Winding down

Chicks

Pisaro

Lunch

Sandra, Jimmy, and Mattias at the Water Park

The water tunnel

Sadly, my trip is winding down. Today is my last day. I leave for the airport at 10:00 tonight. I am trying not to think about it, since I do not want to spend the whole day being sad.

Yesterday was a day packed full of last minute sightseeing and shopping. After church I went home with Jimmy and Sandra. We stopped by the mercado on the way. The baby chicks were much cuter than most of the animals at the market...

Pisaro is a "replacement" for Rocky who disappeared shortly after Christmas. No one is sure what happened to Rocky, but Jimmy suspects he was stolen. The new pup is just a month old and very small. His name is Pisaro, after a soccer player Jimmy likes. Sandra told me Pisaro was "feo" or ugly. I have to disagree! I think he is pretty cute.

We all went to lunch together when heather got there from church. We went to Rocky's, which is similar to Boston Market, with rotisserie chicken. Rocky's does not have a large selection of side dishes, but the chicken was delicious!

After lunch, we went into Lima central for my last visit there on this trip. We did some souvenir shopping and then went to a beautiful water park. The water park had about 10 different fountains which were lit up with colored lights and lasers. One even had moving pictures projected onto the mist. There were a few places where people were getting wet, but it was a bit cool for me to consider that. I did take a chance on the water tunnel, and remained dry! The water was shooting out of nozzles on one side and arcing over the top before landing on the other side, leaving a dry area in the middle.

The evening was finished off by an ice cream outing to a shop near Jimmy and Sandra's house. I had a triple scoop with banana chip, lucama, and cherimoya. Yum!

Ketty, Blanca, & Heather

This is Ketty. She is the social worker at Pat's Place. She is married with two dogs and no children. She has a heart for animals and has been very helpful with the monkey. Aside from that, she is invaluable here at Pat's Place. She has the knowledge needed to get all of the paperwork in order. She knows how to get the children signed up for school, and registered for health care. She can assist the residents with health care access, parenting skills, and other such needs. She also really likes to clean! Whenever she is not interacting with the residents, she is cleaning something in the house. I invited her to come home with me! Heather is currently trying to raise enough money for a year's salary for Ketty. If she can raise it, it will be matched, thus assuring that Ketty will be able to work at Pat's Place for the next two years. The yearly salary is $3600. If you would like to help, please contact my sister (heatherga@juno.com) and she can help with the details.

Blanca is Heather's right hand woman. She is the assistant director of Pat's Place. Blanca has one son, the result of an uninvited interaction. Having "been there" herself, she can offer support to the women of Pat's Place in a way few others can. She is also a great cook, and able to stretch the food soles (dollars) in amazing ways, offering warm, nutritious, and filling comida (food). She is a wonderful friend and source of encouragement for Heather. I am glad Heather has her around!

This is my sister. I love her dearly. Although at times we do not see eye to eye, we appreciate (or at least I do...) the differences of the other. I am amazed at the strength of my baby sister. She is so much braver than me. I cannot imagine leaving all of my friends, family and comfort zone to travel to another country and immerse myself in the lives of the downtrodden, but yet, my sister has done just that. Not for a week or two, but likely for the rest of her life. Watching her skillfully manage a house of 18 women and children has shown me what an intelligent and capable person she is.

Machu Picchu, cont.

"Adios! Good-bye!"

Typical Sacred Valley building

Bulls on the roof





Cutie!

Weaver

The ruins at Ollantantambo

Plaza de Armas, Cuzco

Refer to the picture of the road from Augas Caliente to Machu Picchu from yesterday to fully appreciate the feat of the child in the top picture today. This young (maybe between 8 and 10 years old?) boy hopped on our bus near the top of the road as we began our descent and yelled "Adios! Good-bye!" and the equivalent in Quechua. He then hopped off of the bus and we continued down the road. At the next spot where the walking path (stairs) meet the road, he was there waving and yelling "Good-bye". At the next point, again, he was there, yelling "Adios". This continued all the way down to Aguas Caliente, with the bus taking the hair-pin turns while the boy ran down the path meeting us at every point. At the end of the road, he hopped on the bus again and repeated his send-off as above. I was amazed that this child ran the entire way down from Machu Picchu in the same amount of time our bus took to drive down. Then he came down the isle, hat in hand, asking for money. How could I resist? It was well worth the price of admission!

