Ellen in Peru!!

So this was my bright idea to get on the Ellen Degeneres show: take some laminated pictures of Ellen's face with me and hold them up to my body at various places around Peru. Unfortunately I printed off the pictures a bit on the small side, but they are still pretty funny! And if anyone is good with photoshop, maybe I can do a better job just cutting and pasting her head over mine! Anyways, here are some of the Ellen pics:





The funniest thing was the picture with the llama. I asked a Chinese girl to take my picture and warned her that she may laugh as I was going to hold up a mask. She and her two friends giggled through taking the picture, and then she asked if she could borrow the Ellen-face to take a picture with!!! So funny!! I'm guessing she knows who Ellen is...

-Meo

Here and there...

Cock-of-the-Rock, Peru's national bird.


Monkey!


Cat zip-lining.


Meo rapelling down from the canopy.


The lodge we stayed at on the Madre de Dios river.


Cliff jumping!


Cat taking the plunge.


On a tiny wooden raft in a mud puddle!


Me driving the raft.

Hey, we haven´t posted in awhile, so we should update our whereabouts, etc. After doing Machupicchu on July 14 we headed out the next day to the jungle. We did a 4 day, 3 night tour to Manu reserve. It was so humid and sticky in the jungle, but we had decent accomodations. We did whitewater rafting, a zip-line, and nature walks. Yesterday morning we flew from Cusco to Lima, then spent the day shopping and getting manicure, pedicures to kill time. We bussed overnight to Trujillo, then took a taxi to Huanchaco, a little surf town a few minutes away. We are staying across the street from the ocean and have been out surfing yesterday and today. The sun actually came out today and we went to Chan Chan, the ruins of a Chimu city. They are quite amazing, especially because of the decorations on the walls and the sheer size of the city. I would post pictures, but they take so long to upload, so it´s not going to happen for awhile. Tomorrow we are planning to surf one last time, then head to Trujillo to see the ruins of the Temple of the Sun and Temple of the Moon. We fly back to Lima tomorrow night, then the day after that we start our journey home! Yay! Talk to you all soon!

- C

Machupicchu... just a few

Wow, it's no wonder this was voted one of the new 7 wonders of the world. It was absolutely incredible. It took my breath away, literally and figuratively (lots of steps and hiking!). It was a gorgeous, hot day when we were there, and even though it was crawling with other tourists I was still able to enjoy myself immensely. I hiked out to Intipunku, the Sungate, whish was a good 1.5 hours there and back. Also hiked a shorter trail to the Inka Bridge, a stone structure with a large gap built against the face of a cliff. It acted as a drawbridge, because if the wooden planks were taken away there is no way to cross it. We wandered around sans guide, which was fine because we didn't want to get stuck in a huge Japanese army of tourists. There's not much more to say, I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves!


Wayna Picchu in the background.


The Inca Bridge.


Llama.


The main square.


Terraces.




Watch Tower.


Royal enclosures.



Me and Machu Picchu!!!


Terraces, clouds.

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Postcard perfect.


Cat and some llamas.


View from Itipunku, the Sungate.




- M

More Pictures

Lake Titicaca and the Floating Islands

Yesterday we took a half-day trip out to the "Floating Islands" on Lake Titicaca. The islands are actually man-made of reeds. The Uros people stack the reeds in alternating directions until it is thick enough and then build huts from reeds on top of the island. The top layer of reeds must be replaced once every month to combat the decay of reeds underneath. The tiny islands are anchored down at the corners with stones and they actually pull up the anchors and let the islands shift sometimes. It was really neat, kinda felt like walking on piles of loose hay. We also got to take a ride in a boat made of reeds and learned something about the Uros people's culture and life on the islands. Of course, they tried to sell us souvenirs too. You can't escape it here- the little old ladies pop out of nowhere and follow you around until you buy an alpaca toque or sweater or some freaky Incan looking statue.
In the afternoon we did another trip, this time out to some ruins of Incan tombs. It was interesting seeing how they built their altars and burial towers according to their beliefs at the time. Later that night we took a bus from Puno to Cusco, arriving this morning at around 6am. The bus was FREEZING and smelly and cramped as usual. We didn't get much sleep and haven't for the past three nights or so. It's starting to take its toll. Miriam is getting a cold and I have a stuffy nose and a fever today. It may be partly due to the altitude change, which should go away in a day or two.
Today we scouted out possible Machu Pichu and jungle tours, then did a 4 hour horseback riding tour of some ruins outside of the city. It was disappointing as our "horseman" was about 12 yrs old and didn't give us directions (probably because he didn't speak English, in fact, almost nobody here does). My horse also had a bit of an attitude and tried to buck me off within the first 5 minutes, but eventually he settled. The boy would point and say to walk 15 minutes in that direction. So we would, then wonder what we were supposed to see! There were clumps of rock here and there at the edge of a farmer's field, which we supposed were the ruins. Who knows... We booked a tour to Sacred Valley for all of tomorrow, where we will see more ruins, tourist markets, and a small town with colonial buildings. Hopefully we can sleep on the bus... ta ta for now.

ps- If you read the blog, feel free to comment! It is always nice to hear from the outside world.

Colca Canyon Trek

We spent the last 3 days and 2 nights trekking through the Colca Canyon. It´s wider and deeper than the Grand Canyon, actually one of the deepest in the world. We hiked down on the first day, passing through ancient Incan villages, then stayed in a tiny hostel near the bottom. On the second day we hiked further down, to the Oasis at the bottom. From the top of the canyon looking down, it really is an oasis. It´s lush and green with waterfalls, pools, and palm trees. We hung out by the pool and drank cerveza until the sun went behind the mountain (at 3pm!). We stayed the second night in a little tiki hut at the oasis and got up at 3am this morning to make the long, steep climb to the top with flashlights. We have amazing photos from the canyon, will post later when we have time. On either side of the canyon, there were terraces and tiny farms. Every so often on the trail we passed locals with pack mules, bringing supplies down to the villages or oasis at the bottom. They still live such a simple, traditional life, with little technology (though we were informed that they just got cellular service last week!). Will write more later, off to catch an overnight bus from Arequipa to Puno. Planning to see Lake Titicaca tomorrow!

Balcony of City Hall, Miraflores, Lima
Huaca Puclana (ancient adobe mound), Lima
Park di Amor, Lima
Plaza de Mayor, Lima
Franciscan Monastery, Lima

Wine and Pisco tasting: Vista Allegre Bodega, Ica
Crazy three-wheeled taxi´s with handlebars, Ica

Sandboarding, Huaccachina

The sand dunes, Huaccachina

Resort town, Huaccachina

Crazy taxi ride, Ica