Take a Virtual Vacation: Peru

In which Laura and Karyn and 18 writers explore Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley of Peru.

The Weaving Collective

On our way to Cusco, we stopped in Chinchero to visit the Centro de Textiles Tradicionales del Cusco, a cooperative established by a group of indigenous weavers in 1996 to preserve the ancestral textile that have been endangered by globalizing forces, racism and poverty. The CTTC “unites weaving communities to rescue, promote and spread traditional

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And Did I Mention The Food?

Now that we’re in Cusco, the variety of restaurants is staggering. After writing class and before we set out on a walking tour of the city, we had lunch at Greens: An Organic Restaurant. The food was of the highest quality and the presentation gorgeous. Spring salad with roasted baby beets, grilled fennel, caramelized sweet

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The Streets of Cusco

Tomorrow is the last full day of our trip. I’m feeling sad about it ending. More than half of our group will be going home—or on to other travels—on Tuesday, but eight of us will be continuing on to the Amazon, where there will be limited solar powered electricity and no Wi-Fi, hence no blogging.

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The Last Writing Group

This morning marked the final writing group for the Write, Travel, Transform trip to Peru. At this very moment, I’m watching my students, all of us crammed into the room at the top of the stairs at Casa San Blas. One thing about small boutique hotels like this one is that they rarely have meeting

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Since I’ve Come to Peru #1

In our last writing group today, we did an exercise to help begin to synthesize the experiences they’ve had over the past two weeks into a narrative that captures Peru. I’m going to post several of these as the closing entries in my Peru blog…thanks for coming along with me on this journey! This, from

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Since I’ve Come to Peru #2

Since I’ve come to Peru, I’ve seen so many donkeys. Some working, some just standing around munching the after-harvest stubble. I like the shaggy ones because they don’t pretend to style. And I like the grey ones with prominent crossing stripes because they do. I’ve tasted the saltiest water on Earth. Warm, totally saturated with

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Since I’ve Come to Peru #3

Since I’ve come to Peru, I’ve seen the Andes rising through the clouds, the city of Cusco tucked between mountains, and defined by narrow, cobbled streets, vibrant with colored textiles—rugs, shawls, hats, bags—and busy with tourists wandering and wondering about its complex history. I’ve seen colonial cathedrals and Incan ruins—the giant boulders of Saksayhuaman, the

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Since I’ve Come to Peru #4

Since I’ve come to Peru, I’ve seen the most alluring mountains ever. They draw my eyes up their near vertical slopes and the peaks appear to be spirits, surrounding and protecting those below. In the markets I’ve seen an endless variety of colors and textures in fruits, vegetables, grains, beans and animal products- many of

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Since I’ve Come to Peru #5

Since I’ve come to Peru I’ve experienced jagged landscapes that (literally) take my breath away. I’ve glimpsed a different way of life with a richness that my narrow North American view sometimes mistakes for lack. I’ve seen abundant farmland and faces beautiful, weathered and open and colors so vibrant they beg me to paint them.

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Home, Sweet, Home

One of the best things about travel is coming home again at the end of it. Unpacking today….after a very very long journey back from Peru. I loved that country. What amazing diversity and what a great group we had. I just got to finally post the posts I created while we were in the

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The Amazon: The Canopy Walk

Here are some pictures from our outing high into the canopy this morning: The start of the trail. Lots of steps up. Joyce looked relieved when she made it across the first of many bridges. Here comes Brook. And Si. And me. I loved those bridges. Here’s what they look like from the platform. Here I

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