It's a Hard Knock Life. Hogar de Esperanza, Trujillo, Peru

     Well,  it had to happen eventually. After weeks of eating tripe, cow stomach, chicken feet and whole sardines I have at last been felled... by a chicken salad sandwich. A curse on the vile swine who first mixed chicken, mayonnaise and hell-fire and called it a meal! From now on I'm sticking to street grilled beef hearts (which, but the way, is delicious). But fear not, gentle reader. I'm off to the Trujillo farmers market tomorrow to pick up some snake bile mixed with lime juice from the local shaman. Should fix me right up.

The offending sandwich.  Looks pretty good, right? WRONG!  Apparently the swirl on the top is an ancient Incan sign of  warning. 

     Molly and I arrived at the Hogar de Esperanza from Huanchaco a little over a week ago. It is an orphanage that houses about 40 boys and girls from age 1 to 18. The majority of the kids are elementary school age and they are ridiculously cute. As you might imagine, Peruvian orphanages are not situated on the most prime real estate.  Our immediate neighbors are a coal repository, a high density chicken farm, an oil refinery and an abattoir. (Def. Abattoir: Slaughterhouse. "The cow was slaughtered in the abattoir") When the wind is right the smell can be just... well, indescribable.
     Olfactory offenses aside, there are some pretty amazing aspects to the orphanage.  It's only about a half-a-mile from the glorious Pacific ocean. South American winter is slowly winding down so that means that the sun is coming out more and more each day. On most days, the quickly setting sun sets the sky on fire with her rosy fingers in one last act of blazing defiance just before she drops into the chilly waters and is extinguished for another day. (That's how I'm told it works, anyway.)

   
     The second great thing about the location of the orphanage is the sand. Just behind the compound wall, a 100 foot tall sand dune looms up out of the desert. The hike up is a ponderous undertaking as the flour-soft sand crumbles away beneath your feet, taking back about half of every step. It is all worth it when you get to the top. A beautiful panorama spreads itself out before you. The golden slopes run away from your feet, rolling over the dunes down to the wine-dark sea. (I've been reading a lot of Homer lately) But the best part of the sand dunes is sand boarding. I've included a video. I guess professional sand boarding is not in my future.

Squinting into the sun.  The great dune looms in the distance

The shifting sands are not so forgiving to all who enter them.

     Scenery aside, our days at the orphanage are spent doing various things. I've been fulfilling my inner Groundskeeper Willie by pulling weeds, cleaning windows and yelling at people with a Scottish accent. I have been giving guitar lessons to a 13 year old boy here named Abraham. He has absolutely no knowledge of either Nirvana or Guns N Roses. Needless to say, I have my work cut out for me. At the suggestion of my friend Dan, I've decided to spend the remainder of this year spreading the gospel of hard rock to all the people of the world. Look for the first installment, The Book of Zepplin out in paperback this fall!
     Although I may be rocking out, Molly is the real rock star of this operation. She spends her days surrounded by little ones. It is wonderful to see their faces light up when she enters the room. She is so patient and kind to each one of them. Every afternoon, she helps them with their homework and they are constantly inviting us over to their casitas to visit, tell stories and play music. Even though we struggle with our Spanish, Molly is such a great communicator that every word we try to express is understood.

Molly with Paul (pronounced Pa-ooool)

     When we're not in the orphanage we spend our time wandering around Trujillo.  Founded in 1534 and well fortified to defend against pirates, Trujillo has a wealth of Spanish colonial buildings inside it's historic old town.  The buildings, with their brightly colored facades decorated with intricate stone and woodwork, stand beautiful and proud among the smooth cobblestone streets.  There is a bullfighting arena just outside the old city walls that imports matadors from Spain to contend with some of the most vicious beasts that Peru has to offer.  We have not gotten to a fight yet, but it is on the list

  However, the best part about Trujillo, as with most of the cities we have visited, is the central market.  It is here that you truly get to feel the pulse of this living, vibrant city.  The major market days are Tuesday and Wednesday, when throngs of people flood into an area the size of 4 or 5 city blocks to hawk their wares. Being as large as it is, the market is divided into several different sections.  A covered area about the size of a football field is dedicated to a mix of different things, but beyond that you get into the distinct districts of the market.  There is the vegetable market, Banana Boulevard, Apple Alley, and of course Meat Street.  Meat Street is not for the faint of heart.  Skinless animals of all shapes and sizes hang from huge meat hooks as far as the eye can see.  Cow tongues, stomachs and intestines dangle over metal bars like towels drying on a rack.  To ensure freshness they even have live chickens that they will kill, de-feather and butcher right in front of you.  It's a grizzly custom, but if you can't handle it, you probably shouldn't be eating meat in the first place.

