Machu Picchu and the travel pillow

6.13.13: Going to Machu Picchu.

Last fall, my friend from college, Carlee, made a visit out to the midwest in order to attend the wedding of another of our college friends, Sarah, and her fiance, Leverett.  On the drive back to Chicago from Michigan Carlee left her travel pillow in the trunk of our car.  After taking her to the airport, we got home, unpacked the car, and found the travel pillow.  "Well, I guess I should email Carl and see if she wants us to mail this," I said to Will.  "No need to rush," said Will, and as I walked into the living room he snapped the travel pillow around his neck and laid down on the couch to watch the Bears game.  He continued in this manner for the remainder of the season.  By this spring, Will's most common around-the-house apparel included pjs, slippers, and the travel pillow.  I think he found the option of spontaneous naps very appealing.  So, when we packed up in late May to head to South America, the travel pillow was snapped to Will's backpack.  It accompanies us just about everywhere...

even to Machu Picchu.

Which is really the purpose of my entry today.  To share with you the link to a Flickr photostream where you can see a many more of our pictures from Machu Picchu*:
Flickr photostream

Enjoy!
Cher

*Endnote: please excuse the incorrect spelling on all the file names posted on Flickr that say "Macchu Pichu" when they should say "Machu Picchu."  If I could find an easy way to correct this, I would.  However, given the volume of pictures, the fact that our editor quit after Will's last blog (so now there isn't anyone except the voice in my head insisting on this correction) I am going to skip this minor detail for now.

The Sacred Valley

6.9.13: Pisac

After climbing stairs for over an hour we arrived at the Pisac ruins which overlook the beginning of the Sacred Valley.

Pisac was our first real adventure. We took a bus from Cusco, intending to get off at Tambomacay and walk the 2.5 miles back to the city, visiting the four closest ruins along the way (which we subsequently did the following day). However, the bus was crammed full of people, the driver made a rolling stop, and I wasn't sure it even was our stop until we were driving away and I saw the sign.  So, I looked at Will and said, "So, I hear there is a really great Sunday market in Pisac. Wanna go?" And we had the wonderful chance to improvise for the first time. Neither of us normally excel at improvisation, but if you ask me, we did just fine on our visit to Pisac.  If I had the chance to do research ahead of time we probably never would hiked up to the top when we could have taken a taxi, for example.  Hmm... well, we made it up there is the main point and saw amazing views and hilltop ruins that stretched on and on.

6.10.13: Tambomacay, Puka Pukara, Q'enqo, Sacsayhuaman

Tambomacay ceremonial baths.

Puka Pukara

Will sizes up the sacrificial table at Q'enqo.

The massive stones at Sacsayhuaman loom over Cher.

Set up begins at Sacsayhuaman for the annual Inti Raymi fesitval.

6.12.13: Ollantaytambo

Will atop the terraces at Ollantaytambo; the last outpost before Machu Picchu.

A work of art, and a nice cathedral.

June 8, 2013. We arrived in Cusco over a week ago, and felt all tingly and light-headed with excitement. Sometimes it was hard to breathe, so full of joy and expectation were we for our adventures ahead. [Cusco has an elevation of over 11,000 feet, so based on his clumsy description, it is likely that the writer is suffering from altitude sickness. -Ed.] 

The Plaza des Armas, with gay pride flags flying honorably. [Sic. -Ed.]

It is sometimes said that Paris is a great city, except for the Parisians. Cusco, too, is a great city, except for the Americans. You can't throw an empanada without hitting one of their dreadlocks. You see them everywhere: Walking around; Harassing the locals; Blogging. One sight that filled me with hope for humanity, however, was the multi-colored gay pride flag visible seemingly everywhere you went, acting as a noble monument to human tolerance and inclusiveness. [The flag referred to is the flag of the city of Cusco, which is a notoriously conservative, not to mention homophobic, city. Even a moment of cursory research on the part of the writer would have revealed this, and spared him from embarrassment and his readers from headaches. -Ed.]

