September Books

No Country for Old Men: Cormac McCarthy
I’ve never gotten that into Cormac McCarthy, though really wanted to read this before the Coen brothers movie comes out in a few months. I definitely enjoyed the book, though it was essentially already in movie form, basically just dialogue. The story was undeniably exciting- essentially a bloody chase plot with great south Texas characters who are brought alive through their internal and external dialogues. Still, based on this anyway I'm not sure exactly why McCarthy is considered such a literary big shot, though perhaps I ought to read a little more.

Fiskadero: Denis Johnson
I just couldn’t get into this. As much as I LOVE Denis Johnson’s Already Dead and Jesus’ Son- two of my favorites, this post-apocalyptic tale just didn’t do it for me.

The Road: Cormac McCarthy
Ah, but THIS tale of a stark post-apocalyptic nightmare I really liked. This was hauntingly beautiful, the story of a father and son traveling on “the road” in search of food and safety. The creepy parts were so creepy and the moments of beauty and kindness so beautiful and inspiring. As a novel it feels like its strongly influenced by the movies, but still really works. This one also holds the bizarre status of National Book Award winner and Oprah book (shhh), and does really say a lot about humanity at its best and worst. The only book I can think of having read that made me cry, and first in a long time I didn’t want to end.

Emotional Intelligence: Daniel Goleman
I actually read Goleman’s most recent, “Social Intelligence” before I read this one. They are very similar in their scope and structure, with SI essentially being an update ten years later. Goleman’s style is to write well with an engaging and accessible style while still citing quality research- be in social psychology or neuroscience. EI was excellent, citing fascinating studies while remaining inspiring and pragmatic in the applications of the theories. The ideas are very helpful in my work with at-risk children, though can and have been applied to a huge range of groups since publication ten years ago. Highly recommended for anyone with even some interest in psychology, education or people in general.

July / August Books

Underboss: Gerard ONeill
This book traces the history of the Boston mafia through the early 80’s when Gerry Anguilo is brought down. Its terribly written, though admittedly entertaining. That said, can anyone recommend a really good definitive book on the history of the Mafia in the US? By the way, I’m amazed that Bill O’Brien has actually also read this!

Lonesome Dove: Larry McMurtry
I kept felling like the book was about to pick up, at 200 pages in, 400 pages in, but I don’t think it did really pick up until about 600 pages in. People love this book, it also won the Pulitzer. I liked it, but didn’t quite see all the hype. I got very attached to the characters by the end, but that also might have been a little bit of Stockholm syndrome after 946 pages. The historical details were excellent and well researched, and I thought a lot about the roots of American culture and individualism that continues today, and the book had some interesting ideas of masculinity as well. Still, the plot was a little stale, and frankly the parts with Indians were pretty racist- I’m quite certain that white Americans were at least as brutal as the natives in the ongoing genocides and settler wars.

Motorcycle Diaries: Che Guevarra
This was definitely a fun and apropos read while traveling through Peru and Bolivia. Basically a series of vignettes from his travels as a young medical student, there are some wonderful political observations, some hilarious adventure parts and some really dull sections about medicine and leprosy. Probably would have blown my mind a lot more if I'd read this in, say, college, but I still enjoyed it thoroughly. Very different from the movie, which I'm embarrassed that I saw first.

1968: Mark Kurlansky
This was a great popular history book about, well, the year 1968 as a watershed year. Not super sophisticated in its history as a popular book, it still managed some real complexity and detail as it described events around the world in that year, from the King and Kennedy assassinations through Vietnam, the radicalizing of the civil rights movement, the Columbia and Chicago riots, and even including student movements in Mexico, Poland, Prague and France. I love Cold War history and 1960’s/70’s in particular, so really enjoyed this book. It was also nearly impossible to put down with gripping and fast paced writing throughout.

Master and the Margarita – Anton Bulgarov
Surrealist Russian fiction, and apparently the partial inspiration for the Rolling Stones’s Sympathy for the Devil. A very cool book, with a fascinating plot about sort of about the devil come to earth. Reminded me a lot of Murakami’s work, who I’m sure read this. Still, the ideas of the book, the concept of the book was more interesting than actually reading the book, not sure if that was the slightly antiquated early/midcentury writing, a so-so translation or what, but I never quite enjoyed it as much as I liked it.

