June 25th - Arequipa - Santa Catalina Saturday

Today was an absolutely lovely day. We meant to sleep in, but I woke up at 7 anyway, and so lay in bed reading my novel for an hour before getting up. Francesca and I had breakfast downstairs in the hotel courtyard with Elli, Grace, and Frank, and then split off and met up with Miriam and Kate to go downtown. We stopped for a second breakfast since Miriam and Kate hadn't eaten, and had 'french coffee' served in bowls with steamed milk and crepes spread with manjar (dulce de leche). It was heavenly. From there, we went to the Monasterio de Santa Catalina, which is an absolutely lovely place. I understand that it's featured in the '1000 Places to See Before You Die' book, and it deserves its place there. It is a convent, founded in the 1500's, and still in operation. The nuns are sequestered into one area of the grounds, and the rest is open to the public. The ancient stone walls are painted terra cotta orange and celestial blue and geraniums grow in pots all along the walk ways. Stone staircases lead to nowhere and every corridor seems to bend and lead to another small room or garden or kitchen area. The light and the color and the flowers were simply lovely, and soft sounds of singing monks wafted through the walls. We each wandered independently, but finished at about the same time, two or three hours later. I've never thought about joining a convent, but if I could live there, it would be worth considering.

Afterwards, we grabbed a quick but tasty sandwich at a local restaurant and went to meet up with Grace and a local weaver for a lesson in backstrap loom work. Unfortunately, the weaver never showed up, so after an hour we returned to the hotel, and then went back out on the town to wander and explore. We stopped through several small shops, and tasted fresh churros and peruvian popcorn and had a lovely time.

The whole group met up again for dinner at the Plaza de Armas, and we ate at a really interesting restaurant overlooking the plaza. The restaurant specialized in 'traditional' Peruvian cooking, using hot rocks to roast alpaca and guinea pig and serving their food in hand thrown terra cotta pots. I had a local specialty - soup made with river prawns, and featuring corn, potatoes, pumpkin, and beans. Kate ordered the stone roasted alpaca, and it was served to her still on the hot black river rocks. She really enjoyed it, as did everyone. It felt like a very authentic dining experience. They also served us chicha (corn beer), which we had previously tried at another restaurant. It wasn't a big hit, but still was interesting to try. We've just returned to the hotel after a chilly walk home, and after writing this, I'm ready to go to sleep. It's been a full day.

Tomorrow, I'm scheduled to take a tour of the countryside with Elli for three hours in the morning, and then the group is going to some special restaurant for lunch. I'm sure it will be fun too. I'll let you know all about it tomorrow.

Until then,

Karen

June 24th - Arequipa - TGIF

Hello there,

It's friday already, and we're through our first week of the Anceint Peruvian Textiles class. We've integrated conservation and an overview of pre-columbian cultures into the class, and it is both interesting and challenging. We spend a good portion of the day working on weaving our 'samplers', which are an assortment of squares, strung on a small loom, each representing a different weaving technique. Our work table at the repository is a made up of several old school desks pushed together. The room is chilly, but we bring our sweaters, and whenever possible we go outside and sit in the garden where we can weave in the sun. The weather outside has been lovely - mid 70s during the day, low 50s at night (or something like that anyway). The weaving techniques are coming a bit easier, but the pace is ambitious, so we'll see how much we actually complete. None of us are too concerned that our work will be mistaken for ancient peruvian textiles when we clear customs.

Yesterday, I went out exploring with Francesca, Kate, and Miriam, and we had a great time looking through the local stores. We found a yarn outlet store, and really went nuts. All three of them are avid knitters, and the fibers in this store were just amazing - baby alpaca, alpaca blends, and wools, all beautifully spun and dyed and priced to make us all want to buy an extra suitcase just to bring it all home. Yes, I succumbed too, now I just need to find an appropriate sized crochet hook. Why didn't I bring one with me? I have no idea.

The folks who run the hotel are a hoot. Cesar is the manager, and he loves to chat and joke. It's a rare moment right now as I sit here typing without simultaneously holding down a conversation with him. He has told us that he expects us to be weaving him a sweater, with all our newfound weaving skills, and he kids us about this at every opportunity. Today, Francesca and I stopped by the hotel between lunch and class, and were enthusiastically told that we needed to have a quick little glass of beer because it's Cusco's independence day (or some such thing), and and we should all toast the city together. What could we do? So, here's to Cusco, and back to class to examine some ancient textiles. It was fun.

Tonight I had to hurry back because another fellow who works here, Pepe, is taking an English class and asked for my help with a dessert recipe. The best I could come up with off the top of my head was chocolate chip cookies, and he was glad to work through it. It was interesting to be on the other side of the language barrier, as he worked to pronounce fractions and to understand what a cooling rack was. Turns out, it's a difficult thing to describe.

The girls are out, in search of another yarn store, and I have a rare 15 more minutes of time to be alone in my room, so I think I'll take advantage.

