Machu Picchu: Prologue

Spoiler Alert: Melissa and I hiked Huayna Picchu - the tallest peak at Machu Picchu. Only 400 hikers are allowed per day and Melissa bought our tickets in July to make sure we could.

 

Here I am signing into the hike. We also signed out at the end to show that we didn't get lost somewhere in the Andes.

 

I am a super classy girl who knows how to restrain her excitement. This can also be described as me overcompensating to hide my nerves. 

 

About half way up I met a Sabres fan, albeit a fan of her high school mascot. 

 

This was by far one of the most strenuous hikes I've ever done. Melissa faired better, but she regularly climbs mountains whereas I do not.

 

We could call these the relatively easy steps of the hike. 

 

There's more to come, but I'm more concerned with going out to enjoy New Year's Eve in Cusco right now. 😃👌🏼👍🏼

The Incas

Machu Picchu was awesome in the true sense of the word. It was massive and impressive and awe-inspiring. I still have so much to learn about the Incas and Machu Picchu specifically, but the small pieces of history that I was able to pick up eavesdropping on tour groups conveyed how advanced the Incas were. Their engineering and advanced planning were just magnificent.

You can google "Inca stones" and learn a ton about the different styles and time periods of Incan stonework, work that engineers today still can't figured out how they did. This type of stonework is all over Machu Picchu, but also all over Cusco. Melissa and I partook in the city tour of Cusco, which took us to four Incan ruins in Cusco: Saqsayhuaman, Pukapukara, Q'enqo, and Tambomachay. That tour also included an initial stop at Qorikancha, the Convent of Santo Domingo that was built on top of Incan ruins. At all of those tour stops explores the different time periods of the Incan stones. I had vague recollections of learning about their engineering in school, but to be honest I've always confused the Incans with the Aztecs and the Mayans.  One of the reasons why I value travel so much is because being in the presence of history and walking the same steps as people who came 1000 years before me is so magical and I walk away with a new part of me. As much as I love learning about history, there's no way to replicate the experience of being there.  After Mel's friends Rachelle and Luke joined us in Cusco, we took a free walking tour of the city and learned so much more about the Incans, the Spanish, and how the stonework changed over different time periods. 

I'm going to break my thoughts up into several posts because of the internet, but also because it's hard for me to get everything out at one time, while still living in the moment here in Cusco. 

Aguas Calientes: Part 2

Rachelle, Melissa's friend, made a great observation about Aguas Calientes - there were no cars in the town. I can't believe I didn't even notice it, but barring the busses to get to Machu Picchu and a few construction vehicles, there were zero cars in the entire town. In my last post I commented on the restore feel of the town, the lack of cars or motorbikes was a huge contributor to that feeling for sure.

I realize that 99% of my picture of Aguas Calientes and Machu Picchu are on my camera, not my phone, which means that until I return to the US I can't post much. However, here are a few that Melissa shared with me.

 

Here are the hot springs. The one in the middle was the largest and the hottest, and smelled sufficiently of sulphur. 

 

This is us walking out, but you can get a sense from this picture how the pools were set back from the city that took a bit of a walk to get to. It was pretty great through because the location made it more relaxing and serene, even with that many people in the pools.

Aguas Calientes

Even though I'm just a little over a week into my trip I can tell that with this iteration of my blog I'm apt to start each entry with, "I can't find the words to describe..." and today is no different.  I'm writing from Aguas Calientes, a small town that is a 30-minute bus ride from Machu Picchu. 

Aguas Calientes feels like ski town to me. Even though the train line from Ollantaytambo ends in this town if feels secluded and contained. What's striking to me even more is that it's also been the noisiest city in Peru so far. Cusco and Puno have city noise, mostly cars, but the people are pretty quiet. No one yells at each other. I even witnessed a fight between two men and all it involved was scathing statements and a swift kick to the rear for one the participants. Aguas Calientes feels like it's hoppin' at all hours. On that note, our hostel has also been the noisiest and actually fits a more stereotypical picture for me than any other hostel we've stayed in. I'm not super impressed, but you can't always tell from the internet and even hotels are a crapshoot. I also think that what we got was pretty on par with accommodations in the area and at a fair price.

The main benefit of Aguas Calientes is that there are natural hot springs. The public can access pools where the spring water is piped. For about US$7 we hopped into the springs after our long day at Machu Picchu to relax our muscles. None of us have a clear memory of how long we were there, but we were definitely there at least an hour, if not two. So, you know, it was quite the value. 

