May 13, 5:00am (Lima & Cuzco, Peru)
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We arrive on time after a 3 hour flight from Las Vegas and the 6 hour international flight from Houston (Continental Airlines). Immigration was fast, which gave us a full 2 hours for our domestic flight to Cuzco city. We walk for 10 minutes to the Aero Continente Airlines desk for a stressing experience.
I booked and paid for this 1 hour domestic flight to Cuzco over 6 weeks before. Three days prior to today I was sent an email that our 9:00am flight was changed to 7:00am. Thankfully our Lima flight was on time. While waiting for 30 minutes in the Aero Continente line we finally arrive to an employee behind the desk. She tells us our flight has been changed once again to 6:00am. My watch reads 5:55am. She tells me we can make the flight if we hurry. We literally run the 'cambio' desk to pay an unexplained $7.00US tax then literally run onto the Jorge Chavez Airport tarmac and climb the stairs in the morning darkness to board our 1 hour plane to Cuzco.
We fly through the thick clouds of Lima, and the high clouds of the Andes on our way to Cuzco, while contemplating the horror stories of travelers' altitude sickness when they arrive at this city (12,000ft above sea level). While Linda waits at baggage claim I begin to call a few guide book recommended hotels. The 3rd call gives me a decent rate of $35US per night at 'Hotel Archelogo' with airport pick up. Cuzco is strictly a tourist town and $35US is the rate for most hotels that are not student hostels.
Walking outside this small airport was quite an adventure. We were pounced upon by numerous taxi drivers. Explaining our situation helped to back them off, but I stupidly mentioned our hotel's name. Just 1 minute later we hear a man yelling 'Archelogo, Archelogo Hotel!'. Having hung up with the hotel just 4 minutes prior we knew this was not our true driver, so we had to explain the story again. I speak excellent Spanish, but we were treated as another ignorant tourist couple by the taxi drivers. Unfortunately for these drivers they bombard the tourists in order to get just a 10 soles fare to the city ($2.75US).
Our driver arrives 15 minutes after the phone call. He has a tour guide in the passenger seat named Nicolas who loves the fact I speak Spanish. Unfortunately we don't like the afternoon trip to the ruins of Pisac that he's already trying to sell us. After an overnight flight and another flight to a city with limited oxygen, we politely decline. However, I agree to talk to Nicolas about a possible Machu Picchu trip.
At the hotel we are able to check in at 9:00am with a room ready. We meet Nicolas in the hotel's café for the obligatory 'coca' tea. Nicolas explains his Machu Picchu package which has the same itinerary & price I've been told of during my prep for this trip. $75US/person includes drop-off at the train station, round trip train ticket ('Backpacker Train'), round trip bus ticket to the ruins, 2 hour English speaking tour of the ruins, and taxi return to our Cuzco hotel from the train station. You can do it on your own without the guided tour for $60US. Nicolas will pick us up tomorrow morning at 7:00am for our 7:30am train departure to Aguas Calientes, the village below the ruins of M.P.
The altitude becomes noticeable while filling out our hotel's registrations form. We can't seem to keep our shaking hands still. We somehow scribble our names in the boxes on the form, pop 2 aspirin then crash out for 6 six hours in our room. Sleeping until 4:00pm definitely wasn't in the plans, but obviously needed after noticing our deep breathes of air during our sleep.
At 4:30pm we take the 5 minute walk to Cuzco's Plaza de Armas, the tourist center of Cuzco. We snap a few pics of the beautiful plaza with its two 400 year old Spanish churches and beautiful fountain at the plaza's center. We sit down on a bench near the fountain only to be approached by two 10 year old children trying to sell us postcards that appear to be 50 years old. I decide to answer their question of where we from, then the speech begins from one of the boys:
'Unitade Stase, prezident shoorsh buush, capitole washintone. You from California o Los Angeles?'
A generous $2US for three postcards put smiles upon their faces, but only a stern 'es bastante, adios' ('that's enough, good-bye') would scare them away.
Dinner was at the highly recommended 'Inca Grill'. I loved the 'tacu tacu' breaded steak with wonderfully flavored onions accompanied by rice & beans. Linda had a delicious pepper stuffed with potato & cheese. Excellent service & food! At 80 soles ($23US) after tip, this would be our most expensive dinner in Peru.
Next stop is the nearby 'Cross Keys Pub', only 100 meters away from Inca Grill. The pub is upstairs and has floors that creek as though they're ready to give way. The music and atmosphere are great, mainly filled with Europeans.
Our hotel is located down a dark alley only 2 Kms. away from Plaza de Armas, but a taxi is recommended for tourist after sundown. Taxi ride costs us 5 soles after 100% tip.
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May 14 - 15, 2001 (Aguas Calientes & Machu Picchu)
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We wake up at 6:00am for our 7:30am train to Machu Picchu. Starving for breakfast we discover that nothing in Cuzco opens until 7:00am, so we must wait for the train food. Nicolas picks us up at 7:00am, gives us all our tickets for the whole trip, then drops us off at the train station. Unfortunately Nicolas didn't warn us of the 4 hour hell ride to Aguas Calientes.
