Japan

I have mixed feelings about Japan. My expectations were too high. Everyone that has been there raves about it so much that I thought it was going to be absolutely mind-blowing!

It was a good trip, but not sure if it lived up to the hype. Time travel permitting, if I had gone a few decades ago, I would have thought that I stepped through a tear in the space-time continuum and arrived in the future rather than a distant land; but, while Japan developed and modernized ahead of many other countries, it has stagnated in recent years and the rest of the world has had a chance to catch up.

It’s super clean, organized, orderly, efficient and the people are polite like nowhere else. All shopping is handed to you with both hands and a bow. If you ask a question about where something is, the shop assistant will take you there instead of pointing to where it should be.

The trains are absolutely the best! I especially like the moment when the bullet trains pull into the station, and I feel like I’m stepping onto a spaceship instead of an ordinary mode of transport. I dare say that the trains in Japan are even better than those in Switzerland, and that’s setting the bar pretty high. While the Swiss train system is more a feat of engineering where they navigate through the cliffs of the alpine region, the trains in Japan look like they were sent from the future – completely aerodynamic – shaped more like a rocket than a boxy train.

However, in terms of tourist sights, I was a bit disappointed. Tokyo is a great city, it seems like a cool place to live, but if you have seen the neon lights in New York’s Times Square and London’s Piccadilly Circus, would the ones in Shinjuku and Shibuya really blow you away? The problem is that a lot of cities are starting to look similar now, and if they were unlucky enough to have endured war in the past century, most of the traditional buildings would have been destroyed. Modern designs tend to converge in style in this increasingly connected world. The flood of neon is more intense in Tokyo than anywhere else, but yes, you would have seen something similar, somewhere else.

What I found to be quite strange is how all the women were dressed the same or had the same make-up look. Sure, it’s different to how people dress in Europe or the US, but amongst themselves, it was pretty homogenous. They either conformed to societal ‘norms’ or were kitted out like their favourite cartoon character, ready for the next Comicon. Popular hairstyles were long wispy layers or a bob cut; alternatively it was dyed it pink or blue with nothing in between.

This level of extremes I found somewhat discomforting. The dark side of always being orderly, on time, efficient and polite can be grave. Japan has one of the highest suicide rates in the world. I mean, we are only human; you need to let off steam at some point. You can’t keep all the anger, disappointment, anguish and shame inside forever. That will only lead to escapism or self-destruction.

Maybe that’s why they were at the forefront of the gaming industry. We spent hours perusing nostalgia gaming shops with retro Sega and Nintendo TV games and visiting gaming arcades. I felt like a teenager in a 1980s movie. However, to ignore reality does not negate its existence; you have to live in the real world eventually.

I am of Asian extraction and understand how the heaviness of expectation can weigh upon your soul, but I would not like to be “forced” to conform to such an extent on a daily basis.

Like all places, if you don’t think too hard and don’t scratch beneath the surface, it’s a great. The shopping for cosmetics and skincare is fantastic, so absolutely a woman’s paradise. You can browse pharmacies while your partner reads manga or plays video games, but overthinking is my Kryptonite.

In their everyday life, the Japanese use a lot of kanji, or rather Chinese characters; and their other two writing systems, hiragana and katakana, are also simplifications made from Chinese. They have taken it and made it their own. Sometimes, I would read a character and think that perhaps they’ve missed a radical or two, or invented a new character from different component parts. Generally, if you can read Chinese, you will understand enough to get around. This is before we even get to the fact that most shops frequented by tourists or merely located in city centres have hired Mandarin speaking shop assistants. The Chinese tourist is such an enormous market that I can’t go shopping in London, Zurich or Osaka without someone asking in Mandarin if I needed any help. It’s not bad, just slightly disconcerting. Especially when I haven’t quite adopted the lifestyle of buying designer handbags, luxury watches or high-end skincare yet 😉

The Japanese have absorbed a lot of great Chinese philosophical concepts, and taken it above and beyond what has practically been adopted in China. For example: harmony, society, service, filial piety and obedience. I don’t know if this is true, but apparently your salary in Japan is linked to your age and years of service, not exactly to performance per se. What a weird thing to hear on the streets of Japan in 2018! Although it is starting to change, people tend not to job hop, and everything is very stable.

If you venture out of the capital, Kyoto and Osaka are much more cultural. Kyoto is the old capital and has beautiful shrines, castles and Zen gardens, which make for a far more interesting sight-seeing holiday. Try not to go in winter though, most places require visitors to take off their shoes and wear leather slippers while touring well ventilated traditional buildings. I felt cold from the inside out! I’m sure it’s much better in Spring or Autumn.

One of the other unusual things I noticed is that a lot of the wooden pillars and window frames in these historical buildings are unvarnished. You don’t often see people building with untreated wood, they don’t weather well, especially in a humid environment. One of the tour guides conceded that it was cost saving measure, which makes sense. Japan was one of the first countries to open up to the west, but before that, it was by no means a wealthy nation. Being an island state, where would you find a ready supply of varnish and paint for all these shrines and castles? The more opulent ones are painted in red, but for the most part, just a simple coat of white paint on the exterior and bare wood on the interior.

