Floating Islands- Peru

Hi, Well, we are back in Cuzco (10,900ft) where the breathing is easy Titicaca is about 12,500ft and the island we climbed was 13,135ft It was with a First Class bus and the driver must have beeped his horn hundreds of times, sometimes when passing on blind curves. We had the best seats in the bus, just behind the driver. It´s a 6.5 hr trip to go about 250 miles through mountain passes. Lake Titicaca (the boy in me loves that name) means gray puma which is kind of a letdown. We started at the Floating Islands. -these are islands composed of layers and layers of reeds. People live on them and nobody bothers them. Who would want a soggy island? As the reeds rot from the bottom, they just add fresh reeds at the top. The island squishes as you walk on it and people have gotten wet feet there. Their houses, boats, mats and sails are all made of reeds. They also eat the root of the reed and suppliment it with small fish they catch. It´s anchored in 60 ft of water and if you don´t like your neighbor, just pull anchor! We took a ride in a reed boat and they are SLOW! They skull from the back with two sweep oars (a board and a tree branch) I offered to show them how to paddle but they were too proud! The family sleeps in two beds (of reeds), the adults in one and all the kids in another. This is really very practical since there is no heat anywhere. The lake is 54F in the summer and 41F in the winter. These people are TOUGH! From there we went to a real island, had lunch, watched native dances and tried not to buy anything else. After lunch, we climbed to the top of the island (13,135) then down 500 steps. My quads and lungs are either great or shot. I´ll tell you tomorrow. I have a sunburn since the UV´s are strong at 13,000ft It´s better than snow though! Chuck

Lake Titicaca 2009

Hi Guys, We are now at Lake Titicacca on the border of Peru and Bolivia. Its about 11,800ft so I.m not walking up hills very fast.We spent two days at Machu Picchu and it was wall to wall Gringos. If you want to hike the Inka Trail, you have to reserve it months in advance. You also have a quota to climb the hill next to the ruins. I climbed it years ago and was scared out of my mind. Put a set of stairs as steep as a ladder (60 degrees?) with 6" steps, then climb for hundreds of feet. Up wasn't bad but down was terrifying. We took the train from Cuzco which goes along the Urabamba river. The river is in flood and to me, was unrunnable. There were miles of pour overs, holes and rock sieves.The town has grown by three times since I was there but it is still a small, tourist town. The town is famous for it{s hot springs too so Marcia and I went in the evening. I only have a Speedo so I said my name was Floyd Turbo and they let me right in! Women fainted and men gave me the evil eye but it's a gift! The next day we took the train back to Cuzco and somehow, my wallet and $300 stayed there, probably still there! They had a ceremony on the train with one of the crew dressed as the Llama shaman. He danced with Marcia who was the only one brave enough. It was followed by a fashion show of Alpaca clothes. I just bought another sweater for $8 Hats are $4 or less We are going to an enornous old cemetary today and to the Floating Islands tomorrow.The people you meet on the trip are facinating There was a blond Japanese woman in a Mini and Go Go boots. There's a story there some where! We met a guy from Montana touring by himself who was 87 years old. He said "Be careful of the Philipenes" since he met his 30 year old wife there! Chuck

Peru 2009 Cuzco

We´re now in Cusco after a long flight and a bad airport lounge. We left Cleveland at 1pm and got into Lima, Peru at 12pm. Our flight to Cusco was at 5:30am so we would just sleep in the airport.We went to the gate, found a nice bench and stretched out, A minute later, the PA went off at 135 decibels! They kept paging Rex Schwartz? every few minutes and said he was missing his flight. Good old Rex missed his flight for 3 hours. After a while, we thought we were in Guatanamo with sleep deprivation and loud, obnoxious, barely intelligible noises. I was ready to admit to being Osama Bin Laden just to make it stop! As it turned out, the gate was changed and we went to a much quieter gate. Cuzco airport is at 10,500 ft and nestled in a valley so it´s fun watching the pilot make a sharp turn to line up on the runway and land FAST because the air is so thin there is not as much wing lift. Cuzco was the capital of the Incan Empire and there are many ruins here. Many of them were plundered by the Spanish to build their churches, buildings and homes.Some of the stone building blocks are 50 tons and are fitted next to each other perfectly with no mortar. We've been to many museums, cathedrals and ruins. We hiked part of one Incan road at 11,000ft with a lot of up and down steps. I´m not in as good shape as I thought. Tomorrow, Marcia and I leave for two days in Machu Pichu by train. There are many street venders who will sell sweaters, pictures, hats and other stuff.

