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This last weekend, Mary Beth, Aisha, and I went to Peru. Since we didn’t have to work in the clinic on Thursday, we decided to fly to Cuzco, Peru. When we landed at 7 am, we took a cab to the main plaza, Plaza de Armas, and found a cute café to have breakfast at. After breakfast, we decided to explore Cuzco for a while. We shopped around, bought our tickets for Machu Picchu, and got acquainted with the town.
We then took a microbus for an hour and a half to a small town called Ollantaytambo. This little town with narrow cobblestone streets is a great example of Inca city planning, and is dominated by a massive fortress above in the hills. There are steep terraces built into the hills that guard the Inca complex. When we arrived, we walked around and looked at the different sights and tried to kill time until we had to catch our train at 6:30 pm to Aguas Caliente.
When it was time to get on the train, we actually had to take a bus associated with Perurail, the train company, because there were mudslides recently, which interrupted part of the train tracks.
At one of the train stops, the buses let us off and we had to wait outside for an hour and a half for our train, which was late. However, it was all worth it when we were told that the carrier we were assigned to was stuck in Machu Picchu and they had attached a very nice carrier for us, where each seat is normally $300. We had a very nice train ride to Aguas Caliente, which is a town at the base of Machu Picchu.
We got to Aguas Caliente around 10:30 pm and went straight to bed. When we awoke at 4:30 am, we quickly got ready, ate breakfast, and went down to the bus stop for Machu Picchu. There was already a very long line of people waiting for the first buses because most people want to climb another mountain behind the ruins, Waynu Picchu. Because of the steep mountainside, only 400 people are allowed to climb Waynu Picchu every day. We got on a bus and arrived at Machu Picchu 25 minutes later. Since we didn’t know how many people were before us, and it looked like a lot, we quickly ran up to the
entrance and asked someone where to go to get the Waynu Picchu stamp you needed in order to enter. The person working, pointed straight ahead, so we quickly ran through the entrance and started climbing up Machu Picchu, thinking there would be a kiosk or something for Waynu Picchu. When we arrived at the top tirelessly panting, there was no kiosk or anything in sight. We started asking around and were told that you needed to get the stamp when you first got in. As if we weren’t worried enough already about not making the 400 person cut, Mary Beth and I took off running down Machu Picchu back towards the entrance. We started asking every employee there and they told us there was only one more spot left. We begged for two, and the reluctantly gave us two stamps. Unfortunately, we were unable to get a stamp for Aisha, and decided to tackle that problem when we got there.
We were then able to take a breather as we sat down and watched the sunrise. It was pretty foggy, but still beautiful. After the sunrise, we made our way across the runis to Waynu Pichu because we had to
enter it between 7 am and 8 am. When we got there, we begged the two men working to let in Aisha and they did! It is now a joke between us girls that we always get our way because of my green eyes. I have received multiple compliments because of my eyes, and these two guys liked them very much ha ha! After all three of us luckily got in, we began our very steep ascend up Waynu Picchu. After an exhausting hour of climbing, sometimes on all fours or gripping to the cables in the walls, we made it to the top! The views were amazing and well worth it!
After making it to the top, we decided to take the two-hour path to the Temple of the Moon. We thought it was a flat, circuitous route around Waynu Picchu, but after descending steeply down to the small Temple of the Moon, we soon had to start climbing back up. After about a 4-hour journey up and around Waynu Picchu, we made it back to Machu Picchu. We then began exploring the ruins and seeing all the different rooms or structures in them. It is incredible to
see such structures still standing strong. Machu Picchu was truly amazing!
After thoroughly exploring ever inch of Machu Picchu, we got on a bus around 4:30 pm and headed back to Aguas Caliente. Once again we had time to kill until our train left at 9:30 pm. We did some shopping and then went back to our hostel where we had met some friends earlier. After we all went out to dinner, it was time to get on our train. Unfortunately, we did no get an upgrade this time, but it was still a comfortable journey. After taking the buses again part of the way, we arrived in Ollantaytambo at 11:30 pm and checked into our hotel.
In the morning, we had breakfast and then took a cheap taxi back to Cuzco. We checked into our hostel, dropped our bags off, and went towards Saqsaywaman. Even though it sounds like “sexy woman”, Saqsaywaman means ‘Satisfied Falcon’ and it was a fort that witnessed one of the most bitter battles between the Spanish and Manco Inca, who used Saqsaywaman to lay siege to the conquistadors. The name comes from the fact that after the battle, there were thousands of dead
Parade
There was a parade on Thursday with tons of little kids dressed up in costumes.bodies, which attracted carrion-eating Andean falcons. This tragedy is actually memorialized by the inclusion of eight condors in Cuzco’s coat of arms. The massive stones were built into the strong fortress without the use of any kind for mortar, but rather they are all perfectly shaped into place.
After Saqsaywaman, we headed to Plaza de Armas to have lunch. On our way there, we ran into a couple of Mary Beth’s friends from Washington DC who she knew would be there, and planned to meet up later. After lunch, Mary Beth and I decided to pay the entrance fee to the famous cathedral on the plaza, and I am very glad we did. The cathedral was absolutely gorgeous and huge! The cathedral, which took about 100 years to build, sits on the sight of Inca Viracocha’s palace and was build using blocks from Saqsaywaman. The cathedral is joined with the church of Jesus Maria and El Triunfo, which makes it so massive. There are numerous alters, shrines, and beautiful paintings. On of the paintings is actually a rendition of The Last Supper. However, in this version of The Last Supper, there is a roasted guinea pig in the center of
Before...
It looks like Guinea Pigs are kept as pets.... the table, which is a characteristic of Peru.
After the church, we wanted to go back to our hostel and get ready for a BBQ that we Mary Beth’s friends had invited us to at their hostel. However, when we went back to our hostel, there was a lock on our door and the other girl in our shared room had taken the only key. The employees had to call the owner of the hostel, and after an hour of drilling and hammering the lock, he got it open. Even though we missed the BBQ, we went over to their hostel, which is described as the “party hostel”.
That night we went out with Mary Beth’s friends and our friends Danny and Katia, who we had met in Lake Titicaca and knew that they would be in Cuzco the same weekend as us. It was a really fun night not only because we went out for the first time in three weeks, but also because we were able to hang out with friends from the states and new friends we had met in South America.
However, the next day was not nearly as fun. It was Sunday, and
After
....but they are unfortunately not. :( Sorry Anya! we had to make it back to La Paz. We took a bus at 8 am from Cuzco to Puno, about 7 hours. Then we had to take a taxi 2 ½ hours from Puno to the Bolivia-Peru border because we had to be there before it closed at 7 and a taxi was the only way fast enough. Once we crossed the border, we took another taxi for 1-½ hours from the Bolivian border to the main La Paz bus terminal. Finally we took our last taxi from La Paz to our homes. We arrived home around 10 pm very tired and dirty, but very satisfied after such an amazing weekend!!!!
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Johaan
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Homecoming
Great pics Honey! I'm so happy you were able to make it to Cuzco/Machu Picchu, my old stomping grounds :) You have really adopted the backpacker's mentality, can't wait to start adventuring with you.