Advertisement
Published: December 10th 2009
Dear friends and family,
With this entry, we will close part 1 of our 1 year trip. So it is a kind of special entry.
Peru i big and has so much to offer. We could have chosen to divide it into several smaller entries, but ended up putting it all together in a mega entry, there are 200 photos! Enjoy...
We took the local bus from Copacabana in Bolivia to Puno in Peru. Without being of great luxury the bus was comfortable enough for 3 young guys like us.
Nothing special to mention except that the border crossing went smoothly, although we all had to disembark on the Bolivian site, go through immigration, walk through the no-man's lands between the 2 countries, pass through immigration in Peru and find our bus back in Peru.
Plenty of money changers offered their services during that short walk. We used a shop as recommended by or bus driver, I suppose he gets a commission.
Puno lies above 3,800 meters, it climate is cold at night but can be very sunny during the day. Luckily, by now we were used to high altitude, so our breathing was under control.
The spacious Plaza
de Armas is the main point of reference. A large cathedral with a beautiful baroque facade is dominating the plaza.
The plaza is surrounded by narrow streets with plenty of souvenir shops where you can spend your money. The only problem is that some shops really have nice stuff very different from the usual trash, so well ... we were tempted!
Puno is mainly a crossroad for tourist between Bolivia and Cusco or even Chile. From there however you can take a boat and visit one of the inhabited islands on the lake (Taquile and Amantani) where you can stay overnight with locals.
Instead we opted for a long one day trip on the lake, visiting one of the floating islands (Los Uros) and then Taquile.
Although it became very touristic, Los Uros certainly is worth visiting. The locals are very welcoming and we got a full explanation on how such floating islands are build. The reed that is growing on the lake has some very thick and deep roots. The locals know where to find it and detach it. These roots will become the 'foundations' of the floating island. They are very resistant and can last several years. On
top of these roots is added a layer of fresh reed that needs to be changed regularly. Their houses, built with reed as well can then be built. Should you not clearly see what I am talking about, no worries, there is a pictures that will make this all very clear.
Taquile was nice as well although a bit too touristic and it cannot compete with the Isla del Sol.
The next day we left Puno with the Inca express bus to Cusco.
It is a very comfortable bus, ideal for this touristic road of 380Km. We enjoyed several stops on the way. and in particular Raqchi. Located at the base of the Quimsachata volcano, Raqchi is know for the remains of the temple of Wiracocha, a magnificent example of Inca architecture. Close to the temple we could admire the ruins of silos built by the Incas. They are cylindric, built with stones and with a typical trapezoidal entry and quite high. Some are very well preserved, other are totally destroyed. What is fascinating is their number, we couldn't count, but there were more than one hundred silos.
In front of the temple is a church probably built with
stones from the silos ruins (see picture).
On arrival in Cusco we were picked up by the owner of the Inkarri hostel where we were going to stay for 6 nights. We were pleased to find a spacious room with 3 beds, a nice courtyard and friendly staff.
Cusco was the capital of the Inca empire. It had plenty of massive building the foundations of which were used by the Spaniards to built their own colonial buildings. The building technique of the Incas is remarkable. They assemble without mortal, blocks of stone carved to measure so that they fit together. Windows and doors have a trapezoidal shape. In 1650 a violent earthquake destroyed almost all of the colonial constructions but the Inca walls and palaces were intact. The same happened in 1950 when most of the Inca buildings resisted while several colonial constructions were destroyed.
The heart of the city is the Plaza de Armas where the Iglesia de la Compaňia de Jesus is located as well as the cathedral.
the Iglesia de la Compaňia de Jesus was built in 1576 on the place where the palace of the Inca Huayna Capac stood. It is one of the most
Raqchi - food storage silos
partly intact, they were higherbeautiful churches in America, with a facade in carved stone and a gilded altar.
The cathedral was built on the bases of the palace of the Inca Wiracocha, with stones extracted from the fortress of Sacsayhuaman. The cathedral which was built between 1579 and 1679 is really worth a visit with a cedar wood carved choir, nice painting and plenty of silver and gold.
