Peru Fragements Part III: Feeling Small in Peru

In the summer of 2014 I taught a short term study abroad to Peru. Here are the fragments (Part I can be found here, Part II can be found here).

One thing I love about traveling is how your whole life feels longer. Because you are experiencing something new the whole day long, it feels like every day is at least 2 days long. It's like life-extension.

Our fifth day we headed deeper into the Sacred Valley, towards the fortress of Ollantaytambo.
Besides the trip to Machu Picchu, this was my favorite part of our travels. I was in the Sacred Valley for almost six days, and I never tired of the sights, sounds or flavors of Peru. Wow, that reads like a commercial.

Our first stop was at a llama petting zoo (Awana Kancha)  set up specifically for bus loads of tourists to interact with and to feed the llamas, alpacas and vicunas.  It was great because we were the only group there (and we were a small group at that!) it was also perfectly scheduled as we spent maybe an hour here. It didn't feel like we were wasting any more time than we needed to.

One of these llamas spit in the face of my student F, and our guide said it was an "Andean Baptism". All in all, if you've gone all the way to Peru, you should feed and pet some llamas.

After another 40 minutes we made another stop just to take photos. At every decent vista, there were women in traditional grab selling tourist junk. We never once got sick of getting off our bus to take photos. For the first time in my life, I was actually making frequent use of the panoramic feature on my camera.

This is F with his back turned (I figured I wouldn't have to ask permission if his face wasn't shown). F would often go right up to edges of high places and do silly stuff like this, do the Karate Kid pose or if he was feeling energetic, head-stand. If I was going along as a friend, whatever, no big deal. However, being "in charge" makes you a little more nervous about being responsible for someone who might plummet to their death doing something stupid. Some where along the trip F started calling me "Dad" as I was the only one encouraging people to be careful. Oh, and everyone had a family name in the group for F too - so I wasn't the only one.

Next up was the market at Chinchero. It was standard tourist Peruvian stuff.  However, the prices were better than in Lima and Puno and in some cases Cuzco, so I stocked up. Still, I think the best place for typical stuff was in Cuzo in the big in-door market.  However, if you ever find yourself in Chinchero, treat yourself to some homemade bread or empanadas right out of the stone stove. So good.....

On the road again, we stopped to watch some locals roasting some cuy. I was feeling sick when we had it the first time and as you will learn in coming posts, I missed my other opportunity later in the trip as well. I did have a bite though....it was okay...kinda like chicken.

After a few hours of shopping (got some jewelry for my love along with other items for the fam) we made our way to Urubamba.

There's really no reason to go to Urubamba except for a few restaurants set up specifically for tourists passing through. It's an ugly city with an amazing backdrop.  We went to a nice restaurant with a buffet lunch surrounded by beautiful landscaping and gardens. Like a little piece of paradise in an industrialized zone.  Of course there was cliché live Peruvian music (El Condor Pasa MUST DIE....whenever we heard the song, everyone would look me and start laughing as they knew of my distaste for the song). The food was solid and the buffet allowed me to try things like alpaca (very much a cross between beef and a pork chop) that I hadn't had a chance up until this point.

Then, it was on to our final destination, Ollantaytambo. Ollantaytambo was one of the few places where the Incans defeated the Spanish.  The main attraction is a great (unfinished) Sun temple even though people mistake this structure for a fortress. This was our second taste of Incan ruins and it was pure sweetness. I'm a tactile person, so touching the actual rocks was an experience all on its own.  





The first leg up is a little challenging, depending on how in or out of shape you are because of the elevation. However, with the right pacing it's no biggie. Plus at each turn you can have a rest and turn around to appreciate the view (seen below).  

This was from about half way up, looking into town.  Ollantaytambo is a tiny little town. What you see is basically the whole thing.  You can see the trails to Pinkuylluna on the mountain on the left (more on that in another post).
 

This was at the top looking on the "back" side - away from town.  Only a little bit of green as it was winter in June in Peru. Next time I come back, I would love to take my wife in the "Summer" time and see everything with more color!
 

Better view of Pinkuylluna's ruins (center of picture). As I was looking over at the ruins (I had no idea what they were called or what I was looking at), I could see people hiking up the trail. They looked like little ants from where we were and I was jealous. As great as the temple was, they seemed isolated and it seemed like a more authentic experience than what I was having up until this point in the trip.  Little did I know I would be in their position the very next day.



Walking away from the "temple" to exit a different staircase down.  

My fellow professor and I decided to race down this staircase. It was totally stupid but fun. Oh yeah, I won. Incidentally, that's our guide on the left at bottom of the staircase.

After our visit it was time for us to head back to our hotel in Urubamba (about 30 minutes away). Our hotel was a former monastery and still has a church on site (although I don't think it's open to the public). It's quite beautiful (although after checking online - not that cheap either).

San Agustin Hotel, Urubamba

Urubamba really has little to no amenities after dark so that meant that we were eating at the hotel's restaurant. The food was okay but the restaurant itself was beautiful. This was a night where the wine was flowing just a little more than usual (although those under 21 didn't have a drop). Our meal was winding down but we wanted to continue the conversation.

I would like to think it was my idea but truthfully, I don't remember who came up with the idea first. We decided to ask if we could start a little campfire out behind the hotel so we could view the stars. It was a cold and clear night, perfect for star gazing. Even better we were in an area not inundated with light pollution.  They said we could star a campfire and showed what we could use for fuel (corn husks). We asked if we could take the last of our wine bottle and glasses and they also said yes by telling C that "this was our hotel". Wow.

Once we got to the back and had our fire up and going, we noticed that the hotel had very bright lighting for the back sidewalks, so we decided to ask if they could be shut off. Then it was show time for the universe. Surrounded by the Andes we sat and talked and above the mountains, the jaw dropping beauty of the Milky Way.

No, of course this isn't mine. All my photos looked like crap on every setting I could try.

For the first time in my memory that I could actually see the Milky Way in its full glory, as it was meant to be seen. Wine, a campfire and the most beautiful starry night I had ever seen. The only way to make this better had been if my wife had been with me.

This was one of those moments where you want time to stop. 

I've always loved looking up at the stars but in the big city  I've been reduced to staring at about a hundred stars (which on a clear night are still quite lovely).  Making matters worse, every time we go camping it's cloudy and I can't see any stars. I couldn't stop staring up at the countless stars about my head and then it hit me.

This night sky helps explain why the Andean people of  today and yesterday are so spiritual. It's was staring right at me. Being surrounded by this would create wonder and awe in your daily life. Wonder and awe are in many ways prerequisites for feeling "spiritual". Surrounded by the mountains and stars make you constantly aware of your own insignificance. Your smallness was made explicitly clear everywhere you looked.  I have a theory about this. If we are reminded of our place in the universe, it creates awe and fosters a sense of humility that we need to embrace more often. It was a wonderful night but there were more wonderful adventures to come....Part IV coming soon....