Leica Traveler

February 20, 2009

2010-02-02T09:02:00.000-08:00

San Jeronimo to Ocros

We woke up too early for breakfast in our hotel so we decided to go for a walk, passing an interesting wall decoration on the way down the stairs!

The market next door to the hotel was just opening up so we wandered around for awhile taking photos.

After a delicious breakfast of fresh fruit, bread and jam, we checked out of the hotel and found the road out of town. The road was even worse than yesterday so we finally asked a bus driver if it would get worse or better on the way to Andahuaylas. He laughed and said,"Sometimes better, sometimes worse." He was right! We kept climbing above the tree line. The GPS said 13,900 feet. We stopped to photograph some men slaughtering a bull. Most of the traffic consisted of big double decker buses flying around curves. Luckily, we were going slow enough that we didn't have any close calls!

We stopped for lunch in Chinchero and had the menu of the day in a small restaurant - chicken soup, chicken and rice with garlic, cherry Jello, and Kool-aid to drink. We were sure to take our antibiotics after lunch!

We crossed the river and the road continued to get worse. Once section was being repaired and we could drive 50 km an hour but it didn't last. We could see heavy rain coming across the valley so we decided to try and find a place to spend the night. There was one hostal on the square in the small mountain village of Orcos. They rented by the bed and our room had two beds so we rented both of them for $5. It was a good thing we took both because a trucker came in during the night wanting a bed!

February 19, 2009

2010-01-03T09:12:00.000-08:00

Cusco to San Jeronimo

Today we left Cusco to start our drive back to Lima. We drove along the coast to get here but are driving back through the mountains. On the map, it looks like a good, major road, but the research we've done at the South American Explorers' Club indicates that the road is often impassable and very rough. We've driven on one-lane dirt roads all over the world and feel confident that this one can't be much worse (Hah!) It does include the highest navigable road in the world and I can imagine that the landscape will be beautiful. The red line on the map shows our route here and the blue one is our planned route back:

We had traveled on the road as far as Abancay before so that wasn't a problem. Then we turned north toward Andahuaylas and the road immediately turned to dirt - a surprise since the map showed it as "all-weather surfaced". I guess it was, but the surface was dirt!

We stopped on the side of the road for a lunch of our leftovers from the apartment. The road climbed up through beautiful countryside but it's very narrow with sheer drop-offs on each side. The GPS shows 13,900 feet.

There's almost no traffic but quite a few beautiful Quechua women and children herding sheep and goats along the road. I'm glad we carried candy in the car as gifts!

We stopped at an overlook with a public toilet in the middle of nowhere!

As it gets later, it's obvious that we won't make Andahuaylas before dark. We met several double-decker buses on the narrow road and had to back up to find a place wide enough for both of us! We finally arrived in San Jeronimo and found a hotel with a car park and a restaurant across the street. It wasn't four star, but was fine for the night.

We drove 345 kilometers today in 10 hours.

February 18, 2009

2010-01-02T10:00:00.000-08:00

Cusco

We spent today buying last minute gifts and packing. Packing is always a challenge because Tom collects walking canes and masks that have to be wrapped carefully. We bought a straw basket at the market and some plastic tubing in a hardware store. Everything also has to fit inside our little rental car since we'll be driving back over several days. We finally finished packing everything at 8 PM and are ready for our adventure tomorrow.

February 17, 2009

2010-01-01T17:47:00.000-08:00

Cusco, Sacsayhuaman

We started the day with our usual breakfast of tea, boiled eggs, toast, cheese, and jam. I was sure to take my antibiotics today! We decided to spend the day exploring the Inca ruins near Cusco. We had been warned many times that we should not go alone, not go early or late, not take any valuables, not drive our car, not walk in remote parts of the ruins because of robbers. So we were a little nervous but we went alone, drove, took my cameras, and walked everywhere with no problems at all. The four ruins around Cusco are Sacsayhuaman (Tom loves to say that), Qenko, Puca Pucara and Tambo Machay. There are a lot of impressive stones, ceremonial baths, and beautiful views of Cusco.

We stayed at the ruins until we got hungry and then drove back down into Cusco for a wonderful dinner at PachaPapa Restaurant. I had trout and Tom had lomo cooked in a beautiful wood-burning oven. We just managed to finish before the rain started again.

February 16, 2009

2010-01-01T17:27:00.000-08:00

Cusco

Not many photos today! I was feeling too confident and quit taking my antibiotic a few days ago. I paid for it today and spent most of the day sleeping and trying to keep down some liquids. We did go to the South American Explorers' Club and read some trip reports on our possible route back through the mountains. We also tried to do a little shopping in the artisans market, but it was mostly a day for recuperation.

Maggi mushroom soup prepared on our little gas stove for supper and early to bed!

February 15, 2009

2010-01-01T17:11:00.000-08:00

Cusco

A day for shopping in the market and doing laundry. We had wanted for some time to have a liquado for breakfast in the mercado so we did that today. The liquado has about 15 different fruits, honey and other natural ingredients. It was really good! Then we tried the quail eggs that are sold by vendors with little quail egg factories - a push cart with quails underneath, a boiler on top to cook the eggs, and salt, pepper and sauces - five eggs for 1 sole. We walked all over town and then stopped for lunch at a restaurant with balconies over the street. The specialty of the day was cuy - guinea pig. Tom had his roasted with potatoes and stuffed peppers. I had mine curried in yogurt sauce. They were both good but very messy to eat! We spent the rest of the day walking around town and bought 5 tuna (cactus fruit) for supper.

February 14, 2009

2010-01-01T15:46:00.000-08:00

Puno to Cusco

Today we checked out of our hotel in Puno and wound through one-way streets and impossible alleys until we finally got back out to the countryside. We always prefer driving in the country. We drove about 400 kilometers and it took about 8 hours with lots of stops for photos and a snack lunch of apples and nuts. We stopped to photograph a graveyard and met a young shepherd named Hernando Catchatory. He was ten years old and scared of us. We might as well have dropped from a flying saucer! Some candy made him feel better.

