Ok here it goes... Machu Picchu although very beautiful and has some amazing history is depicted a lot more than what it actually is. But, still and amazing place.
Was in Lima for a couple more days for New years which was fantastic, one of the best new years parties i have been to. The guys at the hostel decorated the hostels bar with balloons and streamers all in yellow. a massive balloon hanging from the chandelier filled with confetti. 60 soles bought you a ticket to the party its about 20 bucks... a little steep yes... but it includes all the alcohol you can handle and then some.
The flying dog hostel chain is in Cusco, Iquitos and Lima. They give you a bigger discount if you want to stay longer... sweet deal! The hostel in Lima is located in Miraflores, which is a nicer area of Lima. The hostel is on the second floor and overlooks the central plaza. A huge park that is very well kept. Many people, couples and parents come to the park daily to play, talk, sit in the shade of a tall tree. There are many vendors selling ice cream, sweets, pop corn and other delicious treats.
I should mention the large amount of stray cats... There is a church kiddy corner to the plaza that for some reason takes care of hundreds of stray cats... At night they close the gates to the plaza and the cats take over, lounging around, sleeping and just in general being lazy cats. Every now and then a small child will tip toe slowly up to one of the cats trying to touch it, the cat usually bolts for a new lounging area and the kid runs gleefully after giggling.
New years however, the Plaza was jammed packed with locals and tourist alike, shouting, laughing and drinking. With a clear view from the bar in the hostel overlooking the plaza was the place to be. Drinking and meeting dozens of new people from all over the world. The count down wasn't a huge thing... when it hit midnight a loud applause, people shouting and congratulating each other with kiss on the cheek, a hug or a handshake. Fireworks sounded in the plaza like gun shots followed by laughter and happy screams of excitement.
Inside the hostel many people were wearing colourful and sparkly masks that covered their eyes. Someone popped the huge ballon and confetti reigned down on us bringing in a great celebrating of 2012. Loud dance music pounded off our chests. Everyone seemed to be smiling and happy, even the shy ones danced a little. I had a long night, met more people than I could count and got to sleep at 11... yes 11am the next morning... They do know how to party in the South :)
Ahmed had come back from a house party that he went to over New Years and told me that he wanted to go see Machu Picchu in the next couple days... Well I was heading that way anyways... might as well go with some good company. The following day we booked our flight and headed out. The morning of travel I met a friend that Ahmed had made in the other hostel. Paulina is a young very pleasant and happy girl from Mexico. The same as Ahmed only had a few days to see Machu Picchu before she was going to head to the next destination.
On the flight to Cusco Ahmed and I met an American that hung out with us over the next couple days... Although Adam the American was a good guy... But a few days I was kind of done hanging out with him. He seemed to find something negative in everything that happened... even if it was only a couple soles difference or something about tearing someone else down to make himself look better... very subtle but really unwanted and unneeded.
We had decided to do Machu Picchu in one day... I am not really recommending doing this. Here is why: Machu Picchu is about a two hour drive and hour and half train right to get to... not to mention the bus ride to get to the top and see the ruins. There are alternative routes as well, such as the Inca Trail which is a 4 or 5 day trek. So, given all the traveling we had to do... we had to get up at 3 am just to see Machu Picchu in a day and come back as well... that gave us about 4 hours to explore the ruins itself.
If I was to recommend someone that enjoyed hiking and had some time... the Inca Trail... for someone that just wanted to take the train and see the ruins... I would recommend staying over night in Machu Picchu and then hiking up to the ruins the next morning bright and early and later that day taking the train back to Cusco.
The altitude different can be felt in Cusco quite easily. Makes your head very light and climbing up a set of stairs feels as if you are out of breath from sprinting down the street... alcohol intensifies this. However what seems to help is Coca leaves... chewing on them or making tea. Yes the coca leaves are used to make cocaine. The amount of leaves it takes to make such a small amount of cocaine is astronomical you could drinking coca tea three times a day for a year and you wouldn't have a even a trace of cocaine from the amount of leaves it took to make the tea... so don't worry about it. But yes it does seem to help with altitude sickness.
Early morning we all headed to the bus station, a car gave us a decent deal to get us to the next town where we were to catch our train. Winding roads way too early in the morning, so not much sleep could be caught up in the car. When we arrived in the next town to catch our train a few of us grabbed some breakfast and some water and off we were. The view out to Machu Picchu is breath taking. The tracks follow the river for the whole trip. The water was muddy but an extremely powerful current was rushing through it from the high rain season. The mountains an hills were covered in dense green forests and plants. It was hard not to gaze out the window on the way there and back.
