October 24-27
Wednesday morning, after a first decent hostel/hotel breakfast (i.e. eggs were served! Not JUST bread, butter and jam) we headed to the docks of Puno in a taxi. As we were getting out of the taxi, we were immediately accosted by a whole host of boat operators who wanted to take us on a tour of the Lake Titicaca islands. I got a little irritated, as I didn´t like the feeling of 4 men closely following/surrounding us while we were trying to get away. I spoke to them sternly, in my best Spanish, and said that we did not want to join a tour group, but wanted to visit the islands independently. They then explained to us that they would just sell us tickets for the boat trips for 30 soles (return trip) and that we could then go off independently. Phew! I was relieved, but then felt a little badly that I was a little harsh with them.
Our plan was to first visit one of the Uros (floating) islands and then head to the island of Amantani, where we decided to spend 3 nights. It was up to the discretion of the captain of the taxi boat, as to which of the Uros islands we would visit (though I believe they were all pretty much the same, so it didn´t make much of a difference).
Uros islands:
We spent an hour on one of the Uros islands, where we learned about the lives of the families living on them and how the islands are made. When we got onto the island, Rakesh and I had to pay an entrance fee of 5 soles each. The others did not have to pay as it was already included in their tour package. It´s clearly one way the island makes some money.
The Uros islands were occupied by the Uros tribe in the past, but now are inhabited by Amarayas. They speak amaraya vs quechua. These islands are built out of reeds!! How crazy!! The reeds (or totoras) grow in abundance in the lake, fairly close to the main land. In fact, it only took us about 30 minutes to get to the Uros islands. The reeds are not only used to build the islands, but also to build their houses, boats, handicrafts, and even to provide vital nutrients to children. While on the island, the guide passed out a reed to each of one us so that we could taste one (or part of one, as they are pretty long). You peel them, kind of like a banana and chomp away from the top. They are quite bland in taste, but pretty edible!
The base of the islands consist of a mix of mud and reeds. Several blocks of mud are held together by tying rope around a thick stick of wood that are anchored on top of each block. More reeds are then piled on the top, in a criss-cross fashion, to make the flooring!! The islands float, but stay put as they are anchored to lake bed, otherwise the winds would blow them out to the middle of nowhere!!!. The guide said that if the inhabitants of one island do not like the inhabitants of a neighbouring island, all they have to do is move their island further away!! I´m sure that was just a joke, ofcourse. Since the reeds rot, they have to be replenished. The guide said that the islands last for about 30 days before they have to be reconstructed again!
The families survive mainly on fish and poultry. They (the men) hunt for the poultry and catch the fish, themselves. They thrive on tourism and the making/selling of their beautiful, though expensive, crafts!! We contributed a little more than just paying the entrance fee and bought a pillow case, with one of their Gods, Tumi, embroidered on it.
Island of Amantani:
The journey to Amantani was a slow 3 hour boat ride. We initially sat outside, but then the sun started to get to me. I moved inside the cabin, but then had to endure the horrid smell of petrol for the rest of the journey, yuck! Rakesh managed to find a little bit of shade and remained outside.
Once we arrived on Amantani, we were introduced to a local lady, Gladys, who would be our host for the rest of our stay. We had to pay another 5 soles each to enter the island, and then we began our ascent to Glady´s house. It wasn´t that long before we got out of breath and I wondered, how do these locals walk up these hills (actually, mountain tops!) every day!!!
[One reason why we did not want to join a tour group, was the fact that local families are often exploited by the tour companies and are not paid as much as they would if one were to stay with a family independently. For 30 soles or roughly $15 a night per person, we were given a bed, and three meals a day.]
Glady´s house, just like every other house was next to a plot of farm land. Most of the houses on the island are built of mud, and some are painted in colour. Gladys lives with her husband, 13 year old daughter, Tanya, and her in-laws (her 2 older sons live on the mainland). There is no electricity on the island, but like some other houses, they had a solar panel to be able to light up the bedrooms at night. Our reason for staying on the island for 3 nights was to have a small idea of how the locals live. Clearly, life there is quite primitive, with no electricity, plumbing, running water, etc. We can´t complain about the candle-lit dinners we had every night!! All our meals were prepared by Gladys, who had to use a wood burning stove (they use eucalyptus trees as their source of fuel) and candle-light at night! Going to the bathroom, was very primitive (sorry for the details, but worth remembering). They had a western toilet bowl, but no seat and no flush! We had to manually flush the toilet using water that they kept in a large container on the side. As for showers...there wasn´t a way to shower!! Aaahhh!! We didn´t shower for 3 days!! At one point, I was thinking of having a bird bath, but the water was too cold...ofcourse, no electricity, no hot water!! There was no sink either! Instead, we used a small basin to wash our hands/face and to brush our teeth! After 3 days, it was nice to get back to known comforts and to finally have a shower!!
It was around lunch time when we arrived at the house. Gladys had already prepared lunch and we sat down to eat. For every lunch and dinner, we started off with soup. It was a variation on the same theme. Vegetables with quinoa, barley or corn. Sometimes, it contained potatoes. Next we had a bowl of rice, with vegetables, including corn and potatoes. Once we had fries with a fish dish, and another time we had pasta. The market only occurs once a week, so the locals mainly consume vegetables and local grains. There are very few cattle on the island, which are mostly used for farming and not for consumption. So any meat/fish that they eat, comes from the mainland. As a result, Rakesh (and I too), were very happy to have mostly vegetarian food. I was happy, because I was getting a little tired of having meat all the time, especially since I´m not used to eating meat/fish on a daily basis.
After lunch, we took a short nap. In fact, our naps are worth mentioning. Another reason for spending so much time on this island, was purely to relax and not do too much. After a month of traveling non-stop, we needed a break! As for naps, we took one after breakfast and then again after lunch!! We couldn´t believe how much we slept! We clearly, needed it. Two naps a day! Don´t think we´ve done that since we were babies!
Around 4:30pm we headed out, with Gladys, to the main square where we found the daily group of tourists and guide. Every day the island gets a group of tourists that spends only one night before heading out to another island. We knew that the group had all gathered at the square to begin a hike up to one of two peaks, Pachatata (father earth). The locals, continue to worship the earth (which I think is wonderful). On this island, they have a Pachatata peak and a Pachamama (mother earth) peak. In January, they hold a celebration/rituals at a site on each of these peaks, and practically all the inhabitants (and tourists, I assume) attend/partake. Gladys told us she would meet us, with her daughter, back at the square at 6pm. We started to ascend toward Pachatata with the group, but then broke away from them as we wanted to be on our own. It was a pretty tiring ascent up on a beautiful stone-paved path lined with houses at first and then just farm land divided by stone walls. Along, the way and closer to the peak, local kids and women sat to sell their crafts laid out in front of them. We got to the top just as the sun began to set. It was quite breezy and cold at this point, so we took in the sunset amongst the clouds, took a couple of snap shots and then began our descent back to the square. We needed to use our flashlights for the latter half of our decent as it was dark at this point.
