Thoughts on Peru

Peru didn't leave as big an impression on me as many other countries. I think part of it is that I was ready to return home after I left Easter Island, so I was less enthusiastic about checking stuff out, especially anything other than Machu Picchu, which is the reason I put Peru on my tour.

Also, other than Machu Picchu, nothing about Peru really stood out to me in a very good way, even though as I think about it, more things should have stood out in a good way. The food was interesting, but varied a lot in quality. The good food was very good, but a lot of it (even the same meals at different places) tasted like cheap imitations of the good meals. Still, I'll say that I like Peru's food, but it wasn't my favorite. I'm for sure going to add more avocado to my diet. I've heard it's fattening, but I do not care.

Lima seemed like kind of a dump, other than the neighborhood I stayed in, which was pretty nice. I'm glad I could meet up with my new friends who lived there. Seeing them made my day in the city more enjoyable than otherwise, although neither one of them loved Lima, and they might have turned me off the country a bit more than if I hadn't met them. (Among other things, one of the two was kidnapped and robbed in Lima, although I don't think he suffered any lasting harm. Both said that pretty much everyone they knew in Lima had been a victim of crime.)

Cusco had one big thing in its favor: It still looks like it did back in the old days -- well, the oldest part of the city, at least. Although, even that was both good and bad. Good in that it looks different from other cities around the world, which, to my disappointment, look much more alike than I'd hoped. Bad because it got really tiresome to constantly have to squeeze against a wall as a car drove through the one-lane streets with no care for pedestrians or the fact that the road is only about one foot wider than the car. If the old part of Cusco were pedestrians only, or the taxis took more care, it would probably be fine, although the hills would still challenge one's legs and lungs.

Machu Picchu was definitely worth the stop, but I think I appreciated it more on an intellectual level rather than because it really impressed me. Like my impressions of Peru generally, I think I've just seen too many really cool things recently. So Machu Picchu was just one more set of ruins. And unlike a lot of other things I've seen (like in Cambodia and Sri Lanka, especially, where I didn't know what to expect), I had very high expectations. The area around Cusco had more ruins, too, so I got to spend more than one day looking at old things, which was good. I confess I did not get out to see all of the local ruins. I was too lethargic, either from boredom and apathy or from altitude sickness. Southern Peru could be a very good place for others to visit. And it wasn't bad for me, just... the luster had worn off travelling or something.

Note I am writing this at at Lima's Airport, which is not the worst I've been in, but is not efficient at all. Fortunately, the long lines at security and immigration weren't a problem, because it looks like my flight to San Salvador will not be leaving on time anyway. This of course has my stomach in knots because I only have a one hour layover to catch my flight to Dulles. The delay is caused by a late flight from San Salvador, so I hope that means that whole airport is behind schedule, and I won't miss my next flight.

[Hours later, writing from the next plane before take-off:] We landed in San Salvador about 25 minutes late, which meant when I got off the plane I was able to walk to the gate next door and get in line to board the flight to D.C. Whew! I only got to see a snippet of San Salvador's airport, but it seeed to have no air conditioning (in 90 degree heat!), it was crowded, and it smelled like B.O. Now back to our regularly scheduled programming...

So where was I? Peru. The people were ... ok. At least the ones I interacted with at hotels, restaurants, etc. were accomodating and gave help when asked. Few people were actually friendly, though, and the masses of people... well, the phrase "born in a barn" kept popping into my head. :| Which it didn't anyplace I else i visited. I wonder if Jose is reading this. If so, he's a major exception -- friendly from the start, lots of fun to hang out with.

Anyway, I would not try to dissuade anyone from visiting Peru. There was enough about it to like, and a lot of things to see, that a person who's not weary from travelling could like it a lot.

[Hours and hours later:]  I'm home!  :D

Days 112 & 113: Cusco (April 29 & 30, 2011)

I spent the last two days of my time in Peru in and around Cusco.  And, frankly, more time than average just lazing around in my hotel room or nearby cafes.  I've been ready to return home since I left Easter Island, I think, although I'm glad I saw Machu Picchu and other Andean ruins, and I certainly didn't mind the stops in Santiago, Lima and Cusco.

Yesterday I went to four museums whose admissions are included in the master tourist ticket most people get when they visit something other than Machu Picchu (like Ollantaytambo).  As I expected, they were all rinky-dink, but they were either colorful or informative or both.

Two were art museums, and the majority of their collections were either garish and tacky, or religious icons, or both.

Carried by a bunch of jerk europeans when they slaughtered a bunch of indians.  :(

I'd like to point out that the figure to Jesus' left is a woman.

