Belen, Peru

More pictures of Belen ...




Entrance to the
floating shanty town















Kids playing underneath the main room of their house. During the dry season when the water level is lower, this area may also be used as an additional story/ room.








Kids swimming

Local Church built on stilts

Steps of the local church




















People use canoes to get around and do laundry on their front porches.

















Every house has a hammock

Kind of what i imagine Venice must have looked like a long long time ago...





Dusk















The sun setting on
the town of Belen

Machu Picchu...whoops...

So our trip to Machu Pichu began at 4:45am yesterday morning. We had arranged for a taxi to come pick us up in Cusco and take us to the train station at 5:30 to make our 6am train to Agua Calientes. We are all set... Camera battery charged, rain jackets in hand, we had even picked up our train tickets at the station the day before. Like clockwork we get to the station right on time. Show passports, find platform and train and hand over boarding passes. As i stepped on the train i realized how excited i was to sit down in a seat and not move for the next 4 hours (we have been going none stop!!) Well, didn´t look like that was going to happen... ¨son para manana¨i heard the women tell my mom who was three steps behind me. shit. ¨No es posible.¨ shit! Our tickets were for the same time the following day. Ok, well, back to the hotel i guess. And so we went. slept for the next 4 hours and spent a beautiful day in Cusco.

This morning we woke up same time. Left same time. Arrived at station same time. And finally were on our way to Machu Piccu. We had only an 90 minutes at ¨the lost city of the Incas¨due to the train schedule home so we decided to hire a guide. She was amazing!!! The whole experience was absolutely stunning and we would have been completely lost without her.

After our whirlwind tour of Machu Piccu we caught a train to Ollantaytambo. The train back to Cusco was full so ollantaytambo was the next best choice. How we were going to get from Ollantaytambo was still a bit unclear. Once we got to Ollantaytambo and after some asking around, we caught a collective to Umbambo. We had never heard of the city, but apparently it was in the right direction, so we hopped in the back of a caravan and headed off to Some city in the middle of the Andes. We were dropped off in Umbambo and assured that we would be able to find a taxi the rest of the way. Luckily, we met a really kind women who helped us find our way into another ¨seguro¨ collectivo and ended up back in Cusco about an hour later.

Another wonderful adventure in Peru. Tomorrow we fly to Lima for one last day.

The Inca Ruins and Wini Picchu in the background (Machu Picchu´s little brother so to speak)

Wish dad was here too...

THE Inca Calendar

Supposedly emits spiritual energy.

Sin Palabras... in Peru

... ¨without words¨. One of my favorite new Spanish phrases. We have been in Peru for 5 days now and i can only begin to describe the things we have done and seen.

We have had our fair share of pisco sours in Miraflores and Lima, caught paranahas in the Amazon River, and canoed through the floating shanty town of Belen. We have visited villages along the Amazon and learned so much from the people who live there. It has certainly been an adventure. We learn something new every day and have been meeting wonderful people: A school teacher who gave us Yoga lessons in the middle of the jungle at 6 am easter Sunday, a couple from the state department whose next assignment is in Afghanistan, and a young female dr. who is finding her way volunteering in the poor slums of Lima.

We are now in Cusco which is a nice break after the manic and aggressive city of Iquitos. So many experiences i hope to write about soon, but our train for Machu picchu leaves at 6am tomorrow and sleep es muy importante.

Con Paz y Amor
xoxox

Our first day in the city of
Miraflores
And our first introduction to pisco sours
(the peruvian drink of choice)











Canoeing in the Amazon on easter sunday.
Butterflies, birds, fish, tarantelas.
Opa was with us oin this one.

And yes, pick dolphins really do exist!!








The floating shanty town of Belen
(for which we had to find an escort becuase we were told it was too dangerous to go alone)