Cusco Peru

Cusco Peru
San Blas, Cusco Peru Nov. 2010

Friday, December 31, 2010

Urubamba River zipline

I wanted to have Peter do something exciting while he was visiting so 1 day we did a Zip line over the Urubamba River. First, we climbed up 400 mt on a rock face through Via Ferrata and from the top, we descended the mountain flying over the Sacred Valley and enjoying the breath taking scenery, using 6 zip lines from 100 mt to 500 mt long. 

At the bottom of the mountain with Peru Rail in the background
Climbing up

3/4 way up

Almost to the top where our 1st zip line is. I was petrified since I had never done anything like this before!
Our 3rd line

Peter on the line called "The Beast" since it is so long and so fast! Peter took a running start so he is moving alot faster than he should've been!

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Colca Canyon

Colca Canyon is a canyon of the Colca River in southern Peru. It is more than twice as deep as the Grand Canyon in the United States at 4,160 m., and it is promoted as the "world's deepest canyon," although the canyon's walls are not as vertical as those of the Grand Canyon. We joined 6 other persons in Arequipa for our tour of the canyon.

Llamas and Alpacas alongside the road on our way from Arequipa to Colca Canyon

Vicuna alongside the road
6AM in the town before we head up to the Canyon

On the way to the Canyon with town behind

Roadside Vendors
Colca Canyon


Vans had to get a running start to make it up the hill

Farmlands on the way up to the canyon
Elaborate and ornate Church carvings and statues


Can you see the Condor?

Arequipa Peru

Arequipa is Peru's 2nd largest city. I had arranged a tour from the tour company that was headquartered at Maximo Nivel where my TEFL class was held. I was picked up at my apt and driven by taxi with another couple from Australia who would be with me for the duration of the trip. Aldo and Mary were the nicest, friendliest, warmest people and we spent the next 3 days pretty much attached except for our separate bedrooms! They were doing volunteer work with one of Maximo Nivel's programs and also had the weekend free. From Cusco,we took an 8 hour Cama(sleeper) bus. The trip started out with a movie(in Spanish, of course) with English subtitles but if you were not seated very close to the little screen, you could not read the words...In the front of the bus there is a digital screen with the internal temperature of the bus and the speed of the bus. I watched the temperature go from 60-80+ and there it stayed for the duration of the trip! It was blazing in there and you could not open a window! Early Saturday morning we arrived in Arequipa  not only tired from the lack of sleep, but feeling the effects of heat exhaustion. We went to our rooms, took showers and took naps! In the afternoon, Mary, Also and I walked to the Monasterio de Santa Catalina. It was built in 1580 and enlarged in the 17th Century. The walls are vividly painted and the exterior bright colors are striking in contrast to the clean white walls. It is a cloistered convent consists of over 20,000 meters. The tradition of the time indicated that the 2nd son or daughter of the family would enter religious service and the convent accepted only women of high class Spanish families. Each nun would pay a dowry to enter the convent and it can be seen from the rooms(cells), that most of them were very wealthy. Most cells had huge kitchens attached with clay ovens.

Cloisered cells
Narrow streets

Novices cloiser

One of many kitchens with clay ovens
Confession area

Confessional rooms to left
Typical room

A very wealthy nun's room

Me in a bldg across street from Monastery

Plaza de Armas at night
Having coffee and water with Mary and Aldo at the Plaza



Thursday, September 23, 2010

More about life in Chachapoyas and returning to Cusco

One day while Hildegaard was traveling again, I switched on the hot water and not only did all the lights flicker, but all the power went out! I learned from my last experience with being locked out, to get her cell phone number for emergencies. I dialed her number but the call would not go through; she was apparently out of range. So, I was left on my own again, not knowing when she would return…maybe a few hours, a day or two? I had my flashlight for when it got dark and could boil water on the stove to make hot water and take a “spit bath” for the time being. Things were not THAT bad…
A few days later, Hildegaard and her mother are back and the same “electrician” supposedly has repaired the on/off switch so the power will not go out again. Things are good for awhile and then one day I turn the switch on and POW! No power again! And of course, Hildegaard is away again and I cannot get through on her phone, AGAIN! Hildegaard’s mother and father show up a few days later and they find out right away there is no power again. This time though, it is not the dangerous wiring, but something within the whole building and it would have to be totally rewired. Little did I know, that the process would take almost 2 weeks! So for 2 weeks, I had to use flashlights and candles after the sun went down and had to take spit baths! This was camping now…!

Night life in Chacha 
At Taberna, a local bar. Secy of school(left), teachers, and Gregory(right)
Fidel, owner of ILC(black shirt) dancing at La Reina disco

Gregory and me early in the evening...
Teaching at ILC was a unique experience but one that I would not like to repeat. The very first day the teachers were asked to meet at the school to be given their teaching books and their class schedules. We were soon told that the printer was malfunctioning and that we needed to wait a bit. Well the “bit” turned out to be about 3 hours. This was not a good way to start! I was to have 3 classes/day and a private English student. My first  class was a group of 12 teenagers aged 13. This was going to be a challenge, I knew so I had to prepare very well! They turned out to be my favorite group; it was a lot of fun and really kept me on my toes! And I came to find out that it was actually easier to teach a larger group than just 2 or 3 students because I could get them to work in pairs and do activities.

