Interesting stuff first:
Tuesday I spent all day mountain biking down to the Sacred Valley of the Incas. It was just me and a Dutch couple and our guide. Since these are the only two Dutch people I have ever met, my impression of the dutch right now is that they complain a lot and aren´t really that athletically fit. Granted the bikes weren´t all that great, but it wasn´t like we were only paying $45 for a full day trip, guide and lunch. I had a good time though and in my book that is all that matters! We saw the Incan ruins of Moray, which was a series of circular terraces that went down into the ground. The Incas used this place as a laboratory to experiment with different crop variations. The different levels were used to simulate the different altitudes for example potatoes grow up higher in the mountains so they were on the higher levels and corn on the lower.
Most of the trip was downhill, which is not nearly as easy as it sounds. The path was extremely steep and rocky in most places, and by no means a begginers trail. I realized half way through it that this was the first time that I had ever done any true mountain biking. The next place we went to was a the side of a mountain that had over 1000 salt pools. The Incan´s discovered a stream of salt water and began making pools to collect the salt after the water evaporated. They used the salt then for meat to make jerky, because for some reason they did not have fridges!
Finally we got back to Cuzco around 6:30, I grabbed some snacks read a little and passed out!
Yesterday morning I left for the town of Aguas Calientes. Normally you can take a train right from Cuzco, but since I bought my tickets at the last minute I had to take a bus to the town of Ollaytantambo and catch the train there. Public transportation in Peru is interesting and let´s just leave it at that. Ollaytantabo is right on the Urubambo river and was an ancient Incan city with a huge citadel towering over it. I arrived in Aguas Calientes around 2pm after some serious train trouble, and had a bite to eat and did some walking around. The city is in some beautiful surroundings but is essentially a tourist trap.
Early this morning I got up and hiked to the top of Machu Picchu instead of taking the bus. It was a good 1hr hike up the ancient Incan trail with stone stairs. Almost immediatley I went to the other end of the ruins and got in line for Waynu Picchu which is the big mountain in the backround in the postcard photos of M.P. I got my ticket to hike up later, and then explored the rest of the ruins. All I can say is that Machu Picchus is an amazing place and well deserving of its title as one of the New 7 Wonders of the World. The hike to the top of Waynu Picchu was intense and after the top I did an 1.5 hike around the back side. I was worn out by the time I finally got back to Aguas Calientes, but nothing a hot shower couldn´t fix!
Now for the less interesting somewhat sad news:
I´ve decided after a lot of thinking to return home this weekend. I think I was a little crazy for not planning on coming back until the day class started! I have enjoyed thoroughly the time I´ve spent here so far, and am thrilled that I got to see Machu Picchu (One more 7 Wonders down, 5 to go!) Thank you for everyone who had read this and commented and all the emails that I´ve gotten. I look forward to seeing everyone soon.
Ciao!
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Monday, August 6, 2007
Lima, Cuzco
After a nice long morning of flying, crossing two time zones and with one layover, I finally made it to Lima, Peru. Since I did not have a reservation in a hostel, I had just picked one and put the address on my bag. Luckily that hostel did have space and one of the 50 taxi drivers shouting in the baggage claim took me there.
There was not really anyone in the hostel when I got there so I went and grabbed a bite to eat and then took a stroll down to the beach. Lima was pretty overcast and the beach I saw was not all that nice. There were however a decent amount of people out surfing and the waves looked kind of fun. When I got back to the hostel I went into the living room and somepeople were watching a movie. There were a lot of english speaking travelers there so I got to asking them about what they had done so far in Peru. Talking to everyone really eased my mind about not having any set plans, because a lot of them were that way too. We all ended up going out together with some of the guys that work at the hostel to a little house party. One of the girls I met was Kate who was from Maryland and the other girl was Jess from England. We made plans to go with two of the local Peruvian guys they knew on an excursion the next day.
Juan and Paul finally showed up at 12ish even though we were supposed to leave at 11. Jess was sick so it was just Kate and me along for the ride. We drove about an hour out of town to a city called Chosica. Apparently lots of people from Lima go to Chosica on the weekends because its really relaxing (minus the traffic on the way up) There was a huge outdoor restaurant with a live band that we pulled up to. The whole theme for this restaurant and apparently many others in Peru, was ¨Pachamanca.¨ Pachamanca is a Quechua word, pacha meaning earth and manca meaning pot or food. So what its food that is cooking the the earth. They dig a big hole and heat up rocks over a fire then throw in sweet and regular potatoes, chicken, corn, lamb, pork, steak, cover all that up with bags and cloths and let it cook for 20 min and you have pachamanca. It was really delicious and I especially enjoyed this food called humita, which is mashed corn with a little sugar cooked in the cornhusks, it tasted a lot like cornbread.
