Say “hola” in Peru - Bolivia in 2009
Travel Story Series @ Hon Too Fang 2018
Note in December 2018: this tour is hugely significant to me because firstly it remains as the most enjoyable trip my wife and I have taken. And secondly it marks the first time I wrote a travel story after a tour and since then I have enjoyed writing travel stories. This is essentially the 2013 revised version.
The quality of the photos in this story might be poor as the digital camera 9 years ago had lesser pixels, 1st generation mah!
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Hola amigos,
Last month we went to Peru and Bolivia on a 3+ week sight-seeing tour. These are Spanish speaking countries. During the trip I wrote emails to family and some friends to inform them of our whereabouts. This is an edited compilation of the emails to talk about the tour in a light-hearted way. And more photos are added. I hope my friends could beentertained.
Gracias.
Hon
(19-3-2009)
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(the map on the right is not our route map, but just a map taken from the internet to show the relative
locations of some of the places visited by us)
Email 1
Hello amigos, we (with wife, son) are now in Lima, the capital of Peru, after staying in the air for some 25 hours with a 6-hour transit stop in Amsterdam. We flew with KLM, the Dutch airline. Service was good but the shelf life of the air hostesses have expired. Must complain for such unethical practice. In age they are nearer to my wife than to my daughter.
I am always fearful of long flights, feeling restless just after a few hours of flying. A small miracle that I have not dropped dead along the way and instead made it to Peru.
Hon
(Lima, Peru, 11-2-09)
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Email 2
After my short first report, I received many well wishes. Thanks, my friends.
Yesterday we took a local flight from Lima to high-altitude Cusco, an old Inca capital in Peru. From near to sea level in Lima to 3,400 m in Cusco in an hour, we were passionately greeted by Senorita HAS or High Altitude Sickness. Most people in our group had some problems associated with HAS. My wife and I had fever, breathlessness, coupled with the lack of sleep in the last few days due to time-zone problem, we endured a very cold night with temperature in the low single digit. Typical highland weather, though Peru is still in summer. We had a miserable night.
"Why pay money to suffer?" you may ask. Good point to ponder. Hope I don't need to see a psychiatrist for an answer. That is more money spent.
We are slightly better today, spent our time roaming the old city of Cusco, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Will continue to write when situation permits. The internet cafe next to our hotel charges about RM 1.20 half hour. Acceptable.
(Cuzco, Peru, 14-2-09)
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Email 3
I am very surprised to receive many responses to my Email 2. Friends are concerned with our encounter with Senorita HAS. Their deepest sympathy to this suffering couple as JC expressed it. There are many suggestions on how to deal with her. The traditionalists gave their grandmothers’ secret remedies. Our qigong friends asked us to practice more qigong and our church friends were asking for divine intervention on our behalf. Aiya, not that big an issue lah, no need to bother the Almighty. But I heard that the Sports Toto Super Jackpot has reached RM 6 millions. If you all can pray to the Almighty that I will be the next big winner, this will surely be very much appreciated.
Thanks, my friends.
Three days ago we visited some archaeological sites in the Sacred Valley around Cusco and also a Sunday farmers' market in Pisac where their orang asli trades. People in colourful costumes trading colourful wares. Most picturesque. Corn is a staple food for these indigenous people in the highlands. We saw big ears of corns in so many colours: pearl white, golden yellow, soothing green, dirty chocolate, deep purple, pitch black, eye catching rainbow, etc. Believe me? Or are you sure you are not “cornned" by me?
Two days ago we spent more than half a day at Machu Picchu (word meaning "Old Peak") the famous Inca ruins unmolested by the invading Spaniards in the 1560s. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In 2007 it was voted in a worldwide internet poll as one of the new Seven Wonders of the World. Walked on steep slopes, a full workout day. This is a 5-star tourist attraction. Awesome.
The most remarkable thing about this piece of archaeological treasure is that not only there is no food outlet or souvenir stall within the site, there is no toilets or even trash bins. Toilet facilities are only available in the visitor center at the entrance. Tourists have to hold on to their full bladders and their empty plastic water bottles until they are back at the visitor center on their way out. That could be typically 3 or 4 hours. Why not empty their bladders into the empty plastic bottles? Very good discipline in the management of
the park.
Yesterday we took the ancient Inca Trail from Cusco to Puno; covering the trail by tour bus of course, not by foot as the Inca people did.
Earlier this morning, we were at Lake Titicaca, at 3,710 m, the highest navigable lake in the world. The surface area is 8,400 sq km, more than 2 times the size of our Melaka state. The biggest lake in South America. About 55% in Peru and 45% in Bolivia.
We visited several floating islands built on reeds on the Peruvian side, very interesting. The afternoon was free and easy so I took time off to write this email to my friends. Tomorrow we are going to Bolivia for a week, then back to Peru for another week.