This led me to a hypothesis about the sliding doors in Japan. It saves space and negates the need for hinges and nails. In a small nation not abundant in nature resources, you need to be innovative. Just imagine, if the Japanese had hinged doors instead of sliding doors centuries ago, all the automatic doors in our shopping centres today would spring open instead of slide sideways.

Today, we embrace the simplicity of Japanese minimalism with fervour, but perhaps they lived the way they did out of necessity and not by design.

My Asian background and the complex history Japan has with its neighbours also affected my enjoyment of the country to some degree. I was surprised to learn that the Korean war in the early 50s was the catalyst for Japan’s post war economic boom as they were supplying the US forces on the Korean peninsula. Unbelievable! That just gives a whole new meaning to one man’s tragedy being another’s man’s opportunity. I saw this in the Kyoto International Manga Museum of all places, a free history lesson while learning to love manga.

History is multifaceted, the story is different depending on who tells the tale. I lament the tragic loss of life in Hiroshima and the heart wrenching personal accounts of ordinary citizens suffering from the aftermath of radiation poisoning. In the Hiroshima Peach Museum, a memo is on display, it details internal US governmental communication from the time, saying how they felt compelled to use the bomb on Japan so that it would justify the enormous investments made in developing nuclear weapons to Congress and the general public.

However, many of Japan’s neighbours still feel that the country has not adequately acknowledged the extent of its war crimes during WWII. The general sense is that the punctuated apologies issued over the years were not truly sincere, sometimes retracted or contradicted not soon after. Wherever you stand, you cannot say that the post war efforts of redressing the physical and emotional needs of their victims for truth and justice is anywhere near the significance of the Holocaust museums and the wide-spread education that goes on to this day in Germany about the atrocities committed during the war. If only the politicians would not let national pride get in the way of truth and reconciliation, the victims of their wrath would finally feel acknowledged.

What you see in the world is not just what is in front of you, but also coloured by your experiences. So to have a balance view of the world, it really is worth walking a mile in another man’s shoes.

Visitors like Japan because it’s modern, clean, safe, convenient and a little bit quirky. If you were born and raised in a western country, it also has a history and culture that is completely different to what you grew up with. It’s a country that is strangely familiar, yet comes with a generous dose of weird – not bad for a break from the routine and familiar.

San Pedro de Atacama

7 July 2017

On arrival at Calama airport, the first thing the bus driver said was to ‘put on your seatbelts’. No one had insisted on seatbelts for months now, so I knew Chile was going to be different – everything worked and I was relieved after the haphazard chaos of Bolivia.

There are windfarms en route to San Pedro; the roads are well maintained and the people well-mannered and organised. All the stories I had heard in Peru about the Chileans seem somewhat exaggerated now. I know. They’re still upset about the War of the Pacific, 1879 to 1884.

The drive from Calama to San Pedro de Atacama is stunningly beautiful; and is a tour in itself. Look in any direction and you will be greeted by an impressive vista. The ante-plano stretches before you framed by the Andes Mountains and blanketed by a startling blue sky.

San Pedro has the largest Salt flats in Chile and lies between the main Andes mountain range on the East and the Cordillera de Domeyko on the west. As rain fall on both ranges, the minerals are carried to the flat planes below where they form a salt crust; but near San Pedro the salt flats are cracked forming small crystals around the mud compared to the smooth planes in Uyuni, Bolivia. This is because of the heat and low humidity: water evaporates too quickly, not giving the minerals enough time to form a hard, flat surface above the earth.

This area is rich in minerals and is probably the richest region in Chile, hosting the copper mines as well as a significant proportion of the world’s lithium deposits. Of course, in the late 19^th century they didn’t have lithium batteries; saltpetre mines and guano deposits were strategic conflicts between Bolivia, Peru and Chile – saltpetre can be used as fertilisers or in the making of explosives. It seems somewhat absurd now, when chemical fertilisers are manufactured, but back then many wars were fought over guano and saltpetre. Not too long before the War of the Pacific, Spain made one last desperate attempt to re-exert itself in South America with the Chincha Wars, 1864 to 1866. If you really thought about it, they were basically fighting over dried bird poo.

It’s a strange thing to make value judgements on historical events with our modern sensibilities.

My own journey in this part of the world was a lot more peaceful and relaxed. I had agreed to meet my husband in San Pedro at the beginning of July, and after a cycling injury in Bolivia, I was more than happy to be looked after.

Having stayed in a hostel on the edge of town, weaving through adobe houses each day while I waited for his arrival; it was a little strange to move to a proper hotel when he arrived. Understandably he is not a fan of hostels, when you feel you have paid your dues in life, ‘slumming it’ is no longer an option. After a very comfortable afternoon in the hotel reception I also could not go backwards in lifestyle.

We were lucky enough to squeeze in some start-gazing before the full moon. When there is too much light you cannot see the stars. It is obvious when you think about it, but you seldom do if you don’t need to. We learnt a lot about galaxies, stars, planets and how to spot constellations. It was amazing to see the pale yellow glow of Jupiter with the naked eye, and then observe it through a telescope and clearly see all of its four moons. We also saw the earth’s moon through the telescope for the first time. Completely unreal!

