Cusco was the heart of the Inca Empire from the 13th to the 16th century. After the Spanish conquest in 1533, Cusco became a colonial city. Its Inca foundations were added to with European influences, which are seen in its baroque churches and plazas. What is interesting is after a devastating earthquake, 30% of all of the Spanish builds collapsed but only one block of Incan blocks cracked.
Views around Cusco.
Nativity sceneAlpaca meat. This was delicious.
We took a city tour to look at local Incan ruins.
Center squareThis was used to determine the winter solstice in June. It still shows direct sunlight for 20 min on June 21.The rainbow (arcois) Temple. All 3 Windows line up perfectly.So how does Incan architecture work so well. Internally there are female and male stones that fit perfectly. This is a female stone.Male stone The smallest male stone. Cue laughterUnfortunately baby llamas didn’t drink all day just for photo ops.
Saksaywaman was an Incan temple complex that was renamed after conquest by the Spaniards. It means eagles feasting due to the amount of dead bodies from the battles. The Spaniards dismantled the Incan temples to cut the blocks and make churches instead.
White Jesus statuePanoramic view of cusco
Q’enqo is a mausoleum for the dead. The dunes below are super cold. The platform is used for disemboweling and stuffing the insides with plants while the cubicle spaces are used for storing remains. The flat stone is many degrees cooler than the surroundings.
Tambomachay is a place for rest from runners. These people delivered news between incan villages. The springs and spaces provided rest.
Puma pucara was a place to check in when moving between incan villages. This was found where the road separated in 4 different ways.
On the 23rd started the Christmas markets here. Some great artists and also selling typical wares.
This cool dog came up to me, sat down and leaned against me. I tried to feed him but he just wanted attention.
On the last night we also took a cooking class. Always a lot of fun.
We started out making a pisco sour, the drink that originated in Peru. Ceviche. Yum! Alpaca meat with roasted potatoes and chimichurri sauce Local fruits with cheromoya cream sauce.The mercadoDried aborted alpaca used in ceremonies.Peruvian breads flat due to altitude. Other breads.The Incan developed a way of freeze drying potatoes for preservation. The resulting dishes had nutrients but not much taste .
The region was inhabited by the Maya civilization in 1000 BCE. The largest of the Mayan cities were Tikal, Uaxactun, and Yaxha. Two of these ruins are tours I am taking. Around the 9th century, many of the population of the Mayan cities were in decline due to many factors such as overpopulation and warfare.
At the top of the center hill are basketball and other courts for people to gather.
I found the restaurant, Nativo, which has a great menu I ordered their aguachile with fish and two tamarind margaritas. Delicious and a great place to watch the sunset.
São Bento Railway Station (Estação de São Bento), is gorgeous with it’s azulejo tilework. It shows scenes from Portuguese history, culture, and transportation. It is still used as a transportation hub since the early 20th century.
Porto is so beautiful! After arriving, we took a boat tour along the Douro River. The history of the port dates back centuries. Its location made it a hub for trade and commerce. It’s history as a port dates back to the 15th and 16th centuries, when Portuguese explorers created trade routes. Of course wine, olive oil, and textiles were traded with other European ports.
Walking around porto was amazing as well. Many shops and great places to eat. Popular here is codfish. Many of the buildings have very pretty and ornate tiles on the front.
At Calem we took a tour of the winery that makes port, Porto’s and mainly the Douro valley’s specialty.
We did ride the hop on hop off bus and also rode the teleferico along one side of the river. But first a fish soup with puff pastry on the top. Octopus is also a favorite here and very well prepared.
Octopus
From the teleferico.
This bunny was created on the corner of a building from scrap parts. Happy Easter!
These are some of the other things I have been doing since arriving in Quito. School of always busy when starting in a new place: new programs to learn, procedures to follow, etc.
Several of the new teachers would go to a few music venues. This one was reggae type music with rap influence.
In my neighborhood is a great gelato place made with local fruits. Very delicious.
Another music event I attended was an afrobeats concert held at an old theater near the historical center. The headliner act is famous in Chile and the whole evening was fantastic. It was difficult to stay in our seats, everyone was dancing.
The opening band played classical jazz. They were amazing.Afrobeats.
