ocTOVARfest

My beer club has only a few rules:

1) we don't talk about beer club

wait... thats my fight club- another post for that one. My beer club doesn't really have rules per se as much as guiding principles:

guiding principle 1) Look for and pursue beer drinking opportunities in Venezuela.

Imagine my joy when the following came together: the town of Colonia Tovar was hosting an Oktoberfest, There was a posada with rooms, MSR found some killer beer socks, and Fernando helped design and make killer t-shirts! Oh and it was hosted by Tovar brewery- #1 and #2 respectively.

We arrived at the Don Eliso Posada after the drive up from Caracas. It had the feeling of a college road trip- not that the place was shabby, far from it, just that there were three bros and one bed. No hay problema- it was a big bed.

After an excellent dinner we mad our way to the beer tent and were presented with the big decision: what size cup to buy. Beer tickets were 40 b's each and you could go with:

1) small plastic cup- free- one ticket to fill

2)slender tovar glass- 600 b's- 1 ticket to fill

3) small mug-1000 b's- 2 tickets to fill

4) grand daddy mug- 1500b,s- 4 tickets to fill

We each made our calculations, factoring in how often we would need to go to get refills vs trips to the bathroom, etc etc. Then it was time to drink.

Noah chose wisely

Prost! from the ECA crew.

and the beer? it was tasty, there were even a few new brands we had never heard of (imagine!). Nadjib liked Benitz so much he drove their beer truck home

A fantastic weekend with great friends. Click here for more pictures of beer socks and other shenanigans from fino cambur. 

Magallanes v Leones v Curvy Queens

In Venezuela baseball a Magallanes vs. Leones game is akin to the Yankees playing the Red Sox. There was a midweek game scheduled and we found ourselves with a PD day the next day instead of kids so... off we went.

 

 We (being a collection of foolhardy teachers) knew that the game was sold out and trusted that we could find some tickets to buy on the grounds. Our ears perked up when a scalper mentioned VIP tickets. We didn't pay right off the bat but received a wrist band that did indeed say VIP. We were then hustled through a gate where MSR heard the words "foreign press" mentioned. We made it to the seats were shown where to sit and enjoyed! (we still at this point had not paid)

Ezequiel rooting for his Magallanes

 The seats it turned out were spoken for so we would move a bit to an open spot, then as a ticket holder arrived move again. We had by this time realized that we had no "VIP" seats. After about 1 inning (no score) a large important looking security man came over and called our bluff. He kindly asked for the wristbands and walked us out of the stadium. We might have been the only people ever kicked out of a Venezuelan baseball game to utter the phrase "that was awesome!"

 Having not spent any money on the game yet we slunk around the parking lot for a bit more asking for tickets. We found someone who said they could get them and then started talking to some beer vendors. I got very excited by the prospect of getting back into the game as a beer salesman but it never quite panned out. We decided to cross the street and watch at a bar.

we were feeling pretty rock and roll at this point

 and this is where for me, we hit it out of the park in terms of having cool experiences. I was introduced to the reina pepiada. This little sandwich is quite possibly the most amazing little thing you could set down next to a bottle of Zulia (#4). To learn more about the curvy queen check out the link to Fino Cambur. But you can be sure I will be trying to get to more baseball games and reina pepiadas this year.

reina pepiada  y zulia

I'll take Peruvian Hodge Podge for 200 Alex.

Well I couldn't quite think where these last photos fit in the big scheme of things- so here you go- in the form of a question.

For whatever reason this stuff is muy popular in Peru- it tastes like cough syrup, looks like mountain dew, and according to Aaron goes quite nicely with Chinese food.

Amigos

This captures Lisa and I, don't you think

Be careful people its the...

We won this, but sadly couldn't fit it into our suitcase and had to leave it. Honest.

Come! we will teach you to make Coockies.

They have the most ornately decorated gourds in Peru.

I love this guy!

Lisa, let me be your spiritual guide, your shaman if you will. (if you ever get a chance ask Lisa about the "shamans" that were offering their services to gringas )

Not sure if I had ever seen Luca focus this much for this long.

and lets see, I think I'll take a few beers and... the black one there on the left. Mmmm cerveza and cuy. 