Machu Picchu to Lima

And so we've come to the end of the road. Machu Pichu of course was the final big highlight of the trip, and well worth the effort and obstacles to getting there. Truly lived up to all the hype. The trip to aguas calientes from Cusco was mostly unmemorable, save for a death defying taxi ride in which we almost killed a donkey, and a train ride in which we almost killed the gringos behind us. Our hotel in Aguas Calientes was by far the nicest we´d stayed at on the trip- in fact, we were exclaiming about how clean and pleasant it was when the whole building began to shake with a deafening roar and we looked out the window to see the train passing about five feet from our window. Oh well, didnt keep us from sleeping we were so tired!

Up at 430 AM for the first bus up the mountain to the ruins, though made it onto the second bus which was still very exciting. Got to Machu Pichu at dawn, the 26th and 27th people there that day, and settled in on a terrace above the citadel to watch the sunrise over the mountains and ruins. Well, I have to say from the moment we got there, the whole thing astounded me. I was actually a little worried I would be jaded about ruins and amazing places, but Machu Pichu lived up to and exceeded every idea I had of the place. The buildings themselves are of course quite impressive. The terraces, essentially retaining walls for growing crops that have been perfectly cut into the mountain like giant 12 ft steps, are an amazing feat of 15th century people who didnt even have the wheel, and things of astonishing craftsmanship, beauty and engineering even today. But even if you took out the walls and the city, the setting itself is magical feeling. Perched on a peak with the small sharp peak of Huayna Pichu (see pics) looming overhead in the fog and surrounded on most sides by sheer cliffs dropping to the river. Just beyond the first valley stand enormous limestone karst monoliths, thousands of feet high and covered in green. Beyond these stand higher jagged mountains, softened slightly with a blanket of jungle, and beyond these mountains in the distance one can make out snow capped mountains. As the sun came up and the first rays of daylight hit huayna pichu and the ruins I was just amazed. Would have to agree with this choice as one of the new seven wonders of the world. (wont get into my complaints about some of the others though, no accounting for taste I guess)

It was also wonderful to start the morning with so few people there. Though even as more people arrived throughout the day, the ruins still had enough nooks and crannies and small buildings to explore alone and feel surprisingly intimate with the place. The site is large but not overwhelming, and the vistas from seemingly everywhere are amazing. I joked about it being impossible to take a bad picture of the place.

Still, it was crowded enough that we had to wait in line to climb Huayna Pichu, the small peak about 1000 feet higher than Machu Picchu. Well, those incans basically cut stairs, some about three feet high, into the side of the cliff with sheer vertigo inducing drops to one side. This made it quite a hike up, but well worth it for the views from the ruins on top. There were even a few tunnels to clamber through before reaching the top. Back down again for some more wandering amongt the ruins, even as the crowds began to show up. Again, I would emphasize that some places can barely be photographed with justice, let alone described by a humble backpacker like myself. I can only highly recommend going there to anyone.

Át this point I´d also like to thank MSPP for making ID´s so lousy that third world tourist attractions dont think they are real. I knew I should have bought that fake ISIC card on Khao Sarn Road last year!! Stopped on the way home at Ollaytaytambo ruins, a bit of a letdown after MP I have to say. We did make another stop at Moray, a strange amphitheater like set of concentric terraces where the incans expereimented and perfected their agricultural techniques. Exciting too as a joint Quechua - Aymara ceremony honoring Pachamama (roughly = mother earth) was going on, and we were about the only gringos wandering aroud the festivities.

Back to Cusco for the 20 hour bus to Lima, where we are now. Probably the most excruciating thing about the busride was being forcewd to watch Pay It Forward not once but twice! Staying at a very nice hotel, the Espana, an old colonial mansion which has real looking art on the walls and even a parrot that speaks Spanish.