Hasta pronto,

Karen

June 22th - Arequipa Settling in

Now that I'm in one place, the blog may skip a day or two. Our time has been almost wholly consumed with the textiles class. The first two days were almost entirely focused on practicing our weaving techniques. We each have a small wooden loom - about 24 x 16 inches, on which we strung our warp (vertical) threads, and have begun inserting additional structures to support the various techniques we'll be learning. Due to technical difficulties with the projector, very little archaeological information was shared in the first days, and I was getting concerned that this was a weaving class, rather than an archaeology or conservation course. After starting class today with yet another major weaving project, I decided that I'd rather address the issue than sit and stew, so I walked outside with the teacher and voiced my concerns. She reassured me that we would be spending ample time on conservation, archaeology, and ancient textiles, and promised to break up the day a bit more (the previous day we sat and wove for hours on end and we were all pretty bleary eyed by bedtime). As it turned out, she was true to her word, and by 11am we were viewing some very interesting slides (due to the miraculous resurrection of the projector) and learning about ancient cultures, and then we spent the time after lunch working with actual ancient textiles, recovered from the Tambo Viejo site, learning to document and analyze the materials and techniques. Hallelujah, it was finally the class that I thought I'd signed up for. After the conservation, we went back to weaving for a bit, but generally she seems to have eased up on the weaving time requirements, which is a huge relief.

The site of the class is a building about 5 blocks from the hotel. It's an older house, and there is a family living in one side of it, but the other side is being used as a storehouse for local archaeologists. There are boxes and boxes and boxes of artifacts upstairs. It's reaaaalllly intriguing. And, we're finally getting to see some of the contents. I'm hopeful about the class - much more so than I was for a little while there.

Well, I should get a little more weaving done by tomorrow, so I'll say goodnight.

Hasta luego,

Karen

June 20th - Arequipa - Class Begins

Today's blog is posted later than usual. It's been a very busy day. We started this morning with breakfast at 8, and then went off to start our textiles class at 9. We were in class all morning, stopped for lunch at a yummy seafood place, and then worked through until 5pm. After walking home, we had just 40 minutes until we all were to meet again for dinner, so we had no free time at all until 7:30 or so. Whew!

My classmates are great. It's a small group - there are only 5 of us. My roommate is Francesca, who is great fun. She's a very experienced traveller at the sage age of almost 21, and is going to be a junior in college next year in Wisconson, although she's originally from Vermont by way of India (the list goes on and on). We're getting along fabulously. There is also Kate, who's a grad student in Classical Archaeology at Brown and Miriam who's attending college in Olympia, Washington. The four of us have bonded, and just got back from a walk downtown to raid the supermarket for late night nibbles. The fifth is Ellie, who is from San Francisco by way of New York. She is a lifelong weaver, and has been enjoying time on her own while we're not in class.

The class so far has been mostly practical, rather than instructive. We started our looms today, and almost the entire day was spent wrapping the yarn onto the looms (warping, I think), in preparation for our weaving samplers. The others all seem to be textile geniuses, and I'm feeling a bit challenged by it all, but I never really expected to have a beautiful sampler. I just want to appreciate the tecniques. The class schedule promises to fill the days, and the teacher seems to want to fill our weekends as well, so I don't know when I'll actually see Arequipa, but hopefully we can work something out.

Arequipa itself is enchanting. It's full of gorgeous old stone churches and wrought iron gates and cobblestone streets. There are parks full of flowers, and chocolate shops and lots of tempting restaurants. I'm looking forward to spending three weeks in this great city. And I'll tell you all about it as I explore.

But for now, I need to run up and meet the girls again. We have yarn to roll for tomorrow!

Hasta mañana,

Karen

June 19th - Arequipa at last

Hello from sunny Arequipa. Yes, I've made it to my temporary destination of choice and have settled in to my cozy hotel room. It's early in the day for a blog, but I'm not sure what the afternoon will hold, so I thought I'd get it in now.

In my blog from yesterday, I neglected to mention that I shared my breakfast table with a fun couple from Iowa, Mike and Anne, and their travelling companion Jason, from Minnesota. They are on a semi-guided tour. Semi because their guides seem to drop them off and pick them up, but rarely tell them what happens in between or how the next leg of the journey will begin. It's a bit of an adventure in faith, but it seems to be going all right for them so far. We bumped into each other a few more times over the course of the day, as we were all running in and out of the same hotel and tour agency. Anyway, after my bleary eyed blog writing yesterday, I was looking for a place to grab some dinner, and I walked into a restaurant to hear people calling my name and gesturing to the empty chair at the table. I can't tell you how nice it is to be recognized in a faraway place, especially when you're at your limit with translating every word. The trio from breakfast had been joined by Carrie and Kelly from Toronto, and all 6 of us were on the night bus to Arequipa together, so we chatted it up and had a good old time with pisco sours and stories flowing. On arrival in Arequipa, we exchanged e-mail addresses and said our goodbyes, but I have a feeling we'll bump into each other again.

My room here is tiny, and it will be interesting to share it for three weeks. I did some rearranging of the furniture, which helped a bit. We'll soon see how it really works when my roomie arrives.

After unpacking, a hot shower (hallelujah), and rearranging, I set out to find a late breakfast. I girl on the street handed me a flier as I walked past her doorway, and I took it, which is unusual for me. A few steps later, having read it, I turned around and headed in for my breakfast. She was working at a café which is dedicated to raising money for a program called Casa Verde, which cares for abandoned children and teens in Arequipa. It was a lovely little place, and their program sounds really good - besides offering food, housing, and education, they provide life skills training for teens and mothers, an outlet for artisan sales, and a little 'german' cafe, which is where I found myself. Nothing like good food for a good price for a good cause, hm? I'm sure I'll be back many times while I'm in town.

But for now, the day is young and I'm off to explore Arequipa.

Hasta mañana.

Karen

p.s. Happy Father's Day Dad!

