I don't even know how to sum up 8 days in Peru! It is a place I've always wanted to go...more specifically, the ruins of Machu Picchu! Friday the 31st, 3 co-workers and I departed Santiago. First destination: Lima.
Celine's friend Kati picked us up from the airport to take us out to lunch and then drop us off at the bus station (we were heading directly to Cusco from Lima). 5 minutes after riding in the car we get pulled over by the police because they saw Kati pick up her cell phone (it's like New Jersey!). Unlike NJ however, we were able to get out of the whole situation by paying him off. When you get a citation in Peru you have to go directly to the police station to pay your fine...to avoid this, and therefore catch our bus on time, the cop allowed us to pass him some dollars :) This is very common apparently.
We got to the bus station just in time and began the 21 hour journey to Cusco. Yes, you read that right. 21 hours. And it was probably worse than you can even imagine...the last 8-10 hours of the trip the double decker sleeper bus did hairpin turns every 30-45 seconds as we wound through the Andes mountain range on narrow roads without guardrails. Luckily we were on a really nice bus that was relatively comfortable...but that didn't help with the motion sickness that 50% of the passengers experienced. Remember in grade school when one kid on the back of the bus threw up his ego waffles? I believe the following scenario is called a CHAIN REACTION. It was more or less like that (x 21 hours...)
Finally we arrived in picaresque CUSCO, PERU....
Cusco has more of that South American rustic feel that you see in photos and on the discovery channel. It's very different from metropolitan Santiago. Houses and stores are built up the hills of the city, which lies in a valley, many of them made of material similar to adobe. Maybe it is adobe? Anyways, they are roughly constructed and in whole the city had a light brown dusty look consuming all the streets and buildings. We checked into "Pirwah hostel" which was an amazing place to stay! It was in a historic building that had the center terrace like many buildings in Spain. It was enormous, clean, centrally located and charming. After taking much needed showers and power-naps we headed to find food and book tickets/tours for the following two days. Luckily (and not-so luckily) we had been recommended a tour company that offered flexible sightseeing tours to Machu Picchu for a good price. We found the company in the Plaza de Armas (every Spanish speaking city has a Plaza de Armas...) and "negotiated" one. I say this in quotes because when you pay for anything in advance , especially in a South American country, you run the risk of being royally ripped off. I tried to think of everything in advance to make sure this didn't happen...but at some point you have to trust that not everyone is out to scam Americans. At leeeeast not 20% of the people. Hah. Anyways, we organized a tour that was to pick us up the next morning at 9:00 am in a private car, bring us to "Moray" to see the "Festival of the Sun" for a few hours, and then drop us off at the train in Ollantaytambo that would bring us to Aguas Calientes (a.k.a Machu Picchu Pueblo). From there everything was supposed to be taken care of as far as bus tickets to the ruins, the ticket into Machu Picchu and the train ticket and transfer back to Cusco. After booking all of this, we walked around Cusco, went into an arqueological museum/ burial site where there were A TON of free roaming Llamas and Alpacas...and the curator let us feed them popcorn and play with one of the baby alpaca's named "Cusi". That was the highlight of my day.
The next morning, I was awoken very early by our French male roommate, Stephane. Later on in the hallway, he informed us that our tour guide was here and had been waiting for us since 8 a.m. Apparently, Stephane has booked the same tour and because he knew us from the hostel, they combined our two "private" tours! We rushed out of there after a cup of Mate de Coca (tea made from cocaine leaves) and some toast and were on our way to Moray! Oh wait, I am forgetting the part when our tour guide "Juan" tried to make the 5 of us...grown adults...share a sedan. Not happening. We finally got two vehicles and made it to the festival out in the.middle.of.nowhere, Peru.
MORÁY: The Sacred Valley of the Incas.