Once at the square, many of the tourists had already gathered there. Like, us, they were all waiting and looking for their respective hosts. Since there were no lights around, but only a few flashlights, it was hard to determine which of the local women was our host. All the women wear the same outfits: a black shawl-type garment, which they often put over their heads to shield themselves from the sun, a black skirt and a white blouse with beautiful embroideries on the front. The black shawl also had beautiful embroideries. With their dark skin too, how on earth were we supposed to tell Glady´s apart from Maria, Lydia and so on and so forth. This lead out to a comical scene where other tourists began calling out such names as they attempted to locate their respective hosts. Finally, at about 6:15pm, it was Glady´s daughter, Tania, who came to pick us up. She was the one who spotted us first!!
Dinner at about 7pm, was similar to lunch, as mentioned above. I forgot to add that breakfast, lunch and dinner was also accompanied with a hot beverage consisting of either coca leaves, muña (a local wild herb), and/or freshly picked eucalyptus leaves, which we added to hot water. Rakesh and I fell in love with the muña, a herb that we had never had before!! Rakesh said its taste is a mix between Tulsi (Indian basil) and mint, in case that gives some of you an idea. Also, all our food was served in a beautiful unvarnished clay bowls, with a simple black design inside. The bowls looked like they were straight out of an Inca museum!
After dinner we went to bed at about 8:30pm. It was pitch black outside and with no lights around, other than in the bedrooms, it was hard to do anything. That´s why the locals go to bed early and wake up early. We seemed to be tired anyway, and so it wasn´t hard to fall asleep.
On day 2 and 3, we had a similar routine. Breakfast, nap, walk, lunch, nap, walk, dinner and then soon after went to bed for the night. The differences are that we took different walks to explore other parts of the island, on our walk before lunch. On one of these walks we were directed to go to see an ancient Inca site - basically one lonely large stone situated on a pebble beach. We had to ask several locals to find this site. We ended up on a beach a little further away, where we saw a farmer tending to his crops on the side, and two men loading trash onto their small wooden paddle boats (the latter was not the nicest site). We eventually found our way over to the Inca stones. On another walk, we ended up at one of the island´s small harbours, where we saw tons of women and men scraping up small rocks and hauling them in their sack over their back to the harbour, where other men worked manually to fix part of the wall and path. We found out later, that the husband of our host, Aquelino, was helping out with this work, too.
Our walks after lunch, however were somewhat a repeat of our evening walk on the first day. On both days 2 and 3, we climbed up to the peak of Pachamama vs that of Pachatata. By going up either one or the other peak, at around 4:30pm, we were able to catch the sunset, which was different each time. We probably overdid it with our photographs. The views were very impressive with the clouds (one day had more than others) and then the snow-capped mountain peaks in the far distance. One of these mountain ranges was on the Bolivian side! As we sat to take in the sunset, we had to keep reminding ourselves that we were not looking at a sea, but at a LAKE and that we were not on top of a hill, but on top of a mountain peak! At this point, we were at over 3,800m (or 12,500ft) and surrounded by a HUGE body of water!! It was definitely very hard to get our heads around this fact!!
On our last night, we asked to partake in one of the tourist events and that was to go see some live music. Little did we know though, that this would also involve us dressing up in local outfits AND dancing. I was dressed up with the black skirt, white blouse and black shawl and Rakesh was given a thick and heavy woolen poncho type garment to wear. I couldn´t believe how heavy the the skirt was, too!! Glady´s husband played the drum in a four person band. Glady´s daughter came with us, and helped us with the dances. All three of us held hands in a circle and pretty much went round and round and round...woo, I definitely got a little dizzy at times. We also danced in larger circles, interlinking hands with the other tourists. It was a different and fun night.
On the 4th day, after breakfast we were accompanied by Tania to the dock where we got onto another small motor boat to visit the island of Taquille and then return to Puno.
A little about the local life: During our stay on the island we saw a lot of people, including young children and old men/women, carrying lots of various items on their backs. The women had the typical beautifully coloured woven fabrics that they use as sacks. They hauled anything from food to farmland products. The children go to school, though like Tania, they help out with chores outside of school. For instance, after a short day at school on Friday, Tania helped to haul manure to the other side of the island where her family helps tend to potatoes. We also saw people hauling farming tools. Life on the island is very traditional and includes, working on the farms, making and selling crafts, and helping out with construction (e.g. fixing the dock). It was interesting to watch women and girls walking around with or without sacks on their backs while spinning their wool, too! Amazing! Some people own stores, where one can buy a few essentials. It seems that mostly the women do the cooking. With no electricity around and with people living a simple and traditional life, we definitely felt like we were living in the past.
Island of Taquile:
It took us an hour to get here from Amantani and we had 3 hours to visit the island. After paying another 5 soles each to enter the island, we walked along a stone-paved path toward the main square. Unlike Amantani, their were hardly any houses in sight along the path, until we got to the square. This island definitely felt smaller than Amantani and there are not as many inhabitants. While walking around the island, the lake seemed magical. It felt like we were looking at the mediterranean sea! Deep blue waters...yummy!! It was pretty much the same from Amantani, too.
Once we got to the square we grabbed a couple of avocado sandwiches and started to head up another path towards the peak. We ate our sandwiches in the shade and just as we were about to head back down to find the rest of the group, a french girl that we knew from the group was heading up. Apparently, the way to the second dock, where we were to find the same boat, was in the direction we were heading in. It was the guide who had told her to go up this way. After walking uphill for a while, we got to the peak where there were some more ruins. It was at this point that we realized that the rest of the group was nowhere in sight. We did not take in the ruins that much as we attempted to figure out rest of the way to the other dock. With a little bit of panic, since we were slowly running out of time (we had to be back at the boat by 12pm) we finally managed to find our way, after asking a couple of the locals for directions. It wasn´t the straightforward path that the guide had told the french girl!! We got to the boat before many of the other tourists, who apparently, sat down for lunch in restaurants near the square and then they all took a different route to the boat. No wonder we couldn´t see them! They also missed the beautiful views we had from the peak. Blue waters, with various yellow coloured shrubs dotted all around the island.
The other difference between this island and the island of Amantani, is the locals´ outfits. The men wear red hats, a white shirt and black pants. The women wear similar clothing to those on Amantani, though do not have as much embroidery on their clothing, and do not necessarily wear a white blouse.
Unlike on the Uros islands, the inhabitants of Taquile and Amantani speak quechua. The quechua that Rakesh and I learned in Lima and Cuzco, is quite different from that of these islands!
Lake Titicaca:
Just a bit about the lake. It lies at an elevation of 3, 812 m (12,507 ft) and is the highest navigable lake in the world!! Commercial crafts navigate this lake!! This might give you an idea of how large this body of water is! The lake is split between Peru and Bolivia.
Back in Puno: From Taquile it was another slow 3 hour boat ride to Puno. This time we sat on the roof along with other tourists and about 8 of the locals. Once in Puno, we returned to the hotel we had stayed in before we left for the islands. As with several similar situations during our trip, we were able to leave our large back-packs at the hotel during our island hopping. Also, for a small fee, we were able to use a bathroom in order to shower, etc. Ah, so nice!
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Photos of Cuzco
Pisac:
Pisac market, 30 mins outside of Cuzco.
Local lady in Pisac market.
Several varieties of corn (Pisac market).
Baby sleeping at cafe (where we went for lunch overlooking Pisac market).
