Peru Pt. 4 - Cusco & Machu Picchu

I’d intentionally broken up Peru into sections of 10 to 12 hour maximum bus rides, so I wasn’t flying everywhere. This plan backfired on me on the way to Cuzco. Our overnight bus was boiling hot and I couldn’t sleep. Instead, I sat there staring at the ceiling while everyone else slept.

We checked into our hostel very early in the morning and were fortunate enough to be able to check right in and get our beds. I took a nap for a few hours and I woke up with just enough time to hop on a walking tour of the city. Cuzco itself isn’t all that spectacular as a tourist spot, it’s mainly used as a gateway to Machu Picchu, however it’s nestled in the hills which makes for some pretty views. The rest of the day was spent socializing before I went to bed early.

Having plenty of rest was beneficial for me, being that day two was Australia day. In reality it’s a celebration of the first British fleet that arrived to form a colony in Sydney Harbor in 1788. But like every other ignorant American, I thought it was independence or something. Much like our Independence Day it’s an excuse for them to go crazy. And if you’re a young backpacker from Australia, it’s the perfect excuse to go even crazier. So like a good American, I joined and went bananas.

I’ll spare you the details, but the involved a lot of alcohol and body paint…

Obviously you can expect I was a little hungover the next morning. Perfect timing, given our bus for Machu Piccu left at 930am. I made it, but slept part of the way. I wasn’t the only one in this state, as there were five Aussies. At one point, we even had to pull over to the side of the road for one of them to throw up.

After our two hour bus ride, we arrived in the mountain town of Ollantaytambo, where we raced to grab a bite to eat before our train ride to Aguas Calientes (aka. Machu Picchu base camp). When we arrived it was pouring down rain, so we spent the rest of the day hanging around our hotel. That night I went to bed assuming that it would be pouring the next morning and our hike up the mountain was going to be miserable. When I awoke at 4am, though, there was no sound of constant waterfall. Just the sound of a few drips left over from that nights downpour. Things were looking up…literally.

The hike to Machu Picchu begins with a walk on a shallow decline alongside the river. After nearly twenty minutes you reach the guard post to cross the river. By now it’s a little past 5am, and that’s when the difficult part begins. The climb is just over 1800 steps and it’s pretty difficult. I cleared everyone in my group and tried to power through the climb, even passing other groups of people along that were climbing at a modest pace. It wasn’t until around 45 minutes in that I hit a wall and just kept pace with a group of Germans. Then, at just before 6am, when the park opens, I made it to the top.

Most of my group were still climbing the stairs when the park gates opened, so I went in with Josh and Tim (two Aussies from our group). We wandered into the park and enjoyed how tranquility the park offers in the early morning mist before the hordes of bussed in tourists arrive around 645am. We caught up with our tour group just inside the park. The actual tour was somewhat forgettable and I wasn’t really paying our guide much attention. However as we began to wander around the clouds around us began to part and the whole area lit up. For the rest of the morning, the clouds created a hole above Machu Picchu. It was stunningly beautiful.

Having finished exploring the ruins, it was time for me to hike Huainapicchu. This is the mountain that sits behind the ruins in every postcard photo. I’m sure you’ve seen it. Little did I realize that this would be a helluva trek. The trail is basically rock formation steps that wind up a highly vertical mountain. It’s a tight squeeze getting by people going up and down so it takes some time to get up there, but the view from up top makes it all the worthwhile.

By now I was out of water, out of snacks, covered in sweat and ready to go back. So I did. The rest of my day was spent hanging out in Aguas Calientes, waiting for our train. We made it back to Cusco just before midnight. Our long day kept going with a cross-dressing party at the hostel. This ended with me wearing a tutu.

Andrew and I were initially planning to leave Cusco the following night, but there were no bus tickets left for Bolivia. Therefore we booked for the following night and extended our stay in Cusco. By now I felt like I had done enough here and was ready to move on, so the next two days I basically hung around the hostel and socialized. 

Peru Pt. 3 - Arequipa (Pictures)

Peru Pt. 3 - Arequipa

My first day in Peru's second largest city was a giant mess. We had gone from relative sea level to 7600+ feet above sea level. I believe it was a combination of the change in elevation and whatever fish I'd eaten the night before, threw my stomach for a loop. That, coupled with a 30 degree drop in temperature from the previous day had me hating my decision to come here.

