Friday, April 20, 2007
A beautiful Shot of Machu Pichu
The Famous Plaza San Martin in Peru, Dates Back from the 1900s, was created in honor of Jose de San Martin, the man who ended the Vice Royalty in Peru and Liberated the country.
A shot of the Catedral
A beautiful shot of Lima at Night
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
"The Amazonas of Peru (Chapters 9 thru 13 ((end chapters))
Likened
to the Great Walls of Troy Or the Sacred City of Machu Picchu, Akin to a torch,
she, Kuelap—towers Over the Valley below. This: ”Forgotten Fortress”; Death
Temple of Chachapoyas! Crowned, by the mountains Here she stands, cyclopean
stones Forgotten legends: Here she stands alone!…
#1290 3/29/2006
Off and on the sun came out and off and on the rain poured, as if the two
were having a contest who could beat the other, or some kind of timing game, but
now we were at the site, yes, 1000-miles from Lima, at the Forgotten Fortress,
de Kuelap, in the Amazonas of Peru, our destination.
It took 600-years
(there about) to build this monstrous fortress, which is really a mausoleum now,
for the dead occupy it, the Chachapoyas, from 1300-years past: who fought the
Incas for 70-years and finally lost.
Inside the site one can witness
420-houses and towers, thick walls all around the city, and three entrances, an
observatory, at its highest point.
When you walk around it, as we did
for three hours several hours ago, one feels the world has overlooked this site,
that it should be given more attention, yet it was only discovered some 40-years
ago. When I say discovered, I mean to the general public, or outside world; the
Chachapoyas and many folks throughout Peru, knew about this wonder and
empowering site long ago.
It was a long day: from Lima to Chachapoya, to
Kuelap, to this bed in our hotel room. Travel time alone has been 1 hour air
time, 11-hours bus, four hours up the mountain in a van a taxi, and four down,
total: about 20-hours I’ve been in motion, one way or another.
10
Back Down [And the Residue Spirit]
On the way back down the mountain,
the men from the community about thirty of them in all, went and cleaned the
mudslide, the road was passable now. Thus, we stopped at our driver’s house, the
one that owned the Van, and his wife cooked the best Ginny pig I’ve yet eaten in
Peru, and this was my third time I had Ginny pig [Cuy] once in Cuzco, once in
Lima, now in Maria: in the Chachapoyas region. We all sat around a long table,
the electricity went out, so we had to use candles on the table, and a doubled
headed big flashlight to see what we were eating in this adobe house like café;
it’s funny how God throws people together, it was a wondrous evening. The
enchanting darkness of the night, achieving a mission, all nice people together,
all with warm hearts, and a nice meal to boot.
Julio had been having
nightmares, and as we walked through the site (earlier), much of it being dug
up, excavations, I touched a face carved into, or out of the stonewall: it said,
“What do you want?”
“Nothing,” I said and walked away (returning to the
stone face a moment later), then added, “what would make you happy?”
The
Residue Spirit said, “…leave us buried proper!”
The spirit was fearful his
resting spot would be disturbed. Rosa told Julio what I had told he, what the
spirit had said to me, and Julio said in return:
“We have no intentions of
moving things where they do not belong, we are being very careful about this.”
(I had asked Julio for the following three days if he was getting any more
nightmares concerning Kuelap, and the excavations, and he said no. Perhaps, the
spirits are willing to give him the benefit of misgivings: that is, perhaps they
will trust others will do their best not to bring about defilement, ruination,
to their resting place.
11
City Day
[3/29/2006; Morning of:] We
are meeting many people on our trip into the northern part of Peru, known as the
Amazonas.
Today we saw the five mummies at the museum, in the plaza area of
town, then took a ride to a magic well that predates the Incas. Learned about
the Serpents and the Jaguars, the two native groups who fought one another in
the Chachapoyas area, and had renowned archeologist Julio help us understand the
two groups.
This evening we visited a well-known photographers house: down a
winding street, and under some foliage we went, through a gate, and into the
house, where two of his sisters were, with friends. We talked and Maria was
quite happy to be reunited with her friend, as I was to be introduced to him. He
had great posters of the area, as well as his post cards were being sold in all
the stores and cafes of the township, that is, the city of Chachapoyas [Martin
Chumbe].
Tomorrow we go to Carajia, also spelled with a ‘K’; a site about
two hours outside of the city by car, each way; and about a mile plus walk
beyond that. (It would turn out that I’d have to have a young man rent me his
horse to get me back up the long walk, we had down to this site, which would
take place on 3/30/06; and it was a site to behold.)
The Five
Expressions (Mummies of Chachapoyas)
In the museum (INC), of Chachapoyas
reside five mummies:
Side by site—, five-hundred years old: one man, and
four women…!
All carrying familiar expressions of pain and hope.
Number
one: She had agony and pain in her face
Number two: She had misery, from
chin to forehead
Number three: She was in despair, dejection,
Number
four: She was looking up, visualizing something (perhaps hope)
Number five:
He was looking down, contemplating, perhaps his new life to be (reincarnation)
All the mummies rested in a fetus position, seemingly, all with pain and
anticipation…!
Note: Thanks to Julio Rodriguez, much of this poem could be
put together, our archeologist (#1291), for he gave some good insight into this
area of thought, mixed with psychology. And even helped name the poem.
.
During the day on 3/30/06, we also visited a homegrown, nursery, where Rosa
Mesa (of: Chachapoyas), lived on this farm like garden center, showed us around
her magical kingdom of plants; thus I should, and will dedicate this poem to her
“Orqudiario”!
Orqudiario
I think, at Rosa’s plant-nursery, in
Chachapoyas In Los Amazonas—she has a plant for most everything and occasion.
She showed me the fly plant—looked just like fly, to me: Matter-of-fact, it
looked so real I wanted to whack it, But of course I let it be.
And then she
showed me the San Pablo Plant, It gives one an illusion, and then some.
And
then there is the egg-plant, little white eggs Held in placed by the green
little hands of plants; Not good to eat, or medicine, perhaps Good for looks or
nothing.
Then there was the Vitamin D-plant, ‘Good for the bones,’ I heard
her say.
And the Tuna Cantatas, is come kind of plant Used for shoes (the
Panka).
And then there is the punishment plant, Not sure of its real name,
but it is sour All the same: used for bad children Gives a acid taste.
The
menthol plant, gives one fresh breath; And the soup plant, looks like a cactus,
is good for washing Cloths or shoes; and I saw one plant that was Good for
ailments, so I was told.
But to tell you the truth, I liked the fly plant
The most, but I’d still like to swat it If I could.
Notes: taken down during
the tour of the nursery and conversations with Rosa Mesa #1294.
12
The Great Crossover [The Midnight Mudslide]
[3/31/2006—Written while on
the bus ride back to Chiclayo from Chachapoyas.] We rode out of Chachapoyas at
8:00 PM, on the 30th of March, an 11-hour ride to Chiclayo (so I thought, it
would be extended a few hours).
It started raining about 11:00 PM, or three
hours ago into this trip, heavy landslides [huayco/desprendimiento] all over the
roads, just made it through one, now we are at another, the whole road is
covered with rocks and mud; water pouring over a towering rock like a
waterfalls. I went outside to check it out, my wife and I, and a few others. The
bus driver, and his female assistant would simply let us all rot in this damp,
and dark muggy bus, had I not insisted on her opening the door and giving us an
explanation of what exactly was to take place. I should say, my wife related my
inquiry. I don’t think she liked us leaving the bus, but then I don’t care what
she likes at this point. I think we will miss the plane at 10:30 in Chiclayo.
[Later on] We were stuck back there for one and half hours, waiting for the
construction crew to come out and clean the road, saved by the day after a bus
took up the challenge and ran across he mudslide and he made it, I mean it was
about thirty feet long, and the same wide. Had we waited for the crew, knowing
how slow folks are in South America, it would take several hours at best. I mean
I saw people walking across the mudslide, and here Rosa is trying to convince me
how dangerous it was. I told her at the time, I used to play in such things back
home. A little exaggeration, but not much; thus, I have named this the Great
Crossover, anointed and someone may make a movie out of it, according to Rosa’s
worry. Anyhow, after our bus driver saw several buses go through it; he got
enough nerve to crossover. I am writing this a few hours after the fact, still
on the road, perhaps it is 5:00 AM, getting closer to our destination.
I
told Rosa, we were not in a hurry, if we needed to stay over a few days more
because of this mishap, or catch a late plane, I mean, it is not the end of the
world. Maria was also worried, I suppose for me a little bit, and Julio had a
bad dream a while ago, nothing to do with bad spirits, perhaps a good one this
time. He is not breathing well, I suggested it could be his heart; and he think
his shadow spirit, or the shadow of his spirit, while he is sleeping is trying
to tell him something on this order. Whatever the case, he gets tired quickly
for a healthy looking man.
We will have to go directly to the airport once
in Chiclayo, but we’ll make it back to Lima as scheduled it seems. It’s been a
wild trip in a way. Our car broke down yesterday, the fan shut down, and our
driver had to look constantly at the heat gage, and finally we got it fixed at
some town where we had lunch: chicken soup for four people, and a main dish of
chicken and rice or beef, with coffee and coke, all of 26-soles, about $8.75
cents. Not like at the Hilton, but it will do when you are hungry.
13
Closing Notes
A Legend of Sipan
What comes to mind right now, in
closing this short story of my short trip into the Amazonas is a legend told to
me by Julio Cesar our young guide at the Sipan site outside of Chiclayo, where
we went the first day we arrived in Chiclayo; written at that during the visit
to the site (right on the site) on the 27th of March, in the morning (today
being, 4/4/2006); I shall write it out as I felt it at the time, not necessarily
as it was given to me, although I will not distort what I feel to be fact (for
this is suppose to be, in fact, a true story), and it should be said, this
legend was handed down, not written prior to this; for I was on the site,
looking down into the Sipan grave, feeling the moment, and had stepped upon the
pyramid of the sun, looked over the Sipan Valley, and here is the legend:
*The Legend of Ernil Bernal
Advance/From my notes: Ernil Bernal, a
nearby resident had dream that the pyramid had opened; Bernal’s nephew now [to
this writing] paints pictures in blood. It has been said, the king, Sipan’s
spirit, does not like being in a museum. (Well, I can attest to that, in that,
the spirits of Kuelap have told me directly, they do not like being moved about,
this, this must hold some truth to it, now that I look back on the trip.)