Lima remains as grim as when we first saw it, oppressively low overcast clouds and smog and a grime that seems to stick to everything and anything. Visited the terrifying Museum of the Spanish Inquisition, (which I might point out used techniques like waterboarding and palestine hangs still in use by the good ol´USA of A) Visited the Church of San Francisco, with some lovely Reubens paintings, an Portuguese Azulejo tile exhibit of mild interest, and then catacombs discovered beneath the cathedral in 1950 to hold 70,000 skeletons and tunnels that apparently connect all over the city. Yikes. Also went to Polvo Azules market, where we picked up some bootleg DVDs at the mythical DVD Valhalla we´ve been hearing abuot from other travllers. And then its back to the good old USA, which frankly Im feeling ready for...

And so dear readers, thanks again! Stick around for more book reviews coming soon, as I likely wont be travelling anywhere exotic for a while, stuck as I will be in dissertation land!

Proof that I went to (the bathroom at) Machu Picchu:

(pics- MP with Huayna Picchu in background, MP with karst in background, MP, Moray Terraces)

I Love the (sacred) Valley OH!

The hike was insane, but absolutely worth it. A four day trek to Choquequirao, Machu Pichu's sister city, an Incan ruin that is actually larger than Machu Pichu at 1800 hectares (Ill leave the metric math to you dear reader). We departed bright and early from Cusco, (430 AM) to bus out to the town of Charo, where the trailhead begins. Charo was a charming little dusty red tile town in the mountains, with almost nothing besides a central plaza where some local women were chattering away in Quechua and drying maiz in the sun.



Our group was my trusty compañero Ben, a guy named Pieru- a spoiled rich kid from Lima who was quite hilarious, and an Arequipeño family of a grandmother, mother, a chubby bratty 11 year old boy and 16 year old daughter. It soon became clear there was no way the grandmother would make it, and she headed back after lunch and two hours of hiking. It also became clear that the family was not exactly accustomed to exercise, and the Choquequirao hike is quite legendary for its difficulty. It was quite beautiful though, winding initially through Eucalyptus and yellow grass covered hills, with scenery that reminded me a lot of the Sierras and Yosemite in Northern California. Slowly the town receded, and 17,000 snow capped peaks appeared around each bend. The first day was a little bit of hiking up, but mostly down, which was pretty ####### the knees. We descended a total of about 4000 feet over 11 miles and camped by the river, at a lovely campsite whose serenity was only slightly disturbed by the presence of a few dozen Peruvian boy scouts. Our guide pointed to a cloud on a distant mountain and explained that was Choquequirao. Food was pretty good, though the Arequipeño children whined brattily while the mother went on and on about her various conspiracy theories about Chileans taking over Peru. (One of my faves- Chileans sneak Producto de Chile stickers onto Peruvian fruit exports!) Slept under the southern stars to the sounds of the river below, with a perfectly full moon light enough to read by and lighting up the canyons and mountains casting deep blue moon shadows into the distance.



Up up early for a grueling day of all uphill (5000ft/7miles). My leg was killing me, but we managed and even beat the sun for part of it. Finally turned a corner at Marapucha, a tiny town of reed huts and a few donkeys, from where we could see the ruins a few hours hike away on a distant peak. Across the valley lay another village, patchwork farms stretchiung out and enshrouded in clouds at about eye level to where we stood. I noticed that suddenly the flora had gone from dry grass and cacti to far more lush and jungly, and realized that it was because we were now essentially in a moist cloud forest, watered every morning by clouds and fog. We waited for a few hours for the Arequipeño family, and then pushed on to our campsite at the ruins. The Arequipeños (arequi-pains-in-the-ass-yo's) didnt all even make it up to the ruin after the hike.

We were running late what with waiting, and I dont mind waiting for people that may be slower but it was frustrating because no one got out of bed which is what mostly delayed us. But we were there, by ourselves feeling like explorers and doing something I will remember as a lifetime highlit for the rest of my life. Like many of the places I've visited, words really cant do justice, nor can photos for that matter. Anyway, we headed down from our campsite (yes, you camp within the city limits) to some incredible agricultural inca terraces, which in spite of being hundreds of years old the masonry was so impressive looked like they had been built yesterday. They cut into the mountain at 90 angles as if creating a life sized topographical map, and are beautiful in their green vegetation and gray rock structure, with white rock llamas paced within. The terraces which make up the city are still being excavated, further adding to the excitement of being there and feeling like real pioneer adventurers.

