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Published: July 30th 2018
¡Buenos dias a todos!
After a couple of good days in Lima, Jurick and I boarded out flight to
Cusco. Flying overhead the Andes mountains gave us stunning views of snow-covered peaks of above 6000m. We arrived in Cusco mid-afternoon and made our way towards the hostel. The city has about half a million inhabitants and lies at an altitude of about 3300m. We immediately felt the air is thinner but we were okay with it, since we walked and did everything slower in order to avoid complications. A warm cup of coca-tea or having some coca-candy helps a lot against altitude sickness! These are commonly found all over the place. And yes, I am talking about the leaves used to make cocaine but it is not cocaine, they are just leaves! Cusco is very touristy, functioning of course as the main stop for those visiting Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley. Cusco is the capital of the historic Inca Empire until the Spanish came in the 16th century. Due to its altitude, it has a cool climate and in the evenings you need a wear a jacket because the average low is around 5°C.
Once at the hostel we checked-in, grabbed a map and went for a quick exploration of the vicinity and also to eat and grab some groceries. Our hostel is located a bit out of the historic city centre but as a decent walking distance. To get to the hostel it's hill up! In the beginning of course it was a but tiring but after a day we got used to it. We just walked around to get familiar with the area, wandered through the many streets full of colonial houses and their balconies, grabbed some food and hung around the Plaza de Armas where we also booked tours for the coming days, except for Machu Picchu which I arranged by myself before leaving Curaçao. In Cusco we were often approached by young guys offering weed or other kind of drugs, sometimes they used codes which of course we did not understand. I wonder if Jurick's dreaded hair is what made us caught their attention so often?
We were pretty tired from the flight and everything so the next morning we didn't leave the hostel too early. We first stopped at the "Mercado San Pedro". Again, a lot
to buy here but we had just food and an exquisite fruit juice, freshly made while you're waiting! We walked further through the crowds, passed along a school where we saw all the students nicely with their uniforms. During the day you see even better how well kept the city centre is, very neat! We passed by Qorikancha first, the most important Inca temple back in the days. It was destroyed by the Spanish and then they built the Santo Domingo Convent on top of the foundation of the former temple. We made our way towards Plaza de Armas, where the Cusco Cathedral (Catedral de la Virgen de Asunción) stands. It opened its doors in 1654 and is on the UNESCO World Heritage List. I visited the cathedral when we came back from Machu Picchu. I have been into several cathedrals during my journeys but this one was very impressive. Unfortunately you cannot take pictures inside. The word "stunning" does not express well enough how incredible this place is. The cathedral is full of gold and silver, many historic artworks and artifacts. Especially the wooden choir area I found the most impressive, WHAT a craftsmanship! Very interesting is the "Cruz
de la Conquista" (Cross of the Conquest), the very first christian cross in Inca land brought by Vicente Valverde from Spain around, just after Peru was conquered by Francisco Pizarro in 1532. We booked an afternoon tour to a few spots just outside Cusco, therefore we made our way to the main square and joined the tour. We first stopped at the Saqsaywaman Archaeological Park, containing Inca-ruins from the 8th century before Christ. The fort is located on a steep hill and from here you have excellent views over much of Cusco. Not very far from the ruins we stop at a small Jesus statue on the Pukamuqu hill overlooking the city; a smaller version of the big statue in Rio de Janeiro. Driving through the beautiful, green landscape we went to our last stop, at the Cochahuasi Animal Sanctuary, where we were able to see llamas, condors and other native animals up close!
The next day we went on a tour through a part of the so-called
"Sacred Valley" of the Inca's, an area with several (historic) towns and archaeological sites. Our first stop was at
Chincheros, a small town located at an elevation of 3800m.
It was one of the main Inca towns in the area but was almost completely destroyed with the arrival of the Spaniards. Also here a church was built on top of was used to be an Inca temple. To get to this church, we had to climb a long set of stairs. At 3800m you can already imagine how tiring that can be, so ascended step by step! Much of the artwork in the church (paintings, ceiling etc) represents a mix of Catholic and Indian elements which was interesting, since mostly he Inca's did the work and they did include some of their elements (sometimes "hidden"). Back down we got a short demonstration from local women weaving at a textile centre. Our next stop was the
Salineras de Maras, located in a valley containing more than 3000 salt ponds. Around 1000 families own their own amount of salt ponds, where they mine salt rich in minerals. The view when arriving from the top is very surreal, it looks a but like a different planet and looks even more so when you get at the salt ponds themselves. Make your way along the maze of salt ponds, just make sure not
to get lost or trip and fall in one of them! We headed further to
Moray, where the Inca's made circle-shaped terraces to experiment with agriculture at different temperatures and humidity levels because the terraces create artificial micro-climates. It is impressive if you think about the fact that these things were built without the use of any modern technique, yet they were nicely made in symmetrical circles. Our last stop was at
Ollantaytambo, a town that used to be a marketplace of the Inca's due to its location in between three valleys: Sacred Valley, Patacancha en Machu Picchu). Ollantaytambo is basically is the closest to Machu Picchu you can get by car; from here it's further by train or by foot hiking the Inca Trail. The Inca temple of Ollantaytambo, located on the slopes of a pretty steep hill, was never finished due to the arrival of the Spaniards. Yet it is a very interesting place to visit.