The Legend/Dream:
The dream told Bernal, he had to excavate, and
that a bird would show him where to excavate, and that he’d find gold. The
blackbird had a wide wingspan, several feet. Three days passed, and the dream
continued to reappear, and then he excavated some seven meters, and found the
tomb of Sipan, he took 70% of what was in the tomb to his house (later on things
would be found there and brought to the museum). And the spirit of Sipan,
perhaps its guardian, who sits above, several feet, within a cavern overlooking
the tomb, told him, “What you take, things from me, I will take things from
you.” That afternoon his pig died, and he died by a gun shot would by the
police. (1987)"
See Dennis' web site: http://dennissiluk.tripod.com/ Dennis, Poeta Laureado
"The Amazonas of Peru (Chapters: 4 throu 8)
It is the morning of the 27 of March, went to sleep about 9:00 PM, figured I’d wake up early, I did, 3:15 AM, thinking it was time to get the taxi to go to the airport, but it wasn’t. I tuned over saw my clock, a little black one, listening to Nat King Cole playing on my CD-player. I had the fan off, Rosa was ill the last few days; talked to Cody an hour last night. Anyhow I looked at the clock and jumped out of bed, my wife jumped into the shower, all in fifteen minutes only to find out, it was 1:30 AM, not 3:30 AM—too early to go to the airport (I read the clock with my glasses off).
“Sorry, I think I read the clock wrong,” I said to my wife.
“Oh well, lots of time to get ready,” Rosa said
(oh well, back to sleep).
Waking up. It is 3/27/2006, 5:30 AM. Breakfast at the airport, a treat of my wife’s; they brought me a ham and cheese sandwich, it looked fresh in the glass showcase. She baked it, Rosa told her to bring it back (it was not what she ordered), she said she ordered it the way it looked in the glass case, uncooked.
“But you didn’t’ tell me you didn’t wanted it backed,” said the waitress.
“But you didn’t say you were going to back it…” Rosa said back to the waitress. It took a little longer, but I got a new sandwich, uncooked, out of the whole thing.
It is now 6:00 AM. Now waiting for ‘Star Peru (airplane)’. We will have a quick stop in Trujillo, then onto Chiclayo. There are perhaps eight stewardesses at the gate chatting away as if they are on a holiday, and everyone is going it seems, every one but the Peruvian’s and me, going to Machu Picchu. All the customers seem droopy, tried, no smiles on their faces. Flying is not like it used to be.
7:00 AM, I’m on the plane now, it seems Peruvians or perhaps it is Spanish related, but lots of fussing going on in boarding a plane. The plane looks filled. The sky is soupy this morning. Two or three planes took off with tourists to Cuzco. A stewardess asked me if I was going to Cuzco, thinking because I’m a gringo, I was about to miss my flight I suppose. I said ‘No, I’m going to Chicago,’ and she just walked away.
(28,000-feet in the air) I wonder how many people believe in reincarnation would not prefer to come back again as someone else. Most seem middle class for Peruvians on this plane.
8:00 AM we are descending into Trujillo, got thinking of a little girl I met a few days ago in the plaza area in Miraflores, Lima, she was five years old, with a painter friend of mine, whom is about 35-years old. He is going with her mother. She said, ”I don’t understand all that is happening around me,” and Custy said, ”You’re not expected to at five years old.” Funny, I’m fifty-eight, and I feel like the little girl: I bought her some popcorn that night. By the time she’s old enough to vote, I’ll be long dead, and I wonder if she’ll remember what she said, and that bag of popcorn?
8:30 AM Stopped in Trujillo, ran to the privy. They gave someone my seat, sold my seat to another person, lucky there were empty seats, I told the man I was not moving, it was mine, and he’d have to talk to someone about it, he did, the stewardess, and ended up in a seat across from me. No fireworks. The sun is seeping through the open door of the plane, warm, getting closer to the equator.
.
(In Chicago) 1:30 PM went the site of Sapin, went to the top of the sun temple (pyramid), stood where kings were, and got a few ceramic vases, at the local merchants stand. The site dates back to about AD 500. It is a very hot day today.
Back to Chicago: it was not a long ride out her, perhaps 45-minutes; went across a 92-year old bridge: red cast-iron, across the Rio.
2:15 PM saw a blue-headed lizard at the site; Rosa was amazed, so was I. Going back now to have some coffee.
Had to have the waiter go back three times to make my coffee strong enough. Had chicken, it was good.
3:40 PM I’m sitting on a bench in downtown Chicago, many people, it seems a dozen elbows have hit me: cops walking all around. Chicago reminds me of San Pedro del Sole, in Honduras, not a good memory nor a real bad one, just feel unsafe. (I felt I needed to be extra guarded while in Chicago.)
The Bus Ride
Nine hours they said to Chachapoyas. It will be a long day. Met an Archeologist Julio, he will be accompanying us on our journey to Kuelap.
(Left Chicago at 8:00 PM) 9:00 PM this bus is bad news, no shocks, you feel every bump; and I learned it will be an 11-hour ride. Everyone is like a sardine, packed tightly into a silver can. Maria talked to someone, and got me to sit up front, where I can stretch my feet. The lights are two dim for me to read or write.
(A few hours later, looking out the window in the dark) The bus almost went over the side of a cliff; a washed out road, several buses got stuck, but ours didn’t: the driver zoomed on through like a mad man. The road looked like a river, it is a wild ride. (I got my adventure up to my nose this time, I do believe.)
4:30 AM, it is a new day, 3/28/06, and between yesterday and now it has been a long full twenty-four hours, plus. The bus is going up a dirt road; everything rattles like a loose lawnmower. I can’t believe this bus will not fall apart—it is a death trap.
5
Walking Around Chachapoyas
[Walking around Chachapoyas: 3/28-3/31/06] While looking for a place to have coffee, and a light lunch, we [Maria, Rosa, myself, and Julio] walked past a church, there was a lady sitting there on the steps, head lowered, her daughter along side of her, dirty faced, flowers laying along side of her. It was a hot day, a moist day, and we walked past her, and after a hundred feet or so I asked my wife to go back and buy the flowers, all of them, then I joined her. Now writing this out, it is evening in our Spanish hotel (three Stars***: La Casona), and here is my poem about the Flower Lady:
The Flower Lady of Chachapoyas
The flower lady sat on the church steps…! It was forenoon, the first week of summer— In Chachapoya’s –square, daughter by her side (both tired, almost withdrawn; the child dirty-
faced, eyes lowered weary and faded. We walked past her, my wife and I once, only
to return:
“How much for the flowers,” asked my wife?
“How much for the flowers!” she looks up the second time:
“Three soles,” she said (about one-dollar). After she paid, we walked away, but I had to
look back— And saw them both rushing to nearby store
hungry as two weary birds…in a storm!
#1296, 3/30/06; written in the afternoon when I had gone back to the hotel for rest.
6
On the Way to Kuelap
[Morning of: 3/28/06] It was a four-hour driver up and around the mountain (s) near Chachapoyas and a long four hours at that. It was like riding on the moon; there was Rosa my wife, our archeologist friend Julio, and Maria, the owner of ‘Sipan Tours.’ (I seem to have complained a lot as I find myself writing out these notes, but it was a great trip, and the problems that came about are expected in such areas as the Amazonas, in March, the rainy season. Actually, it all made my trip a bit more exciting.)
We have two assistants, what more could you ask for, Maria needs to see how things are in Chachapoyas (she hasn’t been here she said going on two years), so it is a little business, as well as being our guide, and something of a leader. Julio is full of information on the historical elements of the region.
The driver came with a station wagon, when in essence we need something bigger; he went back, and just returned with a Van, thank god.
(The following poem was written after gathering information from our archeologist, written on the way to the site)
Under the Kuelap Sky
Under March skies, In ancient ruins lies (a fortress ((temple)) long deserted by the birds)
The Chachapoyas gold of old in Kuelap’s leaves
Glow, in the nearby sacred dirt.
With hungry fearful words—,
Here, longing spirits, resting-silent, grieve
On desecrations, anticipated!
Note: While visiting within the Ancient Fortress of Kuelap, one of the spirits whispered a message to me, and it seemed to relate to the Archeologist, whom was having nightmares, and was an aid for me. In essence, he told me: we do not like the excavation in the area because of fear of desecration. The Archeologist assured the spirit, in the great walls of the fortress, an extended face from the wall came out of it, in stone, I had touched it, and thus came the message. Next, the nightmares seemed to stop concerning this issue. In addition to this, it is legend that says, there is much gold in the nearby dirt, in the Kuelap Valley region. I myself have grabbed some mud and could see it sparkling.
Although this is a relatively small poem, written a day after my return from the Amazonas (4/1/06), it says a lot I do believe on a simple fact, that many of the people already know in the area, of the Great Sacred Fortress of Kuelap, that rests on top of a mountain top, like a mesa [or table top]. The walls are high and it can house 8,000-people; it has 400-houses. It is a second Machu Picchu.
7
Chicago to Chachapoyas
(Notes from the evening: 3/28/06) We got off the bus, an eleven-hour ride, my ass was sore as if it was sunburned, and we had a special guide to take us to Sipan, in Chicago; now we were in Chachapoyas, and at a nice Hotel, and our trip started after we had breakfast, I bought it for everyone, American-style: eggs, ham, coke, coffee and potatoes (French-fries, that is), and toast. The price was right, it was about half the price it would have been in Lima, maybe: $8.50 [25 s/.,] a good price; after breakfast we started up the mountain to the “Forgotten Fortress”: known as Kuelap.
But nothing is as easy as it should be, we had ended up with two young girls on our private trip, not sure how that happened, but our driver had found them someplace, and had—I guessed—offered them a ride for a price. To me it was the price I had to pay to ride in a Van, verses a car, and the car would not be comfortable with even four people (so I thought at the time), and two more sitting in the back of the wagon was two, too many people (and now that I’m looking back, the car would not have made the trip at all, even with just four of us, and now it was six; it was too wet, rainy and muddy on the way up to Kuelap).
Maria or Julio had thought to mention that we should purchase long rubber boots for the trip, and so we did; and I suggested a black sweater for Rosa who gets cold all the time, even in the desert sun. For myself, boots was fine; Rosa got some extra socks (and perhaps that was smart, my feet would get cold later on). In addition, Rosa suggested I purchase a nylon vest, and I did (and would find out later, it was a good purchase, worth its 25 soles; as were the boots).
When we got about one third of the way up the mountain, it started to rain unkindly, it had been raining but not to this degree, I mean, it was but a very light rain before.
The roads in this area were all dirt roads, and some of the tracks that trucks, buses and cars made—made in the mud—were over a foot high now, yet that didn’t stop our trip, or driver, or the van, it made its way through, that is until we got about thirty-minutes away from the site, we had been on the road nearly three and a half hours now; it was flooded, a mud slide covered the whole road, no way of getting through. Henceforward, Julio helped me through the mud by foot; foot by foot we pushed through its down pouring water from nearby, down it went across the road, and down a small embankment; a stream, I’d guess you could call it—somehow attached to the road, under the road that is; we had left the Van behind, and then Julio went back for my wife, and Maria, and the two girls. He was Manco Capac (so Maria had nicknamed him for the event) the hero of the day. We were now on the other side of the road (somewhat safe); and here little girls (perchance: twelve or thirteen) who lived in the township of Maria, were walking across this disaster with no boots on, bare legged, were walking in mud up to their upper thighs, and beyond, making us look like armatures, which I was.
