Hello! I have just finished a trek and have gone to Machu Picchu, but haven´t had a chance to write about Cuzco yet...so here it is! The story about trek/Machu Picchu comes tomorrow. I flew into Cuzco the morning of 3/8 from Lima after a hectic taxi ride to the airport and spent most of the day wandering and checking out some tour agencies here (and trying to deal with the altitude- Cuzco sits at a lofty 10,600ft!!!!!!!!!). At the airport, the hostel had sent me a taxi so there was a guy standing outside waving a piece of paper with my name on it. On the taxi ride into the center of Cuzco, I definitely got a good look at the extremely impoverished neighborhoods on the outskirts and was reminded that Peru is much more a developing world country than Argentina and Chile by far. My hostel is really nice, up a giant hill (sooo difficult to walk up with the altitude) from the Plaza de Armas at the center of town. The views are amazing- since Cuzco sits in a valley it is surrounded by steep green hills and all the houses and buildings have red tile roofs. There are alot of rules in the this hostel though- there is an entire binder in the front lobby full of rules and there are little pieces of paper everywhere with more rules. It is kind of funny. Also, Cuzco is having a water crisis right now because of really bad landslides the last few months so the toilets don´t flush and the sinks and showers don´t work from 9am-midnight and there are garbage cans and giant buckets full of water sitting in every vacant corner. But really it is a nice place- there is fast and free internet (and skype!!!) and the beds are really comfy. They also offer free coca tea, which is supposed to offset the effects of altitude, but I later read in Lonely Planet, will also make you test positive for traces of cocaine! The funny thing is that every tourist in Cuzco would test positive, cause everyone drinks it! It´s tasty and I think it helped a little. Anywho, after I checked in, I decided to go check out some tour agencies for the treks I want to do. While most of the treks I´m interested in don´t require a guide (the Inca Trail does), I decided trying to trek solo in Peru was more than I wanted to deal with. The trails are much different here than in Argentina and Chile, the transportation logistics are much more confusing AND there are some nasty stories about muggings and worse on popular trekking trails in Peru (not to scare anyone-people do trek solo, I just decided it wasn´t for me and that´s why I´m going with a tour agency). The first agency I went to was up another giant hill and I got really tired, but made it only to find them closed. There are TONS of companies in Cuzco, but most of them seem a little sketchy, and I had checked with all the ones recommended by Lonely Planet. I finally found one that seems good and they offer the trek I want to do for cheap (but not too cheap- I did my research)! I asked lots of questions and got lots of good, straight answers in good English (this makes me think they get lots of tourists, or at least make the honest effort at good customer relations). I went ahead and booked a city tour of some ruins and one to the city and ruins of Pisac to test them out. After getting my trekking somewhat figured out, I roamed through the many many souvenir shops and bought a cheesy alpaca sweater with llamas and what not on it- it is REALLY cozy and comfy. I love it and it´s perfect for Cuzco´s chilly nights. I continued walking around, went to a grocery store and then went back to the hostel for a relaxing evening and a long night sleep.
