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Even though I am backtracking to the past 2 weeks, thought I should still write about this fabulous place called Cuzco.

From Arequipa and the Colca Canyon, Brel and I set off to Cuzco. My Lonely Planet says that Cuzco is the heart of what was once the mighty INCA EMPIRE (Cuzco actually means NAVEL OF THE EARTH in Quetchua). It is a beautiful colonial city (with its famous red roofs) built on hefty Inca stone foundations.

Check out the view from our hotel with the Main Plaza in the middle:

All the churches are built on top of old Inca temples (thanks to the Spanish who wanted to colonize the indigenous and therefore get rid of their temples). The streets are of cobblestone (you can feel that each stone was placed precisely) and they twist all over the city and always seem to be climbing up and up and up. Soooo steep!

We puffed and puffed our way around the narrow passages and mysterious streets, climbing up and up ... all the way to the CHRISTO BLANCO who sits on top of the mountain, protecting the entire city. Check out the real llama who happened to be there when I passed by ...

Brel did some horse backriding up here (of course!).

The view of Cuzco from here up is quite amazing (definitely worth climbing all the stairs):

The indigenous are the majority here but still must constantly fight for their rights. We arrived in the middle of a demonstration (seems very common in the big Latin American cities).
I am of course, as always, fascinated by the women ...

and the llamas that are all over this city. Women bring them along , with their kids (dressed in traditional costume) so as to make money with the tourists who want to take pictures. Nothing is free in Peru, evrything has a price.

And one night we were walking and walking and found this wall of cactus. Anything is possible here. Lots of surprises ...

I'm sorry, but more roofs. Ok I am obsessed!

There indigenous women and children in full costume. Yes, they actually wear these incredible "clothes" everyday. And you see them working their piece of land, walking their animals and doing everything they do, dressed like this.

Could not resist this pose:

And coming down from the mountain we had an encounter with a llama. He was running away and I was able to catch him. Such funny animals.

Even the llamas (females) wear big earings! The indigenous make up most of the population, the tourists the rest I think. Lots of tourists here!!!! The street names are being switched back from spanish to Quetchua spelling. So great! (The Spanish had changed everything to Spanish, of course).

There are still Inca walls present all over the city and they are really incredible!!! Large stones that fit into one another (like puzzle pieces). They didn't use any cement of any sort. The stones were just fitted into one another.

We have read so many legends and stories of the Incas and their gods, the sun (Inti), the mountains and la Pacha Mama that it almost feels like they are still present here in Peru. There are traces of them everywhere, walls, stones, hiden symbols. Those are my favourite. Something called SINCRETISMO which is the fusion of two cultures, the Spanish and the Inca, indigenous. When the Spanish arrived in Peru, in Cuzco, they wanted to catholicize the people and so aside from building churches to cover all Inca temples, they asked indigenous artists to paint saints, the Virgin etc. And so these indigenous artists did it but always managed to insert their own symbols...SO GOOD!!!! I took a tour of the Cathedral in Cuzco where there are a lot of these paintings, the most famous one being the LAST SUPPER. If you look at it carefully, you can't help but notice the big plump guiney pig in the center of the table. The guiney pig, or CUY is part of the indigenous people's diet (still today. All indigenous kitchens have live guiney pigs roaming around). There are a lot of CYUERIAS where you can eat the little rodent.... I tried it. They like to tell us tourists, that there is no cholesterol!!!

Also in the Cathedral I saw the virgins always painted in the shape of a mountain (their Pacha mama), traces of corn in the decorations and even the red crest of the condor disguised as ribbons....

Cuzco is also the place where I have had the best Capuccino. I know, i know it sounds crazy but Brel and I mostly go local when we eat but once in a while a good capuccino can't hurt. The yummiest, with lots of foam (heavy enough that it doesn't sink) sprinklled with chocolate and served in a gorgeous handmade ceramic cup ....ah the little things ....

Hasta luego Cuzco.

Oh where to start? The past 2 days have been incredible and mind boggling.
A mix of sadness experienced walking amidst the leftovers of the earthquake around ICA and pure pleasure, walking, sliding and driving in the sand desert of HUACACHINA.

