Peru day 7: Huayna Picchu, Maras, and Cusco

Ok I realized I'm never going to finish these posts so I will just post the pictures and give some quick descriptions. Days 1-6 were timely written but I started getting too exhausted to write my overly long entries :P

In the morning we climbed Huayna Picchu. We almost didn't get to climb-- would you believe the people right in front of us were numbers 199 and 200 to be let in? They wrote the numbers on the tickets. I was like ooooooomg I can't believe this is happening after waking up at 415 and waiting in line. There were a ton of people waiting at the top of the mountain already even though we were the third bus in.

About half the line for the bus that had formed by 5 am. Turned out to be hundreds more already waiting up at Machu Picchu.

Anyway we walked around MP a bit, actually took some amazing llama/cloud pictures, and finally decided to go see what we could do about our situation. We walked to the Huayna Picchu gate, not having much hope since everyone said their cutoff is very strict.

They started letting people in at 7, but very slowly. The last of the group got in around 750 and I realized they were letting people without numbers in because not everyone who got a number ended up using it!!! Even while I was there, a group of middle aged women were saying, "I'm not going up there, I'll shit my pants!" hahaha seriously.

We were numbers 188-190, whew!! So if you end up in the same situation, don't despair! Go to the unofficial standby line :D


The climb was HARD... But certainly doable. It only takes about an hour but that means you are covering a lot of height in a little time, so you are literally climbing on you hands and knees at some points. Definitely not for those who are really out of shape. And not for those scared of heights :). This pic shows our view of Machu Picchu below. Oh it's so crazy, towards the end you are climbing up a narrow walkway with a steep drop, them crawling through a tiny cave, then jumping from boulder to boulder a the very top, and finally sliding down on your butt on a huge slate of rock with no steps to begin climbing back down. Definitely worth doing once, as the views are breathtaking and you have a general feeling of accomplishment, but I don't think I would do it again :P


My brother a the peak. He climbed to a farther boulder than I did. I was happy on my boulder (the first possible boulder on the absolute peak. I was honestly pretty scared ahaha).


Left MP around noon-- wish i had more time. Took a train back to Ollantaytambo, where we took a taxi back to Cusco. On the way passed these salt terraces at Maras (or was it Salinas?) which were very cool and pretty. We also visited the Inca ruins in Pisac, and caught the last of the afternoon sun's rays on the mountain's terracing.

We spent the night in Cusco which has such a pretty City center! Had the worst and most expensive meal of the trip at this place called El Truco. AM's friend had recommended it. Do not go there, it's a tourist trap. Instead there is this amazing place called Cicciolina in Cusco that is 10000x better.

Ah camera pictures... SO much better than the iPhone...

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Peru day 6: Ollantaytambo & Machu Picchu

Arrived in Ollantaytambo late last night and couldn't make much out of the little city. Awoke this morning to a huge mountainside of Inca ruins. Part of the Sacred Valley, Ollantaytambo is pretty well preserved and the people are direct descendants of the Incas.











Really impressive. The town is tiny but a worthwhile stop before Machu Picchu. The stonework is really welldone and preserved, in some ways even more than Machu Picchu.

We spent the morning exploring the ruins before hopping on PeruRail to Machu Picchu. Another beautiful scenic ride. The train is very small and cute, almost like an amusement park ride. I got to sit at the frot which is next to the conductor and has a frot facing window. That's how small it is.


Arrived in Aguas Calientes, the town ride under Machu Picchu at about 3 pm. MP closes at 5 pm so we rushed up (bus is $14 round trip and takes about 15=20 minutes). The bus drops you off right in front of MP so there is actually no climbing involved other than walking about the site itself. Note that it costs $40 per day to enter (we thought it was for 3 days, but it turned out to be worth it to pay for two days anyway since we caught both the sunrise and the sunset).

MP is indescribable and is even better than in pictures. A placed that lives up to its high hype and more. You could spend a full day here just exploring the place and taking it all in. It's baffling to think how they built this thing up here. The stones are huge and numerous.

