http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Inca-Trailblazer/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Inca Trailblazer en-us Tue, 01 Dec 2009 12:57:36 +0000 Tue, 01 Dec 2009 12:57:36 +0000 DAY 20 CUSCO CITY AND THE SHAMANFor today I had arranged a session with a shaman who was to help me clean my soul by way of drinking San Pedro juice. San Pedro is a cactus used by the Peruvian shamans to help people contact their sixth sense and has been used by native Peruvians for more than 3000 years. It is also used as a medicine to treat nervous conditions cardiac diseases and high blood http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Cusco/blog-220243.html DAY 19 OLLANTAYTAMBO PISAC TAMBOMACHAY QENQO Y SACSAYHUAMANI awoke early and arrived at the ruins of Ollantaytambo in order to see the sunrise. At 715 a.m. the sun hit the eye of the Llama which is a rock inside of a short square wall located at top of the ruins. When the sun hits it the winter solstice has officially begun. I saw a flash of light hitting the ground inside of the square and http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Sacred-Valley/blog-220241.html DAY 18 OLLANTAYTAMBO CHINCHERO MORAY AND MARASI canrsquot remember if I set the alarm clock the night before to see the winter solstice ceremony but in any event I didnrsquot wake up at 400 a.m. After writing some notes and taking a shower I went to the hotelrsquos restaurant and enjoyed their huge buffet.I left the hotel without having a clear idea of what to do. When I arrived at the http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Cusco/blog-212981.html DAY 17 THE LAST DAY OF THE INCA TRAILAs usual on the Inca Trail a porter woke me up at 430 a.m. My stomach was feeling weird this morning so I decided to pack and eat something light. We started the hiking at 515 a.m. arriving at the check point only 5 minutes later. There was a pretty big line here because the check point would be open at 530 a.m. A flashlight at this point is extremely imp http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Inca-Trail/blog-211320.html DAY 16 THIRD DAY OF THE INCA TRAILThe first destination for today was the Inca ruins of Runkuraqay 12470 feet which our group reached after a 40 minute hike. Apparently this was a religious place of training and preparation for the Inca priests. The Incas did not have writing so archeologists have different theories about the Incarsquos ruins but not a definite one. Most of what is known http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Inca-Trail/blog-211319.html DAY 15 SECOND DAY OF THE INCA TRAILI awoke at 300 a.m. to the song of a cock who repeated its singing every half hour. Without a doubt that cock did not pass the class that teaches to sing only with the sunrise. Anyway at 530 a.m. one of the porters woke me and gave me a hot coca leaf tea. After breakfast one of the crew offered boiled water and snacks for the trek. I returned the boiled wat http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Inca-Trail/blog-210233.html DAY 14 FIRST DAY OF THE INCA TRAILThe day that Irsquod been anticipating for so long finally arrived. I woke up at 530 a.m. to take a shower eat breakfast and leave my big backpack in the storage room of the hotel where I was staying in Cusco City. I met my tour guide Maria in the hotel lobby at 640 and we left for the bus where we met the rest of the group. There were 9 other hikers 2 fr http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Inca-Trail/blog-208603.html DAY 13 CUSCO CITYAfter waking up at 800 a.m. and taking a long hot shower I walked to the main square and enjoyed again the beautiful feeling that embraces me each time that I am in Cusco. I do not know why but I feel different and full of energy when I am here.In the main square I met Jose. He was my contact in Cusco to hike the Inca Trail. I had booked my Inca Trail with him on March 27th http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Cusco/blog-208584.html DAY 12 PUNO CUSCOAfter a shower and breakfast I was ready for my guide Mr. Eduardo Pineda one of the most popular guides in the area to pick me up. We started the dayrsquos journey at 545 a.m. heading first to Sillustani located 20 miles from Puno. The entrance ticket to the ruins costs US 3.00. I have been before in Puno but this is another place where I have never been before. On t http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Puno/blog-208583.html DAY 11 PUNO TITICACA LAKEAround 200 a.m. I woke up because it was really cold so I had to use a couple of blankets to warm me up. On Amantani Island you wonrsquot find anything like heaters or calefaction because of their living conditions. Because of this I learned that my sleeping bag wouldnrsquot keep me warm during the Inca Trail so I would have to look for a sleeping bag in the ra