Hola everybody

Well my last long email went the way of the dodo bird since it now appears that nobody got it. I have to remember to save those long emails. They take a while to write on these less than pristine computers. On this one the keyboard is all messed up so it's a bit of a hit and miss. We left La Paz in a shitty little bus and visited some fairly unsavory toilets along the way. First rule of traveling, always carry toilet paper with you. I had to use a bill once which was better than nothing. Unfortunately it was a small bill so it barely did the job. I'll spare you the details. Copacabana is another one of those funky little towns right on Lake Titicaca which is incredibly big. It's the highest navigable lake in the world. The weather was nice when we arrived but it soon turned rainy, especially at night and in the early morning. We did a fair bit of walking. They have the Calvary of the cross up this really steep mountain and we did that. Not an easy thing at almost 4000 metres altitude but we were met with a wonderful view which is more than Jesus could say! Hope that last bit doesn't offend anybody. We wanted to go to Isla del Sol for the day which is reputed to be the birthplace of the first Inca king-god. We did end up going but only for a half a day because it rained in the morning. Think Greek island without the olive trees and not nearly as warm water. It was beautiful with no cars. Cars have been a particularly toxic presence in the cities. There are so many of them, all taxis and vans. The pollution is unbelievable. It's not all pretty pictures. These cities are hard to live in. I couldn't do it. They are noisy and dirty mostly except for the colonial legacies mostly in the form of churches or religious buildings of one kind or another. The church has not been kind to people of South America when you look at the history so there's a certain hypocrisy in viewing all those remnants of a brutal colonial past and marveling at the splendid architecture and the gold relief of the altars.

We're sort of down on churches and religious buildings in general right now. We have seen too many of them.

We left Bolivia for Cuzco which is probably the most beautiful city we have seen on this trip yet.

It is filled to the brim with yes Churches, colonial buildings, hotels, restaurants, Inca ruins on which many houses are built and other incredible Inca ruins right near by. We walked uphill to one such ruin called Sacsayama - pronounced like Sexywoman. Those Incas liked to build things the hard way, the higher and the heavier the better. In that site we saw stones weighing up to 150 tons perfectly fitted together with other stones. Hard to imagine how they ever made it up there.

It would have taken 2,500 people to move just one stone like that! They explain how it could have been done but you still can't visualize it.

For those teachers out there I managed to participate in one demonstration staged by retired teachers of Cuzco. I went to ask a question and next thing I knew I was marching alongside of them chanting slogans in espanol. It felt good. Back to the churches though, in Cuzco you have to pay to enter all churches and religious buildings. It's something that the clergy of Cuzco decided upon a while back. You also have to buy a sort of passport which allows entry to some of the museums and the ruins in the city and outside.

We did a tour of the Sacred Valley and that was fantastic. Too long to talk about here.

Of course we also went to Machupicchu which is our biggest expense so far. It cost us almost 300 dollars. You have to go via Peru Rail which is owned by a Chilean British Consortium damn capitalistas, plus a bus plus entry to Machupicchu itself which is 40 bucks U.S. per person.

We took the train at 6 in the morning and arrived in another cool town called Aguas Calientes.

The setting is breathtaking. If you can imagine huge vertical mountains covered in lush vegetation which completely surround the town and a roaring river below and no cars because there is no road access. Spectacular really. We took the day to hang around the town and went to the hot springs just a hop and a skip away. The only problem with Aguas Calientes was the rain. Believe me you need a poncho there. However it was warm so it was still O.K. The next day we got up at 6 to take the bus to M.P. The bus ride itself was something else. All hairpin turns up thse steep, steep mountain roads with barely room for the bus itself.

Machupicchu is at the very top of one of these mountains. When we got there it was a bit cloudy but the clouds started to lift and it revealed itself gradually in all its glory. It's much bigger than we thought and a lot more impressive than the one picture everybody has seen. Once again the site is so spectacular that it defies description. How they managed to build a city so high and with such ingenuity remains a big mystery. We spent 5 wonderful hours there and by the way it's not for people who suffer from vertigo, it's that high. Stan went up a mountain, I went halfway and waited for him. It was too freaky with my little sandals.

A really wonderful experience, not to be missed and worth the money.

We are now in Arequipa, too loud, too big, too something and will be leaving tomorrow for the beach making our way up slowly to Lima. The food has been the best so far in Peru and I do like that Pisco sour which is the national drink.

Lots of love,

Josiane

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This March Break, Have An Indoor Fun-For-All!