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Friday, 2 January, San Martin, Peru We made it across the whole Pacific Ocean, and docked early in the morning at San Martin, in Southern Peru. Neither of us had been to South America before. The weather was foggy, which is fairly normal there due to the cold water coming up the coast from the Antarctic meeting the hot air coming off of the desert. After breakfast we went to board our bus for our tour to the Inca ruins of Tambo Colorado, about an hour away. Our guide spoke excellent English and taught a great deal about the local area, as well as Incas and their lifestyle. The whole area of southern coastal Peru was 80 percent destroyed by the August 2007 earthquake, a massive one of 8.0 Richter scale that killed about 600 people. We saw a great deal of rubble, and quite a bit of new construction as well. However, most of the people are extremely poor, so most of the new construction was very basic and simple. In addition to the rubble, there was a lot of rubbish and garbage on the side of most of the streets and highways. Many houses didn't have roofs on them, but the guide pointed out that since it rains less frequently than once a decade, roofs aren't particularly important, and certainly not a high priority for rebuilding. When we arrived at Tambo Colorado, once a way point on the main Inca highway down the Pisco River. There were dozens of various stopping places, and this one served as a warehouse as well. The buildings were quite large, really one complex of hundreds of rooms. In some ways it reminded me of Pompeii, and in more ways of the pueblos of the Indians of the southwest United States. Gail still wasn't feeling well, so she didn't do as much hiking and climbing around as I did, particularly since it got quite hot as it approached noon. We got back to the ship in time for lunch, and spent the afternoon relaxing and the evening, after buffet supper, watching Utah beat Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. Gail still didn't feel much better. Back to itinerary (trip home page)
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