Machu Picchu, Peru

I have learned so much from all my travels. I've seen so different places, I've interacted with people from different cultures, I've tasted food I never knew existed, I've exceeded my physical limits and, above all, I have learned to connect with nature.

I have two favorite places: one at the seaside and the other one, up in the mountains. Both places are in nature and I am in love with them especially because they are related to the surreal beauty of mother earth, to the divine bundle that you can create with yourself in nature. 

I remember exactly what my father said to me a long time ago: it will come a day when you'll realize that living in a big city is not a favor at all. I used to be just like you, saying that to be in the heart of a metropolis gives you so much opportunities, a lot of things to experience, to do or see, which is true. But there is something else that you'll need one day, even more. I didn't understand him back then, but now, I totally get him!

Machu Picchu, which means Old Mountain, is one of the places I've spoken about before.
I consider it the most outstanding Inca achievement because the urban structures, about 200 stone buildings, blend perfectly in the harmony of the natural environment. You can feel the energy of Mother Nature, Inca Gods and Incas themselves who worked, side by side, to give birth to this miraculous astronomical, ceremonial and agricultural center.
Constructed on a steep mountain ridge around 1450 at 2430 m altitude and surrounded by the vast tropical forest of the Peruvian Andes, this city was literally protected by the Andean peaks and hidden in the clouds or mist (you cannot see it from the bottom of the mountain) since its inhabitants abandoned it when the empire was conquered by the Spanish.

Even though the place was known to the local farmers of the area who cleaned and used some of the original agricultural terraces, Machu Picchu remained undiscovered to the rest of the world until July, 1911. Pablito Alvarez, the 11 years old son of one farmers mentioned above was the first Machu Picchu guide ever to led the American historian teacher Hiram Bingham to the ruins of the enigmatic city. Nowadays, at the entrance of Machu Picchu, the guides swarm around you to perform Pablito's role. Bingham wrote several books and articles about Machu Picchu. I put this book on my wish list to read: Lost City of the Incas.

The city is divided in a residential area and a farming area; the former is further divided into an upper town (where the temples are) and a lower town.

The Temple of the Condor

Looking at the next image, can you spot the condor gliding towards you? I know it seems an exercise of imagination and I admit I looked for several minutes at the temple as I was looking at one of Escher drawings, but at the end I saw the tree dimensional image carved as a gliding condor. 

The rock on the floor which has been used as an altar for sacrifices represent the condor's head. The big rock behind, beautifully carved by Inca in the form of open wings, complete the image. What a piece of work!

p.s. If you don't identify the condor, blame it on the picture! ;)

Temple of Three Windows 

There are a lot of theories that try to explain what they represent. One of them suggests that every window signifies one of the three levels of life in which Incas believed: the underground world (Ukhu Pacha) represented by a snake, the perceptible world (Kay Pacha) represented by a puma and the upper world (Hanan Pacha) represented by a condor. It is believed that in this temple Incas held several ceremonies in order to combine these three worlds in a perfect union.

Temple of the Sun

The distinct elliptical structure, the only one shaped round at Machu Piccu, is known as Torreon or the Temple of the Sun. It was constructed to celebrate Inti (the Sun God), the patron deity of Inca Empire. It seemed to be used as well as a solar observatory. The two windows of the temple were built in a manner that would allow the sunlight to enter and reach the ceremonial stone placed inside the walls of the temple, marking the winter solstice on June, 21 and the summer solstice on December, 21.

            

Situated below of the Temple of the Sun, the small cave called Royal Tomb, appeared to have been used more as a worship place. It has a quarter of a Chakana (Andean cross) carved in the white stone stairs representing the levels of existence symbolized by the sacred snake, puma and condor. These totems together with the cross itself are often seen in the Inca architecture.

After I finished my walk through the Inca labirith, Machu Picchu made me silent for a long time. I stood there and felt this place in a genuine way that almost made me burst into tears. And I know no place that made me feel this way before!

- Told you, I'm on the blog. Hope you enjoyed it, fellows! 

Got to go. See you at Machu Picchu!

