1. (after being shown a plate of traditional Inka offerings, which had two ears of corn with big big kernels. We had just been told there are 500 naturally occurring different types of corn grown in Peru, and in colors white to red to black)
AALWFA: "Hey...how do the Inkas get the corn that big?"

3 months ago in Puno, the city on Lake Titicaca and a pretty miserable place, some regular townspeople and farmers were upset with government corruption, so they grabbed a TV reporter (kind of kidnapped?) with a camera and proceeded to beat the current mayor to death on live TV.

The birthday girl wanted to live in Portland for 3 months more than anywhere in the US (she has a friend there now). This is before I told her I was from there.  The interesting part is that Peruvians applying for a US tourist visa have to pay a $300 non-refundable fee.  I had no idea its that high...basically prohibitive for all but the richest people here.

Machu Picchu, Peru

Although these ruins are full of tourists now, its still something to behold. We´ve all seen the pictures of the ruins before, but what you don´t see are the incredible views of the surrounding mountains and valleys from the ruins themselves. Hopefully my pictures come out well.

I was here on the first bus at 6:20 am, in time for sunrise at 7:20, but much too late for first light (the sunrise is so late because it has to climb a tall mountain in the east before you see the first real rays). Of course it was nice, but not that much more incredible than yesterday afternoon. 

I´ll save you all the boring details about the ruins...there are hundreds of places to read the history if you want to.

I tried the vibrantly yellow and famous Inka Cola ("El sabor del Peru!") here for $3, which is highway robbery, quite appropriate for this busy of a tourist site. Anyway it tastes just like a carbonated bananna popcicle. Not good.

Oh, speaking of robbery. I just found out that a bus of 21 Italian and Dutch tourists was hijacked and robbed at gunpoint in the Colca Valley 2 days ago, 2 hours after we passed through.  I guess that makes me sound a little brave for having gone there, but to be honest, if I would have heard that beforehand there´s no way I would have gone.  Hearing about a place that´s a little dangerous sounds cool before you get there: Once you´re there and confronted with it, you really start to long for security and there´s nothing exciting about it.

By any standards this first-class part of the train is top-notch and for Peru its like rolling with Patrick Ewing to the Gold Club.  Except for the sex part.  Ok bad analogy.

Moving on...

I only boarded the train with $4, and having not eaten breakfast.  Pretty smart for a 10-hour ride where they charge American prices. At least lunch was free.  Its kind of weird riding first-class but not being able to afford anything except 1 bottled water.

Im the only person here under 40 years old, and one of the few non-Germans. You gotta love them though....there was a group of 10 German grandpas drinking neat whiskies with beer chasers at 8am. I was tempted to join them but I only had money for 1 bottled water. Probably for the best anyway.

So the best thing, other than the amazing mountain scenery we pass by, is watching little kids literally run from the fields of their little farms to wave at the train. Some were coming home from school in their uniforms, but others were helping the famlies harvest potatoes or grain, and all of them had HUGE smiles and were so excited. The pure joy in their faces made my day...maybe my whole vacation.  I know it sounds cheezy as hell but it was true.  Of course there were some boys throwing rocks and alpaca shit at the train also, but I think its more of a 10-year-old-boy thing than a political statement.

This train runs right through a wide fertile valley filled with tiny farming villages, none bigger than one acre. Livestock everywhere, but only a few for each family...3 hens, 2 pigs, 1 cow.   Maybe a few llamas or donkeys or a goat.  I dont know why its so interesting to me, since I´ve been around all this stuff before and its not exotic. Maybe because its on such a small scale.  I know it must be an extremely rough life, but from the slowly passing train, it looks idyllic.  Vibrant green squares broken up by thatch-roof ancient stone huts and tall wind-blown trees, with a gourgous little river running through the middle of the valley.  As we approach Cusco, this valley looks like it belongs in more southern Oregon than in someplace 3 hours from Machu Picchu.

We spent all day touring the Colca canyon and valley, and as you´ll see from the pictures, its filled with terraces in 100 shades of green, all constructed by pre-Inka tribes 800 years ago and still used today.  At the condor point we saw three of them flying...pretty impressive to see them so close and with such a backdrop, but I expected them to be much bigger.  There was the usual array of 15 indiginous women selling exactly the same wares, but this time I actually bought something: gloves, a scarf, and a sweater, all handmade from alpaca wool for $12.  I dont know how they survive and sell seriously exactly the same things next to each other.  I see a possible MBA case-study project waiting for me here.

I was scared when I learned we had to return to Arequipa over the same 14,600 ft pass that had put me in hell most of yesterday. So I came prepared, having drank 2 litres of water, popped 2 aspirin, and already chewing triple the recommended dosage of coca leaves (guess I´m one of those first time addicts? )  before we got anywhere near that altitude.  Well I passed the summit feeling great, although it could have been the coca or just the aclimitazation from the day before.

Now I´m off to Puno, the city on Lake Titicaca for the night before I head up to Cusco, the major tourist center of Peru.

Chivay, Peru (inside the Colca Valley)

I´m lying on my bed with a pounding headache and its the best I´ve felt in 6 hours.

It turns out altitude sickness is real, and it really sucks. At least it doesnt involve diarrhea (yet).  Also, the local remedies look like contraband siezed from a 8th-grade druggie party:  Massive amounts of coca leaves (reminds me of kids that bury weed in wet ground for hallucinogenic effects) and  cotton swabs soaked in corn-moonshine for huffing.  If this stuff doesnt work, I half-expect an offer from the  secret stash of Peruvian payote.

So I had an incredible lunch at a top-notch Turkish resturant here. Of course, I had diarrhea, but it was worth it. I eat any kind of exotic food I can find while I´m on vacation because I´m dying without spicy food in Argentina (More likely, I´m dying because of all the beef I´m eating, but that´s a different story).

The city is beautiful and clean. Reminds me of Mendoza, Argentina...except for that thing about 500 year old women being held as a local standard of beauty.  I realized I love colonial architecture: bold and simple colors, set against stark white, often amazingly carved, stone buildings with black wrought-iron fixures, contrasted by a bright blue sky above.  I hope my pictures can capture the feel.  The insides of some of these churches are spectacular with tons of gaudy statues, huge domed cielings, and gold-painted wood carvings that are 30ft wide and 100ft tall, with inset statues...kind of like a life-size Christmas advent calendar.