Days spent: Bolivia = 24, Peru = 12
Transportation taken: Planes = 0, Buses = 15, Taxis = 5, Boats = 2, Trains = 2
Number of places we stayed: 9
Final daily budget: Bolivia = $80 (would have been $69 if we didn't have to pay an expensive visa fee), Peru = $211 (The Inca Trail is expensive!)
Wildlife spotted:
- Vicuna
- Llamas
- Flamingos
As we were gearing up and recovering from the Inca trail hike and Machu Picchu, we spent some time in Cusco. Cusco is the top tourist destination in Peru and you can tell of course by the good and bad aspects. Bad: the amount of touts, priceyness of the food and accommodations compared to elsewhere in Peru, and lots of tourists.* Good: much better food than we were used to after the salt flats and Copacabana, decent infrastructure, and a lot of stuff to see.
Here's the main cathedral in Cusco (there are a lot of churches there). The flag you see is not for gay pride but is rather a flag for Cusco and represents the indigenous populations. They get mad if you mistake it for gay pride and after all the rainbow pattern is slightly different.
The historic capital of the Incan empire, Cusco fell into backwater status after the Spanish invasion and establishment of Lima as the new capital. However, once Machu Picchu was discovered again in the 1911, Cusco again was in the spotlight and tourism started to grow. It's an interesting city as there are simultaneously Incan sites as well as colonial architecture. Many of the important Spanish sites were built right on top of important Incan sites to help drive in Spanish religion and values into the indigenous population.
Ok that was way too long of a history lesson. Are you still with me? I hope so! So what did we do in Cusco before and after the hike?
Well, we thought we'd need to practice for the Inca Trail so Tom decided to pick a hostal at the top of the biggest hill in the world. The hill that is pedestrian only due to the giant set of stairs going up it. So that was good practice huffing and puffing but since we didn't feel like that was quite enough we decided to climb further up the hill to see the Jesus statue and to visit the Incan site of Sacsayhuamán (pronounced "Sexy Woman" - we had fun asking people how to get there the numerous times we got lost, it probably wasn't the first time Tom went up to a stranger asking how to find a "sexy woman"!).
Speaking of asking a stranger something, on the way up I asked an indigenous woman picking what looked like weeds along the road if she was going to eat the plants. She replied it was to eat with "cuy". Cuy, by the way, is guinea pig. Seems so strange to eat what we consider a pet until you think about that the Incans were eating the little critters for hundreds of years and guinea pigs probably haven't been pets that long. I thought this was a charming encounter until she asked me for some money. I guess every question has a price in such a touristy town!
Stairs, stairs, stairs.
Bulls for good luck and to ward off evil spirit were found outside many homes along our walk:
Well, Tom described the slog hike towards the top Incan site, Machu Picchu. I will reiterate that it was one of the more enjoyable treks I've been on, the heartbreakingly abysmal bathroom conditions aside. Since it was MY IDEA that we'd be in Bolivia for a month to adjust to the altitude, I think I am responsible for the hike being doable, right?!
One interesting fact that Tom meant to mention in his last post was something we learned about swifts, birds we observed many times soaring in the sky as we hiked along the trail. Our guide told us that swifts always mate in the air. I of course had to inform him that THESE Swifts (pointing at Tom and I) unfortunately do not have that capability. It would be cool huh! Maybe if we were able to do that we could take the show on the road and we wouldn't have to find jobs when we get back...
But you didn't come here for off-color bird behavior comparisons, did you? Well, on to Machu Picchu! Here are some pictures of Machu Picchu from the Sun Gate and along the way down to the site itself. We did have some brilliant weather that day.
Continue reading "How the Swiffs do Ma-chew Pee-chew - Machu Picchu, Peru " »