Monday, October 1st
We left Lima at 1:30 pm for a 4 and a half hour bus ride to ICA. What we saw on the road was such a change from Ecuador. Sand dunes of every shape and size on one side and the ocean on the other. And then little houses that looked like cardboard boxes (no joke) hardly any bigger and certainly not any stronger than boxes but I found out that they are people's homes ...

and then we started to see ruins....walls which had fallen down, piles of broken bricks, a lot of dust...organized piles of adobe bricks (to reuse?) and now entire houses fallen to the ground, and then entire streets without any houses but only piles of rubble.

This is where the famous earthquake passed through a little over a month ago ... and what a disaster it has left! Families that have lost everything, people now left to survive in tents set up where their house once stood, surrounded by sand and the strong winds... Kids and elderly that have died because they were so cold .... I had tears running down my face on the bus ride. More than one month after the disaster and no one has come to help these people??? Because they are out of the city, because there is so much corruption, because the authorities pocket the money sent out for help, because the Peruvian minister of tourism has announced publicly, all over the television, not to come out here!!!!! And so people stay away and like to believe that everything is under control, reconstruction is under way and people have everything they need. It's so NOT TRUE. They have no money to rebuild, no food to eat, no medication and nobody helping them mentally, psychologically to deal with what they have gone through.

We made it to our hostal (in Huacachina, 10 minutes from the city of Ica, hardly hit by the earthquake). We travelled with a really nice Canadian girl from Toronto (Rachel) and met up with another one from Quebec (Elaine). We were quickly introduced to a trio. A fat happy go lucky guy from Lima, a sweet little doctor from England and a journalist from NY. The journalist (Lee) had raised money from his friends in NY to donate food to the earthquake victims. They were to spend the next day continuing their distribution in the little towns around Ica, the places worst hit, and we were invited to join them. Off to bed early as we were going to have a tough day...

Tuesday.
Got up early and made it to the worst hit villages in search of the OLLA COMUNES (organized communal kitchens in the streets where families joined together to eat).

We had a van packed with boxes of flour, spaghetti, sugar, tuna .... to distribute. I don't think I could find the right words at the moment to express what it all felt like. At first, incredible sadness, disbelief and shock in seeing these people's living conditions. Just unimaginable!!!!! The inside of their houses (for those who have anything left) is now outside without any walls. For those lucky ones who have gotten a little help, they have 3 walls built from straw (like in the little piggy story) in which they live with children and elderly often stuck to a chair (or stump) because they have pain in their legs and cannot get any medical attention.

And then the rubble everywhere that has become the landscape. Everywhere broken things, missing things, pieces of things ....And even their church disappeared completely. How can that happen? But they were able to save their Virgin, their patron saint. And they were so excited to show her to us. She now means the world to them. She was carefully taken out of a woman's "house" and proudly introduced to us..... and in a few days they will bring her out and parade through the "streets" in her honour...

And then we were invited to visit a little primary school which started up again 2 weeks ago in order to distract the kids from what happened, get them back into something "normal". They lost everything and had just started up new notebooks (donated by the teacher's daughter who lived in Lima and raised money to get them a few supplies, a notebook each and a few pencils for the entire class).... Oh sad, sad, sad .... According to the teacher 3 of the kids (out of 10 maybe) were extremely nervous and anxious. They were crying all the time and would jump at the slighest noise. How can they deal with what happened? And when they go "home", what runs through their heads? And then, they opened their "lunchbox" and I almost fainted. When I saw a cute little girl (I nicknamed Mafalda) take out a pack of Halls for lunch. And her neighbour take out 1 little hard boiled egg all wrapped up in a woman's purse (her lunchbox).... Shit, our kids are so lucky. My Brel....................

Brel wasn't there. He was still in the van hiding out, trying to make sense of everything we were seeing, I think. I didn't want to push him. I know him. I know how he deals with difficult things. He needs time out. He needs to take his time, he needs to think and come out when he's ready. (He had baught a set of magic tricks from a street magician in Lima and it was suggested by the fat guy that he could take his magic to the streets here and make the kids smile... A BIG RESPONSIBILITY FOR A 10 YR OLD). While we were in the school, I went out to the van and could feel that he was ready. I don't know what went through his head but the initial anger and shyness passed and now he wanted to try his magic. He walked in to the class and the fat guy presented him to the kids and I could see he was scared. A whole group staring at him....He started his tricks and even if the kids were a little young (3-5), it was magic. The way they looked at him!!!!!! I couldn't believe it. I was so PROUD of him. And he did it all in spanish. And he was so good. So kind...

