Cafe Shree

Thought I’d share more of my Peru trip, especially the Machu Picchu part, which was the main reason for going. We got to Cusco on Monday, after a long bus tour ride where we stopped to see other things that were interesting but tiring, part of the Inca Trail, an old Inca factory town, a church with an incredibly ornate alter.

So Tuesday morning we slept in and had a lazy morning in our nice hotel Rumi Punku. That afternoon with the help of Sergio, part hotel clerk part travel agent, we got a car to take us to Ollantaytambo, about 90 min away from Cusco, around the mountains through the Sacred Valley. Ollantaytambo is an old town, with cobblestone streets and ruins and it was the site of a battle where the Incas beat the Spanish. From there we caught the train, a cute little two car blue train for a 90 min ride to Aguas Calientes which is where you stay to see Machu Picchu. The train ride was incredibly beautiful and I was too busy oohing and aahing to take pictures! The mountains are huge and there was blue sky and lots of vegitation, the train felt dwarfed by the mountains. I do wish I had a few pictures from that part but I do have the memories.

It was early evening when we got to Aguas Calientes which was just swarming with tourists and people trying to squeeze as much money out of the tourists as possible. The only way out of the train station is through a market and the rest of the small place is nothing but stores and hotels and restaurants with everyone vying for your money.

We have dinner, nothing special, go do some interneting and then decide to have dessert. So we go to this restaurant and sit outside and decide to split a slice of orange cake. The waitress goes in a little later comes out and says they’re out of the orange cake. So we ask what they do have, vanilla and chocolate. So we ask for the chocolate. Our drinks come, no cake. Then I see our waitress walking back to our restaurant, with a little plastic bag with a plate and a slice of cake inside, and a couple of minutes later, she walks out with our chocolate cake. Instead of telling us they didn’t have chocolate cake, they went and bought a slice and then charged us tax for it.

The next morning we were up at 4 am. The first bus was leaving at 5:30 and we got in line at 5. The line was already getting long. They have about 5 or 6 buses that came and we were on the second one. It was dark as we start up the mountain and as we got to the top it’s just getting light. It was a 30 min ride and all the way up I had to keep telling myself it was real.

Once we were at the top and they let us through, we took off along the lower path, instead of climbing up to the hut, from which you get the overall view of Machu Picchu. We went the other way, partly because it was too many people and partly because we just didn’t want to deal with steps at 6 in the morning with only a little coca tea in us.

So our path took us in through all the ruins and then we worked our way up to the top. And we had it mostly to ourselves for a long time, because very few people took the route we did. We saw the llamas hanging out and climbed some ladders and touched the walls and just thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We sat at one point and watched the sun come up over the mountains which was incredible. The mountains felt like they were hiding this place and keeping it and us safe. It seems sort of amazing that old ruins like this are found in these mountains and I wonder what else is hidden. We spent about 5 hours there walking around, getting close to the llamas and taking lots of pictures. In the end we got to the top and sat and relaxed and just looked around us and enjoyed. There were more people here, several groups and one group of American high school students, with one of them on the phone home to the parents. Can’t escape the cell phone!!!!!!

Even though we were there it seemed a little unreal. I don’t care what the Incas used that place for, it was a beautiful setting and it felt special. I am very happy that I got to go and I’ll always remember it, it’s a place everyone should see.

You can see some pictures by checking my flickr account.

I’m back from Peru. I had a great time, will share more and pictures when I get them onto my computer.
Important points:

1. Pisco sours are delicious.
2. Great food - ceviche and the interesting asian fusion spices
3. The country is beautiful!!!!
4. The people are friendly.
5. Machu Picchu is fantastic!!!!!

I arrived on Saturday night, about 10 pm. expecting to find my friend E. and a driver, but no, it turns out that my friend’s plane was delayed till 2 in the morning. I had to get myself to the hotel. We had a small room in the Hostal al Patio in Miraflores section of Lima. We had a very lazy Sunday as E. did not get to the hotel till 4 am, without luggage. The hotel had a little courtyard with birds and flowers so it was quite relaxing.

On Monday we made arrangements to see the Nazca Lines. And then we took a bus tour of Lima and saw some catacombs in the church of San Francisco. We had to remember to duck going through the doorways.  The Nasca Lines were interesting. We flew from Lima to Ica and from there we got on a little cessna plane and flew for a while till we got to the lines. It was fun, even though I got a little motion sick but I’m not sure my pictures will show anything.

For future information, if you are driving in Peru and especially Lima, throw out all the rules you learned. Rules do not exist, it’s all a game of chicken when driving. Sometimes there are streetlights, but that doesn’t mean they’re actually working. Remember to use the car horn, constantly, this means you are saying, “here I come, get out of the way”, “I’m free if you want a ride” “hey, notice me” and anything else you want it to mean. It was quite interesting watching the drivers and I have never seen such traffic as I did in Lima.

After a few days in Lima, which was grey skies, we flew to Arequippa which is south and in the mountains and I think the second largest city after Lima. We had a bit of a delay at the airport but when we got there and got off the plane, there were mountains right there and blue blue skies.

Our hotel used to be a monastery which was fun, but we were by the stairs so lots of noise with people walking by. But the hotel people were really nice and helpful. The young Joel walked us a few blocks to a restaurant. And few days later when we were tired and sick, he brought us tea.

Arequippa has a beautiful main plaza with a large church and a fountain and lots and lots of pigeons! When I get the pics on the computer I can show you how many pigeons!

We took a bus tour that went around the city and showed us things and also into the country. We learned about llamas and alpacas (and they are the friendliest creatures!) We saw old churches and a mill and an old houses that used to be a mission among other things.