Weather in the highlands is like a difficult boy-girl relationship: hot and cold, up to mid- 20s Celsius by noon but in the low single digit in the evening. Very troublesome in terms of clothing. We the senior citizens could not cope well with this boy-girl relationship as we have forgotten how it was like. The old man-old woman relationship which we are familiar with is always very stable: cool.
Another thing to tell my friends. The prepaid Maxis mobile phone service or Hotlink has no roaming service in Peru and Bolivia, so you all can't reach us by phone. That is also good lah, the Ah Longs can't reach me too.
That's all folks. Don’t worry, we are OK.
(Puno, Peru, 17-2-09)
PS. The internet speed here is much faster than the 1.0 Mbps offered at RM 77 per month from our Streamyx, and cost RM 1.20 per hour in Puno. It has to be
cheap. Otherwise you think this calculative fellow would write so much eh?
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End of text of Part 1 of the travel story. Now some photos.
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Short Info on Peru
Peru is about 4 times the size of Malaysia with a population of about 30 millions. Civilisation started around 3000 BC on the Pacific coast. In the 15th century, the Incas emerged as a powerful state that within a century became the largest empire in pre Columbian America. Then the Spanish came in 1532 and within a short time Peru and most part of South America became Spanish colonies. Independence from Spain was declared in 1821 and consolidated in 1824.
The economy of Peru is classified by the World Bank as "upper middle income". The 2013 estimated GDP is US$11,400. Major industries are services (53%), manufacturing (22%) and mining (15%). The main exports are minerals. 60% of the population are considered mestizo (mixed blood of white and indigenous tribes), then come the main indigenous tribe Quechua at 23%, and whites at 5%. In religion, 81% are Catholics and 16% Protestants.
Lima
It is the capital and largest city of Peru with a population of 9 millions. The main attraction is the colonial old city, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. At the center is Plaza de Armas or Main Square, with the yellow City Hall on one side. Shown also a side lane. Street murals or graffiti are ubiquitous in the cities.
The city center is dominated by historic Catholic churches. Many of them. All well decorated especially the interior. Shown the Lima Cathedral, the 3rd version, the first edition built in the 1530s, and a nave renovated in the 1890s. Then the ornate facade above the main entrance of the Church of San Francisco, completed in 1774 and the Baroque colonial facade of the Church of la Merced, crafted from granite.
Also an exhibit at the local museum, a Chinese restaurant signboard, chilis in the local market, an ice cream "van" and a magazine stall. There is a small Chinatown here, with several restaurants. In Peru, the Chinese restaurants are called "chifa" said to be a corrupted version of the Chinese phase “chifan" 吃饭 meaning "eat rice"
And our activities in the city: watching the changing of guards at the Presidential Palace and on a mini bus.
Cusco
It is a city on the Andes, with an elevation of 3,400 m, and a population of 360,000. A former capital of the Inca Empire. The old city is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The city center is, like Lima, dominated by the Plaza de Armas, or Main Square. The main buildings fronting the square are two churches. One of them the Church of La Compania de Jesus.
This city is earthquake prone. Buildings are mostly 2 or 3 stories. Shown street corners.
At the market and our lunch. They eat a lot of corns and potatoes, and the most popular cola is Inca Cola.
The Incas
The Incas are indigenous people originally from Cusco. They became a political poweraround 1200 AD. They expanded by absorbing other tribes, and by 1500 had the largestever empire in the Americas. But they were easily defeated by the Spanish when theconquerors came with guns in the 1530s. The empire crumbled but some indigenoustribes still follow much of the Inca culture.
Sacred Valley of the Incas
This is a stretch of land about 100 km long, running generally west to east along theUrubamba River, from Pisac to Machu Picchu. The nearest point is about 20km north ofCusco. This is where the Incas had their great civilisation. We visited a few places alongthe stretch. Shown scene at one place called Sacsayhuaman (pronounced as "sexy woman").
Archaeological Park of Pisac
Pisac is a small town some 35 Km north of Cusco, elevation 2,970 m. Several hundreds of meters over the town are hills with several ruins forming an archaeological park. We had a 2+ hour morning walk here to look at the ruins and admire the scenic vista, and meeting some locals.
Animal Farm, Pisac
This is a farm to educate the tourists. Animals here are those only found on the Andes. The big fellows are the llamas, from the camel family. They are tough transporters on the highlands. The hairy ones are the alpacas, reared for their expensive wool and meat. The alpaca wool is more "cold-resistant" than sheep's wool. All 3 of us bought alpaca sweaters later in La Paz in Bolivia, advised by our tour leader, as our thin wool sweater could not protect us from the cold at the freezing Bolivian highlands at night.
Farmer's market at Pisac
This is a real market for the locals, not staged for tourists. Colourful merchandise and colourful costumes. See the spices and corns, all kind of colours, really fascinating. I did not "corn" you: the corns really have many colours.
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