Fri, 17 Sep 2004 - CFP Abstracts
The LCA 2005
CFP
doesn't close until October 12, but we've already received a few
interesting abstracts. I've started reading through them in order to
respond to the submitters to let them know a human has look at their
abstract, and clarify parts of their submissions. Am already looking
forward to some good talks next year.
[/lca2005]
link
Fri, 17 Sep 2004 - Exploding Light Bulb
The glass bit of the light bulb in my bedroom decided to separate
itself from the metal plug part last night. Luckily my bed is
underneath it so it didn't shatter into lots of pieces. Was really
quite cool, though I was stuck with the problem of how to remove the
metal plug from the socket with nothing except rather sharp bits of
glass to hold onto. Decided to leave that operation till the morning
when I'd be a little more awake and actually remember to turn off the
power at the fuse box.
[/house]
link
Mon, 17 May 2004 - Paracas
The Nazca lines tour didn't start till 9am, so although I didn't
arrive at my hotel until 1am I still managed to get a decent amount of
sleep. It turns out I am the only person on this part of the tour so I
get the mini-bus, driver and tour guide all to myself for the next 3
days. For some reason the guide's young son is also along for the
ride. The fog in the morning in Lima was very thick, and mixed with
the pollution was quite unpleasant and reminded me of China. Though
out of the build areas the air quality seemed quite good.
We first stopped at the Pachamac ruins about 30 minutes driver out of
Lima. The ruins are on a series of hills and are of both Inca and
pre-Inca origin. There has been a lot of restoration work done on the
site, but quite large areas still haven't been uncovered. The Inca
temple was built on the highest point and the view from the top was
really good.
The lonely planet book described the coastal area as desert, but I
hadn't realised quite how extreme it is. Much of the area is just
rocks and sand - a moonscape with no trace of vegetation at
all. However, the areas which are irrigated are very lush. Amazingly
they seemo to have imported gum trees into the country and I saw many
of those doing really well.
We reached the hotel in Paracas early in the afternoon. Like a lot of
the buildings I've seen it has really high walls with glass shards on
top. No little turrets for guards to sit in like some of the other
buildings though.
I took a bit of a chance on lunch and tried cervice - its a
traditional Peruvian dish of raw fish marinated with lemon and onion -
very tasty. So far no bad side effects. The atmosphere at the beach
was great - wonderful sunny weather, with an old guy playing guitar
and singing nearby.
Restored Ruins at Pachamac
[/travel/peru]
link