We made it back to Cusco in plenty of time to go to Cicciolina's for tapas to celebrate Valentine's Day. The highlight of the dinner was an earthquake that shook the whole building! We read on the internet later that it was a significant quake in northern Peru but minor where we were.

February 13, 2009

2010-01-01T08:38:00.000-08:00

Amantani, Tequile, Uros

What a day for photos! I took over 600 but have tried to edit them down for the blog. Coco and Vicky fixed us a breakfast of pancakes, bread and jam over a eucalyptus fire in their tiny kitchen. We bought some beautiful knit Alpaca caps that Coco made, posed for photos, and then walked down to the port to catch a boat for Tequile.

Taquile Island appears very close to Amantani but the boat ride takes about 45 minutes. After we leave the boat there is a very long, steep path up to the village. Taquile is much more of a tourist attraction than Amantani and we decided we were glad we chose to spend the night on the smaller, less touristy island. The people of Taquile all dress in very beautiful costumes and there are souvenir shops and restaurants in the main square. The women walk everywhere knitting and spinning Alpaca yarn and have a co-operative to sell their textiles. We spent the day walking around, taking photos, and having a good lunch of trout at one of the restaurants.

This elderly man was knitting and napping. He told us he was 90 years old and when we said he looked younger, he pulled a plug of coca leaves out of his mouth and said that was what kept him young!

We left Taquile on the Milky Way after lunch headed for Uros. Uros is a collection of about 50 floating islands made of reeds in Lake Titicaca. The Uros people make the islands, their houses and their boats from the totora reeds. They live by fishing and tourism. Most of the houses have solar panels for electricity. When we were there, one family was plucking cormorant-like birds for their dinner.

An afternoon storm was approaching so we left Uros for Puno. Before we got there, the canal was blocked with a rope and a guard demanded payment before he would let the boat through. After the men stood and argued for about twenty minutes, the wife of the boat captain jumped off the boat, grabbed the rope and threw it in the canal. We all applauded and continued through the canal.

We ran into yet another carnival parade on the way back to the hotel!!

February 12, 2009

2009-12-31T15:03:00.000-08:00

Puno to Amantani

After a good hotel breakfast, we checked out, leaving the car and most of our luggage at the hotel. We took a taxi to the port in the pouring rain and signed up with Taquile islanders for a boat trip on Lake Titicaca to Uro, Amantani, and Taquile Islands for 30 soles each. Our boat is the Milky Way. It's raining too hard to stop at the reed islands on the way out so we'll save those until the trip back. Thank goodness the rain stopped before we got to Amantani, a four hour ride on the slow boat.

We were met at the boat by Coco, our host for the night. Coco is 38 years old and has four children. The oldest is handicapped and lives with Coco's mother. Pilar is sixteen and goes to school in Puno. Still living at home are Vicky, fourteen, and Jefferson, nine. Coco's husband is also in Puno being treated for headaches. Coco fixed us a delicious lunch of vegetable quinoa soup with fried cheese, rice and potatoes. After lunch, we hiked to the top of the mountain on the island. It was a long, steep hike but the views were worth it.

After a supper of more vegetable soup, stewed vegetables, and rice, Coco dressed us up in native costumes and we went to the community center where the whole village showed up to dance.

February 11, 2009

2009-12-31T13:30:00.001-08:00

Cusco to Puno

Today we started out on a six hour drive from Cusco to Puno and Lake Titicaca. We followed the river, staying in the valley for most of the drive. It was good to get out of the traffic and suburbs and back into the countryside.

The train tracks also ran alongside the road for most of the trip.

We stopped in a small town for a lunch of chicken soup complete with feet!

When we finally arrived in Puno, it seemed to be impossible to find any streets on the map! We found the right neighborhood for our hotel, but all of the streets were closed for the carnival parade! By driving the wrong way on one way streets and jumping several curbs, we made it to the hotel parking garage and spent the rest of the night enjoying the carnival parades!

February 10, 2009

2009-12-31T12:55:00.000-08:00

Cusco, Peru

We spent most of today at the South American Explorers' Club doing research on our trip back through the mountains. Breakfast was at Ciccialiana's Bakery for a home-made croissant and coffee.

The rest of the day was spent washing clothes and then walking around Cusco at dusk.

We ended the day with a bottle of Cusqueno beer from the tiny shop directly across the street from our apartment.

February 9, 2009

2009-12-31T08:51:00.000-08:00

Sacred Valley, Peru

We started our morning with a wonderful breakfast of omelets and papayas in the garden of our bed and breakfast. There were beautiful flowers everywhere.

After breakfast, we left Ollantaytambo and drove through the beautiful Sacred Valley to the salt pits at Salinas. The salt pits are very strange looking. A stream of salt water comes out of the side of the mountain and the people have built settling pools to evaporate the water and collect the salt. Families own certain pools and have maintained them since Inca times. We toured the salt pits in a slight drizzle and bought bags of salt to take home.

Not far from Salinas, are the experimental agricultural terraces of Moray. The terraces were made by the Incas to experiment with growing crops at slightly different micro-climates. Restoration has begun and a museum is planned.

Back to Urabamba for an outstanding lunch at Tres Keros and then we spent the rest of the day driving through some of the most beautiful countryside we've seen. I never knew potato fields could be so picturesque! It was cloudy and rainy all day but people were out working in the fields and the children were always willing to be photographed.

As we drove back into Cusco, we passed some new houses where the families were making adobe bricks by stomping in the mud to mix in straw.

Back to the apartment about 6PM but no internet so we just sat on the upstairs terrace and enjoyed the view.