Cusco:
Plaza des Armas (main square).
Locals with their llama.
12-corner stone! Can you count them all?
The work of the Incas vs the Incapables.
View of Cuzco.
More views of Cuzco from San Blas square.
Art on wall of house in San Blas.
Plaza des Armas (again). Fountain of an Inca and beautiful flower beds.
Tres leches con chocolate cake, we ordered at a nice cafe on Plaza des Armas.
Monday, November 12, 2012
Colca Canyon pictures!!!!
The stepped landscape in the Colca Canyon
Flight of the condor
Adult Condor with white back!
Flight of the condor 2!!
More condors....
Beginning of the Colca canyon trek.
Andean landscape (Oasis at the bottom - our destination for the night).
Cactus...
On the Colca trail
Nicole on the Colca trail.
More andean landscape.
We see the Oasis!! Finally some green in this desert....
Cabins in the Oasis. Paraiso Lodge where we stayed.
Nicole making her way back up to the top of the canyon on 2nd day.
Group pic after we all made it back to the top.
Local kid.
I try my hand at the Peruvian pan pipes...
Local woman poses for me with her beautiful hat...
Arequipa pictures!!!!
Arequipa!!
Demonstrations in Arequipa!!
Santa Catalina Convent in Arequipa
Santa Catalina Convent in Arequipa with Misti volcano in the background.
Arequipa market.
More potatoes at Arequipa market. Some of the 4000 varieties!
Arequipa central square.
Eating Red Cactus fruit from a local vendor.
Fried potato platter with Huacaina sauce.
Lomo Saltado and Rocoto Relleno at Sol de Mayo Arequipa!!
Queso helado/ cheese ice-cream... it´s an Arequipa special.
Nicole with waiter at Sol de Mayo.
Saturday, November 10, 2012
Onward to Puno
October 23-24
We boarded the Inka Express bus and left Cuzco at 7am. We took this bus in order to see various sites along the way to Puno city.
Sites:
1) The San Pedro Apostol church in Andahuaylillas. The church was built in the sixteenth century by Jesuits and was originally the site of an Incan ceremonial space, a huaca. It is considered to be the "Sistine Chapel" of the Americas because the ceiling and interior walls are covered with frescoes. Here one can see the different cultures merging together. Although there is a lot of moorish influence, the presence of the Inca culture is evident, too. The Jesuits allowed the Incas to paint their symbols inside the church, along with those of the colonials. Also, because there is no written language in quechua, the use of latin letters were used to spell out quechua words around the archway of a door inside the church.
2) Raqchi: Ruins of the Inca temple of Wirachocha. It was a two story building, now left to a mere wall. It was believed to have the largest single roof of the Incan empire. This building was also unique in that it a large part of it was built with mud and not only stone. All other Inca structures were built solely with stone.
This archeological site also consisted of 150 storage houses, or qolqas, which are about 10m in diameter and over 3 meters tall!! These housed grains such as quinoa and corn.
3) Sicuani: This is where we had a buffet lunch. The locals had stands with artisanal crafts, as with all other other tourist sites. I was always tempted to purchase something. Just the colours alone of the crafts were always very magnetizing.
4) La Raya: Here we stopped briefly for snapshots of the beautiful views of the Andes towering above alpaca farms. La Raya is the line dividing the regions of Cuzco and Puno. More locals selling artisanal crafts, and like in many other places, women hoping to earn a peruvian sole here and there by posing with their alpaca for a photo. This is the one and only time we gave up a sole to have a picture taken with a native and her alpaca!
5) Puraca: We walked for a few minutes through this village to get to a small Inca museum containing more artifacts similar to ones we had already seen in other museums along our travels, thus far. More mummies, including those of the nobles with deformed skulls, and others with evidence of blows to their heads for sacrificial purposes (sorry if I´ve already described this gruesome tidbit before!). The one story we revisited was the one about a peruvian festival during which condors are used in bull fighting as a symbol of the Andean people. The condor is strapped to the bull and pecks away at it during bull fighting in the Andean highlands. We had been told during our Inka trek that usually the condor survives and flies away, however our guide during this trip told us that the condor does not necessarily survive as the wings may sometimes be damaged during bull fighting. The museum housed many porcelain-made bulls painted with different colours and designs. It is common for the locals to have one (or more?) of these bulls in their house for good luck and prosperity. The llama was a symbol of the latter for the Incas, but was then replaced by the bull after the spanish invasion.
Along the way to the museum, we had close views of houses made of mud (very typical in all Peruvian villages), many of which were painted with bright colours.
6) Juliaca: this was not a stop, but was talked about as we rode through the city. It is a pretty big city and is where the closest airport is to the city of Puno. In my opinion, and hope that I am not offending anybody, it is the ugliest city we´ve been through. We were told that it is a huge commercial hub and where there is quite a big "black market". In fact, our guide pointed out the numerous "illegal" buses that go between Peru and Bolivia so that Bolivians can make purchases in this city without paying taxes and for cheaper. A very interesting and strange point, was the fact that throughout the city, most building appeared incomplete with concrete rebars sticking way above the top floor. This is done on purpose so that the owners do not have to pay as much property taxes!!! We also noticed quite a bit of trash lying around. Hence, not the prettiest of places!
Puno city: Puno is another big city. Buildings very plain and box like, just like in Lima. A couple of plazas near our hotel, with a very touristic pedestrian walkway between the two. Not much to speak about. It was just a place to stay for a night before heading out to Lake Titicaca for a few days. We walked around for a bit and then grabbed some familiar dinner - pizza, caprese salad (with local vs mozzarella cheese!) and a chicha morrada (drink).
We boarded the Inka Express bus and left Cuzco at 7am. We took this bus in order to see various sites along the way to Puno city.
Sites:
1) The San Pedro Apostol church in Andahuaylillas. The church was built in the sixteenth century by Jesuits and was originally the site of an Incan ceremonial space, a huaca. It is considered to be the "Sistine Chapel" of the Americas because the ceiling and interior walls are covered with frescoes. Here one can see the different cultures merging together. Although there is a lot of moorish influence, the presence of the Inca culture is evident, too. The Jesuits allowed the Incas to paint their symbols inside the church, along with those of the colonials. Also, because there is no written language in quechua, the use of latin letters were used to spell out quechua words around the archway of a door inside the church.
2) Raqchi: Ruins of the Inca temple of Wirachocha. It was a two story building, now left to a mere wall. It was believed to have the largest single roof of the Incan empire. This building was also unique in that it a large part of it was built with mud and not only stone. All other Inca structures were built solely with stone.
This archeological site also consisted of 150 storage houses, or qolqas, which are about 10m in diameter and over 3 meters tall!! These housed grains such as quinoa and corn.
3) Sicuani: This is where we had a buffet lunch. The locals had stands with artisanal crafts, as with all other other tourist sites. I was always tempted to purchase something. Just the colours alone of the crafts were always very magnetizing.
4) La Raya: Here we stopped briefly for snapshots of the beautiful views of the Andes towering above alpaca farms. La Raya is the line dividing the regions of Cuzco and Puno. More locals selling artisanal crafts, and like in many other places, women hoping to earn a peruvian sole here and there by posing with their alpaca for a photo. This is the one and only time we gave up a sole to have a picture taken with a native and her alpaca!
