This next part started out with the ‘10 hour bus trip from hell’, that was more enforced tourism (entry fees already paid to three places and a buffet lunch included) with a ‘sergeant major’ guide! Not helped by the fact that I was not feeling well and we had a 6am pickup. Fortunately we were given the front seats in the bus so I was pleased about that. Unfortunately the tour guide tried to make us move to the two seats behind the driver. Probably the look on my face and my grumbling gave him the message so he didn’t push it and we didn’t move.
This church (Andahuaylillas) is known as the Sistine Chapel of South America. Not sure by whom. It was the first stop on our bus ride. There is Dick looking for me.
We saw other archeological sites – Racqui (site of an Inca temple) and Pukara (a pre-Inca museum) but the stops seemed to be a good excuse to bring tourists to the local markets.
Interesting to stop at LaRaya, the highest point of the trip at 4313 m (12,000 ft)Couldn’t resist another one of these pics, this time with a llama. Supporting local tourism, and of course there was a market here as well at LaRaya.
Finally got to Puno and I was feeling much worse, so visited a local farmacia and tried to get a mild laxative. Somehow even Google translate doesn’t work well for medical terms. After a sleepless night with terrible stomach cramps, I had to stay in bed and let Dick go off to see Lake Titicaca and the floating islands on his own. As luck would have it, the room was probably the worst hotel room of our trip, but didn’t matter as all I needed was the toilet.
Arriving at the Uros Floating Islands in Lake Titicaca, which is the largest lake in South America and the highest navigable lake in the world. It is known as the Sacred Lake of the Incas.
Greeted by the women of the Uros Islands. There are about 100 floating islands (population 2000) made out of totora reeds by a method that has been handed down for thousands of years.
This woman is the president of that island where 18 people live. She is giving a speech to the visitors. They work hard as the reeds they walk on need to be replenished once a month, and each island only lasts 30 years.These woman are singing as the visitors go off on a boat ride. It was mentioned that they are generally overweight as they don’t get much exercise on these little islands. Also they still speak their own language.
Here is the type of boat they went off for a ride around the islands in. Like everything else, the boats are also made out of totora reeds.The boats loaded with 20 visitors, were rowed by two strong, young women.
Their next stop was Taquille Island (5.6km’s long and 1.5kms across). The island is steep and was covered with 3000 year old agricultural terraces.
The inhabitants (approx 2200) follow a mix of Inca, pre Inca and Christian philosophy summarized by “do not steal, do not lie and do not be idle” and they have no crime there.
A view of Puno and Lake Titicaca from the lookout as we were leaving town (and all I saw of the place). By this time Dick was feeling worse than me and we concluded that being at high altitude is not good for either of us.
In contrast to our expectations, our private tour of Lima with Mariella turned out to be one of the best tours we did. We seem to be getting very spoiled with our private tours, which also colors the times when we are in shared tours or transport. In addition to showing us the sights, Mariella also helped us with some personal jobs we needed to do like buying more malaria pills, changing money and finding a gluten free store for us. Everything is so much easier when we have our own translator.
We started at the fruit and veg market, which was very colorful. Great to have a guide explain what we were seeing.Also saw an ancient adobe pyramid, Huaca Pucllana, built in pre-Inca times.
Learned about San Martin, a major leader of liberation from Spain in 1826, and saw his statute in the square.
Visited the other main square in the old city
Got acquainted with the local constabulary, who were guarding the Presidential Palace
Visited the Franciscan Catacombs in the Monastery of San Francisco (Basilica and Convent). We couldn’t take pictures inside and frankly I am hoping I will forget about all the human bones we saw there. Piles of bones artistically arranged and sorted by type ie femurs, skulls, tibias, fibulas as they are the toughest parts of the human body. It is estimated that 25,000 bodies were laid to rest there. Also visited the library (25,000 volumes) and the museum but the lasting memory was of the Catacombs.
Finished our Lima tour at the Larco Museum which was established in 1926 by Rafael Larco Hoyle, a pioneer of Peruvian archaeology. Their mission is to serve as a gateway to ancient Peru and it houses a pre-Inca art collection of 45,000 objects. This added a whole new perspective to what we had been learning about the Inca’s and the Spaniards in Peru. In fact Peru is one of the few places on Earth where civilization emerged independently approximately 5000 years ago. Interesting that in Australia there does not seem to be the same interest in or respect of the indigenous history that extends for at least 60,000 years.
Viewing a Paracas Mantle which is approximately 3000 years old. These were used to wrap funerary bundles and contained important religious information which accompanied the dead into the afterlife. In Paracas mantles the positioning and orientation of the designs, the sequences of the motifs and the alternation of the colors were filled with meaning. We marvelled at the intricacy and quality of the preserved mantle.
Quipus – the main system used by the Incas to record information. It was based on the decimal system and the colors, knots and distances between the knots identified the characteristics of the population being recorded (important for recording information on the labor the population had to provide). Managed by specialist officials called quipucamayocs, sounds like early accountants to me!
