Dancers 3
Originally uploaded by heathervescent
We´ve been watching these dancers for several days. They danced around the square after dancing up on the mountain. I love their colorful costumes!
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19 posts from February 2009
February 26, 2009
Cliff Ruins
Cliff Ruins
Originally uploaded by heathervescent
I took this photo from a doorway that basically was a dropoff. The photos do not show the majesticness of the landscape. Can you find the ruins and tombs in this photo? if not, pop over to flickr for some help.
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Heather Terraces 2
Heather Terraces 2
Originally uploaded by heathervescent
A very wet Heather and more Incan terraces.
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Incan Terraces
Incan Terraces
Originally uploaded by heathervescent
A 6th grade dream come true - I visit the Incan terraces.
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Wet Valley
Wet Valley
Originally uploaded by heathervescent
A very rainy day made for wet adventures on the Pisac ruins. The flowers were gorgeous and covered everything.
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Rock Jaguar
Rock Jaguar
Originally uploaded by heathervescent
A rock jaguar carved into the entryway in the Temple of the Moon in Cusco, Peru.
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February 25, 2009
The Rainy Season
Feb is the rainy season in Peru and until today it hasn´t been much of
a problem. It´s the middle of summer in South America and that means
lots of fresh produce and also Carnival. For the past week our little
town of Pisac has been one big party. But it´s a wholesome party. The
kids run around with water balloons and water guns and have massive
fights. I have gotten caught in the cross fire. They also like to
throw this colored powder-dust. The other night the kids got me and
Anna really good. The other thing they love doing is spraying each
other with a foam version of silly string. Today they got me and Anna
as we were walking back from the Ruins. Beers are sold in big bottles
(like in Brazil) and there is a special type of corn beer that has
only 2% alcohol. I haven´t tried that yet.
The local ruins - which are quite extensive - were free today because
there was a big party up at them. The winners of the dance competition
from the weekend had the honor of dancing on the mountain. The whole
village was basically closed down and everyone was up there. They
carted a huge sound system to project the music up the mountain while
several troupes danced. The valley floor is at over 9000 feet, so the
party was well over 10k feet. It had been raining off and on all day,
and really started to pour up there. Luckily I have remembered the art
of layering and bringing my raincoat everywhere. And my peruvian
rainbow fingerless gloves. Unfortunately I had decided to wear my
sandals and my feet were soaked. I got used to the rain and we walked
all over the ruins. They are absolutely amazing and I will have
pictures up on Flickr in a day or so. The flowers and fauna are so
lush and I probably took too many photos. What really blew my mind
were the Incan Terraces. They go all the way up the mountain!!!! I
have always wanted to see the terraces in person and now that dream
has come true. The mountains here are unlike any I have seen. Huge and
green and rocky and magical.
I was planning on going to Machu Picchu tomorrow, but there is a
transport strike and they have put rocks and trees in the road, so I
am delaying. I admit, I am having so much fun here in Pisac with my
friends I don´t care that much about making the trek. But hey, I´ve
come all this way - I´m going to try for over the weekend. I´m not
taking the regular tourist train from Cusco, but from Ollanytambo a
town a bit further up in the valley.
The Rio Umbanda - which runs through pisac and flows through the
Amazon jungle and into the Atlantic has been swelling with the rain.
It´s amazing to see the river and remember my time in Manaus, Brazil
over 10 years ago - and that this is the same river. I wish I had time
to visit the jungle while here.
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February 21, 2009
Door in Pisac, Peru
Door in Pisac, Peru
Originally uploaded by heathervescent
I loved the diversity and color of the doors in pisac, so I went on a door photo tour. This one is one of my favorites. It is by an abandoned church.
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Snake Gutter
Snake Gutter
Originally uploaded by heathervescent
A Snake head is the start of this street gutter. (And yes, they do drive cars down this street.)
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Matt and Anna
Matt and Anna
Originally uploaded by heathervescent
These are my friends Anna and Matt. They are awesome.
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Andes - The Holy Mountain
Andes - The Holy Mountain
Originally uploaded by heathervescent
I have found Daumal and Jodorosky´s Holy Mountain.