5) Puraca: We walked for a few minutes through this village to get to a small Inca museum containing more artifacts similar to ones we had already seen in other museums along our travels, thus far. More mummies, including those of the nobles with deformed skulls, and others with evidence of blows to their heads for sacrificial purposes (sorry if I´ve already described this gruesome tidbit before!). The one story we revisited was the one about a peruvian festival during which condors are used in bull fighting as a symbol of the Andean people. The condor is strapped to the bull and pecks away at it during bull fighting in the Andean highlands. We had been told during our Inka trek that usually the condor survives and flies away, however our guide during this trip told us that the condor does not necessarily survive as the wings may sometimes be damaged during bull fighting. The museum housed many porcelain-made bulls painted with different colours and designs. It is common for the locals to have one (or more?) of these bulls in their house for good luck and prosperity. The llama was a symbol of the latter for the Incas, but was then replaced by the bull after the spanish invasion.
Along the way to the museum, we had close views of houses made of mud (very typical in all Peruvian villages), many of which were painted with bright colours.
6) Juliaca: this was not a stop, but was talked about as we rode through the city. It is a pretty big city and is where the closest airport is to the city of Puno. In my opinion, and hope that I am not offending anybody, it is the ugliest city we´ve been through. We were told that it is a huge commercial hub and where there is quite a big "black market". In fact, our guide pointed out the numerous "illegal" buses that go between Peru and Bolivia so that Bolivians can make purchases in this city without paying taxes and for cheaper. A very interesting and strange point, was the fact that throughout the city, most building appeared incomplete with concrete rebars sticking way above the top floor. This is done on purpose so that the owners do not have to pay as much property taxes!!! We also noticed quite a bit of trash lying around. Hence, not the prettiest of places!
Puno city: Puno is another big city. Buildings very plain and box like, just like in Lima. A couple of plazas near our hotel, with a very touristic pedestrian walkway between the two. Not much to speak about. It was just a place to stay for a night before heading out to Lake Titicaca for a few days. We walked around for a bit and then grabbed some familiar dinner - pizza, caprese salad (with local vs mozzarella cheese!) and a chicha morrada (drink).
Inca trail and the Inca world
October 18-21
Trekking the Inca trail was one of the major highlights of our trip to Peru. Nicole and I had trained for this (though we had to abandon any hiking on the last two weeks before our trip). Mount Tam, Mt. Hoffman in Yosemite, the Claremont canyon behind our house (umpteen number of times). Nothing could have prepared for this four day adventure. Pretrek, we had a debriefing meeting at our tour company, Llamapath, where we met our two guides and the rest of the members of our group.
The group was big. 13 trekkers, 21 porters of whom, two were also cooks and two guides. Compared to the DIY hiking in the US this was defenitely more comfortable, since the porters were carrying most of the tents, grear, etc. more about the porters later...(Nicole writes: we lived like kings and queens while camping along the Inca trail!!).
We had to make it to the pickup point at 4.30 in the morning. Nicole and I were staying in a hostel, Mama Simona, that was about 10 minutes by walk from the meeting point. We underestimated the time required for the preparation and had a nice morning jog with our hiking gear to make it in time. Were both given a duffel bag each into which we could pack in 7kgs of gear and clothes. These duffel bags would be hauled by the porters while we carried our day packs with us. We left Cuzco at 4.45am in the morning after a cup of hot coca tea.
Our first stop was Ollyantantambo. On the way here, the views were remarkable. After the first hour of the dry highlands around Cuzco, out of nowhere, these majestic snowcapped peaks appeared. This was something straight out of a picture postcard. Miles of dry highlands with snow capped peaks in the background. I was already liking it.
We had breakfast in Ollyantantambo. After the initial experience in colca canyon, I had learnt my lesson amd was not shy in my eating. I loaded myself up well. I also bought a pair of woolen gloves as this was recommended for the trek and I did not have a pair of gloves. At 5 soles, I could not refuse.
The beginning of the trek is known as km 82. I am guessing that Km 0 starts somewhere near Cuzco. Anyway, since the trail is highly regulated (only 500 people allowed daily, and this includes the porters and guides), we had to go through passport control....and get a stamp for the trail!!!!
The beginning part of the trail is actually very easy. You gain altitude from time to time, but nothing that difficult. The trail is fairly muddy, since the original Inca path here is destroyed. The Spanish were using the trails to hunt down the Incas. The Incas, started destroying parts of the trail so that they would not be followed. We saw our first Inca ruin, which was an old village establishment. The design of the village was great. The agricultural steps were oriented to the east, since the Incas wanted to maximize sunlight for their crops.
Listening to our guide Roger, along the way was fascinating. He is a very very funny guy from the highlands, but when he spoke of the Inca history (or his ancestors as he put it), there was a seriousness in his tone that made you stand up and listen. His passion for the history came through and it was something I could connect with. Lots of controversy, too. Listening to history from a local is interesting because there is some emotion involved and its not just dry facts.
We got to try dehydrated potatos for lunch on day one. It does not taste like regular potatos. People in my group were not big fans of this. I guess the cook masked it with sauce, or put them into soups, from then on.
Day one was a really easy hike. We hit camp just as we were beginning to feel the arduousness of the first uphill. Nicole and I had bought walking sticks for our clinb and this was very helpful. (Nicole writes: Once we arrived at camp, all tents etc. were already set up. We chose our tents and as we were settling in, the porters distributed a small basin with hot water and a towel to each of us so that we could freshen up - these were provided every morning/afternoon and evening!).
Day two started at 5.30am. (Nicole writes: like every morning, apart from the last, we had tent-service - a cup of hot coca tea!). We had a quick breakfast and started the climb up. It was the toughest day in terms of the climb. First 6 hours was a steady climb up reaching a peak elevation of 4200m. The landscape changed dramatically on the climb up. We went from a somewhat arid landscape through highland forests and then out into alpine meadows. There were a ton of people on the trail at all times. I saw many porters stopping at various points, jumping into the bush to pluck out a few leaves and chew them/use them in mate tea. I asked one of them to show me what it was. It was a star shaped leaf with 3 wings. upon further inquiry, they told me that they use it to help their kidneys. The highest point is known as the ``dead woman´s pass`` because of a female shepherd who was found dead here.
The climb back down on day two was really really hard. By this time, we had started walking on the stoney Inca trail. The walking sticks were helpful in minimizing the impact on the knees (though they somewhat slow you down). We passed by a couple of Inca ruins on the way. The views were ofcourse great. We reached camp late in the evening by 6.30pm. We were all so very exhausted. One other couple in the group, did not even make it to dinner......(Roger kindly took some food to their tent).
Day 3 was nice. We went through the cloud forests which have an incredible ecosystem. The moss that grows on the ground, absorbs water from the cloudy environment around and supports the rest of the flora and fauna around. Roger picked up a handfull of moss and squeezed it to show us the quantity of water this moss holds... impressive. This environment of course encourages orchid growth and we saw plenty of these. Day 3 also involved steep descents on steps made for shoe size 5 (infact all Inca steps are like this).