The last supper. Spot Judas! (Hint: Look for the non-whitey.)

The cathedral in Cusco sports a number of beautiful paintings inside, my favorite being this depiction of the last supper. Instead of lamb, though, the main course is a hefty, juicy guinea pig, in honor of a great source of protein for Peruvians going back 4,000 years. I had some guinea pig on tapas later, and I hope it was not my last supper, but I found it fatty. [This confusion about the main course shown in the above painting by Marcos Zapata, done in 1753, while common, is nevertheless painful. The subject is not a guinea pig, but is actually a type of chinchilla. -Ed.]

'Til next time, folks! [I am retiring and will not be present. I have accepted a job as a bomb defuser, which promises to be both more productive and less stressful. -Ed.]

--Will

6.4.13: Miraflores

Sitting on the grass along the cliffs on the beach in Miraflores, Lima, Will asks, “So, do you think those are palm trees?”

I shit you not.

I have taken him to California at least a few times, I swear! There are even palm trees in northern California. My parents have one in their backyard! In San Diego they line just about every street. We were having such a lovely walk, looking at the big beautiful Pacific, admiring Parque de Amor and the mosaic walls, and then he says, “So, do you think those are palm trees?” And I'm wondering if we should have just gone to California for a visit.

 -Cher

6.3.13: Lima, Peru

Barranco Biblioteca

My dearest Kevin Yam, we have located our first biblioteca, but surely not our last! So, here are a few words on libraries and shelves, which have come up in interesting ways in the past few days here in Lima. Today we found this gorgeous old library in the Barranca neighborhood of Lima. (And when I say “we found it,” this simply means that we took ourselves somewhere we hadn't been before and we saw something that was new to us. It sure isn't like we were part of any kind of special discovery. People in Lima have known about it for over a hundred years.)

 

Barranco Biblioteca

It sits in a beautiful square with an equally beautiful fountain and rose bushes. We decided to try and wander on inside and see just how “municipal” it was and whether or not we'd be able to get in. Disappointingly, the charm ended with the edifice, because the small window gave a peek of some very scary old gray closed stacks and the 2 tables outside the window in a small room seemed to be the total of the reading room space. Kind of a sad library inside, though beautiful outside.  

Huaca Pucllana

The previous day we had a much more satisfying experience learning about this bookshelf-style of architecture used for adobe construction by Lima Culture peoples around 400 A.D. at a site called Huaca Pucllana. Quite a nicely organized structure, isn't it? I bet I'll be thinking more about ancient Peruvian architecture in the coming weeks, I'd guess, and maybe have a few more pictures to share and some interesting differences to note. But, for what might look like a pile of dirt, I was pretty damn impressed with the practicality of this approach and how well it has endured.  

Huaca Pucllana

-Cher

For the Inka Warrior in you.

6.2.13: Inka Kola

Looks like Mountain Dew, tastes like bubble gum and chemicals. Peruvians seem to be crazy about it. Maybe they all get hooked as kids. I think when I was about 7 years old I would have craved the stuff like an addict. But, then again I don't think my mom hardly ever let me have soda when I was 7 years old, so I probably would have been addicted to any soda. And, of course, it is owned and produced by Coca Cola.  -Cher

 

Here's the beach in Lima.  We found it today.  It's about ten blocks from our hostal.  It took us two days.  Yesterday we walked the wrong way more times than I'd like to admit.  Today we didn't.  We found the beach.  We're pretty damn proud of ourselves. 

We also had an amazing almuerzo with a wonderful friend of a friend here in Lima and he introduced us to a chef friend of his who served us some of the most amazing Peruvian dishes!  Then we walked around in a food coma, feeling very fortunate and happy to be alive.  But, we also walked in the correct direction and we found our way back easily.  We'll be Limenos in no time! (though, I can't figure out how to make the computer produce the letter en-ya. This is going to be a real problemo...) -- Cher

Pisco sours are damn fine. -- Will