Cusco, the Sacred Valley and Lake Titicaca

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In Berni’s recent entry he shared our on-the-go journey over the border and into Peru (never again will we be attempting as many overnight buses as we did), getting us closer and closer to Cusco and its centerpiece – the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu. One of the seven “new wonders of the world”, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and in the 100^thyear anniversary of its discovery I was extremely excited to see it for myself.

Joined by Chris again we decided to fly from Lima to Cusco. Berni had found us unbelievably cheap flights which made the choice of either the 20 hours bus ride or plane an absolute no brainer. Once we arrived we collected our backpacks. Chris got into a minor argument over the ownership of his backpack with the employee checking baggage tickets but soon enough we found ourselves in an extremely overpriced taxi (damn tourist prices) into Cusco’s old town. We decided to try La Casa de Carmen, a tiny family run hostel off Plaza San Blas which our friends had recommended. We were welcomed by the lovely owner, Carmen who promptly found us a double room with ensuite (for only $11.00 AUS each), and Chris a dorm. It was a lovely little hostel, with rooms centered on a quaint courtyard. Berni and I especially liked the natural feature in our room – an enormous tree which our room and bathroom seemed to be built around. Once we settled in we wandered down the steep, slightly European looking streets to find something cheap for lunch. Next door to the notoriously popular Jack’s Café (which I’ll get to soon) we found a restaurant serving a menu del dia style lunch. We decided it served the most delicious soup we’d had so far and we’ve consumed quite a lot of soup on this trip. Also it only cost $1.80 AUS for two courses and a fresh juice! You’ve got to love Peru. After lunch we then squeezed into the tiniest taxi in the world to get to the nearby Estadio Garcilaso de la Vega. Chris had done his research and discovered Cienciano, Cusco’s National League team were playing Corbresol F. B. C. from Moquegua. As we were lining up for our tickets, which were sold from a 30 x 30cm hole in the wall we decided to purchase plastic rain ponchos for 1 sole each from a street vendor. More to be prepared for the inevitable drizzle once we made it to Machu Picchu but also we were slightly concerned about the huge dark grey clouds forming on the horizon. The game ended up being quite an eventful and high scoring game. We enjoyed checking out (and sampling) some of the random food items on sale – jelly, popcorn, pork crackling, meat on sticks. Then the game was momentarily interrupted due to torrential rain and hailstones causing havoc as people hurried to put on their pre-purchased ponchos or tried to find shelter – interestingly the price of ponchos increased by 100%! (MISSING)However this didn’t seem to dampen anyone’s spirits as after the weather subsided everyone resumed their spots and got on with it. Cienciano defeating Corbresol F. B. C. 5 – 0! After the game, we went for dinner at Paddy Flaherty’s Irish Pub (very kitschy but huge, hearty meals) where I had possibly the best and biggest shepherds pie in my entire life!

The following day we spent shopping, exploring Cusco and wondering why hundreds of tourists were photographing a random stone in one of Cusco’s crowded but otherwise ordinary streets. I was impressed by the colourful main square, Plaza de Armas with its central fountain, fragrant gardens and beautiful churches and cathedral. But mostly I enjoyed getting lost in the cobblestone streets, lined with enormous Inca-built stonework and whitewashed houses. I even found the College of Architects in a beautiful old building. We stumbled on a few craft markets in which we idled away a few hours browsing through the hundreds of colourful souvenirs and traditional wares. Here we bought the token (and extremely touristy) Alpaca knit beanies, jumpers and the like. However, by the end of the day after we had explored Cusco’s old town from top to bottom the apparently famous stone still had us stumped. Chris then decided he felt like something other than Peruvian food for dinner so we found this delicious Chinese restaurant with inexpensive, enormous dishes which was so popular with the locals we (Berni) almost got into a fight with one woman wanting a table but who was clearly behind us in the line.

