Being at Peace in Machu Picchu

We are at an astrological sight, the sun dial which has a bit of a chunk taken out of it. Kucho said after that "incident" it lost the power it once had. You can see the corner has been taken off. He said it happened when they were making a beer commercial and the camera guy fell, lost his balance and I guess the camera took a chunk out of the corner. Seems a bit inappropriate for this place and we had a discussion about it... maybe if they were doing something for peace, events would have turned out differently...

thus, me and the peace sign.


Passion flower!
Enjoy the following pictures. I'll come back later to put in descriptions.

Mountain Pose

Facing Waynu Picchu. Breathing in the energy of the mountains. Then we turn and face MachuPicchu, where they are aligned from this spot.

Entering the sanctuary

After arriving in Aquas Calientas by train, we stopped by our hotel to wait for our guide. We stayed at the Inti Inn. It was a bit dusty and we had a big spider in our room. Of course he disappeared when we called some workers for help in removing it. Probably for the best because when I did see it again, I was able to get him out the window without harming him.
Our guide goes by the name, Kucho. A very gentle, patient man. We slowly ascended the path in Machu Picchu... no rushing, just being very deliberate in walking this path. We stopped in certain areas where he would explain to us about the energy of that particular spot. One spot on a split rock, attributing it to the first chakra. We would call the energy of the moutains and give thankfulness, gratitude to Pachamama. There is so much I have forgotten, but more important was the feeling of being in the moment during all of it. It is such a magical place, Machu Picchu. Being with Kucho made it even more so.
I feel very blessed by the whole experience.

Read Sanctuary

Birds and flowers

Not real. Nice sculpture of some birds though in the plaza in Ollaytaytambo. We hung out a bit, talked a bit with a woman who came to work with textiles and design with the women there. Mai-Liis gave her some ideas, designs of what would be more "sellable". I like how colorful their work is, but when you come home, I tend to not use them. They become too loud for me.
I love the flower, forgot it's name, but always so striking against the background of the blue sky. It is Peru's flower.... what the heck is the name....
At our hotel, which is really nice and surrounded by flowers. We stayed here last year as well. P.S. they have a generator in case the lights go out.

So today, me and hubby took a walk in Read sanctuary in Rye. It's the first time I've been there. After paying to go through the parking lot, we also some how managed to get through the gate

:-) of which we later found out one normally needs a pass to swipe to get the gate open .... what can I say, we were supposed to be there.

I realize how much I need to be in areas like this, surrounded by nature, birds and flowers.

Waking in Pakaritampu hotel, my first sight was a hummingbird. I love hummingbirds.

Today I saw a hawk, red-wing blackbird, red cardinal and a parakeet! That surprised me. Someone had written down monk parakeet on a message board and there he was... I love birds.

Tunupa

I seemed to have missed this last year and found it by accident in one of my pictures. One of the advantages of having a guide is that they point things out to you. I did a lot of reading, but of course, you miss a lot when traveling on your own. I don't mind that sacrifice at all. I enjoyed that we were able to have so much free time to explore rather than be "herded" (Mai-Liis' description) and I agree.

Although, I did enjoy the two "guides" we had. Later for that :-)

I blogged on the other site by accident again.....

Ollaytaytambo

Another very cool place. I didn't climb the ruins, but instead walked around a different section that we had missed last year. Now we are seeing the crafts change a bit here. The jewelry, crafts are different from Cusco and Arequipa, but within the area, they are the same.

Notice the profile in the mountain.
Hola'
Such a beautiful day... blue sky :-)
I just sent some photos to the other blog by accident.... click on A year of Art. I should really change the name of that blog as I've let that slide, doing art every day.

I really need to get back to that, not necessarily making something every day, but being creative every day.

Something, anything!! Just spending some time creating something for my self. For my Self. For my Soul..........

I think maybe an altered book on my travels may be in order here :-)

So, click on the other site.........

Cusco

I love Cusco. This is the Plaza de Armas - the main square. From here we walk up the narrow streets to San Blas area where it is considered to be the artists district.
The streets are very narrow and small cars come down the street, so one better be out of the way. The hills are steep too. Always hoping they have good breaks.
Notice the variation in the wall.

Notice the bottom of the wall (inka) and how tightly they fit together and how many angles there are.

What brings joy?

As so many people have been reading books like The Secret, books about the Law of Attraction, Tolle's A New Earth... and more like them, I too have been more conscious of where my attention lies.

What are the things that bring me joy?

Sometimes it is the simplest of things. Watching children, seeing a smile on some one's face, getting a great photo, taking in the beauty of nature, being surrounded by landscapes that take my breath away!

Being in Peru, more often than not, I found myself in utter joy.