Chachapoyas Mud
High in the mountains Above the Kuelap Valley— Be careful when you go: Ride her old dirt roads! Lest you find yourself like me Stuck in mud beyond your knees Trying to get to the ‘Forgotten City’.
#1290 3/29/06 [Written after returning from Kuelap, at the hotel, in the late hours of the night, or early morning hours of the 29th of March."
For more great stories go to:
See Dennis' web site: http://dennissiluk.tripod.com/
It is the morning of the 27 of March, went to sleep about 9:00 PM, figured I’d wake up early, I did, 3:15 AM, thinking it was time to get the taxi to go to the airport, but it wasn’t. I tuned over saw my clock, a little black one, listening to Nat King Cole playing on my CD-player. I had the fan off, Rosa was ill the last few days; talked to Cody an hour last night. Anyhow I looked at the clock and jumped out of bed, my wife jumped into the shower, all in fifteen minutes only to find out, it was 1:30 AM, not 3:30 AM—too early to go to the airport (I read the clock with my glasses off).
“Sorry, I think I read the clock wrong,” I said to my wife.
“Oh well, lots of time to get ready,” Rosa said
(oh well, back to sleep).
Waking up. It is 3/27/2006, 5:30 AM. Breakfast at the airport, a treat of my wife’s; they brought me a ham and cheese sandwich, it looked fresh in the glass showcase. She baked it, Rosa told her to bring it back (it was not what she ordered), she said she ordered it the way it looked in the glass case, uncooked.
“But you didn’t’ tell me you didn’t wanted it backed,” said the waitress.
“But you didn’t say you were going to back it…” Rosa said back to the waitress. It took a little longer, but I got a new sandwich, uncooked, out of the whole thing.
It is now 6:00 AM. Now waiting for ‘Star Peru (airplane)’. We will have a quick stop in Trujillo, then onto Chiclayo. There are perhaps eight stewardesses at the gate chatting away as if they are on a holiday, and everyone is going it seems, every one but the Peruvian’s and me, going to Machu Picchu. All the customers seem droopy, tried, no smiles on their faces. Flying is not like it used to be.
7:00 AM, I’m on the plane now, it seems Peruvians or perhaps it is Spanish related, but lots of fussing going on in boarding a plane. The plane looks filled. The sky is soupy this morning. Two or three planes took off with tourists to Cuzco. A stewardess asked me if I was going to Cuzco, thinking because I’m a gringo, I was about to miss my flight I suppose. I said ‘No, I’m going to Chicago,’ and she just walked away.
(28,000-feet in the air) I wonder how many people believe in reincarnation would not prefer to come back again as someone else. Most seem middle class for Peruvians on this plane.
8:00 AM we are descending into Trujillo, got thinking of a little girl I met a few days ago in the plaza area in Miraflores, Lima, she was five years old, with a painter friend of mine, whom is about 35-years old. He is going with her mother. She said, ”I don’t understand all that is happening around me,” and Custy said, ”You’re not expected to at five years old.” Funny, I’m fifty-eight, and I feel like the little girl: I bought her some popcorn that night. By the time she’s old enough to vote, I’ll be long dead, and I wonder if she’ll remember what she said, and that bag of popcorn?
8:30 AM Stopped in Trujillo, ran to the privy. They gave someone my seat, sold my seat to another person, lucky there were empty seats, I told the man I was not moving, it was mine, and he’d have to talk to someone about it, he did, the stewardess, and ended up in a seat across from me. No fireworks. The sun is seeping through the open door of the plane, warm, getting closer to the equator.
.
(In Chicago) 1:30 PM went the site of Sapin, went to the top of the sun temple (pyramid), stood where kings were, and got a few ceramic vases, at the local merchants stand. The site dates back to about AD 500. It is a very hot day today.
Back to Chicago: it was not a long ride out her, perhaps 45-minutes; went across a 92-year old bridge: red cast-iron, across the Rio.
2:15 PM saw a blue-headed lizard at the site; Rosa was amazed, so was I. Going back now to have some coffee.
Had to have the waiter go back three times to make my coffee strong enough. Had chicken, it was good.
3:40 PM I’m sitting on a bench in downtown Chicago, many people, it seems a dozen elbows have hit me: cops walking all around. Chicago reminds me of San Pedro del Sole, in Honduras, not a good memory nor a real bad one, just feel unsafe. (I felt I needed to be extra guarded while in Chicago.)
The Bus Ride
Nine hours they said to Chachapoyas. It will be a long day. Met an Archeologist Julio, he will be accompanying us on our journey to Kuelap.
(Left Chicago at 8:00 PM) 9:00 PM this bus is bad news, no shocks, you feel every bump; and I learned it will be an 11-hour ride. Everyone is like a sardine, packed tightly into a silver can. Maria talked to someone, and got me to sit up front, where I can stretch my feet. The lights are two dim for me to read or write.
(A few hours later, looking out the window in the dark) The bus almost went over the side of a cliff; a washed out road, several buses got stuck, but ours didn’t: the driver zoomed on through like a mad man. The road looked like a river, it is a wild ride. (I got my adventure up to my nose this time, I do believe.)
4:30 AM, it is a new day, 3/28/06, and between yesterday and now it has been a long full twenty-four hours, plus. The bus is going up a dirt road; everything rattles like a loose lawnmower. I can’t believe this bus will not fall apart—it is a death trap.
5
Walking Around Chachapoyas
[Walking around Chachapoyas: 3/28-3/31/06] While looking for a place to have coffee, and a light lunch, we [Maria, Rosa, myself, and Julio] walked past a church, there was a lady sitting there on the steps, head lowered, her daughter along side of her, dirty faced, flowers laying along side of her. It was a hot day, a moist day, and we walked past her, and after a hundred feet or so I asked my wife to go back and buy the flowers, all of them, then I joined her. Now writing this out, it is evening in our Spanish hotel (three Stars***: La Casona), and here is my poem about the Flower Lady:
The Flower Lady of Chachapoyas
The flower lady sat on the church steps…! It was forenoon, the first week of summer— In Chachapoya’s –square, daughter by her side (both tired, almost withdrawn; the child dirty-
faced, eyes lowered weary and faded. We walked past her, my wife and I once, only
to return:
“How much for the flowers,” asked my wife?
“How much for the flowers!” she looks up the second time:
“Three soles,” she said (about one-dollar). After she paid, we walked away, but I had to
look back— And saw them both rushing to nearby store
hungry as two weary birds…in a storm!
#1296, 3/30/06; written in the afternoon when I had gone back to the hotel for rest.
6
On the Way to Kuelap
[Morning of: 3/28/06] It was a four-hour driver up and around the mountain (s) near Chachapoyas and a long four hours at that. It was like riding on the moon; there was Rosa my wife, our archeologist friend Julio, and Maria, the owner of ‘Sipan Tours.’ (I seem to have complained a lot as I find myself writing out these notes, but it was a great trip, and the problems that came about are expected in such areas as the Amazonas, in March, the rainy season. Actually, it all made my trip a bit more exciting.)
We have two assistants, what more could you ask for, Maria needs to see how things are in Chachapoyas (she hasn’t been here she said going on two years), so it is a little business, as well as being our guide, and something of a leader. Julio is full of information on the historical elements of the region.
The driver came with a station wagon, when in essence we need something bigger; he went back, and just returned with a Van, thank god.
(The following poem was written after gathering information from our archeologist, written on the way to the site)
Under the Kuelap Sky
Under March skies, In ancient ruins lies (a fortress ((temple)) long deserted by the birds)
The Chachapoyas gold of old in Kuelap’s leaves
Glow, in the nearby sacred dirt.
With hungry fearful words—,
Here, longing spirits, resting-silent, grieve
On desecrations, anticipated!
Note: While visiting within the Ancient Fortress of Kuelap, one of the spirits whispered a message to me, and it seemed to relate to the Archeologist, whom was having nightmares, and was an aid for me. In essence, he told me: we do not like the excavation in the area because of fear of desecration. The Archeologist assured the spirit, in the great walls of the fortress, an extended face from the wall came out of it, in stone, I had touched it, and thus came the message. Next, the nightmares seemed to stop concerning this issue. In addition to this, it is legend that says, there is much gold in the nearby dirt, in the Kuelap Valley region. I myself have grabbed some mud and could see it sparkling.
Although this is a relatively small poem, written a day after my return from the Amazonas (4/1/06), it says a lot I do believe on a simple fact, that many of the people already know in the area, of the Great Sacred Fortress of Kuelap, that rests on top of a mountain top, like a mesa [or table top]. The walls are high and it can house 8,000-people; it has 400-houses. It is a second Machu Picchu.
7
Chicago to Chachapoyas
(Notes from the evening: 3/28/06) We got off the bus, an eleven-hour ride, my ass was sore as if it was sunburned, and we had a special guide to take us to Sipan, in Chicago; now we were in Chachapoyas, and at a nice Hotel, and our trip started after we had breakfast, I bought it for everyone, American-style: eggs, ham, coke, coffee and potatoes (French-fries, that is), and toast. The price was right, it was about half the price it would have been in Lima, maybe: $8.50 [25 s/.,] a good price; after breakfast we started up the mountain to the “Forgotten Fortress”: known as Kuelap.
But nothing is as easy as it should be, we had ended up with two young girls on our private trip, not sure how that happened, but our driver had found them someplace, and had—I guessed—offered them a ride for a price. To me it was the price I had to pay to ride in a Van, verses a car, and the car would not be comfortable with even four people (so I thought at the time), and two more sitting in the back of the wagon was two, too many people (and now that I’m looking back, the car would not have made the trip at all, even with just four of us, and now it was six; it was too wet, rainy and muddy on the way up to Kuelap).
Maria or Julio had thought to mention that we should purchase long rubber boots for the trip, and so we did; and I suggested a black sweater for Rosa who gets cold all the time, even in the desert sun. For myself, boots was fine; Rosa got some extra socks (and perhaps that was smart, my feet would get cold later on). In addition, Rosa suggested I purchase a nylon vest, and I did (and would find out later, it was a good purchase, worth its 25 soles; as were the boots).
When we got about one third of the way up the mountain, it started to rain unkindly, it had been raining but not to this degree, I mean, it was but a very light rain before.
The roads in this area were all dirt roads, and some of the tracks that trucks, buses and cars made—made in the mud—were over a foot high now, yet that didn’t stop our trip, or driver, or the van, it made its way through, that is until we got about thirty-minutes away from the site, we had been on the road nearly three and a half hours now; it was flooded, a mud slide covered the whole road, no way of getting through. Henceforward, Julio helped me through the mud by foot; foot by foot we pushed through its down pouring water from nearby, down it went across the road, and down a small embankment; a stream, I’d guess you could call it—somehow attached to the road, under the road that is; we had left the Van behind, and then Julio went back for my wife, and Maria, and the two girls. He was Manco Capac (so Maria had nicknamed him for the event) the hero of the day. We were now on the other side of the road (somewhat safe); and here little girls (perchance: twelve or thirteen) who lived in the township of Maria, were walking across this disaster with no boots on, bare legged, were walking in mud up to their upper thighs, and beyond, making us look like armatures, which I was.