I like Aguas Calientes because of the resort town feeling.  Because it's Peru, it's also nestled right at the base of mountains around all sides of the town. I guess it fits the definition of a valley. What's striking about Peru is how all of a sudden mountains shoot up. There's not really any foothills. There's a valley (large or small) and then BOOM - mountain. Because we're here in the rainy season this morning was completely overcast. So, picture being in a valley, surrounded by mountains that are swarmed by clouds. It's creates such a close feeling without somehow being claustrophobic. I fear that my words are failing me and I won't adequately be able to describe what it feels like here. Simply said: it's just magical. 

Unfortunately, I can't post any pictures because apparently they are all on my camera instead of my phone. 

Ollantaytambo

We are currently on our way to Machu Picchu and are taking a couple hours break in Ollantaytamboo, a town that is considered part of the Sacred Valley. We took a taxi from Cusco to Ollantaytambo for 110 soles, which is about US$37 so split between four of us, it's less than $10 a piece. FOR A TWO HOUR TAXI RIDE! Oh, I don't think I've mentioned this yet, but Melissa's friends Rachelle and Luke have joined us for a few days as part of their own South American adventure. 

Here is just a little preview of the phenomenal views we've had. Our taxi driver stopped at this point so we could get a few pictures. Oh, and of course my love of alpaca continues to grow. 

 

 

The Floating Island: Part 3

When we finally arrived on Uros Aruma Uro with Juan we were welcomed by his wife, Elsa (I think). She encouraged us to take a load off in the deck chairs and proceeded to make us a delicious lunch. 

 

It was right under these umbrellas where we chilled out for a bit. The quiet and peaceful nature of the area was phenomenal. 

We mostly chilled out during our time on the island, but the coolest part to me was when Percy, Juan's brother, took us out on his reed boat to teach us about the islands and give us some experiences collecting fish from their nets and cutting reeds. The explanations of history and culture were amazing, especially since English was not Percy's first or second language. 

 

 Christmas Day was rough. 😃

 

Percy's teaching us about the reeds.

 

I got the opportunity to cut some reeds myself.

 

Here I am learning about the medicinal properties of the reeds.

 

Percy called the reeds to "bananas of Lake Titicaca".

I can't get the video to work, but my most exciting moment was when I jumped in and took a quick swim in Lake Titicaca. Let's just say I couldn't even get real words out because it was mas frio! 

En Español

I would like to take a moment to give a shoutout to Señora Zamora at Valpo. Because of her I am muddling my way through conversations about camera memory cards, translating conversations between a Spanish speaking stranger and an English speaking stranger, and most importantly - ordering food. I am amazed at the amount of vocabulary that is coming back to me a little at a time. For example some guy hawking cigarettes in the plaza wouldn't leave us alone until I said, "no fumar!" Now, I'm pretty sure I said, "no to smoke!" But it worked! My limited Spanish is really coming in clutch. 

I also learned something about myself - I really enjoy trying to speak with strangers in a foreign land. There's something so gratifying when both parties finally understand. It's like there's a moment of pure relief and happiness when it clicks. It almost always involves smiling like a fool when the exchange is complete. 

The Floating Islands: Part 2

Our altitude readings told us that Lake Titicaca was anywhere from 12,500 to 12,800 feet. I've already commented about the potent sun, but it was at the point of getting out onto the lake that Melissa and I recognized our need for copious amounts of sunblock and long sleeves. I had a harder time adhering to the long sleeves because even with my dry fit type material shirts, I was overheating constantly. I kept pushing the water and tried to stay as covered up as possible. From the photos though you can obviously see how absolutely gorgeous it was for us. We were so blessed with the weather because every day there was a prediction for rain, but we actually didn't see any until we returned to Cusco (and only for an hour or so at that). 

 

Here is Melissa on our first boat to Uros. She was trying to stay as covered as possible to protect her fair skin, but also because we're pretty sure one of the side effects of our altitude medicine is photo sensitivity.

 

Here is me while on the boat and crossing Lake Titicaca. 

 

Melissa and I did our best celebrity-avoiding-the-paparazzi impressions while trying to avoid murdering all of our skin cells.

After some hemming and hawing, as well as a super helpful boat captain, Melissa and I were picked up by Juan, one of the family members of our home stay. 

 

Juan took up by power boat to Uros Aruma Uro. 

Stay tuned... 

The Floating Islands

The saving grace (for me in particular) of our trip to Puno was our stay on Uros Aruma Uro. Melissa and I wanted to do something special for Christmas so we arranged to spend the night in a hostel on a floating island - Uros Aruma Uro. I won't go into all the details of the people because you can google that and find a way better description than I can give, BUT I will say that there are about 90 floating islands on the Peru side of Lake Titicaca (Bolivia claiming the other side). Anywhere from 2-6 families live on each island so there are a couple thousand people living on the floating islands.