 

When the astronomer mentioned Alpha Centauri, I immediately thought of ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’, the four light year distance is so close that Douglas Adams chose to place the local planning department there. Glad I don’t need to go there to check whether there’s a demolition order for planet earth.

A less enjoyable experience was the Tatio Geysers, it was so cold the soles of my feet hurt inside my boots, the frostiness seared through my clothes and pierced right into my bones. Chris couldn’t stand up straight from the cold, appreciating his Peruvian hat for the first time, even the purple alpacas didn’t put him off wearing it. Between us, we used a lot of tissues just to maintain some semblance of civility. I was constantly shivering and could not stand still long enough to appreciate the steamy geysers and the bubbling explosions from below the earth.

The sheer variety of activities available from San Pedro is amazing and it’s not just sightseeing. Cycling around town and to Moon Valley or Death Valley are great options, if you were up for it you can even go sandboarding. The Moon Valley here is very different to what I saw in La Paz. Here, the earth is red and has a wholesome feel to it, compared to the concrete look of the rock formations in La Paz. The sand dunes are also a dark reddish-brown, almost as if they were ground down from mud bricks, instead of the yellow granules powdering the Arabian Desert.

The sunset over Moon Valley is magical; your gaze follows the sun as the shadow pushes the light towards the horizon. Then the entire sky become sediments of colour as the residual light creates stacked layers of blue, pink and red, one fading into the other until there is darkness.

Before we leave this magical place, we had to see the ante-plano lakes. The Chaxa Lagoon early in the morning is serene and enchanting. The flamingos were so close and plentiful it was even more exciting than seeing them from a high platform in the Galapagos. When they take flight, you truly acknowledge that this is nature. In this story, they are the protagonists and we, humans, are here to witness their lives.

Finally we make it to an ante-plano lake that is still accessible at this time of year and realise why people come to this part of the world. The Andean peaks mirrored in the lake are breathtakingly beautiful, and the stillness, the silence… fills you.

In today’s world our senses are so over stimulated and even quiet places are filled with activity. Here there is nothing, once the crunching of the tires on the dry mud roads cease there is just silence!

La Paz

22 June 2017

After hearing many horror stories, La Paz isn’t as bad as I thought it would be, in fact, I quite like it. It’s a little rough around the edges, but is very beautiful and certainly has character.

It’s a city full of juxtapositions. Some areas are affluent with grand houses overlooking manicured lawns; while others live in houses perched on stilts by the hillside. After being in owe of the stunning mountainous setting, the second thing you’ll notice is all the electric cables hanging down from the pylons along the streets. I strolled through a little park where some of the cables were so low that someone used a plastic bag to tie them together, so that they wouldn’t tap your head as you walked by. This is not just in the poor areas, but all over the city; health and safety isn’t quite on top of the agenda.

 

The Teleferico is also weirdly positioned; it’s basically a giant ski lift over the city – great for tourists but not sure about the residents. It’s modern and extremely well maintained, but some of the routes would never be built in Europe. Telefericos are perfect for going up mountains, but becomes a little complicated when the routes cross over heavily populated areas. At times it passes so close to peoples’ homes that you can see straight into them! It’s like playing Big Brother with the tourists. I would hate to live in one of those homes. How do you sell a house with the Teleferico just above your head?

La Paz is the ‘highest capital city’ in the world, and although Sucre is the constitutional capital of Bolivia, La Paz is the seat of the government; so we’ll allow them the luxury of yet another superlative and let it lay claim to that title.

As you drive into the city, you see the snow-capped mountains of the Cordillera Real framing the capital; the Incas knew how to choose – mountains, check; glaciers, check; conquest, check.

The Chacaltaya peak is a short bus ride from the city and an easy way to bag a high altitude hike. At 5,300m it was the highest ski resort in the world, but it has long been abandoned due to the El Niño phenomenon and climate change. The vistas are similar to a quaint Swiss village, here with the snowy peaks piercing the earth, it’s not hard to believe that you’re pushing beyond the realms of man; but even the beauty cannot erase the uncomfortable marks of human conquest upon the landscape, the old cables lay in our path and the obsolete generators have long forgotten their purpose. Perhaps we should spend less time languishing over the bigotry between nations and more time discussing our impact on Mother Nature.

For the ordinary man on the street, even if you wanted to do your bit, you almost don’t know where to start! I mean, I don’t really know what happens to the contents of my recycling bin after I’ve carefully sorted the rubbish into piles. No one wants to be the first to suffer the consequences of conservation, but intellectually we all appreciate the benefits of preserving our planet for future generations. In the short term, it is more comfortable for individuals to carry on as they are and more economically beneficial for nations to turn a blind eye to reality. We may already be too far gone and will need to face the consequences of our actions in the not too distant future.

Another spot not to be missed around La Paz is Valle de la Luna. The landscape is so surreal that I felt I was on another planet. It’s not really that lunar, as it does not have craters, but rather has alien looking hilly rock formations that have been eroded by wind and water. I know they are natural formations, but if I was told that it was a Disney theme park, I would have easily believed it. I wonder if any movies have been made here, if Hollywood has not already used it for a film location, their scouting crew need to come and see it for themselves.