Chachapoyas Mud
High in the mountains Above the Kuelap Valley— Be careful when you go: Ride her old dirt roads! Lest you find yourself like me Stuck in mud beyond your knees Trying to get to the ‘Forgotten City’.
#1290 3/29/06 [Written after returning from Kuelap, at the hotel, in the late hours of the night, or early morning hours of the 29th of March."
For more great stories go to:
See Dennis' web site: http://dennissiluk.tripod.com/
Thursday, August 31, 2006
"The Amazonas of Peru (Chapters 1 thru 3)
Provincia [Peruvian] Chachapoyas
The Amazonas of Peru [From Chicago to Kuelap]
By Dennis L. Siluk
1
We caught a plane from St. Paul, Minnesota to Chicago, an early morning flight, one day in late February 2006. We were trying to set up our move to South America, Peru, and had to see the Consul General of Peru in Chicago, we had seen him a few years prior to this, when he was visiting Minnesota, but our move was to take place in mid March (kind of a semi retirement move), and we had to sign our marriage papers from six years prior, thus, making it legal in Peru, since I would be seeking duel citizenship. I slept briefly on the plane, and we landed at O’Hare, around 8:00 AM, second class. Somewhere near the airport was the train station, we found our way to it, and my wife Rosa bought roundtrip tickets to downtown Chicago, we’d return after seeing the Consul, having late lunch and perhaps a walk around the windy city’s Michigan Avenue area. It was a special day you could say, not only in that we would sign all this documentation, but also it was Valentines Day, and the Consul General gave Rosa a suggestion where to take me, and she did, to a fine Italian Restaurant, and the food was great, I had lasagna. It was her gift to me; she always takes me to the best restaurants in town when we go on trips though.
We headed right into the main building of the Consul General’s second floor office, he had moved about a block away from where his previous address was, so Rosa had told me, she was down to see him twice before, to vote and pay some kind of miserable small tax, for not voting in Peru think: it is next to a minor crime not to vote there. This time I was with her, as she had made an attempt before to have me go to Chicago, I suppose I was hoping we could do all the paperwork needed without me going, but it was impossible, I had to be there to sign the papers. So we caught the elevator to the second or third floor, and walked up to the window in the office of the Consul General, told the secretary who we were and to our surprise, or at least to mine, they had all the paper work already made up; next, they called us, and took us into the back room, sat us down, and we started filling in the blank spaces necessary.
The Consul General was a warm sort of fellow, cross-legged as he sat behind his desk, a nice looking older man, sound, healthy looking; after we had done all the signing, he invited us into his personal office, we didn’t have to wait like the others out in the small cramped hall area. His father was a poet, and so we got talking about poetry and I think special treatment, for meeting a poet he appreciated—as I was known to be, or at least showed his appreciation in the only way he could at the time, that is, allowing us the comfort of his soft office seats, until we had to go anyway; and being Poet Laureate of San Jeronimo de Peru at that, made things a little better between us. In the short-term of our meeting and free conversations he talked about his home in the Amazonas (in a few words adding bits and pieces of his childhood), and poetry of course. Rosa and I gave him the last three books I had written, two on Peru, one on Minnesota, all poetry (‘Last Autumn and Winter,’ ‘Poetic Images Out of Peru,’ and ‘Peruvian Poems’.)
“I’m from the Amazonas,” he said to Rosa, and they carried on a short conversation, then gave us a poster of Kuelap, it was the first time I had seen this location in the Andean-jungles of Peru, about 1000-miles from Lima. As I looked over the poster, I was quite impressed; it had a picture of a fortress I’d soon find out was called, “The Hidden Fortress,” or Kuelap.
He liked poetry so much he read out loud to us (my wife and I, and the secretary who stood behind us for that moment) my poem called, “The Ice Maiden,” in the book, ‘Peruvian Poems;’ I thought at the time he could have been a second Dylan Thomas, he sounded quite dramatic and powerful, a good reader of poetry, a lot of emotion, but then Peruvians have an extra dose of that for some God given reason. (In a short time I’d find out more about Kuelap, and its 9th Century fortress; its wild warriors of antiquity—the Chachapoyas, and their warring with the Incas. All in due time, and as I looked more and more into this area I got more excited about Kuelap and its ancient walled ruins (discovered less than a half century ago); by the research I had done on Kuelap, it seemed, or reminded me of, compare to or with: ‘The Great Enclosure,’ of Zimbabwe in Africa. Of course that was just a mindset. I then had visions of grassy slopes, by the Navahos, as I’ve told my wife, time and again first you hear about a location of interest, then you dream about it ((find out things)) then you see it, and it become part of you.
An Afternoon in Chicago
The sun, like a deer trail—bit my brow, Industriously, as my wife and I took the train Back to O’Hare from downtown Chicago, —
Windy city, with stretched-up eyebrows
In its winter sleep. We walked around, downtown: busy city— From Washington Street to Michigan; across The bridge, there on East Ontario, we
Ate at ‘Bice,’ Italian Restaurant (my wife
Paid the bill) her treat, Valentine’s Day.
I’m waiting for the plane now; it’s 5:00 PM; It has been one of those happier days, moments, In my life: strange, even with Northwest being late.
It is pale, to dark now (6:00 PM)
Sitting on these worn-out seats…! Thinking of nothing, like when you’re a little boy, Spending the whole day rambling through the City, on your high, two wheel bike!...
Whistling away a sunny day,
With nothing much to do or say.
My wife, sitting next me fell to sleep, hat on: Holding my jacket in her two hands, sleeping; Had to remove her coffee cup, in case it fell:
She’s in some joyful lofty solitude;
While I’m sniffling away like hell. It was nice, just being we today Before having to go back home, to St. Paul, Go back to the kitchen—fixing things.
As I look about, everyone’s on cell phones.
Hurry-up—flight: NW 145!
Now that I think of it, one can smell the lake The Great Lake Michigan; feel its pulse, its Wind like tides in the air all about.
Soft dust, swirling along the cities streets;
Street people blowing brass horns for a meal. Rhythmic packs, misplaced men and women: Everywhere: like undergrowth, weeds not growing. Drunks, and derelicts, eyes staring at your every move,
An endless forest of a city, with boulders,
Towering bricks, next to an unforgiving lake:
Chicago!...
Semi prose/ 2/14/06 #1208
It was a about five o’ clock (in the PM) when we caught our plane back to Minnesota, and within the following month, March 19, we caught our plane to Peru, once we landed in Lima, I got word it had snowed 11-inches in Minnesota, I was not surprised, but more than happy to have avoided the snow storm, I had my fill of them. It was within the following two weeks where I had bought tickets to fly to Chiclayo (on the 27th of March); from there we’d take a bus to the surrounding area of Kuelap: a four day trip. And this is where we stop for moment (for I am writing this in advance of that four day trip), for I will be taking that journey in a few days, tickets in hand. (Written March 25, 2006.)
2
The Kuelap Bum [Of the Amazonas]
Come; share a wild Kuelap Bum’s sunny afternoon—
I sit here, sipping my coffee and coke waiting for my pollo saltado
[Chicken with potatoes and rice),
And hear voices, cars pass: sounds, coming from iron motors Like purring cats and roaring mice, with squeaky feet for tires, race
Racing around the café (El Parquetito, in Miraflores)) Lima)), Around the streets and park—; the sun boiling overhead, as I’m
Reading Jack Kerouac’s: “The Dharma Bums,”—I feel like one.
My date to return back into the Amazonian region—this time to the
Andean-jungle—is in five days. My mind is excited, here is Where come my beautiful visions of grassy slopes, by the Nevados,
And there ahead in front of me, are the ancient ruins of Kuelap I can even see the wild warriors of antiquity: the Chachapoyas,
Fight the Incas in the wild deep, deep Andean-jungles of Peru.
I like the incredible peace here, lost in a maze of thoughts, looking for
No certain highway I can sweat, drink my coke and coffee in peace, while I write and dream…and get ready for my next journey.
#1283 3/23/2006 Note by the author: I have been to the Andes and to the Amazon, and even to the Amazonas as they are known for their sections, ranging from Equator to Peru, and Brazil and Venezuela, of which I have been to all these regions or sections except one, the one I am dreaming about, and will go in five days to, to what is known as the Andean-Amazonian region, where elevation is part of the jungle equation, not so in the other regions. Thus, here is where the “Forgotten Fortress,” is located, similar to the ‘Great Enclosure,’ in Zimbabwe. The Forgotten Fortress dates back to about 800 AD.
The Chachapoya’s [and ‘The Forgotten Fortress]
Advance: I don’t even know these people I talk about, I’ve seen the landscape they’ve live on only in books, rushed through, gritting their ivory teeth before they warred with the Inca’s in the 16th century (this pre-Inca civilization). But the more one studies this great civilization, the more one admires its fantastic powers of visualization, its psychic rulers, and wild bull like hearts, and the great fortress (labyrinth) they built in the middle of the Andean-jungles of Peru (walking through it one can only hold their breath in awe: breath in its life-death patriarchal society.
Today, the Chachapoya still carry on in this area, with its pottery, and tapestry, garments, all highly prized; at onetime they worked for the Incas, and like today, gave them high quality. In a few more days, let’s say seven to be exact I shall be among them.
The Poem:
In the Andean-jungle—the Chachapoya’s (the tree-cloud people) Of the ‘Forgotten Fortress,’ of Kuelap (Amazonas de Peru) once
lived here—twelve-hundred years ago—perhaps 2000- or more Lived in this straddled low-land jungle citadel —; bold and free:
cadaverous war like people, spirit filled: more fierce than the Inca.
Here is where they lived—in Kuelap, in limestone houses: under
conical thatched roofs—; Houses of limestone masonry, in mud mortar plaster like tombs:
painted in rainbow colors; few if any windows.
The ravages of time have sadly, seen the looting of the detailed:
elaborate funerary architecture of the Chachapoya race—; Once decorated in rainbow shades, zigzag friezes, in cliff like caves.
#1287 3/20/2006 [Written before my trip to the Amazonas]
3
Introduction to Chachapoya
(The following is taken from notes on my trip; only slightly modified for spelling errors, etc.)
It is funny how one thing leads into another. Someone gives you a poster; you hang it in your home; remember what he had to say about such historical sites as Kuelap, dating back to about 700 AD, with walls as thick as Troy’s, and legends as potent. Then you look a little deeper into this area the person has mentioned briefly, but enthusiastically, and find other sites that open your eyes to the bountiful, and most beautiful region known as the Amazonas of Peru, and find Carajia [also spelled with a ‘K’], dating back to the 13th Century. And on the journey you find much, much more. In Chapter #3, and the following chapters, we shall take a quick trip to the region, with some poetic verse to help us drift along its watery roads, up its banks, through its small towns, and so forth and on, I am writing this on pieces of paper, in my pocket, and my wife has a pad of paper she bought a few days ago, I’ll use it when I get back to the hotel.