The other two were about pre-Incan and Incan societies.  Among other things, I learned that the Incans used to shape their babies' skulls to denote social status, and that they also performed brain surgery.*  Or at least they drilled holes in people's heads.

And yesterday must have been a holiday of some kind -- or a special day or schools at least -- because there was a parade of school children all through the main square.  There was a band playing U.S. military tunes (go figure) but the kids themselves were just marching around the square.  I have no idea what it was all about.

Training to join the North Korean Army, maybe?

This morning I awoke at 5am -- I just woke up, nothing disturbed my sleep.  And I was treated to this conjunction out my window:  The Moon, Venus, and Mercury.  Too bad those buildings were in the way.  I learned after looking up info on the night sky that Mars and Juiter are just off to the left.  So if you wake up early over the next few days and have a clear view of the eastern horizon, go look at the conjunction of four planets!

Moon & Venus up top, Mercury near the horizon.

My main outting of the day was to Saqsayhuaman (pronounced "sexy woman"), a group of ruins just outside Cusco.  I was able to walk there, and it was up some really steep hills, so I got another good workout today.  Cusco has no funiculars, but it sure could use some.  Saqsayhuaman isn't as grand as Machu Picchu or Ollantaytambo, but it was a fine place to explore for a while this afternoon.

And it was just across a small valley from that large statue I first saw hovering over the city, so I went to investigate.  He's Jesus.  With these creepy staring eyes, like a zombie Jesus.

After stopping for lunch, I wandered back to my apartment to cull all my stuff and pack it one last time.  As I knew I would, I wound up throwing away a few shirts that just can't be worn anymore, due to stains or tears.  I also tossed out stuff like the plastic utensils I've been carrying around, and the emergency toilet paper I've been hoarding.  I'm leaving behind a few other items, like a slightly broken umbrella that I found in Australia.  And I managed to ration a number of my toiletries just right, so I'll have fewer bottles to bring home.  This week I ran out of mosquito repellant and 30 sunscreen, and transferred my 70 suncreen to a smaller bottle.  And I have one (well, maybe two or three) application left in my second stick of deorderant, which I will apply tomorrow morning, then toss out.  Lest you think I skimped on the deoderant during the second half of my trip ... I didn't, really.  It's just been so much cooler than the first half that I haven't had to take 2-3 showers each day, so I didn't have to constantly re-apply it and use it all up.

My entire day on Sunday will be spent traveling... unless I miss one of my three flights and end up stuck somewhere.  :(  I've been scared from the get go that something would go wrong with my planes on the last day of my trip.  I've grown more paranoid since only one (one!) of my 21 flights so far was delayed, and that was by only one hour.  Can my good luck hold out for one more day?

So this may be my last post for a couple of days, since I may do nothing but sleep on Monday.  But eventually I'll write my thoughts about Peru and the trip overall.  If there's anything you want to know, let me know and I'll answer any questions!

*  I've linked to a lot of Wikipedia articles when I talk about educational or weird stuff.  I am aware that a few months ago, the government of Louisiana was mocked for posting Wiki printouts alongside some of their historical sites.  I hope no one mocks me for relying on Wikipedia, since I'm doing this for fun and free, and not to, you know, educate the people who elected me to office and expect me to spend their tax dollars wisely.

Day 111: Cusco (April 28, 2011)

The day after Machu Picchu, I didn't do a whole lot worth writing about, so instead, here's some more stuff I wrote while on the train from Machu Picchu to Cusco.

Here's the funniest part of my day. But first I'll preface it by saying, I haven't laughed a whole lot on this trip. I mean real laughter, not that I'm-being-polite-to-new-friends laughter. It's one of the downsides of traveling alone; unless one of my single serving friends is either a great story teller or has the same sense of humor as me, it's harder to share a belly laugh with a stranger than a friend. I think that's part of why I got along with Maartje so well -- we laughed at the same things, like the rude german girl on our tour who we referred to as "The Amazon."

So today... Up by the Sun Gate there was an alpaca on the path. Some of us walked past her (him?) on the way up, then about 15 minutes later, she appeared at the ruins. One of the men nearby approached her, at which point she spead her back legs and dropped about 1,000 alpaca pellets. She must have pooped for two minutes straight.  Cracked me up.

Oh, and I just snapped this photo on the train. He (she?) is apparently some creature of mixed Catholic and Andean spirits, and he's doing a little dance. I'm sure the Pope would approve.

And in turn, that reminds me... there are gay pride flags all over Peru. Or maybe rainbows mean something else here?  /shrug/ 

Huh, a couple of peruvian kids are running alongside our (nearly stopped) train, miming putting food in their mouths. Are they are really hungry, or are just hoping for some sweets? I'll never know, as we've now outdistanced them.

