May 1, 2002 - Bakersfield, California
Heading to Virginia June 1st. Then off to Peru on June 11th! No plans yet, but will be down there until Christmas.
June 10, 2002 - Washington DC area
After moving all my belongings to storage, I flew to Virginia to visit my family. I have had a week full of friends and family. I did everything from cleaning gutters to touching a moon rock at the Air and Space Museum. Melissa and I walked around the monuments in DC and listened to good music. And we all spent an afternoon at Great Falls Park.
June 12, 2002 - Lima, Peru
After flying north to New York, I boarded a 7 hour flight to Lima, Peru. I arrived safely. I sat next to 2 older women who are shaman experts from northern Peru. I crossed the equator. Ted met me at the airport with the brother-in-law of a former co-worker in California. They are a great family and wonderful hosts. Muy simpatico. We spent the day walking around the city center full of churches, catacombs, changing of the guard, political protests, and honking taxis.
June 16, 2002 - Nasca, Peru
Feliz Dia de Papa! When I think of Lima, I will think of eating a lot of food. Our hosts treated us well, muy simpatico. We met uncles, aunts, cousins, and moms. It was like we were the long lost cousins. Some new tastes were homemade ceviche and a chicha morada (drink made of purple corn). Both very good. We watched the Estados Unidos play a not so great f�tbol game (good luck ma�ana). We visited the beach, but it was a bit chilly to go in the water. And we visited some discotechs for a little dancing into the early hours. Today we arrived in Nasca by bus. Tomorrow we will see the Nasca Lines.
June 23, 2002 - Cusco, Peru
Last week I flew over the Nasca Lines in a small cessna plane. Luckily the flight had no bumps. The view of the lines and animals was pretty good from the air and from the ground. We rushed to eat dinner so we could make our 6:30 PM bus to Cusco - a supposed 16 hour ride. To make a long story short - buses without seats and a 5 hour construction delay turned it into a 26 hour journey. The next day was used to rehydrate, eat, sleep, and acclimate to the 10,000 ft elevation of Cusco. There was a transportation strike in Cusco around the privatization of electricity. Lots of protesters with banners and chants, but no violence like in other cities. The government reached an agreement, and the next day the streets were once again filled with taxis. We headed to Aguas Calientes, and on June 21st - the winter solstice - we got up at 3:30 to climb over 2000 feet to Machu Picchu in the dark. There were 10 people with 2 flashlights. We joined a small group of people with a spiritual leader to welcome the sun rise behind the Temple of Three Windows. I spent the day meandering around the site and viewing the amazing scenery. And ended the day by watching the sunset. Now I am back in Cusco preparing for Inti Raymi tomorrow - the sun festival.
June 30, 2002 - Puno, Peru
For the Inti Raymi festival I sat on the rocks across from the ruins with thousands of the locals and other backpackers. If one more person joined us we all would have fallen off. There were colors everywhere - dancers, flags, and the crowd. A good event for people-watching. After a couple more days in Cusco we caught a bus for Puno on the shore on Lake Titicaca. We took a 2 day tour of the islands near Puno. After a quick stop at the floating islands of Uros, we stayed at Amantani for a night. We stayed with shy but adorable family - Flora, Olga, Nievez, and Julio. We walked up to some ruins at 13,450 ft and watched the sunset in a sky full of sun, rain, and thunder. After dinner they gave me many layers of traditional Peruvian clothes to wear dancing. The next day we headed for Taquile and back to Puno. Early this morining a group of Americans and Austrailians cheered on Brasil in the Copa Mundial! Today we spent the day in Itchu, a small town that likes a good fiesta. They were celebrating San Pedro and San Pablo with huge groups of marching bands and dancers with unique costumes. El Nino and hail drove us back to Puno. Off to Bolivia tomorrow.
Photos
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