More photos

There are more photos from our traveling on Flickr. The easiest way to see them is to click on the Flickr-badge on the right side of this page, just scroll down a little bit and you will find it!

Only for the Swedes

Ibland blir man ju lite sugen pa nagot gott.....


Copacabana i Bolivia servas av A.J. Bergstroms Akeri, lite ovantat!

Peruvian menu

There's a lot of food in the world that you didn't know existed. Things you didn't know that you could eat. Mysteries on how to get certain food is cleared in this menu - Sweater gives trout - stop fishing, just squeeze them out of your sweater!

Cuzco and the Incas

My idea of the Incas was of course taken from TV and hearsay. I had a mental image of a gigantic and mysterious empire that built cities all over north-western south America for many centuries until the Spaniards came and killed, converted and enslaved everybody. After visiting the city of Cuzco, the Incas capital and Machu-Picchu, their enigmatic hidden city, I think far less of them. Never the less, Some nice photos are attached to this entry.

First, a common mistake (by common mistakes I mean mistakes I made), the Incas were not a people, but the rulers. ¨The Inca¨ was the king so at every given moment there was just one (well.. at the end there were two). Other then the ruler there were many social classes but most of the people, the common people, were the same people who existed before the Incas (Quechua or Aymaru speaking tribes).

A second mistake, many people think that the Inca empire existed for many centuries and introduced most of the sciences and craftsmanship to this part of the continent. Actually, they were very strong in building and organisation but they borrowed or copied most of their ideas, methods and even believes (deities, rituals etc') from people they conquered. They weren't the first expansionists but they were the biggest. They existed between 1200 something-1533 and had their expansionist era (that is, they expanded their empire beyond Cuzco to greater Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru and northern Chile and Argentina) only between 1438-1533 when they were vanquished by the Spaniards. It is said that one of the reasons for their swift defeat against the Spaniards is the lack of loyalty of the people they governed (and enslaved).

More reasons for their defeat could be the Spanish armored horsemen, European disease and the fact that the Inca empire was divided between two brothers, who fought each other, when the Conquistadores arrived.

And another very disappointing fact, even though they had apparent knowledge in agricultural sciences (evidence of botanic testing), Astronomy, Math, Building engineering and others they kept none or few records and no written documents (they had a different and rather non-preserving method of knots on strings). And, of course, the Spaniards ruined most of the evidences. It makes the Inca empire more enigmatic and it gives archaeologists a chance to debate and write books but it also makes them boring to the tourists who have to listen to the guide trying to explain (rarely in good English) that what you see in front of you can't be interpreted for more then you see.

Cuzco

The main square (Plaza de armas) of Cuzco

Main cathedral, Cuzco

Once the capital city of the Incas. They named it Qosqo (Q like the Hebrew 'chet') which means the center of the universe. Nothing really important happened here between the Spanish conquest in the 16th century and the discovery of Machu-Picchu in 1911. Since than Cuzco is a central destination for travelers. Never the less, there are beautiful colonial and Inca buildings here and because of the enormous flux of tourists, the entire economy here is constructed on tourism. Everyone here is either works in a restaurant , a hotel, as a tourist operator,as a taxi driver, as a guide or as a thief/robber/beggar.

Another plaza in Cuzco

Colonial courtyard, Cuzco

Fountain in Cuzco

We spent 2-3 days here to tour the city and to arrange a tour to Machu-Picchu and the sacred valley of the Incas. I found the city charming. Despite the many harassments by the locals, who try to sell you stuff and get you to their restaurants/hotel/tour, and the abundance of Israeli affected environment (Hebrew signs etc') the buildings are amazing, the colonial streets kept the narrow characteristics of the Inca ones and the museums, cathedrals and historic sites were worth the visit ... In some sense, Cuzco is more impressive (in my eyes) then Machu-Picchu.

The Sacred Valley of the Incas and Machu-Picchu

We went on an organized tour to the sacred valley of the Incas and the lost city Machu-Picchu. When I asked why was the valley sacred to the Incas the guide told me that it is because of the many species of corn they grew here. The pre-Inca and Inca governed societies based their beliefs and ways of life on their surrounding nature. They worshiped the sun, the moon and the mountains as deities (the Andeans here are really impressive) and kept track of both a religious calender and an agricultural one.