And now the staff of our train are modeling peruvian fashions up and down the aisle, accompanied by some neo-disco music whose vocals sound like Billy Crystal singing You Look Marhvelous, only, for serious.  This is the most entertaining train ride I've been on, that's for sure.

Little creatures of Machu Picchu

Day 110: Machu Picchu, Peru (April 27, 2011)

My trip feels over. I'm writing this on the train back to Cusco [but not posted until the next day, because I crashed early last night], and I still have three more days in Peru, and then one travel day to get home. But I've seen the last big thing I wanted to see, and really... how can some dinky museum or church in Cusco compete with Machu Picchu?

Having said that, I think I've become somewhat immune to the wonder of things. Like I've seen too many great sights in too short a time. Because Machu Picchu was worth the stop -- and even waking up at 5am -- but it didn't dazzle me the way several other things have. Before I started traveling, I wondered if I would run into that problem -- that things would impress me less because I'd been overwhelmed with stuff. So yes, it happened a bit, but fortunately right at the end of my travels. I will, however, think about this when I start touring America. I'd hate to ruin my first trip to, say, the Grand Canyon because I'll have so recently seen things like Uluru and Wai-O-Tapu. OK, enough of that! On to the photos:

The morning started very cloudy and foggy, with some drizzle. I met up with Ricardo, another solo traveler (from Brasil), who I'd met on the train to Aguas Calientes. We'd gone out for dinner the night before and planned our day. We decided not to take a tour, and not to line up at 4am for a chance at tickets to Waynapicchu, which is the mountain next to Machu Picchu that one can climb to look down into the ruins. While I think that is probably the best view of the whole city, there are other spots to see it all, too.

Waynapicchu mountain, overlooking Machu Picchu.

Our first stop at the Sun Gate was about 25 minutes uphill from the entrance. I'm sure it's normally quite dazzling with the sun and all the surrounding mountains on display, but it was basically in the clouds when we were there. It was pretty empty of tourists, though, and the small group of people there seemed happy to just hang out for a bit and watch the clouds roll through. It was actually a more dynamic landscape with the clouds rolling through like that. Other than watching water in motion, landscapes don't usually move.

The Sun Gate (but not today!)

The weather began to clear as we headed back to the main part of the site, and by about 11am, it was bright and sunny. Note to anyone who might visit Machu Picchu: I have a really deep tan and wore my 70 and 30 sunscreen (depending on body part) and I still got the mildest of burns, probably because the thin atmosphere doesn't filter as many bad rays.

Seeing the main city of Machu Picchu, especially from up top, was the most impressive bit of the day -- not because of its size or its age -- but because of how high up it is. I mean, I knew beforehand that the city is on top of a mountain. But it was another thing to be standing on that mountain, and on my one side there's this sizeable city, and on my other there's a drop straight down hundreds of feet. How the hell did anyone build a huge city up there? And why?

Ricardo's train leaves/left Aguas Calientes an hour after mine, so he stayed longer at Machu Picchu and I walked back down to town. The only ways up to Machu Picchu are by bus ($8) or by hiking up a trail. The bus takes 30 minutes to travel the 8 kilometers of switchback dirt roads.

View of the road to town from Machu Picchu.

And I don't know how long the trail takes to walk up, but walking down to my hotel to fetch my stuff took nearly 90 minutes. And it was steep. Most of the way down was pretty solitary, but several times, a man or small group of men would come running down the trail behind me then past me. I have no idea what they were doing. Most were locals, but not all of them. I wanted to ask, but they were gone too fast. A couple of them had machetes too, which, if Peru had been my trip's first stop would have scared the shit out of me -- seeing some guy barreling down a mountain at me with a machete!! -- but I've now seen machetes used all over the place, and I've only seen them used on helpless coconuts and vines, so seeing them in Peru gave me pause but didn't terrify me.

Ooo, the train just served us some really fancy meals, so I'm going to go eat!

Later: Yum!

[Next day update just before posting.] I got back to Cusco around 8pm and was fast asleep by 10pm. I was too tired to even go find some dinner.

Day 109: Ollantaytambo, Peru (April 26, 2011)

Well, my morning went far more smoothly that I feared it would. I am now in Ollantaytambo, an ancient town about halfway between Cusco and Machu Picchu. Yesterday, when I was making my travel plans, what I wanted was to come here for about 1/2 day then go to Aguas Calientes tonight, so I could rise early to get to Machu Picchu before most other tourists. Strangely, none of the travel companies seem to operate such a plan, although it makes a lot of sense to me. Most of them start with Machu Picchu, which means their clients don't get to the ruins until they've been open for several hours. So I decided to go it alone, which I pretty much wanted to do anyway.

