Sedona Views

So, you thought you'd never hear about our adventures again, right? I must admit, I didn't think blogging was necessary once I got back to the States. I thought Facebook updates and regular phone calls to my family were enough. I could tell my stories, post a few pictures, and get on with things. That's all fine and good, but then I realized another problem: I forget things.

Mike and I have been on many adventures big and small back in the States, but I have no real record of them. I don't keep a diary. Some people might argue that there's no real point in keeping a record of the past -- just live in the moment, right? I agree to a certain extent, but I also like to reminisce. And when our friends get back from a weekend trip and ask "Have you guys gone canyoneering in Bear Canyon before?" I usually don't have a clue; "Is that the one with the high rock walls, the freezing cold water, and the ridiculously gorgeous views?" Ummm...yeah. I've just described half the canyons in this state. When you can't even recall the names of the insanely beautiful places you've been, maybe you aren't taking enough time to appreciate them. So, with a little prompting from Mike, I've decided to take up the blog again.

It's tempting to back-track and tell you about all the stuff we've done in the past few years that we haven't recorded, but that would be madness. We haven't ventured across our borders in a while (except for that doomed rafting trip in Mexico on a river that turned out to be bone dry), but we've been to Iowa, New York, Boston, Vegas, Hawaii, and many, many places closer to home. Speaking of home, by the way, we have one of those now, too. Since I'm not going to delve into the madness of a hundred smaller trips, I'll start with the most logical first step: I'll talk about the short trip we just got back from.

Sedona, AZ. If you haven't been, it's one of the most beautiful places in the United States. And it's only 2 hours from Phoenix. (And we have a spare bedroom, so come visit us and the lovely Sedona sometime). Sedona is famous for it's striking red rocks landscape, and it is considered by many to be a place of spiritual significance. We went because we worked out a sweet deal with a friends' parents, essentially trading photography and editing expertise for 3 nights at a Bed & Breakfast.


A typically gorgeous Sedona view.

After one day of work, we spent our second full day going on various small trips around the area. We started by checking out the Chapel of the Holy Cross, which was built by one of Frank Lloyd Wright's proteges. (I'm suddenly fond of FLW because I also went to check out his Taliesin West architecture school recently. That's another fascinating Phoenix day trip.)


The Chapel of the Holy Cross.


The garish and out of place mega mansion across from the austere Chapel of the Holy Cross. Rumor has it that the man who invented LASIK is the owner.

After that we went to Red Rock Crossing, which is a park area surrounding a creek with lots of great views of the red rocks. There are lots of little paths, plenty of swimming spots, and even wild blackberries along the way!


An old mill at Red Rock Crossing.


A cairn (trail marker) midstream. (Mike's picture)


Mike napping in a tree.


Mike the monkey.


One of those pretty views of creek and trees and red rocks and sky that is so...Sedona. (Mike's picture)

The last stop of the day brought us to the Devil's Bridge. This is a natural archway in the red rock near Sedona. The hike itself is only about 1-2 miles and is fairly easy-going. That is, until you run into a rattlesnake! Mike was ahead of me on the trail, heard the ominous rattle, and leaped back about 3 feet. Luckily we managed to scootch past him after taking his picture. In my 5 years of hiking in AZ, this is the first time I've seen a rattlesnake on a hiking trail, so it was exciting, but also a bit nerve-racking. I was a bit more skittish than usual on our hike out.


Devil's Bridge from below.


The view across from Devil's Bridge.


Rattlesnake! (Mike's picture)


Devil's Bridge from above.


Me on top of Devil's Bridge. (Mike's picture)


Mike doing a kung fu crane on top of Devil's Bridge.

We ate at the most fabulous restaurant called Elote that night and retired to our lovely Sedona Views Bed & Breakfast. We had slightly bigger plans for our last day in Sedona, so after soaking in our own private hot tub under the stars, we plopped into bed.

