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In the fall of last year I took a trip to South America. I’m only now getting to posting my pictures from the trip so if you see me in Chicago do not be confused. If you’ve missed any of my previous entries just click “South America” in the tags area. – jeff

(Click here for a larger view of this panorama)

I visited Saqsaywaman* today which is one of the more spectacular ruins in Peru and conveniently one of the closest. Most tourists join a tour or cab it to the nearby sights, but I opted to walk because:

A. it is good training for the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu

B. getting lost by foot is more difficult than by car

C. I ate a lot of turkey & potatoes at Thanksgiving last night

D. and I can spend as much time there as I want.

The toughest part of the hike was just getting out of Cusco via the impossibly steep stairs that make up Rebalaso avenue. Vendors along the way were selling cocoa tea leaves. The idea being that the same plant that’s used for cocaine is good to treat altitude sickness as well. Perfectly legal in Peru I nonetheless refused thanks to the fear instilled in my after watching a couple episodes of Locked Up Abroad.

Highlights from the ruins:

1. The most striking aspect of Saqsaywaman are the multi-leveled fortifications. There are 3 tiers and according to the tour group I eavesdropped on there are 22 walls. Apparently from above it all looks like a puma so vendors sell small figurines and Puma t-shirts. The stones that make up the ruins are enormous and the Lonely Planet says there’s one that weighs over 300 tons. Which begs the question: Did they weigh the stone or just guess? I bet lasers were involved.

2. The parade grounds lay between the fortifications and the Radadero (a large hill with tiers of stone walls). Okay its just a big empty field, but I bet there were blood sacrifices there.

3. Adjacent to all the ruins is a large hill with a large statue of Jesus on the cross. One of these days I’ll have to go to Brazil and check out their’s too.

*Phonetically Saqsaywaman sounds like “Sexy Woman.” Yup.

In the fall of last year I took a trip to South America. I’m only now getting to posting my pictures from the trip so if you see me in Chicago do not be confused. If you’ve missed any of my previous entries just click “South America” in the tags area. – jeff

The average temperature so far in Cusco has been about 70-75 degrees during the day and around 40 at night. As nice as the highs are, the lows to me are a still a bit too much to sleep through without heat, something the hostel didn’t have. So I packed up my bag and walked up the steep stone steps to the Del Prado Inn. No more hostels for me. The Del Prado is a bona fide hotel with hot water, and heat!

Cusco is a pretty small city with a population of about 300,000 compared to Lima’s 8.2 million. There are a lot more tourists here since Cusco is the gateway to Macchu Pichu and the Sacred Valley. Similar to Brugge, Belgium it has an old timey feel. Unlike Brugge Cusco has structures that actually date back to incan & pre-incan times and the locals still dress in traditional clothing.

In the fall of last year I took a trip to South America. I’m only now getting to posting my pictures from the trip so if you see me in Chicago do not be confused. If you’ve missed any of my previous entries just click “South America” in the tags area. – jeff

Of all the concerns I had for my trip (pickpockets, muggings, malaria, scorpions, Maoists, etc) the one I worried about the most was altitude sickness. Cusco is about 11,000 feet above sea level and while it isn’t Everest’s 30k it is still significant. One of my favorite books is Into Thin Air which spends quite a bit of time talking about the death zone and the dangers of being at elevation. So I’m very much aware of the possibility of my head exploding.

Today I walked around the city (slowly) and took some pictures. I checked into my hostal which is just okay. I may research nicer digs later.

Later the next night…

Holy shit! My head feels like it is enormous. I thought maybe I could ride out the altitude change without drugs, but I am popping pills like a fiend now. I walked around for awhile after grabbing dinner and found the door to the hostal locked. I knocked waiting for the owner. No answer. I then pounded on the door. Still no answer. I called the hostal from a pay phone. Nothing. Taking a cue from About A Boy I then knocked on the door to the tune of U2’s Zoo Station until finally the door opened. I asked if there was a curfew and all I got were apologies. Then as I got to my room’s door I realized that the lock didn’t actually work and that if you lifted the door you could bypass the deadbolt completely. Nice. I’ll definitely be finding a new place in the morning. Now where are those pills?

Back in the middle of November last year I spent about 30 days traveling in Peru & Venezuela. During that time I took over a thousand pictures and took some notes about my experiences. Here they are for your enjoyment. – jeff

The Museo de Inquisicion covers the history of the Spanish Inquisition in Peru and one would think that a museum like that would be somber, serious, & generally grim. You would be wrong.

My English & Portuguese speaking tour guide explained that while in other parts of the world the Spanish were torturing & murdering people for refusing to convert to Catholicism, it really wasn’t that bad in Peru. We walked around taking a look at the wax figures being drawn & quartered, set on fire, & what looked like waterboarded and laughed at my description of the Monty Python skits.

The best museum I went to was also the only place where I couldn’t take pictures. The Monasterio de San Francisco is housed in what used to be a Franciscan monastery & church that was built in the 17th century. My 2 favorite parts were:

1. The catacombs contain the remains of tens of thousands of people and to illustrate this fact the archaeologists who discovered the remains put them on display. This meant bins filled with bones and a giant well with spirals of skulls laid out in it. Aren’t you sad I couldn’t take pictures?