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February 20, 2009
The Sacred Valley
I am staying in the Sacred Valley outside of Cusco. Here is a brief update -
- LAX to Toronto: great flight, arrived way too early in the morning. watched it snow all day before boarding a packed flight to Lima
- Has nice conversation with my seatmate - a canadian oil and gas guy who also lives in Lima.
- Arrived at 11pm in Lima. Customs, get my bags and head over to the hotel across the street for 5 blissful hours of sleep and a shower.
- Caught an early flight to Cusco. Flew over the Andes, my face pressed to the window. As we got closer to Cusco, craggy snow topped mountains poked out of the cloud cover.
- My friend Anna, met me at the airport holding a sign with my name. I was so happy to see her. Although we don´t see each other much, she and I have much in common and always enjoy each other.
- Bus ride to Pisco, the town she is staying in, on a winding road through the Andes. The lower part of the mountains are lush and green, the tops hidden in the clouds.
- I´m staying in the house called ¨The Condor¨ It is the home of a shaman - although he is on vacation at the moment. I am in the yellow room and it a beautiful place.
- Checked out the local market yesterday - so many cool things.
- It was the first day of carnival yesterday and there were several local dances.
- My friends made me drink coca tea for the altitude sickeness - it really helped a lot and I am feeling much better today. In anther day, I should be back to my usual effervscent self.
- The kids in town have massive water balloon fights - in fact they are gangs of water ballon fights. I got to witness this first hand yesterday.
That´s it for now.... Actual writing a bit later....
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February 18, 2009
Empty Airport
Empty Airport
Originally uploaded by heathervescent
Empty chairs in early morning airport.
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The Palindrome Customs Officer
I waited extra for him because his number was 13331. I was groggy. Hell, I still am groggy, but put any electronic device in my hand I can work it in my sleep. We had a nice chat even though it was a hassle to make me go through customs and then come back in via security.
I am much amused. Amused that to go to Peruvian jungles in South America, I must go to Canada and experience a snowstorm. But I also experienced watching the rising of a blood red orange slice moon from the air. And the subsequent blood orange red sunrise over downtown Toronto.
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February 16, 2009
Going to Peru
Tomorrow I'm off to Peru to visit one of my pals - Anna - who is staying in the sacred valley outside of Cusco.
I have very vague plans. I'd like to see Macchu Picchu. Beyond that, I have no idea what I will do or see. In fact, I don't even know the name of the town I am staying in. I'll be back to LA in time to drive to Austin, Texas for SXSW.
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February 15, 2009
Seven Things
My old pal Bill Cambell from b.la days tagged me on this seven meme and although I did just post a list of interesting stats about myself, I'll pull some skeletons out of the closet.
The rules:
1. Link to your original tagger(s) and list these rules in your post.
2. Share seven facts about yourself in the post.
3. Tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names and the links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they’ve been tagged.
1. I did a bunch of baton and beauty pageants when I was a teenager and took home a lot of trophies, plaques, medals and ribbons. I spent the rest of my life proving (to myself) that just cause I'm pretty doesn't mean I'm stupid. And trying to get people to notice my brain instead of my tits.
2. I have lived independently since I was 16.
3. My mom almost sold me for 10,000 camels in Egypt when I was 17. (Not related to #2 above.) Several years later, a guy tried to steal me from my grandmother when we were in a store in the Cairo Bazaar.
4. I initially wanted to be an Egyptologist and comparatively study the pyramid construction and civilizations of Mexico and Egypt.
5. My only regret in life is that I stood my grandmother up for breakfast once.
6. I love 70s music - both the disco and soft rock variety. I have an especial fondness for the soft rock guy songs like Goodbye Stranger, Sister Golden Hair and Centerfold.
7. I've lived in many types of environments: a rural "farm" with barn and at varying times chickens, pigs, horses, sheep, goats, pond, well pump, etc. 5 miles on a gravel road in the middle of a forest in Iowa. Suburban Kansas City with all the backstabbing a 13 year old girl could handle. Bohemian Berkeley where everyone expressed themselves and expects you to be fine with it. A beachfront apartment in Northern Brazil with the tourists and local whores. And other places.
I'm tagging PDXFirefly, Scabvendor, Lainie, Annatude, Brad Templeton, Susie, Sean Tario
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