Tuesday, July 24, 2012

The Goerings take Peru

As I'm sure most of you know, I was blessed beyond belief when my FAMILY graced Peru with its presence earlier this month.  Since my Dad has already written an account of our trip, I decided that he could be the "Guest Blogger" for this blog and recount our trip to you all.  If he has your email address, you've probably already read, or attempted to read, his story.  I'll post my own account later on, but for now I give you my Dad's version!


During the first 2 weeks of July, 2012, four members of the Goering family went to Peru to visit the 5th member of the family.  Kelsey is a volunteer with the Peace Corps, and she has been stationed in Peru since June of 2011.  We had decided some time ago that we would pay Kelsey a visit, so this was the time for Kit, Scott, Joel, and me (TR) to head south and invade Peru.

We had made the arrangements back in April.  I was able to find decent flight connections out of Kansas City, although I quickly learned that there are no cheap flights to Peru.  Based on a friend’s recommendation, I worked with a travel company called Peru For Less (PFL) to set up our itinerary.  Although working with this company increased the cost of the trip, it was well worth it to have our hotels booked, drivers waiting at each stop, and good tour guides throughout the trip.

July 1:   Our flight was scheduled to leave at 11:30 am from Kansas City.  Because we didn’t want to get up in the middle of the night, Kit and I spent the night in Lawrence.  We picked up Joel and then headed to KC to pick up Scott.  We made it to the airport in fine shape and checked in with no problems.  While we were waiting for our flight, I decided to make one last check of my carry-on bag.  It was then that I couldn’t find my Peruvian money.  It simply wasn’t where I had put it.  I thought then that maybe I had put in my suitcase, so I asked the ticket counter folks if I could retrieve my checked bag.  I was able to get my bag, but, when I opened it, the money wasn’t there.  I was, to say the least, somewhat panicked.  It was about that time that Scott opened the last compartment of my backpack and found the Peruvian money, right where I had packed it.  So, it was much ado about nothing on my part.

Our flight to Houston arrived on time, and we decided to get something to eat at the Houston airport.  We were waiting on our sandwiches when Blake Griffin strolled by our table.  Blake Griffin is a professional basketball player who plays for the Los Angeles Clippers; he’s 6’ 10” tall.  He took a seat in the corner of the restaurant, whereupon almost immediately 2 different groups of people wanted pictures taken with him.  Sometimes it’s good to not be a celebrity.

Our flight to Lima left right on time; it’s a 7 hour flight due to arrive at 10:30 pm.  During Daylight Savings, Kansas time is the same as Peru time, so jet lag isn’t an issue.  We actually landed a few minutes early, but it took us over an hour to get through customs.  We finally cleared customs, retrieved our bags, and headed to the airport lobby.  When arriving passengers walk into the lobby, there’s a rope barrier, behind which are the people meeting the arriving passengers.  Well, Kelsey was not going to let a barrier get in her way.  As we walked in, she charged under the rope and just about tackled the four of us!

Kelsey had already found our PFL rep and driver.  Once we got settled down, we headed to the van and started driving to the hotel.  Our drive took us along the ocean for a while and it was a beautiful drive at night.  We finally got to our hotel around midnight.

July 2:   Our hotel was called the Lima Wasi.  It was clean and comfortable, and we only had to haul our bags up one floor.  The hotel was located in the Miraflores section of Lima, which is described as one of the more upscale regions of Lima.  The surrounding streets and neighborhoods were clean and well-tended; we had no qualms about strolling in the city around our hotel.  Our hotel was located about 4 blocks from the ocean, although there was a long walk down the cliff to get to the beach.

Breakfast was included at the hotel; the breakfast spread consisted of eggs, cereal (with yogurt instead of milk), rolls, lots of fruit, and sliced ham and cheese.  This menu was consistent throughout our trip at our various hotels. 

While we were waiting for our driver and guide for our Lima city tour, I observed the traffic on the street in front of the hotel.  I quickly counted at least 10 different bus companies, with buses ranging from 10-passenger vans to full-size tour buses.  I also quickly realized that one must have a lot of guts to drive on the streets of Peru.  The concepts of ‘yield’ and ‘right-of-way’ seem to be, well, foreign concepts to Peruvian drivers.  Whoever gets to a spot first has the right of way, and nobody yields to anybody else unless a wreck is imminent.  Taxis and buses stop about anywhere to pick up or drop off passengers, and other cars simply swerve around them.  Everybody honks their horn as much as possible.  There appeared to be a fair number of private cars in Lima; in the other cities we visited, the traffic consisted mostly of commercial vehicles and taxis.  Most of the cars were small; a lot of older Fords, Chevys, and various Japanese brands, especially Suzuki.  Almost all of the few new vehicles were either Kia or Hyundai. 

