This summer marks 30 years of our Road Scholar adventures. Stevens
and I began traveling with Elderhostel, as Road Scholar was then called,
in 1996 when they changed the minimum age requirement. My parents
traveled with Elderhostel, too, so I'm second-generation. Click on
the tab at the top to see the entire list.
I went to Peru because I didn’t go to Scotland. That is, I registered for the mid-July
session of The Best of Scotland but that was cancelled due to low enrollment. I
was able to sign up for the Scotland trip for August, but that opened up a week
in July. Peru was available!
Saturday, July 11: Getting there. I woke up at 4:00 a.m. for a 5:30 pickup to ORD. Early flight from ORD-MIA was fine. Then the Miami-Lima flight was delayed an hour due to “air traffic control management.” We arrived at LIM at midnight. The airport was busy! Thank goodness Road Scholar is responsible for transportation from the airport to the hotel. There was another woman in the RS group on the same MIA-LIM flight (she wore her nametag) and the driver got us to the hotel at 1:15 a.m.
No jet lag with this trip. Peru is on eastern time – it is directly south of Pennsylvania. They do not change for daylight saving so right now they are on central time.
Sunday, July 12: We convened at 8:00 a.m. for orientation. This was the smallest Road Scholar group I’ve been on — just 7, all women. (Not an all-women exclusive; just turned out that way.) From MN, IA (mother and daughter), IN, MA, MI, and me. It made it easy for the group leader and guide to shepherd us from place to place. Everyone got along splendidly.
We started with a lecture about biodiversity and the Humboldt Current with Ricardo Bohl Pazos, professor of geography at the university. The selva, or jungle/tropical region is 60% of the land with 13% of the population. The sierra are the mountains with 28% of the population. The costa is the coast with 58% of the population. There are 31.2m people of which 12m are in Lima.). The Humboldt Current swirls northeast from Antarctica to reach the Pacific coast of South American, then swirls west to New Zealand. El Niño and La Niña have profound effects on weather and thus precipitation/farming/fishing/everything else, and El Niños are more frequent and more extreme with climate change.
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Pelicans on the wharf, on the Playa Pescadores beach, scallops, fishing boats.
Huaca Pucllana is a pre-Incan site in the Milaflores district of Lima. It was buried by ancient cultures and for centuries it was just a hilly, grassy area. In the 1960s dirt-bike riders crisscrossed the slopes and wore away the grass — and revealed this hitherto unstudied marvel. The name is Quechua for “sacred place for games or rituals.” It is made from millions of adobe bricks stacked and mortared in a series of stepped platforms. Large areas were for games or rituals. Numerous mummies have been dug up. And the bricks — placed at slight angles to resist earthquakes.
High piles, low piles. All significant to the Lima people who lived there between 200 and 800 CE. The excavation and scholarly study began in 1981 and continues today. The Peruvian Ministry of Culture operates the dig and the museum.
I had never heard of this site before (just the right topic for a
PBS Nova episode!). Of course the shapes of the brickwork have given me quilt
design ideas.
Sunday lunch: I didn’t get pictures of the seviche (first course) or the beef ragout with rice and sweet potatoes (and a dab of hot yellow pepper sauce) (entree). But I did get a picture of the dessert: a quinoa cannoli stuffed with lucuma which is a supremely delicious fruit that tastes like butterscotch. Scrumptious, every bite.
Sunday afternoon: guided tour of central Lima. The city was founded in 1535 by the Spanish.
The plaza mayor, or central plaza, bounded by the Cathedral, the President’s House and Government Building, and Lima City Hall.
At the Lima cathedral: the Peruvians are as proud as we Chicagoans are to claim Pope Leo! He is a citizen of three countries now: US, Peru, and the Vatican.
Spanish colonial architecture: the Aliaga family still lives in the house built by the family founder, a co-conquistador with Pizzaro. 17 generations!
Center row, left: a chandelier featuring cormorants. Cormorants produced guano, one of the sources of the Aliaga fortune.