February 8, 2009

2009-05-07T08:53:00.000-07:00

Chinchero

We left Cusco early in the morning to spend several days traveling around the Sacred Valley. Our first stop was in Chinchero where a Sunday market is held with people from all of the neighboring villages coming to buy and sell vegetables and textiles. This was my favorite day photographing all of the interesting people at the market. We had a noodle soup for breakfast at an outdoor stand and spent the rest of the time people watching. All of the Quechua people spent the day eating, drinking chicha, and socializing. Women and girls were spinning Alpaca wool and an 83 year old man was knitting hats with beautiful, complex patterns using 4 needles. After leaving the market we drove through a valley where people were planting potatoes and arrived at Ollantaytambo where we spent the night at a fantastic bed and breakfast right at the train station. We walked around town at night, watched the full moon rise over the mountains, and finished a wonderful day with a Pisco, Peruvian brandy, at the bar in the bed and breakfast.

February 7th, 2009

2009-03-14T09:26:00.000-07:00

Cusco

We spent a quiet day in Cusco, recovering from our last trip, doing laundry, and planning the next trip. I did manage to take a few photos - most of these around Plaza de Armas, the main square in Cusco. The moonrise photos were made from the roof of our apartment.

February 6, 2009

2009-03-11T17:36:00.000-07:00

Machu Picchu, Day Two

After a fantastic dinner at Feliz Indio (the best restaurant in Peru), we went to bed early last night and set the alarm for 4:30. A breakfast of bread, coffee and bananas was included in with our room and we finished eating before dawn. We walked to the bus station and got in line for the 5:30 AM buses. I was surprised that in the low season, there were 8 buses full of tourists for the first trips up the Hiram Bigham Road to Machu Picchu. We had already planned that as soon as we got to MP we would run up to the "Caretaker of the Funerary Rock Hut" for sunrise. As the official map says: "The hike up the long rigid stairs that lead to the Funerary Rock Hut is tiresome but well worth the effort. Many people choose to hike this arduous trail to the hut and are rewarded by spectacular views that will not soon be forgotten." True.

We sat and enjoyed the sunrise at the hut for quite awhile because it takes the sun a long time to get over the Urubamba Mountains and actually hit Machu Picchu. Then the llamas showed up and posed. The baby was cute but whenever I got close, he would start making very human sounding whimpering noises and Mama would come over to check me out. In all, we spent several hours up by the hut before we started exploring more of the site. We had been able to see crowds at Huayna Picchu, the mountain behind Machu Picchu, and with the binoculars could see people already on top. Tommy wanted to try climbing it so we went over to sign up. They only allow 400 people per day to climb up and you have to sign in when you leave and return. We were numbers 211 and 212, so there was plenty of time for us to climb. First you have to go way down to the bottom of the mountain before you can start climbing up! It was the hardest hike I've ever tried. Harder than hiking back out of the Grand Canyon!! At places the path was so steep and narrow that they had cables drilled into the rock for hand rails to pull yourself up. I kept picturing myself tripping and falling like I did in the Sierra Nevada (and broke my nose), but if I had fallen here, they would have found my body in the Atlantic Ocean! It was a straight drop down to the Urubamba River. We made it to the last terrace where people had told us we would have a view of Machu Picchu. It was a beautiful view but I never want to do that hike again. Coming down was almost as hard as going up!!

We left Machu Picchu about noon to get back to Aguas Calientes in time for some lunch and our train back to Cusco. The train ride was very nice but it was soon too dark to see much. We got a taxi back to our apartment from the train station and I started downloading all of the photos from the past two days.

February 5, 2009

2009-03-07T16:40:00.000-08:00

Machu Picchu, Day One

Our trip to Machu Picchu was one of the high points of our stay in Peru. We left Cusco early in the morning on the Vistadome train to Aguas Calientes. The train ride is about four hours through the Urubamba Valley. Perurail is the only way to get to Machu Picchu except walking in for four days on the Inca Trail. Since the Inca Trail is closed for maintenance for the month of February, we went by train. We got to the village of Aguas Calientes in the middle of the day and checked into a nice hotel. Since most of the tour groups go to MP between 10 and 2, we planned to go later in the afternoon to enjoy the sunset and to make plans for sunrise photos for the next day. I had no idea how much climbing is involved if you want to see all of MP!! It is much larger and more spread out than I had imagined. Going during the rainy season turned out to be a good idea. Not only were there fewer tourists, but we were treated to a double rainbow over the Urubamba Mountains. I took the normal postcard views of Machu Picchu from the Caretaker's Hut, but I also tried to get some more unusual views.

February 4, 2009

2009-03-03T07:53:00.000-08:00

Cusco in B&W

We joined in another carnival parade today. This one started in the street right outside of our apartment! Also some street scenes in Cusco. It's a great city to walk around.

February 3, 2009

2009-03-02T12:55:00.000-08:00

Carnival in Cusco

We spent today again in Cusco, walking around the town and eating lunch in one of the excellent restaurants near the main square. As we were walking back to the apartment, we heard a band and ended up chasing a parade for more than a mile up and down the streets. I only had one camera with me (shame!) so I was running backwards in front of the parade while Tommy helped me change lenses, batteries, and cards. We didn't know it at the time, but this was the first of many carnival parades that we would run into all over Peru. They all seemed to have a few things in common: A group of men straining to carry a very heavy statue of a saint, older women in colorful hats and many, many skirts dancing, young scantily dressed women dancing, men and boys in costumes and big-nosed masks miming being rowdy and drinking, a distinguished majordomo and his wife, lots of very talented brass bands and all of the spectators throwing water on each other! Enjoy the carnival!

February 2, 2009

2009-02-28T18:33:00.000-08:00

Cusco

A rainy day in Cusco, spent recuperating from our trip and getting to know Cusco. We started the morning by going up to the roof of our apartment for the view. There was a nice room up there where I had planned to spend a lot of time working on photos and blogging, but the internet connection was less than very low!

We walked around in the rain, visiting the famous 12 sided-stone in the remains of the Inca wall in Cusco. I have no idea why this particular stone is famous but there were always tourists around photographing it. We ended up buying a few groceries from the fortified store across the street from our apartment and enjoying a supper of fruit, cheese, olives, bread, and wine in our kitchen.

