Lake Titicaca and the Uros

We landed in Cusco with a hotel booked for three days. Altitude adjustment claimed our first day, and the next day we spent wandering around with our new (super-helpful) friend Doris, looking for a place to live for the next few months. We found a place that day, but we couldn't move in until the end of the month. What to do? Hit the road again for a while. We took off for Lake Titicaca.

We went to Titicaca to see the Uros and their islands. The Uros are a pre-Inkan people who live on floating islands that they make out of reeds. That's right - artificial islands made entirely - of layers - of reeds! Each island is about 30 yards across, and has 5 to 8 houses on it. It's mind-blowing, really. Imagine the skill and knowledge, passed down through generations, that it takes to

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Lima: One Girl's View

We're on the main square. The central fountain behind us is broken.Lima, Peru has a population of around 10 million, or about one third of the entire country. We flew from Madrid into Lima, and spent 3 days there before heading up to Cusco. Our plan was to take one demon on at a time: first jet-lag (seven-hour difference), and then altitude (11,200 ft). 

Have you been to Lima? Let me describe it for you: Take a piece of paper and a good #2 pencil. Write the word LIMA, all in caps. Write it big, maybe using balloon letters that you fill in. Lima is a big city, so you need a big word.

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Video Blog: Inti Raymi -- Cusco, Peru

Inti Raymi is the traditional Incan festival of the sun. It coincides with the winter solstice, and is an invitation for the sun to come back and play. The official Festival day is on June 24th, but in Cusco, the celebration lasts most of June. Cusco's Inti Raymi is the second largest festival in South America. Hundreds of thousands of people come from all over the world to join the party. On the actual day of Inti Raymi the population of this city explodes, the main square becomes a madhouse, and the beer flows like wine. Every car becomes a taxi, with a homemade cardboard sign propped in the window, and every able-bodied child becomes a vendor, selling foldable straw hats, homemade chicha morada (purple corn juice) in plastic baggies, on-the-spot shoe-shines, watercolor postcards, bracelets, cheap sunglasses, and gigantic kernels of sweetened puffed corn scooped from massive bags.

We weren't in town for Inti Raymi day. We headed up to Puno and Lake Titicaca to escape the crowds. The parade you see here was a few days before, when everyone was gearing up, and the town was nearing full swing. It features students at the university. Each different school has their own banner, their own costumes, and their own dances. Except the future lawyers, they're very dignified. But hey - check out the dental students! Those guys know how to party!!

Settling Into Peru

We've been in Peru for two weeks: adjusting to the time change and the altitude, finding an apartment, going to Lake Titicaca. We have lucked into the most wonderful moments. We can't wait to show you!

In the meantime - here's a shot of our first few days in Cusco, at 11,000 ft. This is what we did for the first 48 hours or so. Altitude in a bitch!!

Ella is addicted to the oxygen tank!!

Saintes-Maries de la Mer

Hemingway used to come here. Picasso too. Vincent Van Gogh painted it, and Tori Amos wrote a song about it. Obviously, I'm not the first to be charmed by this little beach town on the French Mediterranean. 

We visited Saintes-Maries de la Mer with our friends and fellow family-travelers The Pilbeams. That's Roonagh Pilbeam in the water with Owen and Ella. For the week that the Pilbeams were with us in France I was blissfully free of planning duties. Ian had it all in hand. I was in charge of goat cheese. So when we got to Saintes-Maries (named for the three Maries who found Jesus - or rather the lack of Jesus - in his tomb) I was completely surprised. It's so very Spanish! So VERY Spanish. Being the girl that I am, I zeroed in on the fashion, and Oh What Fashion was to be had!! Where else, I ask you, could you buy your little darling a classic Provence dress (or at least a dress made with cheap Provence fabric) AND a Flamenco costume, all in the same street! Not to mention the shoes! I won't lie. I wanted them, but they didn't come in my size. Probably because the shoe people are wiser than I, and realize that size Mid-Fourties Lady spotted shoes wouldn't be nearly as cute as size Tiny Little Girl. Ah well. Bob says he'll make me a pair with a Sharpie when we get back home.