Machu Picchu via the 'other' Route

By R.B. Moreno

This summer I'm traveling and writing in Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia along with my sister, who has just finished Peace Corps service in Paraguay. Today we reached Nasca, on the southern coast of Peru, and tomorrow morning we'll take a flight over those geoglyphs I remember from a dusty guide book as a boy. Among other figures, Nasca's lines depict a monkey, a killer whale, a spider, a pelican, a hummingbird, hundreds of mysterious geometric forms, and something resembling an astronaut. Our favorite caption from tonight's preview show, at the local planetarium: "lines intersecting other lines, for no apparent reason."

Four Days Along the Salkantay

Above you'll find some 60 photographs from last weekend's trek to Machu Picchu via the "other" route, the Incan Salkantay trail, which crosses a mountain pass at 15,092 feet. Another member of our group about my age and height was wearing a heart monitor, and he says he burned about 4,000 calories the first day. We were both chewing lots of coca leaves to help with the altitude, per the advice of our guide. It's hard to say what effect coca has on stamina, but scaling slopes with numb, green lips must have done something great for Incan runners who once used the trail to relay messages -- at a pace of more than 12 miles an hour.

Postscript (Jan. 26, 2010) -- With mass evacuations underway and the world focused on survivors emerging from collapsed buildings in Port-au-Prince two weeks after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake shook Haiti's capital, a similar scene -- involving tourists -- is unfolding in Machu Picchu. More from ABC News:

Landslides were triggered after the Vilcanota and Urubamba rivers in the Andean province of Cusco burst their banks over the weekend, triggering dozens of landslides and severing the only rail line linking the city of Cusco with Machu Picchu, train operator PeruRail said in a statement today.

The government has declared a state of emergency in Machu Picchu and the surrounding areas.

Peru's Tourism Minister Martin Perez said in statement today that 60 tourists had already been airlifted to Cusco, with priority given to the elderly, people with health issues, pregnant women and small children. Another 300 were evacuated from the Inca Trail and driven by bus to Ollantaytambo.

The New Pornographers + Okkervil River

Over at Melophobe you'll find a review by RBM of The New Pornographers' current tour. Their latest album, Challengers, has fans raving, but the band's Washington, D.C. 9:30 Club show didn't exactly sing. Here you'll find a few shots that didn't make the review.

Update: Neko Case has unexpectedly departed the Pornographers' current tour after taking a bad fall in Washington and injuring her ankle. The Melophobe staff wishes her well.

Fearing Music Since 2007

By R.B. Moreno

This year featured, among other achievements, the launch of e-zine Melophobe, a new destination for music fans looking for a taste of the show before the show. The brainchild of Boston College law student and childhood neighbor Josh Bean, Melophobe currently digests concerts in and around Boston, Washingon, and other cities, offering experiential reviews along with crisp photos, usually in a timely fashion. Two recent posts from this writer:


Rufus Wainwright + Lucy Wainwright Roche - 9:30 Club (Washington, DC; Dec. 21, 2007)


Prefuse 73 + School of Seven Bells + Blank Blue - Black Cat (Washington, DC; Nov. 23, 2007)

Watch for an aesthetic overhaul of Melophobe underway this week. You too can be part of the action: editor@melophobe.com.

(Definition of "melophobia" from Urban Dictionary: "1. the fear of music / 2. the most bad ass band ever.")

Wiccan Soldier's Widow Petitions for Recognition

Update: Over on NPR.org you can listen to a 2006 report by RBM on efforts to recognize the Wiccan pentacle as a government-approved burial marker. The feature aired on NPR's All Things Considered. An excerpt from the intro:

The widow of a Nevada National Guardsman killed in Afghanistan wants her husband's Wiccan faith recognized. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs permits 38 religious symbols to adorn headstones and memorials, like the one commemorating Sgt. Patrick Stewart's unit. That list includes the Christian cross and even a symbol for atheists, but the government has not yet approved the Wiccan pentacle.

Ward One Gentrification

Update: Over on the Internet Archive you can check out a 2006 report by RBM on changes coming to some of the District of Columbia's most densely-populated neighborhoods. The story was broadcast by WAMU 88.5 FM in Washington. An excerpt from the intro:

if you throw a dart at a map of the district, you're not likely to hit Ward One. It's not only the city's smallest ward, it's also the most diverse. Perhaps it's no wonder, then, that life in Columbia Heights, Mount Pleasant, and Adams Morgan is changing. As WAMU's Raul Moreno reports, gentrification is having a profound impact on Ward-One schools, especially those serving DC's Latino community.

Khan Goes to Court

Update: Over on the Internet Archive you can check out a 2005 report by RBM on conflict between military recruiters and college students, broadcast by WAMU 88.5 FM in Washington. An excerpt from the intro:

You've heard the stories: military recruiters for the all-volunteer armed forces are having trouble meeting their quotas. They're trying hard to attract young people - particularly students looking for a career. But not all students are eager to talk to a military recruiter. Case-in-point: an undergrad at George Mason University who's encouraging other students NOT to sign on the dotted line, and who's now in legal trouble because of it. He could face charges of trespassing and disorderly conduct next week in Fairfax after he handed out pamphlets that urged young people not to join the military. It's a legal issue that's drawing a lot of attention, as we hear from reporter Raul Moreno.

"He Was More than Just One Soldier": Narrating National Identiy in Small-town America

Update: RBM's master's thesis, an ethnography of wartime in Palouse, Washington, was presented to the 2004 conference of the Northwest Communication Association in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. The original text is available from the Washington State University library collections.