Sunday in Bogota

God, will this guy ever quit writing! I can´t help it, I´m addicted to a keyboard! If you are ever in Bogota, you MUST stay to Sunday! They shut the main street down to traffic and let bicyclists, skaters, walkers and dawdlers use the street. It goes right past their Senate Building (think Pennsylvania Ave in DC) There are a few guards with AK-47´s but that just adds to the ambiance.This street goes for two miles? with all sorts of doings. I saw magicians, a protest march, people on stilts, a three foot dwarf in a white hat singing love songs. There was a Calypso family with a four year old playing tamborine. There were people doing charcoal drawings and caricatures. There were painters selling spray can art. There of course were a million vendors selling bracelets, necklaces, ear rings and hats, scarves. There is fruit, juices, slushies and ice cream. There was a guy dressed as a Plains Indian (full eagle headdress) singing and playing Peruvian songs? There were mimes and a storyteller. You need to stay away from those guys because they LOVE to grab a gringo into their act and watch the puzzlement on their face. There were games of chance? with the old three half tennis balls and a marble. A cute one was where a guy had six hamsters and twelve little houses. You could but your money on top of one house and if the one hamster released went to your choice, you would get to get to keep half the money bet. My favorite scene was watching a group of twenty or so people watching a guy review a health book he was selling. It was a big book with illustrated pop-up diagrams. I swear I'm not making this up but he opened it up to the page showing male genitalia and it popped up! There was also a Mercado Pulga (Flee Market) and they had even worse junk than we do at ours. I only bought two things! Half way through, I heard the "Happy Birthday" tune but in Spanish. It started raining again so I bought a $2.50 umbrella. One more supper, then I fly back. Well, I'm home safe and almost sound. The end of the trip showed the same luck as usual. My 1:15am flight didn't leave until 2am. The Immigration computers were down so I missed my connecting flight. The next three flights were fully booked but I was able to get on the next as the last person (stand by) loaded. All the overheads bins were filled so my small day pack and hat rode with me. Do you have time for another rant? Some peoples' carry ons are BIGGER than my checked backpack. I forgot how cold it is here but it's nice to sleep in a familiar bed. I'm open to suggestions for my next trip so feel free! Chuck

