Machu Picchu or not? A question that had not even crossed my mind until I arrived in Lima a month ago. Out of the blue, as I was walking through a park, it occurred to me that nót going to Machu Picchu was actually an option. Various reasons led to this, the main one being …
Author Archives: Mellamadness 2
Quillabamba
I’m blessed, that’s for sure. By the moon this time, again!! I don’t plan these things, they just work out this way. There are many planned viewings of the full moon rising, but the unexpected ones are the blessings. Times that I can remember: Unexpected full moon rising over Karoo koppies on our way to …
From Lima to Cusco
Oh no, I’ve become a tourist! Being on a bus with 40 English speaking people (from different countries) was quite a shock after going solo for such a long time. Peru Hop is a company that was started by a couple of young men 6 years ago, and has been extended to include Bolivia. They …
Lima
Flying over the Andes was not at all what I expected it to be. When the pilot asked everyone to take their seats and fasten their safety belts as we were going to ‘fly over the Andes’, I looked out of the window, expecting to see towering mountain peaks (more than what I had seen …
A little bit of heaven
It was a very monotonous 10 hour bus ride from Córdoba to Mendoza last week. A large part of it was through barren countryside and the rest through fields that had not been ploughed or sowed. I do not know why, maybe because of drought, because the eucalyptus trees alongside the road were dying.About 100km …
Dubois, La Falla & Che
An artist, a composer and a revolutionary – all having lived within a radius of 3km from each other in a small town called Alta Gracia, 40km from Córdoba. What makes this town so special? The mountain air. In the 1920’s and 1930’s it attracted wealthy Argentinians in search of fresh air and second homes, …
Views and vistas
I’m such a sucker for views. For the past week I’ve been in my own flat on the 10th storey, overlooking the city of Córdoba, and loving every minute of it. I cooked, washed clothes, lazed in front of the TV, sometimes went out, and just generally enjoyed taking a break from ‘travelling’.That strange big …
Heavy stuff
I have to write about this, much to my dismay. The atrocities that occurred during the Época de los desaparecidos (Dirty War) in Argentina, from 1974 – 1983. I innocently walked into the Museo de Sitio, a museum off a side street from the main square in Córdoba (Plaza San Martin), and was confronted with …
La Cumbre
I don’t know why I wait until I’m about ready to leave a town before writing about it. Because now I’m sad, and once again I’m facing a move to a new place tomorrow, with all the uncertainties accompanying it. Louise is happy, I think – the lying low has become boring to her. Or …
Life lessons?
I am a natural rebel. Natural because it’s in my nature, and a rebel not so much because I have a cause, but rather because I cannot accept things at face-value – I have to investigate, to query. ‘Why’ turns into ‘what’ and ‘how’, which creates meaning. For instance I have long since questioned the …
Mella Madness 