Some cows in Peru live out their days on lush green pastures, high in the Andes. These guys weren't so lucky.

A vegetable vendor in the market

I must be going now. I hear the call of the Incan god "El Porceliano". We will be staying at the orphanage for about two more weeks, and then its on to Huaraz and Machu Picchu after that.  Hopefully this blog post finds you in good health and with a strong appetite.

The sea forgives all, unlike those mean old mountains.

     You might think that hanging out at a Peruvian surf town on the Pacific ocean would be amazing... and you'd be right. I may be showing my age by saying this (I still feel like I'm 22), but the best thing about the first day that we were here was sleeping. After a heroic bus ride of more than 475 miles all we wanted to do was take a nap. And nap we did. 13 1/2 hours of napping. Finally, after our kurzer tod  (look it up) we awoke with a powerful hunger. We walked down the beach until we found the first of many, many ceviche places that would become a hallmark of our time here. For those of you not familiar with ceviche, think of it as South American sushi;  Raw fish, shrimp and other assorted crustaceans "cooked" in lime juice and other spices.  Here in Peru it is a national obsession. Drink a beer, have some ceviche, go surfing, have some ceviche, too much fish?... have some ceviche. It is amazing.

     After eating we ambled through the streets of town to get the lay of the land. The northern Pacific coast of Peru is essentially a desert and Huanchao is where the desert meets the sea. Sand surfing is almost as popular as regular surfing. Eventually we found ourselves at the local cemetery. The silent, home-made crosses outlined against gray and cloudy, desert sky made for a haunting image.

     The next day we made a breakfast of eggs and toast then headed into the main city of Trujillo.  We took the bus which was and adventure in itself.  The short story is that they were all made from old washing machines, filled with pickpockets and covered in pornography and pirated cartoon characters.  Needless to say, I felt right at home. In Trujillo we bought a guitar. FINALLY!  I've been jonesing for a a guitar ever since we landed on this continent and it finally happened. It's cheap but it has 6 strings and a sound box which is all I'm looking for.

That is a ceremonial scepter I'm holding.
Get your mind out of the gutter.

     On the way back from Trujillo we stopped by the ancient ruins of Chan Chan. Practically unknown to the outside world, Chan Chan was actually the largest pre-Columbian adobe city in the Americas.  It was over 20 square miles of adobe structures 30 feet high perched next to the Pacific ocean. Most of the city is in horrible shape now and kind of looks like a giant, crumbling Pac Man game made of sand but parts of it have been restored. It even has it's own Disney-style inhabitants who are more than happy to take your money in exchange for a photo.

    We arrived at the tomb of the king of Chan Chan before long and decided to give a small concert for the departed.  I hope the Chimu Indian ghosts like Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here"  because that's what they're getting: 

 

   We eventually made our way back to Huanchaco, and you know what? Peruvian people love guitars! We couldn't walk five feet without a horde of people stopping us and asking us to stop and play songs for them. We eventually stopped and hung out with a few street vendors who danced, hula-hooped and played the flute along to Beatles, Bob Marley and Judge Roy Bean songs.                                                                      That night we saw our first sunset over the Pacific ocean.  Although there are no "seasons" in Huanchaco (it is 8 degrees south latitude) there are two distinct types of sky.  From November to June the sky is beautiful and clear all day.  From late June to October Huanchaco becomes the land of eternal clouds. Fortunately, for one brief, shining moment a tiny break in the clouds appeared right at sunset giving us a gorgeous panorama.

     Surfs up! Friday rolled around and we finally decided to get our feet wet and do a little surfing.  The water was chilly due to the Humbolt current which runs up the side of South America bringing with it the icy waters of Antarctica. The waves were pretty decent and Molly and I both had a few good rides. After two and a half hours we were wiped out and headed in.  

     We had rented boards and wet suits from a CRAZY party guy at a shop right on the beach.  It turned out that not only did he design and make all his boards in a little back room behind the shop, but it was also his birthday.  Before we could say anything he shoved a couple of beers in our hands and cranked up the music.   A bunch of his friends were already there drinking and shouting.  It was our first, but probably not last, South American fiesta. 

Travel is only glamorous in retrospect

When we last left our fearless travelers, they were just leaving Banos to make the long trip south to Peru. 

We knew when we bought our tickets to Quito that we would have to bomb down to Peru to make it to the orphanage by August 20th. What we didn't know was that we would travel on buses for  30+ hours in 3 days.

We took a series of daytime bus rides between cities in southern Ecuador and watched the beautiful Ecuadorian countryside roll by. 

Then we boarded our first night bus in Loja on Monday night. We slept for a while and were awakened at 3:30 AM at the Peruvian border. Our bus driver had to rattle the chain link fence to get the guard to wake up and let us through. When the guard emerged, he was clad only in a towel and a pot belly. We made it through immigration with no problems at all, thankfully, and we fell back asleep only to be awakened by Charlie Manson (or maybe it was his younger brother) who told us we had arrived in Piura, Peru. 