At 9:00 our driver and guide arrived for our Lima city tour.  Our guide’s name was Miguel; he was a Lima native who spoke excellent English.  We got to experience Peruvian traffic first-hand, as our route took us on wide streets, narrow streets, the highway, and alleys. 

Our first stop on the tour was the Plaza San Martin.  This plaza is a monument to Jose de San Martin, who is recognized at the liberator of Peru.  The Incan empire in Peru had been conquered by the Spanish in the 1500s and the Spanish ruled for 300 years.  San Martin, who was born in Argentina, led the revolt in against the Spanish in Argentina, Chile, and Peru.  Peru declared its independence in 1821 and San Martin was Peru’s first president.  He later relinquished power to the other great South American liberator, Simon Bolivar of Venezuela. 

Our next stop was the Plaza Mayor, in the heart of the Historic Centre of Lima.  This plaza, which is also known as the Plaza de Armas, was originally the home of the Spanish government of Lima, and is now the center of the Peruvian government.  There are many important buildings around the Plaza, including the Government Palace, the Municipal Palace of Lima, the Archbishop’s Palace, and the Cathedral of Lima.  Several buildings feature ornate mahogany and cedar balconies which were constructed without nails or glue.

From the Plaza Mayor we took a short walk to the Convent of San Francisco, which was actually a monastery and church.  It’s now been turned into a museum, although the church is still used as a church.  There are some elaborate gardens and incredible mosaics within the convent.  It also has a library which contains some very old books, including a Bible printed in Antwerp in 1572.

The Convent also has a bell tower, which we climbed and were rewarded with some excellent views of downtown Lima.

After we finished the tour of the Convent, our driver picked us up and we headed back toward the hotel.  Along the way we stopped at the El Parque del Amor, or ‘Love Park’.  This park, which overlooks the ocean, features a famous sculpture of a woman and man locked in a passionate embrace.  There are several tiled fresco benches in the park, and there are fabulous views of the Pacific.  This concluded our Lima city tour.

Since we hadn’t had lunch, we decided to stroll to Manolo’s, a restaurant that is noted for its churros.  A churro is a long and narrow fried pastry, usually filled with chocolate or vanilla.  This restaurant was located near Parque Kennedy, which is a large and beautiful park located in the heart of the Miraflores district.  It was at this restaurant that Joel and I enjoyed a burger topped with a fried banana.  This is also where we first enjoyed drinking Inca Kola, which is a soft drink made in Peru which tastes like bubble gum.

It was also at this restaurant that we had a ‘small world’ moment.  Scott was wearing a Jayhawk t-shirt.  While we were eating, a gentleman came up to our table and uttered ‘Rock Chalk!’  Naturally, we were delighted to hear this and had a nice conversation with him.  Turns out that he is a KU grad who grew up in Liberal, Kansas.

After lunch, we headed back but made a detour to go to the Larco Mar shopping mall.  This is a mall that is literally built right into the cliff that overlooks the Pacific.  It’s definitely an Americanized mall, featuring restaurants like Tony Roma’s and Chili’s.  The best part for us was the view of the beach and ocean.

Following this, we were done for the day.  After a late afternoon siesta, we enjoyed a late supper and called it a day.

Pictures from days 1 and 2:  Peru Days 1 and 2


July 3:   This was a day of planned R&R in Lima.  Kelsey had planned to take us to the Peace Corps headquarters, but everybody was on vacation over the 4th of July.  So we were on our own for the day.

We decided to visit the native shopping district, which was a couple of miles from our hotel.  The weather was in the 60s, so we decided to walk.  We first strolled through several blocks of the silver/gold shops; then we hit the ‘Andean Market’, which featured native handicrafts.  I don’t think we bought anything.  We returned back to the hotel, where we embarked on our next venture.

This venture was a trip to Polvos Azules, which is a shopping center in the heart of Lima.  Literally translated, the name means ‘Blue Dust’.  This place features knockoffs or black-market sales of famous brand names.  You can buy anything from DVDs to luggage to clothing to shoes.  (There were aisles and aisles of shoes.)  Joel bought some cologne; Scott bought some jewelry, and I bought a copy of Rosetta Stone Spanish for about 8 bucks.