Salt Mine

Hi, This will be my last letter from Colombia since I am flying back tomorrow morning (if 2am can be considered morning!) I´ve spent the last few days in Bogota and the near areas. I visited a cathedral in a salt mine in Zipaquira. I´ve decided getting lost is not completely my fault. This time I started out with written directions to Porte de Norte. I gave them to a cab driver and told him I wanted a bus there that would take me to Zip. He said OK, then took me to Porte de Norte 80, a shopping center 10 miles in the wrong direction. I didn´t know any different so I got out. You remember "Gone with the Wind"where Scarlet O´Hara said "Ï depend on the kindness of strangers" Well, that´s my new technique! I asked one person how to get to the other Porte and an Art teacher who spoke English took me by the hand and put me on the right bus. When I got off, another person put me on the bus to Zip. The guy next to me on the bus told me where to get off for the salt mine and a taxi took me the rest of the way.The cathedral is way underground but it´s all ramps, not stairs. It´s still a working mine but not in that area. Colombia is a Catholic country (lots of people had ashes on Ash Wednesday) so the mine was loaded with Catholic symbolism. There were the 14? Stations of the Cross, and numerous statures. There were two big domed ceilings and a pretty big area with pews The walls are only 50% salt with the rest dirty looking rock. I found my way out with no problems. Yesterday I toured a few churches and if you´ve seen one, you´ve seen them all. They"re big with ornate gold altars, fixtures and lots of dark paintings. They are all still in use so no photos. I then went to the Gold Museum. It was started by a bank and just grew and grew. There are fantastic examples of gold pieces with delicate filligree and weird mixtures of humans,birds and animals all done in gold. It´s a great museum and has three floors of exhibits. And to think, the Spanish melted down 95% of all the gold to send ingots back to Spain. The local food is cheap in Bogota. I spent less than $1 for breakfast and lunch and only $2 for supper (soup, meat, rice, vegetables, plantains, beans and a drink) Just a few observations from here. There are very few tattoos here and even fewer piercings. McDonalds charges $3.75 for a Quarter Pounder Meal. The local Metro charges $0.50 for some really long rides. They are really crowded and are known for pickpockets. Today I was on when a 10 month pregnant woman got on so I gave her my seat. I was nervous when she started panting! All I could remember from First Aid was that when the babies head was at the opening and it is as big as a 50 cent piece, something? was about to happen. Fortunately nothing happened!! The womans attire here is low cut blouses with push up bras. I´m not sure there is a real bra in the entire country. Pants are usually tight jeans. Guys wear the same boring stuff the world over. Cigarettes are sold one at a time- $0.08 and people stand around selling cell phone usage. He hands you his phone, you make your call and give him about $0.05 per minute. Most of the college students here have cell phones. Hand held video games are as big as a paperback book and as heavy.
I´m not sure Colombia is ready for full tourism yet. I´ve talked to two other people who were robbed. It´s probably OK if you are on a tour or if you only stay in "safe"areas. It´s a beautiful country with friendly people and some awesome colonial buildings. Chuck

Hi Guys, It´s been a while but nothing exciting has happened. I left Cartegena and flew to San Andres, a small island complex 500 miles north of Cartegena. I went by way of Bogota which is like flying from Cleveland to NYC by way of St Louis. I´m staying in the largest city on the island. It´s funny that this is a freeport so there are a hundred upscale stores here. It looks like a colision of Outlet Malls here. When I first got here I couldn't find a restaurant and thought I would have to live on perfume. Then I found where the poorer people are and they do eat. Food and everything is more expensive here since everything is flown in. Think Hawaii.I took a tour around the entire island, 17 miles and saw Morgan, the pirate, Cave. Remember him from Panama City_ Anyhow there is this sink hole that Morgan was said to have hidden treasure in but after the advent of Scuba, there is no treasure. Besides pirates probably spent all their ill'gotten gains on wine, women and song! Who wouldn´t The tour was a couple of wagons with seats pulled by a tractor made up to look like a train. One interesting scene sticks out in my mind. There was a couple with a 10 year old child that came to the train. The father was in a wheel chair and three passengers got off the train and picked the man up and put him on the train. Nothing special about it, just what you do here I guess. We went to a swimming area where you could feed the fish or rent a diving helmet. The water is very clear here. There arent many good beaches on the island´. From there we went to the geyser´There is a coral cave that sprays water 20 feet in the air. The tourists would stand RIGHT next to it and sometimes get knocked over. That wouldn´t happen in the USA! The next day I went to Johnny Cay, a small key a mile off the coast. It´s where everyone goes to sunbathe. Small launchas take you over but there are no docks at either end so enter and exit over the side. It´s OK where the seas are calm but it was a hoot getting back. The launcha would nose into shore and a crew member would pick up a woman and set her on the bow deck, sometimes. Guys were on their own. This was happening with three foot swells. I dove for the deck a little late and managed to stop the boat with my large and powerful nose. This was after a rogue wave knocked down about six of us and dropped my day pack into the ocean. Not much got wet though. I had a bunch of idle thoughts as I lay in my rented cabana,$7. Why aren´t people afraid on falling coconuts, thousands more are killed than by sharks. Why do people tear the last chapter of books and why am I not bright enough to check. Are people ever killed by falling ceiling fans. Every place I´ve been has a fan badly out of balance vibrating back and forth with only 3-4 conduit holding it up. maybe there is no metal fatigue here.Why is Old Milwaulkee beer sold here, cheap!! Why don´t I carry sunburn lotion instead of sunscreen which I don´t use. I´m a little red today. I´ve got some thoughts but that´s enough for today. Later, Chuck

