Time with an orchid expert
Well, I had to return from the field to Cusco and I didnt get to go on the rest of the expedition to Pantiacolla. I had to go meet Eric Christenson, the orchid expert. I arrived on Sat, and we were supposed to leave to look for orchids on Sunday. He failed to contact me in time (he sent me an email at 9 sat night to tell me we were leaving at 8 the next morning). Needless to say, I did not get the message in time and got over a week of relaxing in Cusco by myself. I did very little, and loved it. I eventually met up with him and his crew the following Saturday, and we ended up leaving for the field on Sunday. I made the bus this time, to find out what field time meant. Eric is limited by health problems, so we spent all our time in the car looking out the window for orchids. Every 10 minutes or so in orchid territory, we would hear "pare, pare, pare" and once the car stopped, we would hop out to look for the orchid spotted from the moving vehicle. I am afraid that I was not a good watcher, I would lose my concentration on orchids and start thinking about other things. But Eric was very good, I think he was wrong only once. But all the driving wasnt very good for my body, I was sore.
The first trip we took (we went on two) was to Sandia, which is to the side of Puno. Sandia wasnt in my guide book, so I had no idea what to expect. We ended up driving all day long just to make it after nightfall to Crucero, where we had to find a hotel with room. We actually found a decently clean one for about $1.50 per person, so reasonable. The only problem, the bathroom had no light and it was pitch dark, so a fun experience trying not to pee on anything in the dark. The next day was driving to Sandia. We had been on the high plain, which is very desolate and there are only a few small communities. But the landscape was beautiful to me, very different than where I live right now. Only a few grasses grow there, but lots of herds of llamas and sheep feed there. We constantly had to ask if we were on the right dirt road, because there were many and no signs. We passed over a mountain pass and descended into a valley towards Sandia. The people here will plant on as little ground as they have, and as steep as the plants will allow. We descended in the valley, still asking for directions. It was one of the more farmed valleys I had seen, with houses and small farms dotting all of the hillsides. A lot of the terracing isnt in use right now, and I am not sure if is at all, or they are resting the land. The views were gorgeous, but they didnt make up for a lack of bathrooms. One thing I notice about Peru, people's concept of time is different then ours. Every time we asked for how much longer, someone would give us their perception. So a nine hour trip in reality is more like 12 or 13. We tried to go past Sandia to San Juan de Oro, farther in the valley, and we were told it was aobut 3 or 4 hours. Well after 3.5 hours of driving, we were told it was another 3 or 4 hours, so we had to go back to Sandia. On the way back, I was looking out the window and saw silhouetted against the dark night fires raging on the top of the mountains. It was gorgeous, even though it had the possiblility of raging out of control. My pics from a moving vehicle are not very good, but the mental picture I carry is gorgeous. So we stayed the night in Sandia at the old municipal building, and tried to find a restaurant at 930pm. Sandia is not a tourist town. There was nothing open, except a stand that sold us bread and cheese and hot chocolate. The next day, when we tried to leave, we had a hard time finding an open gas station. So I was pleasantly amused by the statue of a Greek athlete throwing a discus over the road. Of all places to see one, this was not the place I would have thought to see one. I also got a kick out of a sign advertising soup of head and little feet (I assume it was sheep, but I didnt want to ask). We thought about trying to go San Gabon, but it would have been too far and not worth the drive, so we drove all night to reach Cusco at 2 in the morning, where our drivers made us pay them for the next day, even though it wasnt part of the deal. Note: always get stuff in writing. It helps.
Two days later, we found a different combi to take us for two days to Quillabamba. We left after running around trying to find Marcial to go with us. We ended up finding alot more orchids on this trip, including a new orchid, which Eric is going to name after the guy who climbed up in the tree and found it. The first day we didnt find as much, but I did see a very pretty rainbow. That night, we stayed in Quillabamba and I walked with Marcial for a while to work off dinner. That night, in the hotel, some drunk guys came in late. Now, Quillabamba is jungle, and it was alot hotter there, with no fans. So our rooms have these giant windows, and I left mine open to let the breeze in (it also helped with the old person smell that permeated my room). I could here the guys come in that night, but it was dark. At 6 in the morning, some drunks were yelling and laughing, so I woke up. They passed by my window, and seeing it open, and me inside, starting saying impolite things and making kissing noises at me. As my friends and family can attest, I am grumpy in the morning, and worse if someone wakes me up. So I had enough of these guys, and quickly rose up and started yelling at them in English. I have never seen guys run that fast in Peru, it did make me laugh.
