Lake Titicaca, Crossing into Peru - Cusco, Peru
Cusco, Peru
Where I stayed
Yawarmaki hostel
What I did
Macchu Picchu
In many ways Lake Titicaca reminded us of Lake Okanogan, if you can overlook the trash in the surrounding towns it is beautiful. Our first town Copacabana, Bolivian. This cute town has a great lookout point if you climb the nearby hill on the lake side. Trocha or Trout, originally introduced from Canada, can be bought for less than two dollars along the water if you eat with the locals.
Running on a time line with two more countries to experience before Christmas, we planed for only one day. However, a road block into Peru delayed us until the evening when some vehicles were permitted to pass for a small fee. As we crossed the road block that evening, a single Sol per person was all we needed. We passed protesters, bonfires, rocks and broken glass on our way to Puno, Peru.
Puno, only known for accessing the famous Floating Reed islands of the Uros people, is a dump and if you have to stay here we highly advise not leaving the tourist strip. The islands however are worth a couple hour tour as there really is not anything like them in the world. Highly touristy, but unique we are glade we made the effort. Originally these islands were made to escape attacks from their neighbours the Incas and Collas.
Cuzco is beautiful and our hostel Yawarmaki, recommended by a lovely New Zealand couple we met in Puno, has been welcoming. Raquel the owner is a lovely lady but does not speak english. If you are keen to practice your Spanish she speaks clear and is very helpful. The city centre can be annoyingly touristy however, with everyone trying to sell you things you do not need. However it is a great city to wander, research, and booked a trip to Machu Picchu.
We decided the best way for us to see Machu Picchu was the five day four night Salkantay trail. This seventy five plus kilometre journey an alternative to the original inca trail, and it went something like this...
Day one we hiked past farm lands into the mountains with the sun overhead. Where we got our first and best view of Salkantay mountain.
Day two, our longest day was twenty three kilometres, one kilometre up and two down. Talk about knee pain Rueben our guide lent me his walking poles as I was slowing down as we descended. I will never make fun of walking poles again especially for long treks going down hill. Unfortunately this day Rob wasn't feeling his best, but he managed to overcome and by day three he was himself again.
Day three was much easier as we only had to walk for half a day. We ended in Santa Teresa town. Here we recovered in the most beautiful hot springs for three hours before dinner and then finished the night with a disco camp fire.
Day four was long but flat to Agua Calientes, it rained a little but considering it is the start of the rainy season we have been especially lucky. Here we were shown to our lovely hostel where we showered and relaxed to prepare for our last day up hill to Machu Picchu.
Day five equaled stairs. As well as our ticket to Machu Picchu we also bought a ticket for Wayna Picchu the mountain seen in the back ground of most pictures of Machu Picchu. Again we were lucky as it did not rain, however there was also not much sun. After arriving at six for opening and seven hours of walking up and down stairs we had our fill of this amazing wonder of the world.