February 1, 2009

2009-02-28T10:18:00.000-08:00

Pisac

Today we drove to Pisac for the Sunday market. Pisac is a small town in the Sacred Valley near Cusco. Ancient Inca terraces and ruins can be seen in the mountains above Pisac. The Sunday market takes place in the main square near the church.

We were able to spend most of the day sitting at an outdoor table, drinking beer and taking photos. My kind of photo safari!

It was a very colorful local market with lots of vegetables, coca leaves and potatoes for sale. At noon, there was a mass in the church which combined Catholic and Quechua beliefs with men and boys in traditional costumes blowing conch shells as a part of the service. For lunch, we joined the local people at stands around the market eating a delicious caldo de gallina(chicken stew)with spicy salsa for about $2 each.

January 31st

2009-02-18T18:54:00.001-08:00

Cusco

Today was our first day in our apartment in Cusco so we spent it walking around town and getting oriented. Our apartment is only a few blocks from the main market. When we first considered renting there, everyone warned us that it was the worst part of town and very dangerous. Every time we've walked to the market, well-meaning people have stopped us told us to be very careful in that neighborhood; however, we've shopped in the market almost every day and have not had a single problem. Everyone there is friendly and helpful. Some of the sights are fascinating.

January 30th

2009-02-16T17:38:00.000-08:00

Abancay to Cuzco

This was another day of beautiful, dramatic scenery and beautiful, friendly people. We left Abancay and headed into the Central Highlands on the way to our final destination of Cuzco. The winding road with many switchbacks offered endless opportunities to photograph the city of Abancay as we left it behind in the valley. Climbing into the clouds we saw many memorials along these dangerous curves. One in particular had about 30 memorials, all with the same date. We speculate that a bus went off the road into the valley far below.

Usually when we stop the car to take photographs, curious shepherds come up to meet us. All of the women either knit or spin alpaca wool while they tend their sheep, llamas, and alpacas. Children are curious but shy. The men tend to wave and go back to herding their animals.

As we got closer to Cusco, we happened to pass a livestock fair and decided to stop. Farmers from around the area of Anta had brought their animals to swap, sell, and buy and families had set up small restaurants and displays of their merchandise for sale. The animals ranged from bulls, to sheep, to cuy (guinea pigs). The food was chicken soup, fried fish, chicha (corn beer) and every kind of potato imaginable, including freeze-dried potatoes. The potatoes are freeze-dried by leaving them out in the field and they are considered a real delicacy here. I find them almost inedible. The chicha is interesting because it’s made by chewing corn and spitting it into a container. The chewed corn and saliva ferment and the result is chicha. After a long discussion about how it is made, we were encouraged by a group of chicha drinkers to try it, so we did. We survived.

We arrived in Cusco in the middle of the afternoon and found our apartment, unpacked the car, and went for a walk to the main square. Cusco is in a valley surrounded by mountains but is at 3310 meters so walking up all the hills takes a lot of effort! The Plaza de Armas is beautiful at night with a cathedral on one side, a church on another and arcades of shops and restaurants on the remaining two sides. The park is filled with local people and tourists. Touts try to sell shoeshines, paintings, weavings, but a “No, gracias” and they left us alone. There were police and security guards everywhere so we felt pretty safe. We ate dinner at a wonderful restaurant near the square recommended by our landlady. I had alpaca carpaccio and trout and Tom had a salad and grilled alpaca. The carpaccio was outstanding but the grilled alpaca was a little tough. We had very good Peruvian wine with our meal and celebrated making it all the way to Cusco!

January 29th

2009-02-10T14:26:00.001-08:00

Puquio to Abancay

Today we drove from Puquio to Abancay a distance of about 305 kilometers. The roads were much better today and we made good time, except for stopping to take photos! We left our hostel early this morning and walked through the local market in Puquio, buying fruit for our breakfast. A Quechua woman and her daughter were selling tuna - the fruit of a cactus - which they peeled for us. All of the fruit was very cheap - about one sole (33 cents) for a kilo - and we had a hard time buying only enough for the two of us! Most of the people did not know how to charge for ½ or ¼ of a kilo. We also saw women who had come to town with loads of alfalfa which the local people buy to feed their cuy, or guinea pigs. Almost everyone raises guinea pigs for meat. We also met a friendly market woman and her husband who were very concerned that we planned to drive all the way to Cuzco. They thought it wasn’t safe and wanted us to stay in Puquio.

We crossed more beautiful mountains at very high altitudes and met a Quechua father and son at the site of bus wreck. The bus had overturned the previous day when the driver fell asleep and they were out looking at the scattered remains of the bus. More adorable llamas grazed where there seemed to be very little for them to eat. A few miles later we passed a house on the highway with llama pelts laid out to dry on the pavement and a woman putting llama meat out to dry, too!

We ate lunch in a small town on the river, where the main entertainment in the square was a shop showing videos with everyone gathered around the door to watch.

I tried taking some very low light photos after dark in Abancay. I’m still a little nervous walking around at night carrying my Leica’s, but so far, so good!

January 28th, Part Three

2009-02-07T16:50:00.000-08:00

Puquio

Puquio is a very small country town in the mountains. We arrived in the middle of the afternoon and first found a place to stay - a hostel about a block off the main square with hot water and a private bath for $10 a night. There was even a locked parking lot for the car. It was a very foggy, chilly evening but we enjoyed walking around the market and square. Everybody wanted to talk to us and be sure we were enjoying their country. We had our anniversary dinner of roasted chicken and Cusquena beer for $5 each. I took photos until it was too dark to see and then we retired for the night in our puke green room in Puquio.