This trip also featured our first two cab rides in Peru.  Taxis do not have meters.  Instead, you tell the driver where you want to go and then negotiate a price.  Kelsey was extremely well-versed in the art of negotiating and would not settle for any price above what she wanted to pay.  Every taxi driver we dealt with in Peru ended up settling for the price that Kelsey suggested.  It was good to have her on our side.

Taxis are also designed for 3 or 4 Peruvians, not 5 Americans.  In Lima we were able to pile the entire family into a cab…4 of us in the back seat.  Fortunately, most of our rides were 15 minutes or less.

Then, on the evening of the 3rd, we all got ‘dressed up’ for our Big Night Out.  Kelsey had made reservations for us at Astrid And Gaston’s.  Gaston Acurio Jaramillo is a world-renowned chef who owns several restaurants in Lima.  Astrid And Gaston’s is his most famous restaurant, and has been rated one of the top 50 restaurants in the world.  Naturally, we hicks from Kansas were excited to go to this place.  We loaded up into a cab and headed to Gaston’s restaurant.  After a 20-minute cramped ride, we arrived…at a different Gaston’s restaurant…which was closed.  Since we weren’t exactly sure where our restaurant was, Kelsey called her friend, who told us that it was close to Parque Kennedy.  We hailed another cab; the driver didn’t know of the restaurant, but he agreed to take us to the Parque and then ask somebody where the restaurant was located.

So, it was another cramped 20-minute ride to Parque Kennedy.  Once we got there, the driver asked a cop, another cab driver, a security guard….nobody knew where the restaurant was.  The guard called somebody on his cell phone, who gave us an address about a block away from our hotel.   Finally somebody told us it was on a little street close to the Parque.  We drove down that street but didn’t see anything.  At the end of the block, we asked a young woman if she knew where the restaurant was…turns out we had just passed it!  We piled out and headed back to the restaurant, but not before we paid the driver 20 soles for an 8-sole ride.  (A sole is the Peruvian unit of currency; it’s worth about 40 cents.)

Once we got to the restaurant (30 minutes late), Kelsey told them that we had reservations.  Naturally, they had no record of our reservation.  We stood around for 15 minutes, and then they finally seated us.  We eventually had a wonderful meal…Joel and Scott each had Cuy (guinea pig), which was actually quite tasty.  Halfway through the meal the host came by our table and informed us that they had found our reservation, so it was their mess-up when they couldn’t find it.  We did get a free appetizer for the inconvenience.  All in all, it was a fine meal and well worth all the hassle!  It turned out that Astrid and Gaston’s was only 10 minutes further than the restaurant we had eaten at the previous day….so we walked back to our hotel.

A few pictures from Day 3:  Peru Day 3

July 4:   This was a travel day for us.  Our driver picked us up at 9:00 and took us to the airport in Lima.  The drive took well over an hour, due to the massive amount of traffic.  This drive is also where I first noticed the Peruvian method of speed control: massive slow-down humps.  Later inspection revealed that these humps are sometimes 3 feet wide and almost a foot tall.

Our flight to Cusco was delayed an hour, but the flight was only 90 minutes long, so we made it to Cusco in good shape.  We flew on TACA Airlines (the first of several in-country flights on this airline), and we were impressed with the legroom on the plane and the service provided by the airline personnel.  Cusco is located south and east of Lima, on the slopes of the Andes mountain range.  Although the distance from Lima to Cusco is slightly over 600 miles, our driver told us that it is a 26 hour drive, because of the winding and narrow roads.

Upon arrival in Cusco, we were met by our PFL rep, a young woman named Corey.  Our driver, who appeared to be driving a small tour bus, took us to our hotel, which was the Sonesta Hotel.  The Sonesta is located in the heart of Cusco, and it was the best lodging we had in Peru.  Corey took the time to go over our travel plans for the next few days, and then it was time to explore the city.

We had lunch in a restaurant located on the main plaza, an Irish pub called Paddy’s.  Paddy’s bills itself as ‘the highest Irish owned pub on the planet…11,156 ft.’ We thoroughly enjoyed our food and drink, as well as the conversation with the group of Aussies at the table next to us.

After lunch, we took a stroll around the plaza and then went on a tour of the Convent of Santo Domingo.  This Convent was built by the Dominicans on the site of the Incan temple Koricancha.  This temple was the heart of the Incan empire which ruled much of South America up until the Spanish conquest in the 1500s.  The architecture of the convent features both the Incan stone walls and the Spanish designs.  A couple of major earthquakes have hit this site since the Spanish built the convent.  Not surprisingly, the Incan walls survived the earthquakes, while the Spanish walls suffered major damage.

