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Come and Get Your Cuy!
Our residence attendant Eliana (right) and her sister Lugme load up 4 baked cuy and dozens of baked potatoes at their neighbourhood oven (no home ovens in Cusco). They prepared the food, dropped it off, and returned at the appointed time to collect it. We helped with the eating...yum!!Our final week in Cusco and our Peru-time was looking and feeling a bit congested with activities of various sorts, and while we lamented the end of the adventure and all of the amazingly wonderful people we had come to know, there was also that yearning many of us feel that comes with returning home and being surrounded by familiar things once again ...
One of the main reasons we had for spending an extended period in one place such as Cusco was to become just a bit "native" and experience what life was like in a foreign culture ... to go beyond the normal tourist track and see how the day-to-day person lived their life. With the Amauta residence as our home base for the 14 weeks and after sharing meals and activities in the homes and neighbourhoods of a number of Cusco residents, we definitely feel that we experienced Peruvian life in ways that we couldn't have dreamed of prior to the trip ...
could we have anticipated becoming godparents 3 times over?! How about eating CUY (guinea pig) three times? MACHU PICCHU
Well, to end the suspense (you were wondering, weren't you!?), read on ... Machu
Peru Rail to Machu Picchu
Bright and early, fully loaded, this two car train left the improv station at 7:30 am Friday morning and the same attendants were on duty at 9:30pm Saturday evening, returning to our starting point around 11pm. Passport required to board. Picchu at last and .... just. We first booked a two day trek to Machu Picchu in September 2009 for late March 2010 because we understood that there was a months-long wait list to get on the trail ... that's taken care of, check!
When we arrived in Cusco in January 2010, we listened to the excited stories of students from Amauta who managed a train trip out and back on a weekend between classes. Then suddenly, five of our students and staff were stranded in the nearest town to Machu Picchu called Aguas Calientes, when relentless rains filled the local river rampaging through narrow valleys , flooding villages and tearing up roads and train tracks. A tourist and a tour guide were killed by a mud slide on the Inca Trail. It took a week but eventually all the tourists (and our fellow students) were flown out by helicopter.
The closure of Machu Picchu was devastating financially to Peru and to the local people who made their living through tourism. Tourists just disappeared from the streets of Cusco overnight and those of us remaining became even more conspicuous as vendor's targets. Re-opening was a difficult dance, two
Fresh Off The Train at KM 104
Our tour guide Bryan waits for we old folks before crossing the fiesty Urubamba River into the National Archealogical Park of Machupicchu. Passport needed. weeks turned into two months, our reservation date was cancelled and our school travel agent worked hard to rebook us before our days in Cusco ran out. When it did finally re-open, actress Susan Sarandon, no less, flew in to re-open of one of the World's Wonders.
So ... three days before we flew home, we set off at 0400h for a van ride deep into the Valle Sagrado (Sacred Valley) to catch the train (not yet able to travel all the way into Cusco because of the washouts). At KM 104, in the middle of nowhere, the train filled with tourists slowed, stopped and six people were jettisoned from the train - two guides and four middle-aged tourists - yes, that would be us. Jumping gracefully down from a 4 ft high train ledge was Maureen's first challenge.
The two of us plus our guide Bryan then entered the National Park and began THE CLIMB. For eight hours we hiked along an uphill grade, winding up and around and over Andes mountains, waterfalls, and Incan ruins, with the river valley deep below. Bilingual Bryan would say tantalizing things like
"it's all downhill from here" and Maureen would
Onward and Upward
Some of the many stairs the Incan people put in place to form a mountain top road ... infrastructure or a form of detriment to intruders/tourists? feel a wonderful surge of pure relief until she found herself climbing again. After several false proclamations, Maureen suspected Bryan's use of English wasn't so polished , and what he really meant was
"it's all downhill from here ... until the next uphill"! Thankfully, we had trained
intensively on the stairs of Cusco for three months prior to this trek. Our hike was laced with many types of orchids, some breathtaking and some downright dowdy. Although we were transitioning to jungle, there was limited growth on the slopes above and below us thanks to a forest fire several years before - even in the wet Andes of Peru.
Lunch was high on a mountain top at a camping spot for the four-day trekkers (thank goodness we were only hiking the one day!). It was a huge relief to drink 500ml of water, 250ml juice, eat a large heavy apple, and a large chicken salad - 1kg less in the backpack.
NOTE to self: Next time the tour guide carries the lunches! Strangely, we also carried Bachelor Bryan's breakfast and snacks by virtue of sharing ours .... Bachelor Bryan joked that he needed a good Canadian wife to take care
At the top of Winaywayna - "Forever Young"
Apparently a guard post and about two hours of more climbing before the Sun Gate overlooking MP. of these "details".
At about 3 in the afternoon, after a particularly steep set of stairs, we finally came over a mountain pass and in the far distance and slightly below us through shifting fog we could spot the Holy Grail, Machu Picchu. From this distance, more impressive than Machu Picchu itself was the sight of the switchback road that zig-zagged back and forth, back and forth below the Incan site leading to the town-site of Aguas Calientes (Hot Waters). This is the access road for those who come solely by train and then transfer to buses for the final approach to the site.
After a few minutes rest, we trundled downwards for about 45 minutes before arriving at the top end of Machu Picchu- the sun was shining and the temperature was probably a comfortable 16 or 18 degrees celcius as we sat on the grass overlooking the site and absorbing the immensity of the 500 year-old construction. A few llamas placidly grazed on the surrounding grassy terraces. We could see small groups of tourists wandering around the buildings well below us, but there was no sound, just the wonder of the stone structures. Guide Bryan told
Machu Picchu from the Sun Gate
View of the Incan site, surrounding mountains, the zig zag bus road, and the notorious Urubamba River. us stories of the Incan builders and the history that resulted in its construction, of its abandonment after the Spanish invaded but before the Spanish learned of it, and then finally, its rediscovery centuries later. After our history lesson, we were able to resist the urge to explore the physical site, perhaps because the site attendants were sounding "time to leave" whistles.