I wish I could come up with a way to convey the tranquility of the islands, but it's almost impossible to do. To live the experience is the only way to really understand. Because of the altitude sickness and The limited entertainment options of Puno, I had already felt like I spend days lounging around and it made me a little twitchy. Yet, when we arrived on the island I automatically felt calm and peaceful. Sitting and looking out onto the lake was restorative. 

Let me back up. Getting to the island was quite the nerve-wracking experience. All of the information only tells you that you need to take a public bus from the port to the island of Uros. It's very cheap - about US$3 for the boat and about US$1.50 to step onto Uros.  You're told that you'll be taken to your final destination island, but there are a ton of warnings that you'll get scammed or that people will harass you about buying their crafts. Most people cave because there is a fear that you'll be left on the island and never make it to your destination. 

Our hostel was in communication with us, but it was limited because of our lack of cell service & the fact that we need to be on wifi to be able to check email. We were assured that all we needed to do was to get to Uros and that our hostel people (think more of like a family stay) would come and look for us. Oh, now would be an appropriate time to mention that there are no real time tables and that boats run from 9 AM to 4 PM ... or sometimes 4:30... or sometimes later if they feel like it.

Long story short: Melissa and I held our ground and waiting for our host family to pick us up, despite people telling us we were required to take the tourist boat to the next island and being cursed out of a woman's house because we wouldn't buy any of her crafts. We may have heard grumbles and "Americanas..." as we scurried out. 

Because I'm having a hard time with the wifi and getting longer posts to upload, I'll end with some pictures but continue on in my next post.

 

This was our home stay island - Uros Aruma Uro.

 

Again, our home stay island. To the right is where we ate and all the way to the left are the bathrooms. Further left would have been our room, but it's not in the picture. 

Oh, Puno...

Melissa and I have just returned to Cusco after two and a half days in Puno. Puno is the main city in Peru that is on Lake Titicaca. One can access the lake by from both Peru and Bolivia. We chose to stay in Peru in part because I have in my mind what is likely a ridiculous stereotype of Bolivia and it scares the bejeezus out of me, but also because I think Melissa as a Canadian would have had to pay a pretty expensive entrance fee. (Side note: Something I didn't know before this trip was that some countries have what are referred to as "reciprocity fees" - meaning that if Canada charges Bolivians entrance fees or requires special visas, Bolivia is likely to do so in return.) 

So, we decided to travel by bus to Puno from Cusco. It took about seven hours and cost US$40 for round trip via tickets. I will admit that I really wasn't jazzed about the bus ride, especially since I get motion sick so easily. On the way there it really wasn't as bad as I expected. First off, the bus was a double decker, but we were advised to sit on the first floor due to the potential for motion sickness. When you buy your ticket you do so like on an airline, with an assigned seat, but the seats were sooooo much better than on an airline. Think first class seats that recline almost as much as business class seats. They were pretty great. It's felt like real motor coach travel. 

The real bonus of the ride out to Puno was that the route didn't seem to have any scary edge-of-the-cliff drop offs or tons of twists and turns. The same could not be said for the return ride. We basically got the old model bus (although this one had wifi!) and the route seemed to be different. Maybe we both slept through the twisty parts on our departure, but it seemed like an alternate route that was much more... um... interesting. Read: Katie was motion sick for 7.5 hours & we didn't even have a 30 minutes break at a rest stop like on the first leg. It was brutal.

I was also EXTREMELY satisfied with our return to Cusco because we dropped almost 1,700 feet of elevation, which meant a lot of my elevation sickness subsided. Being in Puno was very difficult for me because I experienced mild altitude sickness 90% of the time. Melissa seemed to fare better, but experienced some symptoms. I'm telling you, you really have no idea what altitude is like until you brush your hair and find yourself out of breath. It was brutal. I know I have some insight in my last post, but I felt nauseous, light headed at time, my limbs tingled, and I had a hard time breathing. It's like having a virus and an asthma attack at the same time, while your feet and hands that fell asleep start to wake up. So, all of that sort of put a damper on my experiences in Puno. That being said, Puno is kinda... well, I read a blog before traveling to South America where an Irish woman declared it a shit hole. I wouldn't go that far, but there's not a lot to be desired in that town. We pretty much saw what needed to be seen in the first couple hours.

 

That being said, we did experience a few cool things - like this totally random, spontaneous Christmas parade on December 23.

 

Every Christmas parade should have firemen angels, right?

And then on Christmas Eve we happened upon a huge market for the holiday. I think I already posted a few picture from that in a post. (Because I'm writing on my phone I can't check as I write this post.)

We also happened upon what seemed to be a men's league fútbol match near the market. We stayed and watched for a few minutes, but the sun was just beating down on us and we needed to keep moving. Mild altitude sickness does not pair well with any level of heat stroke. I would like to add that I've been very conscious of my water intake and drank three liters of water by dinner that day. Also, just before we were about to leave I noticed that Melissa and I were pretty much the only two women in the entire area. It was obvious that the gringas were out of their element. 