June 18th - Nazca III

Well, my last day here in Nazca was a good one. I started early, with a tour to the ancient aqueducts at 8am. I rode in a van, held together mostly with rust, with my Peruvain guide, two German girls and three folks from Israel. We bounced our way to the site, and got out to explore. As much as 2200 years ago, the inhabitants of this inhospitable land discovered that there were underground rivers which could be accessed to sustain their lives here. Spiraling stone structures were built for access and ritual purposes. Our enthusiastic guide used volume and elaborate gesturing to make up for any deficit in his English skills, and his tour was best appreciated from the next aqueduct down the path. The site was interesting, and the water surprisingly warm. From this site, we went on to an area where a hill overlooks some smaller geoglyphs, and then moved on to an Inca site, where large crumbling adobe blocks were stacked over the immaculate Inca stone work, creating a vision of a citadel that once overlooked the valley.

On returning from the trip, I checked out of my friendly hotel and grabbed some lunch, then back to the agency for the trip to Cahuachi, the major site of the Nazca culture. Two other folks had signed up for the trip, so the three of us piled into the guide's car (in slightly better shape than the van). The trip was about 25 km, but took about an hour because almost all that distance is on unpaved, unmaintained, unmarked roads that first lead into an area with occasional huarango trees, then past a village of four houses and a soccer field, then into a moonscape of flat, rockstrewn desert. After maybe 10 km of that, the ground changed and became more sandy and we saw the beginnings of miles of evidence of excavated tombs - the ground was strewn with bones and pieces of cotton and broken pottery. Here a femur, there a jawbone, bits of memories were dusted over the desert floor as graverobbers had taken the 'valuables' and left what the couldn't sell behind. As we got closer to the site, we got out to explore a bit. The fascinating thing about this site is that it is mostly unexcavated at this point. Shadow forms of giant temples lurk under sand dunes. Ramps and plazas appear as slopes in the desert until you notice the evidence of an adobe wall, tracing the perimeter. We got back into the car and made our bumpy way to the area where excavations have begun. It was fascinating to see the work in progress as stairs, walls, rooms, and ceremonial areas emerged from the giant pyramid mound. We climbed to the top to survey the area, and it's honestly huge. They say it's larger than the Chan Chan complex. And the work has just begun.....so interesting.

After 2 or 3 hours of exploring, the wind came up, and we decided it was time to go. We got some nice photos of the sunset on the way out, and drove the long and dusty way back to town.

And now I'm here with you again. I'm taking the night bus to Arequipa in a few hours. I'm looking forward to arriving for my class and meeting the group. It will be nice to have some playmates on this grand adventure.

I'm so tired. It's been a long day, and conversing in Spanish for hours on hand really tires me out. But hopefully a good dinner and a bit more reading will be the perfect antidote, and maybe I'll even get some sleep on the bus.

Until tomorrow,

Karen

June 17th - Nazca II

Today was amazing. It's hard to believe, even now....

This morning, I had my breakfast, and then went down to the tour agency to see if I could do the flight over both the Nazca and Palpa lines today. They said, yes, other people had signed up (hallelujah) and I should hop in the airport van right away. So, I got to the airport, and was shown to the waiting area, where I sat down in front of an entertaining video, explaining the many theories of the lines (in English), and waited as the folks I'd come with were taken off 3 by 3 to the planes. The video was good, and almost everything here requires some sort of wait, so I settled in, content to be learning more about the area. After maybe an hour or so, an American guy came over and asked me if I was the other person who wanted to see the Palpa lines. As it turned out, he was a photographer from National Geographic, who was working on assignment to photograph a few newly discovered formations in the Palpa group. Did I mind if we flew over those as well? Well, let's see.....newly discovered lines that even the pilots don't know about.....and all the other lines besides.....um, sure, no problem, let's go. So, he and his producer and I took off with our able pilot in a tiny little four seater plane to see the lines.

For those of you whom I've told about the lines before, I was wrong. The lines are not built up like hills, but rather the ground here is covered by a dark rocky crust, and when the crust is removed, the lighter colored stone below shows through. The lines are a series of geometric and iconographic figures that spread over an area of 300 square miles. Nobody quite knows what they were meant to be. Some say they are an ancient astrological calendar, and cite evidence that certain lines point to points of sunrise or sunset during solstices. Others say that it's an elaborate map of subterranean aqueducts. Yet others insist that it's a landing strip made by aliens. One of my favorites is that the lines were ceremonial, and used as labyrinths, for walking meditation and tribute to the gods. All I can say is that hearing about them and seeing them are entirely different matters. We swooped and circled over dozens of shapes in the desert, each really very far removed from the others. The space involved really struck me more than anything - these drawings and lines aren't all in one area, but rather are spread across a vast desert, often with miles between them. The photographer sat in the front seat, and I took the window behind, which was fine, but he shot his pictures with the window open, so it was basically riding in an open air cockpit for me. No matter, the breeze was nice, if strong, as the plane swooped over the Peruvian Pampa in search of messages from the past. We found his 'new' images, which was very exciting because this was his second flight and the first hadn't spotted them. I took a billion photos myself, so here's hoping some come out. If not, I guess I'll just have to buy the magazine! After our flight, contact information was exchanged and he used an old stub to fake my airport tax, saving me a few bucks, which is always nice. The woman collecting the tax gave us a look like she wasn't buying it, but we kept walking and made it out just fine.