We walked around the city a bit more, and then decided to call it a day.  Upon returning to the hotel, we had our first taste of Coca tea.  Coca tea is a local remedy for altitude sickness, and we certainly didn’t want to get sick, so we tried it.  It tasted like an herbal tea, and, unfortunately, there were no side effects.  We had a late supper of soup at a local café and then retired for the night.

Pictures:              Peru Day 4

July 5:   We enjoyed another good breakfast buffet at the hotel and then checked out.  We left our bags in storage at the hotel and only carried our carry-on bags for the next two days.  The PFL driver and guide were at the hotel at 9:30 to take us on the Sacred Valley tour.

The Sacred Valley is the valley of the Urubamba River, which rises southwest of Cusco and flows northeastward, eventually emptying into the Amazon.  This portion of the valley is wide and fertile, and was a very important area of the Incan empire.  Our guide was a local woman named Maria Elena, and she was very knowledgeable about the culture, history, and climate of the valley.  This was a very interesting and informative day for us.

Our first stop was at a roadside ‘zoo’, which was a sanctuary for some native species that are becoming endangered.   We got some interesting pictures of the local fauna that we certainly wouldn’t have seen in the wild.

After another stop for pictures at a scenic turnoff overlooking the valley, we headed down to the valley itself.  Our first stop was at the market in the town of Pisac.  Maria arranged for us to get a short demonstration of sliver crafting at one of the shops, which was quite interesting.  Kit and Scott purchased some of the handiwork at that shop.  The market itself was quite large and varied, and we spent quite a bit of time there.

After we left the market, we stopped at a roadside restaurant for a delicious buffet lunch.  As we left this place, Maria pointed out several places that were flying an orange ‘flag’.  This indicated that these were spots where one could purchase Chicha, a local brew made from corn.  We stopped at one of these spots, where we sampled the local fare.  It’s quite potent (and cheap), but it’s not very good, even when flavored with strawberries.  We also played the local game known as ‘frog’, which is sort of a skittle toss game.

Our final stop was at the town of Ollantaytambo.  This village features a large Incan ruin, which at one time was an Incan palace and ceremonial center.  We hiked to the top of the ruin (not an easy task) and listened as Maria told us about the history and architecture of the site.

This concluded our tour of the Sacred Valley.  Maria and the driver headed back, while we waited for our train to depart.  Maria had told us that we should hike around the village, which we were going to do, but a rainstorm interrupted our plans.  We hustled down toward the station, where we found a café where we ate dinner and hung out for a couple of hours before our train departed.

Our train left at 7:00 pm, destined for Aguas Calientes.  We arrived in the small town around 9:00 pm.  Another PFL rep met us in the train station, and she took us on the 10-minute walk to our hotel, the Green Nature.  It took us some time to get checked in, but we finally got settled in before our early start the next morning.  This was a short and not very restful night…there were a couple of dogs outside of our hotel that insisted on barking most of the night.

Pictures from Day 5:       Peru Day 5

July 6:   This was our day to tour Machu Picchu.  Maria had told us that the site is beautiful at sunrise, so we arose at 5:00 am and had a quick breakfast at the hotel.  We then took a 15-minute walk to the bus depot, where we purchased sandwiches (for lunch) and water for our trek.  Buses begin the journey to Machu Picchu at 5:00 am and run continually all day until 5:00 pm.  We left at about 5:40 am for the trip up the mountain.

The bus ride took about 20 minutes and was on a dirt road that had 15 switchbacks up to the entrance to the park.  We went through the gate shortly after 6:00 and were treated to the wonders of Machu Picchu. 

We did a bit of hiking and climbing on our own and were able to view the sun rising over the mountains that tower over the city.  We once again had a ‘small world’ moment, as a couple from Olathe noticed Scott’s Jayhawk shirt and wanted a picture of it to send back home.  We returned to the park entrance to meet our guide at 8:30.

Our guide’s name was Fabricio.  He was, in a word, fantastic!  It turns out that he studied archaeology and worked at Machu Picchu for several years.  He is now the president of the association of tour guides for the site.  He definitely knew everything there was to know about Machu Picchu.  He conducted a tour for us that really didn’t have all that much climbing, which was good for all of us, especially Kit.  But we certainly learned a lot in the 3 hours that he spent with us.

