From Sorata to Cusco and the Sacred Valley

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May 30th 2009

Published: May 30th 2009

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Sorata Camping

The restaurant

A month or so later. Couldnt leave Sorata without staying at the wonderful camping there. The owners are a wonderful couple, the camping itself a paradise...So stayed 5 days there in my tent, had as neighbours 3 Israeli kids and a very sweet couple from New Zeeland. Also joined me some llamas, a cow, some geese and lots of hens. Spend the time reading and walking, celebrated my birthday with some of the neighbours sitting around the fire.
Next was time to go back to Cusco, to work with the street kids a bit more and enjoy this beautiful city. Not feeling like spending a night on the way i decided to do it in one time. Meaning: A taxi to the centre of Sorata (20 minutes, from camping) , to take a minibus to somewhere near the lake of Titicaca (2,5 hours) then spotting a private car as taxi, to Copacabana (2,5 hours). From Copacabana to the Bolivian border (1/2 hour) where i had a discussion with the not so friendly officer, and had to pay some dollars for being too long in Bolivia. From here 15 minutes walk, crossing the border to Peru, where i was welcomed very friendly,

Street dance in Cusco

One of the many competitors

a scooter taxi to the bus in Yungayu, a bus from Yungayo to Puno, 3 hours wait to the nightbus to Cusco and that was it. Total: Leaving Sorata at 11 in the morning, arriving in Cusco 18 hours later, but really a great experience all these means of transport!
Cusco was as beautiful as ever. Here I did some work, met some friends and for the first time enjoyed 5 days lying in bed with a terrible food poisening. Well afterr 5 months i think it was time, no complaints. Sometime after this illness, my friend German came back from his adventure, after working as volunteer near the Isla del Sol, building cabins. We went for a couple of days to the Sacred Valley, a beautiful valley near Cusco, where there are enough things to see. We spent some time in the village of Urubamba, from here we went for a long walk to Maras, from where we took a cab to Muray, a site of terrace ruins from the Inka times, which supposedly was used for testing crops in different altitudes. From there we went walking to Salinas, an Incan Complex, still used for extracting salt. Beautiful and

Cusco streetkids

This beutiful arm band was made by one of the kids i worked with at the police.

impressive. Lastly we went to Olyantaytambo, where we just spent some time relaxing, and at the end of this, back to Cusco. This left us with a couple of days more to just enjoy Cusco.
Tomorrow we start a long and winding road thru the Andes, which is supposed to be one of the roughest and most beautiful roads, with lots of snowcapped mountains and thrilling heights on roads more fitting donkeys than busses. 12 hours to Andhuaylas, from there another 12 to Ayacucho, Cusco´s sister, and from there another 12 to Huancayo, where we will stay a bit longer, i think. We´ll see...
So that´s it for now. Enjoy Shavuot, Pinksteren or whatever, love from Peru.

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