Bird image in Nazca
Plaza De Armes - Lima
Flying high over Lima (Marina Letayet v Lime)
Buenos Noches!
This post is a short one as Machu Picchu ran over the weekly time, however these two destinations have been full of excitement. There is also a surprise about Marina that I need to tell you, but lets first crack on with Peru!
One thing, while very strange has been a repeating theme in South America. When you visit the churches they seem to look slightly different than they do back home (UK and US). I´m not referring to the architecture, but the way they portray the religious figures. Firstly, I´m not "yet" a historian, although you don´t need to be a history buff to know that Jesus, Mary and Joseph didn´t wear sombreros! In fact, you will see many of the saints from the Middle East who are wearing Spanish clothes. Surely Spain´s empire was vast, but not quite that big. Also, the depictions in church are quite violent. Certainly not a "turn the other cheek" mentality. You can easily find saints, local and global, who are standing on people`s severed heads with lots of blood around. Yes, this is in church!
Election time! If you read about Peruvian history, you will see it hasn´t been the most restful people. In fact, they had a major revolution 30 years ago that left 10´s of thousands of people dead on the military`s and guerillas. The revolution I´m sure had to do with what most of these things do, power control with a small touch of idealism. These Marxists were called the "Shining Path". The government won which brings me to the real topic, ELECTIONS. Yes, the Peruvian Presidential and Congressional elections are on April 10th. Let me explain how Marina and I are going to celebrate.... By getting the hell out of Peru! Having seen the pictures of the last revolution, its probably not even safe to be in Ecuador during this time, but hey it will have to do... To ease my parents concern I will admit I´m joking a bit, but we are absolutely not staying on April 10th, more due to the fact that we don´t want any hassle from transport and businesses being closed.
Our route since the last post - Nazca > Lima
Wednesday - Cusco: Having an extra day to explore Cusco was very helpful indeed. Not only were were able to see many different great places Cusco had hidden away, but also that we were able to take it easy after the 4 day hike. Marina was especially happy to sleep in a bed, but I was more interested in the one hour massage which helped nurse my muscles back to normalness.
Thursday - Small town Peru: We caught the bus on Wednesday night to Nazca, hoping to see the lines in the morning. However due to an immense landslide, we were signifantly delayed and didn´t get to Nazca until the afternoon. Now before you worry we were not hit by the landslide, but we must have reached it only maybe 10-20 minutes afterwards due to the build up of traffic. Huge boulders the size of small cars were on the side of the road, along with enough small and medium sized ones which prevented the cars from passing. Finally they cleared the road and we progressed towards Nazca. There isn´t a lot to do in Nazca so besides practicing my Russian, we were entertained by the beers we had along with a whole chicken we ordered for dinner. Yes, I was hungry... And it was good!!!!
Friday - The Nazca Lines: Today was it, we were actually going to see the mystic Nazca lines just outside the small town of Nazca! We were able to book the small 5 passenger plane we wanted and within 30 minutes we were airborne. This small of a plane was a new experience for both of us and with the dipping, diving and 90 degree turns, I am happy my stomach contents stayed put... The scenery was incredible. Just to give a background on the Lines. Historians believe they were drawn by the ancient Nazca people between 900BC and 600AD. There are over 300 pictures and some almost 200 meters (yards) long! Yes, thats two football fields! Archaeologists are still unsure of their meanings. My theory is this, the drawings were done by a number of people from possibly different tribes and absolutely different eras. One theory I buy into is that the pictures are representation of the constellations. I absolutely believe this and think it also has images which represent their daily life, hunting, fishing, etc. I believe my "combination theory" can be supported to the fact that so many experts have different beliefs.
Once finished we caught a bus to Lima to sample the abundant night life that Lima has to offer.
Saturday - Miraflores: Lima reminds me a bit of St. Louis 10 years ago. Maybe not the green parrots flocking to trees in the park. If you were a tourist, you might have stayed in West County or somewhere to enjoy safety and a good night life. In Lima, many tourists stay in the fun and afluent suburb of Miraflores. Today we ventured in to the downtown which is absolutely gorgeous, however at night I´m told it is quite deserted and can be a bit dodgy. During the day, the area is beautifully filled with history featuring many museums and cathedrals to visit. As we retreated to Miraflores, the sun was going down so time to escape! ;D Thats when Marina started a very big change in her life, see the picture below...
First time with dark hair in 13 years (well kind of dark hair :D)
Sunday - Paragliding over Lima: Having accomplished our goals in Lima, we had time for one thing... Let me tell you, this was Marina´s choice, not mine. Although, you know it wouldn´t have taken her long to persuade me... In the afternoon (approximately 3 hours ago, we went paragliding over Lima. To set the scene, Lima has an excellent Tsunami defense protected by a 100 meter cliff. We jumped off this and enjoyed the coastal scenery from 100-150 meters up! Tonight we head for Huarez and the Huascarán National Park.
Whats on our agenda for the next few weeks; Huascarán National Park & Mancora for sun and surf! Plus possibly a few guinea pigs.. ;D
Until next time, Hasta Luego!
Dan & Marina
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