally stumble upon it. I had continued to take Richard E.'s high altitude pills and neither Crystal nor I had any more problems.
Sat. Sept. 8
A few of us arose early to try & catch the sunlight coming over the mts. onto the city, but no buses go up early enough. The rest of the group came up about 9:30. In the early group Richard & Susan + Kathy & Steve went up of the hiking trails above the city & the rest of us explored the city. When we returned to the bus area in the village Ivonne assisted Crystal &I in buying from the booths (I bought a dozen T-shirts for presents).
In the afternoon we took the train for a ways then got onto a bus we would use for the rest of the day & all of the next to see the huge Inca city east of Macchu Picchu, Ollantaytambo. Most of us climbed the hundreds of stairs to the top & were rewarded with grand vistas. After descending Juan took us to visit a local house from the Inca period where there was only candle light & the stone walls were covered with soot from centuries of fires in the fireplace. In it were "cuy" (guinea pigs), a cat with kittens, & an old Singer treadle machine. We continued on through a pretty agricultural valley to the town of Yucay where we spent the night in a 300 yr. old convent that had been converted into a nice hotel like the paradors of Spain.
Sun. Sept. 9
We returned to Cuzco via an excellent road but stopped at a major market town on the way, Pisac. Juan led us thru part of the Pisac market then we had about 2 hrs. to look around on our own - this brought another round of buying in which I didn't participate.
On our return to Cuzco I took my camera to the Baghdad Café for a cervesa on the 2nd floor balcony with telephoto lens hoping to get some good shots of "the natives" in their garb but wasn't overly successful.
Most of us followed Ivonne to an excellent restaurant for an early afternoon lunch.
Mon. Sept. 10
This was the beginning of an arduous part of the trip which no one anticipated. We got up early for the flight back to Lima & were at our hotel, the El Pardo, before noon.
Kathy, Steve, Lauraine, Richard, & I decided to visit 2 famous alpaca stores on Ave. Larco but on the way stopped at a large market area not far from the hotel where Kathy bought some blankets & where Richard E. aspired to buy a large auto. pottery. As the pottery purchase didn't work out Richard returned to the hotel while the other 4 of us went to the alpaca shops. The 2nd one, Alpaca 859, was just what we wanted with Lauraine buying scarves for relatives, Kathy buying 4 large spools of alpaca, & Steve & I buying pullover sweaters. Price haggling was conducted by Lauraine & we were so proud of our purchases we stopped at Café Suisse on the way back to the hotel for an excellent lunch.
This purchase made it impossible to put everything in my 2 suitcases so Steve & I, with Betsy in tow as interpreter & negotiator, returned to the market, via a taxicab, where Steve & I each bought a tote bag.
Late in the afternoon goodbyes were said to Ron & Juliet who were flying back on a non-stop flight to Newark.
Upon returning to the hotel I repacked, as everyone had been doing, & got cleaned up for our "Last Supper" at a very nice restaurant at the end of a pier over the ocean. Everyone who had any broke out their best finery for the fete. The dinner party featured many toasts with pisco sours or wine & a most clever poem written & read by Lynn. After the bus trip back to the hotel we soon were transported to the airport, again. We had to stand for approx. 2 hours going thru Peruvian customs & then thru ticketing to get boarding passes & check-in luggage - this was tiring & frustrating. Our flight left about 11:30 & most of us got a few hours sleep on the flight to Dallas.
Tues. Sept. 11,
A "day which will live in infamy" we arrived on time, picked up our luggage, zipped thru U.S. Customs, & as we were splitting up had a big round of hugs & kisses. Walter, Lynn, Larry, & Christa left for whatever gate to fly to Seattle. Howard, Shirley, & Betsy went into the B wing of the airport to fly to LAX while Crystal, Steve, & Kathy went to Gate C19 to fly to Ontario-Upland. The remaining 9 of us went to Gate C6 for our flight to San Diego. .
The exact chronology of what happened next is a little fuzzy but we weren't seated there long before we heard that flights were being cancelled & that there were terrorist attacks in N.Y.
I could see a large cluster of people facing a bar about 50' from our waiting area so went up to see what was going on. I talked to the man who was to be the pilot of our flight, 1st as he went thru the gate to the plane, & then as he left. He verified that all flights were cancelled throughout the country. I explained our situation to him & he suggested to me we go into downtown Dallas & try to Amtrak home.
We began having hurried conferences - I began hustling up to Gate C 19 to let Crystal, Steve, & Kathy know what was going on but ran into Steve coming my way as they'd already heard (the 3 of them joined the 9 of us at Gate C6). Richard E. came up with the idea of renting vans to try & drive home & that was put into effect by Don & Richard A.
While the latter 2 men scurried around trying to get rental vehicles the rest of us tried to find the luggage. We would eventually get the vans before we found our luggage in another terminal.
By about 1 p.m. we'd finally located the luggage for all 12 of us, packed the vans, & got on the road out of town. We were elated that we had pulled off this coup & were together in this next odyssey. Pages had been put out for the 3 going to LAX & the 4 going to Seattle but we never got a response.
The 3 going to LAX got a rental car either Wed. or Thurs. & drove home. Walter & Lynn got a TWA flight into Seattle on Fri. & Larry & Christa didn't get home until. Sat.
By the time we finally were able to get out of Dallas we were emotionally drained by the events of the prior hours & had had only a few hours sleep in the last approx. 40 hours. The original plan was to drive straight thru. We did find long gas lines Tues. aft. but no real price gouging. When we stopped for dinner in Monahans, Tx. in the evening it was obvious it would be dangerous for any of us to drive any more that night + poor Crystal had been ill for many hours following a mid afternoon lunch break. In Monahans some medications were purchased for her & we located a cheapo motel (esp. when compared to what we had been used to staying in for the last 2 1/2 weeks) where we "crashed" 'til 5 a.m.
We drove as fast as safety would permit considering the vans were heavily loaded & got into San Diego area around 9:30 dropping off Carol & Sharon in Santee. At Carol's the luggage was re-arranged with 1 van going on into the San Diego area while the other went to Escondido. There at "Pisco Pete's" Kathy, Steve, & Crystal borrowed the Esparza's van & continued on to the Riverside area. Crystal had left her car at the Kathy & Steve's but was too ill to drive home that evening so stayed overnight with them & went home
Thurs. a.m. "Pisco Pete" drove Richard E. up to Riverside to retrieve the van from Steve & Don & Richard A. returned the rentals to Lindbergh - our odyssey had finally come to end!