Beyond the landscape, the people of La Paz are a part of the authentic experience. Cholitas are the lifeblood of the city. They can be seen on all the busy streets selling everything from fruit and vegetables to much needed alpaca fashion. In La Paz, they are mostly Aymara, and dress in the ubiquitous puffy skirt, woollen shawl and shrunken bowler hat. It is said that the indigenous women started wearing bowler hats as some British entrepreneurs ordered a shipment of hats that were far too small to be sold to men, and flogged it off to the local women as the latest fashion trend in London and Paris. Often, what we think are iconic images of traditional cultures are actually vestiges of colonialism.

Today, Cholitas wear their bowler hats and layered flowery skirts with pride. They have asserted themselves in society and with new-found economic independence move in-step with the development of La Paz and Bolivia.

Lake Titicaca

17 June 2017

Lake Titicaca is one of those must see places when transitioning from Peru to Bolivia; it’s the highest navigable lake in the world. South America sure isn’t short of superlatives – the highest volcano, deepest canyon, driest desert and of course the highest navigable lake – and rightly so, it has a lot to boast about.

Before arriving in Puno, I was warned: ‘it’s not a pretty town’, and it lived up to its reputation, but it’s a great place to access Lake Titicaca. I did a two day tour covering Uros, Amantani and Taquile from Puno in Peru before moving onto the Bolivian side to explore Isla de la Luna and Isla del Sol from Copacabana. I am glad I didn’t skip this part of journey, the bus journey between Puno and Copacabana was a tour in itself with the lake weaving in and out of view.

A unique attraction to see from Puno is Uros – a set of artificial floating islands made from reeds; it’s a strange sensation stepping onto them as it’s springy beneath your feet. Stranger still is that the islanders are just standing there at the ‘port’ waiting for their daily quota of tourists. It turns out that a small percentage of islands prefer their privacy and occupies the far side of Uros, but those closer to Puno depend on tourism for their livelihood. The one I visited was only eight years old and was just big enough for a handful of huts occupied by one multi-generational family. It must’ve been built especially to welcome tourists.

It occurred to me that this may have been the inspiration for the floating island in the ‘Life of Pi’; where the protagonist wakes up on a seemingly peaceful island in the middle of the ocean. Although it turns out to be alive and eats its residents when the ground produces an acid during the night… Don’t worry, it’s much easier to survive Uros, the only ‘traps’ may be the myriad of handicrafts that are thrust before you. The other delight of being a reed island is that if you have a serious disagreement with your neighbour you just take out a saw and cut the island in half. If only it was that easy to resolve social disputes in the real world.

Amantani is where you can stay the night and experience authentic island life. After Colca Canyon, my expectation of accommodation was pretty low, so I was quite happy with my room. I mean, it had electricity, what else do I need?! I think the family my group was staying with had had enough of tourists for a while and hardly spoke to us beyond the necessary. Even the high altitude disco in traditional clothes didn’t seem to cheer them up. Maybe they were worried about having an unmarried daughter at home near 30? Not sure if Peruvians worry about the ‘sheng-nu’ phenomenon sweeping across Asia, where accomplished single women are lambasted by their families for not getting married in their 20’s and are labelled for being left-over. Social norms may be different but some themes might be universal.

The best thing about staying in such a quiet island is the stars. The night sky is starved of light and brings forth the best of the Milky Way. Before then I had never seen the Milky Way in real life and it was spectacular! Who knew the best star-gazing I would experience is on a tiny island while brushing my teeth in the cold wearing a head-lamp?

The sunset was also one of the best to date on this trip. Nothing beats the warm light breathing over the tiny islands dotted over the lake while the sun caresses the horizon, teasing you with the possibility of a new night and day.

Actually, all the islands on the lake invoke the feeling of being in the Greek isles – just colder, and Lake Titicaca seems more like the Mediterranean Sea rather than just an inland lake. I felt this when walking around Taquile and also hiking on Isla del Sol once I had crossed the border into Bolivia.

Isla del Sol would be the highlight of any visit to Lake Titicaca, as it has Inca and pre-Inca ruins as well as breath-taking landscape; but while I was there the local communities had a major conflict and no tourists had been able to enter the north of the island for three months. This key piece of information will only be provided to you once you are already on the boat sailing towards the island. If another tourist hadn’t told me on the bus, I would’ve taken all my belongings and stayed on the island for a night. I don’t know which is worse, not telling people what’s going on or selling them a ticket to a bus that doesn’t exist – which had happened earlier on in the journey. Sigh, the joys of the open road! But this is a microcosm of society-at-large, there are all kinds of people in this world and you can’t always expect them to act in your best interest. When financial interests are at stake people will behave in a way that may even prove to be distasteful to them. Large nations get involved in international conflicts, while island communities fight over financial interests to the detriment of all the inhabitants. Is it pride? Or simply the invisible hand at work?