Got to catch the sun setting, so it was really beautiful. Another plus was that there were fewer people at this point. I can see how it would be harder to enjoy the majesty of the place with hoards of crowds (noticed lots of school groups coming in the next day). They do strictly enforce the 5 pm kick out, but we were coming back the next day so no worries.


Okay one thing I learned later on which I have never heard of is that the mountain behind MP, pictured here, resembles the profile of an Inca face lying down! It's not the best angle here bit there are postcards showing the face in certain lighting which looks really uncanny!! I don't know why this isn't publicized more haha. Now when I look at these pictures all I can see is the face.


Had a very nice dinner of bacon wrapped alpaca (has something wrapped in bacon ever not been good?) and a marascuya sour. Restaurant was called Tree House and tucked away in an alley but surprisingly modern and well designed. It was recommended by our poorly named but nevertheless awesome hostel, Gringo Bill's. All these nice dinners didn't cost more than your average entree-and-drink-only meal at like a cpk or something. Sigh.

Waking up tomorrow at 415 am to get into Huayna Picchu for The Big Climb. They only let in 400 people per day: 200 at 7 am and 200 at 10 am. The lines For the bus, whch begin to run at 530 am, begin forming by 430am. They let in people at the Machu Picchu gate beginnig at 6 am and start counting from there. Kind of crazy, making it limited of course makes everyone want to go. My friend who did it last month said it's a must-do.


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Peru day 5: PeruRail's Andean Explorer

August 21, 2009

Today we got to 'sleep in' until 730 am. I figured today would be a rather forgettable day because all we were doing was traveling: We took a train from Puno to Cusco then immediately took a taxi from Cusco to Ollantaytambo. However it turned out to be one ofthe most memorable days of all my travels.


We boarded PeruRail's Andean Explorer for a 9 hour train ride. I was looking forward to sleeping through as much of it as possible (something about the rocking and humming of trains and planes knocks me out). Once we got on, I found myself in a beautiful old-world train with plush high-back chairs, polished golden hardware, and just an overall feeling of luxury train travel in the early 1900s. Quite unexpected after nights in hostels. This was the 'nice' part of our trip.


I like the logo a lot. There's the mountains, llama, condor, and Inca architecture.


Observation cart where I spent at least half the time. It was such a beautiful, relaxing time to ride through the changing scenery of Peru. Besides all the dust and gas fumes :).


There was a traditional dance and music show sometime during the ride, and they made us yummy pisco sours (seen on the bottom). I really liked this girl, she had a very sweet happy smile when she danced. Later on there was a 'fashion show' of alpaca wear which I found awkward and amusing. They kept us well entertained even though the scenery was entertaining enough.


Lunch and wine were included and surprisingly good for train food. I had pork ribs and a spinach cream soup with a passion fruit mousse dessert. Passion fruit is pretty exotic in the states but pretty much as common as oranges here. Passion fruit pisco sours (maracuya sours) are delicious.


Here are some of the landscapes we passed by during out trip. Overall we descended a couple hundred meters in altitude, and the landscape gradually changed from dry desertscapes to green mountain ranges. All of it was very pretty and I wish I could add some of my camera pictures here.


The absolute cutest part of the trip was winding through the farming villages and having little kids wave at the passing train. Some waved a small shy wave, others screamed and jumped and waved their arms about wildly. All of them broke into huge smiles when we waved back. It was totally endearing and one of my happiest times. Granted, a couple kids threw sticks instead, but let's focus on the positive :)

I didn't let myself sleep even once on this trip. Coffee time! I wanted to experience all of it. The 9 hours passed much more quickly than the 3 hour bus ride from Chivay to Puno. The tickets were pretty expensive at about 220usd but it's completely worth it when you consider all that's included and the scenery you get to enjoy along the way. It made me want to seek out and experience all the great train rides of the world... Sigh


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Peru day 4: Puno & Lake Titicaca

August 20, 2009

Ugh I'm so frustrated because the app I'm using (BlogPress) somehow lost this post, even though it said it successfully uploaded. It was so long too :( I will have to rewrite a cliff notes version now.


