TamboMachay to Sacsayhuaman

---

I just lost my whole entry. That´s okay, although I went into some detail on some interesting neighborhoods, I was mostly writing about the boring part of our day. I´ll give a quickie here and return and write in it later.

altitude makes it hard to breathe, spanish speaking lots, san blas very different from neighborhood around train station, got tickets, no hotels in aguas calientes for us, andean travel web donation great, valley tour set up for tomorrow and got maps and stuff, saw Qorikancha and lunch at inka hut.

The altitude makes it difficult to breathe here. It is funny how you feel like an old lady, as you huff & puff climbing hills that would not give you pause back at sea level. Cusco seems to be built on the side of a mountain and our street is uphill from the Plaza de Armas. We are in the San Blas neighborhood, a very artistic neighborhood full of art galleries, artisan's shops, restaurants, and cafes. The cobblestone streets and stone buildings are very picturesque, just as beautiful as the pictures. It's one of the most beautiful cities I have ever been to, up there with Paris.

We had a morning full of chores. First, we took our duffle bag of clothing donations to Andean Travel Web. This was south of the Plaza De Armas in a courtyard full of different little businesses. They share a tiny office with a Inka Trail tour agency. We dropped off the clothes and got to page through books of pictures from previous clothing distribution parties in the mountains. Andean Travel Web was very helpful. They set us up with a tour of the sacred valley for tomorrow, and called almost every hotel in machu picchu looking for a place for us. Everyone was completely booked up and we were really worried! All day, I was filled with anxiety that we would show up and have no place to sleep. I felt bad that I had decided not to book in advance, thinking there would be plenty of choices. They also gave us maps of the city and circled the location of the train station and bus station.

We had to walk down the main street in town to get to the train station, passing the Qorikancha. This is the famous cathedral in Cusco that was built atop a former Inka temple. The brickwork is amazing and it is pretty cool to see this Spanish cathedral built on top of old temples, seeing both cultures mixed into one. I would say this site really epitomizes Cusco, the fusion of colonial and Inka styles.

The train station was far from everything else. In our neighborhood, it was all cafes and nice tourist restaurants. This neighborhood mostly had fried chicken huts and you could eat a full meal for a dollar. For a budget traveller, this is the neighborhood to save money in! There is a clear demarcation of the tourist area and the locals' area. The markets also all seemed to be down in this area. The pavement was more broken concrete than cobblestone, and instead of old Inka stone, the buildings were made of standard 3rd world concrete. In a way, we felt like we had finally arrived in Peru. The rest of Cusco felt very sanitized, almost like an Andean disneyland. Don't get me wrong - it is lots of fun, but this part of Cusco reminded us more of our other trips around the world.

Getting our train tickets was a trip! First we had to get a number, to wait to be called, to pay for tickets we already reserved. Then, we found out we needed our passports! Everyone had left their passports in the safe. Luckily I had forgotten to do that and still had mine. They accepted my passport and A's passport number, which I had written down on a piece of paper. We got our train tickets for Machu Picchu and were able to go about the rest of our day.

We decided to take a 2 sole bus up to Tambo Machay. This is the local bus to Pisac, we picked it up near the train station. It was much like public transportation in the states, only the buses are smaller and here they are filled with Peruvian people in traditional dress, going from Cusco back to Pisac. We asked the driver to stop and were worrying he had gone past it when it seemed like it was miles already and we hadn´t stopped. Turns out that Tambo Machay is just really far.

Off the bus, we walked up a long hill to see a small fountain. I figured that was it but luckily Michael and Tricia suggested we walk more up the hill to see what was there. Alli was feeling really bad from altitude sickness but since it looked to level off, she agreed to go up. Well, after a gauntlet of alpaca knit salespeople, there was a gorgeous Inca ruin of a temple where water was pouring through spouts. There was also an outcropping to climb, where we got a great view and relaxed for a bit. From Tambo Machay, we could see the next ruin .. Puka Pukara. It was a former hunting lodge, and looks a bit like a fort. More amazing views over the valley and the snowcapped mountains in the distance.

Now, we knew a horse trail led back to Q´enko from here, but we didnt know where it started. There hadnt been a lot of other visitors at these two sites. So we started down the highway, trucks occasionally whizzing past. First, we had to climb up a hill and then down, and soon we saw horses along side the road. Amazingly no one tried to sell us a horseback ride. We started to follow the trail of horse manure that led off into the fields.

This trail was probably the most amazing part of the day and will be remembered as one of the best parts of the trip, I am sure. It went through valleys, across small streams, and up the side of cliffs. We passed some small children carrying bundles of sticks on their backs. As soon as they saw us, they threw down their burdens and began to sing to us! Of course, they demanded a Propina (tip) for the privilege! We should have sang them a song back.

All along the way the views were breathtaking and I could only imagine how the official treks must be. I suddenly realized why people trek - taking in the fresh air, the view of the mountains and valleys, the feeling of accomplishment when you reach a high point and looking out across the land. We all enjoyed this very much.

At another point, two cowboys rode by driving their caballos across the road.

At one point, the road forked and we weren´t sure how to continue. We tried one way and met a small family. It was a French man, his peruvian wife, and their daughter and dog. We had a long conversation in Spanish with them, where they did give us directions to Q´enko. The man had a monkey in his jacket. We told them all about our plans to go to Puerto Maldonado in the jungle, to see many more monkeys.

It was getting late at 5pm so we started up the hill, following some people on horseback. We passed by some more unnamed ruins, that looked like two thrones, and finally arrived at Q´ enko along with a billion tour buses. The place was swarmed. However, it was very cool, with passageways through the rock and a cave. After leaving, we started down the road again and passed another unnamed ruin and a small town. We also walked through a potato farm, where a family was planting potatos. We greeted them - one of first encounters that did not end in a request for money. I think few people must walk this way. When we finally got to Sacsayhuaman, the closest ruin to Cusco, we decided to get a cab. What luck that one pulled up next to us!

And he didn´t turn out to be a serial killer. Rather, when I made a comment about how dogs like to chase cars in Spanish, he realized we spoke Spanish and started to talk with us. He took us all the way back to the hotel.

Someone is waiting for the internet so i should save this story for another time, but dinner tonight was phenomenal. Imagine an artsy enclave, with wonderful triphop, rap and other electronica as the soundtrack, great drinks, really creative food. We loved Macondo in the San Blas district.

More on the trip when I have time!

---

Comments

[anonymous]

This sounds like a truly amazing trip!! So happy you are both enjoying it so much.