We finished our time in Peru with a fun night out with Marie Hill, an former Austrade colleague currently posted in Lima, and two of her friends. It was great to catch up with Marie and we enjoyed meeting her friends, especially as it was a different context than the general travel discussions we’ve been having with strangers
Having heard so much about Machu Picchu (MP) and having seen the photos, it was great to finally get to experience it ourselves. Our time in Peru started with a rest day in Sacred Valley, which we badly needed both to recover from Galapagos and to acclimatize to the higher altitude. Neither of us felt great or had any energy. A short walk to the market in the town was all we could manage. And we were taking our altitude pills, drinking cocoa tea and even eating cocoa candies. Thanks to TripAdvisor we found a very good restaurant on the train platform so that improved the mood.
In the market in Ollantaytambo, Sacred Valley, Peru. There is no way we could have climbed up to explore the Inca ruins above the town, as hundreds of other people were doing.
After taking the scenic Vistadome train to Agua Caliente and checking into our hotel, we had quite a hairy bus ride up a very windy mountain road.
The bus ride up to Machu Picchu. There was a walking trail up but it looked hard, lots of stairs and it was raining, so worth standing in line for a bus.
We had a passionate guide who was determined that we would learn her standard routine spiel about the history of MP, whether we were interested or not. Mostly we were interested and Dick asked lots of questions. In brief, MP was started by the Inca’s in 1450 and building continued for 90 years to 1540 when the Spanish came. It was rediscovered by the West by Prof Hiram Bingham in 1911, and was largely overgrown then. Bingham took lots of photos and realized it was a special place. Of course the locals already knew it was there and were farming parts of it. We spent 3 hours walking around the lower part of the city. In the peak season 7000 people per day visit. We probably only visited it with 4000 others but that was enough. The rain curbed our enthusiasm somewhat but the guide insisted we learn about all the important places and how the people lived there. Both of us were tired (and wet) as we’d climbed up and down so many stairs all afternoon in the rain.
Our first view of MPInside some of the buildings. Our guide couldn’t help herself from pushing in the photos, as she explained the elaborate and still effective drainage system as well as the building techniques.
More info on the structure, the door shapes and the views afforded.
Another view of the areas we walked around, and how steep it all is.
Our Day 2 at MP was much better. No guide, better weather and we’d both had a much needed good sleep. Also we had a plan to see the upper sections that afforded the good views. Even got to the upper guardhouse and took some pics before it started to drizzle.
The view from the upper guardhouseHappy to be there and enjoy the views in better weather
Contemplating the view as the clouds roll in
The classic shotA panorama view
Another classic view from somewhat higher up.We did a nice hike to the Inca gate. The gate is closed by removing the boards we can see across the chasm.The Inca gate was on a very steep cliffGreat views along the path
Our classic kissing photo in special places, and Machu Picchu was a very special place.
The train trip back included river views, a performance by the staff as well as a fashion parade promoting Peruvian alpaca garments (exclusive to the train passengers). Lots of music and dancing by this guy. We didn’t really understand what was going on, but it was entertaining. Thankfully he didn’t pick me to dance with him.
Missed our transfer guide when we got off the train (probably our fault as we just pushed thru the crowds), but found him eventually and endured a 2 hour drive again on those windy roads to Cusco in the dark. Not feeling good and not happy. A good sleep always helps but we probably weren’t ready for a 4.5 hour guided tour of Cusco at 1pm the next day. Guide knew his stuff but had no people skills. Saw lots and learned about the history but no break and no food stop did not go over well. Probably not feeling well at the high altitude also colored my impressions.
The view of Sacsayhuaman (sexy woman or satiated condor). This was an Inca temple and the site of a battle with the Spanish where 168 Spanish killed 600 Incas and left their bodies to rot in the field we were standing in. Condors ate the flesh of the dead until they were satiated, hence the name.There’s not much left of the temples etc as the Spanish used this special place as a quarry and took the good stones to Cusco to use to build their churches.
This viewpoint at Sacsayhuaman affords great views of Cusco nestled in the mountains.
Interesting to learn about the Inca and Spanish periods in Cusco. We saw more archeological ruins before visiting the Basilica Catherdral, which included the first and last churches built by the Spaniards. In the Spanish churches our guide delighted in showing us famous paintings that included Inca symbols, unbeknownst to the Spanish who did all in their power to destroy the Inca culture. It sounded like the Inca’s seemed to leverage the skills and knowledge of the civilizations they conquered (ie in engineering, medicine, architecture etc) in contrast to the approach of the Spanish who destroyed the buildings, culture and religion and enslaved the indigenous people. Today Cusco feels very old with its narrow cobblestone streets and old stone buildings. The population is 500,000 and 65% work in tourism.
A map of the Inca territory. The Incas built 45,000 kms of trails throughout their territory (The Inca Trail). We saw some parts of it as we drove around Cusco, which was the Inca capital.
A replica of The Golden Star Map from the Inca’s Temple of the Sun.
A Spanish church we visited in Cusco
On the streets of Cusco. Helen wanted this picture as she didn’t think I would do one.
More fun on the streets of Cusco. So many shoeshine guys wanted to shine Dick’s dirty shoes that he finally gave in. The price started at 1 Sola but by the time he finished adding lots of special stuff, it went to 20; and in the end we gave him 10!
Got caught in a hailstorm but it didn’t dampen our spirits as we enjoyed having a free day to wander around Cusco, and it was easy to buy ponchos in the street.
Had some nice food in Cusco, including good tapas and then a meal of crispy guinea pig at our friend Ronny’s recommended restaurant.But the chocolate balloon dessert was the best!