Woke up at 6 am to catch our tour of Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world at ~3600m above sea level. Sits at the border of Peru and Bolivia; Peruvians (presumably English speaking ones anyway) like to say they own the Titi side and Bolivia owns the Caca side (Titi actually means Puma and Caca describes a grey color). Puno itself doesn't have much to offer in terms of sightseeing; is more of a access point to Titicaca.


Visited the man-made floating Uros islands. Crazy place. About 49 tiny tiny islands made from reeds; pretty much everything about it is made from reeds. Oh except the SOLAR PANEL that each one has, courtesy of ex-President Fujimori (yes a Japanese president, pretty crazy). So they have access to tv and radio but that's it in terms of modernity. They also have:



Guinea pig island!! So cute!! Except it's to keep them contained and fattened up for the kill. Still cute as a strictly visual matter.


Next we headed to Tequille island, a natural island 2 hours away. Totally different culture and language from the Uros people. Tequille inhabitants are Inca descendants and try to preserve their culture as much as possible. They live by Inca codes and use the Inca Terra es that wrap the island, but they dress in Spanish-influenced clothing and live in small rectangular homes.

Anyway great views of the island and lake, but took some effort! Hikin to the top took 40 minutes and was difficult with the altitude. I'm going to keep blaming being tired on the altitude. Even when I'm back at sea level.


Rewarded with a nice 15 soles (5usd) lunch of quinoa soup and trout from the lake. Im loving Peruvian food. Awesome. Took another route down: 540 steep steps. Less tiring but still quite an experience.

With these tours you have to do some research and asking around a bit. Ours only costed 13usd but was initially quoted a LOT more, like over 10x more.


Later we got back to Puno, where we had a great dinner at la Choza deOscar. But first I tried to exchange some money and learned that they won't take bills with even the slightest wear on the edges. So take crisp bills, druglord style.

Anyway my brother tried the alpaca meat pictured above which was really good, much better than last time... I guess it's just like any other meat: it's deliciousness depends on how well it is cooked :)


I finally tried the [in]famous Peruvian roasted guinea pig (cuy). I know, right after I was gushing about how cute guinea pig island was... I'm heartless :( don't know if this makes it any bettter but I had to have the HeAD (complete with two long intact front teeth... Seriously not necessary) covered with a lettuce leaf on the other side of the table before i could continue. Despite my being Chinese it was too much for me because i like hamsters an they look like them. But anyway i must say it was delicious. Crispy skin like pork, meat tastes more like chicken wings. Nomnom.

All in all a great day. I highly recommend adding this place to a Peru itinerary. I haven't even gotten to machu picchu yet and I feel like I've already seen and experienced more than I ever expected.

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Peru day 3: Colca Valley pt II

August 19, 2009

Another early 6 am start. After crawling out of my bed-cave composed of 5 layers of wool blankets and sheets, I got ready for the second leg of our Colca Valley tour. The breakfast and views helped to wake me up.



Today was a big day. We saw better views of the terraced fields in the valley. We made a short hike up Colca Canyon, which is one of the deepest canyon in the world... Twice as deep as the Grand Canyon. We then finally saw the great Andean condors, but not before almost leaving disheartened because they didn't show up until the last minute. But let's start from the beginning.



These fields were made by both pre-Inca and Inca peoples. The Collagua Terraces, which take up the majority of the valley, were carved out nearly 2000 years ago. They continue to be used today, but they're threatened by the nearby volcanoes and the occasional strong earthquake. Driving through this region is mesmerizing because of how the land has been shaped into sharp curves and cuts by both natural and human forces.




We stayed at an altitude of about 3500m or 11000 ft the whole time... I'm going to have Superlungs by the time I get back. Even though there was only a little climbing here, it's easy to get short of breath (I swear it's not just me-- my brother does Olympic style triathlons and thought so too).

It's hard to believe how high up we are. It's surreal to look down the canyon, because it's so deep that it doesn't look that deep... if that makes sense. Anyway I was just eager to reach the La Cruz del Condor, which is the highest point of the canyon and offers views of the condors soaring about, riding the thermal currents of the canyon.



