what do you do when a powerful enemy is on its way to attack your tribe and burn down your village? obvious - flee to the nearest lake and live on a boat for the next 500 years. disagree? tell that to the Uro tribe in lake titicaca, south peru.



being the first to know how to build boats, the tribe fled to the lake center where they were unreachable by enemy. since malicious red-eyed soldiers waited for their return on the coast line, the tribe was forced to remain in their (excellent water view) location and established a rather aquatic life style, fishing and all. they clustered their boats together, 20 to 25 boats a cluster, and, property tax being so cheap, built islands based on their boats by filling them up with hay. they would trade fish in the inland market for supplies and anchored their islands to the lake´s floor to make it easier on the postal service to deliver their mail.



cusco is like ants in a rich chocolate cake; the spectacular city, built by best of the inca and spaniard´s minds and hands, located in an elevated valley surrounded by beautiful mountain tops - is inhabited by pests.
now excuse me, citizens of peru and members of the politically correct organization, but a great majority of my interaction with the local natives were upsetting. maybe its a cultural thing, or perhaps the lousy economy, but it seemed that the all the locals care about is getting my money. they would cheat, lie and rip you off or rob you to get it.



put your bag between your legs on the bus, and they will crawl from under your seat, cut it open and take your valuables. walk in the city center during broad daylight, and they will spit on you then steal your wallet while helping you clean up. enjoy a free drink on the bus, fall into deep sweet sleep and later discover you´ve been drugged and robbed along with all the passengers.



they are professional thieves. some aim for money, some for valuables, some for everything you own. thieves are all over the globe, this i know, but you can feel them everywhere and constantly in peru and bolivia. they tired me out.


all roads lead to rome, and many to the macchu picchu. we chose the five day trek which takes you around the highly erected salkantay mountain.


being my first long trek in south america, i learned to really appreciate comfortable sofas; apparently i´m not a trekking kind of guy. beautiful views i love, sense of accomplishment is great, outdoors and nature is a blessing, but working so hard for it? i don't know. i thought henry ford and the wright brothers were on to something when they invented modern modes of transportation.


once the views and company sinks in, your ipod is on its second run, you haven't showered for three days, smell like sweat and bug repellent, gain a few extra pounds from all that sun screen, and can't think of a thing except getting there before it's too dark and mosquito festival begins, you think to yourself maybe the train wouldn't have been such a bad idea after all.



arriving at the macchu picchu put a sock in my complaints...


being an old putz in a young body, as myself, i don´t get too excited from anything at all nowadays. however, when i saw the macchu picchu - dios mio - i was on the floor!


home town to people of the inca tribe thousands of years ago, the macchu picchu is a village which was constructed beside the clouds on moutain tops in a spectacular area.


it is amazing to learn that some of the huge rocks used to contruct the village must have been carried to the summit, since they are not part of the mountain. nobody knows how they got there.
also, it seems that the inhabitants were by far advanced in their time, building astronomical constructions to study the stars, designing an impressive aquadec system to distribute their water, and developing rock cutting techniques which were only discovered in egypt in that era.

i spent the day wandering about in the village, admiring the incas.



later on things got a little dry, so we caught a bus to the river, put on a wet suit and jumped into the rafting boat.


i recommend bringing a change of clothes...



... also if you´re planning to do the 100m mountain repelling. your underwear will get soaked.



i thought sand existed just as cushioning at the beach and to give you a reason to clean behind your ears. apparently it does some more. ika's sand dunes are number one in my attraction list of peru.



just like a roller coaster that feels less safe, a buggy takes you up and down the sand dunes, throwing your guts all over the place. we stop at the summit of a dune, pull out wooden boards, wax them up, strap ourselves down, and SANDBOARD the whole way to the bottom. sssuper fun!!



israelis travel a certain route in south america. some travel it north to south (the descending wave) and some up-side-down (the ascending wave). the wave taken usually depends on the weather. at one end of the route, where beginning travellers get tips for the trip enders, who in exchange ask about things in the holy land, is a small town named Hauraz.

also known as peru's trekking capital, hauraz is located in a magnificent area up north, an area defined by national geographic as home to the second most beautiful trek in the world.



Of course, having recently discovered that trekking is not quite my cup of tea, i crossed off half the activities the town had to offer, and stuck to one day stands. what hauraz offers to lazy-bum-who-need-immediate-and-thrilling-amusement people like myself is rock and ice climbing.


now that's definitely my cup of tea; with no sugar and a side treat, just the way i like it.


access is hard, but not impossible, the sign says. very encouraging.


i spent two weeks climbing rocks and ice, reading books and watching movies, playing cards and eating ice cream in the lovely little town. it was true vacation.