Bear Mountain was our last-day's challenge. We hiked up as the vegetation and color of the rocks changed significantly. The bottom was characterized by red rocks and cacti, while the top had white rocks and pine trees. Our elevation went from 4600ft. to 6400ft. over the course of a couple of hours. My feet were a bit sore and the going was a little slower than normal because I did not have my hiking boots with me. (I destroyed those on a canyoneering trip down Mount Lemmon with Mike and my cousin, Chris.) Instead, I had only my Vibram Five Fingers, which are lovely for short hikes (like the one to Devil's Bridge), but take a bit more getting used to for longer, rockier hikes. Ah well. The small amount of pain was definitely worth it for the amazing views from the top. The Grand Canyon is gorgeous, but so is red rock country. If you're looking for an exotic domestic getaway, Sedona is worth checking out. It's good for adventurous families or romantic couples' weekends. And now I'm sounding like a travel brochure...


The beginning stages of Bear Mountain.


Prickly Pear cactus on the lower portion of Bear Mountain.


Little lizard on the trail.


The whitish rock towards the top of the mountain. (Mike's picture)


Views to rival the Grand Canyon. (Mike's picture)


We live in such a gorgeous state!


Don't fall!


Uh-oh. Maybe I should put down my camera and help.


Do you see the bear on a diving board? (Mike's picture)

Anyway, we had a great time, and Sedona was beautiful enough to inspire me to take up blogging again. I'm not sure how regular my posts will be since school is starting up again next week, but I'm sure there will be many adventures to come. I hope you enjoy hearing about our adventures and looking at our pictures once again. (By the way, a lot of these shots are mine, and I edited all of them. Mike won a fabulous Canon G11 camera for me, so we take that on most of our hiking trips now.)

Las Islas de Titicaca

Once we reached Puno, Sharon, Bernie, Mike, and I were anxious to visit a few of the islands on Lake Titicaca. So, one morning we worked our way down to the dock with the vague plan to hitch a boat to as many of the islands as we could. This proved a bit more difficult than we anticipated, so rather than hopping on some sort of tourist boat we more or less hired our own. We booked a private 2-day tour for the four of us. The tour included transportation, a home stay with a family on Amantani, and a total of 4 island visits. After purchasing plenty of water and snacks and a gift for our host family, we set off across the water.


A look back at Puno on the shore. All of the photos in this post are Sharon and Bernie's since ours are lost and they so graciously provided their pics for your viewing pleasure.


Sharon relaxes on the back of the boat. It was a beautiful sun-shiney day, but still a bit chilly given the altitude and the breeze.

Our first stop was one of the coolest and most unique places I have ever set foot. In fact, this was evident from the very first step I took onto the island. Lake Titicaca is home to the "floating islands" of Uros. An entire chain of islands near Puno is man-made from totora reeds. The 40-some-odd islands are home to 700 or so Uros people who originally left land in order to evade enemies hundreds of years ago. Not only are the islands themselves made of totora reeds, so are the inhabitants' houses, their boats, and many of their crafts. Stepping onto an Uros island is somewhat like stepping on a hay bale -- the ground is springy yet solid, made up of millions of reeds yet cohesive. The islands are tethered to keep them from floating on over into Bolivia, so they almost have the feel of an enormous raft rather than an island. Of course, many of the Uros islands are large enough to house schools, multiple family homes, and other common community buildings.

The first Uros island we stopped on was small-ish with only a half a dozen or so families living on it. It featured several homes, a watch tower, and a fishing hole (they just cut out part of the ground and breed fish right there).

We visited a second Uros island as well, though we only stopped for ten minutes. The second island offered several vendor stalls, a small restaurant, and a hotel of sorts. It would have been interesting to stay there for the night.


The locals on the first Uros island gave us a presentation (in Spanish) about how the islands are built and maintained, how the people live their lives, etc. Although I did understand most of the presentation, I can't remember much of it anymore.


The locals had their crafts on display for us. Sharon bought a neat mobile from one of the ladies. By the way, that is a solar panel on the right of the picture. These people have sustainability down pretty well. They build their homes out of fast-growing reeds, their boats rely on wind and man power, and they use solar power for their few energy needs. Rock on!


Whereas Sharon bought the mobile, I just couldn't resist this cute basket shaped like the Titicaca reed boats. We use it to put our fruit in at home.


Here's one of the real boats in action.


