Catch Up
The next several posts are a feeble attempt to catch this blog up before I start grad school. I’m back in the US now, and survived an action-packed journey out of Peru. In the last 4 days, a missed flight connection resulted in an over-night layover at a 5-star hotel in Lima, I came THIS close to being deported from Ecuador (long story), and after finally clearing customs, I became deathly ill an hour after arriving in Manta to pick up my bags. Although I didn’t visit a doctor, the general consensus between my host mom, Selina’s sister Cynthia, and my dad (the latter two are dermatologists) was that I developed Typhus. I haven’t been so sick since I had appendicitis when I was 8. The upside was that I was pretty much passed out for the entire flight home and overnight layover in LAX. Fortunately, modern antibiotics work wonders, and after a few days of bed rest in Berkeley, I am as good as new!
Now that I’m healthy here’s a quick update on Selina’s and my travels between returning from Colombia in June and our July homecoming:
Quito
We flew back here after Colombia, and spent a few days getting to know the city better. We took a daytrip with my Spanish teacher to Otavalo, which has a HUGE crafts market on Saturdays, and we spent way too much money on souvenirs. Back in Quito, we explored the old town, and went to the Guayasamin museum. Guayasamin is one of Ecuador’s most famous artists–his work is often compared to that of Picasso–and his paintings center on Latin American social issues and the human condition in general. His work is very dramatic, and often disturbing.
Alusi and the Devil’s Nose train ride
Saying goodbye to Quito one last time, Selina and I took a day-long bus journey to the small town of Alusi, 3/4 of the way to Cuenca (in Ecuador’s southern half). Alusi is a sleepy town that was once an important railroad hub, though it declined in significance after a series of natural disasters in the 1980′s and 90′s destroyed crucial parts of the Quito to Guayaquil railroad. The only segment that is still operational is the famous Nariz del Diablo (Devil’s Nose), a steep zig-zagging descent down a thousand or so feet of rock face. The main appeal of this trip for Selina and me was that we had heard that we could sit on top of the train to enjoy the stunning scenery, and until 2008 this was indeed the case. What we didn’t know was that during that year, a Japanese tourist who was standing up to take a picture was DECAPITATED by an overhanging power line, and we were dismayed to learn that this unfortunate incident had spoiled the fun for everyone else. Nevertheless, the views from the inside the train of the river valley below were still beautiful, and the train even stopped at several points so that we could take pictures. 
Cuenca
After spending a night in Alusi (and befriending two cool University of Maryland grads), we took another day-long bus trip to the city of Cuenca. Although Cuenca is Ecuador’s third-largest city, it is a fraction of the size of Guayaquil or Quito, and its beautiful colonial center also functions as the main downtown business district (unlike Quito, where the big corporations and banks have fled the historic center). Because Cuenca is also a university town, it has a diverse selection of bohemian bars, and restaurants, while the city’s status as an up-and-coming cultural tourism hotspot, fosters a thriving artist community. Selina and I spent a week taking intensive Spanish classes at Si Centro Spanish school. For me this was a great way to brush up on my already-deteriorating Spanish (you’d be amazed at the difference between “tourist” Spanish and using it in a full immersion setting), while it allowed Selina an opportunity to develop a functional command of the language. Our week there allowed us to relax, but also take several side trips outside of the city. Our trip to Cajas National Park was particularly outstanding–hiking through the mountainous alpine landscapes was stunning, and we saw many endangered flowering plants. On a trip to Gualaceo, a small town outside of Cuenca famous for it’s naturally-dyed knitted rugs, we saw the huge number of remittance houses that have created a Latin American-style suburban housing landscape.
Bus Ride to Guayaquil
From Cuenca, we took what we thought would be a short, 4-hour evening bus ride to Guayaquil. Although we got there in a reasonable amount of time, we were delayed for 30 minutes about half way through the trip. We had been watching Taken, an intense movie where Liam Neeson plays a hit man whose daughter has been abducted by a prostitution ring in France. The bus passengers were glued to the TV, and at the most crucial moment, when Liam Neeson was about to take out an entire house full of the villains, the bus completely lost power. All the lights went dark, the engine and tv went silent and we coasted to a halt. After a moment of confused murmurs, someone in the back shouted something and in an instant, EVERYONE was in the aisle, pushing and shoving towards the door, shouting things like, “Hurry!”, and “Move faster!”. Not having heard the initial shout, Selina and I had no idea what was happening, but not wanting to be the last one off a potentially dangerous bus, I dragged Selina into the aisle and off the bus. After 30 minutes of listening to the bus driver whack at the engine with a wrench while we waited in the pitch dark on the side of the road, everyone got back on as if nothing happened. But as soon as everyone was in their seats, another commotion broke out: the bus attendant had neglected to turn the movie back on! When he sheepishly poked his head through the door to turn on the DVD player, shouts and insults cascaded towards the front of the bus as he fast forwarded past the point where the movie had stopped. After a few minutes things were resolved and we were on our way.
