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Kirsten Koza
Proof of Strife: Pics and Notes from Kirsten

Mountain Biking Peru with Strangers I found on the Internet
 

Pic 1 Colca Canyon, Cruz del Cóndor, Condor Cross

Pic 2 Raqchi ruins:
Ten hot and bothered (bored, bored and sweaty) Canadian chicas, at the Inca ruins of Raqchi, can't wait to get back on their mountain bikes and put an end to the lecture about 4,000 species of potatoes and 2,000 species of sweet potato. The Incas used to tell time by how long it takes to cook potatoes. The tour of Raqchi was one potato too long.


 

Pic 3 Raqchi ruins, Temple of Wiracocha:
This fabulous farmer told me her life story. She told me about her crops and the constellations which guided her in planting her crops---well, she pressed beans into my hand and pointed to the sky. You see, I don't have a clue what she said. I'm pretty certain that my Spanish wasn't the problem in understanding...I think she was speaking Quechua. But the Inca did use constellations such as the Pleiades (The Seven Sisters) to tell them when to plant and harvest.

Pic 4 Abra Malaga, Megavalanche Downhill:
When biking at 14,271.6535 feet above sea-level, oxygen is hard to find and my lungs felt like the Grinch's heart, before his heart grew.

Pic 5 Reserva Nacional de Paracas, Ica:
Before going to Peru, I put a couple posts up on the Internet looking for people to mountain bike Peru with me. I honestly didn't think anybody would respond. But here we are in this photo, right before our first ride in Pisco---ten women from across Canada and our guide Sa-ool. I'd posted on Mountain Equipment Co-op's website and on Lonely Planet's website. Everybody who responded and signed up from MEC's Trip Partners listing were serious about the trip. All I received from Lonely Planet's Travel Companions was spam and pervert spam.

Pic 6 Huacachina, Sandboarding and Dune Buggies: Allison, a social worker who lives in Calgary, discovers that snowboarding is in fact more sensible than sandboarding. This photo is before Allison accidentally man-handled dead human remains in the Nazca desert and before she sat in the ER of a Colca Canyon hospital listening to me read to her the prices of various medical procedures, including an autopsy---$30.00---an autopsy in the Colca Canyon costs $30.00, making it the most expensive procedure they offered. By the way, the highest sand dune in the world is in Nazca (Nasca) Peru.

Pic 7 Huambo, Colca Canyon: The best part about off-the-beaten-path travel is that off-the-wall things happen. Part way through the rocky descent into the Colca Canyon (which is over two-times deeper than the Grand Canyon---which makes the Colca the 2nd deepest canyon in the world---the deepest is the Colca's sister-canyon, also in Peru)---well part way down we were thrust into a celebration in the pueblo of Huambo. We dropped our mountain bikes and were pulled into the middle of a bullring to dance. Of course we had no idea they'd release the bulls. They did. Ten bulls for ten Canadians. The bulls in a state of pure excitement ignored us and mounted each other. Then the spectators threw rice.
 

Pic 8 Peru Adventure Tours. Peru Biking Tours: Saul Ceron. Sa-ool! :~) I know he loves me (like an irritating sister)---so I'm keeping this pic here. Saul is an exceptional Peruvian expedition leader and guide. (Psst, Saul, if you ever get married, I want an invitation to the wedding!)

Pic 9 Atacama Desert, Pan-American Highway, yoga: Not freaks worshipping gods from former civilizations---just some nice freaks doing a little morning yoga amongst the litter, beside La Carretera Panamericana. Now this is nothing when it comes to litter in Peru. Happy Death Road coming off of the volcano El Misti had me retching from the overpowering aromas of soiled baby diapers and dead things rotting. Not wanting to stop and linger in the stench---I mastered biking while vomiting.

Pic 10 Pampa Qerqe, Ampato: Biking with views of volcanoes and the infamous Mt. Ampato, where Peru's Ice Maiden was discovered. The museum in Arequipa which houses the Inca Maiden would not allow Karen (an Ontario school teacher) and me to see the mummy. They said we had to take the one hour guided tour. We did not have an hour. We begged to pay for the tour but not have to take the tour and instead just go see Juanita. No. We begged to pay for a shorter tour. No. We begged to pay the full amount for a shorter tour. No. We were denied a gawk at any of the sacrificial victims housed in the museum. I've never been to a museum before that wouldn't take my money.
 

Pic 11 Huambo, Matador: Well there he is!---The delinquent matador who never made it into the bullring with the ten Canadians and ten bulls.

Pic 12 Peru Festivals, Vaqueros: "Hey Mister, is that a ten-gallon donkey-skin hat you're wearing?"

Pic 13 Peru, marching bands: My first ever guerrilla kiss. Yes this man really kissed me. He's one very serious band leader.

Pic 14 Chaglla, Cruz del Cóndor, Condor Cross, Condor Pass: Cruz del Cóndor is the look-out point over the Pass in the Colca Canyon where the condors cross. Apparently at times you can buy hunks of dead donkey to tempt the gigantic birds. On this day, we sadly could only buy woven goods.

Pic 15 Cahuachi, Nazca: Sarah and Meaghan squeezing in another Peruvian beer (Meaghan is an executive assistant and adventure racer who lives in Calgary and owns an imaginary tortoise). Leslie (Leslie works in a law firm in Ottawa, when she isn't playing her tuba and belly dancing) looks on with what appears to be a disapproving expression. Not sure that Leo Reyes (history buff and dancing king) cared if people were drinking beer during his tour---Leo was refreshingly politically incorrect. Basically if you don't want to dance with Leo, don't take his tour of Nazca. Gotta love Leo!

Pic 16 Grave Robbers, Peru: Here's something for your garden shed. In a lady's backyard-shed, beside her house in Nazca, are skulls and skeletons and even a mummified baby that she has rescued from grave robbers who were only interested in the jewellery, not the 2,000-year-old bones. The skulls still retain their hair and some of them have ponytails over six feet long.

Pic 17 Nazca Mummies: The mummies are just sitting in the desert. The tendons of their arms and legs were cut so they could be folded into the foetal position to be re-born. They're still sitting there waiting to be re-born. Or maybe somewhere in a delivery room right now a woman is screaming because she just gave birth to a Nazca mummy.

Pic 18 Machu Picchu: Kirsten's survival tips for Machu Picchu.
1/ The endless buses start leaving Aguas Calientes (the town at the foot of Machu Picchu) at five-thirty in the morning. The gates open at six. If you don't get there early, not only will you be trampled by the pushing hoards of tourists, you may not get to climb to Wayna Picchu as the number of tourists allowed up are limited. Up to 2,500 tourists a day are currently being admitted into Machu Picchu---on average 2,000 tourists per day.
2/ Go pee before you go through the gates. The only toilets are outside the gates and if you leave Machu Picchu to relieve your bladder, you have to get in the line-up all over again.
3/ For some reason Machu Picchu seems to cause arousal in couples. Don't be startled if you keep stumbling over people making-out at Machu Picchu.
4/ The complex covers about ten hectares and the stairs are very very steep. If you need to use a cane or a walker, you should probably re-think your trip to Machu Picchu. In fact if you have a heart condition or are out of shape, you should probably re-think your trip to Machu Picchu or it might be your very last trip!

Behind a picture is a thousand words