Here's one of the watch towers.


And here's Mike in another tower. Since the towers are built on the springy island reeds, the ladders are a bit scary to climb. I knew that if I fell I would be landing on a soft pile of reeds though, so I didn't worry about it too much. If I'm remembering correctly, I think the little teepee in the foreground is where the food gets cooked.

I just realized that I have a lot more to tell you about the islands than I thought. I'm a busy girl though, so I think this is where I will leave off for tonight. More for next time!

Journey to Lake Titicaca

Whenever I hear "Lake Titicaca" I can't help but run through the Animaniacs song about it in my head. So, I've included it for your viewing pleasure:



Now we can get down to business.

After Sharon and Bernie's solo trip to Macchu Picchu and our near-miss Ollantaytambo meet-up, the four of us headed back to Cusco. We only stayed one more night, though, because we caught a tourist bus heading to Puno the next morning.

This would probably be the best place for me to deliver some bad news: due to computer problems we lost several days' worth of photos. Although there's still a slim chance we may someday recover them, the pictures from our trip to Puno and our tour of Lake Titicaca are unavailable for now. Alas, we must carry on. I will do my best to supplement the next couple of posts with visuals from other Internet sources so that you can still get a sense of our travels. The pictures will appear again once our story brings us to Arequipa.

So, our tourist bus to Puno was a trip. Most of the buses Mike and I took up to this point we merely point A to point B buses, but this one was different. We figured we'd get the most out of our limited time with Sharon and Bernie if we hopped a bus that would take us to the neat touristy places on the way to Lake Titicaca. It was good to see some of the ruins and sights we saw, but I don't really recommend this mode of travel unless you're really strapped for time. We (Sharon and Bernie included) kind of felt like we'd fallen in with the geriatric crowd. These weren't your young, energetic, adventurous tourists. These were the type of tourists who wear fanny packs and worry out loud about dangerous locals. These were the type who move in huddled masses like sheep being herded from destination to destination. Generally we like to think of ourselves as a bit more free-wheeling. We just didn't feel like we had enough time to explore the sights and enjoy the fresh air before being pushed back on the bus. Nevertheless, we did get the opportunity to see the "Sistine Chapel of South America."

Which, by the way, is nowhere near as impressive as the actual Sistine Chapel. I know, I know, I sound like a total travel snob, but trust me -- the comparison was an extreme stretch. If you have to choose between visiting the Sistine Chapel in Italy and the "Sistine Chapel of South America," go with the former. I don't think this "Sistine Chapel" even makes my "Top 5" of churches we saw in South America. I'm sure it was gorgeous at one point, since apparently it used to be covered in gold leaf, but after many many robberies it just looks a little tacky. Tackiness isn't necessarily a unique feature of this church, though -- I find the wooden Jesus dolls with purple velvet robes and curly doll hair a bit tacky and creepy in any church setting.



The outside of the church at Andahuaylillas.



The inside of the "Sistine Chapel of South America." The ceiling is painted not with images of God and Adam but with a uniformly hideous "wallpaper effect" that looks like something more appropriate for a 70's shirt. Oh, and the remaining gold leaf that hasn't been stolen is almost blinding.

Our second stop of the trip was at an impressive Inca ruin, and therefore much more interesting. The site is known as Raqchi and was used as a stopover for pilgrimages to Cusco. It has impressively tall ruins of a temple and several smaller buildings that were likely used for grain storage and as hostels for pilgrims to Cusco.



The temple at Raqchi.

We also stopped at a touristy display of sorts just down the road from Raqchi. The place had several vendors selling jewelry, clothing, etc. It also showcased a "typical kitchen" complete with guinnea pigs, and a grassy area where we could get up close and personal with a few llamas and alpacas. A few people even bottle fed the babies. Awww...



They're even softer than they look!

Another stop lasted only a few minutes, but we were escorted off the bus at the highest point of our journey between the two cities. The point is known as La Raya, and is 4335 meters above sea level. Pretty darn high!