We learned that Machu Picchu was a city in the jungle that was an important Inca community.  The Incans used irrigation from the glaciers on the above mountains for growing their crops on the many terraces of the city.  There are a number of palaces and temples contained within the city. It was in a remote location, and the Spaniards never discovered the site.  Once the Incans had been conquered, they abandoned the city and the jungle reclaimed it.  It was re-discovered in 1911 by a professor from Yale, and the reclamation work has been ongoing since then.   Fabricio estimated that only about 40% of the city has been reclaimed and restored.

Words and pictures cannot do justice to Machu Picchu.  This needs to be on everybody’s bucket list.

Once Fabricio’s tour was over, he left us and we did some more hiking and climbing and then enjoyed our sandwiches for lunch.  At 1:00 we decided we had had enough fun for the day, so we boarded a bus for the return trip to Aguas Calientes. 

Once we got back into town, we perused the local market and then enjoyed a more substantial meal in a local restaurant.  We retrieved our backpacks from the hotel and eventually boarded the train for our return trip to Cusco.  The train left at 4:45 pm and didn’t arrive in Cusco until after 8:00.  Our driver was there to pick us up and take us back to the Hotel Sonesta.  We were pleased to find that the hotel staff had taken our bags out of storage and delivered them to our rooms.  We had another light supper at a local café and retired for the evening.

Pictures:              Peru Day 6

July 7:   This was another early start, as our driver picked us up at 7:00.  He delivered us to the bus depot, where we boarded a bus for the day-long scenic bus tour to Puno.  The bus was a large, tour-bus model with comfortable seats.  It was about ¾ full, so we were able stretch out a bit. 

The bus left promptly at 7:30 and it took about an hour to get out of Cusco.  Once we were on the road, we followed the Urubamba River for a good portion of our trip.  This was another chance to observe the countryside of Peru.  Throughout the day, we saw numerous small houses and villages.  These were, for the most part, farmers who had small plots of land where corn, wheat, and barley were grown.  We also noticed small herds of cattle and sheep.  These herds were either tethered where they were grazing or were watched by a shepherd.

The first stop on the bus tour was the Church of San Pedro of Andahuaylillas, which is a church known as the ‘Sistine Chapel of the Americas’.  The interior of the church had some awesome paintings, done by an artist from Barcelona.  Naturally, the church was built on the site of an Incan temple.

The next stop was the village of Raqchi, which featured another Incan ruin.  This ruin contained a temple known as Wiracocha, as well as the remnants of a small village.  Surprisingly, the Spaniards had left this temple untouched.

We stopped for lunch at another roadside buffet restaurant, which had a couple of alpacas tethered in the yard, which were good for more photo ops.  The restaurant also featured alpaca meat, which turned out to be quite tender and tasty.

We had another stop about an hour later for more picture-taking of some Andes peaks and glaciers, at a place known as La Raya Pass.  This spot was close to some large herds of llamas and alpacas.

Our final stop was the village of Pukara.  This village is close to some pre-Incan ruins and had a museum which contained sculptures from these ruins.  This civilization is believed to have been in existence about 3000 years ago.

This final stop also featured a bit of excitement.  To get to the museum, we had to turn off the main highway onto a narrow street of the village.  Our driver made the initial turn, then backed up and crept through the intersection.  However, he cut the turn just a bit too close.  As the rear wheels of the bus climbed over and then dropped off the sidewalk, one of the side windows hit a ledge that was jutting out from the building on the corner.  Naturally, the window shattered into a million pieces.  Fortunately, the window was right over the rear door of the bus, so nobody was sitting beside it and nobody got hit with any glass.  By the time we finished the tour of the museum, the driver and another guy had cleaned up the glass and taped plastic over the window, and we continued on our journey without further ado.

We finally arrived in Puno shortly after 5:00.  We had some good views of Lake Titicaca along the way in to the city.  A PFL rep named Willie was at the bus depot to pick us up; the driver delivered us to our hotel, which was named the Casa Andina.  It was yet another fine hotel.  We took a 3-block walk to the pedestrian mall, where we enjoyed dinner.  It was a bit chilly (the elevation of Puno is over 12,000 feet), so I bought a hat to keep my ears warm.

Pictures:              Peru Day 7

July 8:   Another early start, as our driver picked us up at 6:40.  The temperature, according to my phone, was 33 degrees.  We had several more stops to pick up more tourists, and then we arrived at the dock and boarded our boat for our Lake Titicaca tour.  The boat left shortly after 7:30 and we headed out on the lake.