(Talking to my friend the Archeologist) Kuelap, is called, The Forgotten City, discovered only forty-years ago, in the Amazonas of Northern Peru. The area is wide open for and to new discoveries; I am sure there will be many also. (Added later on in the following evening: in villages you can still find mummies in homes, and local mud built museums, and see them within caves on ledges of mountains. It is an archeological paradise, and one of the last frontiers for such discoveries in the world.)
Kuelap is cuddled in an odd way, cuddled over looking the Kuelap Valley, cuddled I say by the mist that surrounds her, as if she didn’t exist, and all of a sudden: there she is. The mist drifts and descends into the valley fully allowing Kuelap to be seen then, and once on top of her great walls, you can see on a clear afternoon, you can see a hundred-miles in all directions, East, West, and North South.
Kuelap is a sacred city to many in the region, a temple of or for the dead; yet some sprits still live there and are restless about the excavations going on here, I talked to two of them, one in particular who wanted to know what I wanted. And I asked him what bothered him? And he said: desecration (defilement); so there is fear in the shadowy corners of these cyclopean stones walls I do believe. In addition to being a temple of sorts, Kuelap is also a fortress, and surely at one time used as a city, for it has 400-stone houses in its small hilltop complex. The Inca Empire did dominate it, at its very end, by request of the Conquistadors, because Spain couldn’t.
Thus, the white cotton canopy that descends, also ascends above the luscious multi shaded green valley; above the wild berries my friend and leader of this group: Maria, loved to eat; and there must exist every kind of plant a person can think of in this Amazonas’ Valley. (From notes on the trip: 3/30/06; #1295)
Julio Rodriguez, our Archeologist: while driving around the city, on a city tour, we talked about Carajia, had some coffee in the small city of Chachapoya; tomorrow we’d go to see Carajia; anyhow, when we got talking about the Inca Empire then, and he got talking about Huayna Capac, he called him the Last Inca, the Father to Atahualpa, the Inca king that is so well known; he was killed by the Conquistadors for not becoming a Christian; I have a statue of him in my library. Carajia is where the six sarcophagi are entrenched into a mountain cave.
After lunch and coffee, I quickly jotted down the information he gave me in a poem, I call:
“The Last Inca” (Huayna Capac)
Tall and handsome, built like a bull, A warrior among warriors with long blond hair Eyes like emeralds, tears of gold, He was the King’s son— (Atahualpa) now ruler of all Northern Peru; And so it was, when the last Inca King died, The kingdom was split, like Alexander’s, Between two half brothers…!
#1294 3/29/06
4
[Walking around Chachapoyas] While looking for a place to have coffee, and a light lunch, we [Maria, Rosa, myself, and Julio] walked past a church, there was a lady sitting there on the steps, head lowered, her daughter along side of her, dirty faced, flowers laying along side of her. It was a hot day, a moist day, and we walked past her, and after a hundred feet or so I asked my wife to go back and buy the flowers, all of them, then I joined her. Now writing this out, it is evening in our Spanish hotel (three Stars***: La Casona), and here is my poem:
The Flower Lady of Chachapoyas"
See Dennis' web site: http://dennissiluk.tripod.com
Provincia [Peruvian] Chachapoyas
The Amazonas of Peru [From Chicago to Kuelap]
By Dennis L. Siluk
1
We caught a plane from St. Paul, Minnesota to Chicago, an early morning flight, one day in late February 2006. We were trying to set up our move to South America, Peru, and had to see the Consul General of Peru in Chicago, we had seen him a few years prior to this, when he was visiting Minnesota, but our move was to take place in mid March (kind of a semi retirement move), and we had to sign our marriage papers from six years prior, thus, making it legal in Peru, since I would be seeking duel citizenship. I slept briefly on the plane, and we landed at O’Hare, around 8:00 AM, second class. Somewhere near the airport was the train station, we found our way to it, and my wife Rosa bought roundtrip tickets to downtown Chicago, we’d return after seeing the Consul, having late lunch and perhaps a walk around the windy city’s Michigan Avenue area. It was a special day you could say, not only in that we would sign all this documentation, but also it was Valentines Day, and the Consul General gave Rosa a suggestion where to take me, and she did, to a fine Italian Restaurant, and the food was great, I had lasagna. It was her gift to me; she always takes me to the best restaurants in town when we go on trips though.
We headed right into the main building of the Consul General’s second floor office, he had moved about a block away from where his previous address was, so Rosa had told me, she was down to see him twice before, to vote and pay some kind of miserable small tax, for not voting in Peru think: it is next to a minor crime not to vote there. This time I was with her, as she had made an attempt before to have me go to Chicago, I suppose I was hoping we could do all the paperwork needed without me going, but it was impossible, I had to be there to sign the papers. So we caught the elevator to the second or third floor, and walked up to the window in the office of the Consul General, told the secretary who we were and to our surprise, or at least to mine, they had all the paper work already made up; next, they called us, and took us into the back room, sat us down, and we started filling in the blank spaces necessary.
The Consul General was a warm sort of fellow, cross-legged as he sat behind his desk, a nice looking older man, sound, healthy looking; after we had done all the signing, he invited us into his personal office, we didn’t have to wait like the others out in the small cramped hall area. His father was a poet, and so we got talking about poetry and I think special treatment, for meeting a poet he appreciated—as I was known to be, or at least showed his appreciation in the only way he could at the time, that is, allowing us the comfort of his soft office seats, until we had to go anyway; and being Poet Laureate of San Jeronimo de Peru at that, made things a little better between us. In the short-term of our meeting and free conversations he talked about his home in the Amazonas (in a few words adding bits and pieces of his childhood), and poetry of course. Rosa and I gave him the last three books I had written, two on Peru, one on Minnesota, all poetry (‘Last Autumn and Winter,’ ‘Poetic Images Out of Peru,’ and ‘Peruvian Poems’.)
“I’m from the Amazonas,” he said to Rosa, and they carried on a short conversation, then gave us a poster of Kuelap, it was the first time I had seen this location in the Andean-jungles of Peru, about 1000-miles from Lima. As I looked over the poster, I was quite impressed; it had a picture of a fortress I’d soon find out was called, “The Hidden Fortress,” or Kuelap.
He liked poetry so much he read out loud to us (my wife and I, and the secretary who stood behind us for that moment) my poem called, “The Ice Maiden,” in the book, ‘Peruvian Poems;’ I thought at the time he could have been a second Dylan Thomas, he sounded quite dramatic and powerful, a good reader of poetry, a lot of emotion, but then Peruvians have an extra dose of that for some God given reason. (In a short time I’d find out more about Kuelap, and its 9th Century fortress; its wild warriors of antiquity—the Chachapoyas, and their warring with the Incas. All in due time, and as I looked more and more into this area I got more excited about Kuelap and its ancient walled ruins (discovered less than a half century ago); by the research I had done on Kuelap, it seemed, or reminded me of, compare to or with: ‘The Great Enclosure,’ of Zimbabwe in Africa. Of course that was just a mindset. I then had visions of grassy slopes, by the Navahos, as I’ve told my wife, time and again first you hear about a location of interest, then you dream about it ((find out things)) then you see it, and it become part of you.
An Afternoon in Chicago
The sun, like a deer trail—bit my brow, Industriously, as my wife and I took the train Back to O’Hare from downtown Chicago, —
Windy city, with stretched-up eyebrows
In its winter sleep. We walked around, downtown: busy city— From Washington Street to Michigan; across The bridge, there on East Ontario, we
Ate at ‘Bice,’ Italian Restaurant (my wife
Paid the bill) her treat, Valentine’s Day.
I’m waiting for the plane now; it’s 5:00 PM; It has been one of those happier days, moments, In my life: strange, even with Northwest being late.
It is pale, to dark now (6:00 PM)
Sitting on these worn-out seats…! Thinking of nothing, like when you’re a little boy, Spending the whole day rambling through the City, on your high, two wheel bike!...
Whistling away a sunny day,
With nothing much to do or say.
My wife, sitting next me fell to sleep, hat on: Holding my jacket in her two hands, sleeping; Had to remove her coffee cup, in case it fell:
She’s in some joyful lofty solitude;
While I’m sniffling away like hell. It was nice, just being we today Before having to go back home, to St. Paul, Go back to the kitchen—fixing things.
As I look about, everyone’s on cell phones.
Hurry-up—flight: NW 145!
Now that I think of it, one can smell the lake The Great Lake Michigan; feel its pulse, its Wind like tides in the air all about.
Soft dust, swirling along the cities streets;
Street people blowing brass horns for a meal. Rhythmic packs, misplaced men and women: Everywhere: like undergrowth, weeds not growing. Drunks, and derelicts, eyes staring at your every move,
An endless forest of a city, with boulders,
Towering bricks, next to an unforgiving lake:
Chicago!...
Semi prose/ 2/14/06 #1208
It was a about five o’ clock (in the PM) when we caught our plane back to Minnesota, and within the following month, March 19, we caught our plane to Peru, once we landed in Lima, I got word it had snowed 11-inches in Minnesota, I was not surprised, but more than happy to have avoided the snow storm, I had my fill of them. It was within the following two weeks where I had bought tickets to fly to Chiclayo (on the 27th of March); from there we’d take a bus to the surrounding area of Kuelap: a four day trip. And this is where we stop for moment (for I am writing this in advance of that four day trip), for I will be taking that journey in a few days, tickets in hand. (Written March 25, 2006.)
2
The Kuelap Bum [Of the Amazonas]
Come; share a wild Kuelap Bum’s sunny afternoon—
I sit here, sipping my coffee and coke waiting for my pollo saltado
[Chicken with potatoes and rice),
And hear voices, cars pass: sounds, coming from iron motors Like purring cats and roaring mice, with squeaky feet for tires, race
Racing around the café (El Parquetito, in Miraflores)) Lima)), Around the streets and park—; the sun boiling overhead, as I’m
Reading Jack Kerouac’s: “The Dharma Bums,”—I feel like one.
My date to return back into the Amazonian region—this time to the
Andean-jungle—is in five days. My mind is excited, here is Where come my beautiful visions of grassy slopes, by the Nevados,
And there ahead in front of me, are the ancient ruins of Kuelap I can even see the wild warriors of antiquity: the Chachapoyas,
Fight the Incas in the wild deep, deep Andean-jungles of Peru.
I like the incredible peace here, lost in a maze of thoughts, looking for
No certain highway I can sweat, drink my coke and coffee in peace, while I write and dream…and get ready for my next journey.
#1283 3/23/2006 Note by the author: I have been to the Andes and to the Amazon, and even to the Amazonas as they are known for their sections, ranging from Equator to Peru, and Brazil and Venezuela, of which I have been to all these regions or sections except one, the one I am dreaming about, and will go in five days to, to what is known as the Andean-Amazonian region, where elevation is part of the jungle equation, not so in the other regions. Thus, here is where the “Forgotten Fortress,” is located, similar to the ‘Great Enclosure,’ in Zimbabwe. The Forgotten Fortress dates back to about 800 AD.