Tayrona National Park

Hi again, I´ve decided to call this Chuck´s Whine Tour so go to the kitchen, grab a piece of cheese and settle in. Have you ever had a period of time where every thing you plan turns to shit? (See Bush's last eight years) My last letter told of the aborted "Lost City" trek and I then decided to go to the beach. So I bought a ticket for a ride to the beach in Tayrona National Park. It was in a "Surrey"jeep, one with a top but no sides. The weather was great at 9am but then at 9:30, it started to sprinkle and it was pouring at 10am. The ride ended at 11am. I was going to the beach so my raincoat was safely back in my hotel room. We went to the first spot and I asked the driver when he would continue to the next spot. He replied that this was the end of the road and you had to walk the rest of the way. No problem, I like walking on the beach sands. The trail went AWAY from the beach past a bunch on horses and mules (That should have been a clue) It was supposed to be a 45 min hike but the trail was churned to a wonderful mud bath. The horses and mules added their own green goop. It was a wonderful mixture and as I walked through it, I felt the skin on my feet soften and all the dead skin gently exfoliated. They were as soft as a baby´s butt and as smelly. I plan to bring some of this back and start my own spa, Char-lays de Lago Sheffield. You laugh, but I will be rich. Anyhow after 90 Min's, I got to the beach (Did I mention it was raining?) I was slow because I stopped to help short people across the deeper spots. There is no competition there so the food was expensive and you could rent a tent for $20, more than my hotel! Hammocks were $8 but there were a lot of mosquitoes so I got the tent. Blankets were not available so I dressed in what clothes I had and used my sarong as a blanket. It is long enough to cover your feet or your shoulders, just not at the same time. I did walk 500yds down the beach and discovered a bakery! It was a wood fired stone oven. I shared a chocolate filled roll and a cheese roll with a German tourist. It was the high point of the trip. The scenery was primeval with large granite rocks stopping the six ft waves with tremendous towers of spray. The seas were so rough that there were no swimmers or even surfers! After supper, I went to bed (Did I mention it was raining?) I woke up itching in a lot of places. Apparently sand flies can drink DEET and still bite. I´m not sure what the record is but I have over 100 bites. The good news is that they only itch when I´m awake. The bad news is that I can´t sleep with the itching. Anyhow, I left Paradise and trudged back to the main road and washed off as well as possible. I got on a local bus and got my own seat! After two hours we were back in Santa Marta at the bus station. When I got off, I asked how far my hotel was and it was 10 blocks through the main market area so I decided to walk. After eight blocks, a guy next to me called to me"Hey buddy"He must have had a stomach ache as he was holding his arm and hand in a funny position across his stomach. He then moved one hand and showed me a 8"knife! A knife salesman?? No, a robber!! I have no idea why I reacted as I did but I yelled ¨NO´¨ a couple of times pretty loudly and swung my day pack between him and me. I then backed up 20 ft to a store. He ran up a side street. Usually I´m alert to those situations but it was at 1pm in the afternoon on a main street. That´s my only almost robbery story in 18 years of traveling. I then got a room and bought a ticket to Cartegena for today. The bus was two hours late but apart from that, uneventful. More later, Chuck