Street art: Tapadas Limenas. From the 1500s-1800s women went out wearing face-covering shawls to provide anonymity. Contemporary artists reclaim the image as a symbol of rebellion and empowerment.
I also took pictures of the bartender making pisco sours. I didn't imbibe but it was fun to see the process. Pisco is Peruvian brandy. The drink also has fresh lime juice, simple syrup, ice, egg white, and Angostura bitters.
Monday July 13: Excellent lecture about Peruvian economy and politics given by Alan Larue. He moved to Lima from Vancouver in 1999 and now runs a Spanish-language immersion program. Very informative. I took several pages of notes. * Peru is 500,000 square miles, third largest country in South America and 19th largest in the world. * Borders five other countries. * 50% of population is under 30. * Voting is mandatory for ages 18-70. Fines are imposed on non voters. *70's-80's hyperinflation. Fujimori presidency 1990-2000 brought reforms. Now: low inflation, low public debt, real GDP growth. But poverty is severe. 1.5% earn $3,200 month. 32.6% earn $310 per month -- per household! The informal economy is 35% of GDP, 75% of workforce. Because of that only 16% of GDP is from taxes. * Peru has the largest mineral reserves in Latin America = 60% of exports. 300,000 people are involved with informal (illegal) gold mining, est. $6 billion annually, with tremendous environmental damage. * Agriculture is big with crop diversity, three-season farming (their summer is our winter). * Pima cotton originated in Peru.
The Maras Salt Mines were begun circa 900 BCE. They are 10,500 feet above sea level. Modern management went from private to state to local ownership. The flats are built from clay, 5m square by 30 cm deep. A saline spring feeds the entire area (2000+ years).
Center right: salt sacks weigh 50lbs and must be individually carried to the storehouse.
After the terraces we went into to the village of Moray. The Amilcars are farmers whose in-town house has a restaurant. Before lunch Prof. Maywa Blanco told us about Incan agriculture and their awareness and use of biodiversity.
Top right: naturally freeze-dried potatoes. Bottom right: popped corn.
The lunch was delicious from the big avocados to quinoa soup to beef ragout and fresh fruit dessert.
Senor Amilcar with two of the neighborhood dogs. Off-leash, uncollared dogs were everywhere in Peru. Blue doors indicate affiliation with UNESCO heritage sites.
After leaving Maras we saw a demonstration of cornhusk basket weaving. Each of us made an ornament (Senora Celia helped a lot). That was followed by a traditional Andean blessing ceremony. He spoke in Quechua and our group leader translated.
It was hard to resist taking photos at each meal.....I certainly had my fill of quinoa. Good thing I like it.
Lisa and I went to the evening star show at the hotel planetarium. We learned about Incan constellations and celestial navigation. (No photos because it was dark.)
Wednesday, July 15: All aboard! Peru Rail to Machu Picchu. Rail is the only way anything gets to the village. Passenger trains all day long. Two daily cargo/ freight runs at 11:00 pm and 5:00 am.
Machu Picchu! 1.5 million tourists visit every year so they have logistics fine-tuned. 30-passenger buses take tourists from the town of Agua Caliente (pop. 4500) up the steep, winding, 1-1/2 lane road.
The Incas built the site approx 1420 (radiocarbon dating) and lived there until circa 1530 (Spanish conquest). At the peak about 750 people lived here. Terraced farming (corn). All granite, drystone mostly but some mortar. Roofs were thatched—all the open walls seen today would have had roofs. Some buildings had two stories (lofts for storage). Rainfall is 70”!
The site, abandoned and overgrown, was rediscovered by Peruvian
Agustin Lizarraga in 2902.Yale prof Hiram Bingham re-rediscovered it in 1911
and with the support of the National Geographic Society began archaeological
research. It was designated a UNESCO Heritage site in 1983.
Wednesday
dinner: we all ordered regular entrees—and shared something special. Do you
know what it is? (Tastes like duck, sort of.)
Bottom center: those are real (dead) baby alpacas.
Thursday, July 16: The view from my chair in the breakfast room at the hotel. Once the sun rises over the mountains the temperature warms up.