Among the other places we enjoyed in Cusco, we have the Plaza San Francisco, the beautiful Palacio del Amirante and its Museo Inka, the Koriocancha (where the Temple of the Sun was), the Monasterio de Santa Catalina, the Inca walls of Callejon Loreto, the narrow alley of Hathun Rumiyoq (an ancient street with examples of superb Inca stone work like the 12 angle stone) and the Museo de Arte Religioso del Arzobispado housed in a superb arabesque-style mansion.
We had some difficulties in finding non tourist restaurants, until we found a lovely local pizzeria, close to the hotel. However in a nice restaurant for tourists, Vincent and I (Benoit) made a point of eating the local 'Inca' specialty, i.e. guinea pig! Well...won't try it again!
Around Cusco we visited the fortress of Sacsayhuaman. This fortress was
also a place of worship. It was built without mortar and some blocs weight around 300 tons!
When Cusco was conquered by Francisco Pizarro in 1533, the fortress was left intact. In 1536, the Incas under the leadership of Manco Inka started a rebellion with about 15,000 man. Against any logic, the Spaniards defeated the Incas and took the fortress with 200 men. Juan Pizarro, Fransisco's son was killed as he charged the main gate in a surprise attack.
We also visited some interesting places in the Sacred Valley.
In Pissac at the entrance of the Sacred valley, we visited the colourful local market, but more importantly, managed to climb to the Citadel after a 90 minute walk. On the way to the ruins we benefited from stunning views of the agricultural terraces built by the Inca.
Another nice day was when we had our bicycle trip in the Sacred Valley. Although we were told it was of average difficulty, some places were difficult given that the road was climbing and at that altitude (between 2,600 and 3,400) there is no room for amateurs.
We had a van following us, so near the end while Vincent and Robson
Raqchi - church
I guess built with stones from the silos courageously kept going with their bikes, I put my bike in the van and enjoyed the comfort of modern technology. Among the most interesting places we visited were the salt mines of Maras, built by the Incas and still in use, the agricultural center of Moray and Ollantaytambo.
Moray is an extraordinary place where the Incas, built an experimental type of 'greenhouse'. Here they experimented different type of crops and manged to adapt them to local conditions. The greenhouse effect was obtained by building concentric circular terraces which as they become smaller go deeper and deeper into the earth. that way it capture all the heath as the deeper you go the more protected you are from any wind and the more the sun can reflect on the surrounding walls, impressive!
At Ollantaytambo we found a well preserved Inca fortress, very impressive as well as agricultural terraces built on the slopes of the Urubamba valley.
Eventually near the end of our stay in Cusco we took the special train to Machu Picchu.
The train was full of tourist, some on their own, some part of big groups. We enjoyed the train journey as the landscape was stunning by
moments.
Machu Picchu is too well know to have any comments or description here, suffice to say that although you think you know it, given the pictures and films you may have seen about it, it is still a revelation, a fantastic place.
From Cusco we flew to Lima, we stayed in the nice Miraflores neighbourhood. There we visited Huanca Pucllana, a temple, administrative center and tomb. It is a pre-Inca site totally built in adobe.
The old historic center of Lima was also worth a visit with its nice churches and colonial building. We had lunch at the mythic El Cordano one of the city's last traditional restaurants with mirrored walls, racks of bottles and old style waiters. we enjoyed the food and every minute spent there.
Our friend Vincent who was with us since Bolivia went back to London. We had a nice dinner to celebrate the success of the enterprise.
The first six months of our year trip ended in Lima. Part 1 was over and we were looking forward to part 2 which will be entirely in Brazil where Robson's family was waiting for us.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.091s; Tpl: 0.017s; cc: 8; qc: 53; dbt: 0.0558s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
austin
non-member comment
hey
Hey Guys, Peru is certianlly great. I love the floating islands,. Hope you guys have a great christmas and a very happy new year. austin and Hank