Last of Peru - Machu Picchu, Peru
Machu Picchu, Peru
Been a bit manic these last few weeks so got really behind with my blogs I couldn't keep up. Before the Inca Trek we spent the weekend in Arequipa. It's Peru's second biggest city at 2400m. The city itself is beautiful since all the buildings are made from white volcanic rock from the surrounding volcanos nearby which gives its name the 'White City'. Here I got to do a lot of the touristy stuff in terms of posing with alpacas, lamas and eagles, trying new foods like guinea pig (on the day of the guinea pig), alpaca steak and different types of potatoes (Peru boast that they have over 2000, even 5000 types of potatoes). I also visited the famous Monastery of Santa Catalina, which was pretty but don't understand why it's one of things I needed to see before I die, according to the book Things to see before you die. We also went to the Colca Canyon for a day and night which is twice the size of The Grand Canyon. The scenery was amazing! The Incas created all these terraces for farming purposes so the views really do take your breath away ha! We also got to go to some natural hot springs near the canyon where we almost fainted because of the altitude, dehydration and heat combined. But it did feel like an amazing hot bath at 35degrees for the first half an hour then I really needed some air. We also got our first taste of high altitude, which was good preparation for Cusco and Machu Picchu. Most of us got the headaches, so on our way up to Colca we stopped at a cafe to have some coca tea with muña (their local mint). It helped! However the altitude is a constant battle over the next few weeks because we keep going higher. Disappointingly we only saw one condor in the distance when we went condor watching which is the second time this has happened to us. But I do manage to see some later on in Cusco when we visit the animal sanctuary. They are ugly birds anyway. The evening was funny because of the altitude the alcohol hits you a lot quicker so after a couple of glasses of red wine I was in a sociable mood and these Dutch people were playing scrabble so I tried to join in, but they only wanted to play in Dutch which I couldn't do. Then these other people were playing some complicated mathematical game. So I sobered myself up making a puzzle of the American Express card with Tanya and Foz while we waited for dinner to be ready. After Arequipa we flew to Cusco. Anyone who knows me knows how much I hate lack of organisation and when things don't go to a semi plan. So getting to Cusco on Monday became the most stressful day of my trip! First it was another early start of getting to the airport. Then our tour leader fainted (she's been ill for most of the trip) luckily Tanya who joined in Lima is a paramedic so she was at hand to help. Our flight was then delayed by an hour which was fine because we still had time to see Cusco and sort ourselves out and rest before the Inca Trail. But no as we're flying an hour in and above Cusco the flight turns around back to Arequipa because the weather is bad. Then we had to wait on the plane for another hour for it to refuel before we set off again to Cusco. We were a bit worried that we wouldn't make it for the Inca Trek which was due to start the next day. Only 500 people are allowed a day to enter the Inca Trail, which includes the 200 porters and guides. So you need to get a permit which I booked back in May to secure my place. So if you missed it, you missed it! Luckily we landed in Cusco. But then we got to our hotel and was told we had no reservation. No one was happy and we were feeling the altitude so everyone was grumpy and tired. By the time our hotel was sorted it was already 3pm which gave us 3hours to explore Cusco and get any last minute things for the trek before our orientation meeting. In my case buy some underwear because I didn't have time to wash any and also was told by Laura that you can't go trekking in a thong so I had to find myself some granny pants, which was a mission and no markets sell them. However we found a fake topshop called tipitop which suited our purposes luckily. That night I was exhausted and annoyed with how the day went especially because all I wanted to do was have a nice relaxing day before we started the trek, WHICH DIDN'T HAPPEN, because even then we didn't go to sleep until midnight. The next morning we left our hotel at 6am to get to Ollantaytambo to where we got some breakfast and any last minute water and snacks for the trek. The bus then dropped us off at the 82km mark. The Inca Trek is a 4 day hike going up and down over the mountains and jungle. OMG....it was the most physically challenging thing I have ever done in my life. I remembered how much I hate walking. At one point of the trek (1hour in) I said to myself how cool it would be to walk Mt Kilimanjaro by the end of the second day I was like NEVER AGAIN. However arriving at the sun gate to see Macchu Picchu was worth the effort. Bit small at first, so not like the pictures I've seen but then we walked down and it got more and more impressive. I said to Laura at the top...'Is that it?' She told me to go home! But I was kidding of course... The first day of the trek was quite mild, although the first ascent left us a bit breathless. What you have to understand about the Inca Trail is that you can be really fit but the altitude kills you. So everyone suffers due to lack of oxygen. The second day was a killer it was only 8km long but it took 6hours to walk it because it was all uphill and we ascended 1200m to get to the highest point of the trail known as Dead Woman's Pass at 4200m. The other thing about the trial it's all steps! So after walking 4hours up, we then had to walk 2hours down. Oh and it rained the whole day! So it was slippery, cold and wet. I thought I wasn't going to make it. The third day was slightly better but we had another 2 passes so the trek was up and down. However we saw a few more Inca sites which made the trek more interesting. Our last day started at 4.30am and lasted 6hours. It was all downhill except for the last half an hour where it went uphill and we had to crawl up the 'gringo killer steps'. Then we had another 10mins