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.

Cusco’s Plaza de Armas – it sits between the puma’s legs apparently!

Arco de Santa Clara

San Blas Neighbourhood

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.

Spanish church built ontop of Q’orikancha (Temple of the Sun) – the heart of the puma.

Incan stone foundations mixed with new techniques

The famous 12 angled stone!

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.

On the walking tour we also learnt to make Causa Limeña – Mashed potato combined with chicken (or tuna), mayo and herbs – tasty!

Local artisan in San Blas Neighbourhood

Pachamama sculpture in the Coca Museum – Cusco

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.

Local food market

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.

Day 1 on the trail

Salkantay Mountain

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!!

Authentic river crossings & great mountain climbing weather!!

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.

Salkantay Pass!

Heading down the other side of the pass…cold & wet

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!

Day 3 – heading down into the jungle

Trying to make & play panpipes straight from the plant – harder than it looks!

The trekking crew

Day 4 – following the scenic railway to Aguas Calientes

Tabea, Annie, Xavier, Hannah, Rosie & Sal with the side of Machu Picchu barely visible at the top left

Dogs on a mission

Aguas Calientes Town, at the base of Machu Picchu

Statue of Pachakutiq Inka Yupanki, the ninth Inca of the kingdom of Qosco, a charismatic leader that expanded the Inca empire

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.

We missed the real sunrise, but seeing the sun coming over the mountains to hit the ruins was still pretty cool.

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.

 

 

Local lawn mowers at work

Local lawn mower taking a break

Temple of the Sun

Temple of the 3 Windows

Temple of the Condor – the flat rock on the ground is the condor’s head & neck with the big rocks behind as the wings

 

 

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.

Views of the ruins from Machu Picchu Mountain

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

Perú I – The North

Still daydreaming about Galápagos, we got ourselves into an 18hr journey that took us to the peaceful, fishermen town of Huanchaco, in the north of Perú. The ride there was very interesting, with arid Andean hills on the left and pure desert and dunes extending to the very Pacific Ocean on the right. It was difficult to imagine older civilisations surviving in such dry conditions!

Whilst the main attractions close to Huanchaco are the pre-Incan ruins of Chan-Chan, Huasca del Sol and Huasca de la Luna, we found the town a relax gem with plenty of photography opportunities.

Amazing sunsets in Huanchaco

Being in low season really helped to create this feel, but so did the yummiest dessert we’ve had on this trip so far, the homemade cremoladas from our host Carlos. Half a sorbet, half a smoothie and with plenty of chunks of whatever fruit (and chocolate) you can imagine, it has definitely earned a spot in the top 3 of the dessert category. Check trip advisor, we’re not the only ones raving about it!

Huanchaco is also quite famous for its gentle surf, although locals sport a different type of board here, the Caballito de Totora (Totora’s little horse).

This watercraft is a canoe made of reed and it’s been used to fish for 3000 years! It’s just admirable that fishermen still use them, considering how much easier fishing would be with a modern boat. If you don’t fear the freezing peruvian current, the fishermen will take you out for a few soles.

The favourite catch there is the crab, and the dish of choice, the Cangrejo Reventado (blown up crab). They crash the crabs open so they release their yummy juices and scramble them with eggs and the superhealthy seaweed, hand-picked by locals at the shore. A real treat!

A local hand-picking seaweed

nyom nyom nyom

We loved Peruvian food (if you hadn’t realised already) and it met the expectations for its reputation, so we decided to stop in the local market of Trujillo, a bigger sized town nearby, to try the local almuerzos. Arroz con mariscos (rice with seafood) is probably the closest dish to paella we’ve ever tried. They served it to us after an unasked, unexpected but very welcome spicy ceviche…and we couldn’t finish it! It was so nice that we took the leftovers in a doggy bag so we could keep eating at the ruins, haha.

The ruins of Chan-Chan, declared world heritage site by UNESCO in 1986, were different to everything we had seen so far. While they’re not as impressive as the colossal Mayan temples, the fact that they were built with adobe (it’s the largest city made of adobe, 30,000 people lived there) and are surrounded by desert, gives them a very untouched feel.

The famous adobe walls in Chan-Chan

 

Sea motifs decorate most of the walls

 

Chan-Chan was a city built by the Chimus, a pre-incan civilisation that inhabited the north of Perú between 1100 and 1470aD, when they were conquered by the Incas. Every time a new king rose, the previous premises were abandoned and a different palace was built. Up to 40% of the space was destinated to storing tax collections in the form of ceramics, salt, textile and fish. Imagine the stink under a 35°C sun!

The tomb of the king.. his 2 closest wives were buried with him. The remaining 88 (yes, wives) were buried in smaller tombs around it.

 

However, corridors, walls and holes were designed to bring the sea breezes into these sections of the palace and keep stuff cool.