Our third day was spent touring the sacred Valley. We left Cuzco at 9 am and visited several small towns in the Sacred Valley. There were markets in all of them, but the primary spot for visiting the market was in Pisac. In addition, Pisac, Ollantantambo, and Chinchero all had ruins to visit. After a long day climbing stairs at Machu Picchu, my traveling companions were about "staired out". Living in Colorado, I had a distinct advantage over Blanca and Heather who live at sea level here in Lima as the spots we were visiting were all at a higher altitude than Denver.

The houses in the Sacred Valley are primarily constructed of mud bricks. It was amazing to me that they are so durable. The rainy season lasts from October through May. How do mud bricks hold up to so much water? Most of the roofs are tiled and nearly every house has a couple of bulls on the top. Some also have crosses or crucifixes. Some of the crosses have a ladder and spear forming a "V" from the base. I was puzzled by these decorations, so I asked a local. The ornaments are talismans, offering protection to the house and its inhabitants. Bulls are a symbol of strength.

The little boy with the puppy was in the market at Pisac. He followed us around while we were there asking if we wanted to take his picture. I had resisted all other offers, preferring to have a "natural" rather than posed picture. I could not resist this child. He was too cute. The puppy was darling as well. It was a sol well spent.

When we returned to Cuzco, we spent our last evening together at a cafe off of the Plaza de Armas. It was the perfect ending to a wonderful trip. The next morning, Heather and I went to the airport, leaving Blanca in Cuzco to work on obtaining her documents. It was a sad good-bye for Blanca and me.

Machu Picchu

The train to Machu Picchu

The road from Augas Caliente

First glimpse of the ruins

Machu Picchu!

A slightly different angle

From the top looking down

In the middle

No, the llama is not a paid model

Wow! What an amazing experience. The three day trip to Cuzco, Machu Picchu, and the Sacred Valley was everything I expected and more. I took over 100 pictures of Machu Picchu alone. None of the pictures even begin to show the size and majesty of the place. I have always known that my eyes see far more than I am able to capture with my camera, but this trip really brought that point home.

Our trip started early on New Year's Day (after a late night of celebrating). Blanca had never been on an airplane before. Watching her reminded me of my first flight. She was amazed at everything we saw out the window and took lots of pictures of clouds and mountains. On my first flight, I used a whole roll of 110 film for clouds. Thank goodness for digital photography!

After arriving at our hotel in Cuzco, we boarded a tour bus for some Inca ruins near Cuzco. These ruins are the "baby" ruins, with few stairs. Visiting them laid the groundwork for the others, introducing the various building forms and techniques as well as the essential components of the Inca pueblos. We finished up the day with a visit to Blanca's aunt and "tea" with all of the fixings.

Our second day was also an early start, leaving our hotel at 6:30 for the town of Ollyantantambo where we caught the train to Augas Caliente. From Augas Caliente, you either hike up a mile or two of stairs to Machu Picchu, or take a bus. Thankfully our tour included the bus option, so I do not have to defend our decision to ride rather than walk! The picture of the road from Augas Caliente shows all of the switchbacks. The stairs cut pretty much straight up the mountain, bisecting the road.

When you get off of the bus, you are at the entrance to Machu Picchu. You enter through a "guard station" and walk down the path just a few feet, and there, before your eyes is the sight you have been waiting for, your first glimpse of Machu Picchu. I know I am a schmutz, but I did get a lump in my throat and a few tears in my eyes at that point. It was truly amazing to see.

The day was overcast and rainy. Most of the visitors wore rain ponchos, which you can purchase from any number of vendors for about one dollar. I had my lovely TCH semi-waterproof jacket, and declined the plastic poncho. I was pretty wet. The sun did eventually come out, and the transformation was amazing. At various times, the clouds rolled in and out, and back in again, but in between, there were some incredible and breath taking views.

To be continued...