And he continued from stop to stop, like UN MAGICIEN AMBULANT. Each time the van would stop, he would come out and make his little matchbox move on his hand and the kids were in awe.

He gave them a little bit of entertainment, a reason to smile, a minute to forget the rubble, a little hope. I am starting to sound cheesy but it really was so touching, so incredible. I wish you guys had seen him there. I wish his class had been there.....By the time we reached the last group, he knew what he was doing (deep down , I mean, I think).

And the importance of a soccer ball. At each stop, a mother would come to ask for a "pelota, por favor", for the kids. It was worth GOLD.

And then we went to buy more food and Brel was so involved. He wanted to give it all he had. And decisions had to be made along the way. Should we buy a pre-fabricated house ($650 plus delivery) for a communal kitchen or should we give them money or food and what exactly and to who???? As they all came running to the van asking for something... "por favor ayudanos"!!! What an experience... A WAKE UP CALL we will never forget.

And then back to our luxurious hostel for a dip in the pool and an encounter with some fabulous parrots. What a contrast. SO UNFAIR.

And at sunset we climbed our sand mountain. So steep, so difficult. Then the TOP!!!! No words, no pictures....just WOW, WOW, WOW!!!!!! A desert of sand in Peru. Who would have thought. One of the most incredible landscapes I have ever seen!!!!

So much more to write about but never enough time. Will try to do a posting about our adventure in the sand desert tomorrow.

Thinking of you all.
Sand kisses from Patsy and Brel

Hola!
Nous sommes de retour sur terre, c'est a dire, en ville, apres 3 jours caches en plein milieu de feuilles souvent plus grandes que nous, des arbres si hauts qu'ils semblent toucher le ciel, si larges qu'on se sent tout petit, des papillons plus grands qu'une main, des araignees gigantesques, une symphonie de sons et nos odeurs corporelles... parfum de jungle.

Premiere journee-

Descente de montagnes en velo (18 km)...assez dangereux avec les conducteurs d'autos, de camions et de bus qui nous frolent pratiquement la peau mais que des paysages EXTRAORDINAIREMENT BEAUX!!!! Aussi, entree epeurante dans des tunnels completement noirs qu'il a fallu traverser et Brel qui soufflait un peu (beaucoup) pendant les montees....

Descente de la riviere Pastaza pendant 20 km. FABULEUX! Petite lecon et regles a suivre au tout debut et puis la peur de ce qu'on allait faire ...impossible de reculer. Tres epeurant au tout debut, et puis bien excitant et apres 2 heures, on en voulait plus. Brel etait absolument formidable. Il a adore. Il a rit, parle, rame, nage. J'ai des bleus partout et de supers souvenirs.

Et hop, a l'eau... Dans notre skinsuit, il faisait bon.

Excellent diner dans un resto et puis 1 heure de route en camionette jusqu'a Puyo et notre campement.

Brel s'est fabrique un chapeau, question d'etre pret pour la jungle:

Promenade jusqu'a une cascade en pleine jungle:

Baignade et puis marcher, marcher, marcher (5 heures) ... Et dire que Brel n'etait vraiment pas un bon marcheur. Maintenant il dit a tout le monde qu'il a falut 3 jours dans la jungle pour le convertir en marcheur. Et j'avoue, c'est tout un marcheur maintenant. Youpie!!! Et il fallait surtout escalader, faire attention aux racines, aux branches, aux passages boueux ...

Et puis on a vu toutes sortes de choses en chemins. Insectes, plantes medicinales ...auxquelles on a eu droit a plein d'explications... Tres interessant.

Retour en ballade nocturne et observation d'insectes, grandeur nature (ou plus grand que nature) car dans cette foret amazonienne, tout semble plus gros que nature.

On a eu la chance de voir des araignees (toutes sortes):

d'enormes papillons:

des insectes en formes de batons:

des insectes qui ressemblent a des feuilles roulees:

des grenouilles:

Et tant d'autres choses:

Et puis excellent souper prepare par notre guide (un jeune homme, et oui, meme si ils sont machos, il n'y a pas que les femmes qui cuisinent ici). Pour terminer cette grosse journee, un bon dodo ...