Not sure I would sign up for this- it kind of sounds like "fatal yoga". Maybe this is what they do at the Killa House?

At the Norton pub with Mr. Morton

View from the Norton Pub.

Excuse me, what aisle would I find Llama chow?

Have you ever had Peruvian Corn? You should.

Corn bliss

 and then this one: I (finally) got to sit by the window on the plane and just when I was thinking to myself that we should be over Equador I looked out and saw this. It might just be the Cotopaxi Volcano- and I might just be climbing it in December- will keep you posted.

Sacred Valley

There are many things that you might not know about the Incan Empire. After my day of traveling through the sacred valley I can safely say that you will might not know even more about the Incans. 

Claro?

This is Pachacutec the great Incan leader in the 1400's. He was king when the Spanish came and thought that if he just went ahead and gave them a room full of gold they would go away. They did... for a bit.

 Our tour started in Cusco and after deciding that we indeed did not want to see a sexy woman

(see previous post) we settled on an animal rescue place, Ollantaytambo, and Pisac. It was an amazing day, we saw incredible country and people, and learned so much about the area. As is usual I cannot vouch for the veracity of the following statements.

Animal Rescue Place

This dog is not in need of rescue but has somehow found its way into the title of "Dog of Peru". Really Peru? Were all of the other breeds taken? Did you come late to the United Nations pick your dog conference? I just cannot like this hairless dog (and I like dogs)

 More in need of saving was the headless Alpaca. Cheap to feed though.

 If I could grow eyebrows and mutton chops like this fellow, I would be a happy man.

 Another in the list of not so pretty animals is the Condor. Revered by the Incans as an animal that could live between this world and the one above due to its ability to soar at high altitudes. Impressive yes, pretty no.

They have  an almost 9 foot wingspan which cannot be fully appreciated until one is soaring toward you to land. (Notice Mort defensively tucking and rolling)

 The Inca felt that the sacred valley was the mirror of the milky way. You would see what they were talking about if this picture would have been taken at night. And the milky way was visible...

This is Pisac, one of the defensive outposts near Cusco. In addition to watching for invading tribes from the jungle it was an agricultural locale. The steps you can see were carefully controlled microclimates. The drainage was well thought out, the stones provided passive solar, and they made great putt putt golf courses.

 Bringing up some roofing material.

The stone work was what really impressed- many of the quarries were across the valley and these stones are huge! Moving them is one thing- carving them another- the perfect seams and tight fit blow you away! Jim Olson- your next rock wall has some inspiration to draw from.

 Guards in the doorway

 Our next stop was Ollantaytambo- If the rock work we had seen so far was amazing this place blew it away because they also added the celestial component Check this out, in the next picture right above the cloud is a place where the sun rises only on winter solstice (June 21) and shines directly into the sun temple. Here it gets good, the whole city was built to look like an alpaca. The sun temple sits in the eye of the alpaca- so eye lights up- it must be the solstice. Just in case they also carved protuberances into the rock and divots- Yup you guessed it, when the shadows line up in the divots it means solstice. They really knew how to use that google!

the green arrow shows the eye of the alpaca (great Survivor song from the 80's)

Incan escalator

Wilder in the doorway, crazy lady behind

At first I thought this was a group of kids looking to make some money off the tourists- but it was a school trip of local kids- this is what they wear to school! Amazing colors.

Exit through the gift shop, with some nice music as well.

I saw these flags along the road- some were pulled back and against the houses but most were leaning in the roadway. The signaled that the house had chicha to sell. Chicha is a mushed up corn paste that ferments. You buy a bag and eat the alcoholic corn mush- I passed.

and her name was Veronica. No seriously this peak is named Veronica.

We had one last stop to make before heading back to Cusco. A small cooperative where local ladies spun, died, and wove alpaca wool. One of those places where we could have bought lots of fabric- but our wallets weren't full enough.

This girls was so sweet giving the talk about how things worked, she was one year younger than Wilder- crazy to think how worlds apart they are but similar as well I bet.

Loved this little guy!