Our guide was quite lazy and when he realised we were speaking both in English and Spanish I was asked to work as a translator during the tour… I managed to get the tour for free in exchange, so it worked out quite well!

Hipster chimus…designing with pixels before it was cool.

Following the tradition, we became friends with another dog, this time a Peruvian dog! This breed is quite special, they look wrinkly and old because they’re almost hairless and their body temperature is 40°C..apparently they were used as hot water bags and to help cure diseases.

This is a real hot dog

In the afternoon we moved to Huasca de la Luna and Huasca del Sol. These ruins belong to the Moche culture, who inhabited the area between 200 and 700 aD, and were used for ceremonies (including human sacrifices after a ball game – quite similar to the Mayans), and administrative purposes respectively.

The moche god Aiapaec – adored and feared, he was known as the beheader

Huasca del Sol remains mostly unexplored due to the lack of funds but you can easily tell that there’s a huge temple waiting to be discovered under this hill.

Huasca de la Luna was really cool to walk through. In this case, when a new king rose, instead of moving to a whole new palace, they filled the old one with adobe and built another one ontop. This practice kept going for 5 generations of kings, so it was really cool to see the colourful, well preserved walls from previous dynasties uncovered after so many years.

The different levels have been excavated and emptied and are visible now

In contrast to Chan-Chan, the building rose for 5 levels instead of being flat, so it was great to witness such different styles separated by just a few kilometers.

The wall of myths in Huasca de la Luna

Outer walls of Huasca de la Luna

By the way, the mode of transport of choice was the colectivo. Its drivers and “ayudantes” (assistants) are really stressed in the north of Perú as they have to complete their laps in a certain time. To make sure they achieve it, the assistant has to sprint to different checkpoints scattered in the route to get a stamp on the time card within the time limit. Missing the time or the checkpoint means losing the earnings of the entire lap. Riding on them was quite an adventure in itself!

After this dose of culture and heat we headed to Huaraz on an overnight bus. We loved a bus company called “Linea” because they played the gags from “Just for laughs” on their TV’s, so much fun! Huaraz is a hiking destination nestled in Cordillera Blanca and our first test at altitude.

Trout farm in Huaraz

The town itself is quite boring – except for a trout farm by the river – unless you’re into clubbing, so we got ourselves into the first hike to Laguna 69, a stunning, turquoise hidden lagoon at 4,450m.

Laguna de Llanganuco at the beginning of the hike

Huascarán mountain, over 6,700 metres – south side

Huascarán – north side

To all those dirty minds, the name comes from the lack of imagination in Perú, they just numbered the different lagoons instead of giving them names.

The hike to the laguna took us a good 4hrs and lots of coca leaf chewing (more on the coca leaves soon! It deserves a post by itself!).

We made it!

After this exhausting hike, we went for another day trip to Chavín de Huantar, with a stopover at the picturesque Lake Querococha.

Chavín de Huantar is an archeological site with temples built around 1200BC and used until 400-500 BC from the pre-incan Chavín culture, once a pilgrimage destination and now quite popular among experience seekers.

Chavín de Huantar ruins

A hallucinogenic drink is prepared with the cactus called San Pedro, offerings are made to the Pachamama and several day courses meant to find and connect your inner chacras are held there. While we respect all these practices, we didn’t have the time and money to undertake them but, we took the tour and learnt a lot about their architecture, culture and customs.

The state of conservation is far from ideal (they don’t receive any help from the government while it pockets all the proceedings), but walking through the maze-like corridors where they performed the sacrifices was really cool.

The most important piece in the ruins is the Lanzón Gallery, located at the very center of the corridors, contained a sculpture of the Lanzón, which is assumed to be a supreme deity of Chavín de Huantar. The figure is anthropomorphic, with a feline head and human body and this is where they poured the blood from the sacrificed.

El lanzón, still hidden in the middle of the maze of corridors

It’s quite interesting to see that Aztecs, Mayans, Incas, Chavins, etc, they always designed their temples to be aligned with the moon cycles and sun solstices and equinocces. While they prayed to different gods, the reference to the mother earth (Pachamama) is common and still respected by all, despite the efforts from the Spanish to establish catholicism by force and fear.

The only cabeza clava still standing in its original place – they represented mythical creatures from the Chavín culture

Local assembly in Huantar town

An example to this is the first sip of any beverage (especially alcoholic) being tipped to the ground, a flower or a tree, giving back to earth a little that we took from it. Might look stupid to throw your whisky away…but we find it a nice tradition!

After some exciting days around Huaraz we took the longest bus ride yet, 9 hours to Lima, where we spent 8hrs visiting the coast (Miraflores suburb), and then 21hrs more to Cusco, our next destination!

Miraflores cliffs – Lima

Parque del amor in Miraflores

Until then, mucho amor from Sal & Xavi.

PS: we booked our flights to Barcelona, arriving on the 24th of March, wohooo!!!