The Festival of the Sun and our trip out to Machu Picchu nicely coincided and warranted us a visit! Moray is the name for the Inca ruins near Maras. These stepped circles were most likely "a laboratory" used to cultivate resistant crops. We drove through remote mountains on a dirt road to arrive at the circles...at first there wasn't much to see. As we walked to the edge, where more people were standing, we looked down into rings and rings of land that was a good 100 foot drop. Below, on each side, there were groups of men wearing indigenous clothing and holding flags. Each side wore a different color...red, green and yellow. Soon after we arrived, the festival commenced. We learned that they were blessing the earth with a food offering and also the king was to choose a new wife. I don't know too much about the local religion of the Inca or the extent of the festival, but it was very interesting to watch. For about 2 hour there was intense drumming, music and parading around each level of the circles. While this was going on, the locals who gathered around the edge were cooking and hanging out with their families. They sold plates of fried fish, potatoes, rice and salad for about 95 cents (USD)...among many other delicious things. We ate ceviche with corn and pumpkin, large sweetened popcorn (tasted like corn pops cereal!), fried potato bread sticks with powdered sugar, watermelon...so many things. Also, we drank Chicha which is a typical beverage made from fermenting different kinds of grains. It has little alcohol content if any. The kind I had was made of Quinoa...so good! It was the most delicious and the most unsanitary day of our lives. After Celine ordered a plate of fried fish, I saw the woman searching around for a fork. Unable to find a clean one, she reached into a bag of dirty utensils...wiped it off on her skirt and handed it to us. Hah. We looked at eachother and shrugged. Good thing we both had low standards of cleanliness that day! My Chicha experience was no better! The woman dunked a used glass into a barrel of water before filling it with the beverage. Beggars can't be choosers and I was willing to risk the potential parasite for authentic Peruvian food & drink.
AGUAS CALIENTES: Machu Picchu Pueblo.
We left Moray and boarded a very nice touristy train deep into the mountains to Aguas Calientes. On the train we randomly ran into Kati (the girl from Lima)...she was sitting right in front of Celine and I! She was doing her own trip with a friend but unfortunately we never found her again after getting to the pueblo. We made it to our hostel, which was easy enough because Aguas Calientes is a VERY small town. I would have to say that it exists purely for tourism at this point (it's the closest civilized town to Machu Picchu...it lies at the foothills of the ruins...a 10 minute bus ride). We didn't get too much time in the pueblo...we basically only were there during nighttime hours (right when we got off the train and the next night after spending all day at the ruins). After getting to our hostel we found a nearby restaurant, had a nice meal and planned for our trip to the ruins the next day (Monday the 2nd). As we were sitting eating, a woman who "worked" for our tour found us and went to go buy our bus tickets up to the ruins. She explained that the first 400 people in line at the entrance were allowed a special stamp so that they could hike up to Waynapicchu (the tipity top of the ruins...a 1 1/2 hour hike). We would have to get up before 3 A.M and wait in line for the busses. At 5 A.M the busses would begin to depart up to the ruins. We all decided to bite the bullet in hopes of some really spectacular views! So we went to bed as soon as we finished eating only to wake up again not soon- there- after!
MACHU PICCHU: my second of the 7 Wonders of the World!
