Wed 03 Apr
Did lots of walking to the newer and more upmarket part of town today. Had my nails done for 100Bols (A$14) while Peter 'people watched' at a nearby plaza. Back to the hotel to collect bus tickets for Puno, had a rest, then out to dinner (which meant a final walk down and climb back up the steep streets of La Paz).
Thu 04 Apr
Up early for a 'simple' breakfast and our bus to Puno which is in Peru. Tour rep collected us at 7am and drove us to the bus terminal for our all day trip which included a chaotic two hour border crossing at Desaguadero.
We weren't met on arrival as expected and had to ring the tour company - their rep turned up within five mins! Our hotel (Casa Andina) is very nice and well located close to a pedestrian mall that leads to a beautiful main plaza with cathedral, and lots of restaurants and beautiful artisan shops. Bought some alpaca scarves and a watercolour painting from a street artist.
Contrary to what we had been lead to believe, Puno is quite a smart looking and fair size town with an orderliness not seen in any Bolivian town. The streets are made, plazas are attractive, traffic polite and not so busy or chaotic.
We had only this afternoon to walk around town as we are on a tour of Lake Titicaca and some islands tomorrow before leaving for Cusco on Saturday.
Fri 05 Apr
What a beautiful day to spent on the world's highest lake (3800m), Lake Titicaca - blue sky, fluffy white clouds hugging the horizon for 360 degrees, and not a ripple. This ancient lake is home to many indigenous communities and is the legendary birth place of the Incas.people.
We visited Uros, a floating island constructed entirely of totoru reeds and,, in fact, their houses and boats are also constructed of the same material. Fascinating! We then sailed on to Tequile Island, renowned for its textiles. In fact, this island is UNESCO-recognised for its culture. We enjoyed lunch of quinoa soup and grilled trout on the island.
A two and a half boat ride back to Puno was relaxing up on the top deck, enjoying the sunshine and chatting with other travellers. In all, a 12 hour trip.
It's now 8pm and we're currently in a restaurant in Puno called La Estancia, formerly Casa Grill mentioned in the Lonely Planet guide. What an amazing meal we are having - mixed grill including alpaca (so tender, like pork/chicken) plus a double T-bone which is 15 inches long, plus, plus, and plate FULL of chips. All for 44 sols (A$15). Lots of locals with a few tourists - perfect! Peter's dad would've loved this! Peter's in his element, he's "drowning' in this meal! Julie's mum would love the chips! This is actually an Argentina meal accompanied by good Chilean wine in a Peruvian restaurant - it doesn't get more South American than this!!
We're also drinking a Pisco Sour which is a quintecential South American drink - each country claims it as their own!
Sat 06 Apr
Another early morning, this time for our 'luxury' tour bus ride to Cusco with Wonder Peru Experience (beats the Dragoman truck!). Along the way we visited Incan ruins at Pucara and Raqchi, and a most amazing San Pedro Church at Andahuayllilas. Now this church is located in a fairly ordinary and typical village of around 5000 inhabitants just south of Cusco, and is called The Sistine Chapel of the Americas - and even that is an understatement! The priceless wealth in this particular church is staggering. It's a pity we couldn't take photos to show what we mean.
We also enjoyed a smorgasbord lunch along the way. This is a great way to travel! However we did also see the aftermath of two single-vehical truck accidents - in each case the trucks had tipped overover, possibly due to being overloaded?
Our hotel in Cusco {Hotel Maytaq Wasin} is again very nice, just off the main Plaza de Armas, and our room is on the top floor adjoining the rooftop terrace. (This later proves to be not such a good idea as late at night some guests sit up there drinking and chatting until we kindly asked them to leave as we were wanting to sleep. The next dsy we move to a quieter room!)
Cusco is a city steeped in history and was once the Inca empire's foremost stronghold. Massive Inca-built walls line the narrow cobblestone streets which are lined with a mixture of local artesan stalls and high-end handicraft shops, simple and gourmet restaurants, money changers and convenience stores. The colonial architecture is stunning with Spanish-style balconies and tile roofs. We're looking forward to rediscovering this city after an absence of 38 years ( we were last here in 1975).
