sudamerica 2009: massage, information, cusco, and wonderful machu picchu
10th-mar-2009 - posted by dtra
left la paz on a high note, by staying out all night and then having to wait and sit through fifteen hours (starting at 8am) of late buses to cusco last tuesday. i really should've waited another day for that trip, cos it was just plain uncomfortable.
anyway, finally arrived in cusco close to midnight, and pretty much did nothing for a couple days recovering, and preparing, a bit of shopping, and getting the best possible price ($160 usd btw for the 4d/3n tour) for the inca jungle trail tour. this is one of the alternative treks to machu picchu that has popped up, and includes something like 50km of downhill cycling on the first day (starting from about 4350m, and finishing about 1200m above sea level), so pretty similar to the death road in la paz. i would say it was pretty much as dangerous (there was traffic on the road, but no so many big cliffs), not as fast, bikes weren't as good (mine stayed in one piece unlike some others), but pretty much just as fun (and yes, alf, you would've loved this one too), i finished second behind this crazy italian guy, but one of the brazilians in our group was unlucky cos his rear derailleur unhinged, he was pretty fast too.
the second day was the hardest, we had to hike 21km up and down hills, that were steep and bug ridden, carrying our small backpacks, but because my camera backpack is so useless, i had to carry another small backpack, so pretty much carrying a big backpack (i didn't take as many photos as i would've liked, purely because i was too tired, and also everyone was walking so fast). there were times that i didn't think i could keep going (this trek i'm guessing is a fair bit easier than the inca trail because you are at much lower altitudes, though you also don't have porters), but managed to keep going. our gorup was eight plus our tour guide, i was actually probably the third weakest hiker (one girl, and one with a sore knee), which was a bit of a shock to me. anyway, we saw a lot of cool things along the way, and even hiked a section of the inca trail, which was ridiculously steep. the day ended with us spending a couple hours in the hot springs near santa teresa, a very welcome end i must say, cleaned ourselves up a bit, and relaxed, they're basically just big swimming pools.
the third day wasn't as interesting, but almost as hard, as we had 17km to hike, 8km in the morning, and 9km in the afternoon, but it was shit hot, so we were all swimming in our own sweat the whole day. the hike itself wasn't that interesting, saw a couple waterfalls and some big river, and then in the afternoon, just followed the train tracks until we got to the tourist town of aguas calientes, a city built purely for the tourism of machu picchu. it is nice enough though, clean showers, and plenty of options for food, and what not. we spent the night there before preparing ourselves for the task of conquering machu picchu.
we got up at 4am and met our guide at 4.30am to start climbing machu picchu, it was pretty much pitch black, and you just have to climb these stairs that are steep and surrounded by forest. i managed to do it in about 50 minutes to an hour (400m up), to get to the entrance about 20 minutes before it opened. we got in, just in time for sunrise, and also got our tickets for huayna picchu (which is the big mountain that appears behind the citadel, you can see it on the left in the main picture), it is an extra 300m up, but steeper than the machu picchu climb (took 35 minutes), only 400 people are allowed up there each day. we toured around for about two hours including the sunrise with our guide, before he left and we were on our own. that's when a few of us climbed huayna picchu, great views, though a little crowded. we followed that by going to the great cave (which we didn't find (also heard it wasn't very good), just the temple of the moon, which again, wasn't very impressive). that was really far down, and also really hard to get to, and also to get back to machu picchu. finally managed to get back to machu picchu and the guardian house for the post card shot, and then finished off my time at machu picchu by going to the sun gate and chilling out there, very nice place, and a different view of machu picchu (which you'll all see in due course). in conclusion, the tour was great, and well worth it from my side, i also got the machu picchu stamp in my passport, oh yeah.
even though i was pretty much out of energy by that time (and throughout the day), i managed to run halfway back down the steps towards town, and have a late lunch before getting a train and bus back to cusco, and that's where i am now, heading for arequipa tonight. the picture of machu picchu was taken early in the morning from the altar of fire i think, i've got a shit load of silhouettes and other photos to come, plus i managed to get some macros, and other close ups of some wildlife too.
accommodation and transport
peruvians and bolivians seem to be on a different time table for transport, they wait till the bus is full before going, so almost always late. accommodation, i stayed at the point in cusco, and also pirwa backpackers colonial last night. the point is a party hostel, but for me, maybe i was not in the mood, or something, it just didn't feel right. pirwa seems a bit better to me, but they don't have enough backpack lockers in dorms or outside either.
finally, cusco is a beautiful city, only ruined slightly by the annoying vendors offering massages in the plaza de armas and tour information. if i wanted it, i'd ask for it, too bad i didn't go and see any of the sacred valley, but that can be for another time. also i wanted to climb machu picchu mountain, it is a big mountain that overlooks the citadel, but is basically a four hour return trip, so i didn't have time yesterday, maybe another time, when i do the inca trail as well, the view apparently, is amazing, and only two or three people a day go up there (for obvious reasons).
#33 dtra (david tran)
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