The tour van dropped me off at the agency at 2:00 and I figured it was probably too late to sign up for another tour for the afternoon, but luckily there was a trip leaving at 3:00 for the ancient nazca cemetery at Chauchilla. I ran up to my room, dropped off my coat, grabbed a quick and yummy lunch - the equivalent of fish and chips, peruvian style, and headed back to the agency for round 2 of the day. My afternoon tour was in the company of two nice folks from England, and the three of us rode the dusty 40 minutes or so out to the cemetery. If you've ever seen pictures of bones strewn across the desert, it was likely from this place. The Nazca culture buried their dead here, in shallow square or rectangular tombs built into the earth and covered in sand. The bodies were mummified and wrapped in cotton and layers of cloth and seated in constructed cotton baskets with many of their possesions and preparations for the afterlife around them. The bodies almost always faced east, the direction of the rising sun and the new life they would be joining. However, centuries of graverobbers have disturbed the site to the point that now there is a scattering of cotton and cloth and disarticulated bones over a vast area of desert. Because of this, the area has now been cordoned off, and only a dozen or so tombs are visible, each with a carefully arranged display of mummies, bones, and other artifacts which most likely had no association beforehand. I was both happy to see the efforts to preserve the site and disappointed (I mean, of course I wanted to walk through a desert of bones, you know me....). But, all in all, it was really interesting, and I spent a lot of time chatting with my guide. Which leads me to the next really cool event of the day. There is another site nearby called Cahuachi which is really important, but again, for lack of archaeology buffs, I thought I'd have to forego it. He said he'd be glad to work through the agency and take me there tomorrow afternoon. Now, for all you overprotective types reading this, my instincts are that it's totally fine. He's a guide with an interest in the place, and he is glad to show it to someone who shares that interest.

So, after our trip to the Nazca cemetery and some quick stops to see the work of local artisans, we arrived back at the agency, I made my arrangements for tomorrow. I'll start with the tour to the aqueducts in the morning, and in the afternoon, Cahuachi. Perhaps other people will sign up too - they should, after all, but if not, I get to go anyway. Woo hoo! From there, I bought my bus ticket for tomorrow night - going to Arequipa, and now I'm here, writing to you.

It's been a full and amazing day. And I have a feeling tomorrow will be pretty darn cool too. I'm getting my groove here, and it feels good.

Hasta mañana,

Karen

June 16th - Nazca

As I pulled my suitcase down the oasis' promenade this morning, a surprising number of locals stopped to wish me well. I guess I stayed longer than most, and made some sort of impression. Huacachina is a friendly sort of place and I was a bit sorry to go. But, knowing me, I'll be back someday.

I had to wait a while for the bus to Nazca, but bought an ear of corn from a woman who was walking through the station selling it - Peruvian corn is delicious. It has larger kernals than American corn, and is starchier but still sweet and tender. It came with two small pieces of 'queso fresco', which is a white, semi-soft, salty and slightly sour cheese, and also a good squirt of green chili sauce on the side (aji). Yummy. The bus ride was fine - the coastal desert of Peru is so interesting, mostly in its bleakness. Very little lives here, but occasionally there are small stands of Huaranga trees. Then, as we approaced Nazca, we went through an area full of orange groves. The air smelled heavenly.

I arrived in Nazca, walked to the hotel that I'd picked out, and got a room with private bath for $10 a night. Lovely! The hotel has a pool and a terrace, and is next door to a restaurant and a tour company. So, after settling in, I booked tours to see the local archaeological sites and made a request for a flight over the lines. There are two sets of giant figures (lines) in the desert - the Nazca lines and the Palpa lines. I'm hoping to get a flight over both, but need to wait for someone else to express interest in Palpa (it's not as famous, so harder to get a group together). Either way, I'll get to see everything in the next two days. Tomorrow morning, I'm either flying or going to the Nazca Cemetery site at Chauchilla, and then in the afternoon, I'll be going to see some ancient aqueducts. On Saturday, I'll see whatever's left and then take the night bus to Arequipa.

For now, I've got to run. I have a reservation to see a lecture about the lines at 7:00, and need to stop by my hotel beforehand to grab a jacket. It's really warm here in the daytime, but the temperature drops with nightfall.

Hasta mañana,

Karen

June 15th - Huacachina/Ica III

Greetings again,

Today being my last full day in the area, I set out to see the locally famous Museo Regional de Ica. It lived up to its reputation as a treasure trove of local archaeology, and even included a sizeable exhibit on bioarchaeology. A doctor cum archaeologist from North America came down with students in tow and analyzed several of the skulls, mummies, and miscellanious bones that have been found in the Paracas and Ica areas. Peruvian mummification practices actually predate those of Egypt. Preservation here is particularly good, thanks to the effects of dry desert sands.

The display included mummies, which were stuffed with cotton batting, seated in baskets, held in position with ropes, and wrapped in multiple layers of textiles, with offerings placed between the layers. Five mostly unwrapped mummies were on display, as well as a case of trophy heads, trepanned skulls from 2000 years ago showing years of post-surgical healing, skulls which had been systematically deformed to the fashion of the elongated, ultra tall heads of the Paracas elite, and the assorted grave offerings that accompanied those people into the sand. At the end of the hall was a display of x-rays and bones showing evidence of various illnesses and parasites. Each was labeled, and it was fascinating to see the lasting evidence of pneumonia, malnutrition, healed fractures, tuburculosis, and several other maladies.