The facility was the ground floor and the 2nd floor of a home and the owners lived on the 3rd floor. The plumbing was horrible as were the acoustics. Walls had been put up to make separate classrooms and they were paper thin so it was very noisy. The equipment like CD players were sometimes in the rooms and sometimes not so you never knew what to expect. Additionally, the desk/chair combos were for children and really not suited for adults to sit in. There were no tables with chairs which is usually the set up for ESL classrooms. The teaching books were so old, many were falling apart and the student books were in short supply so many students had only photo copies of books. 

 We received our “stipend” at the end of the month for the teaching we had done that month so at the end of August, we were paid. 3 of us teachers were leaving at the end of September and when time came to be paid, we were given checks that were 2 weeks post dated. Fidel told us that he was short of funds and was getting money from the government in a few weeks. There was really nothing we could do but hope that the check would be good later. The day I was supposed to cash the check, Fidel called me to say he still did not have the money and to please wait a little longer. I went to the bank on 3 separate occasions and each time the check was still NSF! To date, we have still not been paid for the month of September. Our TEFL instructor had mentioned that the schools in Peru were famous for not paying their teachers, but I didn’t think it would happen to me at my 1st job! I believe Fidel used the money for start up costs at a bar he was opening. I do not have much respect for him for the way he ran the school, etc.

We left the same way that we came to Chachapoyas: by bus. But this time, I decided to take the 24 hour bus to Lima since Lora and Charlie were also going so I would have company. Just as Fidel and Gregory had met me on my arrival, they also were there to see us off. Gregory jokes about it and says that they want to make sure that their teachers are actually leaving...!?
The bus left early in the morning and about 1/2 hour into the trip, we stopped for breakfast which was a surprise to me! A nice surprise since we were hungry! It turned out to be a very pleasant ride and a great way to travel by seeing all the little towns and villages along the road. We arrived in Lima early the next morning and I stayed in Miraflores(nice, clean, safe area near the beach) for a few nights and just enjoyed a big, clean bathroom with hot water, a bathtub,  a shower, and a hairdryer! And a TV! I had not seen a TV the entire time in Chachapoyas...
I met Charlie and Lora at a restaurant that evening for pisco sours and dinner and the next day I was sick, sick, sick! I do not ever remember being that sick! All night I was sick and I remember thinking that if things didn't improve by morning, I would have to seek out some medical attention. Thankfully, I stopped being sick, but could hardly move for the next few days. I had to delay my trip back to Cusco because I was too sick to travel.


I booked a flight back to Cusco where I would have a teaching job at a little school by the name of Speak Easy. I had met the owners of the school while I was there during June and July since I was taking private Spanish classes from Enny, one of the owners. At the time I was taking my lessons, I had no idea that she was an owner. I just thought that she was a very nice, very warm and friendly Peruvian giving me Spanish lessons! One day during our lesson we were discussing what we would be doing on the weekend, and she told me that she was going to play tennis. I got very excited and asked her where did she play? She asked me if I wanted to play with her and I jumped at the opportunity! We played many times together at her tennis club: Club International, on clay courts and sometimes her husband would join us. I had made it known that I was looking for a job teaching english and Daniel one day offered me a job. So at the end of September, I started a 5 month teaching job at their school. The following pictures are some of my classes and students:
My advanced class

My Basic 1 class

My Pre-Int class: 4 men ages 18-25
I found a 1 bdrm apt to rent for $280/mo that was fully furnished and by Peruvian standards it was considered luxury; although my stove was a 2 burner camping stove attached to a 5 gallon propane tank, the kitchen sink had only cold water, no washing machine, and no central heat. But I had hot water in the shower, a TV, and a small refrigerator! This was luxury compared to Chachapoyas! The school was just a short 20 minute walk away...
I lived across the street from the Mercado Vigen Asunta and this is were I bought most of my food. Yes, even the chicken that was not refrigerated. And I was never sick for the 7 months I spent in Cusco.

View from my kitchen window of men loading sacks of potatoes on their backs into the bed of trucks. They did this all day long!

Friday, September 10, 2010

Kuelap, the Machu Picchu of the north

A few hours drive away by car from Chachapoyas is Kuelap.This fortress is the largest stone structure of South America. It contains more than 450 stone houses. It is located on a mountain higher than Machu Picchu, is much older than the Inca Empire. This Machu Picchu of the North was found in better condition than the one in the South. The Kuelap complex remains relatively unknown in this remote zone, which only thirty years ago took two months to walk out to from the nearest road. The fortress is filled with a million air plants, bromeliads and orchids, high on a mountain top, in this mysterious cloud forest. I asked my student and friend, Lucy, to take me as well as 2 of my fellow teachers Lora and Charlie. So early one weekend morning, we all jumped in a cab and traveled up to Kuelap. It was another terrifying cab ride along the narrow, steep, bumpy, windey, unpaved dirt roads!
Lucy and her 12 yr. old son, Oliver with the fortress wall behind

Lucy was a wealth of knowledge;however, she only spoke Spanish. So Charlie, one of the teachers with us helped us a bit...

One of many houses and walls


Me and Lucy in passageway on our way out
Close up of the walls showing the triangular details

Top of the passageway leading back down with our group

The interior of one of the houses; standing around a grain storage hole

Charlie and Lora at the top of the lookout tower

Charlie and Lora walking around remains of houses


Oliver with wild Llama behind him
 It was a 1/2 hour walk back down to where the taxi said he would wait to take us back to Chachapoyas and we were hoping that he would still be there! If not, we would be in big trouble since we were 2 hours away!