After waiting in line in drizzling rain, we finally boarded a bus that drove us up to the ruins in the pitch black darkness. We made it onto the first bus, I should add. Serious commitment. Anyways, as we headed up the mountain I saw people walking up the trails with headlamps and flashlights. Ok, maybe we weren't as serious as them...or the 100 or so people in line before the first bus even arrived! I guess people knew that even if you got on the first busses it didn't secure you a pass into Waynupicchu! As we were standing in line, Bridget and I decided that it was an opportune time to visit the restrooms. (There are NO bathrooms at the ruins, only outside the gates...and you have to present your ticket and I.D every time you exit and enter.) Turns out, we chose the worst time to step out of line...as we are in the stalls we hear our french friend Stephane yelling for us. We ran out of there only to find the guy stamping the tickets for Waynupicchu past the point in the line where we had been. I ran to him and begged him to stamp our tickets...saying that were were 2 of 4 people in a group. He was NOT having any of it. But I kept on pleading and finally I think he was so annoyed that he stamped our tickets...allowing us access to the top! Thank God for my sweet spanish skills and pestering behavior. We got through the gates, walked via a wooden bridge, turned a corner and BAM. MACHU PICCHU! It was before total sunrise so we were literally among the clouds. We couldn't see the edge of the land, but we could see the stone foundations and the grassy stepped areas. Taking it all in, we slowly walked to the other side of the ruins following signs for Waynupicchu. There, again, we waited in another line until around 730 or so to be able to hike to the summit! I knew from the start, gazing at the first inclined steps to cross over to Waynupicchu (it's separated from the main ruins), that I had gotten myself into something serious. I am not an avid hiker. Ask my Dad. I bought my first hiking boots in preparation for South America back in January. No NH trek could have prepared me for this though. We're talking a steep incline for over 1 1/2 hours. I believe that "steep incline" is a synonym for "misery" or maybe even "relentless torture". To our advantage, the sun had not risen fully yet. It was cloudy, misty and cool. After a couple of hours, a pit stop to pee when no one was around, much cursing and grunting, IMMENSE sweating and 10 water breaks we started to see remnants of civilization. Ruins! A good sign for sure. (To clarify: yes, we peed on the machu picchu trail!)
All the negativity aside, LA VISTA (the view) was worth it all. There were over 50 of us at this point gathered at the very top. We all sprawled out over smooth rocks, took photos, ate snacks, took naps and watched the clouds come and go giving us glimpses of Machu Picchu from the heights of the gods.
The decent an hour later took longer than expected. We took an "alternate route" believing that it would take us back to Machu Picchu with the advantage of checking out "The Temple of the Moon". It did. Eventually. Unlike the summit, this moon temple was not worth the extra 45 minutes down...and then BACK UP TO THE TOP AGAIN. Unbeknownst to us, the route took us back up to rejoin at some point with the original trail, adding an additional hour and half to our decent. This extra hike and then decent included...ladders, caves and tightropes on the side of a cliff...unimaginable everyday tourist activities.
The rest of the afternoon (from about 1230 until 5) we walked around the ruins and tried to sneak onto other people's tours. We listened to some in Spanish, French and English when possible. Unfortunately, our time delay in the decent made us miss our tour around the ruins to understand each part. We tried to catch as much as possible about the temples, formations, houses...etc. To fill you in a little on the history of Machu Picchu: "Old Peak", in the Quecha language, was rediscovered in 1911 by archeologist, Hiram Bingham. This small (some 150 houses) was constructed in the 1400's...though there is speculation that this site was revered as sacred grounds even before then. Machu Picchu is invisible from below and completely self-contained...probably used as a secret city by the Inca. The city was abandoned not long after the Spainards took Cusco in 1533, even though it was never discovered.
This was a lame attempt to describe all that is Machu Picchu. It was totally different that I had imagined. My photos are better storytellers than I am. Check those bad boys out!
back to CUSCO.
We ended up walking (aka hobbling) back to Aguas Calientes. That took another 2 hours or so. We cut through the winding dirt road via inca paths with stone steps that took us down diagonally back to the pueblo. After showering and eating a HUGE meal we went to bed. I woke up in the middle of the night unable to move my right knee. It was so unbelievably painful- I thought it was dislocated! I think it was just lactic acid at work after intense mountain climbing...I spent the rest of the trip going down stairs sideways one step at a time and limping about. The next morning we boarded the train, after much effort the night before trying to locate our guide/tickets...oh South America... and we were back to our hostel in Cusco! The next couple days here consisted of booking new bus tickets, eating delcious cheap food and exploring the city. We went to an awesome hole-in-the-wall place with Stephane called, “La Chomba”. It was a family style “Picateo” with picnic tables, cheap eats and live music. Ok, said “live music” was really just a street musician and his two kids who wanted a larger audience for more spare change. I ate until my famous words “I’ll never eat again” were spoken and then retired for the night.