January 28th, Part Two

2009-02-07T15:22:00.001-08:00

Nazca to Puquio

We left the Nazca area and drove across more desolate mountain roads to the Altiplano or Pampas region. My GPS unit said we were over 15,000 feet and I believe it! It was cold and windy and very isolated. Our little car was running low on gas so we stopped on the top of the mountain at the only stores around. They sold basic staples, cheese, and gasoline poured from a drum into gallon cans. We also bought some cheese and bread for our lunch. After fueling up, we entered a protected area for Vicuna, the endangered relative of Alpacas and Llamas. There were plenty of them around but they were very shy and didn’t want to be photographed. We picked up a young Quechua boy and his mother who were out gathering firewood and gave them a ride into town. They spoke no English and very little Spanish but were very friendly and grateful for the ride. Clouds rolled in and we drove into the small mountain town of Puquio to find a place to stay for the night.

January 28th

2009-02-04T15:41:00.000-08:00

Nazca Lines

This was such a long day, I’m going to split it into three parts. Today is our 42nd wedding anniversary and we started the day out right by flying in a small plane over the Nazca Lines in Peru. Our pilot flew us over the Pampa Colorada and dipped and turned the plane so we could get good views of one of the greatest archeological mysteries of the world. There are 800 straight lines, 300 geometric figures, and 70 animal and plant drawings only visible from the air. I was also impressed by the landscape of this area from the air so I’ve included some general landscape photos, too. The first six photos are of the Nazca Lines but you’ll have to look hard to see them!! The Hummingbird, the Spider, the Monkey, the Condor, the Tree and Flower, and the Astronaut.

January 27th

2009-02-03T16:36:00.000-08:00

January 27th

Early this morning we picked up our rental car, a Suzuki Jimny, at the airport and started out for Cusco. We’ve been told to plan on three days for the drive rather than the two I had anticipated. Traffic was not as bad in Lima as in most big cities. Lima has over 8 million people but the streets and highways are well marked and traffic flowed smoothly. We took the coast road, the Pan American Highway, and it goes through some of the most desolate country I’ve ever seen - dry, brown hills and lots of trash and shacks. Some look like failed developments but I can’t imagine anybody wanting to live there. The few trees that had been planted had to be watered regularly by a tank truck to survive.

Once we turned slightly inland and crossed some mountains to a river valley, the scenery changed dramatically. I’ve never seen such an obvious indication of the difference water makes. The river valleys are beautiful and green and intensely cultivated. All day we went back and forth between dry, brown desert and lush green valleys. We passed a tower where you could view the famous Nazca lines but didn’t stop because we plan on viewing them from the air tomorrow. We found a very nice hotel across from the Nazca airport and finished the day having gin and tonics by the pool.

January 25-26th: Lima

2009-02-03T07:58:00.000-08:00

We left Charlotte on a very cold Sunday flying Delta all the way with free frequent flier tickets. I had e-mailed our hotel in Lima asking if they could send someone to pick us up at the airport since we arrived after midnight. It was a relief to get through customs and see in the waiting crowd someone holding up a sign that said “Thomas E. Manley”. Our driver sped through deserted streets to the locked and bolted doors of our hotel. The Gran Hotel Bolivar is a very old, elegant hotel built in the 1920’s. Luckily someone was awake to answer the bell and undo all of the locks! We splurged and got a three room suite with balconies overlooking Plaza San Martin for less than a room at the Holiday Inn Express would cost at home. The hotel has a lot of character but has seen better days. The next day we walked down to the central plaza to watch the changing of the guards that takes place every day at noon in front of the old palace. Unfortunately, about 15 minutes before noon, squads of riot police and tanks cleared the square of all people. We kept asking if they were expecting trouble but it seems this is an everyday occurrence for security. It certainly limited photo opportunities except for photos of the police!

Peru

2009-02-03T07:56:00.001-08:00

Where to begin? We’ve been in Peru for 8 days. We’ve driven 1182 kilometers. So far, Peru is a country of extremes. The countryside has ranged from some of the most desolate land I’ve ever seen to some of the most beautiful. The roads have either been outstanding (better highways better maintained than in the USA) or they have been almost impassable. The food has either been outstanding or regrettable. The people have all been extremely friendly and helpful. I’ve taken over 6000 photos of the people and countryside and hope to post a few here. I haven’t had reliable internet access anywhere, so I’m composing this blog offline and hope to upload when I get a chance. If I don’t get started now, I’ll be hopelessly behind!! Tom has been keeping a journal so I’m going to depend on him for details of what I have photographed along the way. To begin at the beginning see January 25/26. These posts run backwards so it should be the one before this one.

It's Freezing!!

2009-01-17T13:36:00.000-08:00

We are at the farm and it was so cold last night - 11F - that the water pipes froze. Tom had to break ice on the pond to dip up water to flush the commode!

This Blog is an experiment. I bought an Acer netbook to take to Peru and am trying it out to be sure I can download, process, and post photos. I really like this little computer and hope it works out!

My Old Kentucky Home

2008-12-30T19:00:00.000-08:00

We spent the last three days traveling back to our old farm on the Ohio River in Ammons' Bottom, Kentucky. Our farmhouse there burned to the ground in 1980, probably from faulty aluminum wiring, and the 70 acres have been reclaimed by nature since then. The old barn and chicken house are completely covered with kudzu.

It was a relief to get back to South Carolina and our farm and chicken house here:

We were rewarded today with our first egg from my beautiful ladies, the Golden Comets.

Happy New Year from La Finca de Las Piedras in Rock Hill, SC.!

Tina

Catching Up

2008-09-26T14:08:00.000-07:00

Well, I've been very, very lax about catching up on my blog. I have been traveling with my Leicas but have not had time to process all of the photos so I've been using that as an excuse not to post anything. I think instead of trying to go back to February, I'll just start where I am now and try to post a photo every day or two as I work on them. Today I have a photo of a critter that crawled up on the porch at the farm. With help from internet friends, it's been identified as an Imperial Moth Caterpillar, which makes sense because I also have a dead Imperial Moth that I hadn't been able to identify. I think this one is about to crawl into the ground and turn into a moth. The weather has been very cool and rainy the last few days so new bugs and worms are appearing. This photo was made with a Canon 5D and a Leica R 100/Macro. I would have used the Visoflex on my M8 but didn't have it at the farm with me.

