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.

Day 107: Cusco, Peru (April 24, 2011)

Happy Easter!  No, mom, I didn't go to church.  I considered it, being in a foreign country on one of their holidays, but in the end I couldn't drum up the enthusiasm for it.  And, unlike that parade night in Bali, Easter is a holiday I've seen before.  I just would have seen it in spanish today instead of english.

Part of my lethargy (but I admit, not all) was due to sleeping really poorly last night.  My room was freezing, even with a space heater.  But the poor little heater puts out heat equivalent to about one candle, trying to warm my whole room.  And I just can't fall asleep when I'm that cold.  :(  Tonight I started heating it much earlier, so I think i will sleep OK.

I've also had the tiniest of headaches all day.  It's not getting in my way at all, but I can feel it.  /complaints finished/

I did wander around town today.  A lot of things like museums were closed, so it was mostly exploration and stopping for a meal.  Cusco is pretty commercialized -- at least, a whole lot of tourists come here and a lot of local industry caters to them (restaurants, shops, tours, etc.).  There are even people who dress up in traditional peasant garb and lead animals around, hoping you'll pay them to take a photo.  But unlike several places I've seen, Cusco still looks like it did hundreds of years ago, and that's pretty cool.  I'm under the impression that a lot of the private buildings (like my hotel) have renovated on the inside but the outside is still the same.

I tried something new for dinner tonight --alpaca, which is the smaller cousin of the llama.  It wasn't my favorite dish on my trip, but it wasn't terrible.  It was just kind of ... boring.  The meat tasted like the most generic meat ever.  Not like beef or like chicken.  Just "meat."

Alpaca in mushroom sauce.  Nothing fancy.

My other meals in Peru have all been pretty good, though.  The fruit is fresh and plentiful.  And the avocados are amazing!  Both here and in Chile -- great avocados.  A local fish dish called ceviche (or cebiche), which resembles the raw fish in coconut milk served in Tahiti, is also pretty good.

Tomorrow I must buy my tickets to Machu Picchu and the train to and from.  Or I will wind up spending the last week of my trip sitting in Cusco.  And while I'm not kicking myself for not getting out every single day, I will kick myself if I don't see the one thing I came to Peru to see.  I'm feeling really unmotivated though, much more than at any other point on my trip.  Not like I'm dying to come home, more like I'm tired of making plans and getting myself around and all the bother.  Argh, sorry, whining again!

Day 106: A bit lightheaded in Cusco (April 23, 2011)

I'm a little discombobulated.  Not much, just a little.  It started at the airport, where I chatted with a friend who had a bad day and it made me feel a bad.  And not being able to do anything was frustrating.  I'm wired so that when something goes wrong, I want to do something.

Then my plane left on time and since I'm typing this, obviously I made it to Cusco in one piece.  But the last 15 minutes of the flight were scary.  There wasn't turbulence -- at least, it wasn't a bumpy ride.  But the plane just kept tilting from side to side as we flew over and through the mountains.  It was like being on a boat.  I expect that's a normal flight around here, but I don't remember being on any other flights that did that, so my palms got all sweaty.

Then my hotel either didn't send a driver for me as requested or he/she was so late that I gave up and got a taxi.  Not a big deal, it's only 25 soles (about $9), but it was an irritant.  My driver, though, seemed really nice and while he only spoke spanish, I was able to talk to him a little bit.  My spanish was terrible and we didn't talk about much, but I felt good because it's the first time since I arrived in the spanish-speaking countries that I was finally able to communicate beyond "hello" and "do you speak english?"  It was like something clicked in my brain and my tongue.  (I had the same experience with the hotel reception, too.)  So that made me feel good.

Cusco

But then, we arrived in the neighborhood of my hotel.  The streets are very narrow, as in, only one car at a time and maybe a gutter for pedestrians to stand in when the cars pass.  And my driver couldn't find the hotel.  And the numbers on the street randomly got bigger then smaller, so they were no help.  Then his cell phone couldn't call the hotel for some reason I couldn't understand.  And then he couldn't work the pay phone.  Finally, I got out of the car and asked a shop keeper for directions.  Instead, she instructed my driver on how to use the pay phone (not sure what the problem was there lol).  I didn't mind being a little lost -- I'm not in a hurry.  But after a pretty long delay and needing my help to get us to my place, I was mildly annoyed.

A "street" near the San Blas church & neighborhood.

So when the taxi driver didn't have enough change for my 50 soles bill (which is not that large a bill, other drivers easily made change for it) ... well, I started to see red.  I switched to english, put my hands on my hips and gave him a very irritated look (and if there's one thing I'm good at, it's giving irritated looks).  He dug through his car for more change and was still just short.  I pointed at him, then pointed to a nearby store, but he either couldn't get change for the 50 or he didn't try too hard.  In the end, he only owed me about 18 U.S. cents, but there are too many shady taxi drivers out there and after the 20 minute delay in getting my to my hotel, I wasn't in the mood to be charitable.

As I stomped away, up some steps then up an alley to my hotel, my head was spinning!  And I thought to myself, "wait a minute, you're not that angry, are you?"  Because I didn't really feel angry, I felt like I'd stood up to a shady taxi driver.  But I am close to 11,000 feet above sea level, and so it dawned on me that I was probably not getting enough oxygen.