The next morning we got up early and took a cab to check out Cusco’s famed ruins, Saqsaywaman. (Yes, pronounced “sexywoman” as our French companion loved to repeat.) We opted not to pay to enter into the ruins (Machu Picchu had pretty much wiped us out financially...) and instead we spent the day in the mountains overlooking Saqsaywaman on horseback. We did a 2 ½ hour tour on horses who were more interested in chomping on some grass then moving at anything but sloth pace. My horse in the beginning wouldn’t even leave the corral. He may have actually been a sloth-horse hybrid. The tour guide kid stayed in the back of the line to whip the horses to make them move. One time he whipped mine when I was taking a picture and my horse took off in a gallop without my consent. I have forgotten completely how to ride a horse... think it's been about 12 years since I took lessons. So I wasn't loving the galloping part too much. However, it was really nice getting to see the ruins and Cusco without having to hike at all (I wish I had that horse for Waynupicchu!)...it was a fun and relaxing end to our time in Cusco.
That night we boarded a less than reputable bus “Trans-Mar” headed back to Lima. We thought 21 hours on the first one was bad...at least that one was like riding in first class! I don’t even want to relive that experience again by writing about it...but I will summarize a few key events over those traumatizing hours. 1) we took immense amounts of Dramamine and tried to sleep the whole way through. 2) the bathroom had no lights or toilet paper to my knowledge 3) people were vomiting again in little plastic bags and then setting them on the floor. Guess what seats we were sitting in? The first row. All of the vomit bags and other assorted trash accumulated at our feet and swayed from side to side as we wound through the Andes again. 4) We were the only Americans on the bus so we slept with our passports and money down our pants. End Scene.
LIMA, PERU: 2 more days Peru-style
In Lima we also stayed in a Pirwah Hostel. This one was located in the lovely neighborhood of Miraflores. Soon after getting to the hostel we ventured out to the Plaza Miraflores for some dinner. We had the best pisco sours and amazing seafood there. The next morning (our last day in Peru) we went out to the downtown, Plaza de Armas to try to do some sightseeing. This plaza is gorgeous...to me it had more of a “South American look” to it than the downtown plazas of Santiago and Buenos Aires. Those just look very European, for obvious reasons. But Lima’s main buildings that surround the square are bright yellow with white trim...shaded by ancient palm trees. We found a nice place for lunch and had delicious ceviche and pisco sours. I know it seems like we drank a lot of those, but the restaurants offer free rounds of them to lure you in! Plus they are so good in peru! They typically have crushed ice, Peruvian Pisco, fresh lemon, sugar, and are topped with whipped egg whites and a dot of cinnamon. Que riiiico. Ceviche, again, is raw white fish marinated in lime-juice that slightly cooks the edges, spices, and topped with red onion and giant corn kernels. Peruvian sushi! After that we met up with Enzo, a friend of Pablo and Sonia (friends of Celine’s from Santiago) who lives in Lima. He showed us around the downtown for the rest of the afternoon and then we went for another Pisco Sour in pub where they were originally created! El Bolivarcito.
Later on that night we met up with Enzo again we went out to some clubs/bars...which ended in us being creeped on by lots of men. Needless to say the night did not end well for us and we left early. I did meet a couple of guys who were really interesting and part of an indigenous culture revival. They had long hair and one was wearing feather earrings. Cool. That was the highlight of my night, so that’s not saying much. I think we were all ready to get back to Santiago and back into clean clothes (we had all run out of socks!)
CIAO PERU
All in all Peru was spectacular: out-of-this-world gastronomy, better prices, less-western influence and an overwhelming amount of pan flute music. Who doesn’t love that? I’m going back when Brittany finds another English teaching job in Lima and I make more than minimum wage. ;)