Roger also gave one of the longest lectures on the Spanish conquest of the Incas and the discovery of Machu Picchu. Lots and lots of controvery here. Were the warring Inca kings so easily brought down by a handful of the Spanish warriors, or, did the downfall happen differently? Was there gold found by Hiram Bingham at Machu Picchu?? Do you really discover some new place if you were told about it by the locals?? Do we really live in a post colonial world, when native treasures are still held hostage in other countries??
I did not know about the Yale Inca treasure controversy until I came here.
On day 3, we passed by a few wild llamas, some birds in the forest. We caught a glimpse of the Urubamba river from way high. We reached camp at 2pm in the afternoon. Short day of hike. very nice. After lunch, we went to the site of Winay Wayna. This Inca ruin gave us a flavour of what was to come .... The stepped walls for agriculture are truly amazing. There is a lot of jungle around this place. Parts of the ruin is covered up by the jungle, and apparently the peruvian government doesn't have the resources for excavating all of this out. Close to this ruin, there was a waterfall from the glacial waters. Nicole and I ventured out there. Here it really felt like I was in the Tomb-Raider video game : )! The water was really really cold, but I braved it and had a bath... It was great to have a wash after 3 days of hiking. (Nicole writes: I had hope to brave it, but after not even a minute of putting my feet into the pool of water, they practically went numb. I decided it wouldn´t be a good idea of going any further. I got out and my feet still felt a little numb while hiking back to camp...that´s how cold it was. I was envious of Rakesh, who looked like he was having the time of his life...in heaven, truly! I don´t know how he did it!).
On the last night, we had a tipping ceremony for the Wykis (porters). I cannot say enough good things about these guys. Running up and down the Inca-trail with 25kg packs is no ordinary task. No walking sticks, or bionic backpacks for these guys. Or hiking shoes or mosquito repellents for that matter. They wear sandals (infact all highlanders have just one model......). Big duffels with home-made straps for a backpack. No matter what kind of terrain; flat, uphill, downhill, up the stairs, down the stairs, they are running all the time. In many instances we would catch up to them during their break and think that we could keep up. But, in minutes they would be ahead of us and then disappear into nowhere. Our tents and campsite would be setup for us by the time we got there. How do they do it?? they should include mountain running as a sport in the olympics and these guys will definitely get gold. I did learn a couple of things from them. Going uphill, they always land on their toes, and on their heels for downhill. In case you were to trip, you will always hug the mountain. Also, the Wykis never waste a step going uphill or downhill. With each step, they are either gaining altitude or losing it.
Day four - on the final day, we had to get up at 3.30am in the morning. We had to hike down to the entrance of the gate, for the trail to Machu Picchu. The gate opens at 5am. The various hiking groups had gathered here. Michael from our group, entertained us with non-stop playing of "Baby baby", by Justin Bieber (ofcouse, we went "groan" when he started playing it for the 10th time....). The trek to the "sun gate" took us about 3 hours and it was pretty quick. We had to get through one section of very steep stairs (around 80 steps). We did it by going on all fours. When we arrived at the "sun gate", we just caught a brief glimpse of Machu Picchu. The rain clouds were strong and had pretty much blocked the view : ). So much for a four day hike .... Anyway , 15 minutes later, as we were walking down from the sun gate, Nicole, Roger, Vijay & Veena (fellow hikers from London), and myself blew at the clouds for them to go away. 20 minutes later, everything cleared up and we had the postcard picture of us in front of Machu Picchu!!! Now that is what I call that the butterfly effect : ).
We had arrived. We now joined the rest of the lazy tourists (This was Rogers description of those who had taken a train and bus to Machu Picchu) in exploring the site. Roger as usual gave us an excellent tour. At 11am, Nicole and I with a few others from the group headed of to climb the Wayna Picchu. This is the conical hill behind the Machu Picchu site. We just did not realize how hard and steep the climb up was. I think the Incas were crazy people with small feet and no fear of heights. The ruins at the top of Wayna Picchu is crazy. If you have vertigo, it is not the place for you. It is hard to explain in words, but when you see this place you wonder about the motivation to build such a place. Some say, it was a vantage point from where the architects could oversee the construction of Machu Picchu, others say it was to be close to the gods (if you miss a step here, you can defenitely end up with the gods). Whatever the motivation was, it is definitely a great feat that they built these structures all the way up here.
By 1.30pm, we were back in Machu Picchu. Karl (from America), was holding a spot for a few of us in the bus line, to get back to Aguas Calientes. We got yelled at by an older German couple for breaking the line. I usually don´t like breaking lines, but we had a train to catch at 2.30pm and after 4 days of hiking in the Andes, none of us could care less (especially from people who took a train). We just let the couple step up in front of us and that seemed to quiet them a bit (even though the guy said something about Germans and Americans not being able to get along)....whatever...
The ride back to Cuzco was very peaceful and quiet. The entire group was letting it all sink in , or maybe we were all a bit tired. At the end, we all exchanged goodbyes and thanked Roger and Ronnie (our second guide, who patiently always stayed at the back). We had completed the trek on the Inca trail.
Hasta la vista Machu Picchu.......(Nicole writes: you are beautiful!!)
Trekking the Inca trail was one of the major highlights of our trip to Peru. Nicole and I had trained for this (though we had to abandon any hiking on the last two weeks before our trip). Mount Tam, Mt. Hoffman in Yosemite, the Claremont canyon behind our house (umpteen number of times). Nothing could have prepared for this four day adventure. Pretrek, we had a debriefing meeting at our tour company, Llamapath, where we met our two guides and the rest of the members of our group.
The group was big. 13 trekkers, 21 porters of whom, two were also cooks and two guides. Compared to the DIY hiking in the US this was defenitely more comfortable, since the porters were carrying most of the tents, grear, etc. more about the porters later...(Nicole writes: we lived like kings and queens while camping along the Inca trail!!).
We had to make it to the pickup point at 4.30 in the morning. Nicole and I were staying in a hostel, Mama Simona, that was about 10 minutes by walk from the meeting point. We underestimated the time required for the preparation and had a nice morning jog with our hiking gear to make it in time. Were both given a duffel bag each into which we could pack in 7kgs of gear and clothes. These duffel bags would be hauled by the porters while we carried our day packs with us. We left Cuzco at 4.45am in the morning after a cup of hot coca tea.
Our first stop was Ollyantantambo. On the way here, the views were remarkable. After the first hour of the dry highlands around Cuzco, out of nowhere, these majestic snowcapped peaks appeared. This was something straight out of a picture postcard. Miles of dry highlands with snow capped peaks in the background. I was already liking it.
We had breakfast in Ollyantantambo. After the initial experience in colca canyon, I had learnt my lesson amd was not shy in my eating. I loaded myself up well. I also bought a pair of woolen gloves as this was recommended for the trek and I did not have a pair of gloves. At 5 soles, I could not refuse.
The beginning of the trek is known as km 82. I am guessing that Km 0 starts somewhere near Cuzco. Anyway, since the trail is highly regulated (only 500 people allowed daily, and this includes the porters and guides), we had to go through passport control....and get a stamp for the trail!!!!
