After all of our little unexpected stop-offs we finally arrived at Peru's main attraction, Cusco, where many people trek the Inca trail up to Machu Picchu. Unfortunately the Inca trail was closed whilst we were there- they close it for the month of February so that they can clean it. Still we had the most manic of weeks as we realised that we had less time than we originally thought due to all the little adventures we had been on and therefore we crammed everything into one week.
Cusco is a very small town but such a great, traditional place, especially in comparison to Lima. The one problem with the town is that its altitude is 3,300 m (10,800 feet) making it difficult to breath at times. Many people in our hostel felt very ill and sleepy, although shane and weren't affected at all, at least not until we visted Puno later in our trip
In order to get to Machu Picchu by train, we firstly had to stay a night at a stop off point-a little town named Agues Calientes. Our hostel was right at the top of a very steep hill which provided a little bit of
practise for climbing the mountain behind Machu Picchu, Wanna Picchu. The steep street was full of cute little restaurants and bars serving cheap glasses of the famous Peruvian drink, Pisco Sour which is very scrumptious and strangely enough made from egg whites, sugar and lemon juice- with the odd dash of Pisco brandy of course. The local delicacies in this part of Peru were Alpacka (a cross between a camel and a sheep) and Genuie Pig- yes i know....... but it wouldn't be travelling properly if I didn't have a small taste would it? The Alpacka was delicious and came in the style of a sausage with a choice of sauce over the top. The Genuie Pig however, we shared between 6 of us- thank god!! It was stuffed with ham and cheese like a kiev but it was hard to chew and we could still feel its fur between our teeth, enough said!!
The next day we left our hostel at 5am to do a sacred vally tour that we had booked. This turned out to be a bit of a nightmare as our trip was supposed to be led by a bilingual guide for both English and
Spanish travellers. We were the only two English on the bus and further still the guide could only manage about two words of English. Saying this, the sacred valley was truely beautiful and although it would have been nice to know information about the sites we were seeing it was still well worth the visit.
The Sacred Valley is a valley set in the Andes of Peru. Many rivers flow near by but the most noticeable is the Urubamba. There are numerous archaeological remains and villages, including huge farming systems- rows of walls that were mainly used to grow potato as this was the best place for maize production in Peru. The sacred Valley also holds some primary Inca buildings- The Intihuatana, the Temple of the Sun, and the Room of the Three Windows. These ruins were truely incredible and even before getting to Machu Picchu we began to wonder how the Incas managed to mould these magnificant buildings with the ancient tools that they had.
In the afternoon we visited a local market, this was full of brightly coloured traditional clothing and jewellry and also had many items that were made from alpacka wool- many of these
animals conveniently wandering around outside the markets. Peruvians rely heavely on tourism and travellers are all encouraged to buy hand-made products as opposed to simply giving money. Shane and I bought some hand-made bracelets and also purchased some famous Peruvian trousers. Shane's were bright yellow and mine bright pink and both pairs had mulit-coloured stripes running down them (they look llike pj bottoms). In Peru everyone was wearing them but after leaving the country we have had countless strange looks when wearing them.
The next day we had another 5am start in order to get Machu Picchu for our 6.30am guided tour. Thankfully this tour was just perfect and even at the entrance to the national park the view was completely breath-taking. Machu Picchu was built around the year 1450 and sits 2,400 meters above sea level-being situated on a mountain ridge above the Urubamba Valley. People often refer to the site as "The Lost City of the Incas" and it stands as the most familiar symbol of the Inca Empire. The city was abandoned less than one hundred years later remaining unfinished and evidence of this unfinished Inca building work can still be seen. The Spanish conquest was
responsible for the abandonment and our guide informed us that it was a concious decision by the Incas to leave the settlement as rather than feeling threatened they hoped that the city would be overgrown by plantlife. They hoped that this way it would be discovered in a period in which people would not see it as a threat and destroy it and therefore their traditions and great talent would be remembered. Their hopes were fulfilled- the site only being discovered in 1911 by the American historian Hiram Bingham. Since then the site has become a Peruvian Historical Sanctuary (1981) and a UNESCO World Heritage Site (1983) ensuring its safety.
Wandering around the ruins we were told that only 40% of the information about Machu Picchu was factual and the rest was based on theory, or remained a mystery which added to the magical feel of the place. The hills were surrounded with low-set cloud which added to the mysterious beauty and we examined the ruins, nobody in the group having a clue how the Incas managed to build so perfectly. After our fabulous guided tour had finished Shane and I decided to trek up Huayna Picchu, the mountain
situated behind the valley of Machu Picchu which was supposed to provide some amazing views. It only took us about 50 minutes to in total but the mountain was so steep that it was practically vertical in places. We also had to climb through a tunnel in which Shane completely freaked out (sometimes being a small person had its benefits). Once we arrived at the top breathless and sweaty it started to pour with rain and the rain cloud blocked any chance of viewing the valley below. Although we remained sitting in the rain for an hour in the hope that the cloud would clear we had no such luck and made our way down mildly disappointed but happy for having had some exercise. All in all the day was fantastic and neither one of us were suprised that Mach Picchu was has been labelled one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.
The following day we had yet another 5am start and got up feeling completely shattered but still excited for our next adventure in Peru. This time we were heading to Puno for a trip out on the great Lake Titicaca-the world's highest navigable lake. After
a long coach journey we spent the first night of our trip in a hotel room, a major luxury I can tell you. However, at 3.30am both Shane and I were awake having difficulty with our breathing. Puno is 3,860 m (12,421 ft) above sea level, so even higher than Cusco and for the first time we could feel it.