But, I didn't really have a reason to complain. It's not like I was working.

We had arrived on our overnight bus around 6am. We checked into our hostel and sat there sipping crap instant coffee and desperately needing a shower. The need for better coffee prevailed, however, so we went in search of something better along with a bite to eat. We found a nice little place that had steak and eggs. When the woman took our order I asked for coffee, and much to my dismay, when she came back, she was carrying a can of Nescafe.

In one of the best coffee growing regions in the world, all I can get is a fucking can of instant coffee.

Our big highlight for the day was going into the monastery and wandering around for a good hour and a half. It gave us an opportunity for some photos, but little else. Neither Andrew or I were too interested in getting a guided tour. It's a) another religious thing - we've already seen plenty of those - and b) a monastery.

By now it was mid afternoon and my combination of altitude sickness/diarrhea/godknowswhatelse had put me down. I had some Coca tea and went to bed.

The next day wasn't filled with much in the way of travelling highlights either. I spent most of it watching the AFC & NFC Championship games. However, before those games I went to lunch with a couple girls who were interested in trying Coy. For those of you that don't know what Coy is, it's Guinea Pig. And it comes fried and you get the whole thing on your plate. Even the head.

It may sound gross, but it's considered a delicacy in Peru (and can be quite expensive). It's actually quite good too. It tastes a bit like Quail. And naturally, the most delicious part is the head.

Waking up early has become more natural for me on this trip than any other time in my life. My alarm for the third day was set for 240am, yet I woke up twenty minutes early. It’s a very bizarre thing waking up that early but a necessary evil if you want to trek to Colca Canyon and see the condors, which is the sole reason I even went to Arequipa.

The bus left at 3am and it took a good 4 hours to get up to the canyon. We had signed up for the one day trip rather than the two day hike which, as the day went on, I began to regret. It started as we got to the entrance to the canyon. We were required to pay an additional $25, which I was not informed of, just to enter. As we bussed up the canyon towards the Condor pass, we drove by some amazing scenery. The hills were covered in plantation tiers all separated by old stone walls. It looked like I imagine it did hundreds of years ago.

The Colca Canyon is one of the deepest in the world, roughly some 13,500 feet deep. At one point, the walls of the canyon become very vertical and narrow. This is where the Andean Condors nest. It’s so common to see one that the local joke for tourists is that if you haven’t seen one within 10 minutes, lie down and play dead. However, as we got to the top of the pass, our tour guide says “there will be no Condor’s today, it’s too cloudy.”

Wait. What?

My sole purpose of going to Arequipa is to see a bird with a 10 ft wingspan. I was not happy. So we went through the motions and walked around the “viewpoint” for 30 minutes before getting back on the bus. We continue to drive on and proceed to drop off the two day trekkers for their hike. For some reason, I was under the assumption that the one day trek would include a hike. Again I was wrong.

The plan for the one day trek was to pick up more people who were heading back to Arequipa, then stop at a few view points along the way to take pictures. At this point, I’m just holding back my anger. I came all this way for absolutely nothing.

On the drive back, just as we were about to pass a viewpoint, the guide points into the sky.

“Look, Condors!”

So we pull over, take pictures for ten minutes, and hop back in the car. Was I glad to see Condors? Duh. Was the whole trek worth it? Eh. The rest of the trip took us back to Chivay, the main town in the canyon, for lunch. Then we had a few other photo-op pit stops before finally returning to Arequipa.

The following morning, Andrew and I went to the bus station to buy our tickets for that nights bus to Cusco. As previously mentioned, driving in Peru is insane. Cab drivers are the worst. Although I’m sure it wont be the last time on this trip that I come across a cab drive that could be categorized as clinically insane.

After we bought our bus tickets, we wandered around the local market. Instead of department stores or anything like that, everyone goes to the main market, where you can buy absolutely anything you need. Each area of the market, and surrounding streets, is sectioned off by category. Each category is then broken down into a subsection. This continues until every storefront is specialized to just one thing. Ie, I passed a store that was selling rope. Nothing else, just rope.

The rest of the day was spent lounging around our hostel until it was time for our bus (which would inevitably a nightmare of a bus ride for me).

Peru Pt. 2 - Huacachina & Nazca (Pictures)