Karin (the sacred wife) and the sacred valley

In the sacred valley we visited ruins in the towns Pisaq and Ollantaytambo. Pisaq is a colonial town. The Inca ruins are on the adjunct mountain. As mentioned before, the locals here lived around the Inca center, at the bottom of the mountain, and only the upper classes lived on the mountain.

Terraces in Pisaq (and a little local playing the flute)

The Inca's method of construction and agriculture on mountains consisted on terraces. The terraces were used not only as farmlands but also to stop the mountains' erosion. It is visible in Colca valley, the sacred valley ruins and Machu-Picchu. In Pisaq there were evidences of experimental grows of different plants including cotton (which is usually grown in far lower altitudes).

Pisaq ruins

A 'Temple of the Sun' (sometimes two) was present in all the places we visited. The Inca's sun temples are round and have windows in specific direction so that the sunlight at sunrise comes from different direction in different seasons and casts different light and shadow of the centerpiece of the temple (which is always natural bedrock). Thus, the Inca followed the seasons precisely. The temple in Ollantaytambo is square because it predates the Incas.

Massive stones in Ollantaytambo's temple of the sun

In the Ollantaytambo ruins there is a massive storage area up on the neighboring bountain. The Incas had gigantic storage that actually sustained the local people for years when the Gold and Silver frenzy of the Spaniards forced them to abandon agriculture.

The Inca's building technique is very impressive. Extremely accurate stone cutting and polishing makes you think that it took them centuries to build their cities. Luckily they had slave labour. In Ollantaytambo and in most of Machu-Picchu there are much more findings that predate the Inca and have other building techniques. Another impressive attribute of the Inca buildings is the constant leaning angles of the walls which strengthened the building against the earthquakes this region is so 'blessed' with. The water to their temples, BTW, is conducted in elaborated underground tunnels from nearby mountains. The quarreys from which they brought the gigantic stones are sometimes many km away.

Ollantaytambo was also where the last major battle between the Inca Manco and the Spaniards (led by Fransisco Pissaro). Before fleeing, The Inca ordered to destroy and cover the trail to Machu-Picchu, which was lost even to the Peruvians until rediscovered in 1911 by an America explorer.

Machu-Picchu

It is considered to be a must in the entire continent, it's the reason for Cuzco's flourishing economy and it is also the reason why the small town that reside below it, Aguas Calientes, is a totally touristic and overpriced place. Nether the less, after much unearthing and reconstructing (about 25% of the place is reconstructed) Machu-Picchu, residing on a steep mountain and accessible only through certain trails (and today, a bus) has preserved much of the Inca's splendor (most of the findings are, however, in the US and all the mommies that were found here were burned .. Because of the fear of diseases) of mighty architectural skills.

We got up early and our guided tour started at 6:30. Later, we climbed the near peak to take pictures from above. The city's shape is supposed to remind a Condor (Cuzco is in the shape of a Puma .. the other animal in Inca mythology is the snake and they represent the 3 levels or universes in their religion) and it is hard to force your imagination to see it. On the other hand, when standing on the opposite side of the site it is easy to see that the mountains form a very nice head shape.

Nobody knows why it was built and who lived there (Cuzco was the capital). Even today, a much larger city is being uncovered in the amazon basin. To me it seems lame that a giant empire, even if week and defeated, leaves no evidence. That is why I won't bother with any more details and let the pictures speak for themselves.

Karin and the Andes in the entrance to MP

MP and the face like mountains

MP as seen from WaynaPicchu, the near mountain

The temple of the sun in MP

MP and its terraces

Karin loves MP

The center of MP

Llama in MP

El Condor F***ing Pasa

I'm continuing my ethnological research in order to answer our reader's questions. Today the focus has come to music!

Before coming to Peru I had one association to Peruvian music - El Condor Pasa on pan flute. After more than 2 weeks in Peru not much has changed... Of the music I've heard here about 75% is pan flute and of this half is El Condor Pasa, a fourth "Andean music" (the kind of music you will hear if you're getting a massage in spa's) and the rest is old Elton John, Phil Collins and Celine Dion hits in pan flute versions.

At every possible chance the Peruvians will throw in a pan flute performance - in restaurants, in the local bath, on the bus, in every freaking street corner... And they will try to sell you their CDs and get some tip, not caring a bit that they were standing 50 cm from your ear while you were trying to talk to your husband. And their friend who never learned to play will be dressed up as an Indian, dancing and making bird sounds in some strange clay instrument.