The rest of the museum included ceramics and textiles from the area, but heartbreakingly, many of the finest textiles were stolen last October. The worst was a room which payed tribute to the community effort involved to raise money for restoration of a large embroidery. The photos showed the fundraising campaign, the full restoration process, and culminated in a photo of the happy citizens standing around the finished textile in its case. It's such a shame that the case is now occupied by a large photo of the piece instead.

After the museum, I returned to my oasis for a last leisurely afternoon here. Tomorrow I'm off to Nazca, at least that's my plan for the moment. I'm writing this from a different computer stall than my usual. The computer screen is entirely pink. Oddly, I seem to be getting used to looking at my blog through a rose colored screen.

Until next time, those of you in earthquake country, fasten your seatbelts. Apparently the whole ring of fire is acting up these days.

Hasta pronto,

Karen

June 14th - Huacachina/Ica II

Hello everyone,

Well, if you've heard about the earthquake in Chile, rest assured that it was barely felt here. We did, however, have a little earthquake of our own at 4:30 this morning. It was only 5.0, centered just outside of Ica, and was enough to wake me up, but not enough to knock over my lotion bottle or to get me out of bed. The guides at all the archaeological sites mention how the architecture is cleverly constructed for seismic strength, and I knew that this area had a long standing history of rocking and rolling, but still it's always interesting to experience it first hand. Please don't worry though, my hotel is long established and sound. It was just a little early for a wake up call.

Today I took a 'city tour' of Ica. And, once again I was the only person on the tour. We started in the outlying village of Cachiche and went through an area which is locally famous for its traditional healers. I got to meet one fellow and tour his place of business, which was really interesting. This man brings synchronic healing to a new level. He was taught by his grandmother, and incorporates aspects of traditional Andean practices with many metaphysical concepts and a good shake of new age mysticism. He has constructed a pyramid of earth and rocks, which is 3.142 meters square, and of a high proportional to the ratio of the distance between the earth and the moon and the earth and the sun. The apex features a large crystal, and in the base there is a small earthen oven for burning herbs appropriate for the treatment of the individual in question. He was working on incorporating water as well, with a constant fountain effect flowing down the sides of the pyramid. The floor had copper tubing coiled below, to route the energy through. However it sounds, it honestly was a really peaceful and powerful place. He also had a pen of black guinea pigs out back, for healing purposes, and indoors he had a wide assortment of crystals, tarot cards, herbs, and aromatic oils. I had a really interesting time talking with him, but soon had to head back out, and it was on with the tour.

After that we went downtown and visited a beautiful catholic church and then the Plaza de Armas, and from there we hit the bodegas (wineries). The first we visited was a large industrial winery established in 1889 (or something like that), called Tacama. I got a complete tour of the facility - the nursery, the vinyards, the crushing and aging tanks (big cement tanks that made me think of Strange Brew), the casks, and the bottling. And then I got to sample their work. I must say, they do alright. It's interesting how different regions classify their wines. In France, it's about the earth the grapes are grown in, and wines are named by region. In California, it's all about the variety of grapes that were used. In Peru, it's about sweetness - some wines are blended, others are a single varietal, but all are named based on whether they are seco (dry), semi-seco, or dulce (sweet). After Tacama, we went to two artesanal wineries, where the conditions were much smaller, but the process was very interesting.

The last place we stopped was established in 1809, and little renovating had been done since. Bodega Lazo continues to bottle several Piscos and fortified wines, using traditional earthenware casks for aging, and housing everything in ancient barns, along with an extensive, eccentric, and very dusty collection of various Peruvian artifacts. The only light was sunbeams streaming down through the dusty air, illuminating the bees which were very interested in the sweeter varietals, and casting amazing light over the Moche metalwork and fencing masks and wagon wheels and colonial oil paintings and Nazca pottery and the old casks. Needless to say, it was a photographer's dream, and I burned through quite a few shots. I brought my 35mm camera, but was really wishing I knew a few more tricks with it. The light was just amazing (or it could have been the Pisco...?).

In any case, we returned to my little oasis, and I had a lovely lunch overlooking the lagoon and a peaceful afternoon. And now I'm here, writing to you.

Tomorrow I plan to check out some local museums, and who knows, maybe I'll hit the dunes. Until then, keep those cards and letters coming!

Karen

June 13th - Huacachina (Ica)

Hello again,

This morning, the sun actually almost made its way through the clouds over Paracas. I had my breakfast by the beach, and even had some eggs this time, and then packed my things and checked out of my little hotel room. I had planned to catch a cab, but a collectivo came by just at the right time, so I hopped in. A collectivo is a minibus, the size of a VW, with about 16 seats built in. They are privately run and used all over Peru for transport of people, groceries, market goods, chickens, goats, whatever people need moved. So, I jumped in with my luggage, and we drove around town and then through the fish meal plant (the major employer in the area) until the bus was full of assorted friendly faces and the smell of papas rellenas for the market and fish meal for livelihood, and then headed off for Pisco.

I found my bus station, just a few blocks off the plaza, and for less than $1, bought a ticket for Ica, two hours away. I spent most of my time on the bus finishing a novel (The Kite Runner) but did chat a bit with my seat mate, who was running a tour from Lima to La Paz. She had 10 brits with her for the trip, and offered me a free ride from Ica to Huacachina with her tour. They all took off to go sandboarding, and are planning to go on to Nazca tonight. I have a much more leisurely schedule in mind.