Lima
The next morning, we flew from Guayaquil to Lima. Although we hadn’t originally intended to spend more than a night there, we decided to extend our stay by a few days to see the city and hang out with our friend Sara, who has been living there for the last 3 months. Although we hadn’t heard the best things about Lima, I was pleasantly surprised by the cool coastal climate (fog), and by the cozy, bohemian suburb of Barranco that we had chosen to stay in. We spent two days exploring the coastal park system, the trendy and upscale Miraflores neighborhood, and the historic colonial center. We also visited Chinatown and ate at one of Lima’s famed Chifas, or Chinese restaurants. As in the United States, a huge number of Chinese came to Peru in the 1800′s to build the railroads, and a large beachhead Chinese community arose in Lima thereafter. We had heard a lot about the fusion of Peruvian and Chinese cuisines, and although the food was better than Chinese food we tasted in Ecuador, it registered as only mediocre by US standards.
Arequipa
After a few days in Lima, Selina and I flew to Arequipa, one of Peru’s most famous colonial cities and a popular stop-off on the so-called Gringo Trail. Situated in a desert not unlike Nevada’s, Arequipa’s colonial center is striking and well-preserved. Few of the original Spanish buildings have been torn down, and most are built with the sparkling-white sillar stone from the many nearby volcanoes. We met our friend Jeremy there, and toured several of the larger structures. The elaborate and well-preserved 430 year-old Santa Catalina Monastery, with its rich orange and blue walls, was a highlight.
Strikes in Peru
During our time in Lima, we were alerted to the unfortunate news that civil unrest would result in the closure of the road between Arequipa and Cuzco during the dates we had planned to travel there. Peru has apparently been experiencing a rash of strikes since February that are in response to a variety of unpopular government policies ranging from water privatization to expanding tourist access to native sites. When people strike in Peru, they do so by completely shutting down crucial roads and highways, and so, after we arrived in Arequipa, we found out that it would be impossible for us to take a bus from Arequipa to Cuzco as planned. Our only other option was to fly, but by the time our travel agent got back to us (4 days after we asked them to buy our plane tickets) the price to fly from Arequipa to Cuzco had doubled to over $300 (one-way)! Shocked and dismayed, we deliberated for a few hours, but when we called our travel agent back, we found out that all flights to Cuzco during our desired travel window were completely sold out. Apparently everyone who had been planning to travel by bus to Cuzco filled up all of the flights. Not sure what to do, we abandoned our worthless travel agent, and found a tourist office on Arequipa’s main plaza who helped us book a 6 hour bus trip to Tacna on the Chilean border, and then a plane ticket the following day to Arequipa. This expensive and upsetting episode soured our impressions of Peru (and its politics), though it did result in us seeing the desert outpost of Tacna and its fabulous railroad museum.
Cuzco
After a long, expensive and exhausting trip, Jeremy, Selina and I finally arrived in Cuzco, four days ahead of our planned Inca Trail departure. At 11,600 feet, Cuzco is literally breathtaking–we were huffing and puffing our way up its hills for the first few days we were there–though its setting in a valley is beautiful too. From the hill-tops above the city, the sea of colonial red-tile roofs is enchanting.
On our first day there, we hiked to the Incan ruins of Sacsayhuaman, an imposing sacred site just above the city of Cuzco. It’s HUGE megalithic walls incorporate perfectly fitted stones–some of which are 2-stories high! The light hike to the site was a perfect way to acclimate to the altitude while soaking in the awesome Incan architecture. Selina’s sister Cynthia and our friend Sara arrived later that day, and the following morning, we took a tour of the Sacred Valley. Our day-long, private tour was supposed to include visits to the Incan sites of Pisaq and Ollayantaytambo, but we got to see Pisaq and and two hospital emergency rooms instead. After a very interesting tour of the agricultural terraces and ceremonial sites of Pisaq, Selina seriously sprained her ankle just as we started our descent down a flight of Incan steps that led back to our van. Because she was in terrible pain, we carried her off of the mountain on an improvised litter, and then took a van back to Cuzco where she was seen by the on-call doctor at the local clinic. The whole process of being admitted and getting an x-ray only took 30 minutes and $60. On the other hand, because it was a Sunday, the clinic did not have a doctor who could properly read Selina’s x-ray. So Selina and I rode an ambulance to another hospital where we were told that she would be seen. After 4 hours of waiting in a very nice private room, we were told that no doctor could see her that day, so we left frustrated and without a diagnosis of whether or not Selina had sprained or broken her ankle. (Cynthia, Selina’s dermatologist sister, determined that it PROBABLY wasn’t a break.) Moral of the story: don’t injure yourself on a Sunday in Peru!
The rest of our time in Cuzco was spent trying to make last-minute arrangements for Selina while the rest of us hiked the Inca Trail. Because there is no such thing as disabled-persons’ rights in Peru, we were concerned about leaving Selina behind. After running around for a morning, we found Selina a hotel with an elevator where she could rest and recuperate before taking the train to meet us at Machu Picchu.
In my next posts, look for a summary of my experiences on the Inca Trail!