Later that day we drove back and stopped at Limas ...your going to have to forgive the punctuation from here on out the keyboard wont let me add certain things anymore.... Limas main square the Plaza de Armas. It was absolutely beautiful, we were there at night and all the old buildings were lit up. In old Lima the colonial buildings have these ornate balconies all made of wood from the days when the extremely rich lived in the city center. After walking around a bit longer Juan, thought that I should try some anticuchos, these just happened to be slices of cow heart accompanied with other intestinal parts. Believe it or not it was actually pretty good once you got over the psychological factor. I also sampled some unique fruits but can not remember what they are called.
This morning I had another 6am flight which meant that once again I had to wake up at 3am. It was a quick 1 hour flight from Lima to Cuzco, with some beautiful scenery. I was however wondering as we approached Cuzco where exactly it was we were going to land, because I had not seen a single bit of flat earth since we left. The plane had to do a spiraling downward descent because there was no possible way to shoot straigt in. Cuzco just so happens to be 11,500 feet above sea level and the thin air is quite a shock. Any amount of walking takes some labored breathing at least for right now and I have had a headache all day, but It must not be bother me that much, I am going mountain biking through the Sacred Valley of the Incas tomorrow.
I took a nice long nap this morning and after a delicous lunch of Alpaca steak and quinoua risotta, I walked down the the train station to get my tickets to Machu Picchu. Unfortunatley I did not get quite the itinerary I was looking for, which is my fault for not planning it sooner. I have to take a bus to the halfway point of the train journey on the way there and on the way back. But I worked it out so I will have a full day at Machu Picchu which means I can get there before the crowds and also means that I will be able to hike Huinay Huayna a near by mountain that only 400 people per day are allowed to go up.
I walked to some other nearby ruins this evening, which were very cool, as was the weather at the top. Now I am thinking about grabbing a bite to eat and calling it a day. Sacred Valled tomorrow Machu Picchu on thursday.
There was not really anyone in the hostel when I got there so I went and grabbed a bite to eat and then took a stroll down to the beach. Lima was pretty overcast and the beach I saw was not all that nice. There were however a decent amount of people out surfing and the waves looked kind of fun. When I got back to the hostel I went into the living room and somepeople were watching a movie. There were a lot of english speaking travelers there so I got to asking them about what they had done so far in Peru. Talking to everyone really eased my mind about not having any set plans, because a lot of them were that way too. We all ended up going out together with some of the guys that work at the hostel to a little house party. One of the girls I met was Kate who was from Maryland and the other girl was Jess from England. We made plans to go with two of the local Peruvian guys they knew on an excursion the next day.
Juan and Paul finally showed up at 12ish even though we were supposed to leave at 11. Jess was sick so it was just Kate and me along for the ride. We drove about an hour out of town to a city called Chosica. Apparently lots of people from Lima go to Chosica on the weekends because its really relaxing (minus the traffic on the way up) There was a huge outdoor restaurant with a live band that we pulled up to. The whole theme for this restaurant and apparently many others in Peru, was ¨Pachamanca.¨ Pachamanca is a Quechua word, pacha meaning earth and manca meaning pot or food. So what its food that is cooking the the earth. They dig a big hole and heat up rocks over a fire then throw in sweet and regular potatoes, chicken, corn, lamb, pork, steak, cover all that up with bags and cloths and let it cook for 20 min and you have pachamanca. It was really delicious and I especially enjoyed this food called humita, which is mashed corn with a little sugar cooked in the cornhusks, it tasted a lot like cornbread.
Later that day we drove back and stopped at Limas ...your going to have to forgive the punctuation from here on out the keyboard wont let me add certain things anymore.... Limas main square the Plaza de Armas. It was absolutely beautiful, we were there at night and all the old buildings were lit up. In old Lima the colonial buildings have these ornate balconies all made of wood from the days when the extremely rich lived in the city center. After walking around a bit longer Juan, thought that I should try some anticuchos, these just happened to be slices of cow heart accompanied with other intestinal parts. Believe it or not it was actually pretty good once you got over the psychological factor. I also sampled some unique fruits but can not remember what they are called.
This morning I had another 6am flight which meant that once again I had to wake up at 3am. It was a quick 1 hour flight from Lima to Cuzco, with some beautiful scenery. I was however wondering as we approached Cuzco where exactly it was we were going to land, because I had not seen a single bit of flat earth since we left. The plane had to do a spiraling downward descent because there was no possible way to shoot straigt in. Cuzco just so happens to be 11,500 feet above sea level and the thin air is quite a shock. Any amount of walking takes some labored breathing at least for right now and I have had a headache all day, but It must not be bother me that much, I am going mountain biking through the Sacred Valley of the Incas tomorrow.
I took a nice long nap this morning and after a delicous lunch of Alpaca steak and quinoua risotta, I walked down the the train station to get my tickets to Machu Picchu. Unfortunatley I did not get quite the itinerary I was looking for, which is my fault for not planning it sooner. I have to take a bus to the halfway point of the train journey on the way there and on the way back. But I worked it out so I will have a full day at Machu Picchu which means I can get there before the crowds and also means that I will be able to hike Huinay Huayna a near by mountain that only 400 people per day are allowed to go up.
