Category: Peru Bob

When our guide, Hernan, said we were going to see “sexy woman,” our driver, Aldo, smiled knowingly.

Imagine our disappointment when we realized our destination really was Saqsaywaman, which does indeed sound like “sexy woman.” Quechua names can be really tough to get your tongue around, so this helpful pronuniation guide was much appreciated. In Quechua, the name means “satisfied falcon.”

Saqsaywaman is where Manco Inca, the Incan king who started as the Spaniards’ puppet but went on to lead a full-blown rebellion, almost wiped out an army led by Francisco Pizarro’s brother, Juan. But the Spaniards prevailed against long odds, prompting an Incan retreat to Ollatantambo and ultimately deep into the jungle.

There’s a sprawling parade ground at Saqsaywaman, and Hernan says he and his friends used to camp and play futbol there when they were children. It’s hard to imagine what it must be like to grow up in the stone embrace of these Incan ancestors.

Wes and I both were nursing pisco hangovers during our early morning flight from Lima to Cusco, but even the misery of being crammed into microscopic coach seats couldn’t dim the beauty of seeing the snow-capped Andes peek through the clouds as we began our descent into Cusco.

Once we dropped beneath the clouds, we saw the airport’s runways stretched out in the valley, hemmed in by incredible peaks. After the pilot landed the plane, the cabin broke out in polite applause, as if a symphony had just concluded.

Several of the guide books I consulted were decidedly down on Lima. Big. Polluted. Noisy.

All true, but it definitely has its positives. The Miraflores and San Isidro sections are beautiful and very livable, and even the grittier areas have a certain charm. Of course, I like sprawling, honking, sweaty cities. And Lima fits the bill.

Drivers here are conquistadores of the carretera, and their bleating horns practically dare you to step in front of them. It’s such a contrast to rural parts of Jamaica and Peru’s Sacred Valley, where the horn is more a conversational tool. ‘I’m passing you.’ ‘Coming up behind you, heads-up.’ ‘Step aside, wayward llama.’ There’s no real aggression there. Just information. Not so in Lima …

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