While staying in Kunter Wassi we ventured outside onto the narrow streets to find lots of shit to sidestep, donkeys and these cute little boys who wanted to have their picture taken.

I'm game. So I lined them up on the step and took their picture. I gave each of them 20 centimos, which is hardly anything, and watched them dance down the street. Laughing, excited to have made some money. That was joyful to watch.

Too busy coloring.....

I brought with me a bunch of boxes of crayons with me. I intended to bring them to the children on the island we were to stay on. I kept a few in my bag and pulled them out when I found a suitable subject :-)

On the way back from the canyon, stopped to see some tombs (soon :-) and of course here was this mom and her son selling her handicrafts. This little boy went to the van, pretty much cleaning it up with his body. I went in to grab a box of crayons and some paper. He called it paint and emptied the box and colored. Art and children are my passion. I love creating with children, watching them create, watching the process....

So now this little boy after sharing with me, showing me the colors is now so engrossed in coloring, he's not even aware his pants are falling down :-)

His mom shared some delicious prickly pear with us. Yum!

Colca Canyon and my dream

Image in my dream. 2 years ago, I had a dream I was standing on top of a mountain. To my right was a cliff jutting out from the mountain. Two birds, black and white flew from this area and as I watched them fly out into the sky, I looked down and saw my mother's house.

This is what it looked like.
Me, very happy to see the condors :-)

Time to move on .......................

CONDORS!!!!!!!!!

We were up early, had a "continental" breakfast (the juice was really good) and off we were to see condors. It was cold. There were some people there, but not many. We waited at the edge of the canyon... patiently waiting.
And then I spotted one coming up from the canyon, gliding in the distance, getting closer, coming up a bit higher until a female flew over our heads back and forth. So IMPRESSIVE!
Such a beautiful sight to see. There were two and then another one or two, not sure how many. Hard to take pictures of them... sometimes I was just left with a beautiful blue sky and then sometimes I just got lucky :-)

Kuntur Wassi

Arrived at the hotel. It didn't quite seem like the pictures online, but it was nice. Our room overlooked the plaza which we didn't go to. Didn't seem like there was anything there. The draw to this place was it's convenient location to Colca canyon. The inside was nice.
Lots of flowers surrounding the hotel.
There always seemed to be some glitches with water for me. This place was no exception. I tried to take a needed shower.... I let the water run. It wasn't getting warm, let alone hot. I shut the water for guilt of wasting water here where it is very dry, and after listening to guides talk about the lack of water... how can I let it run!!!!

I then noticed a leak, watching the water run towards the toilet bowl. We were only given two towels and we decided to use one to soak it up. We didn't want to step into water on this cold floor. I told them about the leak.

Someone came to the room later to check, but of course it did not leak while they were there, but later after they left. Now it's getting late... another day without a shower.

Lunch in Chivay

After passing through those great heights, we quickly came down to Chivay and my ears popped. I hate that.

Mai-Liis wanted to have lunch. Our guides brought us a box lunch that we ended up eating in the small plaza. Our guide had different plans as to where we would eat. I was curious as to where it was, but hunger won out. I think it was to protect us from beggars as one or two people came over to us, but it wasn't a big deal. We had a chance to stretch our legs and take a few photos..

Most people stay here and then leave early to go to Colca canyon in the morning. It's best to be there early to catch the condors. We, instead, passed through Chivay and Colca canyon to Kuntur Wassi which was a lot closer. We stopped at the canyon. No condors. No tourists. Beautiful!

Now I was getting psyched in coming back to see the condors.

Vicunas

Traveling towards the canyon, we passed through a protected area. Here, Vicunas roam. In the heirarchy of these cameloids, they are high on the totem pole. Sheep, llama, alpacha and vicuna. Vicuna wool is most expensive. They are a protected species and only shorn about every 2 or 3 years. Cute too.
The area is surrounded by vocanos and mountains. We are high up and passing one area, aprox. 16,000 ft. we stopped the van to get out. Yes, another area where the locals were selling their handicrafts. We were warned that if need be, come back to the van if we felt dizzy.
I wish I had a picture to prove this.... but we stepped out of the van and I felt it. I took a look around and saw a woman laid out on the ground. She needed oxygen, I felt a bit woozy and headed back to the van.. I was definitely feeling this.
Mai-Liis? She at 16,000 ft was shopping.... but she too soon returned after realizing how difficult it was to figure how how to pay the person she was interacting with.
Water. Coca leaf.
We continued on our journey.............

On the way.......

May 2:
On the way to Colca Canyon, we stopped to pee/eat/shop here. Actually, I just looked around, taking pictures. I bought a hat here for John while Mai-Liis and our guide were inside having some coca tea. One always needs to have a sol for taking a picture. Worth it!
The dollar isn't so great there, unlike the Euro which was over 4 sol to the Euro. The dollar ranged between 2.50 to 2.77 s. to the dollar. Last year, it was about 3.30.
My favorite subject is taking pictures of the children. I liked how they got a kick out of seeing themselves on the camera and would blow up the picture so they could see themselves clearer.