Santa Marta

Hi again, I'm now in Santa Marta on the Caribbean coast. I got here by minibus. That company picks you up at your hotel and drops you off at your new hotel. Saves on taxis and it's fast if you are the first dropee. The best part is that they showed "Shanghai Noon" with Jackie Chan. It's a four trip so they showed it TWICE. I love Jackie Chan so it was good. I signed up for a six day trek into the "Lost City" It's a very big area about 28 miles from any road. I've decided I'm going to stick with six day walks, saunters, strolls or moseys, not treks. We loaded eight people into a six person jeep and drove an hour on a great paved road. We then got off that road and drove to an army check point where our passports and gear were checked. We all passed so drove on. We were on the worst four wheel drive road I have ever been on. We often bottomed out in mud holes, felt like tipping over, and driving right next to edge of a mud part of the road looking over a BIG drop.It was great!! We passed through a very small town (ten houses, 100 yards of concrete road) then on to the starting point, the town of Machete (three houses, restaurant) The first day was five miles, 3.5 hours 2000 ft elevation change. After 20 minutes we stopped at a small stream and swam for ten minutes. I was already very hot and it felt good.The next three hours were mostly uphill with an occasional downhill. The bad part is that it was ALL very steep. It was a mule trail and mules apparently climb almost anything. It was far steeper than the Grand Canyon trails and even steeper than parts of the Inca trail. We stopped twice, once for an orange and once for a watermelon.I stopped a lot more often just to breathe. We finally arrived at our first campsite, the homestead of our guides family. It was in the most beautiful area but we in the States would consider it a hovel.The walls were wood with half inch gaps between them, there was no electricity and food was cooked on a wood fire. We had Chicken, rice, salad and potatoes for supper and it was some of the best food I have ever eaten, There was a candy bar for dessert. All the food and gear was carried on mule back, we only carried our personal gear.Sleeping was in hammocks, the skinny kind where you don't move.After getting in, a mosquito netting was tied around the hammock. It was then I realized I should have gone to the bathroom first. The bathroom was a slatted boards building with a bowl. No lid, no tank, a bowl. When finished, there was a drum of water with a small bucket to perform the flush. We all looked like butterfly cocoons in our netting and I thought we looked like a bad scene from "Alien" where we were just larva food! We were way too close to each other and if you moved an elbow, you would touch your neighbor. There was only one snorer and they were at some distance. I slept well until 3:30 when I awoke. I rested until 6:30 when I got up.Now comes the bad part. I sometimes have trouble with my middle ear which causes vertigo and nausea. Bingo, there it was and there I sat down and tried not to barf. After talking it over with the guides, I decided to return since I wasn't sure I would recover enough to continue. They were very nice about it and offered to got me a horse to continue. I wimped out (cowardliness or good sense) and rode back with the guides' father leading me. We made it back in 2.5 hours. It was a little scary up on the mule since my stirrups would be over space sometimes and the mules head would also be over the drop off. I had to trust that the mule was not suicidal on the switchbacks.
We drove back into town in the same six person jeep. This time there were 10 adults, two infants, two children and two chickens. The road was no better going back down! Remember my complaint about needing a butt transplant, when I got back for a shower, I found a "bed sore" on my butt. (saddle sore or jeep sore)
I plan to go to the beach today!
Chuck

Hi again,
Bored reading yet? First is a History revision. Capt Morgan sacked Panama City (then part of Colombia, pre Teddy Roosevelt) Sir Francis Drake sacked Cartegena. It´s hard to keep those pirates straight and where´s Capt Hook?
Today I goofed off and went on a volcano trip. After driving an hour or so on very good roads, we arrived at the volcano. All thirty of us trudged up the steep side, pulling ourselves upward until we reached to crater.We waited, then followed each other into the depths.
It´s a mud volcano and all thirty of us were in the 15X15 ft mud pool. It was pleasantly warm and the consistency of THICK chocolate pudding. I have no idea how deep it was because you couldn´t sink in it. It was difficult to try and stand since you floated so high, just above your waist. When you entered the pool, a guy grabbed you and skipped you to the other side where another guy smeared mud all over you, front and back. I asked how can I get that job but he didn´t understand. The tourist women were all in bikinis, get the picture?
Another guy grabbed all the cameras and took pictures of you with your camera. After a while, we got out by pulling along the side, swimming was out of the question. As we climbed up the ladder, another guy hand squeezed some of the mud off. I volunteered for that job too. We then went down a really steep set of stairs with slippery hands and feet. We mud people were then sent to the nearby lake where women were waiting with dish pans to rinse us off. I was sitting in waist deep water enjoying the bath as she scrubbed the mud out of my hair, beard and ears. Then came the fateful words ¨Da me tus pantalones¨
In English, that´s Give me your pants¨I was going to say ¨But we just met¨She was bigger than me so I gave up my pants and watched as everyone else sank into the lake while the pants, bikinis, etc were being washed. I volunteered for that job too!
After everyone was sparkling clean, we went back to the bus to collect our cameras.Lo and behold, we needed to tip ANYONE who had ever touched us the day. The pantalone washers, camera man, both masseuses and the ladder boy. I definitely want those jobs, fun and big money!
Then to lunch on the ocean with 85F breezes and thatched shade. It reminded me a lot of Ohio. Tomorrow is a travel day up the coast to another seaside town Santa Marta.
Later,