During the initial part of our boat ride, our guide explained some of the history and geography of the lake.  We learned that Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world and serves as part of the border between Peru and Bolivia.  It’s mostly fed by glaciers and serves as a source for drinking water for the local inhabitants.  It’s the largest lake in South America.

After a 45-minute ride, we arrived at the ‘floating islands’.  These are man-made islands which are made of reeds which grow in the lake.  The people that inhabit these islands are descendants of the Uro people, who created these islands as a defensive measure to escape other conquering tribes.  We docked at one of the islands and disembarked for a ‘tour’ of the island.

Walking on the island felt like we were walking on a sponge.  The island that we were on was about 50 yards in diameter and was home to 23 people who lived in 6 different houses.  All of the structures on the island were also constructed of reeds.  We were treated to a demo of how the reeds are harvested and then woven together to form the foundation of the island.  We learned that it takes constant maintenance to keep the island together.  All told, there are about 2000 people who live on 40+ islands.  They make their living from tourism and fishing; each week they travel to the mainland to sell fish and purchase necessities. 

After we left the floating islands, we had another 2-hour boat ride to the island of Taquile.  This island is inhabited by about 3000 natives, who have lived on the island for centuries and still adhere to many original customs.  They make their living by fishing and farming; there are several varieties of livestock on the island.

As we docked on the island, our guide was sure to tell us that we would be walking down 539 steps once we were ready to leave the island.  Of course, he neglected to tell us that we would have to walk up those 539 steps prior to our descent.  We walked about 1/3 of the way up and then made a detour to one of the local restaurants.  While we had lunch, our guide gave us a history of the island and its people.  The menu featured fresh trout which had been caught in the lake.

Following lunch, we were treated to a demonstration of the local dance.  The dancers then invited members of our group to join them.  Scott and I accepted the invitation and showed those locals some real dance moves.

Then we set off to the town square, located at the top of the island.  This was a long and slow climb and was a struggle for the older members of the family.  But, we finally made it to the top, where we enjoyed beautiful views of the lake.  While we were lounging in the square, I asked our guide how many boats visited this island each day.  He told me that during tourist season (June-August), an average of forty boats visit the island each day, which nicely augments the income of the natives.

We finally descended the 539 steps.  The steps, of course, are made of rock and are uneven and have no bannisters.  So, it was another adventure to get down to the dock.  But we all made it and boarded the boat for the return trip to Puno.  3 hours later, we departed the boat and got on the bus for the ride back to the hotel.

At dinner that evening, I finally ordered Cuy, or guinea pig.  The only method prepared by this particular restaurant was fried Cuy, so I ordered that.  The skin was too tough to eat, so I had to dig to find the meat.  The meat itself was tender and tasted like mild pork, but there were only about 8-10 total bites.  I can now say that I’ve eaten guinea pig.

After dinner we did a bit more shopping.  We found a shop that had a barrel full of finger puppets, and we had a grand time picking through that barrel and buying a large quantity of these puppets.

Pictures:              Peru Day 8

July 9:   This was another travel day for us.  Our driver picked us up shortly after 9:00 for the hour drive to the airport at Juliaca.  We had a flight to Lima, then a 3 ½ hour layover, then a flight to Piura.  During our layover at the Lima airport, we reverted to being American and ate at Subway.  I also learned that I shouldn’t have thrown away my boarding pass from the first flight.  Everybody else could get through security by showing boarding passes for both flights.  But I threw away the pass from the first flight and had to pay another $8.00 in airport tax to get through security.  I figured it was easier to do that rather than dig through the trash can in the food court.

We finally boarded the flight to Piura and arrived at about 7:00 pm.  We took a short cab ride to the hotel/hostel where Kelsey had made reservations for us.  This is the location where all the Peace Corps volunteers stay when they need to spend time in Piura.  Once we were settled, Kelsey needed to take her dirty clothes to the laundry.  So we went on a several block walk to the laundry where she dropped off her clothes.  Along the way, it became very obvious very quickly that we were the only white folks in the city.  Piura is not a tourist destination and very few foreigners visit the city.  On the way back to the hotel, we treated ourselves to some ice cream.