At one more stop before our arrival in Puno we went to a museum in Pukara. I don't really remember much about it other than the fact that there were a lot of stones and carved images. Don't ask me what they were depicting, though -- I can't remember what they looked like, but I do remember thinking the interpretation seemed a bit far-fetched.

After this interesting but exhausting day we finally arrived in Puno just as it was getting dark. We ended up being delayed by a rather vocal and mildly violent altercation between the bus driver and a police officer, but we were eventually allowed off the bus. Sharon, Bernie, Mike, and I made our way to a hotel to recover from our journey. Over the next few days we explored the city of Puno, Lake Titicaca, and some nearby ruins, but I'll be saving that for the next post. Ciao!

P.S. I forgot I even posted a trivia question... Here's the answer: I don't have any students from Japan this semester. The majority of my students are from China, and the rest are from South Korea, Taiwan, Bangladesh, and the UAE. So far the semester is going well.

Ollantaytambo

After several days of acclimating to the altitude and touring the sites in and around Cusco with us, Sharon and Bernie set off to do a little exploring on their own. You simply cannot come all the way to Peru without seeing Machu Picchu, and since Mike and I hadn't been patient enough to wait and see it with them they were forced to go it alone. We sent them on their merry way and made plans to pick them up in Cusco the next night.

When Sharon and Bernie got to Aguas Calientes, however, they were unable to buy return train tickets to Cusco. We emailed back and forth a few times and came up with an alternative plan: we would meet them in Ollantaytambo, another town on the train's route.

This seemed straightforward enough.

Mike and I figured we could take a bus to Ollantaytambo, book a hotel for the 4 of us, and meet Sharon and Bernie at the train station after their eventful day of M.P. sightseeing.

Easier said than done.

You see, Bernie told Mike that the train would get in to Ollantaytambo "around 11:00 pm," assuming that Mike would double-check the time for more specific information. Mike interpreted the statement to mean something more like "show up around 11:01 so that you can pick us up after we've exited the train and gathered our belongings."

So, the next night as Mike and I are sitting in our hotel room (about 10 blocks down the same street as the train station) at 10:45 I notice a lot of street noise. I look out the window to see several taxis and a few tourists with backpacks or wheel-y suitcases rumble by. Hmmm.... "Mike, what time did you say the train gets in?"

We decided it was about time for us to walk on down to the train station, so we set off a few minutes later. By the time we got to the station, it was pitch dark...and locked. Hmmm.... We sort of stood there not knowing what to do for a moment, and then I started my worried tirade:

"Oh no! We've missed them! What do you think happened? Shit, shit, shit. They probably thought we'd abandoned them. How could they think that? Of course we'd come get them. Shit. They probably waited for, like, 5 minutes and gave up on us. Do you think they would have gotten a taxi? I think I might have seen your Dad through the window of that last one that went by. Wouldn't they have seen us? Shit! So you s'pose they would just try to find their own hotel for tonight? How will we ever find them again? What a mess! I mean, I guess we could meet them back at our Cusco hotel, but do you think they would be able to make it back there? Their Spanish isn't the greatest. Shit! They must have been freaking out, getting off the train and not being able to find us. What do you think they would do? How will we contact them? Now what?"

(There may have been even more expletives in my actual speech, but I think it's best to leave out all the gritty details.)

So after about 5 minutes of standing outside the locked train station freaking out, I noticed a security guard walking our way. "Buscan sus padres?" (Are you looking for your parents?) How did he know? Turns out he knew because he managed to piece together the near-frantic older couple who'd gotten off the train with the near-frantic younger couple outside the locked gates. Genius. He unlocked the gates and led us to where Sharon and Bernie were trying their best to communicate their predicament to some locals.

Ah, relief.

By now I'm sure you've figured out that the "around 11:00 pm" train actually arrived quite a bit earlier. Sharon and Bernie got off at the stop and patiently waited for Mike and I to collect them. Slowly, all of the other passengers trickled out of the station, with no sign of Mike and me. The remaining taxi drivers tried to shuffle Sharon and Bernie into their cabs, explaining that there would be no more cabs that night. They wisely resisted. Once the station was completely abandoned, Sharon and Bernie busted out their English-Spanish dictionary and tried to ask for help/advice. I think they were pretty frustrated and worried, especially since very little progress was being made with the language barrier. I'm pretty sure all 4 of us were quite relieved when we were finally reunited.

