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Written by Keith Rhoades
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Tuesday, 26 October 2004 |
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i feel like i am in hell right now. it is so hot i feel i am in the depths of hell. i found out that this naszca desert is the driest in the world and that there has been no significant rainfull since the ice age!!!! can you believe it.....i of course have a crispy nose right now. At any rate, last night i ended up going to a little restruant recommended by lonely planet....i was the only person there and the waitress was Isabella and joined me for dinner. We had a complete conversaton in spanish about politics, Bush, peru, musica latina, etc. it was great. i tried to go to bed early and was awoken at 5 am by roosters crowing. I then got ready for my flight over the nazca lines which started off a bit shakey...but the Gods are truly shining on me. i signed up for the half hour flight for $40.....they also had a one hour flight for $74 dollars that went over the geoglyphs of the peruvian pampas. well, my flight was at 8 am but i got bumped by a group of Germans. I was kind and patient and they said i would have to do the 9 am flight...but they would take me on the hour flight and i didn{t have to pay extra....we watched an interesting video about the nazca culture which pre dates the incas and the lines are from 600 BC. I was nervous...but the flight was great. But then i started to get sick...but i didn{t heave...though a girl from malasia behind me heaved. it wasn{t the flight as much as it was the banking to the left, banking to the right, it was crazy. the lines were magnificient!!! it is still a msytery who or why the lines were ever created....i like to think aliens...since one of the lines looks like a martian!!! lolAFter i walked around the nazca village and had lunch and then went to the museum. it was so hot i had to sit in the shade and drink water. i then did my postcards and it cost me $15 to send out 11 postcards...i was not happy about that...that is three nights lodging here or 3 large meals!!! i now have 6 hours unil my bus leaves....no buses go during hte day because of the heat.....the next ride is 8 hours so im taking the 10:30 bus, sleep on the bus and then arrive in Arequipa at 7;30 AM and spend the day...maybe the night. WE shall see....i am anxious to get up to puno and lake titicacac. But i also need to take it slow with the elevation. Arequipa is going to be at 8,000 feet. So far, i am fairing well except for on that plane..but what a great memory!!i am not sure if i am going to make it to La Paz due to time and money....but i will at least cross the border to copacabana.oh....i forgot...for those catholics out there...i am wearing a scalpular that Cesar gave me to "protect me during my journey"...all of the old catholic memories came running back when he gave me that. kind of a touching story though. WEll, my friends....i am going to try to stay cool and then have dinner with isabella and be off. Take care, with much peace |
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Last Updated ( Friday, 09 February 2007 )
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Written by Keith Rhoades
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Monday, 25 October 2004 |
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i am doing pretty good...though today was sort of a hard day. i think i am getting to old for these long bus rides. The good news...i have actually been smoking less since i got to peru....less than a pack a day! go figure.... i woke up this morning and Cesar made breakfast then we went to the bank to get my money squared away. he then took me to the downtown bus terminal in lima where i caught a noon bus to naszca......the ride was fun and interesting at first...but then it just got old. it took 7 hours to get to naszca. however, after heading south out of lima you enter the great coastal desert....i have never seen anything like it....it looked like the pacific ocean met the sahara desert...there was not a living shrub out there and only sand dunes. we occasionally stopped in small vilages along the way whcih touches my soul to see how the people live and the poverty is unbelievable. I will never complain again about having a studio apartment and 99 saturn!!! The bus then started climbing the high desert so I am at about 5,000 feet now.....i got off the bus and was swarmed by people for taxi, hotel, etc....but i knew where i was going and walked to the hostel...and asked to see the room befoer i made a decision...i did not want the costa rica cockroach experience again. i took a nice clean room with shared bathroom for $3.50! the people there were very nice and i booked my flight for tomorrow mornting at 8 am to fly over the nazca lines.....these lines in the sand date back thousands of years ago...some say it was aliens...but the main theory is that the natives drew them in the sand for religious purposes. i will be flying on a 3 seat Cesna for an hour. the tour cost $40 for everything...which is a good deal becuase lonely planet said $35 for just the flight. so now i am at an internet cafe and going to Pollo Rico for some chicken. Then try to go to bed and rest. Tomorrow after the lines i have a late bus to ARequipa as i begin to ascend the andes...i will adjust there for a day as i don{t want to get altitude sickness and there is a monastery there i want to see that is in my book "1000 places to see before you die"....naszca lines is in that book as well as machu pichu. well my friends.....i love being on my own for a while...the weather so far has been fair and my health has been excellent....take care my friend.with many warm thoughts and love |
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Last Updated ( Friday, 09 February 2007 )
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Written by Keith Rhoades
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Sunday, 24 October 2004 |
