On the trail of the Incas

A short flight from Lima into the Andes saw our Airbus320 aircraft flying low in the valley with the mountains towering above us. Fortunately the pilot found some flat ground just as we were about to hit the earth and we found ourselves in Cusco. An interesting city of 400,000 short people, so short? must be the thin air. We all took precautions against altitude sickness, some with pills, all with food (eat little and no red meat) and reduce alcohol. No one in our little 7 person group suffered anything....apart from a little bit of alcohol withdrawal. Our tour company had organised a city tour and Rene lead us around the cathedral and associated churches...everyone is Catholic, almost everyone, not that they are overly devout.

 

A daylight start the following day and we were off to Urubamba and the river to get our first taste of Inca habitation. There used to be 12 million of them 500 years ago but the Spaniards got rid of most. Those that didn't die from imported disease were dispatched with stainless steel. A few wise enough to see that battling was a lost cause and that they survived all the fevers, signed unreadable agreements and lived to maintain a small population. The Sacred Valley had interesting and well restored archaeological "ruins". These Incas did a lot of building with stone, not stones as big as the Egyptians but none the less an admirable effort. Incas lived here between 1300 - 1600.

 

 

We have found the food in Peru much to our taste. Nothing seems too spicy and they seem to have huge variety with quite a lot of fish and chicken. So far no one has gone down with any sort of food poisoning. A delicacy here is roast Guinea pig, costs about $25. In some restaurants it is possible to select your healthy furry meal and have it  roasted and dished up 30 minutes later....choice!

 

 

 

The long day to Sacred Valley was a quick trip compared to our journey to Machu Picchu, listed as one of the highlights of our trip following an All Black win. And surely it was. We bussed down to a valley, trained along the valley floor, then crazy narrow road up again. It took about 4 hours, deep into the Andes to Machu Picchu perched halfway up. As we climbed the zigzag road up the mountain we could see terraced gardens where the Incas had braved the steep slopes to get a crop of spuds or corn in. I'm sure it was a regular occurrence for the gardeners to fall of the edge of the terrace and plunge hundreds of metres to their death.

Entering the gates into the ancient village of Machu Picchu we gasped a little, partly from the lack of air but also at the extent of the restoration. Our guide pointed out gardens, the Kings living quarters with ensuite, living areas, green space, toilets and anything else we enquired about. The building of the stone works has been constructed in such a way that it will survive earthquakes, probably could have used a couple of the Inca architects in Christchurch 150 years ago. After a 3 hour tour we paused for a sumptuous buffet then back into the village for more photos and a couple of geocaches...seem to be able to play that game anywhere in the World.

After a full day wandering the village we crept back down the zigzag to the train station. 3 hours on the train and a short shuttle bus and we were pleased to get our heads on the pillow at 11.00pm. Up again fairly early to catch our plane back to Lima. Tomorrow, museums then hopefully we will get to watch the All Blacks in South Africa, probably on a delayed broadcast.

Don't cry for me.....4 Oct

Los Pumas became Lost Pumas although they scored far more points than us in the second half. Fortunately the All Blacks had run riot towards the end of the first half and ensured that we could proudly wear our AB garb into the evening. The Argies were muted in the first 40 but were very vocal when there was some questionable rough stuff later in the game....our guys were booed vigorously as they left the field. We had first class treatment at the venue with pre game drinks all free for two hours and another two hours after the game... 
  Sunday morning saw the church service overlooked due to a lunch engagement with the CEO of Williment, the travel company we are travelling with. We went to a top class nosh shop in Buenos Aires where the owner was an ex football player and served steaks 2 inches thick! He had the good sense to have a number 7 All Black jersey amongst an extensive range of football paraphernalia. Always a touch of pride seeing things from home down little side streets in foreign countries.

Diana and I wandered for a couple of hours in light rain to walk off our steak lunch. We came across a free open air cultural concert in a closed off street so stopped by to watch the dressed up dancers performing with a squeeze box and brass orchestra. Blow me down if they didn't sing and play the only Latino song I know. Funiculi Funicula......I sang at the top of my voice, out of tune, out of tone, monotonous singing style, the only one in English.....was quite funny really. Took me back to Form 4 at NPBHS in 1968!

Early to bed on Sunday night as we had a 4.00 am start to fly to Peru. Buenos Aires was a great place to visit but the country is in a bad place. They have been in recession since 2001. They pay 21% GST, 43% personal tax and have inflation of 40% year on year. There are a lot of very poor people and numerous souls sleeping in doorways and parks....quite a sad state of affairs.

Lima, the capital of Peru with 8 million people is a totally different town to where we have just come from.

One interesting thing for sure is that it never rains in Peru. There are no water tables, no spouting on houses and no umbrella salesmen. While we wandered the town on a city tour it was heavily overcast and had the feeling it would rain within 30 minutes "...no chance...." said Fernando our guide.

Lima appears far more prosperous than BA. There is very little litter on the streets, graffiti is almost non existent and the people appear happier. We only had a short stay and made preparations to fly to Cuzco in the Andes. It is high altitude, only 150metres lower than the top of Mt. Cook, so some people have pills, very little alcohol was drunk and we have cut down on steak dinners. We'll see how it goes.

Mendoza and eastward

We were late into Mendoza Casino and Intercontinental following a fractious border crossing and a magnificent drive down through massive rock formations of the eastern side of the Andes. The sun was setting, as we descended through wide valleys and narrow gorges, casting magical light and shadows across the landscape. A quick dinner in the casino, a few pesos in the pokies and we staggered into bed looking forward to an early start....wine tasting at 10.00am. By noon we were mostly inebriated however a well organised tasty lunch was beckoning followed by a continued city tour of the 1 million inhabitants then a 2 hour drive across a desert to San Juan airport.

