Category Archives: Peru
Perú II – Cusco & the great Machu Picchu
We arrived in Cusco after 23hrs on a bus and over 40hrs since last sleeping in a real bed in Huaraz and it still managed to impress us! Cusco was the capital of the huge Inca Empire that spread from Perú outwards to include Ecuador, Bolívia, Chile and even parts of Colombia and Argentina! They built the city in the shape of a puma (one of the sacred animals) with the important temples forming specific parts of the animal. Today, thanks to their awesome building skills, many of the Incan Walls and temple foundations are still standing (albeit under the newer buildings) which makes for a pretty cool city to walk around and explore.
The Spanish invaders appreciated the work of the Incan builders so much, that they saved the foundations of the old Inca temples and used them to build their churches and other important buildings on top.
Cusco (in English) or Cuzco (in Spanish) is by the way the adaptation of the original Quechua word Qosqo, believed to mean “the centre or navel of the world”.
We found the local walking tour for tips (they’ve all been great so far!) and got the introduction to the main sites. As a bonus, on the tour we met an Aussie couple, Xavier & Hannah and American friends Rosie & Annie who had the same plans as us to hike the Salkantay trek to Machu Picchu in the following days. So together we decided on an agency making the most of a bit of group bargaining power and set about preparing our gear.
Part of the preparation involved heading to the local markets to stock up on coca leaves to help us with altitude. They sell the dried coca leaves in the local markets from huge green plastic sacks, for about a $1 a bag. The local people have chewed coca leaves for centuries to suppress hunger, thirst and fatigue and also give them to the gods as offerings.
The Peruvians told us to take 5 or 6 leaves, fold them and put them in the side of the cheek and suck for half an hour or so…can’t say they taste amazing, but it’s not too bad. We also don’t know if they really work for altitude sickness or not because we didn’t get it, but they were a welcome ritual for the hike.
These days the official Inca Trail has become so popular and regulated (500 people per day max) that it needs to be booked at least 3 months in advance, and since I walked it back in ’05 we wanted to get to Machu Picchu by an alternative route. From the various options, we picked the Salkantay Trek which is a 5 day trip, where you camp and walk 65kms through the Cordillera Vilcanota to arrive at Aguas Calientes to visit Machu Picchu.
The tour started in Mollepata, 90kms away from Cusco. We walked around 21km on day 1, crossing Andean towns and stunning views, making our way up to Soraypampa (3,900m), the base of the Salkantay Mountain, where we camped. Coca teas, soups and the good company of our 16 other fellow hikers kept us warm.
The second and probably best day of the trek where we hiked over the Salkantay Pass at 4,600m had a damp but rather amusing start. After donning all the rain gear and setting off, we were just a few steps out of the settlement where we camped and in the paddock to the side we got to witness how mules are made!! The horse & donkey’s owner seemed just as amused by our facial expressions as we were by the spectacle!!
As we climbed up to the pass, the rain gradually turned into snow, so yet again Pachamama decided that we would get no views in return for our climbing efforts. We only stayed a few minutes at the top to take some photos before continuing on to the lunch spot all cold and wet, and promising to make some more offerings to get good weather for the Machu Picchu day.
The following days we hiked down to the bottom of the valley through jungle areas around the Urubamba River with loads of fruit trees, including the grenadilla (a new favourite fruit – like passionfruit but better!). It was bizarre to go through so many different terrains and climates in such a short space of time!
On the last day we had another early start to walk the last 8kms to Machu Picchu for sunrise. Leaving Aguas Calientes town in the dark, we were joined by the pack of local dogs who were super excited to have company for the walk up apparently 1,770 steps (we were too tired to count!) to the gates of site.
The most accepted theory is that Machu Picchu was a royal estate and place of learning. It’s remarkably well preserved thanks in part to the fact it was never discovered by the Spanish, only being officially “discovered” by Hiram Bingham in 1911.
After a quick and eventful tour of the ruins we still had one more challenge ahead…Machu Picchu Mountain. After four days trekking it a really tough climb (we never wanted to see stairs again!), but gave us great views of the ruins and Waynapicchu mountain from on high.
On the way up, we ran out of water and had to refill our bottles an hour or so later from the ancient fountains that are still working. Appartenly the water comes from a spring a little further up the mountain and is channelled using ancient incan technology through the ruins. Needless to say, by the looks of the channels, we made sure to use water purifying tablets!
Once back in Cusco after we took a few days to rest and recover from all the walking. A warning to our vegetarian and animal loving friends or those who kept guinea pigs as pets you may want to stop reading this post here.
Throughout Ecuador & Peru one of the local delicacies which we had yet to eat is the Cuy (Guinea Pig) and after finding a great local Quinta (a restaurant with internal patio popular with local families) we felt the time was right. It was pretty tasty but contrary to popular belief, they look just the same alive as the domesticated ones in Australia, so I was feeling pretty guilty for my cute little pets from back in the early 90s!!
Still wishing for a bit more recovery time, but keen to make it to Argentina before Christmas, we set off on yet another overnight bus enroute to the much anticipated Bolivia and Lake Titicaca.
As you can see we’re not really keeping up to date with the blog posts, we’re in Santiago de Chile now and have just spent almost the entire last month living it up, non-backpacker style, with family and friends. You’ll hear all about it in a few months!! :)
Hugs all round,
Xavi & Sal