The Chachapoya’s [and ‘The Forgotten Fortress]
Advance: I don’t even know these people I talk about, I’ve seen the landscape they’ve live on only in books, rushed through, gritting their ivory teeth before they warred with the Inca’s in the 16th century (this pre-Inca civilization). But the more one studies this great civilization, the more one admires its fantastic powers of visualization, its psychic rulers, and wild bull like hearts, and the great fortress (labyrinth) they built in the middle of the Andean-jungles of Peru (walking through it one can only hold their breath in awe: breath in its life-death patriarchal society.
Today, the Chachapoya still carry on in this area, with its pottery, and tapestry, garments, all highly prized; at onetime they worked for the Incas, and like today, gave them high quality. In a few more days, let’s say seven to be exact I shall be among them.
The Poem:
In the Andean-jungle—the Chachapoya’s (the tree-cloud people) Of the ‘Forgotten Fortress,’ of Kuelap (Amazonas de Peru) once
lived here—twelve-hundred years ago—perhaps 2000- or more Lived in this straddled low-land jungle citadel —; bold and free:
cadaverous war like people, spirit filled: more fierce than the Inca.
Here is where they lived—in Kuelap, in limestone houses: under
conical thatched roofs—; Houses of limestone masonry, in mud mortar plaster like tombs:
painted in rainbow colors; few if any windows.
The ravages of time have sadly, seen the looting of the detailed:
elaborate funerary architecture of the Chachapoya race—; Once decorated in rainbow shades, zigzag friezes, in cliff like caves.
#1287 3/20/2006 [Written before my trip to the Amazonas]
3
Introduction to Chachapoya
(The following is taken from notes on my trip; only slightly modified for spelling errors, etc.)
It is funny how one thing leads into another. Someone gives you a poster; you hang it in your home; remember what he had to say about such historical sites as Kuelap, dating back to about 700 AD, with walls as thick as Troy’s, and legends as potent. Then you look a little deeper into this area the person has mentioned briefly, but enthusiastically, and find other sites that open your eyes to the bountiful, and most beautiful region known as the Amazonas of Peru, and find Carajia [also spelled with a ‘K’], dating back to the 13th Century. And on the journey you find much, much more. In Chapter #3, and the following chapters, we shall take a quick trip to the region, with some poetic verse to help us drift along its watery roads, up its banks, through its small towns, and so forth and on, I am writing this on pieces of paper, in my pocket, and my wife has a pad of paper she bought a few days ago, I’ll use it when I get back to the hotel.
(Talking to my friend the Archeologist) Kuelap, is called, The Forgotten City, discovered only forty-years ago, in the Amazonas of Northern Peru. The area is wide open for and to new discoveries; I am sure there will be many also. (Added later on in the following evening: in villages you can still find mummies in homes, and local mud built museums, and see them within caves on ledges of mountains. It is an archeological paradise, and one of the last frontiers for such discoveries in the world.)
Kuelap is cuddled in an odd way, cuddled over looking the Kuelap Valley, cuddled I say by the mist that surrounds her, as if she didn’t exist, and all of a sudden: there she is. The mist drifts and descends into the valley fully allowing Kuelap to be seen then, and once on top of her great walls, you can see on a clear afternoon, you can see a hundred-miles in all directions, East, West, and North South.
Kuelap is a sacred city to many in the region, a temple of or for the dead; yet some sprits still live there and are restless about the excavations going on here, I talked to two of them, one in particular who wanted to know what I wanted. And I asked him what bothered him? And he said: desecration (defilement); so there is fear in the shadowy corners of these cyclopean stones walls I do believe. In addition to being a temple of sorts, Kuelap is also a fortress, and surely at one time used as a city, for it has 400-stone houses in its small hilltop complex. The Inca Empire did dominate it, at its very end, by request of the Conquistadors, because Spain couldn’t.
Thus, the white cotton canopy that descends, also ascends above the luscious multi shaded green valley; above the wild berries my friend and leader of this group: Maria, loved to eat; and there must exist every kind of plant a person can think of in this Amazonas’ Valley. (From notes on the trip: 3/30/06; #1295)
Julio Rodriguez, our Archeologist: while driving around the city, on a city tour, we talked about Carajia, had some coffee in the small city of Chachapoya; tomorrow we’d go to see Carajia; anyhow, when we got talking about the Inca Empire then, and he got talking about Huayna Capac, he called him the Last Inca, the Father to Atahualpa, the Inca king that is so well known; he was killed by the Conquistadors for not becoming a Christian; I have a statue of him in my library. Carajia is where the six sarcophagi are entrenched into a mountain cave.
After lunch and coffee, I quickly jotted down the information he gave me in a poem, I call:
“The Last Inca” (Huayna Capac)
Tall and handsome, built like a bull, A warrior among warriors with long blond hair Eyes like emeralds, tears of gold, He was the King’s son— (Atahualpa) now ruler of all Northern Peru; And so it was, when the last Inca King died, The kingdom was split, like Alexander’s, Between two half brothers…!
#1294 3/29/06
4
[Walking around Chachapoyas] While looking for a place to have coffee, and a light lunch, we [Maria, Rosa, myself, and Julio] walked past a church, there was a lady sitting there on the steps, head lowered, her daughter along side of her, dirty faced, flowers laying along side of her. It was a hot day, a moist day, and we walked past her, and after a hundred feet or so I asked my wife to go back and buy the flowers, all of them, then I joined her. Now writing this out, it is evening in our Spanish hotel (three Stars***: La Casona), and here is my poem:
The Flower Lady of Chachapoyas"
See Dennis' web site: http://dennissiluk.tripod.com
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
"Machu Picchu - Peru by Andre Gunther
High
above the clouds in the Andean Mountains of Peru lays the legendary Inca city of
Machu Picchu.No visitor to Peru should ever miss the incredible sight of this
mysterious city.Hiram Bingham has discovered Machu Picchu in 1911 with the help
of local farmers. It is the most famous sight in South America.
Shrouded
in legend, the real purpose of Machu Picchu is still subject of many debates.
Many contradictory explanations for its existence and for the fact that it
couldn't be found by the Spaniards have surfaced. One of the more popular
explanations states that Machu Picchu was some sort of Vacation retreat for the
royalty of Cusco. The Inca themself probably forgot it, so even the Spaniards
were not able to find the city anymore. To this day, lost cities are still being
found in the area. Choquequirau is another site recently found and many others
still continue to elude explorers. Most famous of all is Paititi, the city of
gold and last retreat of the Inca.
No matter how much gold any of those
places might hold, it is hard to imagine that those cities can rival Machu
Picchu in beauty. Perched high up in the Andean mountains, with breathtaking
views of the valley and the Urubamba river below and Huayana Picchu above, the
beauty of Machu Picchu is hard to grasp. Upon entering the city for the first
time, one can hear the many sighs of visitors who are just hit by the
unbelievable sight. Photos cannot prepare you for what you are going to
experience. No wonder the city attracts crowds of New Age people every day.
Machu Picchu is Peru's most popular attraction and probably its most
visited place too, although it lays in a remote area only reachable by train and
busses or by train and foot via the Inca Trail. You will have to take the train
from Cusco to Aquas Calientes. You can either travel by tourist train, vistadome
train or the outrageously expensive Hiram Bingham train. The ride takes betwen
3.5 to 4 hours one way. In Aquas Calientes you have several lodging
opportunities. It lies at the foot of the mountains on which Machu Picchu is
located. The Machu Picchu Sanctuary Lodge at the entrance to the city offers the
best evening views of the city for well-off travelers. Shuttle busses will take
you from Aquas Calientes to Machu Picchu. The ride takes about 20 minutes.
Travelers get the best overview of the city from the caretakers hut,
uphill from the entrance. From here you can plan your attack on the city. Machu
Picchu is divided into three sectors, the Royal District, The Industrial
District and the Sacred District. The hitching post of the sun (or Intiwatana)
is probably the most famous of the archeological treasures found in the Sacred
District. It is the best preserved one in all of South America. Others were torn
down by Spaniards during the conquest. The Temple of the Sun and the Temple of
the three Windows are other important places in the Sacred District.
You
can hire a tour guide or take your time to explore the city on your own.
Whatever way you choose, there are incredible things to be discovered, like a
special stone in the quarry that impressively documents the stone splitting
technique used by the Inca.
You should bring plenty of water, a raincoat and
something to eat. There is no food inside the site and the only other
restaurants besides the one in the Sanctuary Lodge can be found in Aquas
Calientes. The train from Cusco arrives around 10am and leaves at around 3pm.
There are plenty of eating opportunities in Aquas Calientes. As you may have
guessed from the name of the city, you can find hot springs in Aquas Calientes.
After a day of hiking in Machu Picchu you can soak in a relaxing bath.
This article was written by Andre Gunther (Travel
Photography)the owner of Open Travel Info and
Forums a website dedicated to travel writing."
posted by ceviche
Monday, July 24, 2006
"Peru Holidays in Lima by Dan Clarke
When planning a holiday in Peru, many people stress that they are keen to "get out of Lima as quickly as possible" but while historically Lima has had a bad press, and while it may not be the most beautiful or the most easy city in Peru, you certainly aren't short of things to see and do and the place has a real buzz about it. Indeed, for many people, Lima ends up being a real highlight of their Peru holiday.Lima was founded in 1535 by Francisco Pizarro himself and became known as the "City of Kings". From the early colonial period until the colonies won their independence, Lima was the capital of Spanish South America.
The city was famous for its wealth and beauty and it rivalled most European cities for its cultural life. Unfortunately, the city was destroyed in a horrendous earthquake in 1746, with only 20 of the original 3,000 houses left standing. Although the city was entirely rebuilt, the new buildings were often more functional than before and what was undoubtedly one of the world's great cities has almost entirely disappeared.Today, Lima is a big, bustling city of about 8 million people and is a city of contrasts. It has everything from 17th century colonial architecture to glass-faced skyscrapers, tremendous wealth and obvious poverty. A common refrain is: "Peru is Lima, Lima is Peru" and it's certainly true that you can find everything here: it's the perfect place to start your Peru holiday.
In the centre (or ‘Old Lima’ as it is often known) you can find some of the best colonial and neo-colonial architecture Peru has to offer. Hundreds of stunning colonial buildings line streets bustling with every type of person and business. As well some superb churches, museums and other public buildings, the busy streets lead to some tranquil squares where you can sit down and enjoy an Inka-Cola while you reflect on your holiday in Peru so far!Although the centre has the best of the architecture, the cosmopolitan suburb of Miraflores is a great place to stroll around. There’s usually plenty going on in Parque Kennedy but if you fancy a slightly longer stroll then why not take a walk down to the ocean? It’s about a twenty minute walk from the centre of Miraflores, down Avenida Larco to the Larcomar shopping centre, which is built into the sheer cliffs that separate Lima from the sea.