View from above

In Arequipa, we stayed at Casa de Ana, and you can go up to the roof top type patio to look out over the other buildings. To me, Peru always seems to be in a state of construction. They are always building, always in this "process" of building up or repairing.
Peruvians are hard working people.
Jake would like Peru - Rauchen can run free.
I love being surrounded by Mountains... Apus. Feelings of protection.

Wandering the halls.......

Still enthralled with this color blue.
I could have spent a whole day here wandering....
One thing I am so grateful for is my own bed!!!

Discovering a sanctuary

We wandered a bit after our lunch, trying to find a market. Nothing really there, so we wandered back to the monestary that was recommeded. We still had time, although it was getting late. Monasterio de Santa Catalina is a beautiful, peaceful place to visit... well worth the visit.

It was this color blue that made me salivate. Rich, gorgeous color painted the walls. I wandered around following paths that led to various rooms, down streets and past gardens. So beautiful.

So peaceful......

Arequipa - Day 1

Arrived in Arequipa the next day, taking an early flight. Arequipa is known as the white city because it is made of the white rock from the volcano Misti.
The Quechua word for it means, "yes, stay". It is beautiful with colonial architecture. We stayed at Casa de Ana, away from the Plaza de Armas, (which every city has) a house run by Ana who was friendly and very informative. The streets are so narrow that two cars are in competion in passing. Ana, also is a tour guide and opens her home to tourists.
We were starting our trip in a way to acclimate to the altitude. Our first adventure was to see Condors at Colca Canyon.
In Arequipa, Ana took us to a place to have lunch, but the place was packed. It was a holiday and no room, so we went to the plaza to eat. Upstairs, on one of the balcony's that surround the plaza, we ate our lunch and then began to explore... I have never seen a dog on a leash in Peru.

I'm back from Peru

I love Peru. I love the people. I love seeing a culture so very different from mine. Earthy. Warm and friendly..... but it is good to be home. Now it almost feels as if it were a dream.

We arrived in Lima very late. Our flight from Houston was delayed, due to having to change a valve on the plane. Because we landed so late, our "greeter" left.

Here we were in Lima at 2 am and no one there to greet us, not knowing where our hotel was and with no vouchers.

We received help from a taxi driver who called the number I had if we had a problem. He took us to the hotel next to the airport and found all our vouchers waiting there for us.

It wasn't the best beginning to this trip and we were tired. It was 3 am NY time and we needed to get up early for our flight to Arequipa the next morning.

Getting off the plane in Arequipa, we were greeted by these two smiling faces :-)

my horoscope for today....

Wednesday, Apr 30th, 2008 --
"You must accept a dilemma for the next few weeks as you try to withdraw from the noisy hustle-bustle of life. Your inner voice is attempting to convince you to stay home and take it easy, but this could directly conflict with your job or your desire for more social activities. There is no need to struggle; recharge your energy by enjoying time with friends and family or just take off for a while by yourself."

Of course it would be nice to have John with me, but I am taking off.........................
Ciao!
Life is good :-)
I'll miss you Johnny boy YYYYYYYYYYYYY

Space and Space

Two full days of classes and gathering up the loose ends before I head back to Peru. The first picture above is created by one of the kids from class. He came up with some invented planets in space, including the chocolate planet!! I will miss the kids, but look forward to photographing the children of Peru. I'm bringing some crayons with me.
We will be going back to Machu Picchu and Cuzco, and a quick stop at Ollaytatumbo, but the rest will be new. Arequipa, Colca Canyon, Lake Titicaca - staying with a family on one of the islands.
Packing begins the adventure.
I've been quiet with my blogs lately, but will be really quiet for two weeks... I return May 14 and will be sharing lots of photos.

25 tips

Received this in my email this morning and thought I'd share:

25 TIPS FOR A BETTER LIFE – 2008

1. Take a walk every day. And while you walk, smile. It is the ultimate anti- depressant.

2. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day. Buy a lock if you have to.

3. When you wake up the following statement, 'My purpose for today is ________

4. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.

5. Drink green tea & water. Eat blueberries, wild Alaskan salmon, broccoli, almonds & walnuts. 6. Try to make at least three people smile each day.

7. Don't waste energy on gossip, the past or negative thoughts…invest your energy in the positive present moment.

8. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince & dinner like a pauper

9. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

10. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

11. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

12. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

13. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.

14. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

15. No one is in charge of your happiness except you

16. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: 'In five years will this matter?'