The beginning part of the trail is actually very easy. You gain altitude from time to time, but nothing that difficult. The trail is fairly muddy, since the original Inca path here is destroyed. The Spanish were using the trails to hunt down the Incas. The Incas, started destroying parts of the trail so that they would not be followed. We saw our first Inca ruin, which was an old village establishment. The design of the village was great. The agricultural steps were oriented to the east, since the Incas wanted to maximize sunlight for their crops.
Listening to our guide Roger, along the way was fascinating. He is a very very funny guy from the highlands, but when he spoke of the Inca history (or his ancestors as he put it), there was a seriousness in his tone that made you stand up and listen. His passion for the history came through and it was something I could connect with. Lots of controversy, too. Listening to history from a local is interesting because there is some emotion involved and its not just dry facts.
We got to try dehydrated potatos for lunch on day one. It does not taste like regular potatos. People in my group were not big fans of this. I guess the cook masked it with sauce, or put them into soups, from then on.
Day one was a really easy hike. We hit camp just as we were beginning to feel the arduousness of the first uphill. Nicole and I had bought walking sticks for our clinb and this was very helpful. (Nicole writes: Once we arrived at camp, all tents etc. were already set up. We chose our tents and as we were settling in, the porters distributed a small basin with hot water and a towel to each of us so that we could freshen up - these were provided every morning/afternoon and evening!).
Day two started at 5.30am. (Nicole writes: like every morning, apart from the last, we had tent-service - a cup of hot coca tea!). We had a quick breakfast and started the climb up. It was the toughest day in terms of the climb. First 6 hours was a steady climb up reaching a peak elevation of 4200m. The landscape changed dramatically on the climb up. We went from a somewhat arid landscape through highland forests and then out into alpine meadows. There were a ton of people on the trail at all times. I saw many porters stopping at various points, jumping into the bush to pluck out a few leaves and chew them/use them in mate tea. I asked one of them to show me what it was. It was a star shaped leaf with 3 wings. upon further inquiry, they told me that they use it to help their kidneys. The highest point is known as the ``dead woman´s pass`` because of a female shepherd who was found dead here.
The climb back down on day two was really really hard. By this time, we had started walking on the stoney Inca trail. The walking sticks were helpful in minimizing the impact on the knees (though they somewhat slow you down). We passed by a couple of Inca ruins on the way. The views were ofcourse great. We reached camp late in the evening by 6.30pm. We were all so very exhausted. One other couple in the group, did not even make it to dinner......(Roger kindly took some food to their tent).
Day 3 was nice. We went through the cloud forests which have an incredible ecosystem. The moss that grows on the ground, absorbs water from the cloudy environment around and supports the rest of the flora and fauna around. Roger picked up a handfull of moss and squeezed it to show us the quantity of water this moss holds... impressive. This environment of course encourages orchid growth and we saw plenty of these. Day 3 also involved steep descents on steps made for shoe size 5 (infact all Inca steps are like this).
Roger also gave one of the longest lectures on the Spanish conquest of the Incas and the discovery of Machu Picchu. Lots and lots of controvery here. Were the warring Inca kings so easily brought down by a handful of the Spanish warriors, or, did the downfall happen differently? Was there gold found by Hiram Bingham at Machu Picchu?? Do you really discover some new place if you were told about it by the locals?? Do we really live in a post colonial world, when native treasures are still held hostage in other countries??
I did not know about the Yale Inca treasure controversy until I came here.
On day 3, we passed by a few wild llamas, some birds in the forest. We caught a glimpse of the Urubamba river from way high. We reached camp at 2pm in the afternoon. Short day of hike. very nice. After lunch, we went to the site of Winay Wayna. This Inca ruin gave us a flavour of what was to come .... The stepped walls for agriculture are truly amazing. There is a lot of jungle around this place. Parts of the ruin is covered up by the jungle, and apparently the peruvian government doesn't have the resources for excavating all of this out. Close to this ruin, there was a waterfall from the glacial waters. Nicole and I ventured out there. Here it really felt like I was in the Tomb-Raider video game : )! The water was really really cold, but I braved it and had a bath... It was great to have a wash after 3 days of hiking. (Nicole writes: I had hope to brave it, but after not even a minute of putting my feet into the pool of water, they practically went numb. I decided it wouldn´t be a good idea of going any further. I got out and my feet still felt a little numb while hiking back to camp...that´s how cold it was. I was envious of Rakesh, who looked like he was having the time of his life...in heaven, truly! I don´t know how he did it!).
On the last night, we had a tipping ceremony for the Wykis (porters). I cannot say enough good things about these guys. Running up and down the Inca-trail with 25kg packs is no ordinary task. No walking sticks, or bionic backpacks for these guys. Or hiking shoes or mosquito repellents for that matter. They wear sandals (infact all highlanders have just one model......). Big duffels with home-made straps for a backpack. No matter what kind of terrain; flat, uphill, downhill, up the stairs, down the stairs, they are running all the time. In many instances we would catch up to them during their break and think that we could keep up. But, in minutes they would be ahead of us and then disappear into nowhere. Our tents and campsite would be setup for us by the time we got there. How do they do it?? they should include mountain running as a sport in the olympics and these guys will definitely get gold. I did learn a couple of things from them. Going uphill, they always land on their toes, and on their heels for downhill. In case you were to trip, you will always hug the mountain. Also, the Wykis never waste a step going uphill or downhill. With each step, they are either gaining altitude or losing it.
Day four - on the final day, we had to get up at 3.30am in the morning. We had to hike down to the entrance of the gate, for the trail to Machu Picchu. The gate opens at 5am. The various hiking groups had gathered here. Michael from our group, entertained us with non-stop playing of "Baby baby", by Justin Bieber (ofcouse, we went "groan" when he started playing it for the 10th time....). The trek to the "sun gate" took us about 3 hours and it was pretty quick. We had to get through one section of very steep stairs (around 80 steps). We did it by going on all fours. When we arrived at the "sun gate", we just caught a brief glimpse of Machu Picchu. The rain clouds were strong and had pretty much blocked the view : ). So much for a four day hike .... Anyway , 15 minutes later, as we were walking down from the sun gate, Nicole, Roger, Vijay & Veena (fellow hikers from London), and myself blew at the clouds for them to go away. 20 minutes later, everything cleared up and we had the postcard picture of us in front of Machu Picchu!!! Now that is what I call that the butterfly effect : ).
We had arrived. We now joined the rest of the lazy tourists (This was Rogers description of those who had taken a train and bus to Machu Picchu) in exploring the site. Roger as usual gave us an excellent tour. At 11am, Nicole and I with a few others from the group headed of to climb the Wayna Picchu. This is the conical hill behind the Machu Picchu site. We just did not realize how hard and steep the climb up was. I think the Incas were crazy people with small feet and no fear of heights. The ruins at the top of Wayna Picchu is crazy. If you have vertigo, it is not the place for you. It is hard to explain in words, but when you see this place you wonder about the motivation to build such a place. Some say, it was a vantage point from where the architects could oversee the construction of Machu Picchu, others say it was to be close to the gods (if you miss a step here, you can defenitely end up with the gods). Whatever the motivation was, it is definitely a great feat that they built these structures all the way up here.