2. One of the rooms had paintings of all the apostles and how they were killed by all the various infidels. The tour guide pointed out one of the infidel’s slanty eyes saying with a smile towards me “They’re like you, but that’s okay. We like you.” Good to know I’m not being held responsible for stuff from a couple centuries ago.

I finished off the day eating at El Estudio Football off the Plaza de Armas. I sat at a table next to a statue of David Beckham who did an absolute shit job of making sure the waiter didn’t take my coke.

Just like in London, in Lima they do a goofy changing of the guard thing with music, funny hats, & the rest of it. Standing just behind are real guards with the automatic rifles.

Next time: Venezuela, Kidnappings, & an impressive amount of Meat!

Also feel free to let me know if you have any questions about my trip that you want answered or if there’s something I’m not talking about. Leave a comment or email me at jeffunderscorekao at gmail.com

Starting in the middle of November last year I spent about 30 days traveling in Peru & Venezuela. During that time I took over a thousand pictures and took some notes about my experiences. Here they are for your enjoyment. – jeff

11/13/08
Last night when I went to bed I was surprisingly sore. I guess I didn’t realize how much walking I had done especially with my pack on. Normally, when I’m home I barely walk anywhere. Most people don’t understand that biking can be the laziest way to get someplace. Waking up though I felt pretty terrific. Bringing earplugs was the best idea ever. Took a cab to downtown Lima to do some sightseeing. Traffic is crazy here on par with Beijing. Getting around is significantly easier though. It took about an hour to go a scant 10 miles which is pretty bad even compared to LA. I also saw my first and certainly not my last fender bender.

Above is a picture of General San Martin who was a liberator of Peru. Below you can see a close up of a statue of Madre Patria. On top of her head sits a small statue of a llama which was put there by mistake instead of a small flame which is spelled llama in Spanish. Nice to know I’m not the only one who is having language problems.

Next time: Catacombs, skulls, torture, & David Beckham!

Back in the middle of November last year I spent about 30 days traveling in Peru & Venezuela. During that time I took over a thousand pictures and took some notes about my experiences. Here they are for your enjoyment. – jeff

11/11/08 – Packing & Flying
In just a few hours I’m leaving for South America for 29 days. I packed the last of my gear and getting ready to hop on the ‘L’ and get to O’Hare. I bought my ticket 6 days ago and other than that I’ve got a hostel booked for tonight and a trek to Machu Picchu later in my trip.

Everything fits into my backpack with the heaviest items being my books. I’m bringing:
- Lonely Planet Peru
- Lonely Planet Venezuela
- Spanish – Pocket Phrasebook
- The Complete Works of Herman Melville
- Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose
All told my pack weighs 23 lbs.

Funny story: Walking to the Damen “L” stop I popped in to fedex to mail my apartment key to my cousin. While I was there I got asked twice where I was from.

11/12/08 – Lima, Peru
My flight landed in Lima and I got picked up by an airport shuttle to the neighborhood of Miraflores. My hostel, The Flying Dog, had no record of my reservation and had no rooms so I went hunting for a place to crash. I found a hostal near the ocean side with a cheap & noisy room and promptly took a nap. I wasn’t jet lagged at all I’ve always been a nap taking person and so was Benjamin Franklin.

Next time: Car accidents, llamas, and fire!

I’m back home from South America & working on processing all the photos I took. I’ve got a few up on flickr already.

I am at an internet cafe Puerto Maldonado in/near the Amazon jungle of Peru.  Time here is 2 soles an hour which is double what it was everywhere else & the connection is as slow as an iPhone on EDGE.  The temperature here is sweltering.  It would be foolish to compare the weather here to that of Mars since my understanding is that Mars is more of a dry heat.

In a couple days I´ll be flying from here (PEM) to Cusco (CUZ) to Lima (LIM) to Miami (MIA) and finally to Chicago (ORD).  In preperation for a day of flying I´ve printed out 6 of the 7 best stories published in Esquire magazine and I´m ready to reread for the 3rd time Moby Dick.  Trust me it is the gift that keeps on giving.

jeff

Hello from South America!
If you´ve been expecting daily pictures from my trip I´m sorry to report you´ll have to wait until after I get back in December.  I shoot my photos in the RAW format which while it allows me to turn crummy photos to less crummy also requires more serious computing power than the average internet cafe offers.  Fear not, I have been taking photos & writing some notes along the way that I´ll post in the future.

I´m currently in Cusco, Peru after spending some time in Lima and Caracas, Venezuela.  I´m spending my time here acclimating to 11,000 feet of elevation which for this born & bred Chicagoan is significant.  On Sunday I´ll be joining a tour group for a 5 day trek along the Inca Trail that will lead to Machu Picchu.  The famed Incan ruins are one of the 7 wonders of the world and I´ll be honsest that part of the reason I´m here is to see if they stack up to The Great Wall.

At the almost halfway point of my month long trip I can report that both Peru & Venezuela have been wonderful places to visit with some unbelievably awe inspiring scenary and by & large an extremely friendly populace that is happy to put up with my butchering of their language.

More to report soon,
jeff

Note:  This webpage has been giving a Junior High School rating which is impressive since the majority of this site is just big pictures.

Movie Reviews

I’m in South America until early December.
——————————————————————–
My 2008 cyclocross season will be ending early this year when early next week I leave to go travel around Peru. So far my planning has consisted of:

1. Getting this Lonely Planet guide a couple months ago
2. Buying a plane ticket 2 days ago.

That is all.