When they are not thinking about the tourists Peruvians seems to have a weakness for the eighties, I really have had the opportunity to listen to Samantha Fox, Roxette and Fine (Five?) Young Cannibals on this trip. And Rick Astley. I had completely forgotten about him, how could I...

There is of course some modern, local music. R'n'B (how do you write that??) with a lot of latino influences, Ricky Martin-style singers and Beyonce in spanish, but really, who cares the least bit about that??

Colca Canyon

After a day in Arequipa we got on a tour to Colca Canyon, the second deepest canyon in the world with another Peruvian canyon on first place and Grand Canyon on third. Colca canyon is mostly visited for the possibility to see condors, but it is also filled with small towns, pre-Inca terraces and beautiful views.

On the way to the canyon we made short stops to watch vicuñas, a llama-like animal, stock up on coca tea and coca candies (good against altitude sickness and perfectly legal since in its natural form the coca leaf doesn't give you "highs" or is addictive).

We arrived in Chivay, a small town in the northeast end of the valley, in time for lunch and then checked in at our hostel. To get a room with a double bed in this country is very easy - you ask for a "matrimonial", then you say you are married and that you in fact are on your honeymoon (luna de miel) - works like a charm every time, hostelowners have even switched beds from one room to another. Also at this hostel it worked, we were given the "married room" according to our guide...

In the afternoon we went to the hot springs, just outside the town, where we soaked our tired bodies in out- and indoor pools for a couple of hours. In the evening we went to a restaurant to see a local dance show in classical turistic style. Of course, both Yarden and I were dragged on to the dancefloor to dance. Wonderful...

Yarden shows his moves on the dance floor

The following day we were up before sunrise in order to get to the Condor Cross early in the morning when the condors are most visible. But we also managed to squeeze in a couple of stops in villages on the way to look at inka terraces, churches, tombs and maybe some shopping... A bit after eight we got out of the bus to take a walk for about 30 mins to the Condor Cross. On the way we saw one condor close by and felt quite happy that we at least had gotten to see one. But when we reached the cross there were condors everywhere. For two hours we stood, together with hundreds of more tourists, with our heads lifted to the sky, our cameras snapping picture after picture and just enjoyed the performance.

Majestic condor

Going in for landing....

The condors are impressive creatures, they can be over 3 meter from one tip of the wing to the other with a weight of 10-15 kg. The young condor is brown and it's only when they are around 7 years old that they change to the characteristic black and white plumes. Since it's so big it has difficulties to take of for flying which is why they stay high up on the mountains so they can use the wind.

Condor couple

Young condor

Condors in Peru

Arequipa

After a day of rest in Huaraz after our trek we continued our trip southwards by bus. First 8 hours to Lima, where I decided that Lima is in fact a mucho depressive city with a constant cloud parked over the city. It's huge, dirty and polluted so after 2 hours in the bus station I was thrilled to get on the night bus to Arequipa. Just another 14 hours...

Peru really is a strange country when it comes to its nature. We drove on a highway that went through sand dunes that feel steeply into the ocean on one side. And then it continued with stone desert and every now and then a town with half-finished houses and garbage everywhere. It's all very boring to look at. But then you also have the amazing mountains and canyons and green valleys.

Arequipa's Cathedral with volcanoes in the background

After almost 24 hours on buses we finally arrived to Arequipa, Peru's second largest city and with its 760.000 inhabitants it only has a tenth of Lima's population. And it is so much nicer. It's a nice colonial town with beautiful buildings surrounded by high volcanoes around 6.000 m.a.s.l. One of it's bad sides though is that it's a victim of many earthquakes, the last big one in 2001. But they keep rebuilding it over and over... Tired after the bus ride we didn't do much, walked around in the picturesque city center, visited a museum and booked a tour out of the city.

Around Plaza des Armas

There are about 3 taxis for each person in Arequipa

In the evening we went on a date and had a beer on one of the balconies overlooking the magnificent Plaza des Armas. So, to sum it up, Arequipa was a very nice stop on our journey. Beautiful, friendly and you can actually breath the air without choking.

Look how happy girls become when someone takes them on a date!

Attack of the insidious cross-dresser

The streets of Peru are known to be unsafe. Pick-pockets, drug dealers, corrupt police officers, thieves and even robbers lurk in the darkness and wait for an innocent tourist to come by.