I’ve had a few medical appointments about my knee. Walking home after one of them I spotted this place that had Bolivian empanadas
Colada morada is a warm drink made with a large quantity of ingredients including various fruits and purple corn flour. It is thick and actually quite tasty. It is seen here around various holidays including Day of the Dead. Along with a cheese empanada, it was delicious.
I have also never been to a professional soccer game. The stadium is close to school so what better way than to stay after school, grab dinner with friends, and take in a game.
At school, part of the IB program is to complete a G4 project. We took the students to the museum on the equator. It is actually along the equator as determined by GPS (I have been at the other location of where they thought it was by using maps).
Balancing an egg on a nail at the equator. Can you only do it here? Actually no. It just takes practice.A blacksmith hummingbird. It makes a heavy striking sound when it sings.
We have also hosted a BBQ at our place. So great to see people out of school.
It didn’t want to leave Flores and the Komodo Islands. I love nature and can find plenty to do in small cities. But we needed to spend a few days in Jakarta to get COVID PCR test to return to China. The hotel had a great pool and I only wanted to go a few places to tour.
The pool is in the bottom of the picture and is like an oasis here in this part of Jakarta.
We took a half day tour to see old Batavia. This was the capital of the Dutch East Indies along the northeast coat of Java. They took over surrounding kingdoms in these islands in benefit of their trade. It was a European colony for hundreds of years until invasion by Japan. Indonesia gained their independence in 1945. This statue commemorates their independence.
Old style boats that are still being used. Some are designed for cargo and use holds as well as putting cargo on the deck. Others carry passengers.
This man is taking large jugs of water to sell to people who do not have access to water. Original building for markets that is now a museum.We rode in this three wheel car called a Bajaj.This is an old draw bridge for boats to pass under. Jembotan kotan intan.
We stopped for refreshments of Indonesian herbal health drinks. The drinks are very tasty and make from fresh spices.
Kunyit asam has tumeric and tamarind.Brewed for exactly one minute.Crispy tape rolls
We visited a puppet maker to learn how he makes these thin puppets from goat skin that are so beautiful and take such time to make. He shared a short example of a puppet play that tells stories of past events in Indonesian history.
These are pictures of the shadow puppet presentation.
At first the dutch recognized the Chinese immigrants as good traders. But at one point the economy could not support more Chinese coming in. They told the Chinese they were going to be taken to an island but instead they were massacred. The red house which was a governor mansion was much later purchased by a Chinese woman and kept as a remembrance.
The end of this cannon is actually a lewd gesture in Indonesian. Much like the middle finger! Today many believe it can help with fertility to give offering and prayer here.
We also went to Chinatown.
Near the hotel was an antique market. I love to look at many of these old things in different countries.
This camera was pretty spectacular.
Random walks let us easily see different foods and people on the street.
Not sure what these are for but we had a lot of fun making many guesses as to their uses.Sunset over a golf course.
Breakfast one morning was lontong sayur. Tofu, egg, steamed rice cake, and vegetables in s spicy broth.
While at breakfast could not help but laugh at this guy out the window who danced and mimed. Of course then we gave him money.
I also ordered pete goreng which is fried stink beans. It has a slightly pungent taste but not stinky by any standards. I also ordered tempe. Ordering sambal or spicy sauce on the side makes everything tastier. I really love Asian food especially Indonesian.
For a more relaxing holiday (and to save money as travel this holiday is expensive), I visited friends, Amber and Michael, in Shunde. Our holidays don’t always coincide and I have not seen them in months. We met at brunch and then I traveled to their place in Shunde.
We watched movies, walked around a local village and found great food to eat.
Okay, these are rats. We didn’t eat them but this is some of the original Cantonese food in the area.
I then went to panyu to participate in a bike tour. We started at the Shawan ancient village and visited a local artisan who carves wood.
The side of the house has oysters embedded in the concrete to help with cooling and to deter insects.
From there, we ride on Phoenix bikes reminiscent of old Chinese bikes (but safer). We traveled to Baomo gardens, approximately 16 km.
Another short ride and we ended at an old sugar processing plant that now has art installations and some artists in residence.
A great mini vacation with friends and fresh air visiting ancient towns.
I did make it to Macau if even for two days. After crossing the border it was nice to see Portuguese. We are in a different country.
We checked into the Venetian. Such a beautiful hotel…..
A few dishes were recommended and one of these was crab porridge.
