Peru was very welcoming- first impressions were that Peruvians seemed to be very proud of their country (well, like most in Latin America). Peru straddled an interesting line; it didn't seem as traditional or authentic as Bolivia nor as developed as Brazil or Argentina. Somehow it came off as more commercial though- Peru, the brand.
Milhouse Hostel (again, its a chain)
Carnival!
I need to figure out how to upload videos to share this musical gold!
To make coffee
To make GoPro camera holder
The family pet
We were ready!
The agricultural sector
Temples zone
Near the Inka bridge
View from Huayna Picchu, falling into cloudy Machu Picchu.
I first noticed this in Cusco. On the first day, we went to investigate the city and walked nearby to the centre, Plaza de Armas. There are different streets leading off the main plaza and, as you walk down the cobbled streets leading to the artsy San Blas area, people come at you from all directions trying to sell you stuff, much of which has the Peru logo stamped on them. There were even some ladies standing around in traditional wear charging tourists to take their photos. I was taking pictures of the street and one of those ladies approached me to pay for or delete my photo as she was in the background. Ah, how I missed Bolivia...
Having said that, I ended up loving Peru :) Cusco is a beautiful city, very cute with pebbled streets, galleries, cafes, markets, good food, compact, just lovely. I could easily stay there for a while. It was also a great place to learn more about the Inca culture, the 'mystic energy' of the city and the shamans. And llama and alpaca products. And cocoa! We went to the yummy cocoa museum and learnt about chocolate making (the good organic stuff bro and Alexandra:).
So then, onto the even better stuff, Machu Picchu! We had read reviews about the different ways to get up to this 'lost Inca city'. The most well-known path, of course, is the classic 4-day Inca trek, where you hike along an authentic Inca trail. This is meant to be the more 'spiritual' route and is quite walking intensive. But its the most expensive option by far, as there are limited passes into the protected Inca trail area. There are other trails too though, and you can even chose to forgo all of this and just take a train and bus up to Machu Picchu.
Our choice: the super cool Jungle Trek! This is the adventurous cousin of the classic Inca trail. Its also a 4-day tour but combines trekking, biking, rafting and zip lining!! We went with Loki travel (who were very good).
After a debrief the night before, we headed off in the early hours of Sunday morning. We drove for a few hours along pretty mountainous scenery and got to Abra Malaga to cycle down the 4200m mountain (I had a nice van view).
At the bottom, we had lunch and then a brief "30 minute" walk to our family owned lodge in the jungle in Santa Maria. This is when I realised I mustn't trust our guide, Amaroso's, timings. However long it was, this little hike up to the lodge was veryy steep, humid and tiring.
Our Machu group consisted of Hannah, Hannes and I, a British couple (Emma and Roland) and a Chilean couple (Victor and Marissa). The lodge was very basic but awesome. It was isolated deep in the semi-tropical highland jungle, we had hammocks, instruments, games and Amaroso's useful insights into the Andean and Quechuan vs city Peruvian mentalities. This was a great night and got us into the jungle groove.
The morning of the second day we woke up bright and early in the jungle, had breakfast, painted our faces, tried on traditional Peruvian clothes, and began our day!
To make paint
To make Peruvian women
The second day was meant to be the toughest as we had to do the most trekking (about 7-8 hours from Santa Maria to Santa Teresa). It was so enjoyable though and we kept a good pace (yet tough at parts, especially with the rain).
The trek started off on a steep cliff along a narrow authentic Inka trail. Scary but beautiful views. And then we hiked in the mountains, valleys, in the jungle, along raging rivers, everywhere! Pacha mama (mother nature) was big and strong all around us. And we learnt about the yummy produce growing along the way: corn, potatoes, avocados, chillies, bananas, coca, cocoa... Later we stopped for lunch and rested our feet on the hammocks before continuing the trek.
It was all going so well, and then it started to rain. It was actually nice at the beginning but then it fell hard. And then we had to cross the river without a bridge. So, we had to cross in a cart and pulley, literally getting pulled on a wire by Amaroso high above the river. In the pouring rain. I was pretty terrified (of course I was looking down the drop the whole time). Hannes and I did it together and kept talking to each other till we got across. Later we both realised we had no recollection of what we talked about. Blank, that's how scarred we were.
A short walk further, we ended up at these amazing natural hot springs. We soaked in them as it continued to lightly rain on us against the valley backdrop.
Ofir, a tourist from Israel, also joined our group at the hot springs. At night we reached Santa Teresa, where we would spend the second night. After drying our clothes and shoes, we had dinner and shared party and card tricks.
On day three of the tour, we had the funnest activity of them all: zip lining! I was soo scarred but excited. The idea was to zip line over the valleys and rivers 2500m across and 250m above ground, reaching 80km/hour. That's a long distance and high and fast! Hannah smartly decided to save her life and opt out so I was counting on Hannes to get through this one.
I was the last one over on the first cable, which was a terrible idea as I had way too much time to build up the fear. Stepping off the platform was the scariest bit and I almost didn't do it. I'm so glad I did though, it was the most amazing feeling literally flying over the gorgeous valley below. After the first cable it was easy and we all experimented with positions, like the superman (fastening the harness on your back so you are belly down in the air with your arms spread like wings) or the upside down monkey position. It was sooo freeing! I felt like I could do anything after that (although that was probably the adrenaline speaking).
So much fun! After the adrenaline subsided, we visited a hydroelectric plant and had lunch. Then it was a nice three hour walk along the train tracks to Aguas Calientes, the town nearest to Machu Picchu. Once there, we slept early to prepare for an early wake up for the big highlight on the fourth day.
Hannah and Hannes opted to take the bus up to Machu Picchu in the morning. For some reason I decided to walk with the others. We started the walk at 4:30am with the idea of getting to the gate for the 6am opening to beat out the masses of tourists that arrive later on. It was dark but our torches lit up the Inca staircase as we made our way up the mountain step by step. We finally made it to the top and Amaroso met our group to guide us through Machu Picchu and its various sections.
When we got inside Machu Picchu the city was all hidden behind big clouds. Then suddenly, the clouds cleared up as if to unveil what was behind the curtains. Very dramatic indeed! And there it was, the lost Inca city in the clouds (rediscovered in the early 1900s).
The most impressive thing is how intact the archaeological remains are- much of that is due to the impressive engineering and organisational skills of the Inca empire.
The main square
Doris
Ah, what a fun adventure over the four days and an even better finish. Machu Picchu really has a powerful energy that pictures cannot capture. Truly an amazing and unforgettable experience.
You know, peruvias apparently don't like how we westerners say it was a lost city (this is what i was told) cause apparently everyone who lived around the area knew it was there, same as all the other inka ruins in the zone. But apparently it was lost to the western world so that makes it officially lost :p
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