Sun 07 Apr
Today is a free day to walk around this truly beautiful colonial city. There are so many churches (all through South America as a matter of fact!). We visited the San Pedro market (food & general items), Museum of Pre-Columbian Art (stunning collection of priceless archeological pieces) and a chocolate museum / cafe where we enjoyed a hot chocolate with our lunch on a balcony overlooking Regocijo Sq.
The main square, Plaza de Armes, is truly amazing for its grandeur. Enclosed by no less than three magnificent churches, and wonderful porticoes lined with shops, and with a huge fountain in the middle with a statue of an Incan leader on top, It truly deserves its rightful place as the centre of town. This morning, being Sunday, the plaza was filled with religious processions, lots of school children in uniform, and hundreds of soldiers matching in formation complete withwith rifles! Not sure if this happens every Sunday?
We also walked up to nearby Incan ruins of Sacsayhuaman, then down to a local pizzeria for late afternoon pizza. The lady who runs this pizza shop took a liking to us and gave us a written greeting on a dried gumleaf as a moment of our patronage.
Back at our hotel for a break, Julie managed, with the assistance of the young fellow at the desk, to backup onto a USB some 2000 photos taken thus far!
Mon 08 Apr
Another free day to explore Cusco, a city full of surprises. Each and every doorway leads to an interesting colonial courtyard, usually containing an art gallery, artesian stalls and restaurant - sometimes even hidden Incan excavations.
Today we visited the Incan Museum.
In the evening we took a tour of a new and luxurious Marriott Hotel. This hotel was built on a derelict site which was once a convent, private mansion and bakery.Marriott Part of the tour was to view underground Incan walls, discovered during reconstruction of the site - fascinating!
Dinner was at a Peruvian/Venezuelan fusion restaurant - great food!
Tue 09 Apr
Today we were picked up at our hotel by tour guide Andy and driver Raul in quite a flash car and taken for a tour of the Sacred Valley. This included a stop at Pisac for a walk through the souvenir markets (as you do) and then to archeological sites at Pisac and Ollaytantambo.
Lunch was at a luxurious hotel complex at Urubamba, followed by a transfer to the Ollaytantambo train station for a two hour trip in a modern Vistadome train to Aguas Calientas, the nearest town to Machu Picchu. We were met on arrival and taken to our hotel, the Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel - a luxury hotel in a Balinese-style tropical setting. Dinner is included - pity we're not very hungry after our huge buffet lunch!
We meet with our tour guide at 7.30pm in the lobby who outlines tomorrow's activities.
Wed 10 Apr
Finally, our day to return to Machu Picchu after 38 years! It's hard work though - up at 4.45am for breakfast to catch the 6.00am bus to arrive at the archeological site by 6.30am to check in at the control gate for Waynapucchu {an adjoining mountain to Machu Picchu) by 7am. That was the plan.
However, after speaking with our guide last night, and Peter not feeling 100% (flu) this morning, we decided to climb to the Sun Gate instead. This walk is not quite as gruelling as the Waynapicchu walk, but still uphill for over an hour and gives an even better overview of the site. The valley was shrouded in mist when we set off but when we arrived at the top the view of the Machu Picchu village was superb. The clouds had lifted and the entire site was bathed in sunlight. Along the way we even bumped into two Dragoman passengers, Julie & Bryan, and later on others!
We then met up with our guide, Wagner, as arranged at 10am and he took us around the site, explaining the complexities of the Incan civilization along the way. After being with him for two hours (and trying to keep awake!), we wandered around some more on our own before getting the bus down around 1.30pm. All the climbing, and the warm sunshine, has taken its toll on us - we're so tired now, but content that we returned once again to visit one of the seven wonders of the modern world.
Of course, after 38 years, things have changed here. Then we took a rattling train from Cusco and an old bus to the top of MP and simply walked in and around - can't even remember whether we paid. Now there is a luxury train, a thriving town called Aguas Calietes full of hotels and restaurants servicing visitors to the area where the train stops and from where we take the bus up the mountain along a long and winding 'switch-back' road. Entry is strictly controlled and limited to 2500 visitors daily; the entry ticket is a very complex document containing passport details of the holder (and passports need to be shown); and the fee is something like A$70pp.
