Cusco, Peru: Exploring My New City

Yesterday, Dad and I began our day by going to Mass at the Cusco cathedral.  While it lacks much of the polish and put-togetherness of the cathedrals in Europe, it was still beautiful, made even more so because yesterday was a festival, so there were flowers all over the place.  I understood most of the Mass (I don't think Dad did), and all was well until we got kicked out after Mass for taking pictures...at least they didn't arrest us!

This is the cathedral from the outside, with all the local people assembled to watch the parade that took place for the festival.  The festival was commemorating the anniversary of something, but we never really figured out what (I think it was an Incan festival, since all the speeches were in quechua, the Incan language).  Anyway, it was cool to watch, and the colors were pretty spectacular.

After watching the parade for a bit, Dad and I went off to explore the town.  We wandered through all the the plazas, and checked out all the little artisan fairs that were going on.  This is us on one of Cusco's streets.

We also explored the market, which is open every day, and sells everything from whole pigs to cheese to flowers to crafts.  It was really big, full of people, and really interesting.  This is Dad on the grain isle--they must've been selling at least 15 different types of raw grains. 

This is the church of Santo Domingo, the foundations of which are the original foundations of the Incan Temple of the Sun, their biggest and most sacred temple (it was originally all covered in gold until the Spaniards looted it).  We didn't have time to go inside because it closes early on Sunday, but we will be going to see this on Saturday before Dad leaves.

After our day of exploring, we played a couple of games of cribbage, and Dad sampled the local drink, Pisco Sour (he wasn't too impressed).  Some dinner and some more cards and our day was complete.  Off to the ruins today!

Cusco, Peru: Welcome, Dad!

From Friday to yesterday, Dad flew for 21 hours to get from Michigan to Cusco, and I took a 22-hour-bus to travel from Lima to Cusco (the shot above was taken from my bus as it wound its way through the Peruvian Andes...beautiful, but VERY curvy).  Needless to say, we were both glad to be done with transport when we finally met at the airport!

Before we could get settled in at the hotel, we had to go to the office of our trekking company to meet with our guide.  On our way there, we say this lovely Inca lady with her baby leading a llama down the street.  Dad insisted we take a picture of her, since she was "True Peru"!

Outside of the office, there was a giant fuchsia bush, with the biggest flowers you've ever seen.  You would've loved it, Mom!

Dad and I on the main square of my new home by night.

Finally, it was time for dinner!  We sampled the local beer, lomo saltado, chile con carne, and a group of Alpaca breeders from the United States even let us try the local delicacy, which they had ordered...guinea pig!  Maybe it was the way it was prepared, but neither of us agreed with the local rumor that "it tastes like chicken".  Still, it was a great meal, followed by some really great sleep!

Lima, Peru: Christmas and Catholicism

Today, I had a few hour to explore Lima.  One of the first things I saw in Peru's capital city was a giant Christmas tree on the corner of a plaza, right in front of a shopping mall, in the corner of which was a Starbucks serving 'Christmas drinks' and playing American Christmas music.  Oh America, have we really commercialized Christmas for the world?  At least it's November, not October...

After I left that (somewhat disturbing) scene behind, I found the Plaza de San Martin, which is about halfway between the city center and my hostel.  Despite the overcast skies, it was still pretty, and the flowers were great.

Near the Plaza de Armas, the town center, is the Convent de San Francisco, a giant clositer/church built and used by the Franciscan order from the 1600s until the mid-1900s.  Though you couldn't take pictures inside, some highlights included catacombs that housed the remains of 25,000 people (the first cemetery in Lima wasn't built until the 1850s, so until then, people were buried under the churches); a 25,000-volume library of rare, really old books; a cloister with azulejo-tiled walls from Sevilla; and an awesome choir stall.  The $3 entrance fee even included a guide!

After the convent, it was time to hit up the Lima Cathedral, which is stunning.  This entrance fee also included a guide, so I learned a lot about the history of the cathedral, its chapels, and its art.  This cathedral also houses the room where Peru's declaration of independence was signed in 1801, which happens to be the same room where the garments PJPII wore during both his papal visits are on display.  Throw in some catacombs, and it was quite the tour!

 

The last stop of the day was Plaza de Armas, Peru's central plaza and home of the central government.  This plaza and the surrounding pedestrian streets were a nice respite from the constant honking and crazy traffic of Lima (though you could still hear them in the distance).  While I am glad I got to see Lima's 9-million-strong capital, I am really excited to see a bit of the quieter side in Cuzco.  Twenty-two-hour bus ride, here I come!