If you walk north (turn right at Larcomar) along the coast for quarter of an hour, you will arrive at the Parque del Amor, where young Limeños traditionally come to court. Barranco has been Lima's seaside resort since the 1600s and at night it's like a slice of Brighton transported to the Pacific! By day, however, it's a trendy, bohemian kind of place where many of Lima's artists live and where you can check out the coastal scenery from El Puente de los Suspiros (the Bridge of Sighs). Barranco is also Lima's premier nighttime destination so if you fancy unwinding with a few Cuzqueñas then this is the perfect place to start or end your holiday in Peru!About 31km from Lima, Pachacámac is a huge temple/palace area originally devoted to the god of the same name. The site includes a partially-restored Temple of the Sun originally dating to 1350. The complex is huge and is a really valuable addition to your Peru holiday itinerary.
It's handiness for Lima means that you can squeeze it into any free time you have in the capital waiting around for flights.All in all, Lima is too easily dismissed when considering where to spend time during your Peru holidays. It has something for everyone and there are some great sights in the surrounding areas as well. Above all, don't forget that Lima never stands still, and those Peru holiday guidebooks from 5 years ago just might be behind the times...
About the author: Dan Clarke works for the Real Peru Holiday Company. Their website contains lots of advice for your holiday in Peru, as well as extensions to other holiday destinations."
posted by ceviche
When planning a holiday in Peru, many people stress that they are keen to "get out of Lima as quickly as possible" but while historically Lima has had a bad press, and while it may not be the most beautiful or the most easy city in Peru, you certainly aren't short of things to see and do and the place has a real buzz about it. Indeed, for many people, Lima ends up being a real highlight of their Peru holiday.Lima was founded in 1535 by Francisco Pizarro himself and became known as the "City of Kings". From the early colonial period until the colonies won their independence, Lima was the capital of Spanish South America.
The city was famous for its wealth and beauty and it rivalled most European cities for its cultural life. Unfortunately, the city was destroyed in a horrendous earthquake in 1746, with only 20 of the original 3,000 houses left standing. Although the city was entirely rebuilt, the new buildings were often more functional than before and what was undoubtedly one of the world's great cities has almost entirely disappeared.Today, Lima is a big, bustling city of about 8 million people and is a city of contrasts. It has everything from 17th century colonial architecture to glass-faced skyscrapers, tremendous wealth and obvious poverty. A common refrain is: "Peru is Lima, Lima is Peru" and it's certainly true that you can find everything here: it's the perfect place to start your Peru holiday.
In the centre (or ‘Old Lima’ as it is often known) you can find some of the best colonial and neo-colonial architecture Peru has to offer. Hundreds of stunning colonial buildings line streets bustling with every type of person and business. As well some superb churches, museums and other public buildings, the busy streets lead to some tranquil squares where you can sit down and enjoy an Inka-Cola while you reflect on your holiday in Peru so far!Although the centre has the best of the architecture, the cosmopolitan suburb of Miraflores is a great place to stroll around. There’s usually plenty going on in Parque Kennedy but if you fancy a slightly longer stroll then why not take a walk down to the ocean? It’s about a twenty minute walk from the centre of Miraflores, down Avenida Larco to the Larcomar shopping centre, which is built into the sheer cliffs that separate Lima from the sea.
If you walk north (turn right at Larcomar) along the coast for quarter of an hour, you will arrive at the Parque del Amor, where young Limeños traditionally come to court. Barranco has been Lima's seaside resort since the 1600s and at night it's like a slice of Brighton transported to the Pacific! By day, however, it's a trendy, bohemian kind of place where many of Lima's artists live and where you can check out the coastal scenery from El Puente de los Suspiros (the Bridge of Sighs). Barranco is also Lima's premier nighttime destination so if you fancy unwinding with a few Cuzqueñas then this is the perfect place to start or end your holiday in Peru!About 31km from Lima, Pachacámac is a huge temple/palace area originally devoted to the god of the same name. The site includes a partially-restored Temple of the Sun originally dating to 1350. The complex is huge and is a really valuable addition to your Peru holiday itinerary.
It's handiness for Lima means that you can squeeze it into any free time you have in the capital waiting around for flights.All in all, Lima is too easily dismissed when considering where to spend time during your Peru holidays. It has something for everyone and there are some great sights in the surrounding areas as well. Above all, don't forget that Lima never stands still, and those Peru holiday guidebooks from 5 years ago just might be behind the times...
About the author: Dan Clarke works for the Real Peru Holiday Company. Their website contains lots of advice for your holiday in Peru, as well as extensions to other holiday destinations."
posted by ceviche
Thursday, July 20, 2006
"Peru Holidays in Arequipa - the White City
Nestling in the shadow of El Misti - a snow-capped volcano which towers above it - lies the city of Arequipa. Known as La Ciudad Blanca ('the White City') because of the local white volcanic rock, it is one of the jewels of Peru. Combining modern amenities with a laid-back lifestyle, stunning scenery and beautiful colonial archictecture, it is somewhere everyone should try and visit while on holiday in Peru.
The Plaza de Armas is the heart of the city and is a peaceful, beautiful square - the perfect place to sit and wonder where to visit next on your Peru holiday! It is surrounded on three sides by colonial arcades and on the fourth by the beautiful white cathedral. The cathedral itself is open to the public in the morning and the evening and is well worth a visit. There are also several other colonial-era churches close to the Plaza that are fine examples of the elegant mestizo style.
As well as the kind of facilities and culture you'd expect from a major city, the people of Arequipa are justly proud of the amazing sites the city offers for tourists. Probably the main attraction in Arequipa is the convent-city of Santa Catalina, 2 blocks from the Plaza. It really is a city in miniature and housed over 200 nuns and 300 servants until it opened its doors to the public in 1970. It was a closed convent and today the nuns live in a small closed area while the miniature streets and houses which were previously the nuns' cells are open from 9am-4pm. It's an amazing place and you can really feel the history as you walk around.
If the sun is shining (which it always is here!) then there are some nice bars and restaurants in the Pasaje de la Catedral - a pedestrianised street which lies just behind the cathedral from the Plaza. It's a lovely, tranquil place during the day and at night, and is a great place to unwind and send home those postcards making everyone feel jealous of your Peru holiday!
Outside the city itself, Colca Canyon is one of the undoubted highlights of many peoples' Peru holidays. It is twice as deep as the Grand Canyon and is 163m short of being the deepest in the world - all this at 3,500m above sea-level! It offers almost unparalleled views and is also probably the best place to see the famous giant Andean Condor. The sides of the canyon are lined with pre-Inca terraces, lying inbetween tiny villages clinging to the precipitous sides. You've got to see it to believe it!
And when you think that Colca Canyon was only 163m shallower than the deepest canyon in the world... it's because a few miles away is Cotahuasi Canyon! Similarly an area of more than outstanding natural beauty, Cotahuasi canyon is slightly more remote and harder to get to but is all the more breathtaking because of it. It was declared a Zona Reserva Turistica in 1988 and is only slowly opening up to tourists.
There's so much to see and do in Arequipa and the surrounding areas as part of your Peru holidays that your only problem is likely to be wanting to spend too long here!
Dan Clarke is a founder of the Real Peru Holiday Company - the UK specialist in organising tailormade holidays in Peru. He writes regularly with hints and tips on how to enjoy your Peru holidays and where to visit during your holiday in Peru. He also maintains the Peru Holiday Guide for even more free information to help you plan your Peru holidays. "
posted by ceviche
Nestling in the shadow of El Misti - a snow-capped volcano which towers above it - lies the city of Arequipa. Known as La Ciudad Blanca ('the White City') because of the local white volcanic rock, it is one of the jewels of Peru. Combining modern amenities with a laid-back lifestyle, stunning scenery and beautiful colonial archictecture, it is somewhere everyone should try and visit while on holiday in Peru.
The Plaza de Armas is the heart of the city and is a peaceful, beautiful square - the perfect place to sit and wonder where to visit next on your Peru holiday! It is surrounded on three sides by colonial arcades and on the fourth by the beautiful white cathedral. The cathedral itself is open to the public in the morning and the evening and is well worth a visit. There are also several other colonial-era churches close to the Plaza that are fine examples of the elegant mestizo style.
As well as the kind of facilities and culture you'd expect from a major city, the people of Arequipa are justly proud of the amazing sites the city offers for tourists. Probably the main attraction in Arequipa is the convent-city of Santa Catalina, 2 blocks from the Plaza. It really is a city in miniature and housed over 200 nuns and 300 servants until it opened its doors to the public in 1970. It was a closed convent and today the nuns live in a small closed area while the miniature streets and houses which were previously the nuns' cells are open from 9am-4pm. It's an amazing place and you can really feel the history as you walk around.
If the sun is shining (which it always is here!) then there are some nice bars and restaurants in the Pasaje de la Catedral - a pedestrianised street which lies just behind the cathedral from the Plaza. It's a lovely, tranquil place during the day and at night, and is a great place to unwind and send home those postcards making everyone feel jealous of your Peru holiday!
Outside the city itself, Colca Canyon is one of the undoubted highlights of many peoples' Peru holidays. It is twice as deep as the Grand Canyon and is 163m short of being the deepest in the world - all this at 3,500m above sea-level! It offers almost unparalleled views and is also probably the best place to see the famous giant Andean Condor. The sides of the canyon are lined with pre-Inca terraces, lying inbetween tiny villages clinging to the precipitous sides. You've got to see it to believe it!
And when you think that Colca Canyon was only 163m shallower than the deepest canyon in the world... it's because a few miles away is Cotahuasi Canyon! Similarly an area of more than outstanding natural beauty, Cotahuasi canyon is slightly more remote and harder to get to but is all the more breathtaking because of it. It was declared a Zona Reserva Turistica in 1988 and is only slowly opening up to tourists.
There's so much to see and do in Arequipa and the surrounding areas as part of your Peru holidays that your only problem is likely to be wanting to spend too long here!
Dan Clarke is a founder of the Real Peru Holiday Company - the UK specialist in organising tailormade holidays in Peru. He writes regularly with hints and tips on how to enjoy your Peru holidays and where to visit during your holiday in Peru. He also maintains the Peru Holiday Guide for even more free information to help you plan your Peru holidays. "
posted by ceviche
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Planning your holiday in Peru
Peru is a country with a rich and varied cultural and architectural heritage. Facing the Pacific, it enjoys spectacular and varied scenery, including Lake Titicaca, the world's highest navigable lake, and has a strong Inca and pre-Inca heritage, which includes the famous Lake Titicaca area, the Nazca Lines, and the ancient Inca capital of Cuzco, with its Inca Trail to the lost city of Machu Picchu. It's a fantastic place for a holiday and in this article, we'll be looking at some hints and tips to make sure you can get the most out of your holiday in Peru!