Home Again

2008-02-28T06:38:00.001-08:00

After far too many hours on airplanes and sitting in airports, we are home again - minus one piece of luggage that I hope will follow soon! Our trip to India was wonderful beyond expectations and I plan to update the photos on the blog as I edit them. I had planned to do at least one more blog from India but evidently got too lax with eating street food and spent the last day in the bathroom! We ate everything, including fresh fruits and vegetables and salads, for the five weeks in India and didn't have a sick day until the day before we were to leave. I took the appropriate medicines and had mostly recovered by the time of our 16 hour flight from Mumbai to New York. We're still a little disorganized and confused about the hour and day, but everything at home was fine and all of my hard drives with all of the photos survived the trip. The five weeks were a fantastic experience but it's good to be home, in spite of 21 degree temperatures this morning! It was 95 degrees in Mumbai when we left. Please check back for more photos of Incredible India.

Wild India

2008-02-23T03:25:00.000-08:00

We have been totally out of communication for over a week while we traveled in a part of India with more wildlife than people! We toured the Kerala Backwaters and the Periyar Wildlife Refuge in everything from a canoe to a riceboat converted into a houseboat to a tour boat full of newlywed Indian couples. It's been an interesting diversion. I tried (and failed miserably) to be Doug Herr and get some great bird photos. I will probably end up deleting 90% of the attempts, but if I find anything in focus, I'll try to post some photos later.

This area of India - the climate, vegetation, and even the laid-back attitude of the people - reminds me more of parts of Central America than anything we've seen in Northern India. It makes me homesick for Honduras and Guatemala. In fact, I automatically started thinking and speaking Spanish, which caused some confusion!

We just checked into the hotel in Mumbai and I have a couple of problems I hope somebody can help solve. My intrepid M8 locked up this morning while I was shooting photos from the boat (no, I didn't drop it in the water!). Instead of going snkclk when I pressed the shutter, it just went snk and Shutter Fault showed up on the screen. It looks like the top shutter blade is stuck slightly behind the second one. Can I just flip it back over the second blade and solve the problem? Help!

Also, it seems that any e-mail I received in the last week and a half has disappeared into the ethernet somewhere. And I'm not sure any I sent from Udaipur were actually sent. If you have sent or expected an e-mail from me, please let me know.

The hotel here has free wireless internet hook-ups! Yeah! I'll post more photos as soon as I unpack and download.

Rural India

2008-02-17T05:53:00.000-08:00

Our favorite areas of India, as with most countries we have visited, have been away from the big cities out in the rural villages. We made friends with an auto-rickshaw driver in Varanasi and he took us an hour out of town to visit his family’s village. Sanjay Singh told us to be prepared to see very poor people in his village of Mahadepur. It’s true that they don’t have many material possessions, but the people seem happier and healthier than those we have met in the cities.

The village is neat and clean and very orderly divided into three castes. Each caste has their own well and own temple.

Everyone works in agriculture with the higher caste owning the land and providing the leadership for the community, the middle caste working as merchants and artisans, and the lower caste working as laborers.

Cows are the most important farm animals and are raised for their milk and manure. The women mix fresh cow manure with straw and make it into patties to dry for fuel. Once the patties are dry, they are stacked into decorative piles and covered with straw.

As everywhere else in India, the faces of rural India are beautiful.

And village life seems quieter and more peaceful than city life.

We spent all day yesterday flying south and are now in Kochin. There is a strike against a price increase in gasoline and no cars, buses, ferries, or auto rickshaws are running so we spent the day walking. It was almost as quiet as the countryside! Tomorrow we leave to stay on a lake in Kerala. It's very, very hot and humid here. Quite a change from northern India!

Life By the Side of the Road

2008-02-12T12:11:00.000-08:00

Rajasthan

We have been traveling around Rajasthan for the past week and really having a great time. Tonight is the first time I’ve had a wireless connection since the last post and it’s costing me $6 an hour!! I had assumed that I would find free wireless connections in the hotels in India since we had free wireless almost everywhere in China, but it’s certainly not available here.

Rajasthan is referred to in all of the guide books as the most colorful area of India. Most of the traditional costumes, dances, and music are presented in “cultural events” for the tour groups in the big hotels.

I prefer the color seen by the side of the road. A lot of life in India is lived out in the open on the side of busy highways and rural roads. I’ve been trying to capture some of the daily life as we zoom past in traffic.

I don’t know when I’ll get an internet connection again, but I’ll keep posting when I can.

Agra

2008-02-05T07:58:00.000-08:00

This morning we left the hotel before dawn to get a photo of the Taj Mahal at sunrise. We went across the river for the best view and had been told that the Taj would be at a distance so I took my long lenses for the Canon 5D. We had to wait for the gatekeeper to arrive to unlock the gates to a garden and as we walked through the garden, I looked to the right and saw this:

That’s with the Leica M8 and 35/1.4. Unfortunately, the “fog” didn’t lift all day so the sunrise and sunset and middle of the day photos are equally hazy. The guides insist that this is not pollution, it’s fog. They say there is no pollution in Agra, but the news reports say otherwise. The marble of the Taj Mahal is being eroded by the sulfuric acid in the fog. This fog burns your eyes and your throat. The air in Agra is polluted from factories using coke and the river is so polluted with sewage and runoff from the factories that it no longer sustains life. The government has banned all transportation except battery operated buses a few blocks from the Taj, but I’m afraid that’s too little and too late to make any real difference. It’s very depressing and I didn’t feel like walking around to get street photos in all of the haze.

Agra Fort

Tomorrow we leave for Jaipur in Rajasthan, hopefully leaving the fog behind.

2008-02-04T08:32:00.001-08:00

Khajuraho

We left Khajuraho today and headed for Agra. After three and a half hours squeezed into a tiny car, we arrived in Jhansi to catch the train for Agra. I had hoped to take photos from the train but you couldn’t even see out of the windows and there was no platform between cars. I am amazed at the variety of transportation in India – two-wheeled, three-wheeled, and four legged – and the amount that they are all able to carry!