I checked into a peaceful, sweet, quiet hotel with a lovely garden and a swimming pool. I have a private room. The bath is down the hall, but so far it's all mine. And I'm paying $10/night. It's pretty amazing. Huacachina is a tiny circle of buildings surrounding a desert oasis. The oasis lagoon is about 200 by 75 yards, with palm trees all around it. Immediately around the outskirts of town are giant sand dunes, which go for miles. The main activities here are sand boarding (like surfing down the dunes) and dune buggy riding. The locals are also glad to rent paddle boats to tool around in the lagoon. Because of the setting, there are lots of interesting birds, so I'm putting my book to task again. I didn't bring it with me - tomorrow maybe I'll publish a list of birds I've seen so far (for those weird people like me who'd want to know).

After checking in, I went for a walk around the oasis, and met two sweet sisters from Lima, in their 50's or so, who asked me to take their picture by the lagoon. Then we chatted a bit, and they both wanted their picture taken with me. Then one of them reached into her purse, and no kidding, she gave me a Watchtower (in Spanish of course). She read me a Bible verse and then I went on my way. It was very surreal.

Since then, I've done more exploring, had a nice lunch, read for a while by the pool, and later by the promenade, and spent a while sharing my 'Art of the Andes' book with the Internet place proprieter's niece, Maria, who is 3. It was fun, and my Spanish is actually pretty good when talking to a 3 year old!

Tomorrow, I'm taking a city tour of Ica, which is supposed to include a couple of local bodegas (wineries - they're Ica's main industry), and also am hoping to see some local museums.

I'm so glad to be here, where the sun is shining and the air doesn't smell like fish meal!

Hasta pronto,

Karen

June 12th - Paracas III

Hello again, Today was one of those where I made my own bliss. I had gone to bed early and slept without an alarm to wake me. There was no blaring music, and even the dogs seemed to let off a bit, so it made for a peaceful night. In the morning, I lagged a bit since I didn't have a plan for the day, but eventually got up for a briefly hot shower (still pretty good by Peruvian standards), and then got some breakfast by the beach. It was the standard breakfast here - two fresh crusty rolls with butter and jam, orange juice (although fresh squeezed this time), and Nescafe. It did the trick, and I headed off for the tour agency with fresh resolve to get myself to Tambo Colorado. Again they said, 'well you just need more people or it will be expensive', and I said, 'Give me a price. Whatever it costs is less than another trip to Peru.' So they quoted me about $28 (it's a bit higher today because it's from Paracas where I'm staying instead of Pisco - with the cab fare between the two, this one was cheaper). As it turned out, it was a heck of a deal. The driver picked me up within the hour and we drove about an hour to the site. The drive there was nice, out of the constant overcast and into the sun, through farms and cornfields and rural towns made of plywood painted with politcal slogans. We passed goats and sheep and pigs and corn laid out to dry to make chicha, which is a local beer. The road there is the same road that goes to Ayacucho, so there were some familiar sights along the way too, which was nice. Once there, I discovered that my driver was my guide, and that he was actually quite knowledgable about the site. He had stopped along the way to buy a roll of film, so we walked through every inch of the site, alternately snapping pictures along the way. The site was first Chanchay, then Inca, and has evidence of both styles. Everything was constructed of stone and adobe, and the walls were painted red, yellow, and white - the colors of the sunset. In fact, the place is oriented facing the west, which is absolutely unique amongst Inca sites. There were several large courtyards, many smaller rooms and bathrooms with running water, aqueducts running throughout, outlooks above to watch for people coming and going, and a little enclave on one side to house the virgins whose sole purpose in life was to weave for the Inca king. Ahem. Beyond the site is a graveyard, where round and then rectangular crypts were constructed out of stones, and the less important people were piled inside when their time came. The bones are still all over the place. The Incas themselves were interred seperately, because their mummified bodies were brought back out for festivals as respected elders and advisors. There are more than a few traditions here that I'm glad aren't practiced anymore. The tour lasted about 5 and a half hours, including the drive, and I'd say that having that much time with a private guide is well worth $28. I got home for a late lunch of grilled fish and more rice, and now I'm here, writing to all of you. It's my last night in Paracas, and tomorrow I'll head for Ica. I'll see you there! Karen