July 10:                 This was another R&R day for us.  We had a late breakfast at a small café close to our hotel.  Kelsey needed to buy a few supplies, so we took a cab ride across town to the mall where there is a large grocery store.  We had several near-death experiences in that 10-minute cab ride, but we made it safely.  Once we bought everything we needed, we walked back to the hotel.  The weather was considerably warmer than anything we had experienced thus far (temperature probably in the 80s), so we stopped for ice cream once again before returning to the hotel.

We lounged all afternoon.  Kelsey and I went to the local corner store to buy some beer and snacks; later Scott and I went for more beer and snacks.  In the evening we all walked a few blocks to a nice restaurant for supper.  We returned to the hotel to watch the last few innings of the all-star game…in Spanish, of course!

A few pictures: Peru Days 9 and 10

July 11:                 We arose early and had breakfast at a local café.  We then took cab rides across town to the bus depot.  Again, we had several near-death experiences in the cab, particularly in one roundabout.  We finally arrived at the bus depot where we got the last 5 seats on the bus to Paita.

Paita is a city on the ocean, an hour straight west of Piura.  The road between the cities traverses a barren landscape…very sandy with only scrub vegetation growing anywhere.  I could see very few houses or inhabitants.  The roadside was filthy with a lot of trash blowing about.

We got to Paita, which is a very dirty (and smelly) city.  There is a lot of shipping done at the port of Paita, especially fish…which accounts for the smell.  After we got off the bus, we walked across the street to the spot where hopefully we could hire a car.  We were lucky enough to find a car waiting, and we all piled in for the trip to El Arenal, Kelsey’s village.

The trip took about 30 minutes, the last half of which was on a dirt road.  We arrived at one of the outskirts of the village where one of the local schools is located.  This school has both elementary and secondary students.  Once we arrived, Kelsey called Esson, who is one of her socios.

A ‘socio’, in the Peace Corps vernacular, is a local person who is a partner and/or advocate for the Peace Corps volunteer.  Kelsey is very lucky to have Esson as one of her socios, because he holds the elected position of ‘gubernator’, which is, I think, the highest local elected position, above the position of mayor.  Esson is 25 years old.  He met us at the school a few minutes after being summoned, and we went into the school to meet the administrators.

Kelsey had worked with the administrators and teachers at the school, and they really wanted to meet us.  We first went to the principal’s office where we were treated to a snack of 7-Up and crackers.  Of course, none of the students, teachers, or administrators spoke English, so all conversations were rather awkward.

The principal insisted that we go to several classrooms, which we did.  In each classroom, we were paraded in front of the class; each class then gave us a greeting, then all the students swarmed up to us to have their picture taken with the gringoes.  All in all, we managed to thoroughly disrupt all the classes that we visited.

Before we left, somebody thought it would be a great idea for us to have some guavas (a fruit) from the tree in the school yard.  So, several of the older boys climbed the tree and threw down a dozen guavas for us to take with us.

We spent about 90 minutes at the school.  When it was time to leave, Esson called the two local mototaxis for the ride into the village.  A mototaxi is essentially a motorcycle with two rear wheels, and a bench seat between those two wheels.  There is also a cover over the driver and the passenger ‘compartment’.  The six of us (Esson and the Goerings) piled into the two mototaxis for the short trip down to the village.

Once we got there, we walked a block to Kelsey’s house.  We were pleased to see that it’s a clean and comfortable dwelling; Kelsey has her own bedroom and bathroom.  We met her host mother, who is a very sweet woman.  We also met Kelsey’s host grandmother, who lives in the house next door.  The boys and I checked out the backyard, which featured a flock of turkeys and at least one chicken.

Upon our arrival, Kelsey’s host mom broke open a bottle of 7-Up for refreshments.  Once we had our fill, Esson took us for a stroll through the village.  We first visited the other elementary school, where again we had to visit a couple of classrooms and completely disrupted their day.  We then went to the Health Post, where we met Kelsey’s other socio, a woman who is the local obstetrician.  We also met one of the nurses who has helped Kelsey with her sexual education classes.  These two women insisted on sitting down with us for a visit; it was another awkward conversation, as neither of them spoke English.  They did insist that we join them in sharing a 2-liter bottle of 7-Up.  We spent an hour there before continuing on our village tour.

Our next stop was city hall, where we had a short conversation with Her Honor, the Mayor.  Fortunately, we weren’t there long enough for the mayor to break out another bottle of 7-Up.  We continued on our tour and walked by Kelsey’s first house.  Kelsey was rather shocked to see that her bedroom window had glass in it; she never had that luxury during the time she lived there.  From there we went to the town cemetery to look at the elaborate graves and headstones, then we headed back to Kelsey’s house.