The next day we began our much anticipated journey to Machu Picchu. Due to time constraints (someone’s 30^th quickly approaching) and the hikes we had already completed, including Cuidad Perdida, we decided not to do the Inca Trail, but instead make our own way there beginning with Ollantaytambo, a tiny town and Inca archeological site some 60km outside of Cusco. We jumped on a collectivo (minibus) midmorning from Cusco which dropped us right into the main square where we had a few hours for lunch (Hearts Café), exploring and checking out the Inca archeological site built into the mountains – a fortified citadel which once served as a stronghold against the Spanish conquistadors. From here we had booked seats on the train to Aguas Calientes the tourist-filled town heavy on the souvenirs below Machu Picchu. We spent the night at Yakumama Hostal which we liked for its location as it was nice and central but not for its cleanliness. Berni found a dirty nappy under his bed! We enjoyed a nice menu del dia style dinner which we haggled over to include free Pisco Sours before settling in for an early night. Berni and Chris, reunited again, quickly fell back into their pre-Claire routine of watching episodes of Always Sunny in Philadelphia in bed together in their underwear.

The morning of our Machu Picchu adventure we woke to torrential rain – luckily we had come prepared with our ponchos from the Cienciano game. However, once we’d set off the rain fortunately died down to a misty drizzle. We then began the climb up the 2000 plus stone terraced steps to the site’s entry which we got entirely to ourselves. They weren’t too tough. By this time our lungs were getting much more used to working with less oxygen, but they were uneven and slippery underfoot with moss. Slippery and steep – shooting up near vertical while the winding muddy tourist bus route loops around it. The tourist bus is the other option for getting to the site, but considering we’d skipped doing the 4 day hike we thought the 2000 steps would be a good compromise – giving us a sense of achievement when we made it to the site itself. Once we reached the top we were immediately confronted by the throngs of tourists, donned in ponchos and guides selling their guiding services. We entered quickly enough considering the amount of people then looked into hiring a guide which we did for 120 soles for the three of us. Then after yet more steps, we got to enjoy our first glimpse of the site. Glimpse – because we could only see the site through breaks in the heavy white cloud. However, even through the cloud and misty drizzle the view still impressed us. Sense of achievement achieved! We then explored the site with our guide for the next few hours. The clouds did blow over, slowly uncovering more of the site. But the misty drizzle set in making damp clothes damper. Next we were booked in for the 10.30 climb to Huayna Picchu. Yes, you need to book in advance! They only let 400 people climb it over 2 sessions. Once again, cloud set in, completely hiding the summit. Berni and Chris were on some mission to prove who’s more of a man and took off racing, overtaking other climbers. I took it slower, not wishing to let the altitude get the better of me as it nearly did in Huarez. Once at the summit we got to appreciate the Inca citadel in its entirety – through the cloud of course. The cloud moved quickly so we managed scant glimpses (cameras ready) every few minutes. Then, on the return journey Berni realised he’d lost his glasses so took off in sprint to the summit to try to find them. He did – trodden on and broken in the mud.

After a brief moments rest for Berni who climbed Huayna Picchu twice, we took the 2000 steps, knees quivering, back to Aguas Calientes. Cold, wet and hungry we then stopped for a menu del dia style lunch before returning to Cusco. Chris then jumped straight onto an overnight bus to Arequipa while Berni and I had one more night at La Casa de Carmen. We went for dinner at Jack’s Café – which we highly recommend. Both dishes, Berni’s the Beef & Red Wine Casserole and mine the Bean & Cheese Tortillas were mouthwateringly delicious. Then after dinner we stumbled, full and with sore knees back to La Casa de Carmen. However on the way Berni and I decided to get to the bottom of the famous stone. It had been bugging me. Nestled within Inca-built stonework we inspected it more closely. We discovered it had 12 sides. Could this be the simple reason for its fame? After a quick Wiki search we learnt it is in fact famous for being 12-sided, known as Hatunrumiyoc, it’s carved precisely to fit together without mud or concrete.