June 11th - Paracas II

Greetings again from Paracas. Last night I learned that even sleepy fishing villages love to salsa. Not that I was there, borracha y bailando, but the music was, shall we say, audible from my hotel room until at least 4am. Oh, and the chorus of local dogs on top of it made for an interesting night. But I pulled out my trusty earplugs and slept just fine. In fact, I slept so well that I slept straight through my alarm. I woke up on my own at 7:30, with15 minutes to get ready and make it to the agency for my morning tour. Thankfully they're located just below the hotel. So, I made it just in time, and joined a group of 16 people or so and we headed out in a little motor boat for the Islas Ballestas. The weather today was grey on grey, but hopefully that makes my photos of birds all the more colorful. The ride out to the islands takes about half an hour, and then we spent an hour or so touring around before heading back in. The islands are really just large rocks jutting out of the sea, inhabited by scores of birds, and providing for one of the main local enterprises - guano mining. We saw penguins, boobies (yes, boobies), 3 kinds of cormorants, pelicans, and lots of terns. Oh, and there were fur seals on the beaches and the lower rocks too. It was really amazing and I took far more pictures than I should have, but what the heck. Unfortunately for all of us, it's film, so you'll have to wait until I'm back to see the shots. After we returned, I had about half an hour until the next tour. At 11am, I joined another group out front and we got into a van and drove up to the National Paracas Reserve. We started at the Visitor's Center and the J. Tallo Museum (famous in archaeology circles). The guide advised people to start with the Visitor's Center and then consider the museum as optional because there is a seperate admission. He'd been warned about me, so he pulled me aside and said to go straight to the museum so I could take my time. The museum curator had nothing else going on, so I got a private tour. It was very interesting, but honestly a bit sad to see that all they have there are remnants and the really amazing pieces have all be whisked off to other museums in Lima and Ica and Boston and the like... Nobody else in the group wanted to see the museum at all, so when I was done, I joined them in the bus and we were off again. I also couldn't get any access to the archaeological sites, which was a disappointment. But, there's always next time, right? We drove on into the reserve, which is an extention of the Atacama coastal desert that starts in Chile and stretches all the way to Bolivia, changing names along the way. It's a salt desert, and the grains of 'sand' are actually salt crystals when you examine them closely. It was both bleak and dramatic in its vastness. Absolutely nothing grows there. But, due to the Humboldt current, there is an abundance of plankton, and therefore crustacians and sea life, and therefore birds. We say flamingos in the distance (hooray for binoculars), and more pelicans and terns and cormorants, and also some dramatic coast line and rocky cliffs. For lunch we stopped in a tiny fishing village that's within the reserve and ate at a restaurant that's been there for 98 years. It was seafood, of course, and really very good (of course). On the return trip, I elected to stay in the van all the way back to Pisco, so I could check out the town and do a little business. I'm trying to figure out how to get out to Tambo Colorado. It's the best preserved Inca site on the coast and is 47 km from here or so. Every tour company lists it as an option, but nobody but me seems to want to go, and nobody wants to take one person. Sigh. I found one company that agreed to drive me there and back and pay my site admission (a whopping $0.50) for $25. It's ridiculous. So, I'm on a search for archaeology buffs. Surely there is at least one more in the Pisco/Paracas area??? I visited an ancient and crumbling church in Pisco, with a very sweet caretaker with one arm and a limp and about three teeth. He encouraged me to take pictures, which is unusual in Catholic Churches, so I took a few of the pigeons flying through and the crumbling icons, but my favorite is my picture of him. He was so proud of his church. And now I'm back in Paracas. Thankfully - it's much sweeter than Pisco. After my post, I'll head over to grab some dinner by the beach. I'm certainly getting my fill of seafood (and potatoes and rice - they're ubiquitous). If only there were coffee.... Sigh. It's shocking but the best you can find here is Nescafe, and I'm sorry, that's just not coffee. Oh well, I'm almost through my caffeine withdrawal now. I'll give this place one more day - hopefully enough to get me to Tambo Colorado, and then I'll be off to Ica and the Peruvian wine country. And as always, I'll keep you posted. Hasta luego amigos, Karen

June 10th - Paracas

Hola a todos,

Today I checked out of my place in Lima, and went in search of the sun, down the coast. There's an interesting weather situation in Lima - due to its location, with ocean to the west and mountains to the east and jungle east of those, in the winter it almost never rains there, but instead is constantly socked in with fog and cloud cover. The visibility at ground level isn't bad, but the sky is a smooth and solid grey and the humidity is close to 100% and it's generally a bit cold and gloomy. (Oh, and my hair is huge).

So, I took a 4 hour bus ride down south, and am now staying in Paracas. I had tried to make a reservation on the net, but it didn't work out because I didn't know the word for @ in spanish (turns out it's 'aroba') so they couldn't send me my confirmation by e-mail. Anyway, I went to the hotel anyway, and my taxi driver was asking ¿are you sure you want to stay there? and I said, well I have a reservation. Anyway, it was ridiculous - remote, overpriced and abandoned. So, after I confirmed that they didn't have my reservation, I took the advice of the cab driver and now have a lovely little room with private bath and (theoretical) hot water which is right over an internet place and a tour company and has a view of a playground and the beach. It's perfect.

I just got back from a walk on the beach and a late lunch of ceviche and local white wine (both very yummy), and watching the fishermen bring in the catch of the day while pelicans swooped around trying to get their share. It's really nice here, and I'm so much better in a small village than in a big city.

I have reservations for tomorrow to see the Islas Ballestas and the Reserva de Paracas, so I'm really excited. The Islas are 'Peru's Galapagos', and are supposed to have a lot of interesting wildlife and birds. The reserve has a really amazing archaeological site (the Paracas Necropolis), a museum, and more wildlife. For all of $20, I have a tour of it all. Not bad, eh?

Hasta la proxima vez,

Karen

June 9th - Lima (otra vez)

Hello everyone,

I've been having a great time since last I wrote. I had dinner last night on a busy dining street in Miraflores, right next to Parque Kennedy (yes, for some reason there is a big park here named for JFK). The street is a lot of fun. It's for pedestrians only, and the waiting staff stands in the middle of the street with menus, trying to persuade all the passers by to choose their restaurant instead of the 30 or so other options. Once you choose a restaurant, it's actually really fun to watch the people walk by. I found myself a good spot with a view of the 'parade', and ate and watched and read my novel (The Strange Case of the Dog at Midnight - which I've now finished and would highly recommend). Anyway, it was a fun evening. After a little while, one of the other waiters stopped by and shyly asked me where I was from and if I happened to know the english word for 'alcachofa'. I told him it meant artichoke, and he happily ran off and got a piece of paper so he could write it down for future reference. It felt nice to be helpful.

