Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Cusco and beyond..

On our way from Puno to Cusco we made a random stop to take pictures and of course there were people selling things. Like the hat?
And there was a girl dressed up with a llama who you could take a picture with for 1 sole, so I did.
Then along came her competition, a little boy with a baby goat, 1 sole as well. It felt like I was holding sweet little Mookie.
Finally made it to Cusco. View of the city from way up high.
Me imitating the Cristo Blano statue.
Random awkward scenery shot. Note the senior picture pose. Luvs it.
Then ventured to the Indian Market. It was textile heaven. Me, Jes, and Lauren spent atleast 4 hours walking around and shopping.
I'm in love with all of these trimmings.
And this hat with the white beading.
Me with all of my Indian Market findings. Pens, purse, belt, pompoms, skirt, socks, backpack, barrette. All I need now to complete my outfit is an embroidered, beaded jacket to complete my look. I think I'll pass on the hat though, not quite my look.
Back shot

Next, we went to the Sacred Valley. First stop, Moray. It is a terraced planting site used by the Incas.
Note the 'toylet' spelling.On our way down. Those stones sticking out of the wall are the steps to get down to the bottom.
Finally made it! My stairstepping exercise before I came to Peru was no match for those stairs, it was quite difficult walking back to the top.
Next, we went to a location where salt is made. Pretty cool.

Next stop....hiking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu!!

Saturday, January 15, 2011

The beginning of our 10 day travels..

Our adventure began Friday morning at 4:20 AM! Doesn't everyone look thrilled?


An hour later we're in Arequipa! I was trying to jump in the air..

The main plaza in Arequipa called Plaza de Armas, which is the same name of the plaza that was located across the street from me in Espana.
Awkward individual photo, what's up?
We took a tour of a monastery, it was surprisingly incredibly interesting. This is a picture on the roof top of one of the buildings.
The streets in the monastery were named after Spanish cities. Hola, Sevilla.
A cute Peruvian woman selling fruits on the side of the street
The next day we took a 5 hours bus ride from Arequipa to Puno. We made a pit stop in the middle of the mountains so the Peruvians could try and sell us things and to drink cocoa tea.
We finally arrive in Puno and immediately make a trip to the Uros Islands, THEY'RE FLOATING.
So I guess people legitly live on the man-made floating islands. I don't know if I really believe it, but they had solar panels and TVs in their straw huts. There are several different islands and each island has a couple of families living on it and is given its own name. Also, there is a main government island that has a restaurant, bar, and hotel.
You could take this "boat" for 5 sole to another island. I passed on the opp.
The people on one of the islands invited us in their house and made us dress up and dance and sing. It was funny. You can tell if a woman is married or single by looking at her pompoms and her hat. The colorful pompoms mean that the woman is single and the single colored pompoms mean that she is married. Also, when the hat is tilted to the right the woman is single and when the hat is on the middle of the head it means she is married.
The group all dressed up!

We went to the main island and Jes and I decided, why not drink a beer on a floating island and climb up the watch tower. It was glorious

Sunday, January 9, 2011

PERU

So, I left my house on January 1st at 7:30 am and finally arrived in Lima, Peru around 2:00 am. It was a full day of traveling that seemed to last forever, but I made it safely to La Hacienda, our hotel in Lima. Below is a picture of my room. Pretty decent!
I unpacked my suitcase to find this. My fingernail polish must have not been screwed on too tight....typical katie (said in typical peg snl voice)

This is the traditional Peruvian drink call a Pisco Sour. I'd say it's pretty similar to a whiskey sour but more sour. Pretty tastey!
We went on a tour of a cotton factory. It was pretty interesting but seemed kind of sketchy.
Our 25 person group went to a really nice restaurant in Peru that had overlooked some ancient ruins. It was supa pretty. This is my picture in front of the ruins. I tried guinea pig there. It was really chewy and tasted horrible. Just had to check that off the list, never again though.
This is a super fing ugly dog. Its hairless and native to Peru. So unfortunate looking.We went and saw some more Incan ruins.

A picture of me on top of the ruins overlooking the ocean! hollla
Next, we toured a Pisco winery. They gave us free samples, no one was complaining. I bought a bottle to bring back home.
Next, we went to an organic farm that was tucked away in between some mountains. It had great views. The owners were a German couple who had moved to Peru when they were very young. They began a farm in Peru and the only way to have a competitive advantage over the other farms was to become an organic farm.
They made us lunch in a traditional Peruvian underground backing oven. The cooks buried all of the kettles of food in hot stones, banana leaves, a tarp, and then covered the entire oven with sand. Then, 3 hours later, it was ready to eat!
....And this was the result! They cooked chicken, turkey, and rabbit. I even tried the rabbit. Gross.
That night we stayed at this hotel that was surrounded by the desert sand dunes. It was like a little oasis. Behind the pool that is a huge sand dune.
For dinner I enjoyed a triple and a cristal. A triple is a common sandwich in Peru that has 3 layers of bread and there are several different types. Cristal is one of the local beers in Peru. A "40 oz" of Cristal was 6 sole which is like less than $3 dolla billz. hollaThe next day we took a boat to some shit covered rocks. Literally. This a picture of Jes and I on the boat.

And this is the large rock island that these birds next on. It's not suppose to be white, that's just bird poop. We all wore hats to protect us for the poop. (Un)fortunenately, no one got pooped on.