swbuckmaster
Long Time Member
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- 5,004
I just got back from almost 4 weeks in Peru Here are just a couple of things we did while I was there.
The people in Peru we extremely nice to me, they would sometimes come up to me and want to take a picture with me so they could show their friends or family. I never felt threatened while I was down there. I even went to a ##### fight in the ghettos of Arequipa. This was quite the experience to say the least. It was a small room with about a hundred people ?Standing room only.? Since we were the last to arrive we had to scale a wall about ten feet tall and stand on it. When we were spotted by the announcer he pointed us out to the rest of the crowed. This was a tense moment when you see a hundred drunken Peruvians looking at you. Especially with all the things we herd about ending up in the desert robbed or worse. The first thing anyone said to me in the crowd was he was from Pakistan and was named Osama Bin laden. What a way to start out. Well it got better when he offered me a beer. By the time it was all said and done we were in the middle of the arena and handling the birds. They took us back to see how things were done.
I got to put on some spurs on a bird that I took out to the arena. I gave it to the handler and made my way into the crowed. I than started the betting off. I got pretty carried away by betting several people in the crowed that my bird would win. It was intense especially when my bird started off dominating until he lost one of his eyes. I thought it was all over but he made out like a champ and never backed down. When the 8 minute bell sounded I was relieved my bird was still alive and it was called a draw. Wow it was something I am glad I witnessed this once but don't have any desire to go back to ##### fighting.
While I was there we also went to Colca Canyon this is the deepest and longest canyon in the world.
It was incredible to see a wild Andean condor flying with its nearly 12 foot long wing span.
I also saw a thing that looked like a squirrel crossed with a rabbit.
While I stayed in a village just over 13,000 feet I couldn't imagine how the people have lived there. They mostly had mud houses about 8x10 in size. These people have grown up in this valley and have probable never left. They barley have enough money to eat. Their diet mostly consists of colca leaves. As I left the valley I reached a summit just over 16,000 feet in elevation. This is the highest I have ever been. I was fine during the day but when I tried to sleep I would wake up every 10 minutes gasping for air.
went to a bull fight and watched the bulls rip to pieces a few people in the crowed that thought they were better than the fighters LOL.
Guinea pig its whats for dinner!
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n72/swbuckmaster/DSCF1353.jpg
I believe one can never truly appreciate what we have in the USA until you see how people in other countries live. We are truly blessed to live in a country as great as ours!
The people in Peru we extremely nice to me, they would sometimes come up to me and want to take a picture with me so they could show their friends or family. I never felt threatened while I was down there. I even went to a ##### fight in the ghettos of Arequipa. This was quite the experience to say the least. It was a small room with about a hundred people ?Standing room only.? Since we were the last to arrive we had to scale a wall about ten feet tall and stand on it. When we were spotted by the announcer he pointed us out to the rest of the crowed. This was a tense moment when you see a hundred drunken Peruvians looking at you. Especially with all the things we herd about ending up in the desert robbed or worse. The first thing anyone said to me in the crowd was he was from Pakistan and was named Osama Bin laden. What a way to start out. Well it got better when he offered me a beer. By the time it was all said and done we were in the middle of the arena and handling the birds. They took us back to see how things were done.
I got to put on some spurs on a bird that I took out to the arena. I gave it to the handler and made my way into the crowed. I than started the betting off. I got pretty carried away by betting several people in the crowed that my bird would win. It was intense especially when my bird started off dominating until he lost one of his eyes. I thought it was all over but he made out like a champ and never backed down. When the 8 minute bell sounded I was relieved my bird was still alive and it was called a draw. Wow it was something I am glad I witnessed this once but don't have any desire to go back to ##### fighting.
While I was there we also went to Colca Canyon this is the deepest and longest canyon in the world.
It was incredible to see a wild Andean condor flying with its nearly 12 foot long wing span.
I also saw a thing that looked like a squirrel crossed with a rabbit.
While I stayed in a village just over 13,000 feet I couldn't imagine how the people have lived there. They mostly had mud houses about 8x10 in size. These people have grown up in this valley and have probable never left. They barley have enough money to eat. Their diet mostly consists of colca leaves. As I left the valley I reached a summit just over 16,000 feet in elevation. This is the highest I have ever been. I was fine during the day but when I tried to sleep I would wake up every 10 minutes gasping for air.
went to a bull fight and watched the bulls rip to pieces a few people in the crowed that thought they were better than the fighters LOL.
Guinea pig its whats for dinner!
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n72/swbuckmaster/DSCF1353.jpg
I believe one can never truly appreciate what we have in the USA until you see how people in other countries live. We are truly blessed to live in a country as great as ours!