We reached the peak at about 845 am. The canyon itself was of course pretty magnificent. But all the tourists were waiting to see the condors. By 945, none had showed up and it was time for us to go. I was more than a little depressed about this. I knew I wouldn't be back here for a long time, if ever.

As our van was pulling away, a huge condor literally flew over one of the viewing points and I was like WOW. We went-- ok rushed-- back to the viewing point only to see it disappear behind one of the curves of the canyon ledge. I was happy to at least see one, but about 10 minutes later a condor came back around the bend, followed by another, and another, and soon there were eight to ten condors gliding about in the canyon!! It was truly one of the most majestic things I have ever seen. Some flew right over our heads, which was a bit intimidating to be honest (these condors are about 10 ft in wingspan). All in all, I was so grateful to have caught this sight, as many other groups had already left. Thank you Colca Tours:) I will definitely try to insert some pics and videos when I get back. So amazing.

Not much could beat that, but we continued on our way to more viewing points of the valley and to visit a little town. More of my beloved llamas and alpacas were to be found <3



Our tour ended after lunch where I once again stuffed myself on fried bananas, aji chicken, and flan. Our little tour group was very sweet and they wanted to take a picture altogether.

We then hopped on to another van and one loooong bumpy ride later, we arrived in our hostel in Puno. We're staying at Inka's Rest, which is ok but I don't recommend it because it's hard to find and honestly a bit creepy haha. Maybe my opinion will change in the light of morning--tomorrow's another 6 am start to see the floating islands of Lake Titicaca.

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Peru day 2: Colca Valley

August 18, 2009

I underestimated the climate here. I knew it would be chilly but last night I was basically wearing a third of my suitcase :P It's winter down here and even though it's sunny and 70 during the day, the temp can drop a good 40 degrees at night. Alpaca scarves and hats to the rescue!

We woke up at 730 this morning to catch our van for the Colca Canyon Tour (with the aptly named Colca Tours--recommended). Our first stop: to pick up some Coca sweets to help with the altitude. Despite the sweets and prescription meds, my brothers's girlfriend still had a bad case of altitude sickness during the bumpy ride boo-- headache, vision impairment, numbness in limbs, nausea, etc. I'm really grateful that the only effect I feel is occasional shortness of breath! Our tourguide, who looks like (but does not act like) a Peruvian Sarah Palin, was very good about helping her feel better.



During the tour, we stopped at several locations to admire the natural formations and to take too many pictures groups of vicunas, llamas and alpacas. I guess theyre not considered that exciting but I love these animals! They are so funny looking in an adorable way. Especially baby ones



These are vicunas, which look part deer and part llama. They were nearing extinction before becoming protected. Thus these are all wild, in contrast to the domesticated llamas and alpacas we saw a few miles later.

The van slowly wound its way higher and higher, reaching a peak of about 14000 ft above sea level at the Mirador of the Andes. It didn't feel like we were that high though, since we could not see all the way down from where we were. From this point we could see many volcanoes: Misti, Chachani, Sabancaya, Ubinas, Mismi, Hualca Hualca, and Ampato. I commented that volcanos are like the earth's pimples. But much prettier. A lot of these locations also naturally had vendors selling alpaca scarves, sweaters, and trinkets. Nice people; no harrassing or haggling.

(I was negligent in taking iPhone pictures for many of these stops because I was too engrossed in taking normal pictures or buying these cute embroidered pouches :/)



From there we wound our way back down, passing by a really pretty view of Chivay and the Inca terraced fields below. Upon arriving in Chivay, I saw that it is a is a tiny town, serving more as a resting point to visit the valley and canyon. After having lunch in Chivay (with delicious fried bananas and chewy alpaca meat), we were dropped of at our little hotel, Pozo del Cielo, which is very cute.

After a short rest, we got back on the van for our final stop of the day: a dip in the hot sulfur springs of la Calera. It basically felt like taking an awesome warm bath but with lots of people o_o The surrounding scenery was nice and altogether it was a good experience.


Tomorrow the tour continues on to Colca Canyon and Puno. Can't wait to see the condors!