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Hola mis amigos y familia! Que tal? It is Saturday night about 10 pm and getting ready to go out dancing tonight.... but unlike the US things are open here later. Let{s see... I don't even know where to being. Lima is such a huge and overwhelming city, noisy and crazy. Of course poverty is very sad here. I’ve been getting lessons on all kinds of historic and political things such as prostitution is legal, but not pimping, marijuana is legal but not selling but you can posses and use. It is nice to spend the time with a local person (who yes is on my team) the current president has 12% support while the previous president is being extradited from Japan. There are also major problems with coca terrorists outside of Lima and yesterday they were blocking the roads so busses could not get through...so everything on my schedule is tentative. This morning I woke up late...Cesar took me to the travel agency and helped me get all of my bus tickets and stuff for the rest of my Peru travel so that was very helpful. After we took a taxi to the Baranco district which we went on a walking tour of the old colonial mansions. There I had picarones (Peruvian donuts) and mate de coca Coca tea. In the afternoon we went to the Magdalena district to the national museum of anthropology and archeology which was incredible saw mummies, burial rights, pottery, and historical explanation of the civilizations of Peru throughout the ages. After we went out to a cafe and chatter. Now we are home getting ready to go to the disco. On the other hand....this trip is teaching me patience and tolerance...the Peruvians are very, very slow and when they talk they get in your space..like less than a foot from you, speak directly to you and talk forever...and I like to talk but some of the conversations I have had I thought would never end....but they are very friendly...all of them have been very personable. Cesar is a very nice guy...however, I believe he has fallen head over heals for me...more so for me than for him. I guess I can face the reality that we will probably only see each other for 3 days and then move on....but it is always nice to have friends around the world. He has a maid, his parents live in Zurich Switzerland and he works as a tax attorney for the Peruvian government. As I write this I feel like auntie mame or something. Tomorrow is my last day in Lima and proves to be a busy one with lots of historical churches and archaeology sites....I will keep you updated.. |
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Last Updated ( Friday, 09 February 2007 )
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Written by Keith Rhoades
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Saturday, 23 October 2004 |
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well my nerves and anxiety are up a bit tonight....for one things I am not sure I did the safest thing today as Cesar took me to his friend Rosa's for lunch and she made carne, ensalada, fruit, and lemonade..but alas. I drank the water...so far so good tho. Sometimes when I travel I just have to close my eyes and hope for the best. Also this is my last night in lima....tomorrow I am on my own....I take a bus to Nazca where the lines in the sand are and will take a two seat plane when I get there to see the famous Nazca lines which those small prop planes unnerve me and I have never flown in one. It is a small village in the middle of the desert...anyway, I am sure I will be fine. As for today....we woke up and Cesar made breakfast and then took me to Pachacamac which is outside of Lima and is from 200AD from the Incas and wari culture. Pyramids, etc....but it was in the middle of the desert...I kid you not I felt like I was in Cairo...I didn’t know Peru had desert like this. We were there for quite a while...it was great and I climbed to the top of the temple of the sun. The drive out to the ruins was overwhelming, as I have never seen such poverty...as when you get out of Lima. I felt like I would commit suicide if I had to live like that. Very sad.After we went to his friend Rosa's for lunch and then headed to Lima Centro the historical section. Our first stop was the main square, which also has the presidential palace...,and there were demonstrations. We went to the San Francisco monastery...found in 1600 and it was wonderful....there were catacombs underneath25,000 bodies were there..It was eerie. It was the only cemetery until 1700 in Lima. They also had wonderful paintings including one of the last supper with Peruvian influence including the serving of guinea pig instead of bread and wine. After the catacombs we went to iglesia de merced which is where the first mass took place in lima in 1535. After that...went to the Sanctuary of Santa Rosa de lima...which was utter madness...i nevef saw so many pilgrims trying to touch the spot and picture where st. rose of lima was born. i seriously thought i was going to get trampled...but it was bittersweet to see so many faithful truly believe some miracle would happen for them. Then went to the church of Santa Domingo and saw the tombs of St. Rose of lima and st. martin de porres...they actually have their skulls on display. After that we walked more to the palace of justice (their supreme court) and Cesar took me to see his office where he works. Downtown historical lima was a trip....so many people, honking, it was sheer madness...but i kind of thrived on it...the excitement, the hope. So we got home and Cesar helped me make some phone calls to line up lodging for the next 3 nights...so taht is taken care. we went out to dinner for chinese food...go figure...and just got home. so i leave lima tomorrow...but i will return to lima november 5th and of course will stay one more day with Cesar who will take me to the airport to get back to the US. Bueno...es todo para ahora. That is it for now. Take care and i will try to wirte in the next day or two depending on the internet situation...but you know how i am with email...like a moth to a flame...so i am sure i will find an internet cafe. |
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Last Updated ( Friday, 09 February 2007 )
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Written by Keith Rhoades
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Thursday, 21 October 2004 |
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It is almost midnight and I am about to go to bed. Please forgive the typos I have not got the knack of this foreign keyboard. I’ve been up for almost 48 hours and feel I have been gone for a week already. My plane left lax on time and go to Costa Rica. In Costa Rica I ended up sitting next to someone that was from lima and we hit it off...his name is Cesar and is an attorney for the Peruvian government.... he is 34 years old. So...as luck would have it that is where I am staying...I’m on the 10th floor of a high rise in Mira Flores district overlooking the Pacific Ocean. We went out for a late lunch and then took a walk along the beach and then had a late dinner. So I have free lodging and transportation this week plus companionship!! Isn’t this awesome. Tomorrow he is taking me on the tour of the city and then going to a club for some salsa and merengue dancing. So far this trip has started off great...though there was a riot near cusco today and 10 people died. It is hard to believe I am finally South America!!! The weather is warm and I can hardly wait to get some sleep. |
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