The one thing that hasn't changed is the fantastic scenery alongside the rail line - the raging Urubamba River. This would have to rank alongside some of the best train trips in the world!
The trip back to Cusco involved a bus down the mountain (30 mins); Vistadome train to Pacha (complete with local entertainment on the return leg); then a two hour bus ride back to Cusco. We were very tired by the time we got back to our hotel as we'd been up since 4.45am, so passed on an invitation to join Dragoman friends for dinner. Besides, Peter wasn't feeling 100% so he went straight to bed and l got room service for dinner instead.
Thu 11 Apr
Picked up at 9am for a 'compensation'* tour of Incan ruins at Moray (fascinating circular terracing built by the Incans for experimenting with food crops, 600 years ago!), and Salinas (ancient terraced salt pans still in use today). We purchased some small packets of salt here too (as well as at Uyuni).
* This tour was in compensation for the tour operator omitting our Wayanpicchu tickets from our package.
In the evening we went to dinner at a restaurant featuring local musicians. They were so good we bought their DVD. The food was excellent too. This was a fitting end to our memorable few days in Cusco.
Fri 12 Apr
Today is marked by two significant events - one bad and one good.
Bad: After Peter reminded Julie about what can be packed in cabin luggage (for our morning flight from Cusco to Arequippa), he inadvertently packed his toiletry bag AND the invaluable foldout knife/fork/spoon contraption given to us by friends Rob & Elaine in his carry-on bag and, guess what? Yep, certain things were confiscated. Julie was so cross!!
It was a short half hour flight over the Andes mountain range and it was interesting to see the rugged and ever-changing terrain, the wriggly roads winding through the valleys and the many villages and isolated farmhouses dotted in the most unforgiving locations.
Hotel room wasn't yet ready so we left our luggage in storage and took to the streets of Arequippa, also known as the 'white city' because of the local white volcanic rock used in the construction of its many colonial (17th century) and modern churches and buildings.
Good: After dinner during an evening stroll, we noticed, down an alleyway and in a courtyard, a group of people dancing to music so we went to look. When we arrived there was only a fellow and a small girl (maybe 5-6 years old) dancing, the child trying to copy the steps of the fellow (maybe her dad?) Anyway, l instinctively started 'bopping' to the music and clapped when it finished, and then we then left. But after a dozen or so steps, Peter said to me, having heard the pitter-patter of running feet, "Turn around", which l did. Right at that moment the little girl spontaneously jumped into my arms and gave me such a cuddle. It felt as though the spirit/energy of our grand-daughter Venice was being channeled through this child! It was a very moving moment - even Peter instantly recognised the significance. l phoned Allison immediately we returned to our hotel room to share the moment with her!
Our room is on the 2nd floor with a window opening to a central courtyard, and the hotel is full, so we had to contend with quite a bit of noise before getting to sleep - footsteps in the room above, voices from a nearby balcony and adjoining restaurant, etc. In the morning I'll ask about moving rooms.
Sat 13 Apr
The breakfast room this morning was like 'Coles' cafeteria' - so many people and so noisy! I arranged to change rooms for tomorrow night (not possible tonight) and we then set off on a city tour with our guide Pepe.
There are just so many churches in the whole of South America, and Arequippa is no exception. But they are all beautiful (like in Italy) and all so steeped in history. Of particular interest was the Santa Catalina Monastary which is literally a 'city within a city', taking up a whole block behind high walls. Within this 16th century complex is a web of cobbled streets, cloisters, hidden staircases, flower-filled courtyards and nuns' living quarters - all in original condition except for certain restoration works following various earthquakes. The monastery, founded in 1580, was closed to the outside world until 1970 and is now open to the public. A new convent operates next door.
Also, while walking around, we were befriended by a local university student wishing to practise her English. We strolled along chatting with her which was enjoyable and rewarding.