Despite all the problems, it is still a beautiful place and true travellers would not be deterred by a few wrinkles in an otherwise special stop on the Gringo trail through South America.

Habla español?

5 – 9 June 2017

I can’t believe that I’ve been in Arequipa for more than a week and have hardly done anything touristy.

I have taken a week out from travelling to improve my Spanish in Arequipa. Yip, I am taking a break from travelling to study, when travelling is a break from work – sounds crazy, right? I thought I would be able to rest and regain my energy after a month on the road. Wow! How wrong I was! Every day was exhausting – four hours of lessons followed by three hours of homework, sometimes I needed a cat-nap just to recover.

I had two different teachers that taught me for two hours each. It’s important to hear different voices, accents and be exposed to different teaching styles to have a holistic learning experience. I had a mixture of starting on new material as well as going over old grammar points I struggled with. I wish I had more time at the school. Not only did I learn Spanish but also got sage advice about life. Moreover, I was able to glean interesting insights into Peruvian culture as well as the country’s relationship with its neighbours. Needless to say, they still feel hard done by what happened in the Pacific war with Chile and the unrequited love story with Bolivia. Sigh, every country has its burdens.

I started leaning Spanish about a year ago, going to lessons once a week after work and then another hour of conversation practice at the weekend. When I arrived in South America, I could just about communicate, my intermediate Spanish got me to where I wanted to go and when I ordered food or bought something, the right thing appeared in front of me. However, I wasn’t really satisfied. I felt that after I learnt to communicate, my language skills plateaued. I wasn’t happy just using the language on a transactional basis, but wanted to able to express myself and explore the richness of the language.

For example, I find the use of the subjunctive to be very beautiful as it adds another dimension to lyrics and literature. When you want to express doubt or emphasize emotion the subjunctive could be used to highlight your simultaneous desire for something and your doubt that it may not come to pass. Although it exists in English, it is not commonly used. The only example I can think of is the theme song to ‘Fiddler on the Roof’, when the father belts out the chorus ‘If I were a rich man…’

Also, learning Spanish is helping me with my English grammar. My understanding of the structure of languages has improved so much that I’m able to explain grammatical quirks to my sister. I mean you wouldn’t normally spend too much time pondering the difference between the past perfect and the pluperfect tense. I could use it correctly, but I couldn’t explain why things were the way they were.

Of course I’m still a long way away from being able to use the language with finesse. At the moment, I would be happy with being able to speak in the past tense without pausing to conjure up the correct conjugation for irregular verbs.

All this has made me realise that the way foreign languages are taught in schools often does not lead to fluency. You need to speak! You need to utter that sentence even if to correct yourself immediately afterwards. No one will fuss over the mistakes but you! On the contrary people will appreciate your efforts to master their language. Most people are far too busy worrying about their own lives to judge you 😉

However, once you reach an intermediate level, reading and writing become more important as you need to enhance your vocabulary and sharpen your grammar. However, you need to be able to speak first, before you learn to speak beautifully.

I originally started learning Spanish for my South America trip, but now that I’m here and seeing my efforts bear fruit I really would like to speak it well. I’m not sure where all this will lead to, but I’m having fun and will see where this intellectual adventure takes me!

Arequipa

8 June 2017

Arequipa is my favourite city in Peru. It is sunny, clean and beautiful with a temperate climate. What a relief after the cold of Cusco.

Most of the buildings are constructed from the volcanic rock nearby, which is white, hence it is also known as the ‘white city’. The residents are so proud of their city that they are Arequipeñoes first and Peruvians second. More than one Arequipeño has joked that they’re perfectly happy to declare independence from Peru – the rest of the country needs them more than Arequipa needs Peru.

I loved it, the ‘Plaza de Armas’ is elegant and gives a feeling of light and space. Of course you have the obligatory churches around the square, but besides the neo-classical buildings, the architecture in Arequipa has been able to combine European tastes with native art and symbolism. The church of La Compañia de Jesus is a fine example of this – mystical beings from Andean legends as well as indigenous flowers and plants feature on the facade and the cloisters.

You can visit museums between going to restaurants, Peruvian food is undoubtedly the best in South America and deserves its post, but what must be mentioned is the local picanterias which serve traditional dishes with a lovely chicha (a purple corn drink that is fermented). The portions a so big that I once had a two hour nap after lunch… Ahh… life is complete!

I also took the opportunity to stay here for a week to study Spanish. On the way to school you can see the volcanoes surrounding the city – Misti, Pichu Pichu and Chachani. Everytime I saw Misti, I felt the way I use to feel when living in Cape Town…when you see Table Mountain on the way to work, your heart does a silent skip and a hop, and happiness bubbles up inside you 🙂 a good start to a great day.

So don’t miss Arequipa, it’s not just a pit-stop on the way to Colca Canyon, but a wonderful place to have a holiday within your travels!

Colca Canyon

12 June 2017

I basically learnt how to hike in Colca Canyon, no one in the history of modern hiking could have looked more ridiculous. I mean who goes on a 3 day trek with an old computer bag and a plastic bag! At the canyon, I also bought a bamboo stick for 3 soles, in place of a walking stick, so that really completes the picture! The other hikers in my group held their tongues until the last day when they couldn’t hold back any longer. I’m glad that I at least provided some entertainment to lighten the mood.