Unfortunately, this is were we got a little sick as well, my friend more than me because she ate more of the stuffed pepper than I did. We were so hungry so were probably not as careful in choosing a lunch spot. The meat was chewy so I only had a few bites but my friend ate it all and there might have been ice in the pisco sour, we couldn’t remember. Our last day in Arequippa was quiet, we visited the monastery that’s still in use and did have a good meal, but mostly hung around our hotel relaxing.

That covers the highlights of the first week. I hope to have my pictures up soon.

I disappeared a bit.  And I’m going to disappear again.

Before it was not having much to say. I have been reading, mostly YA titles - Darren Shan’s Demonata series, Little Brother by Cory Doctorow (LOVED it!!)  and then some mindless vampire romances by J.R Ward. Those were my mental vacation books, and now I’m ready for the real thing.

Tomorrow I’m off to Peru. Two weeks. I’m excited. Got my camera ready and I’ll share when I get back.

It’s all about photography, perception, and what kind of control do you have over yourself, and others. Myra and her younger sister Pru were the “camera girls” when they were young. A family friend & photographer Ruth took pictures of them for several years when they were young, the girls loved this and they learned.  Ruth displays them in galleries, with the girls permission, and they become famous. While some find the photos artistic and beautiful, others thought they were pornographic. Things happen and lives are changed.

The story is told by both sisters and after a little trouble getting into it, figuring out who was who, I fell into it and read it in two sittings. The overlap of past and present to tell the story really worked and in the end I really cared about these characters.

This is a reread for me, and unfortunately I found myself remembering the movie as I read which took away some of my enjoyment. I remember loving Emma the first time around, this time I was a bit more impatient. I still enjoyed it just not as much. Perhaps I just wasn’t in the mood for all the details of life and the nosiness of Emma and Frank bugged me this time around. I kept thinking how can Emma not see that Mr. Knightley is interested in her and not Harriet, but then that’s part of the fun with Emma, all the misunderstandings. Luckily this is Austen, so it’s happy endings all around.

I think I’ve said this before but I love Ian Rankin. Rebus is just a grumpy, smart, cynical cop and I enjoy reading about him, in one of my favorite places, Edinburgh Scotland.

In this mystery, Rebus is still with Patience Atkins, which is a bit surprising, he’s not the best in relationships. He takes a quick trip to Belfast, deals with 2 murders, missing guns, various Ulster groups and a man from Special Branch. There’s country/western music, the Fringe Festival and nemesis Cafferty.

Rapists are being murdered. What’s the connection and could it have something to do with a rape 30 years ago? Thorne is dealing with this, with his ailing father and Eve Bloom who may be a relationship worth pursuing. He knows there are connections but it’s just out reach, will he make the connections before it’s too late?

Dark and violent and not enjoyable. I’ve never read Billingham before and while I don’t mind dark mysteries this one just didn’t agree with me. I didn’t connect with any of the characters and found myself not caring and only finished because it was a challenge book and I didn’t want to give up.

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Better late than never I guess, but a little while ago Lazygal tagged me for this and I’m finally getting around to it.

What were you doing five years ago?
Working as a Librarian for a public library in New Jersey.

What are five things on your to-do list for today (not in any particular order)?

• Take out the garbage
• Do the laundry
• Finish reading my current mystery
• Watch an episode or two of MI-5
• Go for a walk

What are five snacks you enjoy?

• Raisinets
• Gelato
• Dove chocolate
• Berries of any kind
• Popcorn

What five things would you do if you were a billionaire?

Going to be totally selfish and say travel the world, I’d donate quite a bit.

What are five of your bad habits?

• I’m lazy. ’nuff said. This is what Lazygal said and I’ll just agree.

What are five places where you have lived?

• New Jersey
• England
• Connecticut
• Pennsylvania
• New York

What are five jobs you’ve had?

• Librarian
• Cashier in a grocery store
• That’s all I can remember right now.

What five people do you want to tag?

Any one who’s interested.

I’ve been sidetracked lately, so no posts.

Also, had been thinking about this blog a bit, when I started it it was to be a travel blog, some ramblings about my trips, and it started that way, but then I got pulled into all these fun reading challenges and the blog changed to focus on books, which is fine because after traveling that’s my second obsession.

I’ve had great fun doing the challenges and posting and slowly feeling comfortable and trying to make my way in this world and connect in some fashion with others. But I think maybe it’s time to expand a little or maybe not. I don’t know. There will be books and travel and maybe something else.

In the meantime, I have been reading (and nothing challenge related!) I’ve been caught up in this Demonata series by Shan. It’s not the greatest but it’s got interesting things going on and I haven’t been able to stop. Though now I will because book 7 & 8 aren’t out yet, so I’ll be waiting. I’ve enjoyed the world Shan has created and how each book is almost a stand alone, yet they are all connecting. There’s magic, demons, violence and a bit of hope, though it’s looking like the world doesn’t have much of a chance against the demon worlds. But I’ll have to wait till Oct. to find out.

I liked the idea behind this book but didn’t really like the execution of it. Isabel, an anthropologist in her 60’s goes to Guatemala to do research, but is really taking a break from her family.  She learns that she is mistakenly thought dead. She decides to stay and unravel her thoughts about her family and the stories or lies that constructed her family. We also are told the family history by Isabel’s daughter, Serena. She more than any of them believe the stories and has spent her life trying to find the truth of them and the details and the beginning of it all.  The story goes back and forth between Isabel’s writings, how the mistake of her death happens, what she’s going to do about it and her family’s responses how they deal and how Serena tries to understand why her mother went away. There’s lots of back and forth, unraveling of different family members stories and how so much of their lives were based on lies and how that changed them or didn’t and did it make a difference. I didn’t really like the family, and how long it took to tell and unravel some lies, I felt a bit disconnected.