A school bus:

A busy street in Varanasi:

A local tuk-tuk on the highway:

I shouldn’t complain about a tiny car for the two of us and our luggage! It’s been a long day and we are up at sunrise tomorrow for the Taj Mahal so I’ll try to get caught up with blogging later. We’re still having a great time!!

Varanasi

2008-02-01T19:08:00.000-08:00

Saturday, February 2

Oh, the places we have been and the things we have seen! Unfortunately, I cannot post photos on the blog. An undersea cable snapped in the Mediterranean and internet access has slowed to a crawl in all of India. It should be fixed by next week and I hope to be able to post more photos then. In the meantime, I have to find time to do some serious editing! I have taken over 6,000 digital photos in a week and half. At this rate I will run out of external hard drives pretty soon! There are just too many things to see and I am always saying, Oh, look at that! Which usually means I take a photo. Some of them are from moving, bouncing rickshaws so I am sure I will delete quite a few if I can just find time to do it. The apostrophe and quotation marks do not work on this computer so it is awkward to write anything.

We leave Varanasi, the oldest established city in the world, today for Khajuraho. Search Google to find out what it is famous for :-)

I hope to have internet access in Agra in a few days and will try to post some photos then. India is incredible!

Rishikesh

2008-01-29T05:13:00.000-08:00

Rishikesh

Today we spent the whole day in Rishikesh, a smaller, quieter holy city on the Ganga River north of Haridwar. I was surprised to see more foreign tourists in this more remote city. Judging from the bare feet and dreadlocks, I think most of them were here for either the spiritual enlightenment in the ashrams or the marijuana, which we were offered by the Sadhus wandering the streets.

Not this guy. He just asked me to take his photo and was just happy to see it on the back of the M8. A few people ask for money, but most don't.

We walked across the Shivanand Jhula bridge and down the river to the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s huge ashram complex.

Then, after a great $2 thali lunch on the roof of the Chotiwala café, we walked two kilometers up the river to the next bridge, Lakshman Jhula. It was a beautiful, quiet walk with lots of photo opportunities.

The walk across the bridge and back down, however, was not quiet or beautiful. Many honking truck and buses spewing diesel fumes and trying to run us off the road! I was glad to get back to the market and the river. There were a few people bathing here, but not nearly as many as in Haridwar. There are monkeys and cows everywhere, making a mess and a nuisance of themselves.

I used all three cameras today with the help of my sherpa (Tommy), who carried the heaviest Canon most of the day. He even took a few photos.

As usual, when I got back and downloaded photos, I found myself looking for ones that I remembered shooting but which are on film! We came back to the hotel early to pack because we leave very early in the morning for the 6 hour drive back to Delhi to catch our flight for Varanasi.

The Ganga

2008-01-28T18:09:00.000-08:00

Today is our wedding anniversary. We’ve made it 41 years so far! We celebrated by being blessed by a Hindu priest at a temple above Haridwar. He said his blessing for us was that we would return to India with all four of our children. (Since the four “children” are all adults, they may have something to say about that!)

080128

This was another great day photographically speaking. We spent most of the day walking around Haridwar and watching the pilgrims bathing in the Ganga River. It is freezing cold and windy here so I didn’t try a dip! The rituals associated with the religions here are very complex and I don’t begin to understand them, but the people have been very willing to include us in everything that is going on. There are no foreign tourists here, just thousands of people from all over India who have come to this holy site for religious reasons.

I have no idea what we’ve been eating but all of the food has been delicious – only vegetarian here in Haridwar. Everything is very spicy and we’ve been careful to eat only very hot foods. So far, (knock on wood) we haven’t gotten sick.

The kids here are all so beautiful and they all want their photos made! I'm in danger of running out of hard drive space! I’m still using the M8 and 5D (I needed the long lenses) and will take the M7 out tonight.

Tomorrow we visit Rishikesh, a smaller, quieter pilgrim site - where the Beatles met with their Yogi.

Haridwar

2008-01-27T08:20:00.000-08:00

080127

The six hour drive from Delhi to Haridwar resulted in a severe case of sensory overload for me! A million fantastic photos and I couldn’t take any of them because we had to keep up with traffic or get run over. I tried to relax and just enjoy the scenery (as much as you can relax with two huge trucks or buses come at you in both lanes of a narrow two lane road!) but it was very frustrating. The only way to take all of those great photos would be to walk across India and I don’t have that many years left!

We are in Haridwar where the Ganges (or Ganga as they say here) River flows out of the Himalayas. It’s a holy city which means only vegetarian food and no alcohol. There are lots of ghats, or stairways leading to the river, where pilgrims of several religions come to bathe in the holy waters of the Ganges. At sunset there is a ceremony where hundreds of people light candles in small boats made of leaves in filled with flower petals. They float these boats down the river while priests have elaborate rituals on the banks.

I got lots of photos, but when I was downloading them, Lightroom crashed and I can’t get it to restart. The photos are fine and saved on two hard drives but I can’t process them tonight without Lightroom so no photos to show for today! I think I can figure it out tomorrow but it’s way too late to work on tonight.

Independence Day

2008-01-26T07:07:00.000-08:00

080126

After a delicious breakfast buffet of dosai-masala, idli, vada, uthappam and lassi, we watched about 10 minutes of the Independence Day celebration on TV. Then we headed out on a walk by ourselves. All of the streets were closed because of security so there was almost no traffic. We ended up at a couple of Hindu temples where the people welcomed us inside and encouraged me to take photos! The other temples we had been to strictly forbid photography.

We stayed there most of the morning and then went with the guide to more monuments, temples and markets in the afternoon.

I ended up taking the M8 and M7. The big disadvantage to the film camera is that I won’t know what I got until I get back home! I kept looking at the back after each photo but no photos showed up. I kept the 75/1.4 on the M8 and the 24/2.8 on the M7 most of the time. 236 digital photos and 186 film ones.