JOUR 2
Muni de nos 2 meilleurs amis de jungle (nos bottes en caoutchouc et notre poncho) nous sommes partis sous la pluie cette-fois pour une longue promenade de 6 heures et a la conquete d'une deuxieme cascade. Il a fallu nager jusqu'a celle-ci et puis les courageux (seulement Brel, en consequence) a pu sauter d'un arbre ...

Il y pense serieusement:

et il saute:
(c'est lui le PLOUF!)

Lors de cette fabuleuse ballade (6 heures), nous avons pu voir des JUNGLE KISS (fleur), encore des papillons, des arbres qui sont d'excellentes sources de medicaments ici (entre autre le SANGRE DE DRAGO). Il faut faire une fente dans le tronc et la seve est rouge comme du sang... Nous avons deguste des LEMON TASTING ANTS (not aunts)... MIAM!...

observer (much to my surprise) des PORNOGRAPHIC PALM TREES
(the name given by our guide):

ON a aussi vu des HOMMES DE LA JUNGLE:

Et Brel a pu se balancer comme Tarzan sur des lianes toutes naturelles ...

Apres le diner (pendant lequel nous avons bu du jus de STARFRUIT), CHECK OUT THEIR SIZE IN THE JUNGLE:

ballade en canoe typique de la foret amazonienne (sculpter dans un tronc d'arbre) sur la riviere Puyo. Assez paisible, nous ne sommes pas tombe a l'eau cette fois-ci mais ne vous tracassez pas, nous ne sommes pas sortis tout secs de l'eau non plus. Il fallait que je sorte l'eau qui menacait de remplir le canoe a chaque instant...

Et puis c'est bien beau de faire du canoe sur l'eau mais pourquoi pas en faire sur camion aussi ... (il fallait bien les ramener au campement quand meme). C'etait tres drole!!!

Promenade tout en hauteur, jusqu'a un fabuleux LOOK OUT duquel on pouvait voir la riviere en question:

Je ne dois pas oublier de vous parler des fourmis coupeuses de feuilles... quelle spectacle et on les voyait sans cesse dans la jungle!!! Elle travaille sans cesse ...

(difficile a voir en photos mais regardez bien les feuilles vertes. Sous chaque feuille, il y a une fourmi qui porte 10 fois son poid. Qqchose quand meme!)

Et les voila en train de monter le tronc jusqu'a ... Dieu sait ou?

JOUR 3
Je me suis reveillee tres malade avec juste une envie de vomir. J'ai donc passee 24 heures entre extreme faiblesse et hammac. Brel a continue le tour sans moi, avec les autres amis du groupe.

Je saute des details car je dois filer et je veux vous envoyer cette aventure aujourd'hui. Quelle experience cette jungle!!!
On vous embrasse!

Derniere petite chose quand meme. Lors d'un petit stop bien merite apres la descente en velo, nous nous sommes assis dans un petit resto. Voici une photo du mur qui se trouvait au-dessus de ma tete et qui pour moi, represente tellement bien la culture sud-americaine.....

6 days, that's so exciting!

6 jours, c'est trop excitant!

brel

STILL NOT FINAL ITINERARY + MALARIA PILLS
TRAJET TEMPORAIRE + PILULES CONTRE LE PALUDISME

[06 Aug 2007] Montreal, Canada
[06 Aug 2007] Lima, Peru (NO MALARIA)

COMMENCER LES PILULES LE 11 AOÛT?
[12 Aug 2007] Trujillo, Peru (YES MALARIA)
[14 Aug 2007] Chanchán, Peru (YES MALARIA)
[15 Aug 2007 - 16 Aug 2007] Cajamarca, Peru (YES MALARIA)
[19 Aug 2007 - 20 Aug 2007] Guayaquil, Ecuador (YES MALARIA)
[21 Aug 2007 - 22 Aug 2007] Montañita, Ecuador (YES MALARIA)
[23 Aug 2007 - 24 Aug 2007] Puerto López, Ecuad (YES MALARIA)
[25 Aug 2007 - 26 Aug 2007] Machalilla, Ecuador (YES MALARIA)
[27 Aug 2007] Manta (YES MALARIA)
[28 Aug 2007 - 29 Aug 2007] Canoa, Ecuador (YES MALARIA)
[30 Aug 2007] Súa, Ecuador (YES MALARIA)
CONTINUER LES PILULES ENCORE 1 SEMAINE