Colombia 2009

Hi again,
As you can tell I have too much time on my hands and hanging out in Internet Cafes. Today I went to the Rosario Islands by lancha. A lancha is a 26ft long 9ft wide Boston whaler type of boat. They are powered by twin 200HP Yamaha outboards. As you might guess they go pretty fast! Getting to the lancha was my usual mess. I followed direction to the dock buy somehow was off 180 degrees. I asked a Tourist cop where to go and he flagged down a motor scooter and instructed the driver to take me to the dock.Unfortunately he knew less than I did but we rode! We were on a four lane divided highway wih cars, bikes, buses and one horse drawn cart (He was in the slow lane!) Its exciting to have the shadow of a BIG bus slowly overtake you. And or course, since Im a guy, I cant hold on to the scooter driver. Anyhow we got to the dock with all parts intact. The harbor (and town) are enormous. Cartegena was the first and most important city in the Americas. Most of the gold ships to Spain left from here and it was a magnet for pirate attacks. Capt Morgan sacked it twice before he got into the Rum business. The Spanish built a wall around the entire city with outlying smaller forts. It took about 200 years and was finished about 20 years before Colombia kicked out Spain (bad timing) There are more historical churches here than you can shake a stick at.
Once we left the harbor, we were in three foot swells and lanchas are not known for their soft ride! As an aside, Colombia is well known for it´s Plastic Surgery and I´m thinking I might have some augmentation¨in my nether regions. I used to be bigger there and I really miss it. Yes, I´m talking about a butt implant. Riding on buses, boats and even planes reminds that I don´t have enough padding there. I haven´t decided between a halfback butt or a full Jerome Bettis. I´ll tell you later.
The poorer fishermen are in log dugouts paddling standing up. Their paddle is a seven foot broomstick with a 10¨circle of wood nailed at the bottom. There are also a few fiberglass canoes with the high (Indian?) bow and stern. Whenever we stopped, we were fresh lobster or shrimp that were caught by diving (snorkel)
Back to being a tourist!
Chuck

Bogota

Hi,
I left Peru and now am in Colombia. I can´t spell some things but Colombia is with an ¨0¨at least in Colombia I landed in Bogota, which is a huge (8million) city at 8500 ft elevation.It´s supposed to be safer but the cabs I´ve been in, lock their doors at times. I had problems with my passport and got to the recommended hotel at 11:30pm. It was a dive and my room was on the fourth floor, no elevator.I moved to a Backpackers hostel which was clean, quiet and on the 1st floor. Cheaper too.The food here is unbelievably cheap!
I had a breakfast with a bowl of beef soup?, uncooked scrambled eggs,two big tortillas, and a cup of very good cocoa. The cocoa was the only thing I finished. The total cost was $1.75. Supper was much better with a bowl of chicken vegetable soup,rice, beans, a plantain, a potato and a chicken leg. That was $1.66. Breakfast this morning was two fried eggs, fresh OJ, cocoa and toast for $0.85. Fresh OJ on the street is $0:45
I left Bogota today and flew to Cartagena. It´s on the coast and it´s about 90F here. Can I have a little ¨poor me¨cry? It´s a really old city, the first in the Americas and was fortified by the Spanish to fight off the pirates. Captain Morgan and his buddies sacked the city twice before they got the walls started. There are thick, high walls surrounding the entire old city and many of the buildings have balconies. My room has one, AC, hot water, TV for $13. There are markets every where and I´ve been lost at least three times so far today. The streets are not all straight and they change names every block.
It´s hot and muggy here but with a brisk sea breeze. As you might guess, the women are in halter tops or less. The only shorts are on tourists.
I´m taking a day trip tomorrow to some local beaches