http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Puno/Lake-Titicaca-/Taquile-Island/blog-204636.html DAY 10 PUNO TITICACA LAKEMy bus left Arequipa at 130 a.m. 30 minutes late. I had expected to be in Puno altitude 11665 ft. around 600 or 630 a.m. but we didnrsquot arrive until 730 a.m. because of the many stops the ldquoOrmeordquo bus made. Next time I will go to Puno from Arequipa by plane or by a Cruz del Sur bus because they offer the best service in Peru. Since my Titicaca http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Puno/Lake-Titicaca-/Uros-Island/blog-204635.html DAY 9 STILL IN AREQUIPAToday I woke up early to visit some of the old colonial churches and houses of Arequipa as well as some hotels.My first visit was the Sabandia Water Mill or ldquoMolino de Sabandiardquo built in 1785. The entrance fee was around US 1.70. In this old colonial building I spent about an hour. Here you can see the old way to process wheat also some art pieces and old too http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Arequipa/Arequipa/blog-193866.html DAY 8 AREQUIPAThis morning I felt lazy so I stayed most of the morning with my parents at their house. I left their house only to buy my bus ticket to Puno. I had to look for a bus that would be leaving the next day around 1130 p.m. or a little bit later in order to be in Puno around 730 a.m. to start my tour over the Titicaca Lake. I had been told that a regular bus trip from Arequipa to Puno http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Arequipa/Santa-Catalina/blog-193864.html DAY 7 COLCA CANYON AREQUIPAToday the alarm clock woke me up at 550 a.m. and I was really happy because my headache was history. Since my bus would be picking me up in one hour and ten minutes I took a quick shower and then I left my room to eat breakfast. When I left my room I almost froze because the temperature was around 30F. After eating breakfast I went to my room to pack and get read http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Arequipa/Colca-Canyon/blog-193861.html DAY 6 CHIVAY COLCA CANYON At 730 am Juan the driver and Omar the tour guide picked me up in a comfortable small bus. After picking up another 9 tourists from their hotels we left Arequipa city around 800 am. Before boarding the bus I would suggest taking a pill for altitude sickness. On the way to the Colca Canyon we passed the district of Yura and then we stopped at Quisquos Irriga http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Arequipa/Colca-Canyon/blog-178890.html DAY 5 AREQUIPA My bus arrived in Arequipa at 815 am while I slept during most of the trip. The bus ticket had cost me about US 45.00. My parents picked me up from the bus station and I went to their house to unpack and take a hot shower. The city of Arequipa is at 7332.67 feet altitude. At 1100 am I went to a local hospital in order to get the yellow fever vaccination. If you are planning http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Arequipa/Arequipa/blog-178889.html DAY 4 PISCO PARACAS NAZCA Today was a cold shower day. Thatrsquos because I found out too late that I should have turned on the thermal machine 30 minutes before taking a shower. Since I didnrsquot have a lot of time I took a cold shower. It certainly woke me up but I wouldnrsquot recommend it. What I do recommend is that you ask at your arrival to each hotel how their hot water wor http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Ica/Nazca/Nazca-Lines/blog-178183.html DAY 3 LIMAPISCOPARACAS Today I left Lima at 545 am using the Soyuz bus company. The bus ticket costs around US 5.50. The buses of this company leave every 10 minutes but they are not that comfortable and they stop all the time. So I recommend that you travel with Cruz del Sur. The exit to Pisco is located around 227 Kms. 141.87 miles south of Lima and the bus took 3 hours to get http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Ica/Pisco/blog-178181.html DAY 2 LIMA When I awoke at 900am today I remembered how overcast and humid Lima can be in autumn. Despite the weather it is a capital with a lot of history the main colony of Spain in America and nice places to visit. I was eager to begin my trip which Irsquod been planning for over three months. The first thing I did was go to the bank and deposit my money in an account. Those who are http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Lima/Lima/Miraflores/blog-177747.html DAY 1 LOS ANGELES ATLANTA LIMA I boarded the plane at LAX Los Angeles Airport just after 800 am and landed in Atlanta four hours later. An hour after that I boarded the plane to Peru. It was packed mainly with tourists. Actually the two girls who sat next to me were going to stay in Ayacucho for two months to teach English to little kids but before doing that they were going to hike t http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Lima/Lima/Miraflores/blog-177604.html