[About 6 hours later] ... So I typed all that above then went outside to take a few photos of the town to add to this post.  As I was strolling about 50 meters from my hotel, looking for a good shot, I here "Gaby!" and I turn around and it's Ian from Easter Island!  He and Jackie were in a cafe right nearby, with two others from the Peru tour they are all on.  Sheila and Simon Russell.  So I joined them for a drink then we all wound up going to a show -- a series of folk dances, a lot of fun -- and then dinner at their hotel.  It was good luck we ran into each other because I didn't know how to reach them, and they're really only in Cusco this one day.  So my evening was a lot more fun than I thought it would be when I first set out.

Glasses of water on their heads.

A dance about the farmers wooing the girls.

It's not quite 10:30 and I'm either really tired or suffering a bit from the altitude.  I don't quite have a headache, but almost, and it will feel good to sleep.  And to sleep in tomorrow, too.  Tomorrow is Easter Sunday, and I'm not sure if I'll brave the crowds and go to church.  I sometimes go to church when I travel because it's a good way to see some local color.  On Easter Sunday in Peru that is sure to be true.  You'll find out tomorrow!

Oh, and final note... Cusco, like Santiago and Lima, also has a giant statue overlooking the city.  So that's still 100% of big cities here have giant statues.

I don't know who this is yet.

A bit more Lima

Despite my quasi-lethargy, I made it out into Lima twice more yesterday.  Once just to walk along the road overlooking the ocean, then later to meet Kim and Mark for a drink.  There's not much to say about the shore.  Lots of people were swimming and surfing down below, although I heard the water is pretty cold due to some stream coming from one of the polar regions.  Most of the area long the shore is either roadway or park, including El Parque del Amor (The Love Park), which is a park dedicated to ... love.

Being in the park did remind me... I've seen more couples in Peru be openly affectionate with one another than I've seen anywhere else.  I don't mean they do anything inappropriate -- just that there is a lot of handholding, walking arm-in-arm, cuddling and kissing on park benches, etc.

After dinner I met Mark and Kim, coincidentally along the same strip of shore that I'd walked earlier.  We met at Tony Romo's (their choice, not mine!) then walked about 5 minutes up the street to their apartment, which overlooks the shore.  During the day they can see the waves and some of the city outside their window.  But at night, they are treated to this Vegas-like display from across the bay:

I have a theory that every big city in South America feels the need to compete with that giant statue of Jesus outside of Rio, and so erects their own massive christian statues.  Granted, I've only been in two cities in South America, but 100% of those cities have their own giant religious statues, so I must be right.

Flying to Cusco in a few minutes, so look for a boring travel-day post later today!  :)

Day 105: Lima, Peru (April 22, 2011)

I'm taking a mid-day break at my hotel and it's more entertaining than I expected because there is a steady stream of people flying by on paragliders.

My hotel faces the ocean (about two blocks away) and I guess paragliding is one of the things to do here.  Or it's the coolest way of commuting to work ever invented.

I only have this one full day in Lima.  I was happy to go exploring this morning, although I've realized over the past couple of days, I'm having a hard time motivating myself to go out and see stuff just to be doing something.  I'm looking forward to getting to Cusco tomorrow, to start my time in the Machhu Piccu area.  But in places like Lima or Santiago, where I don't have an intrinsic desire to see something specific, it's been harder to drum up enthusiasm.  I think it's mostly due to the fact that I'm returning home soon, and I'm already thinking about what I'll do there.  And frankly, I'm naturally a homebody, and it's not like me to be out and doing something every day.  Even when I know I'm not likely to get the chance to be in most of these places again.  Oh well.  Fortunately, this ennui set in very late in my trip, and it seems to only be interferring with a couple of cities, which in my opinion tend to blur together anyway.  I wonder if making it to Easter Island had anything to do with it?  I saw the place I most wanted to see so... now what?  Who cares about another big city after I've seen Easter Island, you know?

Back to Lima:  I'm staying in the Miraflores neighborhood, which is one of the nice parts of town.  There will be lots of places to get dinner and if I wanted to shop (which I don't), there are lots of opportunities for that.  This morning I wandered through the Indian Market -- one of those places selling local goods where you're expected to haggle.  Before I got there I imagined it would be filled with statues of hindu gods and saris and spices.  You know... stuff from India.  So I felt like a dumbass when I realized it means native american Indian and sells stuff like alpaca wool, pottery, etc.  Dur....

The weather here is perfect.  Well, not my definition of perfect, which is cool and cloudy and wet.  But it's most people's definition of perfect:  About 72 and sunny.  Also, Lima is sufficiently close to the equator for the sun to be really high in the sky, even in autumn.  One thing I've realized on this trip is, it's not the sun I dislike, it's the sun in my eyes that I dislike.  Here, and elsewhere along the equator, the sun is always too high to be in your eyes.  It's much more pleasant than in higher latitudes.

My one disappointment of the morning was going to see Huaca Pucllana, a clay pyramid in the middle of Miraflores.  For some reason I couldn't understand (due to my bad spanish), it was closed today.  Also manana, which I did understand.  Well, I hardly booked a day in Lima just to see that!  So my disappointment was more along the lines of, it was one less thing to do that I might have otherwise done.

So close, yet so far!

Photo taken by sticking camera through fence.

It's getting late and I want to check out the parks along the ocean before I find some dinner.  More later!