The following morning we were up early. We had booked the tourist trip from Cusco to Puno with Cruz del Sur, Peru’s best bus company. It included several stops for sightseeing and a lovely buffet lunch. Our first stop included a guided tour of the Iglesia de San Pedro in Andahuaylillas, a tiny church with intricately carved timber and frescos doused in gold leaf. Unfortunately the altar was undergoing restoration work, but even with the scaffolding and hard hatted men it was quite impressive. Afterwards, while we waited for the bus in the tiny main plaza we caught three boys barely 11 years old reading an old Penthouse magazine. Berni was perhaps more impressed with this than the 500 year old church. Our next stop was an Inca archeological site near Raqchi – El Templo de Wiracocha where we had another guided tour. The most impressive element is the enormous adobe temple structure; measuring 92 x 25.5 metres. Its central spine some 18 – 20 metres in height flanked either side by 11 huge stone columns. We then stopped for lunch nearby – a delicious buffet with lots of choice. Further on we stopped at La Raya which is 4335 metres above sea level and where we had amazing views of the snowcapped peaks beyond. Finally before we reached Puno our last stop was at Pukara where we visited the Museo Litico or Lithic Museum showcasing artifacts from the Pukara civilisation, preceding the Inca by 2500 years. Not quite as impressive as the Iglesia de San Pedro or El Templo de Wiracocha, but still interesting with statues of a half-man-half-panther eating a fetus. We arrived into Puno just after 5.00pm where we got a taxi straight to Kusillo’s Posasa, probably one of the best hostels we’ve been to on the trip. Plus, the owner Juno is just adorable. So helpful too, she completely organised our homestay on Lake Titicaca. We also both agree that Kusillo’s Posasa has the best beds we’ve slept in for the whole trip. The beds were significantly bigger than a king size bed with plush pillows and fresh, crisp sheets (after backpacking for what is now five months you come to appreciate a good set of sheets). Once settled in we ventured out into Puno’s old town for dinner. Almost as soon as we stepped out of the hostel we were swept up in a parade with dancing girls, men in over-the-top costumes and drummers, lots of drummers. The parade wound its way through the entire old town. Almost every street we turned down was full of colourful parade participants and spectators. It was fun to watch, especially the crowd of respectable men dressed in business suits on the sideline chanting “sexo sexo sexo” (I think the translation is obvious). Apparently the students of the university were celebrating the university’s anniversary. And celebrate they did at an after party next door to our hostel until 3.00am!

The following morning we were up early. We were being picked up by bus and driven to the port to get a boat to the Islas Flotantes, the unusual Floating Islands of Lake Titicaca. The trip only took 25 minutes before we arrived amidst the Floating Islands. There are 60 or so islands made from buoyant reeds called Totora. We visited an island called Isla Nativa Uros Suma Balsa home to one of the local families. We met the president – or the head of the family and sat through a demonstration of how they make the islands from the Totora. They are continually rebuilding the islands – a job which occurred every few months. We then got a chance to explore their tiny reed houses with reed beds and reed kitchens. We also paid 10 soles each to ride on their reed boat. It was very interesting and different to anything I’ve ever seen before. Islas Flotantes came to be because the tribes were trying to escape Inca invasion. They made boats from the Totora and escaped onto the safe waters of Lake Titicaca. The boats eventually turned into houseboats structures and then eventually islands… now in 2011, they are fully equipped with photovoltaic panels. Now the islands are a popular tourist destination and although it feels like a once in a lifetime experience for you, the whole event feels rehearsed and commercialised. These people do this every day, probably five times a day. Next we were back on the boat, this time for the three hour journey to Isla Amantani where we were going to spend the night with a local family. We arrived around 2.00pm and we were introduced to our Mama, Lucia. She was so tiny and dressed in the islands colourful traditional dress. We followed her to our home for the night where we met to two daughters and their children. We were showed to our room which was very quaint and comfortable. We then had lunch, which consisted of vegetable soup followed by rice and fried cheese. It was delicious. Our family was so welcoming and friendly. But we’ve been in this situation before, (with Gustavo’s family on La Libertad in the Amazon) and it still feels very unbalanced – when we are served our meal at a table we watched the family sitting on the floor for theirs. I would have preferred to sit on the floor with them if that’s how it’s done. Next Lucia took us to the meeting point for our next activity. We were hiking up a mountain to watch the sunset. On the mountain is the temple to Pachatata (Father Earth) where the idea is the collect a stone on your way up, onto which you are supposed to focus all your negative energy, then when you reach the temple you must circle it clockwise three times before leaving your stone on the temple wall, leaving all your negative energy behind. From the top we watched the sunset while being pestered by little children trying to make a buck selling knitted wristbands. Berni was absently mindedly flipping a coin in his hand when one of the boys spotted the money. He then hounded Berni for about 20 minutes trying to get him to buy one. One boy then turned into several and we were surrounded. It was a wonder we only walked away with one.