By 1.30pm, we were back in Machu Picchu. Karl (from America), was holding a spot for a few of us in the bus line, to get back to Aguas Calientes. We got yelled at by an older German couple for breaking the line. I usually don´t like breaking lines, but we had a train to catch at 2.30pm and after 4 days of hiking in the Andes, none of us could care less (especially from people who took a train). We just let the couple step up in front of us and that seemed to quiet them a bit (even though the guy said something about Germans and Americans not being able to get along)....whatever...
The ride back to Cuzco was very peaceful and quiet. The entire group was letting it all sink in , or maybe we were all a bit tired. At the end, we all exchanged goodbyes and thanked Roger and Ronnie (our second guide, who patiently always stayed at the back). We had completed the trek on the Inca trail.
Hasta la vista Machu Picchu.......(Nicole writes: you are beautiful!!)
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Cusco or Cuzco
October 14 - 23, 2012
Cuzco used to be the capital of the Inca Empire and was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1983. The historical part of the city is extremely quaint and picturesque. Lots of narrow, cobbled streets lined with colonial style buildings with red tiled roof tops; several squares - the main one ¨Plaza des Armas¨ (named the same in every other city) was the largest and contained beautiful cured garden beds and a fountain with a statue of an Inca. The city is within the ¨sacred valley¨ and surrounded by mountains dotted with houses etc. Cuzco is at an elevation of 3400m or 11,200ft! Luckily, neither of us experienced any altitude sickness and were pretty well acclimatized after being in Arequipa and Colca Canyon!!
When we first arrived, it was too early in the morning to check-in to our room at the hostel, so we decided to begin touring the region, even though we were a little bleary eyed! We grabbed some breakfast from a food stall at the Plaza de San Francisco (just so we could feel like we were back at home, haha). It consisted of a delicious drink that the locals have for breakfast - freshly made hot apple juice with quinoa!! We shared a fresh "maracuya" (passion fruit) juice and tucked away at an apple cake. Best "on the fly" breakfast ever!
We then hooked up with a couple from Norway, that we had met earlier at our hostel, and took a local minibus to the town of Pisac (also in the Sacred Valley). There, we visited the Pisac market consisting of artisanal crafts/clothes etc. and produce. We also sat up on a porch, overlooking the market, to have some quinoa vegetable soup and to people watch. It was the best place to take some sneeky photos of the locals. Shame, shame! (NB. Apparently, people here don´t like being photographed because they associate it with their soul being taken away!).
The next day we spent most of the day exploring the historic part of Cuzco. This included wondering down to a road filled with artisinal stores and quite a few tourists in order to check out an original wall built by the Incas. An incredible wall showing the unbelievable and mind-boggling skill of the Incas who carved HUGE stones made of granite and pieced them together like a puzzle! Once we located the wall, we found what we were looking for - the 12-angled stone! It wasn´t hard to find, as a bunch of tourists were lining up to take their turn for a snapshot alongside it (yes, we did, too!). The Spanish repurposed remains of Inca walls for their buildings, as in the above case. It was very evident that the portion of the wall, built by the Spanish, was inferior in quality (i.e. much smaller stones, without any purposeful shape and the use of mortar!). The wall was filmed in "Motorcycle Diaries", where a joke by the Cuzco locals is referenced: "Here is the wall built by the Inca. Here is the wall built by the Incapable".
We also explored the local, San Pedro Market, where we bought some produce for our homemade dinner at the hostel that evening (Rakesh´s Indian chickpeas and rice...yummy!). The market included both, food and artisanal products. While there, we were pretty disturbed by the sight of a pile of cows heads, all skinned and with their eyes intact! Yikes!
It was during this day when we first became aware of women standing out on the sidewalks, attempting to lure tourists into purchasing a massage session. We were approached every other block (or so it felt) by these women. How I wished I could have said "yes! sure!" On another day, Rakesh and I laughed as we answered "no thanks", the lady replied "after Macchu Piccu?!". Yes, it sure would have been nice to have had a massage after our 4 day trek!!
On Tuesday, we spent most of the day relaxing, as I was feeling a little run down. We did, however, venture out in the afternoon to buy a guitar from a store outside of the historic center of Cuzco. The reason for buying a guitar is that Rakesh had asked the owner of the hostel, whether there was a guitar in the building that he could play. Her response was "no", but then asked Rakesh if he wouldn´t mind buying one for her to keep in the hostel, as apparently their had been others asking for a guitar, too. We ventured to a more local part of town in order to find a few guitar stores. We were a little disappointed to find out that in most of the stores the guitars were all made in China! We did, however, find one that had some guitars made in Peru and so that´s where we bought the guitar for the hostel at quite the bargain (300 soles ~ $100), well, ofcourse they paid us back. It was an fun experience though to venture around the non-touristy part of the city. We, in fact, were the only tourists around, as far as we knew. The area consisted of one store after another, with merchandise pouring out onto the sidewalks; swarms of people and traffic! As with many other similar situations thus far, asking for directions was often a feat. For example, in this situation we needed to find an ATM, to get some cash out to pay for the guitar. The answer we received was often an arm and finger pointing in the general direction and a few words, like "a la esquina" (at the corner). We would proceed to the crossing, and there we would have to ask for further directions as finding the ATM was not evident. As a result we got another finger pointing to yet another direction! We we eventually found an ATM, but several blocks away from the store!
The day before setting off for the Inca trek, we visited an Inca Museum. There, we looked at various artifacts, including tools, ceramic wear, and jewelry. We learned about the various Inca tribes (which unfortunately, we cannot remember the names) but that lived at different elevations in the Andes and, therefore, cultivated different types of grains, cereals and potatoes. FYI: there are a few thousand varieties of potatoes in Peru! We also saw clothing of the Incas, mummies (mostly skeletons) and colonial artifacts. Another, interesting (but gruesome) tid-bit, is that the Inca nobles were subjected to a deformation of their skull, so that it was elongated and appeared more oval. It was a way of indicating their status! This was quite clear in some of the mummies we saw!
The rest of the day was spent preparing for the Inca trek, including the purchase of walking sticks, which were well worth it!! Rakesh also bought himself a nice hoodie top made of llama wool and I bought a pair of Peruvian style pants, a hoodie and scarf, also made of llama wool.
Return from Inca trek on October 21st, 2012 (Cuzco October 21-23):
After returning from the Inca trek, we were exhausted! We needed another whole day in Cuzco to sleep in and relax before setting off for Puno. On the 23rd, we purchased our tickets for a tourist bus ride to Puno, walked and also ventured out to another very local area called "Plaza de Santiago". There, Rakesh was in search of "charrango" (Andean guitar). Again, we were possibly the only tourists there. We had been told that it was not a safe area and to watch out for our day packs. We, however, felt fine. Maybe it´s thanks to Rakesh, who blended in pretty well, even though he often got curious stares due to people not quite figuring out where he is from. It was this area, where we should have bought the guitar for the hostel. A road was filled with actual musical instrument workshops. We found an affordable charrango, though due to crazy directions (just like the example described above), we did not return to the store to make the purchase. By the time we found the ATM we were looking for, the walk ended up being to far, and it began to get darker and decided to walk back towards the hostel instead. We grabbed some more groceries at the supermarket and made our last hostel-made dinner (Rakesh´s chickpeas, again). A Russian couple, working at the hostel, kindly gave us some of their quinoa balls that they had made the night before. Likewise, we gave them some of our food, too.