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Peru day 1: Arequipa

Aug 17, 2009

Day 1 of 11 in Peru. After a series of flights through Miami and Lima and total travel time of 13 hours, we arrived at our destination of Arequipa this morning. In Lima, a few airport workers called me "chinita" and I'm pretty sure the guy who checks your passport before you can enter the terminal area said "ching chang" before reading my last name. But they say it in such a pleasant way and then look at me as if they just paid me a compliment, so I just laugh it off and I'm more bemused rather than insulted.

Anyway I love plane rides where you can see the terrain below, and the Lima-Arequipa leg was one of such rides. Really beatiful views of clouds seeping into the crevices of the mountains, and terraced fields wedged into steep valleys. We arrived at the tiny airport and stepped out into beautiful 70 degrees weather and a gorgeous vista of the three surrounding volcanoes: Misti, Chachani, and Pichu Pichu







I didn't know what to expect in Arequipa so it was quite breathtaking. It's not a modern urban city by any means but it has a pretty center square and a lot of character. And of course the surrounding volcanoes provide a picturesque backdrop. Misti is the only active one, but even then the last eruption was a long time ago. The white volcanic rock is widely used for construction in the town, giving Arequipa the nickname the white city.

It's a medium-sized town in the southern part of Peru and sits about 2200m above sea level. My mom had been on my case all week about my not working out and thus supposedly not being able to handle the high altitudes. Well turns out I was the only one amongst my family that didn't feel anything from the altitude--hah! Go non-working outers! Everyone else had some cocoa tea to help with the effects:



The little bag the leaves came in was so cute! Our hotel, la Casa de Margott, provided it. I don't know whether to call this place a hotel or hostel. It's housed in one of the regular courtyard buildings near the city center, is very basic, but is also super cute and has individual rooms and is thus not what I normally consider a hostel.



This is a little sitting area in my room. The arched brick ceiling is so unique for a hotel. I really like it. I also like the comical little tv in the alcove :). I don't watch tv in my hotels anyway.

Anyway we started our day here with some crepes and deep-purple chicha maize drinks at Allianz Francais. I thought it was random that my mom wanted to go there but it was actually very good and right across from the convent, which is the main destination in Arequipa. The Santa Catalina Covenant was built in 1579 and remained a mystery to the public until it opened to visitors in 1970. Pretty crazy. Our guide said it is the only convent in the world that is a 'city within a city.' At its height, the 3-block complex housed 180 nuns and hundreds of workers. These nuns were daughters from very wealthy families, and they were sent here at age 13 and could not leave the covenant for the rest of their lives (which is why it is a town in and of itself). It was considered a privilege and honor for the family and the daughters had no say in the situation. Ah religion and power.



The convent is pretty big and we spent a couple hours in it. You can see the buildings made from the white volcanic rock. The courtyards, bright colors, and alleyways are beautiful to see. The rooms were fairly large (the more wealthy, the more room a nun had at the covenant...). But it's still a bit shocking to me to think the nuns just came here and never left. Before the reformation the nuns were hardly even allowed to talk to each other :X




After the covenant we walked around the city center for a little bit. The views of Misti and Chachani behind the main Cathedral were beautiful. Unfortunately jet lag set in for all of us soon after and we didn't reemerge until dinnertime. We ate in the center square at a place called Cafe Boveda. While I'm pretty wary of restaurants in the middle of a tourist attraction, this turned out to be very good. We ordered various traditional Arequipan foods and this delicious 'papaya juice' unlike any papaya I have tasted before. This was more like some pear-mango-golden kiwi-pineapple papaya :) My favorite dish was a 'shrimp soup'-- chupa camarones?-- that looked kind of like a seafood paella in a curried soup, but also had a poached egg, slabs of white cheese, Peruvian corn on a cob, and various other surprises all thrown in to make a big bowl of awesome. Will try to remember to stick in a picture from my when I get back (these blog pics are all ones I took on my phone).




Nice view of the volcanoes behind the cathedral. Most of the city looks more like this:



Tomorrow we leave at 8 am for Colca Canyon, which I'm very excited about. Til then...

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