Peru - Details

The Women The typical women's clothing that we saw all around Cusco, Aquas Calientes, and the surrounding areas. It was so hot outside and they were layered in these thick woven clothes with hats and the huge blankets on their backs carrying a full load.

Our guide introduced us to this young lady (27 years old) and she showed us how to weave. I wondered how many hours she spends sitting there on that hard spot of ground in those hot clothes weaving away under her hat. I was a little embarrassed as the guide spoke to her, then took her hat and told me to get in the picture and put her hat on my head. I felt so invasive of her space but she just smiled and continued weaving.

Roads

In Lima Kellie pointed out that there are only the lanes, then the sidewalks. There is no such thing as a shoulder at the side. Then in Cusco we saw that there aren't even marked lanes just cobblestone, brick and dirt, and barely wide enough for 2 small vehicles to pass each other. We saw one travel bus coming down the road and had to back up because there wasn't room to pass each other.

In Cusco the front doors to shops and homes run right along those narrow roads. It was all a bit too crowded for my taste.

I had been mentally preparing all week long for the road up to Machu Picchu . I had heard that it is pretty scary and I don't do so well with those kinds of roads, but I was willing to do it for the view at the top. I have to say that I was more scared on the streets of Cusco than taking the bus up the switchbacks to Machu Pucchu. In this picture you can see the switchbacks all the way up the mountain .

There was so much vegetation all the way up the mountain that only a couple of times could I see all the way down the valley. And even though the buses seemed to just barely have enough room on the road, I felt rather safe.

Food
The food could be almost as scary as the traffic. Not really, but mealtimes did bring a few surprises. My favorite food experience of the whole trip was the first "Pina Frozen" that I had. They make these really great slush drinks with real fruit (not some reconstituted, sugared up fruit juice) and ice and I tried a pina frozen at 4 different places. The first one was by far the best. Levi tried a Strawberry Frozen which was also very delicious.

Fear Factor Food:

This is Levi enjoying his first cuy (guinea pig).

I love Jeremy's expression in the background

The presentation is lacking, bordering disgusting and tactless. Notice the full head with teeth, eyes, and yes, even the brain, as well as the claws reaching out in 'please don't eat me' begging. I really had to focus on my own plate while Levi picked away at his (gag) lunch. Even with the gross display, Levi and Shawn both claim that the meat is good.


So now that you've seen the worst of it the rest won't seem so bad. The only time I nearly gagged was when I was getting ready to eat what I thought was Spanish rice with chicken only to discover that one of the pieces of 'chicken' had antennas. In looking a little closer I realized it was snail and quickly had to squelch that gagging feeling in my throat. One of the other pieces of 'chicken' looked more like a hairless caterpillar, so I passed that up too. I had been brave during the past 3 days to try new things but this was pushing it. Levi on the other hand ate all the meat that came with my rice . . yup, snail and some other wormy creature.

This is the restaurant where I had my snail meal. The rest of the food was very good but the building and scenery were even better. It was a gorgeous setting and was so relaxing and the bathroom even had toilet paper in it!

The main dining hall at the restaurant

So here is the rundown:

Kimberly:

Cow heart - I'm not a red meat fan to begin with so I wasn't too impressed but it tasted like steak.

Alpaca meat (from the llama family) - even though I had held a 1 month old alpaca earlier in the day, (pictured above) I gave it a try and it wasn't bad. A little like pork but less fatty, more tender.

Lamb - delicious, probably my new favorite meat (that I have no idea where to buy or how to prepare).

Levi: Alpaca, cow heart, lamb, snail & wormy thing, ceviche (raw fish marinated in lemon juice), and the gross looking cuy (guinea pig)

Levi wins the travelers stomach award!

Considering we both had rather sick bowels for about 4 days I don't know what we really won other than bragging rights.

Our Hotel in Cusco

These are a a couple of pictures of the hotel we stayed at in Cusco.

As we entered the front door from the very narrow street I was a little concerned but once we walked into the courtyard I was in awe at the beauty of it. I couldn't believe that such a beautiful flower garden could be growing in the middle of such a dirty, congested, rocky area. the balcony seemed a little rickety and the room was less than comfortable (especially with the 2 hobo looking spiders that were snuggled in my towel as well as the grime on the floor that prompted me to always have socks on) but it was better than camping. I wasn't expecting the Marriott - good thing! After driving for 2 days and seeing what all of the citizens of Peru were living in I was thankful for our simple hotels to stay in.

Other Housing

These are a couple of shots of the Inca village that we visited (where Guinea Pig Love came from that Shawn so eloquently shared with us :)

These waterways run through several of the walkways in the village and at one place we saw a woman washing her laundry in it. Even though it looked a little cleaner than the murky brown water I had seen in the river, I still wondered how clean it could really be and hoped that it wasn't their drinking water. I was grateful at this point to have my bottled water.

The cutest little girl in all of Peru!

Andie was my occasional tag-a-long during the trip. She would sit by me, cuddle up with me, giggle with me. Just what a mommy missing her own 3 year old needed! What an infectious smile!