I want to mention that because Cuzco attracts so many tourist, it caters to all palates. It was the first place where we found many restaurants serving vegetarian food. We did eat out a few times, and had pizza, pasta as well as local food, such as Ceviche for the first time! Overall, the food in restaurants was very good!
Cuzco used to be the capital of the Inca Empire and was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1983. The historical part of the city is extremely quaint and picturesque. Lots of narrow, cobbled streets lined with colonial style buildings with red tiled roof tops; several squares - the main one ¨Plaza des Armas¨ (named the same in every other city) was the largest and contained beautiful cured garden beds and a fountain with a statue of an Inca. The city is within the ¨sacred valley¨ and surrounded by mountains dotted with houses etc. Cuzco is at an elevation of 3400m or 11,200ft! Luckily, neither of us experienced any altitude sickness and were pretty well acclimatized after being in Arequipa and Colca Canyon!!
When we first arrived, it was too early in the morning to check-in to our room at the hostel, so we decided to begin touring the region, even though we were a little bleary eyed! We grabbed some breakfast from a food stall at the Plaza de San Francisco (just so we could feel like we were back at home, haha). It consisted of a delicious drink that the locals have for breakfast - freshly made hot apple juice with quinoa!! We shared a fresh "maracuya" (passion fruit) juice and tucked away at an apple cake. Best "on the fly" breakfast ever!
We then hooked up with a couple from Norway, that we had met earlier at our hostel, and took a local minibus to the town of Pisac (also in the Sacred Valley). There, we visited the Pisac market consisting of artisanal crafts/clothes etc. and produce. We also sat up on a porch, overlooking the market, to have some quinoa vegetable soup and to people watch. It was the best place to take some sneeky photos of the locals. Shame, shame! (NB. Apparently, people here don´t like being photographed because they associate it with their soul being taken away!).
The next day we spent most of the day exploring the historic part of Cuzco. This included wondering down to a road filled with artisinal stores and quite a few tourists in order to check out an original wall built by the Incas. An incredible wall showing the unbelievable and mind-boggling skill of the Incas who carved HUGE stones made of granite and pieced them together like a puzzle! Once we located the wall, we found what we were looking for - the 12-angled stone! It wasn´t hard to find, as a bunch of tourists were lining up to take their turn for a snapshot alongside it (yes, we did, too!). The Spanish repurposed remains of Inca walls for their buildings, as in the above case. It was very evident that the portion of the wall, built by the Spanish, was inferior in quality (i.e. much smaller stones, without any purposeful shape and the use of mortar!). The wall was filmed in "Motorcycle Diaries", where a joke by the Cuzco locals is referenced: "Here is the wall built by the Inca. Here is the wall built by the Incapable".
We also explored the local, San Pedro Market, where we bought some produce for our homemade dinner at the hostel that evening (Rakesh´s Indian chickpeas and rice...yummy!). The market included both, food and artisanal products. While there, we were pretty disturbed by the sight of a pile of cows heads, all skinned and with their eyes intact! Yikes!
It was during this day when we first became aware of women standing out on the sidewalks, attempting to lure tourists into purchasing a massage session. We were approached every other block (or so it felt) by these women. How I wished I could have said "yes! sure!" On another day, Rakesh and I laughed as we answered "no thanks", the lady replied "after Macchu Piccu?!". Yes, it sure would have been nice to have had a massage after our 4 day trek!!
On Tuesday, we spent most of the day relaxing, as I was feeling a little run down. We did, however, venture out in the afternoon to buy a guitar from a store outside of the historic center of Cuzco. The reason for buying a guitar is that Rakesh had asked the owner of the hostel, whether there was a guitar in the building that he could play. Her response was "no", but then asked Rakesh if he wouldn´t mind buying one for her to keep in the hostel, as apparently their had been others asking for a guitar, too. We ventured to a more local part of town in order to find a few guitar stores. We were a little disappointed to find out that in most of the stores the guitars were all made in China! We did, however, find one that had some guitars made in Peru and so that´s where we bought the guitar for the hostel at quite the bargain (300 soles ~ $100), well, ofcourse they paid us back. It was an fun experience though to venture around the non-touristy part of the city. We, in fact, were the only tourists around, as far as we knew. The area consisted of one store after another, with merchandise pouring out onto the sidewalks; swarms of people and traffic! As with many other similar situations thus far, asking for directions was often a feat. For example, in this situation we needed to find an ATM, to get some cash out to pay for the guitar. The answer we received was often an arm and finger pointing in the general direction and a few words, like "a la esquina" (at the corner). We would proceed to the crossing, and there we would have to ask for further directions as finding the ATM was not evident. As a result we got another finger pointing to yet another direction! We we eventually found an ATM, but several blocks away from the store!
The day before setting off for the Inca trek, we visited an Inca Museum. There, we looked at various artifacts, including tools, ceramic wear, and jewelry. We learned about the various Inca tribes (which unfortunately, we cannot remember the names) but that lived at different elevations in the Andes and, therefore, cultivated different types of grains, cereals and potatoes. FYI: there are a few thousand varieties of potatoes in Peru! We also saw clothing of the Incas, mummies (mostly skeletons) and colonial artifacts. Another, interesting (but gruesome) tid-bit, is that the Inca nobles were subjected to a deformation of their skull, so that it was elongated and appeared more oval. It was a way of indicating their status! This was quite clear in some of the mummies we saw!
The rest of the day was spent preparing for the Inca trek, including the purchase of walking sticks, which were well worth it!! Rakesh also bought himself a nice hoodie top made of llama wool and I bought a pair of Peruvian style pants, a hoodie and scarf, also made of llama wool.
Return from Inca trek on October 21st, 2012 (Cuzco October 21-23):
After returning from the Inca trek, we were exhausted! We needed another whole day in Cuzco to sleep in and relax before setting off for Puno. On the 23rd, we purchased our tickets for a tourist bus ride to Puno, walked and also ventured out to another very local area called "Plaza de Santiago". There, Rakesh was in search of "charrango" (Andean guitar). Again, we were possibly the only tourists there. We had been told that it was not a safe area and to watch out for our day packs. We, however, felt fine. Maybe it´s thanks to Rakesh, who blended in pretty well, even though he often got curious stares due to people not quite figuring out where he is from. It was this area, where we should have bought the guitar for the hostel. A road was filled with actual musical instrument workshops. We found an affordable charrango, though due to crazy directions (just like the example described above), we did not return to the store to make the purchase. By the time we found the ATM we were looking for, the walk ended up being to far, and it began to get darker and decided to walk back towards the hostel instead. We grabbed some more groceries at the supermarket and made our last hostel-made dinner (Rakesh´s chickpeas, again). A Russian couple, working at the hostel, kindly gave us some of their quinoa balls that they had made the night before. Likewise, we gave them some of our food, too.
I want to mention that because Cuzco attracts so many tourist, it caters to all palates. It was the first place where we found many restaurants serving vegetarian food. We did eat out a few times, and had pizza, pasta as well as local food, such as Ceviche for the first time! Overall, the food in restaurants was very good!
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