I had a great night's sleep, and woke up to another vaguely warm shower. The Lima hotel that I'm using has these crazy electric water heaters attached to the shower heads. I don't think they're actually dangerous (I know many travelers who've survived!), but if you reach your hand too high while rinsing off, you get a lovely little tingle. Well, anyway, I got clean and didn't completely freeze while doing so, and got off for my day.

Breakfast is included at the hostal, and I had my Nescafe and canned OJ and flat rolls with butter and jam, and chatted with a girl from Cajamarca about all the great places in Peru. Then I was off to see one of the local archaeological sites. It's called Huaca Pucllana, and is in walking distance from my hotel. Somehow I never knew it was there before. It's from the Lima culture, which is pre-Inca (and also pre-Wari for anyone who's counting), and is a large adobe pyramid, made of bricks which are all made by hand and stacked on their sides, for seismic reasons. The guide was included and was good. The tour was in Spanish and I held my own, which was nice. It turns out that he was trained in Archaeology in Trujillo (where I worked last summer), so it was interesting to chat with him about the sites there and how they are different from this one.

After the Huaca, I had an amazingly inexpensive lunch, and the yummiest ice cream flavor ever - lucuma! I tell you, if you've never had it, you need to try it when you can. I love it. It is a fruit flavor, and is as common here as strawberry, and tastes like a mix of maple syrup and peaches and raisins (yes, raisins), and it's orange in color. Yum, scrum.

Then, for my afternoon activity, I decided to go to the Museo de Oro (Gold Museum). It's a big deal on the tourist route here, but I haven't been there before, so I decided it was time. It was interesting, but actually, I've seen better examples of everything they had in other museums around the country. I guess I'm getting spoiled. There were some amazing pieces though. Imagine an entire shirt covered in little circles of gold that dangel and sparkle in the sun, worn by a man with solid gold earings the size of drink coasters, and a huge gold headdress and a gold disk suspended between his nostrils. Makes a bit of an impression, doesn't it?

As it turned out, I had daylight to burn after the museum, so I went to another tourist mecca, Larcomar. It's a high-end shopping center (think Pier 39 in SF without quite so much hoopla). I had a double espresso (god bless the italians) while watching the crazy surfers and people gliding from those narrow arc shaped parachutes (what do you call that), which was a nice break. Then I wandered a bit and did something really odd for being here in Peru - I bought a movie ticket and watched Star Wars Episode 3. It was in English with Spanish subtitles, which incidently were a lot of fun. It's really weird to see that Yoda talks backwards in Spanish too - for example, 'terminado he'. If you read Spanish it's funny. I bought popcorn for less than a buck, and had a really nice time.

Now I am on my way to dinner, probably to the same area but a different restaurant.

Hope you all are well.

Ciao,

Karen

June 8th - Lima

¡Hola amigos!

Yes, I've arrived in Peru. Lan Peru turned out to be a very nice airline. The flight had in-seat video (thanks, I'm sure to MASC), and I watched Ocean's 12 until I was too tired to track the story anymore. I had a row to myself, although only 2 seats wide, so I got to stretch out at least a little bit and got a couple of hours of sleep. Lan caters pretty specifically to the latin american crowd, so I've been living in Spanish for almost a day now already. It's going well, a little rusty, but I'm managing to hold conversations in my somewhat sleep deprived and generally disoriented state without saying anything too ridiculous (I hope). I did have a conversation with my taxi driver where we were talking about our siblings and how they looked different than we do, and I told him that I had a sister with hojas azules (instead of ojos azules). The difference in sound is just the ending vowel, but what I said made it sound like Sheryl was roaming around with sheets of blue paper, or maybe a pile of blue leaves, instead of saying that she had blue eyes. He found it pretty funny.

I arrived in Lima, as did my luggage (hurrah!) and the taxi driver was waiting for me with a little sign (I love that). I'm all settled in to my hotel and have had two sumptuous cups of Nescafe (boy I'd love to happen across a Starbucks). The time here is +2 hours from PST. Maybe it's the same as Indiana? So, my next stop is to find some bottled water and then lunch. I think I'll go to the Museo de la Nacion this afternoon.

Thank you all for your well wishes. Hasta luego,

Karen

The plan

I'll be in Peru for 10 weeks, from June 7th through August 16th. I've signed up for some courses, but otherwise will be travelling free-form. Here's a rough plan (subject to change at any time!):

June 7th-8th: Fly to Lima

June 8th-10th: Lima

June 10th-13th: Pisco & Paracas

June 13th-16th: Ica

June 16th-18th: Nazca

June 19th-July 9th: Arequipa
*19th-30th: California Institute of Peruvian Studies (CIPS) course in Archaeology and Techniques of Peruvian Textiles
*1st-3rd: Archaeology Conference at UCSM in Arequipa
*4th-9th: Practicum in Museum Textile Mounting and Conservation

July 11th-23rd: CIPS Field School at Acari (archaeology site on south coast of Peru)

July 24th-August 15th: Exploring in Southern Peru and maybe Bolivia

August 16th: Flight back to San Francisco, CA!

I'll be sending the details as I go. More soon.

Karen

Welcome!

Hello everyone!

Welcome to Karen's blog site. It's another big summer in Peru, and I will be posting my adventures here as I go. Please check in any time to see what I've been up to!

My trip will begin on Tuesday, June 7th, and I'll arrive in Lima the morning of the 8th. I'll check in soon after that.

Hasta luego,

Karen