We ate in taipa and after dinner walked back to the hotel through some beautiful streets.
A view from the 32nd floor.
The next morning we took a cab to the old city to the Ruins of St. Paul, an old church. The front and the crypts are all that remain.
The streets are cobblestone and the buildings in colors and style of small European villages. We found a great little restaurant with amazing food.
We walked along the streets looking in some stores. It reminds me of Hong Kong and the international beauty products you can buy. I was able to find brown mascara which I cannot find on the mainland.
We looked inside this old church.
We were also able to see a race with servers from the various hotels as they raced through the street.
Sights along the way to the MGM Grand to grab a shuttle back to the Venetian.
We headed back to Taipa for dinner. Noodles with crab and salted egg yolk fried prawns.
Portuguese egg tarts are another food to eat here. They are amazing especially when just out of the oven!
Walking after a great dinner.
From there we went to the Parisian to see the Eiffel tower.
A quick trip but happy to actually finally make it here. Avoiding the holiday rush was the goal.
This is a classic recipe you will love and can make with a variety of mushrooms. Here I show with two different mushrooms.
Trim the bottom of the cabbage by cutting off the bottom part of the white stems. Also trim the bottom of the mushrooms.
Heat up 1 TBS oil in a skillet or wok. Fry 3 cloves of garlic until light brown. Add about 3 to 4 cups of Napa cabbage and 4 – 8 ounces of mushroom and stir fry for about a minute. It may be a few minutes if you are using a skillet. Add 1 tsp of oyster sauce and combine well. You can add some water if needed at this point. You want the cabbage to have crunch, so don’t overcook the cabbage.
Here is actually the favorite mushroom I use in the dish!
We had a slower morning to relax a little and then assembled to go to Qingcheng mountain which has many Taoist temples. It is one of the four Taoist mountains in China and considered the birthplace of taoism. We visited the front mountain which contained the cultural and historical relics.
This is a shrine for prayers for a good harvest for local villagers.
These lions represent obtaining wealth (mouth open) and keeping that wealth ( mouth closed).
We took a cable car up to bypass much of the steepest parts. The gentleman here did not seem happy we were there and covered his mouth. Our tour guide seated next to him told him he should be wearing a mask which was required in the first place.
As we started climbing the stairs to the top, we passed through several temples.
Of course there are other ways to get up the stairs if you are willing to pay.
On each side of the Temple are other places to pray for something specific. In this one, the right side is for health. The left side is for fertility.
These are female monks or as we would know them as nuns.
At the next temple, there was a cute kitten that wanted some attention. It was so cute and playful I stopped to play on the way down too.
The Taoist monk at the Temple.
I’m folklore, the dragon had 9 children but they are a combination of dragon and turtle. It symbolizes strength and easy pace.
We stopped to enjoy the view from the top and cool off in the nice breezes.
We followed a different path down. Besides the temples, all other structures blend into nature.
From here, we learned our flight was cancelled and we had to book an earlier flight making the next day’s itinerary difficult to complete. We also need to get a COVID test to fly. So we headed to another panda base where testing was nearby and hoped we would see pandas. Of course they were all sleeping inside as it was very hot out. We were supposed to do this the next morning when it was cooler, but the change in flight changed those plans.
These are barely one year old. There were no births this year at the pandas base.
We went to the hotel to clean up then ride a bike 2 km to Jingli street. This is a pedestrian street similar to what we went to in the other town. It is a good place to people watch and eat street food. As it turned out, it was a great place for us to be watched. Many people took videos and our pictures which were slightly annoying.
We did not make it very far before we decided we should have a beer as we walked a lot today in hot conditions. Actually, who needs a reason? We also ate sticks with thin sliced veggies and dunked in a spicy sauce. Potato, lotus root, bitter melon…. We also stopped to try other food but I chose stinky tofu. It is fermented but does not taste as some people think. It was pretty spicy.
There was entertainment on the center stage.
There were places to buy and hang prayers for yourself or loved ones.
I have been wanting to try ear picking and they were set up everywhere along this street. They clean your ears and it feels so good as often the inner part of my ear is itchy. They do this thing with a tuning fork kind of device and it feels like the inside of your canal is being tumbled. Not sure how to describe it. In the end I didn’t feel a lot different but over the next few hours my ears felt less clogged.