March 9th was the best food day I´ve had on the trip so far! I got up after a really good night´s sleep and quinoa oatmeal (just like oatmeal or not, it´s quinoa!) with lots of dried fruit and walnuts and yogurt. It was so good! For those who don´t know, quinoa is a grain from Peru that can be used in place of rice (and oats in this case). It had a sorta nutty flavor and was recently described as "supercrop" by the UN because of it´s high protein content. It also takes very few resources to grow as it is native to theharsh climate of the Andes. I also bought some delicious quinoa granola bars at the supermarket too. In the morning, I walked around town to see more of what I was too tired to see the day before. Cuzco is a beautiful city. It is extremely photogenic- steep green hills, red tile roofs, impossibly narrow and steep cobblestone streets, lots of little pedestrian alleys with lots of stairs, and lots and lots of churchs with pretty brown stonework! I have taken a lot of photos! As I was strolling along a road above the city, I saw a woman in tradition Andean dress (funny little hat, bright skirt, bright blouse, little baby on her back) pulling a llama along! I got really excited to see an "authentic" Peruvian and asked to take her picture. She posed with the llama and then asked me for money and I realized she dresses up like that every morning, walks around, asks people if they want a picture and then makes money. Not that that is necesarily a bad thing, it just made me feel silly! After a bit, I stopped in at this little hole in the wall vegetarian restaurant downtown for lunch. Most restaurants here serve a "set menu" for lunch that lets you choose from different options for 2 or 3 or more courses for a set price. The set lunch at this place was a really delicious veggie soup with pumpkin and potato and some kind of grain and then a huge plate of rice with a thick sauce of potatoes, lima beans and chunks of tasty cheese. They also had a little salad bar with lots of potatoes and yummy veggies and a delicious peanuty sauce (probably also potato based). I also got bread and tea all for 6 soles including the tip (about $2). It was awesome! It´s nice that eating out is so cheap here, unlike in Argentina and Chile, because it gives me a chance to try local cuisine! After lunch, I walked to the tour agency and joined my tour for the afternoon. We went to 5 different ruins and one convent/ruin. Very little of any of these ruins are still intact because the Conquistadores and the church went to a huge effort to destroy the reminants of the Inca Empire after the Incas lost a very long and very brutal war with the Spanish. But, what is left is still very interesting. The stonework is astounding when you think about how little technology the Inca had to work with. There was one boulder used as a corner for a temple at Saqsaywaman that is over twenty feet tall! Very impressive.
On March 10, I took another guided tour of more ruins, this time Pisac and Ollantaytambo. The drive to the town of Pisac was absolutely gorgeous- lime green hills with terraced potato fields creeping high onto the ridges, big rivers lined with corn fields in the valley bottoms and lots of pretty wild flowers. Before heading up to the ruins, we stopped in the town of Pisac to venture through their famous market. This thing was enormous! So many stalls and so many souvenirs! There was also some really good food there- I got a delicious banana, cinnamon, cheese empanada straight out of a clay oven! Yum! After the market, we drove up to the ruins of Pisac. Pisac is three times the size of Machu Picchu with massive terraced hills and lots of old ruined buildings. All Inca citadels are built on a long ridge or saddle with a lone mountain in front (think of the classic picture you always see of Machu Picchu). The surrounding hills and peaks were draped in fog and it was a misty, making it seem really like the Andes of Peru! While at Pisac, our guide told a hilarious story about Incan mummies. Only the nobility and royalty could be mummified- everyone else was buried in common cemetaries. The Inca believed that once someone was mummified, they were actually alive again and the mummies were dressed in fresh clothes everyday, cooked for and even taken to their mummie friends´ houses to visit their dead buddies. So bizarre! After Pisac, we headed to the small town of Urubamba for lunch. The restaurant our guide suggested was really expensive so a few of us went walking around and found a really cheap, but delicious little place away from the tourists. We then drove on to Ollantaytambo. On the way into to town, there were a lot of crowds in the streets and people were shouting. Our bus driving started shouting and then some Peruvians on our tour jumped up and danced around and our tour guide informed us that a popular presidential candidate (their election is in a month or two) was visiting the town. The bus driver somehow got him on our bus and I shook his hand! Meanwhile, the Peruvians sitting the back of the bus were pushing eachother over trying to get to the front to talk to him and shake his hand too! It was awesome! His name in Ollanta and I will have to follow the election to see what happens! Anywho, after this we arrived at our final archaelogical site above the town. It was spectatular! The stonework was amazing and there were some snowy mountains in the background making it even prettier. There were lots of terraces again (they were used for growing corn and potatoes), some little huts, and a really cool zigzaggy wall. It was really crowded, but well worth the visit.
That´s it for Cuzco...The town is really pretty and the ruins have been great. I have just finished a 5 day trek in the mountains and will write that story tomorrow most likely when I am back in Cuzco. Oh also, my Dad was in Japan for the earthquake...he was in the airport waiting for his plane home. I actually still don´t even know if he is home yet (there is no skype here), but he did send an email saying he was ok! Scary!
Hope all is well at home.