Up from there we went to the main plaza of the ruins, where we were the ONLY PEOPLE. Thats right, the only people at this amazing ancient ruin perched in the mountains of Peru as the sun was fading over another distant muontain range. It was a very Indianna Jones kind of moment, and the beauty of the place was breathtaking. We wandered through the grass to the temple of the sun, the temple of the moon and the temple of the stars, all typical of any Incan ruins. From there we climbed up a little further to view the site from above, the Choquequirao equivalent of Huayna Pichu. The buildings themselves are ironically (though I suppose intentionally) overshadowed by the mountains, also the Incan gods which I suppose makes sense that they would choose this place as sacred enough to build.

Choquequirao was built around the same time as Machu Pichu, thought to be its sister city and the winter retreat of a Incan prince. Because of the crazy hike to get there and inability to put in a road it remains dificult to get there except by four or five day hike. Hence, the 1% of visitors that Machu Pichu gets, though the government talks of building a funicular, it thankfully probably wont happen son. In retrospect, the five day hike would have been much better. The hike back was equally strenuous, though we managed to mostly beat the sun pounding up and down the switchbacks. Arrived back in Charo, where we sampled the local specialty of a man we met on the street. Some kind of dried smoked mountain goat dripping with fat that was delicious, though hopefully disease free.

And now back in Cusco where everything continues to go wrong. Due to Pachamama's vengeance, or perhaps Peruvian holiday week, we had to change around all our travel plans to the sacred valley in order to get to Machu Pichu tomorrow. But, we are off again a few short hours!

*(pics, me above choquequirao, ruined buidings, example of extensive choque terraces, llama detail, more temples)

see> nytimes article/ "the other machu pichu"

Hoy Dia No, Mañana Vamos a Ver

The return to Peru made us a little nervous, having heard of contiuning unrest there. Some Canadians we encountered ealier had been politely asked off their bus at a roadblock at 2AM and had to walk a mile to the other side. Demonstrators have been occupying train stations, blocking highways and trains, taking police hostage and even blockading the Machhu Pichu train and pelting it with rocks. Thankfully, either national unity due to Peruvian Independence Day or ´pacification´ efforts by the army have slowed things down. Although as our bus driver said ¨Hoy Dia No, Mañana Vamos a Ver. (Today no, tomorrow we will see). Of course the first thing we saw coming out of the bus station in Puno as we waited for our taxi was a convoy of jeeps full of Uzi toting soldiers and missile mounted armored vehicles coming out of the station. And plenty of AK toting soldiers walking around the city, where many of the roadblocks have been.


Puno was again dingy and gringoey, but we only had to stay one night with the bedbugs and get up for the train to Cusco and the Sacred Valley the next morning. The Peruvian people were preparing for independence day and all celebrating Machu Pichu´s addition to the NEW seven wonders of the world list. The train ride was incedible, albeit long. The train itself, even backpacker class was nicer than any other developing country train I´ve been on, and actually far cleaner and more comfortable than Amtrak. The views ranged from high altiplano Llama villages to snow capped mountains as we entered the sacred valley. We were following an ever widening river as we wound through more patchwork fields of quinua and maiz growing terraced villages.



Finally arrived in Cusco, packed with both Peruvian and foreign tourists, with nary a room in the inn. We tried multiple hotels, all shockingly expensive before settling on one overpriced hotel and overpriced dinner. A shock to come from backpackery bolivia to here and suddenly find gringos and tourists and tourist prices) everywhere.


Slept well though, and got up for a hike to Sacsayhuaman, an incan fortress or temple (its as yet unclear) above the city. We actually snuck in and learned for free, shocked at the ticket price. Some impenetrable fortress! Though the ticket price was probably worth it, we saw amazingly crafted masonry, ten multi-ton foot blocks seamlessly held together building the zig-zag walls of the structure overlooking the city and mountains in the distance. The blocks of stone were so bubbly and round and perfectly placed, it almost looked like a foam blocks on a movie set, but the stone was definitely real.