Bryan escorted us by bus down to Aguas Calientes for supper in a pizzeria and our room in a hostel ... at the very far and top end of the town site. AC is a fairly new town with some upscale facilities, the usual street dogs, no vehicles other than tourist buses, and double the price of anything in Cusco. Bryan was left to scramble for his own room for the night because our tour company doesn't supply their guides escorting small groups (we two!) with a room. They also couldn't guarantee him a tourist train ride the next day back to Cusco from Aguas Calientes and the alternative was for him to walk 14km along the train tracks to the next town and catch a taxi ... after hiking the Inca trail! Fortunately he did snag
We Were There
A German couple asked us to take a photo of the two of them at this spot and then offered to return the favour ... so here we are with Larry crouching to leave as much of MP as possible in the picture. a train ticket and and managed to leave town
three hours before us ... but we're not bitter about putting in six hours waiting in the streets of Aquas Calientes for train time ... a side effect of the closures and rebookings, no doubt.
Day two found us up bright and early at 0500h to eat a typical breakfast of bread, jam, and coffee/tea before heading off for an early bus speeding up the zig zags to Machu Picchu. The site was in total mist and we wondered if we were experiencing rain. Bryan escorted us through the various temples, workshops, living quarters, fountains, the astronomical observatory, and the agricultural area, pointing out the different types of stone work and how the quality/size denotes the sacredness/importance of the buildings.
Peruvian tour guides are specifically trained for the tourist industry and they study a lot about Peruvian/Incan history in order to enlighten knowledge hungry tourists. We did find during our stay however, that stories varied museum to museum and tour guide to tour guide ... what Bryan scoffed at and said was totally untrue and impossible, the next tour group we passed was being told by their tour guide
The Hot Springs
A lovely walk up a fresh bluewater tributary to the hot springs for which Aguas Calientes is named helped to fill in the long hours between leaving Machu Picchu and boarding Peru Rail. Larry bravely took a dip and was shocked to feel gravel under foot. as the truth. We parted ways with Bryan after three hours of his expertise and continued on our own for another three hours in what was turning into blistering sunlight ... roll out the sunscreen.
How do you drink in the enormity of the site, the antiquity of its origins and the magnificence of the architecture? ... we eventually found our way back to the only shaded bench at Machu Picchu and sat for a long time to soak up the vibes and take in the scenery. Satiated, we left the site to return down the zig zags to Aguas Calientes, to KM 82 via Peru Rail, to a cute little white taxi, and eventually to Cusco in the wee hours of the next morning. Machu Picchu exceeded our expectations and it alone, was worth the trip to Peru - which, given our delightful and fulfilling experiences, is saying a lot!
REFLECTION TIME...
The days and nights of our stay in Cusco are now gone which leads us to begin summarizing in our minds those things we liked and loved about Peru, and perhaps also the parts of this journey that we didn't enjoy
All the Best
A window seat view of Cusco's Plaza de Armas, a beautifully presented 3 course meal, a local beer ... all for the tourist price of $6 Cdn each. so much.
Our Top Ten List of What We LIKE About Peru, and Cusco
10. Restaurants are inexpensive (3 or 4 course meals including a beer for under $6) and food presentation is great even in the cheapest places.
9. Local people are extremely patient and helpful in assisting us with our Spanish.
8. Chocolate and Ice Cream are available on just about every street corner.
7. Tourist buses are top-notch...too bad we can't say the same for the roads and many Peruvian drivers!
6. The sweet, juicy mangoes and large, ripe avocados are the best we've tasted anywhere.
5. The hillsides and mountains are an incredible shade of green.
4. Day after day, our spanish teachers were patient, enthusiastic and friendly.
3. The central Plaza de Armas in Cusco is stunningly gorgeous when lit up at night...who can take it for granted?
2. Singing garbage trucks...blaring disco music and anti-littering messages as trucks picked up garbage at 6 am 3 days per week!
1. Maureen was TALL for 3.5 months Our Top Five (too hard to find 10 things to dislike) List of What We DISLIKE About Peru, and Cusco
5. Life on the Street
Two of our local dogs relaxing on Calle Suecia - the "wild dogs" of Cusco are innocuous, but alas, not potty trained. Dog (shit) droppings in the streets from the MANY roving dogs in Cusco, Puno, Aguas Calientes, ...
4. The rainiest rainy season in 30 years.
3. Garbage in the rivers and strewn about the country side...the anti-littering message hasn't penetrated just yet!
2. Street noise - random fireworks, non-stop non-emergency sirens, dogs in the night, incessant church bells.
1. Leaving behind so many decent, hardworking, uncomplaining, good people- both locals and students from other countries.
We are once again home in Summerland, British Columbia, Canada, many more than 5,000 kilometres from Cusco, Peru, and appreciating those things we previously took for granted such as home ovens, microwaves, cutlery, ample toilet paper, tender bread, frozen peas, and peanut butter! In the end, it was the people we met from Peru who warmly embraced us as if we were long-time friends and allowed us to be a part of their lives that made this journey most memorable ... our gratitude to them always ... as Cusquenans would say "Ciao".
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Cherie Miltimore
non-member comment
WOW What a Journey!
Thank you so much for sharing your adventures. I enjoyed your blogs immensley. I am so glad you got to Machu Pichu and had enough time to savour the moment. Cherie