Maybe it was the abrupt wake up, or maybe the landscape of desolate desert, but we were pretty unprepared for what we saw when we got out of the bus station in Piura. There were so many people, markets built of brick and tarps, tuk tuk taxis and stray dogs galore. Here's a picture of a hairless Peruvian dog.

 We went back inside and luckily a nun gave us directions to catch the bus to Trujillo. We made the 7 hour trip to Trujillo and caught a taxi up to the surf village of Huanchaco. As we were lulled to sleep by the sound of the Pacific Ocean, we knew the whole ordeal had been worthwhile. And now we eat, we drink, we rest and we surf.

Arrival in South America Quito to Banos, Ecuador

     D-day finally arrived on August 9th.  So many months of anticipation, planning and packing were all gone and the only thing left to do was get out of Dodge.  We had three flights to catch; Newark to Orlando, Orlando to Panama City, Panama City to Quito.  Between each flight was only a one hour layover.  With air travel being what it is nowadays I was not optimistic that we would get to our final destination with bags in tow.

     Apparently the travel gods were on our side that day and we arrived in Quito without a hitch.  Our first hostel was a nice, clean, but expensive little place on a lovely street in the center of the old city called "La Ronda".  We stayed for a breakfast of scrambled eggs and one slice of deli ham before setting off for cheaper  digs 

 

   
     As luck would have it we arrived on Ecuadorian independence day.  The streets were filled with people waving flags, playing music and celebrating.  We hoofed it to the far side of the old city to and found a great little ex-pat hostel called "The Secret Garden".  The roof deck of the hostel had beautiful views of the whole city.

   
     That day and the we wandered the city visiting churches and sampling the local fare.  Breakfast: $1, Lunch $1.50 not getting traveler's diarrhea from the Ecuadorian street food that we ate, Priceless.  We had a great, if exhausting time hiking up and down the hills of the city (the elevation 9200 feet) and I tried my hand at being a travel channel host:

     The next day we set off for Banos. Thieves are apparently quite prevalent on the buses in Ecuador so we had to sit with our bags in our laps for the entire ride, not a fun on a 4 hour bus ride over barely paved roads.  Dead legs not withstanding, it was a wonderful ride winding through tiny towns and past huge volcanoes.  It the small towns were a bit strange.  All of the buildings are made of cinder blocks that can be seen drying on the side of the road.  However each town was full of both abandoned buildings and new construction giving the impression that the people of the town are like human hermit crabs that build one house, live in it until their family gets too large and then move on to a bigger house.  For security each house is surrounded by "Ecuadorian Barbed Wire" which is basically shards of broken glass cemented into the top of the outer wall.

       Banos is a beautiful city nestled among jagged green hills between the Andes and the Amazon.  The town gets its name from the abundance of volcanic thermal hot springs that dot the surrounding area.  It is also famous for its taffy of all things.  In many doorways downtown you can see men pulling taffy of all the colors of the rainbow.  We took a room in a place called the Hostel Transylvania although I saw no sign of vampires or werewolves around.  The first day we spent hiking in the hills around the city.

  The next morning we were up at 5:30 trying to beat the crowds to hot springs called the Virgen de Aguas Santas.  No such luck.  By the time we arrived there were already 200 people splashing about in the steaming spring water.  There were 3 pools.  1 very hot, 1 pretty hot and one ICE cold.  There are also freezing showers that were fed by the water fall seen above.

   Later that day we rented bikes and took a wonderful ride down hill past five different waterfalls that fed the Rio Verde on its way to the Amazon.  At every stop there were hordes of people selling chicken, sugar cane juice and of course quy (roasted guinea pig).  The ride was amazing but I did get a wicked sunburn.  Who knew the sun was so strong on the equator?  That night I had a meal of grilled tripe from a woman grilling on the street.  It was the tastiest intestine I've ever had.

     On our final day in Banos we started off at another hot spring.  This one was the very definition of third world extravagance.  Throngs of people in makeshift bathing suits huddled shoulder to shoulder; children, grandparents, indigenous people and polio victims all clamoring for a place in the muddy water.  It was not exactly what we expected.  Tomorrow it's back to the nice hot spring near our hostel before we get on the bus for Ambato.
    When we got back into town I found a perfectly nice bridge, so I thought, Why not jump off?  There was a cord attached of course.  IT WAS AWESOME.  We finished the day by hiking up to a tiny town perched high above Banos with great views of the volcano.

Well its getting late and we need to be up early to catch the bus tomorrow.  With any luck we'll arrive with our luggage and our hind quarters intact.