Language
The primary language in Peru is Spanish. This is almost identical to the Castilian Spanish of Madrid, albeit with slightly different pronunciation and a few vocabulary changes. In the high Andes, particularly around Cuzco and Puno, many people still speak Aymara or Quechua (the language of the Incas) as a first language, although almost all will also speak Spanish. Some English is often spoken in areas popular with holiday-makers and in staff of services that deal with international customers (eg: airports, banks, etc.) will invariably speak some English.People in Peru
Peruvians are renowned even in South America for their friendliness and they are always keen to engage you in conversation. Even if they are hoping to sell you something they are still often curious to find out something about you and where you come from. The British are quite popular in Peru, although we still have something of a 'Victorian' reputation; we are usually seen as very polite and efficient but somewhat lacking in passion and, of course, quite unable to dance! The Peruvian expression for being on time is 'A la hora ingles' (English time) and if you try and explain about the current situation on British railways you are usually met with polite disbelief and an assumption that you are just being kind...Geography and Transport
Peru is split into 3 separate climatic zones: costa, sierra and selva (the coast, the mountains and the jungle). The character and culture of the three areas is remarkably distinct and can give your Peru holiday real variation although nowadays the country is inter-connected by a good road network, some amazing railway lines and excellent air services.
The coast mainly consists of a small fertile strip along the Pacific which merges slowly into the desert at the foothills of the Andes. In the very north and south of the country it is not unknown for it not to rain for years at a time but complex irrigation systems (some of which date back to Inca times) keep areas like the Pisco valley surprisingly fertile. The Panamerican highway travels the length of the coast, making travel within the coastal region both comfortable and speedy.
The Andes range covers the entire central region of Peru, from north to south. They offer some of the most spectacular views and some of the most interesting cultural experiences in the world. As mentioned above, in many areas you can still hear Quechua - the language of the Incas - spoken as a first language and the spiritual ideals of Inca culture remain strong. Today cities like Cusco combine stunning Inca and colonial architecture with thoroughly modern services but just a short distance away from the major urban areas, life carries on in a way which would be instantly recognisable to the Incas. The Andean areas are where most travellers spend the majority of their time while on holiday in Peru.
The Peruvian jungle is some of the most unspoilt rainforest in South America and much of it is protected under international law. The only access to large sections of the jungle (including the few cities) is by boat or plane and so it feels very different to the rest of the country - you get a real sense of arriving somewhere! The rainforest is home to a bewildering and spectacular array of wildlife, with more unique species being discovered every year!Food and Drink
Peruvian cuisine is excellent and a real highlight of any Peru holiday, with all the regions having different specialities. Coastal dishes owe a lot to African and Spanish influences, tending to be quite rich and often reasonably spicy. Seafood is, unsurprisingly, excellent and anything with chicken is usually a good bet. The coast is also the birthplace of the national dish: ceviche. This is a selection of fish pieces marinated in lime juice and is absolutely stunning - we urge you to try it even if you're not usually too keen on fish! Good chicken dishes include aji de gallina - chicken in a spicy, creamy sauce.
Highland dishes tend to be more simple than coastal (and especially Limeño) cuisine, concentrating on the excellence of the ingredients, but is just as delicious! Particular favourites include rocoto relleno (stuffed Andean peppers). These are the size and shape of the peppers we eat in England but have a rather spicy edge to them. They are usually stuffed with small pieces of beef and vegetables, although most places will do them with just vegetables on request. We'd also suggest that you try an alpaca steak at least once during your holiday in Peru: it's a kind of heavenly mix between pork and beef and has to be tasted to be believed. Of course, for the adventurous then nothing will do but the Arequipa speciality of cuy - roasted guinea pig! It's surprisingly good so long as you can deal with the guilt...
Rainforest cuisine features a great deal of fresh fruit - both on its own and as part of main dishes. An unusual one to try is chirimoya (which you can also find in fruit juices and milkshakes outside the jungle). It looks a bit like an apple but tastes like strawberries and cream! Chicken dishes are popular in the jungle, as they are elsewhere in Peru but tend to be served with yucca (a kind of manioc) rather than the usual rice or chips.
Of course, if you're on holiday in Peru then you may well be wanting a couple of beers to unwind! Peru has several excellent national beers, probably the best of which is Cuzqueña. All the beers are lagers but you can often get cerveza malta - a kind of dark, hoppy lager which is similar to an English Brown Ale. Peru is starting to make some good wines, particularly reds but is not as far down the road as Chile or Argentina in this respect. The country does, however, produce one of the great world brandies: Pisco. This is also the source for what must be one of the world's best cocktails: the Pisco Sour. Made from Pisco brandy, egg-white, cane sugar syrup and limes it is a great aperitif, although you may find yourself drinking more than just one...
Also worth a mention is the fact that Peru is one of the only countries in the world where the local soft drink outsells Coke! The local 'Inka-Cola' is bright green and very sweet but is very refreshing and 100% Real Peru! Apart from fizzy drinks, Peruvians love milkshakes (often known as yoghurt) and all kinds of fruit juices and these can often hit the spot when you fancy a break in a shady café.
I hope all this information has given you some tips for your holiday in Peru, so why not find out some more at The Real Peru Holiday Company and enjoy some really buenas vacaciones!
About the Author
Dan Clarke is one of the founders of The Real Peru Holiday Company - the UK's leading specialist in organising tailormade holidays in Peru. Dan spends a large part of each year in Peru, researching new ideas and making sure the old favourites are still great!
posted by ceviche
Peru is a country with a rich and varied cultural and architectural heritage. Facing the Pacific, it enjoys spectacular and varied scenery, including Lake Titicaca, the world's highest navigable lake, and has a strong Inca and pre-Inca heritage, which includes the famous Lake Titicaca area, the Nazca Lines, and the ancient Inca capital of Cuzco, with its Inca Trail to the lost city of Machu Picchu. It's a fantastic place for a holiday and in this article, we'll be looking at some hints and tips to make sure you can get the most out of your holiday in Peru!
Language
The primary language in Peru is Spanish. This is almost identical to the Castilian Spanish of Madrid, albeit with slightly different pronunciation and a few vocabulary changes. In the high Andes, particularly around Cuzco and Puno, many people still speak Aymara or Quechua (the language of the Incas) as a first language, although almost all will also speak Spanish. Some English is often spoken in areas popular with holiday-makers and in staff of services that deal with international customers (eg: airports, banks, etc.) will invariably speak some English.People in Peru
Peruvians are renowned even in South America for their friendliness and they are always keen to engage you in conversation. Even if they are hoping to sell you something they are still often curious to find out something about you and where you come from. The British are quite popular in Peru, although we still have something of a 'Victorian' reputation; we are usually seen as very polite and efficient but somewhat lacking in passion and, of course, quite unable to dance! The Peruvian expression for being on time is 'A la hora ingles' (English time) and if you try and explain about the current situation on British railways you are usually met with polite disbelief and an assumption that you are just being kind...Geography and Transport
Peru is split into 3 separate climatic zones: costa, sierra and selva (the coast, the mountains and the jungle). The character and culture of the three areas is remarkably distinct and can give your Peru holiday real variation although nowadays the country is inter-connected by a good road network, some amazing railway lines and excellent air services.
The coast mainly consists of a small fertile strip along the Pacific which merges slowly into the desert at the foothills of the Andes. In the very north and south of the country it is not unknown for it not to rain for years at a time but complex irrigation systems (some of which date back to Inca times) keep areas like the Pisco valley surprisingly fertile. The Panamerican highway travels the length of the coast, making travel within the coastal region both comfortable and speedy.
The Andes range covers the entire central region of Peru, from north to south. They offer some of the most spectacular views and some of the most interesting cultural experiences in the world. As mentioned above, in many areas you can still hear Quechua - the language of the Incas - spoken as a first language and the spiritual ideals of Inca culture remain strong. Today cities like Cusco combine stunning Inca and colonial architecture with thoroughly modern services but just a short distance away from the major urban areas, life carries on in a way which would be instantly recognisable to the Incas. The Andean areas are where most travellers spend the majority of their time while on holiday in Peru.
The Peruvian jungle is some of the most unspoilt rainforest in South America and much of it is protected under international law. The only access to large sections of the jungle (including the few cities) is by boat or plane and so it feels very different to the rest of the country - you get a real sense of arriving somewhere! The rainforest is home to a bewildering and spectacular array of wildlife, with more unique species being discovered every year!Food and Drink
Peruvian cuisine is excellent and a real highlight of any Peru holiday, with all the regions having different specialities. Coastal dishes owe a lot to African and Spanish influences, tending to be quite rich and often reasonably spicy. Seafood is, unsurprisingly, excellent and anything with chicken is usually a good bet. The coast is also the birthplace of the national dish: ceviche. This is a selection of fish pieces marinated in lime juice and is absolutely stunning - we urge you to try it even if you're not usually too keen on fish! Good chicken dishes include aji de gallina - chicken in a spicy, creamy sauce.
Highland dishes tend to be more simple than coastal (and especially Limeño) cuisine, concentrating on the excellence of the ingredients, but is just as delicious! Particular favourites include rocoto relleno (stuffed Andean peppers). These are the size and shape of the peppers we eat in England but have a rather spicy edge to them. They are usually stuffed with small pieces of beef and vegetables, although most places will do them with just vegetables on request. We'd also suggest that you try an alpaca steak at least once during your holiday in Peru: it's a kind of heavenly mix between pork and beef and has to be tasted to be believed. Of course, for the adventurous then nothing will do but the Arequipa speciality of cuy - roasted guinea pig! It's surprisingly good so long as you can deal with the guilt...
Rainforest cuisine features a great deal of fresh fruit - both on its own and as part of main dishes. An unusual one to try is chirimoya (which you can also find in fruit juices and milkshakes outside the jungle). It looks a bit like an apple but tastes like strawberries and cream! Chicken dishes are popular in the jungle, as they are elsewhere in Peru but tend to be served with yucca (a kind of manioc) rather than the usual rice or chips.
Of course, if you're on holiday in Peru then you may well be wanting a couple of beers to unwind! Peru has several excellent national beers, probably the best of which is Cuzqueña. All the beers are lagers but you can often get cerveza malta - a kind of dark, hoppy lager which is similar to an English Brown Ale. Peru is starting to make some good wines, particularly reds but is not as far down the road as Chile or Argentina in this respect. The country does, however, produce one of the great world brandies: Pisco. This is also the source for what must be one of the world's best cocktails: the Pisco Sour. Made from Pisco brandy, egg-white, cane sugar syrup and limes it is a great aperitif, although you may find yourself drinking more than just one...
Also worth a mention is the fact that Peru is one of the only countries in the world where the local soft drink outsells Coke! The local 'Inka-Cola' is bright green and very sweet but is very refreshing and 100% Real Peru! Apart from fizzy drinks, Peruvians love milkshakes (often known as yoghurt) and all kinds of fruit juices and these can often hit the spot when you fancy a break in a shady café.
I hope all this information has given you some tips for your holiday in Peru, so why not find out some more at The Real Peru Holiday Company and enjoy some really buenas vacaciones!
About the Author
Dan Clarke is one of the founders of The Real Peru Holiday Company - the UK's leading specialist in organising tailormade holidays in Peru. Dan spends a large part of each year in Peru, researching new ideas and making sure the old favourites are still great!
posted by ceviche