Waiting for Pablo and Matilde to come home

In October I visited two of Pablo Neruda's houses in Chile, La Chascona in Santiago and La Sebastiana in Valparaiso. The Nobel Prize winner designed himself both houses. Taking pictures into the houses is forbidden so I took this photo from the window of the top level of La Sebastiana, trying to capture in an image the sense of freedom and tranquillity that grew inside me in this house. 

La Sebastiana is a modest house but has an aura of serenity impossible to describe in any words. Pablo Neruda and Matilde Urrutia (his third wife with whom Neruda seemed to have been in love the most) decorated La Sebastiana with a lot of objects, collected from different parts of the world where they both traveled. In the living room they even had a wood horse bought from an old Parisian carousel. Every single object has its story and I lived one among their things.

Through the photo and Neruda's poem quoted below that I first read in his house, I want to share with you a piece of what I felt. It was like I was a good friend of them, spending a lovely afternoon at their house, waiting for Pablo and Matilde to come home...

"Love, a question

has destroyed you.

I have come back to you

from thorny uncertainty.

I want you straight as

the sword or the road.

But you insist

on keeping a nook

of shadow that I do not want.

My love,

understand me,

I love all of you,

from eyes to feet, to toenails,

inside,

all the brightness, which you kept.

It is I, my love,

who knocks at your door.

It is not the ghost, it is not

the one who once stopped

at your window.

I knock down the door

I enter your life

I come to live in your soul

you cannot cope with me.

You must open door to door,

you must obey me,

you must open your eyes

so that I may search in them,

you must see how I walk

with heavy steps

along all the roads

that, blind, were waiting for me.

Do not fear,

I am yours,

but

I am not the passenger or the beggar,

I am your master,

the one you were waiting for,

and now I enter

your life,

no more to leave it,

love, love, love,

but to stay."

Lima, Peru

Except for a few hours spent in Quito, Ecuador, Lima was my first contact to South America. I was ready to discover this lively city that didn't fail to impress me, even though I was skeptical at the beginning. I've stayed in Lima for a few days at the start of my trip in Peru and then a couple of days at the end. The experiences were different. If the first time I was overwhelmed by the expanse and contrasts of the city, at the end I felt relaxed and I spent my time strolling through places I already knew and liked.

Colonial architecture, archaeology, museums, plazas, churches, modern or crowded and poor neighborhoods, paragliding over the coast, tons of very good restaurants, hidden nice cafes, pisco bars, beach, handicrafts markets, etc. give you a glimpse of how hectic this city can be. I assure you that this metropolis is also a very calming place if you know exactly where to go.

I loved to get lost among the bohemian streets of Barranco and I looked for hours at the ocean from the seaside promenade between Miraflores and Barranco.

The wooden Bridge of Sighs (Puente de los Suspiros) is the landmark of the charming Barranco. The legend says that if you make a wish and then you cross the 31m length of the bridge holding your breath, then your wish will be fulfilled. I couldn't put the legend to the test though because the bridge was in renovation so I've only left with the legend and the song Puente de los Suspiros, Chabuca Granda.

In Miraflores district, for a couple of seconds I even had a small feeling of Gaudi's Barcelona when I saw the curved colorful mosaic benches from Park of Love. This is not a big park and not a must see in Lima but a quite place to enjoy a sunset over Pacific and the smooth glide of the flights lovers. I bet you know the common saying "never put off till tomorrow what you can do today". Well... I did exactly the opposite of the saying and I missed the chance to enjoy a tandem flight over the coast due to lack of wind. I left Lima with the promise that one day I'll be back to fly away.

Aeroxtreme, Tandem Flights and more

The historic center of the city is a touristic attraction but it's worth a visit for its beautiful Plaza Mayor, Lima Cathedral, Museum of Religious Art, Government Palace and San Francisco Church and Convent. I don't like catacombs and I still don't know how I ended up visiting them. While the guide explained us how the catacombs were part of Lima's old original cemeteries built under churches, I was only thinking that we are in a claustrophobic place, in a country situated at the boundary of two tectonic plates, the Nazca Plate and the South American Plate. I rushed through the catacombs and two hours later, my vision came true with an earthquake. In conclusion, don't make any "wish" while visiting the catacombs of San Francisco Church and Convent :)

At the end, let me introduce you to my favorite restaurant in Lima, La Mar. This is the place where I've eaten the best sushi ever!