Puerto Iguazu-Buenos Aires, Argentina to Lima, Peru: What a Day

I have no pictures today because I was a bit preoccupied trying to get to the right place at the right time.  Let me explain...I left for the Puerto Iguazu airport at 8:15am.  I got there half an hour later, waited in a 25-minute line to check in, and then the power in the airport went out.  After I finally checked in, the power went out again, at which point they delayed my flight.  This process was repeated several times, but I finally got to Buenos Aires around 2:30pm, only three hours later than expected.  Since I had to change airports, I immediately tried to book my shuttle bus, at which point I learned there were massive protests today in Buenos Aires, so the buses weren't running.  So then, I took a car--well, I took a car halfway, because we had to switch cars in the middle because there was a huge accident (in addition to protests) in Buenos Aires.  An hour and a half later, I arrived at the other Buenos Aires airport, where there was a two-hour wait in a comfy chair with free wifi.  Five and a half hours and one long taxi ride later (let me tell you, traffic in Lima is INSANE!), I am safe and sound in my Lima hostel.  Gotta love South American travel :-)

Puerto Iguazu, Argentina: Waterfalls and the Rainforest

Today, I went to the waterfalls, which are in a rainforest, which is where I am in the picture above.  Like the glaciers, I have probably a hundred photos from today, all of which are gorgeous.  I am going to share a few of my favorites, along with some tidbits I learned about Iguazu. 

Here they are!  These falls, Cataratas de Iguazu, and the river that they divide into the Upper and Lower Iguazu, form part of the border between Brazil and Argentina.  The falls above are all on the Argentine side; since I don't have a Brazilian visa, I couldn't go the the Brazilian side...but they are apparently better on the Argentine side anyways :-)

A rainbow over one of the smaller falls.  Beautiful!

I think the most impressive part of the falls is how wide they are.  This picture doesn't really do it justice, but they just keep going and going and going!  There are 275 falls, ranging from 200 to 269 ft tall.  And the width?  In total, the edge over which water falls is 1.7 mi.  Crazy!

Me in front of the falls.

Always one for boats, I got on this one, which took me directly under the falls you see in the background as well as under the Devil's Throat (more on that later).  It was like being in a very load, wet whirlpool...so cool!

This is a shot of the middle of the falls.  You can see half of the Devil's Throat on the left, Isle de San Martin in the middle, and about half of the stretch of the falls on the right. 

Another beautiful set of waterfalls.

Saltos Dos Hermanas (Two Sisters Falls).

This is the Devil's Throat.  269 ft high, 492 ft wide, and 2297 ft long, it is absolutely stunning (and loud!).  The top right of this picture is Brazil, and the bottom left is Argentina.  Almost in two countries at once...darn visa.  After seeing this, I took another boat along the top rim of the falls, then down one of the side rivers to get back to the park entrance.  We saw some animals (turtles, lizards, etc.), but it really didn't compare to the falls (hence no pictures).

The last venture of the day was a 10 km (6.2 mi) hike to this waterfall, under which I went swimming!  The water was nice and cool (it was the first time I wasn't dripping in sweat all day), clean, and it was the perfect way to get refreshed for the walk back to the park entrance.  Iguazu really is a natural wonder, and I feel so lucky to have been able to see it!

Buenos Aires to Puerto Iguazu, Argentina: One Long Ride

Last night at 9:15pm, I boarded a bus in Buenos Aires that was to transport me to Puerto Iguazu, which is at the top corner of Argentina, right where Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay meet.  The first ten hours of the 17-hour ride passed uneventfully, and I slept for most of them.  However, at about 7am this morning, the air conditioner on the bus stopped working, the sun came out, we realized we couldn't open any of the windows in the bus, and it was absolutely stifling.  Babies were crying, everyone was complaining, and it was not good.  Fortunately, we stopped around noon to get the bus fixed (despite the fact that we were in the rainforest of Argentina in summer, it was actually cooler outside the bus), and ended up waiting in this tiny little town for an hour.  The picture above is my trying to get as much of my body in contact with the cool tiles as possible.

The rest of our journey, which took place on roads like these, was uneventful (and much cooler!), though some construction, plus the air-conditioning stop, caused us to eventually make it to Puerto Iguazu two hours late.  I suppose it's all part of the experience!

Once here, I walked around the small little town of Puerto Iguazu (this is basically it), which--from what I can gather--basically exists to serve the tourists who come to see the waterfalls, which I can't wait to do tomorrow!  One other thing happened today, which was really neat: I was eating dinner outside at one of the local restaurants, when all of a sudden, these three Bolivian ladies came up and asked to sit down with me (I was at a table for four, and there were no more seats outside).  We then proceeded to have a lovely hour and a half conversation, completely in Spanish.  It was wonderful!

Buenos Aires, Argentina: A Chill Day in the City

Today was a nice day in Buenos Aires during which I walked around and ate.  Courtney, a hostel friend of mine from Boston, and I tried to go to the rose garden in the public park, but it was closed because it is Monday.  We could see it from the distance, and it was pretty, but we had to opt for an alternate route instead.  It was still nice, though, and the weather was beautiful.

After the walk, we, along with Arianna, another hostel friend, had some delicious coffee and pastries in one of Palermo's numerous cafes.  Yum!

A bit more walking, some window-shopping, and then it was time get my sushi fix before I head off to places that don't have the coast.  It was delicious!  After that, I headed back to the hostel to catch up on some emails and shower, and now I am off to catch my 17-hour bus to Iguazu.  Wish me luck!