The most horrid criminal mind in this Andean country is the insidious cross-dresser. Here is just an example of his (or hers) foul atrocities:

A dressed cross, Cusco, Peru

A few groups of local people are protesting against the police's inability to deal with the situation. Among them I.N.R.I (Indians Not Really Interested) and P.S.Q.R (People Seriously Quaff Rubbish) who decided to take their protest to the streets:

Locals protesting

Terrified, we decided to flee to Bolivia.

Food

Many readers turn to us with questions related to our travels. They want to know more about what's happening in this part of the world and if we can explain different habits and customs. One of the most common questions is about food - what are we eating, what are others eating, how does it taste...the list is endless. And really, who could be better than me to answer questions about eating?

I want to start with a confession though. Something I'm a bit ashamed of. We haven't had ceviche yet, Peru's national dish. And no guinea pig either. We have had some Pisco Sour though, which is Peru's national drink, they even have an official Pisco Sour-day here. I didn't like it too much, it reminded me too much of an unfortunate evening during my high school years (remember the whisky sour Frida??).

What we eat is basically rice and chicken. Since my husband takes great pride in being the only tourist in a reastaurant we often end up in smole hole-in-the-wall joints with a bunch of locals staring at us while we are trying to decipher the menu of the day. The typical menu consists of a soup that up 'til this day we have not been able to understand what sort we will be served. Doesn't matter though, it always turns out to be potatoes, carrots and unidentified, suspicious pieces of meat/chicken/intestines... Sometimes surprisingly tasty. After the soup comes the main course, normally one of the following choices: chicken, fried fish, lomo saltado (some kind of meat hidden undera thick layer of fried onion and tomato) and finally something with a strange name that we have absolutely no idea what it is. Always served with rice, sometimes also with fries. To this the one and only drink is of course Inca Kola. Sometimes you get lucky with your order, sometimes less so. One thing that never disappoints though is the price - together with a drink the check is normally 8 soles (approx 2 USD).

Another staple in our food circle is the quarter of a grilled chicken served with french fries, tiny salad and sometimes a drink for 5-7 soles (1,5-2 USD). This can be found at a multitude of Pollerias everywhere in Peru.

Yarden at a Polleria

The third cheap option is to go to a Chifa, a chinese restaurant. They serve pretty much the same food as in the other restaurants but it has more chinese sounding names.

Logical menu - first you eat, then you pay!

Then of course, sometimes one of us says - I don't know about you but I'm on my honeymoon - and then we end up having alpaca steak and some wine, or a coffee and a sandwich for three times the price of an ordinary meal. But it is nice!

Funny people...

No, there will be no eating of dog on this trip!

Multi-religious experience

Sometimes you find yourselves in situations you really wouldn't want to be part of but there is absolutely nothing to do but trail along. Yesterday was such a time. After a 4-day trek in high altitudes getting on a bus and head back home (or to Huaraz in this case) should be a piece of cake. Well, it just wasn't. This was where the real adventure began.

Packed into a minibus, the most common public transportation in Peru, together with about 16 other, we started to climb on a serpentine gravel road. At the top I looked out of the window and saw the most amazing serpentine road going down on another mountain. I turn to Yarden and just when I'm saying "look at that crazy road" I realise that it is the road that we are going down. It is a narrow road, sharp curves, plenty of crosses as memorials over people that didn't make it and we're sitting in this minibus that has seen better days. I squeeze Yarden's hand hard at every curve and release it a bit every time we make it through. Yarden says that he definitely hope there is a God and I answer that I believe in all of them at the moment. Whoever will help us through I'm ready to pray to.

Half-way down the road the minibus stops. In front of us is another bus that also has stopped. Turns out the other bus' steering wheel stopped working. Not something you want to happen at a serpentine road. Everyone gets out of the buses, we speak a bit to a couple from the other bus, that we met on the trek earlier. They seem a bit shaken and don't look forward to get into the bus again. After an hour the drivers fixed the problem and everyone gets on the bus again. The couple joke about having us call their mother's if they don't make it, it doesn't feel completely as a joke... The rest of the way down is nerve-wrecking. I try not to look at the road.