After breakfast we boarded Peru Rail and traveled from Machu Picchu to Ollantaytambo. The Road Scholar bus driver met us at the station (he didn’t come to Machu Picchu with us). We went to the Ollantaytambo historic site. Built by an Incan emperor in the mid 15th century on top of a pre-Incan site. (Adequate spring water flowing into a river that joins another river.) Terrace farming.
Buildings situated in line to capture solstice/equinox/constellations throughout the year. Center photo: Remarkable storehouses
higher on the hills (probably to help preserve the harvest).
The Incas used the site as a base during a battle with the Spanish in 1537. Incas won but their leader retreated to avoid future conflict. By 1540 the natives were Spanish subjects. The area discovered by Europeans in the late 1800s and archaeological research was underway.
On a modern note: the Skylodge Adventure Suites are outside Ollantaytambo town. 1200 feet up. Access by hiking (metal strips in the rock) or zip line. We saw someone zipping down.
Buffet lunch at Muna Restaurant outside Urubamba. (I was reminded of a country restaurant in New Zealand. Was that just five months ago?!)
We had an opportunity for some retail therapy afterward.
I was especially interested in cochineal, the beetle that feeds on prickly pear. The beetles are harvest and crushed to produce red dye.
It was a 1-1/2 hr bus ride through the countryside to Cusco where we stayed two nights.
Crescent moon and Venus (I think) over the plaza in Cusco. (Plus a reflection of the streetlight.)
Friday, July 17: Cusco. The Qorikancha (Coricancha) Museum is on the site of the Incas’ golden temple (quri cancha). The temple was constructed in the 13th century. The chambers aligned with the sun. It was destroyed by an earthquake and rebuilt in the 15th century. The Spanish dismantled much of it and the Dominicans built their priory on top of the remains in the 16th century. The Incas sited the temple to align with the sun at the solstice. The chambers were lined with gold.
Archaeological work was accelerated when the 1959 earthquake destroyed a lot of the Dominican building revealing the Incan foundations.
Friday
morning continued: Museum of Pre-Columbian Art. Clay, stone, wood, silver, gold.
It was surprising to me to realize that the Inca empire was relatively short lived, from the ca. 1438 to 1572.
Friday afternoon: a visit to a manufacturing jeweler. He showed us the rocks and minerals from which they slice the inlays for gold and silver settings. He also showed us the fake ‘minerals’ used in knock-offs. Cheap less-pure silver tarnishes quickly and looks yellower next to pure silver.
Afterward we shopped at the store. Our selections were
individually weighed and priced.
Then a little free time. Sure, I could have gonen back to the hotel and rested but there was still so much to see! I went to the Cathedral and the Bishop’s Palace Museum. (No photographs allowed but I took some anyway!)
The group
reconvened at the hotel for a presentation of traditional musical instruments.
Gustavo is an architect whose hobby/passion is Peruvian music.
Lower left: ocarinas of many sizes.
Our final dinner. I had grilled alpaca. Delicious! (Better than the roast I had in Lima.)
Powdered lucuma is available on Amazon.
These women were not happy that I would not pay them for the opportunity to take pictures of them with their alpacas.
Of course I took photos of the sewing machines. Center right: alpaca meat "we will ship."
There were so many buildings that appeared incomplete. I noted window openings but no window panes and laundry hung to dry on top floors with roofs but no walls. It turns out that buildings aren't taxed at the full rate until they are finished, so people put off those upper windows or that top story.
Our Cusco-Lima flight was at 5:30 p.m. Our flights to the U.S. left at midnight. Four of us (me) flew to Miami and three to Atlanta. We had time for a final dinner together at one of the airport restaurants. The overnight flight was okay but the MIA-ORD flight was delayed two hours due to a flat tire. That didn't affect me, since I was going home, but my fellow traveler Kelli had a tight connection.
I walked in my door at 6 p.m. on Sunday. What a wonderful trip!
Hi Nann—this seems like such a fun trip—you are a very good reporter/photographer! I so enjoy your trip reports.
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