Cusco itself was once the capital of the Incan empire, and its amazing to learn how close the Incans were to defeating the Spanish. Only because they had been weakened by their own civil war a few years before the arrival of the Spanish were they and their leaders (including Tupac Amaru) defeated. The city still stands on Incan foundations and laid out on a more Incan that spanish system of small streets and alleyways. Its also so steep that most of the sidewalks are actually staircases, not so easy in this altitude, but actually not bad for us as we had come DOWN from the Bolivian altiplano on the train to get into the mountains here. Its a city of baroque Spanish colonial architecture, not brightly painted like the colonial cities of Mexico or Central America, but white with tile roofs. Most interestingly, many Spanish buildings appear to grow out of original incan foundations, gigantic cut rock walls with spanish architecture superimposed atop. Curious, unique and beautiful to the eye, it is certainly symbolic on a number of levels. Interestingly, every so often earthquakes bring the spanish architecture tumbling down around its forever unshakeable incan foundations which are ever undamaged. Typically, the Spanish built viceroy mansions atop the palaces of Incan kings and Churches over sacred temples. One particularly egregious example of this Spanish behavior was the Incan Sun Temple, holiest place in the Incan empire with walls made of four inch thick solid gold and a garden and menagerie of gold sculptures. Pizarro took the Incan king hostage and had the whole place melted down and shipped to Spain within a month, building a monastary on its Incan foundation. Still shocking to learn again as we wandered around about the more crimes of cruelty against humanity that Spanish colonialism perpetuated. And how they set the blueprint for the rest of the European colonial project to begin in earnest around the world, which, though more subtle was still full of shocking cruelty and exploitation. And the current American system of puppet imperialism is hardly better. But enough of politics.

Wandered around the market for a while, buying some provisions for our next trek. The market herbalist- witch doctor selling coca leaves was also trying to push ayahuasca (hallucinagenic herb) and san pedro cactus (a peyote - like cactus) on us. We politely declined these classic beat and hippie drugs even at the price of mere pennies. Did enjoy a lunch of some delicious ceviche before returning to the central plaza.

And tomorrow we are off again, this time to Choquequirao. A recently uncovered ruin that is understood to be the sister city to Machu Pichu. As of now, there is now way to get there without taking a four day trek in the mountains, though the road will inevitably come. As of now though, only a few thousand visitors a year make it, compared to MP´s millions. Should be very cool. So until Thursday kids!


(pics- Train to Cusco, Plaza De Armas Cusco (and by the way, no thats not the gay pride flag, its the Quechua flag which is the EXACT same rainbow flag and is weirdly flying everywhere in peru)m Sacsayhuaman during Quechua New Years, Back streets of Cusco- note incan stonework foundation and cobblestone below spanish building )

Final thoughts and filler on Bolivia

So its been an interesting last few days in Bolivia, not the least of which was getting extremely sick the other day. I´d finished my cipro, but thankfully Ben had some for me to take, nervous about buying it here after hearing about all the counterfeit drugs from other travellers.


We had initially intended to hit the jungle and Amazon, but were stymied in our attempt by rain conditions that apparently prevented our flight. (yes, apparently it rains in the rain forest, making it somehow impossible to get there). We spent seven hours at the military airport, which was maybe our mistake- choosing to hitch a ride with the Bolivian air force. They gave us no information from seven AM when we were supposed to take off until 2PM when they told us to come back tomorrow. (I suppose everything when you fly with the military is on a need to know basis) And for those who say third world flying is dangerous, frankly I´d rather take a VERY experienced pilot who has probably flown drug interdiction (or more likely drug running) missions in and out of the lawless and rainy parts of the country every day in an ancient soviet plane for years than an American trained pilot who flies between St. Louis and Chicago three days a week!) The result being that piranha fishing, anaconda and croc hunting, and pink river dolphin swimming will have to be saved for another trip.) The next day the flight seemed to be cancelled again, though it was unclear as the airport had also been blockaded and occupied by angry demonstrators. No one was very friendly about refunding our money.