After grabbing some food, we made our way towards Ollantaytambo train station to catch the train towards
Aguas Calientes. It is not your usual train station where you go to the counter and just buy a ticket. You have
to buy train tickets in advance, especially during high season. With an IncaRail train we travelled to Aguas Calientes, the journey was much slower than I thought and overall I must say that this whole train thing is a rip-off since they often charge ridiculous prices, taking advantage of the fact that there is no other way to get near Machu Picchu. But it is what it is. Aguas Calientes is a very small town located on the foot of the Machu Picchu hill and the town exists solely because of Machu Picchu. It offers several accommodation options, restaurants, cafe's etc. Before checking-in, we bought our bus-tickets for the next morning. After checking-in, we requested the employers of the guesthouse to wake us up early and they even served us early breakfast! By 6am we were already outside and there was quite a line waiting to catch a bus. The buses were running constantly so we didn't wait too long. Driving uphill with many bends through the beautiful landscape, we arrived at the entrance of Machu Picchu just after 7am.
Machu Picchu is Peru's pride, the most famous archaeological site in the country. It consists of ruins of a city,
built in 1438 by the Inca-Emperor Pachacutec for religious purposes on the slopes of a steep mountain on an altitude of 2400m. The exact function of the city is still debated,. I was told that boys between 5 and 17 were prepared to become future Inca's and only the best ones were allowed to became as such. A selected group of about 800 people inhabited the city. Out of fears that the Spaniards would attack Machu Picchu too, everyone fled to Vilcabamba but the Spaniards were never able to find the city. It is difficult to properly express Machu Picchu, the feeling I got when I was there. I was completely in awe, such a magical and amazing place. Besides, it was always one of my dreams to visit the place. The view with the mountains in the background, the green, the city itself and the clouds passing through...wow! How could these people built such a place at such a difficult location, including a whole watering-and channelization system to foresee the city of drinking water, without our modern techniques? We wandered around for around 3 to 4 hours, including a tour-guide which is a huge plus to get to know
insights about the city. Back in Aguas Calientes we had some lunch, bought some souvenirs and hopped on the train back to Cusco. We arrived after 8pm in Cusco and were pretty tired, since it had been a long day. We decided to stay another full day in Cusco just to take it easy, do some laundry and relax. This day I visited the cathedral too.
The next morning we left early for a journey towards Puno, which was a beautiful one making several stops along the way. One of the first places we stopped, was at the
Checacupe village. It is known for its three bridges crossing the Pitumarca river, each one representing a period in the past. The newer one is built of iron, then you have the colonial one. The so-called Inca-bridge is a suspension bridge. The bridge itself is not original, but the cementation is foundation does date back to the Inca period. Further ahead we stopped at another interesting archaeological site called
Raqch'i, a settlement place during the Inca-period. The tall walls of the former Wiracocha temple, which was the main building at the site, can still be seen. Interesting were the many (more
than 170) circular silos they used to store food (grain, wheat etc). We passed through La Raya, an area located at 4335m and also through the ugly city of Juliaca. It's an industrial, mining city and it is very ugly, believe me. We arrived in Puno, not before I felt sick because of the altitude. Two coca-candies, one bathroom visit and a good coca-tea at the hotel in Puno made me feel much better again!
The next blog-entry from Perú will start from Puno
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Great Review!
Great review and photos of your visit to Cusco, Machu Picchu and other sites! I can picture nearly every place you mention from our own visit there in 2014. Although we missed seeing the Cochahuasi Animal Sanctuary and as we did not visit Puno we missed some of the other places you saw. Unfortunately also missed visiting Moray and Maras as I got very sick and had to spend a day in a hospital/clinic. The cocoa tea and candy sure didn't help me at all. But visiting Peru was one of the best trips we've ever been on!