One hour into the train ride we're finally offered ham&cheese sandwiches for purchase. After devouring the small morsels, the train becomes a popcorn machine. For the next two hours we're thrown up&down and side to side. We don't know whether it's the tracks or the lack of shocks on these train cars. I still can't believe we kept our food in or stomachs. The final hour of the ride was smooth with excellent views. The gigantic Andes Mountains tower above, while the flowing Urumbamba River can be heard & seen below the tracks.
Everyone piles off the train at Aguas Calientes to head out on their own or find their tour guide. As for us, we locate the employee from 'Hotel Pachequtec', to drop off our luggage and find our tour guide.
Our guide has the responsibility of 20 other tourists. He herds us all onto a bus for the 25 minute winding road ride to the ruins of Machu Picchu. After a brutal 4 hour train ride, we're only minutes away from one of South America's treasures, Machu Picchu.
Passing through the entrance, a 5 minute hike without views, dumps us onto a high terrace with the one of the best views of the ruins. The scene looks precisely like the National Geographic photos, the history book photos, the internet photos, and exactly the way M.P. looked appx. 500-700 years ago when it was abandoned. It's the classic full view of the ruins with the tall peak of 'Huyana Picchu at the far end, splitting the low clouds drifting through. We soon realize that these awesome cloud formations drift in & out of M.P. all day long. The clouds are wonderful to witness as they dress & undress the tall peaks of the surrounding mountains. These clouds definitely add to M.P.'s famous mystique.
We spent the first 2 hours following our guide & group while lagging behind at times to snap photos. Our guide had great historical facts & stories of the ruins that we hadn't previously learned of.
Here is a synopsis of what we know now and witnessed during the full tour: Machu Picchu is divided into 4 sections; temples, industrial, housing, and agricultural. The temples of M.P. take up a large percentage of this ancient village. The Inca worshipped gods associated with agriculture, a sun god, a water god, a moon god, etc… There are temples dedicated to each of these gods with the best Inca stone craftsmanship to be seen in Peru. Our favorite temple was that of the 'Condor'. We still can't believe we didn't hear about this temple during our prep for Peru. The temple is a small open area in front of two huge strangely shaped stones. The center area holds a decently preserved head & beak of a condor carved into the ground with a 6ft body attached. No big deal, until our guide points out the gigantic wings carved into the huge stones sitting 10 feet behind & above the condor's body. The two wing stones are 15ft wide & 15ft tall. The detail and preserved state of the carvings make them look as though they were painted on. Many of the other temples also hold impressive water fountains. Incan fountains don't spray water like today's fountains, but rather trickle water using gravity through their ancient underground bored tunnels.
The industrial section is the smallest of all sections. Only a few rooms filled with rocks that were waiting or carving. Not a very noteworthy section, but it does remind us of the fact that this was a self reliant city.
The housing section comprises the largest part of the main ruins. The little difference in architecture between all the homes leads to speculation that there were no economic classes in M.P. Although a hierarchy most likely existed, it's doubtful that a lower class existed. Archaeologists also believe M.P. supported appx. 800 people during its inhabitation.
The agricultural terraces of M.P. fill the mountain sides & peaks around the ruins. There are even terraces at the top of Huyana Picchu (a 1 1/2 hour hike to the top). Llamas roam the terraces for food. During our 2nd day (early morning) we were followed by two llamas for short while through the industrial section of the ruins. They enjoyed Linda scratching their long necks while I snapped a dozen photos.
During the 2nd day we tried the path to the 'Inca Bridge', but turned back after seeing the 1,000ft drop along the path. We met a 65 year old Swiss man along the path that told that the 'Taj Mahal' was the his favorite site to see in the world. We spent 3 hours the 1st day and another 3 hours the 2nd day at M.P.
Baffling, serene, and relaxing are some adjectives to describe our tour of Machu Picchu. Entrance fee is $20US, they no longer offer ½ price for your 2nd day visit. Round trip bus ride from Aguas Calientes is $9US/person and round trip train ride from Cuzco is $30US/person. Helicopter from Cuzco is supposedly a beautiful 25 minute ride, but holds a $160US round trip price tag.
The town of Aguas Calientes has many inexpensive hotels & restaurants to choose from. A few Andean music bands bounce from restaurant to bar in order to play a few songs then move on. We felt completely safe walking the streets at night and enjoyed the town's friendly hospitality. We stayed at Hotel Pachequtec ($20US with private bath & breakfast).
We bought a few clothing items and a blanket at the market outside the train station. We paid 75% the asking price after bargaining, for almost all our purchases in Peru. We then hopped on the popcorn machine for the 4 hour train ride back to Cuzco.
Nicolas was waiting outside the train station and took us to our hotel where we negotiated a 1 day tour of Ollantaytambo & the Sacred Valley. Because there is only two of us, the price tag was expensive at $45US, but the drive is 180 miles round trip and we have 8 hour access to the car. We will take the trip on Friday, three days from today. |
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