In Yungay we switch to another minibus to Huaraz. This time it's a paved road and it feels safe. Should take about 1,5 hours to get back. After 1 hour a high noise sounds and the driver brakes fiercly. Everyone gets out of the bus, gets their bags and tries to catch another ride as fast as possible. We end up staying on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere for about 20 minutes until another minibus stops and picks us up. We finally arrive to Huaraz at 7 o'clock at night and I have rarely been so happy to be alive!

High-altitude dreams

You would think that sleeping in a tent in a national park, surrounded by snowy peaks and beautiful nature would cause you to have serene dreams filled with horses gallopping over fields, glittering mountain lakes and healthy activities. Not in my world. I woke up one morning realising that I had been dreaming about the following things:

- I was going to a Sting-concert. Everyone tried to get in without a ticket but I was cool and had tickets.

- I was playing golf with Jack Nicholson. He was mad most of the time.

- I accidentaly cut of 2-3 mm of skin from my mothers nose with a knife. She said it was ok but I knew it would hurt like hell.

- My fridge was filled with cakes. Big tasty cakes with loads of chocolate on.

I guess the fact that I was seen as cool for having tickets to a Sting-concert must have had something to do with the lack of oxygen. Playing golf with Jack Nicholson however is always cool.

Good thing I have action filled dreams at least!

The Santa Cruz Trek

The Santa Cruz trek is probably the most beaten in the Andes around Huaraz. Nonetheless, it promises some of the best views of the Andes. We decided to go for it because it's probably one of the few treks that gets to nice places in 4 days only and because we wanted to do it ourselves, that is with no guide or donkeys.

So, after buying a map, gas canisters for cooking and renting a tent and a better sleeping bag for Karin we went to the market and bought all the food needed for a 4 days hike.

The next morning we hopped on a bus (that is a transit packed with 20 people) to Caraz, a town 2 hours north of Huaraz and from there a collective (a private car that collected passengers in the market) to Cachapampa, where our journey begun.

Climbing on the first day

The first day of the hike was difficult. We ascended from 2800 a.s.l to 3800 a.s.l in what seemed to be an endless climb. Both of us had trouble dealing with the thin air (really, at 3500 a.s.l you get 40% less oxygen in every breath) which meant fatigue, heavy breathing and even headaches. We had very little attention for the beautiful Andean valley we were walking in. Only towards the end of that day, when we were really tired we noticed the first snowy peaks that were waiting us.

The view while ascendeing, first day

The first evening and night were rough. The temperatures dropped sharply after the sun disappeared behind the mountains so we rushed to make our dinner and go to sleep. An interesting thing happened when I was trying to cook rice with water that I previously purified with Iodine pills. The purified water has the color of apple juice (and the taste of Iodine) but when reacting with the starch in the rice it turned blue. from that incident and on we used non-purified water to cook.

The first evening

The night was hard for me. I had an headache and felt sick. Those are signs of altitude sickness. It takes time for the body to produce more red blood cells and expand the used areas of the lungs to adapt to the thin air.I was gasping and felt like a fish out of the water. Eventually, I got some sleep. Karin seemed to have an easier time.

The second day was an easy walk. We didn't gain more than 400m and the Andes were glorious. We both felt the signs of the altitude when climbing or even getting up quickly .. You just get dizzy. That evening we had a carbohydrate rich dinner because the next day was supposed to be the hardest.

A mountain lake, second day

The second night was freezing. The drinking water we kept in the tent was fine but the cooking water we kept outside partially froze.

The third day was the challenge day. It begun early with a nutritious oats, banana and raisins breakfast that we cooked without leaving the tent because of the cold. In the first half of that day we climbed to the Punta Union pass at 4750 a.s.l and descended to the valley on the other side. The ascent was slow. We had to stop very often and to advance very slowly.

A lake on the mountain side, third day

Views from the ascent to the pass, third day

The view from the pass is amazing. Snow covered peaks, glaciers, pools and valleys spreading to the horizon.

At the pass (to which we'll call Debelstin pass)

On the pass

Both sides of the pass

A blue bird we found on the way down

The last day was supposed to be event less but still we managed to loose some time straying of the course (completely my fault) and spend hours on the collectivos back to Huaraz on roads that serpentined in a very scary way down hill and on a vehicle that just broke down in the middle of the way to Huaraz. Eventually we got there, already in the dark, and concluded the experience as taxing but beautiful and rewarding.

The view of the last day