The nice lady who sold me my rail and bus tickets saved me some money by recommending I take a collectivo to Ollantaytambo, which online message boards described as "comfortable minivans" but which I feared where really tro-tros/dala-dalas/whatever-the-old-rickety-sardine-can-vans-are-called-around-here. It turned out to be even better than a minivan, as I shared a sedan with two other passengers, and it only cost me about $3.50, a big savings over using the railway company's bus to get here.

On the road to Ollantaytambo.

So I'm drinking a coffee to wake me up a bit -- a surprisingly good one, it's got real caramel in it, not just syrup -- then I'll venture into the ruins and should have plenty of time left over to catch my train.

[Later, from a mountainside in Ollantaytambo.] Too bad there's no wifi signal on top of this mountain. I'd love to post a shot of this view in real time.

Huh, actually there are signals here, but they are secured. I have no idea where they are coming from, as I'm about 500 meters from the closest building.

Anyway, my stop in Ollantaytambo is/was very good. I was getting pretty antsy about being in Peru, especially for a whole 10 days, but now that I've gotten to see what I came to see -- some ancient ruins -- I'm much happier. It's also very peaceful here, unlike Lima and Cusco, and it smells like flowers, not fish and pollution. Also, I don't feel discombobulated right now. I've either gotten over my altitude sickness or the medicine I bought to treat it actually works.

I wonder if Machu Picchu will be grander than the Ollantaytambo ruins, or if it's just more famous because it was discovered so recently (1911) and because it's so hard to reach. I'll find out tomorrow, I guess. But the ruins here are pretty extensive, and one can walk nearly anywhere.

Compare the stonework in the two photos.  It varies a lot throughout the ruins.

The modern (and I use that word loosely) town of Ollantaytambo seems to be mostly farm houses and shop and restaurants catering to tourists. It's pretty isolated; not just kind of far from nearby ctowns, but a little hard to reach. All the roads are switchbacks through the mountains to get here. I'm glad I was in a car for this morning's ride here, and I wonder what returning on a bus is going to be like. :\
　[And a bit later...]  When I was done with the ruins, I went and sat in the middle of the town square, which is circled by cafes.  I turned on my computer to see if anyone offered wifi, found a place that did, and settled down to eat and post.   

Day 108: Dragging my ass all over Cusco (April 25, 2011)

I wouldn't call today a "nightmare" because it wasn't that bad, but this was one of the more annoying days of my trip.  Despite having thousands of visitors to Machu Picchu every year, the region is not very visitor-friendly.  Maybe most people books their trip through travel agents and so don't have to deal with all the hassles, but for an independent traveler, it's a real pain to get tickets, etc.

First, nothing is signed very well.  Even big and basic stops like the train station, although I managed to find that without too much difficulty.  And buying my train tickets went pretty smoothly.  But then I needed to buy my actual ticket to Machu Picchu.  I could wait until I got there, but I didn't want to risk the tickets selling out, or the ticket booth not being open when I needed it to be.  But only one place in Cusco sells tickets to Machu Picchu, and it is not signed at all.  Nor is it close to anywhere that tourists might naturally be, like the train station or the main plaza, or near museums.  Three different people gave me decent directions on how to get there, and I walked past it 3 times until I finally found it.  Then the ticket office was bizzare.  You have to book your ticket in one line, and pay for your ticket in another line.  And the lines aren't signed, not even in Spanish.  It was a real drag.  But I did get to see a lot more of the city on foot, and got my exercise for the day.

Some Incan ruins in Cusco.

A church -- one of many.

I'm hopeful I made a good plan for myself.  I'll take a local bus tomorrow to about halfway to Machu Picchu, where these is an old city named Ollantaytambo, which has some ruins of its own.  I'll spend several hours there then catch the train to Aguas Calientes, the little town near Machu Picchu.  The next morning, I'll wake up at about 5am to take a bus to Machu Picchu.  Well, my plan is to get up that early.  If I don't, I won't be able to beat all the tour groups that arrive on the train at 9:30, and I'd really like to see the place before it's completely swamped.  Since I know it will be my second-to-last early monring for my whole trip, I should be able to get up in time (the last early morning being the day I return home and have to catch a 7am flight).

Speaking of self-motivating, my mild headache continued all day.  Still not bad enough to get in the way of doing anything, but slightly painful and annoying.  So I stopped to get some anti-altitude sickness medicine, and I learned that among other maladies caused by altitude sickness, sleepiness and general malaise are two common effects.  So I no longer blame my own laziness for just wanting to lie around all day.  I blame the altitude.