 

       

29th Sept 

We arrived in our lodgings in Buenos Airies around 11pm, tired teddies. We had a full day tour of the 12 million populated capital of Argentina. Diego, our guide, is top notch and shows us a great many things with lots of interesting stories to add. The River Plata runs through the town translated it means river of silver. It looks as though it should be river of rusted tin such is the colour and we were a bit surprised to discover we can drink from the tap in our hotel and the river of mud supplies all requirements.

We saw the contrasting housing areas.

 

It was interesting to visit the Recoleta cemetery, set out like a small town. It is a cemetery for wealthy people and is full of tombs where entire families lie, coffins visible through doorways and stained glass. Eva Peron lies here and although there is no space left it is sometimes possible to buy a tomb where a family, now fallen on hard times, sells the site. We saw a recent sale site of US$100,000 however had the site been on the main thoroughfare it could have been $50k more. There is no premium for those with a river view.....makes sense I suppose.

Our tour took us through three distinct districts, lower, middle and upper class. Our guide, who tells us he is middle class, can spot the lower class or the upper class citizen a good way off. It is very difficult to move through the classes but it does happen, as was the case for Diego Maradona. He is still treated like a god here. Very few middle class people can afford their own home, most rent. Inflation is running at 35-40% and the peso is almost worthless. They do not save in the bank as the savings depreciate so quickly. Instead, money earned is quickly changed to US dollars and kept under the mattress. 

In the evening we were treated to a 3 course dinner with tango show to follow. The food, we all had steak, was excellent but the show was fantastic. Partly due to a magnificent theatre, highly trained dancers, a talented five piece band and a never ending supply of wine we totally enjoyed 90 minutes of sensual entertainment.

Today is rugby day and we don't start until 3.00pm. The morning is for catching up on sleep, washing, allowing the kidneys a short rest and writing blogs. We are looking forward to kick off and being involved in what will be a new type of crowd experience for us. Hopefully the All Blacks win but it seems Steve Hansen is giving the locals every chance by bringing in so many changes. Whatever happens, we are all excited to be here for sure.

No Chilly in Chile

We flew out on Lan air line on time (26 Sept) heading into the night sky which we quickly eclipsed and landed in Santiago 12 hours later at 2.00pm the next day...all as scheduled. While we flew out of rain in Auckland we arrived into a temperature and humidity sitting in the mid 20's.....choice.

Chile it seems has a strong history of battles, evident by monuments of dead heroes on practically every corner. It seems that on arrival, the immigrant Spainards quickly forgot their heritage and began mumbling about independence. Once this news filtered back to their homeland an armada was dispatched to sort things out. Generally the head man in newly colonised Chile was executed, the masses faith restored in their motherland and a monument erected. Usually the dead hero was placed on a horse, often with sword drawn leaving little to the imagination of where it would be thrust if said hero came close enough to the enemy. They have a serious over abundance of dead heroes although now most corners are used for a completely different passion. At all times of the day it is not uncommon to see a young couple inspecting each other's wisdom teeth with their tongues! This created an uncomfortable feeling when waiting for the green man, difficult to find somewhere to put your hands, folded? In your pockets? Green man! let's cross! Tricky situation averted. The adage of "..do in Rome as......" was quickly dispelled following a short eye contact with my dearly beloved...grey hair and no pdoa were mentioned. Worth a crack though, I thought.

Our first hotel was the Ritz, a posh start to our journey indeed. A tad over done for our small group of agricultural type kiwis. I wouldn't have been surprised on waking up to find a young lady standing by the bedside with a warm face cloth; service, fittings and food were all first class.

 

We had a full day tour of Santiago and surrounds which included a trip to the sea town of Vaparaiso. We walked on the beach on the eastern seaboard of the Pacific Ocean and it was here a potential tragedy almost overtook us. One of our team decided to dip her toe in the 12 degree Antarctic current when a rogue wave appeared and knocked her off her feet. A quick rescue team had our toe dipper back on dry ground albeit with dampness around her nether region which she hadn't experienced for over 70 years. Lessons were learnt one of which will be that a Canon EOS does not work after a bath in salt water...but could have been worse. This was a laugh or cry moment and fortunately our victim chose the former option which helped dispel some of the anxiety of what could have been. Ross Cooper, our team leader, who trained in the engine room of the All Black scrum, showed little sympathy.
 

Our small team, there are seven of us, have been treated to expert guides and drivers and we have been dined at fine vineyards. They mostly grow red grapes but all seem to know that Sauvignon from New Zealand is different but the best in the World.

After two nights in the Ritz we headed for the Andes in our 15 seater bus. Recalling events of crashed airplanes in these rugged mountains our tour company had opted for road transport rather than flight. The road is in excellent condition through the mountains and down into Argentina although not without challenges. To climb out of Chile up to the pass and the border a zigzag switchback construction is used where there are no less than 28 curves. It would appear that Mr Goodyear and Mr Michelin had considerable influence on the route. Vehicle braking companies must also be a major beneficiary of this engineering masterpiece.

Progressing through border control was a step back in time, or at the very least a stopping of time, an extreme test on ones patience. It took over two and a half hours to clear customs due to back logs, and front logs, and general inefficiency of the officials. Strong advice would be given to avoid this fiasco and opt for the far more dangerous flight next time. However, Mendoza is in our sights, Argentina here we come.