uphill before we got to the sun gate and saw Machu Picchu! The rest of the day we explored the site and Ruben our guide, which we thought was called Ruvan for the whole walk, explained more about the history of the Incas. I officially know a lot about the Incan Empire. It's soo interesting and they were even recognised as the best engineers of their time. There's not a single gap between the rocks and everything had a religious purpose or physical purpose of being there. Most people see Sacred Valley before they do Machu Picchu but for whatever reason we did it the other way. So the next morning we had another early start doing a day trip to Pisac and Ollantaytambo to see more Inca sites or ruins (but I got told off for saying ruins). Oh and climb more hills and steps, these Incas don't make it easy. What is amazing though is that you can see in Ollantaytambo how it is still unfinished because while it was being built the Spanish invaded the Incas. Cusco as well is an inca site but was built over by the Spanish. So you've got a mixture of inca and colonial building structures. The incas were also clever in building their building on an angle due to all the seismic area. This is why so many sites have survived. That night we went out to celebrate the successful walk of the Inca Trail (because people die, we were also too tired the night before) and Foz's bday. It got messy lets say the least. South America likes giving free shots and there's always dancing on or behind the bar involved. The gringos and locals like to party hard, plus we can't forget the altitude. We took some pictures but poor Tanya got her camera stolen that night. So the next morning when we were going to the jungle we were all either still drunk or hanging. In my case I wasn't functioning so our tour leader Ninka had to help me pack because I was not ready to catch a flight or moving. The shower was cold so I was cold that was my reason for whinging. James forgot everything he needed for the jungle just took his man bag and hoody, so he was doing last minute shopping at the airport and little village. The birthday girl Foz was passed out the whole journey there. So we were all rough in the jungle, heat didn't help, sleeping our hangovers off by the pool. Hard life! However after the Inca Trail I've been so tired and in a bit of a funk with my travelling. I didn't appreciate being eaten by so many mozzies either, especially since I got some bite or sting and it gave me two massive boils on my thigh. I was having some allergic reaction to it. But I did spend most of my time by the pool reading Game of Thrones book 3 (OMG why does everyone die?!) since it was soo disgustingly humid. So can't complain but I did a walk through the jungle and saw a few monkeys and tarantulas. So the other drama was how our tour leader has been sick for the whole trip so when we got back from the jungle she explained how she was going home and how she's been replaced by Fabio who started of as a love sick puppy because his gf went back to Australia ha, but was a lot of fun in the end. Also he actually did his job and you could see the difference between a sick tour leader and one who wasn't. So it restored my faith in tour companies. Getting to Puño has been a bit of a mission. There was another protest in Peru so we got an extra day in Cusco to finally sightsee, which we haven't been able to do the whole time we were there. So we went on a free walking tour which the two guides were comical in doing, constantly joking around and playing music like pink panther to Lauren Hill. I also got to see more mummies in the Inca museum which was freaky. That night we took a night bus. That was one of the most scariest bus journeys to date. It kept stopping due to the protesters blocking the roads. At 3am the bus driver assistant explained that we would be a couple of hours delayed. It kept doing 9point turns on cliff side edges. I don't know how Laura could sleep next to me but I kept looking out of my window thinking of exit strategies. Luckily we got to Puño which was lucky, because the protest went on for a couple of more days after so it was good that we sneaked in through the night. That day we were going to Lake Titicaca so we didn't want to miss the opportunity of missing out staying with a real tribe in the lake know as the Amantani people. The lake is the world's largest high altitude body of water at 284m deep and more than 8500 square km in area. It borders Peru and Bolivia. Here we got a three hour boat ride to two islands. The first is known as the Uros Floating Islands which is only made of reeds. This cute little 2 year old got me to dress in their local attire which didn't look flattering. We also took a boat trip on the same reeds that their island homes are made from and sang row row row your boat in english and Spanish I think. From there we continued to Amantani Island where we met our host Mama Irma. I felt like I'd gone home to grandmas for the day so it was just what I needed to get me out of my funk with a bit of home cooking and a comfy bed. I'm also obsessed with pancakes for breakfast over here so it's always a bonus when I get them in South America because I'm sick of bread and jam. So a right treat. They also dressed us up that night in their local attire and then we went with our Peruvian sister and cousin Nelly and Inis to the disco where we danced to their music. It was such a funny night and a great experience. The next morning we left them to go to another island called Taquille where we had lunch and got to see men knit. It was more of a one man show. After Lake Titicaca and another 3 hour boat ride back we got to Puño. It started to rain so bad since it's the start of rainy season here but there was also a street parade where the local university kids dressed up in different costumes and native clothes. That night a bunch of us went out since it was the end of the tour trip and everyone was parting their own way in La Paz. We went to quite a cool rock/reggae bar which had loads of signs on the walls of previous tour companies and gringos passing through. We did one and called ourselves Titi Tucans. It was another fun Pisco/caipirinha night in Peru with the group.