Thursday, May 04, 2006
Puerto Inca
I arrived here in the early afternoon after driving half a day across desert that goes into the sea, or the sea that is trying to claim the desert, I am just not quite sure which one applies. The Incas used to fish at this place and then via runners sent fresh fish up to Cusco. This is no easy thing as Cusco is several hundred Ks away and 3000 meters higher than the sea. Even today it would take me a
day or two to get there, and that is on paved roads and not carting a basket of fish!
Today it is a sea side resort that offers hotel rooms and camping but best of all COLD BEER. It seams hard to find cold beer in Peru, or is it they cannot afford to run the fridge? I shared my end of the beach with a group of English guys on an adventure travel tour (to the out of the way places?) To thier surprise, a U.S. plated car (mine) pulled up...
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Mystery of the Nazca lines
I have continued south to the town of Nazca to see the lines that have been marked in the desert here. There are many theories of why this was done. Was it some sort of calendar? A star chart? Maybe a signal to outer space travelers. The last idea seams to make sense. The Shamans (witch doctors) at the time may have made some hallucenogenic drug, which they would, in a drug induced state, think they were some sort of animals such as a Jaguar, Fish or Condor but usually powerful animals. They would have a dream where they would go to the deep depths of the ocean, the jungle or high in the sky like a Condor. However, most animals they put in the desert are animals that did not live there. Monkey, Hummingbird and Parrot, though the condor may have. So in this state the Shaman would not be of this world, and may think he is looking down on it or say he was, and as an added fact these animals also were regard as having some medicinal purposes. The theory here was acquired from the jungles in the Amazon. How true or not is only an idea but the real truth has
been lost in time so all we can do is look at what they did and wonder. It is just lucky it only rains here once a year, and very little.
The second part of my day was spent looking for some Mummies. There is a Nazca cemetery some 27 Ks from town. This place has been torn up by grave robbers though these people did not want the mummies, just the artifacts so they just tossed the mummies too one side while looking. Their trail of destruction led the archeologists to this place. The photo is of a recreation of a real tomb from the
destruction found.
[Editor's note: Happy birthday, Glenn! Hey, everybody, Glenn just turned ___. Birthday party photos to follow soon, hopefully.]
Sunday, April 30, 2006
Sand Surfing in Peru
Well, I have done something that I said that I was not going to do,
and that was "not to start a new thing that had a long learning curve." Well, let me eat my words. I tried a thing here called Sand Boarding. Well, what else does one do if one has these big sand dunes at one's doorstep?
At first all I wanted was two skis and some poles in place of my two feet tied to one board. I guess that I'm not used to the idea but after one afternoon and a shoe full of sand I have come to think this Sand Boarding is not a bad idea. The best thing is it takes place at an Oasis two Ks from town, a water hole amidst a lot of sand dunes (see photos.) But it has been a welcome break from the desert that I have been driving through, and somewhere to think about the mountains I am
about to head to, ie Cusco and La Paz.