Onward to Lake Titicaca we went again, this time a beautiful day on which to see the Isla Del Sol. Again, this is the place where the Incans believed the Sun was born (and the next island over, Isla Luna where the moon was born). We ferried up to the north end of the island where there is a small museum and also a mysterious underwater temple which you cant really see, and began hiking from north to south. Passed the sacred titi -karka (puma rock) from which the whole lake takes its name, a stone table where some folks were incongruously picnicking on a table that once saw animal and human sacrifice, and on up and down the old incan road. We arrived at a labyrinth sun temple, where we rested a while, playing in the ruins and watching the clouds burn off over the mountains across the lake and to the north.

And yet in spite of all the difficulties, I will really miss Bolivia. We were heading out from Puno and I was just sitting on the bus watching the Cordillera Real mountains grow more distant as we drove. I looked out from the bus across villages and yellow llama fields where the deep blue of Titicaca began, the line of blue and its meeting point with the pale blue cloudless sky broken by the jagged white peaks. I literally got teary as they vanished around a bend for the last time. I´ve never seen mountains so powerful and majestic in their permanence and majesty. Its easy to understand why the Incans worshipped them as gods.

Some things I shall miss and remember, and some better left behind...
I´ll miss the complete enagement of the populace in their activism for rights of the poor and indiginous people and their ability to peacefully shut down the country and government, elect the first indiginous leader in the Americas, a former coca grower and union leader.
I´ll miss the indigenous traditions displayed out of ethnic pride, rather than for the benefit of tourists. A country with a 30% indigenous population that retains their culture, larges in size but second only to Guatemala in percentage. (though Rigoberta Menchu is running for president there).
I´ll miss the 100% fake hard rock cafe in La Paz, presumably the worlds highest (and only?) fake hard rock cafe complete with ecstacy addled Israeli backpackers, and slightly off (lemon flavored) brownie sundaes.
I´ll miss the only place where people wear legwarmers out of necessity for the subzero temperatures and not out of fashion irony.
I´ll miss the Bolivian spanish, where they do not roll their r´s, instead making a zz sounds which works great for me as my failure to roll my r"s is the achilles heel of my spanish. I´ll also miss the charming way they add "ito" to seemingly every single noun here, a dimimnutive equivalent to the english "y"or "ie", (or french ette), as in "I will bring you the checky for your platey of food and muggy of coffee for you two youngstersies now."

We also got a great straightedge razor shave at an old fashioned barber, complete with a view of girlie pictures of Miss Bolivia taped to the mirror. Felt mucho mas macho after that.

I´ll miss the political grafitti- including some of my faves-

Vive la huelga nacional indefinida!
(long live the indefinite national strike)
Vive la huelga de hambre! Salvemos la democracia! Salvemos la constituyente!
Cemento = muerte, arboles = vida
(Cement = Dath, Trees = Life)
Vive la dictadura de la proletariat!
Izquierda Insugente!
(insurgent left!)


And newly appearing on gringo alley the day after a large protest-
Fuck tourismo = capitalismo = imperialismo

Other things I´ll miss less-
The massive inequities, racism and exploitation that continues in spite of all the activism.
The freezing cold, though it does kill the bedbugs in a way that the Peruvian hostels have not.
The constant delays to everything, the beurocracies, etc.
The undelivered promises of hot showers and heated hotel rooms.
The sleepless nights after food poisoning.

Nightly dogs fighting.

The constant sound of either squealing brakes or gunning 30 year old engines going very up or very down the streets of La Paz.

Trying to ditch the ubiquitous counterfeit currency.

The origin of the Eclectic shower disease.

Horror stories from other travellers of drunk busdrivers pouring water over their heads to sober up on the drives, getting stranded in the middle of frozen deserts, or strangle muggings at midnight on the streets of La Paz.

And I'm just not sure what to make of the most memorable TV commercial I've ever seen. A woman wearing nothing but a thong crawling around on al fours for 25 seconds, followed by a five second splash for a bathroom tile brand. Seems like they take the sex sells mantra of advertising pretty literally here.

We're Number 1!

Congratulations Wesleyan...
gawker.com/news/kids-today/the-most-annoying-liberal-arts-school-in-the-us-282425.php
And I really like that Eclectic gets a shout out...