One, I had brought too much stuff, but actually did use everything; and two, I did not have the right equipment. If I go on a multi-day trek again, I would need to think long and hard about whether I really need something before putting it in my rug sack. Indeed, I could have left the second jacket behind and got a headlamp instead. Everything you take, you need to carry and 3 days is not a short amount of time. A comfortable backpack is so important, I was fine with the walking but my shoulders hurt so badly, and I was out of balance as I carried food and water in my hand. A real hiking backpack allows you to fit lots of stuff on the outside so that your hands are free to maintain balance. Rookie mistake!

Colca Canyon is the third deepest canyon in the world; the first two are in China near the Himalayas. It is also deeper than the Grand Canyon and is populated as there are two main communities living there. The communities used to hate each other until the Spanish arrived, but now get along swimmingly as they had to unit to survive. There goes the saying: ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’ – clichéd but true.

Before we even got started, the first pit stop was ‘Cruz del Condor’, a lookout point where we are able to see condors in flight. The condor belongs to the vulture family and is a very important animal in South America as it represents the Andean people. Traditionally, they had a festival called the ‘Yawar Fiesta’ (Blood Festival), where they tied a condor and a bull together so that they can fight each other. The hope is that the condor is able to pick at the bull and to break free from its shackles. It symbolises the fight between the Andean people and the Spaniards, and the inequality between the strengths of these animals is emphasized; the battle between the nations was also believed to be an unfair one. The symbolism laden festival has now been outlawed for its cruelty but it has a special place in the hearts of the Andean people all over South America. Not only is it celebrated in Peru, but also in Ecuador to say the least, as the famous Ecuadorian artist Guayasamin painted the fight between the condor and the bull for his gallery ‘La Capilla del Hombre’ (The Chapel of Man)  where it proudly takes centre stage in a custom built gallery next to his home in Quito. He was certainly an impressive artist, and protested for his people in his very own way. His work is somewhere between Picasso and Cubism, and is often titled ‘Blood’, ‘Teeth’ or ‘Tears’. I cannot begin to imagine the hardship suffered by the indigenous people as their conquest by the Spaniards was rather swift. Besides the Old World diseases brought by the Europeans, there was also a civil war between the two royal brothers towards the end of the Inca Empire that effectively left a power vacuum, as even the strength of the winning side was much diminished.

While I was pondering the fate of the natives, I continued to marvel at the spectacle that was before my eyes. Every time you think you’ve seen wondrous landscapes, this country and continent brings forth new surprises.

I was lucky to get here before high season, because the canyon was still green with vegetation and the snow-capped peaks watched over us as the hikers descended into the canyon. These mountains are worshipped as gods by the local people and in Inca times, noble families sacrificed their children to their gods for another year of abundance. Many bodies of young children have been discovered in the area near the top of glaciers and volcanoes. The most well preserved being Juanita, a girl from a noble Cusco family, who was sacrificed to Mt. Ampato, and she can be found in a museum in Arequipa. It was quite freaky to see her frozen body but it was also extremely fascinating to have a sneak peek into the minds of the Quechua people during the reign of the Incas.

The entire hike was a challenging experience: one day to descend, a second day to hike between the communities in the canyon and a third day for the ascent. The lodges did not have hot water or electricity in the rooms, and roof struts and doors were made from bamboo sticks. You can never say there wasn’t enough fresh air! We took quick swims in the pool instead of facing the cold shower. On the third day we had to start hiking before sunrise and everyone on the 3-day trek decided that it would be wise to hire a mule to carry our backpacks. We were all pretty tired! It was interesting to stay there, but I can’t imagine living there. After all, I’m a city girl at heart.

As soon as I got back to Arequipa, I bought a proper day-pack. Finally, I look professional and am ready for my next excursion.

 

 

Cusco

31 May 2017

Cusco was the centre of the Inca empire and a must see on a trip to Peru. The historic centre is both majestic and beautiful and boasts two churches in the Plaza de Armas, the main square; but more interestingly, in random alleys you stumble across Inca ruins, where people have built their houses on old Inca walls. I suppose they are only following the tradition of yesteryear when the Incas built upon civilisations that came before.

The earliest constructions in the city stand on the surrounding hills above the colonial town. The Incas were a warring nation and needed a high vantage point in order to look out for approaching enemies. Now the hillsides are occupied mostly poor neighbourhoods who suffer the cold, while the gentry live in the relative warmth of the valley.

The most important of the Inca sites in Cusco city is Sacsayhuaman, similar in pronunciation to ‘sexy woman’. It’s an ancient Inca temple that is still used today to hold the annual ‘Inti Raymi’, the Festival of the Sun on the 24^th of June. It’s to mark the winter solstice, and to worship the Sun god and mother earth so that spring may come again. I only found this out on my last night in Cusco. Had I known before, I might’ve planned things a bit differently.

