This little blogger is going on holiday

From20-July-2006 until around 08-August-2006 I will be in Peru. Consequently, I will not be updating this blog, nor checking other blogs - I shall be incommunicado.

This is my second trip to Peru. I went back in October 1996 for my honeymoon (Sofia came along with me).

We were in Lima, Arequipa, Puno and Cusco.

This time, I will be going for about 2-1/2 weeks, Sofia and the kids will be staying about 4-1/2 weeks. Our itinerary will only be Ica and Lima. Sofia's niece will be celebrating her 15th birthday - which is a big occaision, akin to Sweet 16 in North America.

Lima is a city in the heart of a mountain. Almost anywhere you go you can see the mountains which ring the city like mighty fortress walls. It is also a desert. One of the astounding things you notice as you drive out from Lima to Arequipa is how red the sand and rocks are. It is like being on Mars.

Arequpa is home of the Colca Canyon - the world's deepest canyon. We saw it around 08:00 in the morning. One thing I discovered was that at an altitude of about 5Km, I sun burn very easily. I burned my face in the 45 minutes or so we were there. The first picture is of me getting a sunburn before 09:00 with the Colca Canyon behind me.

The second photo is of some farmland in the Arequipa region. Since it is mountainous, they farm small little fields organized in steps.

Our next trip was to Puno where lake Titicaca is. The sky and water is incredibly blue. If you don't know what the colour blue is, then you need to go there and see it.

The third photo is of me in Cusco at a part of the Inca Trail. They have tours which allow you to hike the Inca trail. Some tours, like the one we were on, are just single day excursions, others are several days long and involve camping. You actually get to climb the mountains, there are paths cut into the sides. It is not for the faint of heart. The paths are only about 2 or 3 feet wide (less than a meter) and support two way traffic. There are no guide rails or other security barriers, if you fall, well, you fall at least 50 feet (20 meters) to the next level below.

The final photo is of me at Machu Picchu. The locals kept warning me about mosquitoes, which was wrong. Mosquito in Spanish simply means small fly, the flies there were not mosquitoes but rather something akin to black flies. I had very chewed up legs. Insect repellant is strongly advised.

I enjoyed Puno the best, it is very nice. Who can't fall in love with a beautiful blue sky and water? The lake is beautiful and has manmade floating islands on it. The natives pull up reeds from the lake, chop off the roots and matte them together, then the chop up the stalks and lay it on top. In the end, they produce a floating mat that is about 2 meters thick (6 feet) and floats on the water. The islands are huge, as far as the eye can see. People live on it and farm on it. They grow potatoes and corn. They raise chickens and pigs.

Cusco, the springboard to Machu Piccu, was a bit too touristy for me. Clearly people made a lot of their living off of tourism. Puno and Arequipa were much more authentic. Of course, Lima is authentic too.

See you all in August!

Spock: On my planet, to rest is to rest — to cease using energy. To me, it is quite illogical to run up and down on green grass, using energy, instead of saving it. - Star Trek, Shore Leave