BOLIVIA'S (AND PERU'S) GREAT OUTDOORS

As some of my posts from Bolivia have shown, this country has pretty spectacular scenery and geologic diversity.  Wine country, colonial towns, salt flats, craggy canyons.  Some of the most amazing geology is right in our backyard here in La Paz. 

We ventured out on a Saturday in January for a hike in Valle de las Ánimas (Valley of the Souls), a protected area just outside La Paz.  A 20-minute-ish cab ride brought us to the “trailhead” – basically a river bed leading into the craggy valley carved by the river.  It hadn’t rained recently, so the river bed was dry.  But the steep canyons turn the river into a raging flood when it rains, so we had to keep an eye on the weather. 

Ready to head up the valley.

There are two possible explanations for the name: the first is that wind passing through the formations creates haunting sounds, and the second refers is that the formations look like silhouettes of spirits.

We hiked up the river bed and then up onto the surrounding mountains, looping back around through a narrow valley, back to the entrance.  

The total distance was about 5 miles... but at 13,000 feet, it was a slow-going 5 miles.

That hike served as good training ground for our next hikes… in Peru.  In February, we headed out of Bolivia to do a little tour around Peru.  First stop, Cusco. 

The city was originally founded in the 12th century as the capital of the Inca Empire.  The region was conquered in the 16th century by the Spanish, who constructed their city over monuments left from the Incas (of course they did).  But remnants of ancient Incan walls are throughout the city, and an Incan site is walking distance from the town center.  The city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is absolutely beautiful with many buildings, squares and streets immaculately preserved.  We spent a few days checking out the town, including some historic museums, beautiful squares, and fantastic food.

Strolling through Cusco's cobblestone walkways.

A view of Cusco's main square, Plaza de Armas, from a hike above the city.

Plaza de Armas at night.  I walked on the grass to take this photo - and was immediately informed by locals that walking on the grass is not allowed.  Oops.

Enjoying a pisco sour at a little spot next to the Plaza de Armas.

The plaza was always a hub of activity.

The restaurant we chose for dinner one night included cultural music and dances.  They of course chose Andrew to join one of the numbers.

Our trip to Peru coincided with the Carnival holiday.  Before Spanish colonization, Andean communities celebrated the rainy season and agricultural fertility with music, dance, and communal rituals.  Over time, these traditions merged with Catholic Carnival celebrations introduced by the Spanish, creating a unique hybrid festival in Cusco.  In Cusco, Carnival was celebrated with water balloons and spray foam.  Locals warned us we would need to don ponchos if we wanted to stand a chance of staying remotely dry during a walking tour of the city that we had planned.

Carnival revelers in Cusco's city center.

It seemed like the entire city turned out to toss water balloons and spray foam on each other.

We were not immune.  The ponchos were definitely needed!

The outskirts of Cusco - walking distance from the city center - included some ruins to explore.  The pre-Incan Killke culture built the walled complex of Sacsayhuamán about 1100, later expanded by the Incas in the 1200s.

Apparently alpaca like to play hide and seek.

Incan walls are like giant jigsaw puzzles - somehow pieced together centuries ago without heavy machinery or mortar.  Spectacular works of engineering!

The ponchos proved handy for spending a slightly drizzly afternoon walking amongst the ruins.

The ruins sat above Cusco's city center (in the background) and were a great destination for a hike out of the city.

We took a day trip through the Sacred Valley of the Inca along the Urubamba River.  In addition to its proximity to Cusco, the valley is lower in elevation and therefore warmer and allowed cultivation of corn – a main Inca staple.  The valley is dotted with ancient agricultural terraces and ruins of the ancient Incan empire.

One of our stops on our tour of the Sacred Valley - the Maras salt mines, a terraced network of over 3,000 evaporation ponds fed by a natural underground saltwater spring that has been continuously hand-harvested by local families since pre-Inca times.

The ruins at Moray - an amphitheater-like terrace that historians think served as an agricultural laboratory, where the distinct microclimates created by the varying depths allowed the Incas to experiment with and domesticate different crops.

Close up of the jigsaw puzzle appearance of Inca walls.

Another stop in the Sacred Valley - the ruins at Pisac, complete with alpaca.

The day trip trough the Sacred Valley brought to Ollantaytambo, a small town with an expansive Incan archaeological site about 50 miles northwest of the Cusco.  At the time of the Spanish conquest of Peru, it served as a stronghold the Inca resistance.  It is now a starting point for the Inca Trail, a multi-day hike that leads to Machu Picchu.  We didn’t make it to Machu Picchu on this trip, but we did spend a few days hiking around Ollantaytambo.

Hard to pick just a few photos from Ollantaytambo - the town tucked into the Andes at about 10,000 feet and its namesake Incan ruins were truly incredible.

Looking out over the town from a high point in the ruins.

No ruins are complete without resident alpacas.

The Incas built several storehouses on the hills surrounding Ollantaytambo.  Their location at high altitudes, where more wind and lower temperatures occur, defended their contents against decay.  They are thought to have been used to store the production of the agricultural terraces built around the site.

The Temple of the Sun - a massive stone structure within the ruins at Ollantaytambo.

It is thought that the agricultural terraces allowed farming on otherwise unusable terrain and allowed the Incas to take advantage of different ecological zones created by variations in altitude.

Looking out over the ruins.

Another day, another hike.  This one on the opposite side of the Urubamba River that flows through Ollantaytambo.  The trail was part of the Inca Trail that ultimately leads to Machu Picchu.

Not all ruins that we came upon were Incan - there was also this old homestead along the trail.

Carnival celebrations were also underway in Ollantaytambo.  Like Cusco, they also involved water balloons and spray foam.  Unlike Cusco, they also included a giant tug of war contest and a parade town the main street, complete with full band.

The parade led to the town square, where the two tug-of-war teams danced around a tree that had been put up and decorated the day before - think Christmas tree, but with decorations like toys, clothes, and other objects.  The teams took turns swinging an axe at the tree until it eventually fell.  Some of the crowd swarmed the tree to collect the treasures that had been fastened to it - and the rest of the crowd pelted them with water balloons.  Happy Carnival!

The main method of transportation in Ollantaytambo town.

After about a week at about 10,000 feet in Cusco and Ollantaytambo, we were ready to take a break at lower elevation for a few days before heading back into La Paz’s thin air.  So we headed to sea level to see what Lima had to offer.  While we did get to see the ocean, tour some impressive old museums and government buildings, and eat some delicious steak and ceviche, we also found a lot of traffic, smog, oppressive heat and humidity, and crowds… all the things we’d hoped we’d left behind in Jakarta. 

Ahhhh... sea level!

Government Palace on one of Peru's main squares.

Touring Convento Santo Domingo and its lovely old tiled walls.

After a few days to get our fill of oxygen, it was back to La Paz.  We’ll return to Cusco and Ollantaytambo in August, and we’ll continue on to Machu Picchu on that trip.  So fair warning that there will be more photos of Incan ruins in a future post. 

Alas, for the moment, some of our exploring is on hold.  Bolivia has a protest culture, and we’re currently in the midst of a wave of nationwide road blockades and marches calling for the president’s resignation.  The blockades have pretty much cut off over-land routes to La Paz, making it harder for supplies to get in.  Long lines for gas, shortages of medicines and oxygen in hospitals, empty grocery store shelves.  We’re doing just fine – occasional shipments of meat, vegetables, and other products make it through – they’re just more expensive than usual.  I’ve been going in to work as usual since most of the protests are taking place several kilometers from the embassy (and even farther away from the residential areas where we all live).  But it has definitely made our already busy work days even busier.  Time to start planning our next escape to the great outdoors!