The stone work is amazing in Sacsayhuaman, even better than Machu Picchu, as the entire complex was a place of worship and different grades of building required different levels of skill. Only the Temple of the Sun in Machu Picchu could match the intricacy of the skilled stone fitting shown at Sacsayhuaman. Unfortunately, little remains at the temple, as a large proportion of the stonework was removed to build the churches of Cusco. To conquer a people you can’t just conquer their bodies, but more importantly their minds, only in this way can you truly subjugate them to your rule.

The colonists knew this well, in and around Cusco city as well as the Sacred Valley they defaced Inca religious markings with fervour. Places where people continued to worship the mountain, a cross was placed on top to unify the Gods, so that when you worship your God, you also worship mine.

Cusco cathedral is also very impressive and boasts the talents of local artists. It’s the first place where I’ve seen ‘The Last Supper’ with a Guinea Pig. Religious art is often used to educate the masses at a time when most people were illiterate; and blending European and Andean elements makes Catholicism more accessible to the indigenous people. Therefore, within the cathedral walls, battle scenes are filled with alpacas and llamas instead of just horses. In addition, the use of mirrors is prolific, in Europe mirrors represented vanity, whereas here in the Andes, it represents the tears of the Virgin and the water which flows from the glaciers.

There’s so much to do here that you just can’t get bored. Every day new possibilities awaite, and the past invites you to discover it.

If you decide to take a day off from sightseeing, the fantastic restaurants around the city will keep you occupied from dawn till dusk. If you tire of the pristine conditions of the tourist food scene, you can always try frog juice at San Pedro market… but be careful… many wide-eyed gringos have fallen prey to local delicacies. It usually doesn’t end well.

When you’ve had your fill of Inca history, it’s time to head south; Cusco has two seasons, cold and colder. Also, outside the historic centre, the buildings are either run-down or half-built and the street corners are laden with rubbish. It’s reality encapsulating the past.

It’s a place to sightsee, not to relax; there are more tourists than locals, so it is difficult to get a feel for modern-day life in Peru. In a way, it is a time-capsule that allows you to witness the rise and fall of an E

mpire.

Rainbow Mountain

30 May 2017

Rainbow Mountain is by far the most beautiful hike I’ve done in Peru; it’s also the hardest, at 5,200 m it was really difficult to breathe. I was enticed by the all the stunning photos online of Rainbow Mountain and thought I’d give it a go, even though I had been warned of the altitude and the early start. Getting up at 2:30 a.m. was definitely worth it.

When the bus dropped us off at the foot of the mountain, I was immediately impressed by the amazing views: the deep valleys and snow-capped mountains are just what I imagined an adventure in the wilderness should be. On the way up, the views just got better and better. The difficulty isn’t in the actual trekking, but rather the altitude; I thought that Machu Picchu Mountain was harder on my knees. I was wheezing three-quarters of the way up and had to get the oxygen out. Yes, they sell oxygen in little cans; it weighed so little that I thought I’d been duped at first and wanted a refund, but on visiting another pharmacy discovered that they were all the same. I just crossed my fingers and hoped it would work when I needed it.

Rainbow Mountain has become very popular recently. I was told that it was still frozen a number of years ago and hence was not always open to tourists. While I was enjoying the views, I felt a slight pang of guilt at my own carbon footprint. How can we minimise our contribution to global warming while still enjoying the wonders of travelling?

All the way up, there were locals shouting: “Amiga, caballo?” (Friend, a horse?); between gasps of breath, I would reply: ”No, voy a intentar.” (No, I’m going to try.) As you climb higher and higher, the prices start to drop. Anyone could see that I was struggling, but I was very stubborn about walking it. The muddy earth was well trodden; it’s as if the tourist were there to mix the earth with the mountain dew so that adobe house can be built in the area. The locals following with their horses also make it extra slippery – feet, hooves, it’s as if we’re stampeding to a Saturday market at the summit. It’s still a gem, just no longer hidden. I don’t mind that at all, for me it’s still a challenge, it doesn’t matter that other people also want to see it.

It’s meant to be a 3 to 4 hour hike, but we were told 2 hours to go up and 1.5 hours to come down, in this way the guides urged people to hire horses. I felt sorry for the horses; they also struggled to breathe, I could hear them panting alongside me. The only thing that annoys me about organised tours is how everyone is always in such a rush. Why can’t they just let people enjoy their hike instead of pushing them into hiring horses to do a rapid ascend? In the end, my group was told that it was going to rain and people started their descend. Reluctantly I took a horse for 10 soles for the last stretch, not bad seeing that it’s 90 soles at the foot of the mountain. What’s more, when I arrived at the summit I was berated for taking so long, it’s amazing how people can say things with such confidence to make it your fault instead of their own.