That evening we enjoyed another lovely home cooked meal – this time vegetable soup followed by rice and cooked vegetables. Simple but delicious. Lucia’s daughter then dressed Berni and I in traditional dress, Berni in a thick heavy poncho and beanie and me in two colourful full skirts and blouse, tucked in with metres and metres of fabric wrapped around my middle with a heavy shawl for over my head. Once I was dressed I felt I had put on several kilograms and struggled to breath due to the tightness around my middle. Lucia then took us to a fiesta with the islands other visitors where we danced and enjoyed some live music. I thought the whole evening was really fun, especially the music but like on the Floating Islands it was hard to shake the feeling that the locals must do this same routine every night and it probably wasn’t as enjoyable for them as it was for us. The following morning we had pancakes for breakfast before saying our goodbyes to our family. We then had another hour boat ride to the nearby Isla Taquile where we got to explore the town’s tiny centre and its arts and craft before lunch. I thought it a huge change in roles as the men on this island were responsible for the knitting! For lunch we were taken to the most amazing spot, surrounded by colourful gardens and with a view overlooking the island and Lake Titicaca below. It was very beautiful. After lunch we then had a two our journey back to Puno where we spent another night at Kusillo’s Posada. On Juno’s recommendation we had dinner that night at Puno’s best restaurant, Mojsa. It was filled with tourists, not the backpacker type, but the older American type. The meals were lovely. Berni tried alpaca steak for the first time which he really liked and I had chicken breast which was coated in a local herb, Muna – we had tried it on the islands in tea mixed with Coca.

We the following morning we left for Bolivia having spent a bit under two weeks in Peru. Since we had spent so much time in Colombia things were getting a whole lot more concise. As we were getting into our taxi to the bus terminal, Juno came running down the street with two chocolate bars which she said while huffing and puffing were for us. She definitely made in onto our list of top 5 loveliest hostel owners. Juno had organised our bus tickets for us which included crossing the border. The bus dropped us at the Peruvian immigration office and waited as we walked across the border and completed immigration on the Bolivian side. It was such a quick and easy process (as had our two previous border crossings been), we were starting to wonder where all the border crossing horror stories had come from.

After we crossed the border into Bolivia we only had another 7km until we reached Copacabana, on the Bolivian side of Lake Titicaca. For accommodation, our guidebook suggested Hostal Las Olas where there were several individually themed cabanas. We had previously emailed, wondering if Suite 4 – La Tortuga was available but unfortunately it wasn’t. However, on arrival we thought we’d try our luck and see if there were any cancellations. Much to our surprise this move paid off and we were given the keys to La Tortuga. It is indeed as you may be imagining – a turtle shaped house, with a huge round bed and a beautiful feature window from which we had an amazing view of Copacabana. We spend the afternoon lazing about in the turtle, enjoying the sunset. Then we went for dinner at a really amazing little restaurant called Nimbo. Here we met up with some friends we met on the bus, Scott and Julia who we had hit it off with immediately. All four of us were amazed with the restaurant’s owner, who is also the waiter, barman and chief. He runs the restaurant entirely on his own. Often when you’d be thinking about ordering another beer, he’d disappear for 20 minutes and you’d find him in the kitchen whipping up another table’s meals. It may sound like a shemozzle but did actually run fairly smoothly. Plus aside from the novelty, the meals were fantastic.

