HAPPY NEW YEAR 2009 FROM THE AMAZON

Before and After

Well now, a posting only for the fine fellows of the 'Wheezer Society', all others, pretend you didn't see this...

..Har har!

HOLA! From Peru!!! Hope all is (s)Well and Merry xmas to All!!

Love...

Neil and Karen

Hola Snowmen and Snowwomen of Porkland Oreo, It is damn warm here and humid. Sadly, the ice cubes for beverages are not safe. Please send ice, I hear you have plenty of it...

Hoping xmas will be safe and warm for all of you.. kind of doubt it though from what info I received. Thanks for all of your positive comments on 'Peru: Land of the Absurd', for you, another  bonus comic... Have a 'har har' Christmas!!

Rocking out

While exploring the back streets of Ollantaytambo, Jimi Hendrix beckoned me to this scene with one my favorite songs .. If 6 was 9! And just around the corner was a large Incan stone with an amazing view of the mountainside ruins. What fun to sit in Peru on an ancient Incan stone and rock out to Jimi. And just as our new friend in Pisac, Christer, said .. there´s no-thing like a comfortable rock .. indeed! -Karen

Ancient Peruvian Robots

Here´s the proof on film .. look at these ancient Peruvian carved stones .. robot graven images for sure! Found on a back street in the town of Ollantaytambo, a town built on top of an intact Incan city and very near to Machu Picchu. -Karen

PURROO - LAND OF THE ABSURD

Goose Stepping Self Important Military Clownz

Say, looks like Peru just won the WAR! Much to our surprise and ultimate dee-light (the groove is in the heart) the square in Pisaq was hosting a military muscle flexing parade with marching bands and tubas, plus a bunch of men and women in military threads. More pics and video to come. I enjoyed Karen's photography of these guys. Look at them, they sure look like they ate the breakfast of champions that morning. So, if Peru won the war, who lost? Well anyway Commradz and Cityzens of the republic of 'Wherever', just to let you know, storms like seen on 'Lost In Space' have had the internet out in the area for several days, so postings are coming and so is email and blah blah blah. Spending xmas with some folks at Paz Y Luz, the couple that got married last week. Turkey will be served Peruvian style?????? Hmmmm... More later, thank you for watching the blog and just know that everything is safe and well here. Xmas wishes to you all...

more later...

-Kneel

Cusco to Pisaq

Pisaq, Peru

Safe Water Abroad

Things To See In Cusco - The Sacred Valley

Fragrance of heaven

At the ruins called Qenko near Cusco, Neil and I came across these flowers. The fragrance is so beautiful I wanted to bottle it. Since that wasn´t an option, I wore it in my hair all day instead. Send a comment if you know the name of this flower!

Faces of Peru

The beautiful people of Peru (and some scruffy foreigners) star in today's video.
The food here is incredible and inexpensive. Average excellent meal for two is about 35 'sol' Peru dollars.
That is $12 dollars American frogpelts, the meal would be equivalent to food from our high end expensive dining spots. I'm so spoiled now...
Right down the street from the Amaru Hotel is "Jack's Cafe" here in Cusco. Eating there often, full menu, incredible service, relaxed atmosphere, food presentation 'perfection'!!! I highly recommend it when you visit Cusco next.

-Neil

THE PERUVIAN DOG
I once heard an insult delivered in a film. One man called another 'a Peruvian dog'. It's clear to me now just how powerful those words are.
The Peruvian dogs are wild, interbred, collarless, ownerless. They trot around the city streets in packs, up to a dozen at a time, all shapes, sizes, swarming the legs/ankles of pedestrians, sniffing 'tail-ports' and humping each other. Entirely new mutant breeds of dogs are created, some too shocking to look at. At night they howl, bark and run free on the cobblestone streets when the constant flow of traffic is greatly reduced. Oddly, the indigenous people ignore them entirely as they pass, unless they impede a taxi or are pushing up against your leg while mounting each other. Strange, the dogs seem calm, almost in a spiritual state. Could they be born from an ancient civilization where dogs ruled the land, or perhaps crossed over or banished from another dimension? Well, I do know this, Sparky needs a breath mint and a flea shampoo.

portland to Peru

The Peruvians...

Yesterday Karen's vitality came back, health returned, she's doing fantastic. We are forced to drink Coca Tea. It opens the capillaries, adjusts the brain to the high altitude and generally helps you to put one foot after the other. It does NOT make you want to hit the Peruvian night-spots for all night Alpaca fusion jazz disco pan flute dancing.

It is a myth that Peruvians are short, squatty, shriveled creatures. Some are actually tall, wispy and resemble a Dr. Suess-Like 'Apple Bonker' on peyote.
I noticed that I inadvertently am dressed like mission specialist 'STARGATE' TV series. Hmmm.. seems like I passed through a Stargate recently...

Why worry about the water in a foreign county

Karen´s view: Why worry about the water in a foreign country when you can get ill from the food on the domestic US airline .. which is what I did .. ah but a little purging is good for the soul. Energy and vitality have returned and Neil and I explored the magic of Cusco today and we have photos to prove it!

Karen got a picture of 3 lovely Peruvian Ladies holding little lambs with colorful woven hats. Later than night, I ate them for dinner at a local dining spot. The LAMBS, not the ladies.

The aeroship has landed

Karen says: We arrived in Lima and are sitting in a Starbucks at the Lima airport organizing our backpacks as Lan Peru won't let us carry them on to Cusco on their flight. Feeling 'over' this backpack with visions of the comfort and luxury of a wheeled bag .. I know .. I'm quite the wimp. Sleep has become optional or adrenaline has become my drug of choice! Only a few more hours till we are comfy in our hostel in the San Blas district of Cusco for a real nap.

Neil writes: This Damn Lima Peru is full of foreigners, lots of em, they all want something and can't ask in english.

Damn Butt burner airlines..
Portland to Atlanta, 4.5 hours, 4 hour layover Atlanta, Atlanta to Peru, 7 hours, 5 hour layover Lima Airport. Starbucks here, playing pan flute newage Peruvian new artist rock music over the Starbucks loudspeakers. Sinister echoes of 'ZAMFIERE' or Pan himself.

Next, a 1.5 hour prop/bucket flight from Lima to Cusco. Over 24 hours total travel to reach a hotel for a weeks stay in Cusco. Of course, this entire journey has been a delightful wheeze, lots of laughs. I need a nap and a clean diaper right now.. more later...