[31 Aug 2007 - 09 Sep 2007] Quito, Ecuador (NO MALARIA)
[08 Sep 2007] Otavalo, Ecuador (NO MALARIA)
[13 Sep 2007 - 15 Sep 2007] Baños, Ecuador (NO MALARIA)
[16 Sep 2007 - 18 Sep 2007] Cuenca, Ecuador (NO MALARIA)

[19 Sep 2007 - 22 Sep 2007] Iquitos, Peru (YES MALARIA)
LA PARTIE IQUITOS RESTE 1 PROBLÈME CAR JE VEUX Y ACCÉDER EN BATEAU MAIS COMMENT???
JE PENSE QU'IL FAUT COMPTER 10 JOURS ET PRENDRE 1 VOL DE RETOUR JUSQU'À LIMA

[22 Sep 2007 - 23 Sep 2007] Lima, Peru (NO MALARIA)
[23 Sep 2007 - 24 Sep 2007] Nazca, Peru (NO MALARIA)
[25 Sep 2007 - 27 Sep 2007] Cuzco, Peru (NO MALARIA)
[28 Sep 2007 - 30 Sep 2007] Machu Picchu, Peru (NO MALARIA)
[01 Oct 2007 - 03 Oct 2007] Puno (NO MALARIA)
AJOUTER PLUS DE TEMPS ICI POUR LAC TITICACA
J'AIMERAIS RESTER 1 SEMAINES SUR LES ÎLES FLOTANTES

COMMENCER LES PILULES LA VEILLE DU DÉPART DE TITICACA ET JUSQU'À L'ENTRÉE DANS LE DÉSERT DU CHILI
(donc pendant tout le séjour en Bolivie)
[15 Oct 2007 - 21 Oct 2007] La Paz, Bolivia (YES MALARIA)
[22 Oct 2007 - 27 Oct 2007] Cochabamba, Bolivia (YES MALARIA)

[28 Oct 2007 - 05 Nov 2007] Oruro, Bolivia (NO MALARIA)

[30 Oct 2007 - 05 Nov 2007] Sucre (YES MALARIA)
[06 Nov 2007 - 07 Nov 2007] Potosí, Bolivia (YES MALARIA)
CONTINUER LES PILULES ENCORE 1 SEMAINE
[09 Nov 2007 - 12 Nov 2007] Uyuni, Bolivia (NO MALARIA)
TRAVERSER DU DÉSERT DE SEL

(NO MALARIA IN CHILE- YOUPI!!!)
[12 Nov 2007 - 14 Nov 2007] San Pedro de Atacama, Chile
[14 Nov 2007] Antofagasta, Chile
[14 Nov 2007 - 17 Nov 2007] Copiapó, Chile
[17 Nov 2007 - 20 Nov 2007] La Serena/Tongoy
[20 Nov 2007 - 24 Nov 2007] Santiago
[24 Nov 2007 - 27 Nov 2007] Valparaíso, Chile

(NO MALARIA IN ARGENTINA WHERE I’M GOING- YOUPI!!!)
[27 Nov 2007 - 30 Nov 2007] Mendoza, Argentina
[30 Nov 2007 - 05 Dec 2007] Buenos Aires, Argentina
[05 Dec 2007 - 08 Dec 2007] Montevideo, Uruguay
[08 Dec 2007 - 09 Dec 2007] Punta del Este, Uruguay
[10 Dec 2007] Buenos Aires, Argentina
[10 Dec 2007 - 11 Dec 2007] Bahía Blanca, Argentina
[11 Dec 2007 - 13 Dec 2007] San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina
[13 Dec 2007 - 14 Dec 2007] Puerto Varas, Chile
[14 Dec 2007 - 15 Dec 2007] Puerto Montt, Chile
[15 Dec 2007 - 17 Dec 2007] Castro, Chile
[16 Dec 2007 - 17 Dec 2007] Puerto Montt, Chile
[17 Dec 2007 - 19 Dec 2007] Villarrica/Pucon
[19 Dec 2007 - 20 Dec 2007] Concepción, Chile
[20 Dec 2007 - 21 Dec 2007] Santiago, Chile
[22 Dec 2007] Montreal, Canada

ONCE YOU LOOK AT IT THIS WAY, IT'S GOING TO GO EXTREMELY FAST!!!
Vu comme ça, le temps va filer, je pense!

Feels like not enough time in Chile ...