The following day we left for La Paz – on a four hour bus ride. The scenery was spectacular, so too was the river crossing part way through the journey. We got to the river and were directed off the bus. We then had to buy a boat ticket to cross the river to continue the journey to La Paz. I was wondering what happened with the bus when all of a sudden it drove right onto a huge wooden barge where one man pushed it through the river with a really long pole. We met up with Scott and Julia on the boat across the river. They were equally bewildered at the absurd sight of now several tourist buses littering the river on their respected barges. Once we, and the bus made it to the other side the trip continued until we reached La Paz. We were very excited for La Paz, we were meeting up with our third wheel again, Chris, and also our friends, Liss and Peds. So stay tuned for more of our adventures and interesting experiences, including the World’s Most Dangerous Road and Berni’s mountain climb to above 6000m.

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Photos

Plaza de Armas, Cusco
The main square in Cusco's old town looking from one of the covered walkways. Surrounded by beautiful stone churches and the impressive Catedral

Berni and I at the Cienciano game
Enjoying the game before it started hailing

Me with some of the colourful locals
I loved the bright colours of Peru. Especially the traditional dress worn by the locals. I really wanted to take this baby Llama home too

The hilltop Inca citadel in Ollantaytambo
One of the Inca sites in the Valle Sagrado (Sacred Valley) not to be conquered by Spanish conquistadors

The narrow streets of Ollantaytambo
Walking through the narrow streets of Ollantaytambo with ancient aguaducts still in place

The first of many on our way to the Lost City of the Incas
I lost count but apparently there are 2000 stone steps to Lost City of the Incas - Machu Picchu

Our first cloudy glimpse of Machu Picchu
Once we had climbed the 2000 and something stone steps we were rewarded with our first glimpse of the ancient city through the clouds

On my way up Huayna Picchu
It was a slow steep climb to the summit but once we got there the view made the whole climb worth it - even with the clouds

The view from Huayna Picchu
Once we had climbed Huayna Picchu, looking back down over the Inca citadel through the clouds

The stone terraces of Machi Picchu
Looking back down to the Urubamba River from where we started our climb

Machu Picchu and Huayna Picchu
The Inca citadel with the peak of Huayna Picchu in the background almost entirely covered by cloud. The rain actually brought out the beautiful green colour of the grass

El Templo de Wiracocha in Raqchi
The central adobe wall some 18 – 20 metres in height is all but remains of what was once a great temple

One of the smaller reed islands on Lake Titicaca
One of the Totora reed islands on Lake Titicaca. It was squishy underfoot and rocked with the swell of passing boats

Islas Flotantes
The welcoming entry to Isla Nativa Uros Suma Balsa

Me in Isla Amantani's traditional dress
Me after I was dressed by Lucia and her daughter in Isla Amantani's traditional dress. No I haven't put on 20 kilograms... it's just the fabric!

Berni and I overlooking Isla Taquile
After lunch on Isla Taquile surrounded by colourful gardens and with Lake Titicaca in the background

La Tortuga
Our accommodation at Hostal Las Olas

The amazing view from La Tortuga
Copacabana from La Tortuga at Hostal Las Olas. Berni was brave enough to take a dip in the freezing Lake Titicaca. Too cold for me

Comments

[rhiannon]

Loving the blogs guys!

[Anastasia78]

Hey! I've been there!
I stood in that exact spot two years ago, only it was in the evening and I didn't get a photo. So glad to see this!! Thanks!

[claireandberni]

Thanks!
Hey thanks for your comment. It's always good to see things which trigger happy travel memories! Claire