It was about 1:30 by this time, and lunch was ready.  Kelsey’s host mom and dad (he had returned from work) had already eaten, but we had lunch with Esson and Kelsey’s host sister, Sebrina, who had just gotten home from school.  We had a wonderful meal of chicken, rice, and potatoes, and we finished the 7-Up.  After lunch we retired to the living room for conversation…although, again, our hosts didn’t speak English.

Esson and Sebrina left the house and told us not to go anywhere.  Soon they returned with several bottles of beer.  So we all enjoyed a glass of beer together.

Then, at about 2:30, Kelsey’s host mom informed us that her brother (who owns one of the cars-for-hire) would take all of us to Pueblo Neuvo, which is a nearby town that is home to Kyle, another Peace Corps volunteer.  So, at about 4:30, her brother shows up with the car, which fortunately was a minivan.  We all pile in….the Goerings, Esson, Kelsey’s host mom and sister, another woman, and the driver.  We head over to the next town, with a couple of stops along the way.  Once we got there, we stopped at a park, where Kelsey called Kyle and woke him up from a nap.  We picked up Kyle and went a couple of blocks to another park, which was across the street from the local cathedral.  Esson insisted on showing us the cathedral, so we all traipsed inside.  It was a beautiful church, and it had just turned 100 years old. 

We finally convinced our hosts that it was time for us to head back to Paita.  Our driver took us back to the bus depot, where we said our goodbyes to Esson and to Kelsey’s host mom and little sister.  We boarded the bus and waited about 10 minutes before it filled up and we got back on the road.  We finally got back to Piura and back to our hotel around 7:30.

Since it was our last night in Peru, we went to one of the nicer local restaurants for dinner.  We had a great meal and returned to our hotel at about 9:30.

Pictures:              Peru Day 11

July 12:                 Our last day in Peru.  We had a late breakfast, and then took another trip to the mall for more supplies for Kelsey.  When we returned to the hotel, we checked out and Kelsey rented a different room for another night.  So we hauled all of our luggage to Kelsey’s single room for storage until departure time.

We then took a walk to the ‘car depot’, where we hired a car for the 20-minute ride to the nearby town of Catacaous.  Once we arrived, we browsed through a couple of markets, and then we hired a couple of mototaxis to go across town to a local restaurant that Kelsey liked.  We had a good lunch which featured some interesting local fare; I cannot name what we ate, but it was good.  After lunch, we took mototaxis back across town, where we hired another car and returned to Piura.

We lounged all afternoon; at 5:30 we left the hotel and headed to the airport.  We said our tearful goodbyes to Kelsey and proceeded on our flight to Lima.

We arrived in Lima and claimed our luggage with no problems.  We then checked in for our United flight.  Naturally, the line for our flight was the longest line in the airport, but we finally got checked in.  We had a snack before we went through Security; it took us a while to clear the various checkpoints, but we finally made it to our gate.  Our flight was due to leave at 11:45 pm; we didn’t start to board until about 11:50.  We finally took off around12:15 am and headed to Houston.

Pictures:              Peru Day 12

July 13:                 Our flight arrived in Houston on time at 6:30 am.  We made it through the first wave of Customs in good shape, but then we had to go claim our bags and go through Security again.  This took quite a while; we didn’t get to our departure gate until after 8:00.  Soon after we got there, a thunderstorm hit the airport, which delayed all incoming and departing flights.  Our flight to Kansas City was scheduled to leave at 9:25; we finally took off at 11:20.

We made it to KC and were pleased to find that all of our bags made it as well.  We met Scott’s girlfriend, his roommate, and his roommate’s girlfriend for lunch.  We took Scott home and then headed to Lawrence to take Joel to his apartment.  Kit and I then hit the road and arrived back in Newton at about 7:00 pm.  Great to be back home!

We had a great time in Peru.  Of course, it was great to see Kelsey and have the family together again.  But we really enjoyed our time in Peru.  It’s a fascinating country, and I would highly recommend a trip to see the sights of Peru.  I would also recommend utilizing Peru For Less as a travel agency for any trip to South America. 

Had Kelsey not been there, I doubt if we would have ever considered a trip to Peru, but I’m certainly glad that circumstances dictated that we visit the country.  This was definitely a trip that we will not forget.



“The happiest moments of my life have been the few which I have passed at home (or abroad) in the bosom of my family.” 
                 ~Thomas Jefferson

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