Arriving in Machu Picchu we arranged a bus to take us to the top where we payed gave our prepaid entrance to get in. (you must buy a pre paid entrance into Machu Picchu in Cusco they do not sell them in Machu PIcchu itself which can be really bad without this knowledge before hand which a lot of tourists are sent away)
We decided to pay 20 soles each for a guide to give us information about Machu Picchu which was an excellent idea because a guide book only goes so far. The natives there used the sun and the equinox to grow their crops instead of counting days for seasons. They have stone temples built that shine exactly in windows when the equinox is present. A lot of their stone buildings were so precise its hard to say that they were not advanced even as far as hundreds of years ago. There were also flats cut out of the mountain like big stairs for growing various vegetables and corn. Much stone work was developed to make the water run from plateau to plateau, most of the water would be at the top then the middle and then the bottom... so different vegetables were grown in different seconds depending on the sun and amount of water. The soil was also in layers, fertile soil on top, as well as clay and big rocks... so the water could be absorbed and keep flowing to other needed spots.
There were other really amazing things in Machu Picchu like this one stone room that looked like someone bricked up windows on the outside... but it was meant to put your face in and hum. HMMMMM and the sound would amplify and shake in your chest... we all had a turn to do it. Sacrificial alters, another stone that was perfectly carved to show exactly the time of year the sun would hit casting a shadow... kinda like a big sundial for the seasons. We found out that a local beer company shot a commercial there and dropped a big camera on it chipping it... so it doesn't work correctly anymore... thought they paid a lot of money for it... it can never be repaired. The stone work around Machu picchu was very impressive. They took many huge rocks weighing literally tons of weight and split them using different methods, putting numerous holes in a row and hammering wooden wedges into them making the rocks slip at a nearly perfect line.
The energy at Machu Picchu was quite breath taking and the view was amazing, after our tour around with more information that I can to write in a blog we chilled out at a high point and looked out for an hour at the amazing splendour that is Machu Picchu. The tall mountains, covered in thick green vegetation and trees. The smell in the air, fresh and rich. The clouds like fog floating around the peaks hiding the sun ominously. Taken in by the sight, smell and experience, sitting grounded high up in nature.
We stayed as long as we could before we really had to leave or we could miss our train back. Grabbed a snack at the train station that was ridiculously expensive even for Canadian standards... but its a tourist trap haha and we were hungry... they food was quite good though :).
After getting back to Cusco we set out to find a decent restaurant... which I decided it was about time i tried something new.
Alpaca, which is lama, small slices grilled with a nice red rich sauce and some cheesy quinoa. mmm mmm delish! Alpaca is very lean and tender but the meat has a rich tastes that seems to want to sit in the middle of your tongue. Quinoa is a bland food but the cheese they added is from the Andes and was such a good flavour and went perfectly with the alpaca. Although my drink didn't quite sit with me well... they had coca beer... which tastes like bitter ass... BITTER ASS hahaha ok ok it tasted like if a beer went bad and had 100 times too much hops in it. not a good flavour and I could only down about a gulp before I gave up and sucked up the 2.50 CAD it costed me and got a Pisco Sour.
Over the next couple days Ahmed, Adam and Paulina took off to their separate destinations and I was left to my own devices... Which turned out to be quite good, I went off looking for a Spanish School... which I did find... but was closed when I went. Haha on a friday which would mean I would have to go back after the weekend and sign up. Not a big deal considering that I wanted to spend a few weeks ther to improve me Spanish to a comfortable conversation level. I met up with a German named Inga that I had met on New Years in Lima and hung out for a few days. We hit up some of the local tourist spots and a couple local live music pubs. Inga is a shy tall blond haired German with once side of her head covered in dreads and the other shaved. Although she doesn't talk much and gets embarrassed easily at the simplest questions we had really good conversation and a great time at the local music functions. The music was great, classic rock but what really made it was the band, they were playing so well and making jokes and laughing as well as interacting with the crowd was an awesome night!
The weather in Cusco is cold... 10 degrees during the day... hahaha ( A shout out to all the friends and family at home... -38 with wind chill was it? :P) So I obviously needed a light jacket.
Cusco is a town built on rolling hills, all the streets are cobble stones that go up and down. There is so much character and the architecture is quite amazing. The atmosphere is relaxed as much as the weather is. There is many many tourists going to and from Machu Picchu though... so being bothered by the locals trying to sell, paintings, art work, pictures with Alpaca (which I totally did!) massages... which for some reason seem to be a lot of them... I'm just not sure if half of them are legit and didn't inquire.
I got some great shots of the buildings in the main plaza as well as Machu Picchu but will have to post them when I get to a place with better internet.
Next is a tribute to local animals and hanging out with Ty. Much Love more coming soon.
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