The next day we went out onto the great lake that seemed to stretch for miles and was incredibly beautiful, especially when calm. We stopped off at one of the floating reed islands, this was made from the totora reed and a small community lived on it, there were no showers, no bathrooms and no toothbrushes and so the children of all the islands have to chew on a special reed that helps their teeth stay strong- we tried this... not so good. Our guide informed us that because of the reeds being soggy and soft, most of the islands inhabitants have arthritis by the time they have reached 30. Though the elder generation are looking to keep the tradition of the floating islands alive, the population is slowly decreasing: The younger generation can only attend school on the
islands until 7 and then they are transferred to Puno to continue their education. Apparently very few return, and sorry to be a party pooper but I can't say I blame them, at least Puno has a toilet and some toilet paper...!
Utterly gob-smacked at the fact people lived out on the lake in this way, we got back on the boat and headed for a more stable island, that is, one that was actually connected to the ground! Here we were to stay with a local Peruvian woman in her home for 2 days and 1 night. She was named Cynthia and came to meet us in a traditional, colourful outfit that included a head-scarf and looked like something from back in the medieval days. We scuttled after her and followed her up a huge hill to where her house was situated. Her house also looked medieval, we were put into a little cabin with huge knitted duvets, the tiny, underground kitchen simply had a stone hearth with a huge cauldron placed above it and although there was no shower, there was a small shed about half a mile from the cabin that contained a hole and some
token toilet paper for us to use.
Later that afternoon we met our tour guide and the rest of our group and headed further up into the hills for a spectacular view of Lake Titicaca which seemed to glisten as it lay calm. It must have been the calm before the storm however, as it started to rain gently. We headed down the hills and got back to Cynthia's house just before a huge thunder storm took place. It had to have been the most amazing thunder storm I have ever witnessed, lightening striking over the lake whilst we waited to be called to the kitchen for dinner. We laid on our beds for well over an hour looking at our TIN roof and hoping the lightening wouldn't get us.
Running down to the kitchen we entered to find Cynthia and her very elderly mother sat around the hearth. There was no electricity on the island so the room was lit by candles. She served us up some soup from a smaller cauldron that was simply delicious, it was vegetable and it was easy to see that the vegetables were island grown and super fresh. Next on the
menu was quite literally a plate of carbohydrates. There was pasta, potato and rice, each without any sauce and I looked down knowing that I was going to struggle, being that I was full already- however I didn't want to be rude and sat smiling as I finished the plate of food off. Cynthia spoke Quechua and not a word of English and Shane and I vice versa but I have to say that the atmosphere was wonderful, they were sweet women and we all sat listening to the rain and thunder- it was somewhat calming. Through the candle light I happened to notice a basket in a darkened corner of the room, it seemed to be moving and eventually I made out a plump chicken very comfortably wrapped up in warm blankets. I guess this is where the pet chicken lives, treated like a queen so she produces lots of eggs. Cynthia asked Shane if he would like seconds and almost full himself he asked for a very small second helping. She gave him a plate that was bigger than his first and I saw his face drop with the expression of, "how in heaven am I going to
eat this". He struggled on until he looked like he was going to be sick and then sat there very quietly for a while :)
Later that night Cynthia came up to our room with the traditional clothing that she herself was wearing and gave Shane and I a male and female outfit. We put it on over our clothes and went to the village hall to meet the rest of our group (all of which were staying at other local houses). We were all dressed up and here, feeling rather ridiculous, we were able to buy some beer and dance with the locals and each other. When we eventually retired to bed we must have had 4 covers each and I was still trembling to the bone, so I sat with my candle and read for a while until I felt a bit warmer and then nodded off.
The following morning we headed back to the boat, giving Cynthia a tip for her kind hospitality and waving goodbye as we set off back to Puno. On the way back we met two Australian guys and two girls that were really great. We all took over the top
deck with some beers and sat in the sun with the wonderful view-singing. Once we hit land we knew that the best idea, after one hell of a busy week, would be to return to our hotel and get some much needed sleep. So we went back, got showered, met up with the Ozzies and stayed out all night partying. The next day however, with 50 hours of travelling to do, we thought that we actually might die. It was much regretted- no night is worth that pain!!
Once we arrived back in Cusco, we had to grab our backpacks and head straight off to the airport still too ill for reflection on our time in Peru. Had we not have been feeling so sorry for ourselves though, the reflection would have been that Peru was truely beautiful and we had had the most adventure of any continent so far here.
The next stop was Chile. Arriving in to Santiago very drained and tired we found that the city was too big and far too polluted and as we needed some relaxation we decided that after one night in the city we would grab a morning bus and
head to Pucon in the lake district. Pucon was perfect, the Villarrica volcano with its snow-topped peaks stood high above all the lakes and Shane and I sunbathed most days by the lake-side on the black, volcanic sand. The small town was really pretty and we learnt that it was often compared to Switzerland with its wooden log cabins and pine hotels. We stayed in a really nice, small hostel and cooked for ourselves most nights. One night however, we decided to treat ourselves and took a minibus up to the natural hotsprings, taking along a bottle of wine and some chocolates from one of the many gourmet hand-made chocolatiers dotted about the streets of Pucon. Bliss! :)
Peru's Flag
Map of Peru