I walked to some other nearby ruins this evening, which were very cool, as was the weather at the top. Now I am thinking about grabbing a bite to eat and calling it a day. Sacred Valled tomorrow Machu Picchu on thursday.
Saturday, August 4, 2007
The craziness begins....
Well I guess it has been a few days since I last wrote, it was a combination of having too much fun and not having good access to a computer for any length of time. So since it is currently445 in the morning and I am sitting in the Ezeiza airport of Buenos Aires, I thought that there would probably be no better time to write than now.
Our last week and a half in Chile was great. The day after I wrote last I drug a couple of my amigos (Bren, EJ and Josh) up that little mountain called La campana. It was a fairly steep hike and I made us nearly jog the first part of it because I was scared we would not have time to get to the top. More than half of the hike was done in the snow, but the view at the top was well worth it. We had a stunning view of the Andes mountains, the costal mountain range, and the coast including Valparaíso. Later in the week, the whole group went back to the same mountain but only hiked for a little while on the opposite side we climbed, which was quite a different area, with huge chilean palms and no snow.
Brent, Josh, and I left Viña a day early to go visit Santiago. We had a good time riding hopin on and off different modes of public transport to get there. Basically Santiago, is one of the dirtiest places I´ve been because of trash and the insane amount of smog. We saw a couple cool places including the main plaza and the presidents house La Moneda (litterally the coin)
The whole group met in the Santiago Airport and it was off to Buenos Aires. Buenos Aires in contrast to Santiago, is much more beautiful and I could see myself visiting there again in a heartbeat. We had a city tour, that hit some highlights of the city including the famous cemetery Recoleta, which was right next to our Hotel. Eva Perón is buried here, and this isn´t your ordinary cemetary. Its jam packed with4500 mausoleums that are owned by extremely wealthy Argentians. Each one is different and can hold quite a few bodies.
We also visited another Ranch, but here the cowboys are gauchos. Two nights ago we went to see a Tango show. It was a full hour and a half event with empanadas and wine. The tango is quite, the intimate dance... and that´s putting it mildly!
Yesterday the group left the hotel at around 6pm and I was all by myself. Honestly it was a little bit frightening, being alone in a foreign country and not knowing exaclty what I was going to be doing for the next 18 days. I calmed myself down with a little walk outside and reminded myself that the fact that I had less than 4 hours of sleep the night before, and I had to see all my new friends go home, was probably effecting my emotional state slightly!
So now here I am, after a refreshing 3 hours sleep last night because I had to take a taxi to the Airport at 330am! But hey you can sleep on the plane right!? I´m not quite sure where I will be staying in Lima, but I do know that I leave for Cuzco at 6am on the 6th and that I will book a hostel ahead of time.
Now the adventure begins.
Our last week and a half in Chile was great. The day after I wrote last I drug a couple of my amigos (Bren, EJ and Josh) up that little mountain called La campana. It was a fairly steep hike and I made us nearly jog the first part of it because I was scared we would not have time to get to the top. More than half of the hike was done in the snow, but the view at the top was well worth it. We had a stunning view of the Andes mountains, the costal mountain range, and the coast including Valparaíso. Later in the week, the whole group went back to the same mountain but only hiked for a little while on the opposite side we climbed, which was quite a different area, with huge chilean palms and no snow.
Brent, Josh, and I left Viña a day early to go visit Santiago. We had a good time riding hopin on and off different modes of public transport to get there. Basically Santiago, is one of the dirtiest places I´ve been because of trash and the insane amount of smog. We saw a couple cool places including the main plaza and the presidents house La Moneda (litterally the coin)
The whole group met in the Santiago Airport and it was off to Buenos Aires. Buenos Aires in contrast to Santiago, is much more beautiful and I could see myself visiting there again in a heartbeat. We had a city tour, that hit some highlights of the city including the famous cemetery Recoleta, which was right next to our Hotel. Eva Perón is buried here, and this isn´t your ordinary cemetary. Its jam packed with4500 mausoleums that are owned by extremely wealthy Argentians. Each one is different and can hold quite a few bodies.
We also visited another Ranch, but here the cowboys are gauchos. Two nights ago we went to see a Tango show. It was a full hour and a half event with empanadas and wine. The tango is quite, the intimate dance... and that´s putting it mildly!
Yesterday the group left the hotel at around 6pm and I was all by myself. Honestly it was a little bit frightening, being alone in a foreign country and not knowing exaclty what I was going to be doing for the next 18 days. I calmed myself down with a little walk outside and reminded myself that the fact that I had less than 4 hours of sleep the night before, and I had to see all my new friends go home, was probably effecting my emotional state slightly!
So now here I am, after a refreshing 3 hours sleep last night because I had to take a taxi to the Airport at 330am! But hey you can sleep on the plane right!? I´m not quite sure where I will be staying in Lima, but I do know that I leave for Cuzco at 6am on the 6th and that I will book a hostel ahead of time.
Now the adventure begins.
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