Tomorrow we leave early for the drive to Haridwar. I hope I’ll be able to find an internet connection there! So far everything has gone very well on this trip.

Arrival and Delhi

2008-01-25T08:49:00.000-08:00

08/01/25

We’re here and with no problems at all. A very thick fog didn’t delay our flight Wednesday morning in Charlotte.

and by the time our plane left Atlanta the fog had lifted.
We changed to an Air France flight in Paris and flew over the Elbruz Mountains in Iran before the sun set for the second time on this very long day.

Jet lag hasn’t set in yet and we enjoyed a very good breakfast buffet at our hotel before getting an early start on sightseeing. We visited several temples and monuments before convincing our guide that we’d really rather wander through markets and the unbelievably busy streets of Old Delhi. I ended up taking over 700 photos this first day, about half with the M8 and half with the Canon 5D. After reviewing them quickly, I’ve decided to leave the Canon at the hotel tomorrow and take the M8 and my M7 with some film. It will certainly be a lot less to carry and a lot less attention-attracting than the Canon cannon!

People were very friendly everywhere we went and only two requested money for photos. Everyone else was very happy to have their photo made. The hassling has been much less than I expected.

Tomorrow is a national holiday – Independence Day – and we’ve been advised to stay in the hotel and watch the parade on TV! Everything will be closed and nobody will be working except the pickpockets, according to our guide.

I saw a saying on a sign in front of the YMCA here that I like:
“Worry is the darkroom in which negatives are developed.”

Pancakes and Packing

2008-01-21T08:47:00.001-08:00

The grandkids are here today so I made one of their favorite breakfasts - pancakes with lots of fruit and yogurt. Bennett ate 12!

Now I've deleted all of the files from my M8 and am getting ready to pack it. The Canon stuff is already packed in a Delsey roll-on.

The Leica stuff is still a mess!

I've got to make a final decision about what to take and then start on packing clothes!

India Itinerary

2008-01-20T16:09:00.000-08:00

Here is our Indian Itinerary:

1/23 - Leave Charlotte, Atlanta, Paris, Delhi
1/24 - Arrive Delhi, check in apartment
1/25 - Delhi, Red Fort, Mosque
1/26 - Delhi
1/27 - Drive Delhi - Haridwar
1/28 - Haridwar - Rishikesh
1/29 - Haridwar
1/30 - Drive Haridwar - Delhi, Fly Delhi - Varanasi
1/31 - Varanasi, Sarnath
2/1 - Varanasi
2/2 - Fly Varanasi - Khajuraho
2/3 - Panna National Park Jeep Safari
2/4 - Train Khajuraho - Agra
2/5 - Agra
2/6 - Drive Agra - Jaipur
2/7 - Jaipur
2/8 - Drive Jaipur - Bikaner, Camel Safari
2/9 - Bikaner
2/10 - Drive Bikaner - Jaisalmer
2/11 - Jaisalmer Desert Festival
2/12 - Drive Jaisalmer - Jodhpur
2/13 - Jodhpur
2/14 - Drive Jodhpur - Udaipur
2/15 - Udaipur
2/16 - Fly Udaipur - Mumbai - Cochin
2/17 - Cochin
2/18 - Drive Cochin - Kumarakom
2/19 - Kumarakom
2/20 - Drive Kumarakom - Periyar
2/21 - Boat Tour, Lake Periyar
2/22 - Rice Boat Tour, Alleppey
2/23 - Fly Alleppey - Cochin - Mumbai
2/24 - Mumbai, Elephant Caves
2/25 - Mumbai
2/26 - Mumbai, Fly - Paris, Atlanta, Charlotte

This doesn't mean much to me in spite of all of the guide books I've read! I'm sure this first trip will be like most first trips to different countries. We will get to skim the surface and see what we would like to return to on our next trip!

I hope those of you who are familiar with India will contribute ideas for photo opportunities!

Until later -

2008-01-20T06:40:00.001-08:00

Sunday, January 20th

It's 25 degrees at the farm this morning. Not the 17 that was predicted but far too cold for me! The snow yesterday didn't stick around very long. The birds are all emptying the feeders as fast as I can fill them. Today we have American Goldfinches - at least 50 on one feeder - Purple finches, Cardinals, Titmice, Sparrows, Chickadees, Downy woodpeckers, Red-bellied woodpeckers, Doves, Bluebirds, Junkos, and a Cowbird.

Cathy and the grandkids are coming today from Columbia and Tim is coming from Charleston. I think we'll all go back to the house where it's warm!

I really need to get busy packing for India. I've packed the Canon stuff but nothing else yet. Here is what I'm planning to take Leicawise:

21/2.8 (maybe - haven't decided about this one for sure)
24/2.8 ASPH
35/1.4
35/2.0 ASPH
50/1.0 Noctilux
75/1.4
90/2 - the big silver one
Maybe the 135 but I haven't decided about that one yet either.

And the 12 Voigtlander. I'm taking the M7 and 20 rolls of Provia just in case something happens to my M8. I'm pretty sure the lens I'll use the most is the 35/1.4. That's the one that stays on my M8 most of the time.

On the Canon 5D, I imagine I'll use the 85/1.2 most - even though that combination is huge!

My Leica stuff will all go in a Lowepro backpack with my computer and the Canon stuff is in the roll-on Delsey.

Tina

Leica Traveler

2008-01-19T11:15:00.000-08:00

January 19

I'm starting this blog because my husband and I leave for India on Wednesday and I hope to use the blog so friends and family can travel through India with us. If we find internet connections, I'll be able to upload photos along the way.

Right now I'm trying to pack so that we don't have to check any luggage. Since I'm taking a Leica M8 digital camera, a Leica M7 film camera, about 6 Leica M lenses, my Canon 5D and 4 lenses plus all of the electronic and digital equipment and connectors, that means we won't be taking many clothes!

It's snowing today in South Carolina but I hope it will be warm in India!