Luckily, we had a pretty swanky place for the night, so we all slept well after that escapade.

The next day we explored Ollantaytambo -- the town and the ruins. There really isn't a whole lot to say about them (you've already seen so many photos of ruins), so I'll just go ahead and post some pictures:



Look! Torritos on an actual Peruvian house. (Do you remember the photo of the bulls we put up on the archway of our house in Mesa?)



Another set-up.



Translating is hard!







Corn drying on a rooftop.







The Ollantaytambo firemen were out hosing down the streets for some reason or another.

After our day in Ollantaytambo we returned to Cusco, stayed another night, and finally set off for Lake Titicaca -- but more on that in the next post...

On a side note, I encourage you to watch this week's episode of MTV's Exiled. It takes place in Ollantaytambo, Peru -- or at least the countryside near there. Exiled is a show in which bratty, spoiled, rich kids are sent to live with a family in some third-world country for a week. It should be at least mildly entertaining, and you might get a better idea of what we saw and experienced when we were in Peru. The show airs on Monday nights, so check your local listings for the time!

"Sexy Woman" and Other Lesser-Known Ruins

I've taken quite the hiatus from blogging, but there's still so much to tell about our adventures in Peru. Even though I'm extremely super-busy this semester, hopefully I'll find the time to blog more regularly until you're all caught up on our travels.

After we left the Pisac market, Sharon, Bernie, Mike, and I visited the Pisac ruins that dot the hills above the town.



The taxi driver who drove us up to the ruins handed us a map and told us he'd pick us up and take us back to town in an hour and a half.



Although the ruins aren't quite as grand or as famous as those at Macchu Picchu, they still feature some very nice terracing and some spectacular views.



Of course, the locals take advantage of the spot to sell belts, purses and knick-knacks to tourists.



Sharon and Bernie pose for a picture on a walk-through cave path.



Sharon tipped some young boys who were playing music for the tourists. They were abysmal. Maybe they can use the money for lessons. Or better yet, they could put their tips toward a decent education so that they don't have to play horrible music at tourist attractions.

After getting our fill of Pisac (market and ruins), we hopped a bus to another ruin called Tambomachay.



Again, the locals were on hand to pose for photos in exchange for tips. This is far more common in areas near Cusco than anywhere else in the country. These ladies were in the process of spinning wool. Even in non-touristy settings it's common to see women walking around with a bag of fluff on one hip and a spinning bob in their hands, though they might be in less ostentatious clothing.



We found ourselves at Tambomachay at a time of day when the lighting was really pretty on the mountains and the ruins.



The site featured some nice waterways.

With the light fading fast, we finally made it back to Cusco. That wasn't the end of our tour de ruinas, however. We later went to visit a site just minutes from our hotel in Cusco. It overlooks the city and is known as Saqsaywaman, or "Sexy Woman." Just to be clear, that is not a translation -- only a phonetic approximation. This site more than likely served as some sort of fort because it has excellent views and is heavily fortified.



"Sexy Woman" sign.



The stones, like those at M.P., are carefully fitted together.



Here, Bernie's sitting in a "throne" on the opposite side of the parade grounds at Saqsaywaman.



One of the most impressive things about Saqsaywaman is the size of her *ahem* boulders.... Archaeologists still wonder how the Incans were able to position such massive stones.



Llama butts.

We were able to visit many of these sites because we purchased boletos turisticos, or tourist tickets. Our tickets also gained us entry to a dance and music presentation in Cusco. Costumed dancers performed various cultural numbers to live music. Although I'm not quite sure they were the best of the best, the dancers were at least entertaining.



Peruvian cowboy dance?



Same dance.



This freaky masked-man is performing a dance number in which the men actually whip each other. We could hear the whips whistling through the air and then cracking against the men's legs. Very sado-masochistic.

Okay, that's it for now -- I hope you enjoyed your tour. If I do not post another blog in the next week or so, feel free to send me harrassing emails. I will be more likely to blog if people bug me about it.