On the way back, the guys in the car were saying that there wasnt machisimo in Peru, to which I had begged to differ. So I asked one if he was a woman, and told him if he wasnt, he had now right to say that it didnt exist.
The first trip we took (we went on two) was to Sandia, which is to the side of Puno. Sandia wasnt in my guide book, so I had no idea what to expect. We ended up driving all day long just to make it after nightfall to Crucero, where we had to find a hotel with room. We actually found a decently clean one for about $1.50 per person, so reasonable. The only problem, the bathroom had no light and it was pitch dark, so a fun experience trying not to pee on anything in the dark. The next day was driving to Sandia. We had been on the high plain, which is very desolate and there are only a few small communities. But the landscape was beautiful to me, very different than where I live right now. Only a few grasses grow there, but lots of herds of llamas and sheep feed there. We constantly had to ask if we were on the right dirt road, because there were many and no signs. We passed over a mountain pass and descended into a valley towards Sandia. The people here will plant on as little ground as they have, and as steep as the plants will allow. We descended in the valley, still asking for directions. It was one of the more farmed valleys I had seen, with houses and small farms dotting all of the hillsides. A lot of the terracing isnt in use right now, and I am not sure if is at all, or they are resting the land. The views were gorgeous, but they didnt make up for a lack of bathrooms. One thing I notice about Peru, people's concept of time is different then ours. Every time we asked for how much longer, someone would give us their perception. So a nine hour trip in reality is more like 12 or 13. We tried to go past Sandia to San Juan de Oro, farther in the valley, and we were told it was aobut 3 or 4 hours. Well after 3.5 hours of driving, we were told it was another 3 or 4 hours, so we had to go back to Sandia. On the way back, I was looking out the window and saw silhouetted against the dark night fires raging on the top of the mountains. It was gorgeous, even though it had the possiblility of raging out of control. My pics from a moving vehicle are not very good, but the mental picture I carry is gorgeous. So we stayed the night in Sandia at the old municipal building, and tried to find a restaurant at 930pm. Sandia is not a tourist town. There was nothing open, except a stand that sold us bread and cheese and hot chocolate. The next day, when we tried to leave, we had a hard time finding an open gas station. So I was pleasantly amused by the statue of a Greek athlete throwing a discus over the road. Of all places to see one, this was not the place I would have thought to see one. I also got a kick out of a sign advertising soup of head and little feet (I assume it was sheep, but I didnt want to ask). We thought about trying to go San Gabon, but it would have been too far and not worth the drive, so we drove all night to reach Cusco at 2 in the morning, where our drivers made us pay them for the next day, even though it wasnt part of the deal. Note: always get stuff in writing. It helps.
Two days later, we found a different combi to take us for two days to Quillabamba. We left after running around trying to find Marcial to go with us. We ended up finding alot more orchids on this trip, including a new orchid, which Eric is going to name after the guy who climbed up in the tree and found it. The first day we didnt find as much, but I did see a very pretty rainbow. That night, we stayed in Quillabamba and I walked with Marcial for a while to work off dinner. That night, in the hotel, some drunk guys came in late. Now, Quillabamba is jungle, and it was alot hotter there, with no fans. So our rooms have these giant windows, and I left mine open to let the breeze in (it also helped with the old person smell that permeated my room). I could here the guys come in that night, but it was dark. At 6 in the morning, some drunks were yelling and laughing, so I woke up. They passed by my window, and seeing it open, and me inside, starting saying impolite things and making kissing noises at me. As my friends and family can attest, I am grumpy in the morning, and worse if someone wakes me up. So I had enough of these guys, and quickly rose up and started yelling at them in English. I have never seen guys run that fast in Peru, it did make me laugh.
On the way back, the guys in the car were saying that there wasnt machisimo in Peru, to which I had begged to differ. So I asked one if he was a woman, and told him if he wasnt, he had now right to say that it didnt exist.
posted by Becca at 4:42 PM
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