At the top it was absolutely breath-taking; the contrast between glacier capped mountains over-looking one valley against the red and green strips of Rainbow Mountain towering over another valley was astounding. Standing in one spot, I could see azure lakes, staggering peaks, deep valleys… whispers of clouds caressing the glaciers, colourful mountain ranges brazen to the elements and greenness blanketing the gentle hills below. I drank it all in! Photographs just don’t do it justice! It’s the best view so far on this trip 🙂

Of course, I insisted on walking all the way down after realising that it was not even close to raining. I was pretty fast and made up for all the ‘extra’ time I took on my way up; by then the guides had decided that I had redeemed myself enough to talk to me again 😉 Now that I could relax, I was able to enjoy the bus ride back to Cusco. I wouldn’t attempt to drive a bus on this route. It was really beautiful, but there were a few narrow stretches where it was a long way down with no barriers. I’m not sure a normal car would fit comfortably, never mind a big tourist bus.

A bit different and outside the usual tourist trappings of Cusco, I would definitely recommend!

 

Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley

27 May 2017

To be honest, when I arrived in Machu Picchu, I was in a rather foul mood. It had been raining all afternoon and I was cold and wet. Our guide had a bad cold and could hardly be found all day; he walked ahead and behind us, often resting for long periods of time with a glassy look in his eyes. I genuinely felt bad for the guy, but it was also the most expensive tour I was doing in Peru, so obviously I was frustrated. Expectations and prices are highly correlated.

Even with the rain, walking through the Sun Gate was an exciting moment, to see the classic view of Machu Picchu with Wayna Picchu towering over it, I felt I was in another world. It took a while for the clouds to clear, but when it did, the views were spectacular. The photos show you the city, but what you don’t see is the setting – the area is surrounded by mountains – there’s a mountain range that hugs the city of Machu Picchu, almost encircling it. The lost city of the Incas might be famous for its ingenious construction, but no one talks about the beauty of the location. Nature, not man, trumps all! The Inca chose well, when he ordered the Quechua people to build him a city.

As there is no written record, no one is really sure what Machu Picchu was built for, the city was named after the Machu Picchu Mountain nearer the Sun Gate, which means “Old Mountain” in Quechua. The Inca is the “king” so there is only one at any time, but he is of the Quechua people in the Andes, a warrior nation who conquered much of South America in a surprisingly short amount of time.

I was also surprised to learn that Machu Picchu is less than 600 years old, only built around 1450. Some speculate that the city was a hiding place for the Quechua nobility, but when the Spanish came, they abandoned it. They needn’t have worried, as the conquistadors never found it, only in 1911 did Hiram Bingham ‘discover’ it and bring it to world attention. That’s another sore point for the Peruvians, as in 1901 a local farmer had already discovered the site and carved his name into one of the windows at Machu Picchu. He had brought his family and friends here as the first tourists, and had started working on restoring the site when it “discovered” by the American historian. Our guide took pains to explain this part of Peruvian history to us, even though he wasn’t feeling well, I guess it was his way of resisting colonial mentality and cultural appropriation by Westerners.

Another interesting fact was that every June solstice on the 21st, the sun shines through the Sun Gate into the Temple of the Sun; but initially they might have made a mistake with the orientation of the window, because there are two extra etchings next to the current window, possibly marking a previous window sill a few inches away. It’s good to know that even the Incas made mistakes 😉

Other Inca sites such as Ollantaytambo re-emphasize their obsession with the sun. The temple at Ollantaytambo also has sun light grazing a neighbouring mountain and shining into the incomplete Temple of the Sun, each winter solstice, with the same occurrence from a different direction during the summer solstice. It’s not that the Quechua people necessarily worshipped the Sun as a deity, but it was important to observe the Sun and the Stars in order to know when to sow and when to reap. The harvest is what sustains them.

The Quechuas used the solar calendar instead of the sun dial because they were more interested in the changing of the seasons instead of the passage of time in a single day. From my perspective the Sacred Valley is sacred not because it is holy, but because it gives life. From Cusco to Machu Picchu, there are a series of villages and archaeological sites which show how the people use to and still do cultivate the land for food production. The valley is relatively warm and provides protection from the elements, and at each altitude on the stepped mountain side there is a micro-climate. They know the best altitude to plant maize, potatoes and quinoa; and how to manage their crops of more than 2,500 varieties of potato.

Through all this, the sacred river flows (Urubamba river), all the way to Machu Picchu and beyond; giving life and hope to an entire civilisation. When you are trying to manage and sustain an agricultural society; water and sun can be more precious than gold. Besides the ferocity of its armies, the ability to harness these elements probably helped the expansion of the Inca Empire.

I know that most people dream of hiking the classic four day Inca Trail, but personally I didn’t. I don’t usually like camping and just because it is the Inca Trail I wasn’t suddenly going to love camping in Peru during winter. Besides, with climate change, the weather is becoming more and more unpredictable, the dry season in Cusco is no longer that dry and even the indigenous people are starting to doubt their ability to predict the seasons; but the sad thing is, when the old methods fail, they don’t think about global warming but blame themselves for not getting it right.

The two day Inca trek was a good choice for me because you trek for one day to enter through the Sun Gate, and then visit Machu Picchu again the next day to explore and do more hiking. If I were to come back, I may do the whole thing by train. There is plenty of hiking available within Machu Picchu, such as Wayna Picchu and Machu Picchu Mountain. The views are spectacular from Machu Picchu Mountain and the three hour hike was definitely worth it.

Another wonder of the world ticked off, so it’s onwards and upwards!