 

Also, it was NUTS on Christmas Eve - at the stroke of midnight the entire town started celebrating Christmas by shooting off fireworks. It was hot and heavy for about 20 minutes, but the fireworks went on for at least an hour. I'm not exactly sure how long they went off though because believe it or not, I fell asleep. It turns out that the exhaustion I felt because of the altitude made me crash every night. I can't believe I even made it to midnight. 

There is so much more to say, especially because our third day is Puno was the only really satisfying day - it was our Lake Titicaca day! But right now I'm sitting outside in our hostel's common area and am getting quite cold. The wifi doesn't work in our rooms. 

 

Thanks to Snapchat I can provide this creepy, yet festive picture of me before I run inside to get a shower - it's been a few days. 😃

I'll try to post about our Lake Titicaca experience tomorrow. Good night, my friends! 

 

 

 

12,800

In case you're curious, living at 500 feet of elevation and traveling to 11,000 feet for a few days and then proceeding to 12,800 will kick your ass. Truly.

I was prescribed medicine to take in preparation for this trip and through 48 hours at peak elevation. Peru is also known for coca tea and coca candy, both of which help one's body deal with the effects of elevation. 

Holy smokes did I under estimate the impact of this change. Even with the medicine and coca tea I'm driving the struggle bus. I'm experiencing the effects of low level altitude sickness - primarily nausea. I've basically been nauseous for the past 48 hours and it goes away for short periods of time, but then comes raring back with a vengeance. It can be overwhelming at times.  

Melissa and I have also experienced an effect  of the altitude that we weren't experiencing - tingling limbs. In particular, our heels tingle a lot. It's really weird. It's similar to the feeling of when your foot falls asleep and you get the pins and needles as it wakes up. I have also felt it in my arms and hands when we're out and about walking around. 

Tomorrow is Christmas Day and we're spending the day on Lake Titicaca. The reviews have been extremely positive, especially for the floating hostel where we have reservations. I'm hoping it's awesome or this portion or our trip will have been extremely taxing for me without much of a reward.

The Weather

What is most striking to me about Peru so far is the weather. The weather report for our entire stay in Peru has been highs in the 50s and 60s with the potential for rain all day, every day. What that weather prediction really means is that it's going to be sunny and few like the high 70s. Standing directly in the sun it feels even hotter. I regret not bringing a pair of shorts, but I'm doing ok with just rolling my pants to make them capris. The altitude makes the sun so much more potent, but it also means that as the sun goes down the breeze is quite chilly/ refreshing. More than any place I've ever been, this is an area designed for dressing in layers.

 

Lies! All lies!! 😃

 You can see how blue the skies in Tambomachay were.

 

Today we went to a street market in Puno, and this picture doesn't even come close to doing it justice. The market was so vast and so busy! Melissa and I both noticed that we were the only to white faces our entire time in that area. We were sort of surprised not to see any other tourists. 

 

Chicken feet, anyone?

Wifi Nightmare

I've been trying for the last few days to post, but the wifi in our last few places has been atrocious. I don't know how much of the trip I'm going to be able to post, but to be honest I'm starting to feel like I want to disconnect from the internet. The major difference between me and Melissa is that I'm much more comfortable exploring and making decisions on the fly. She's much more of a planner, so the Internet provides comfort because she can do research. I think we're a good compliment in that way, but I'm much more ok the verge of putting all technology away for the following 20 days. We shall see what happens... I suspect it'll mostly mean I post short blurbs as opposed to in depth posts. 

Day One: Sort Of

It's difficult for me to succinctly summarize how the last 24 hours has been. I was so incredibly thankful to get off my flight to Miami that I couldn't really think about much more. As much as I love traveling and experiencing new places, I'm not an awesome flier. I actually kind of hate it, but I recognize that it's a crucial part of international travel. My problems are that I have a hard time sitting in the same position, I get antsy, I'm not patient when others are fidgety, and I have to be exhausted to fall asleep on a plane. So, you know, I'm obviously awesome on long trips.

When I landed in Miami I was so excited to be on the ground and not sharing a seat with a stranger any more. By the way, I forgot to mention in my last post that said stranger coughed every couple minutes the whole flight. So, not only did I experience the shaking of his entire body on a regular basis, but I also had the benefit of potential catching all of his germs. 

Miami was challenging because I had a five hour layover that turned into six, which meant that I had to stay up until 2:00 AM, and I had been awake since 5:15 AM. Those conditions do not make a happy Katie. But the benefit of that happening is that I passed out on the plane before we even took off. All I remember of that flight was being awoken at 3:30 AM for an in-flight meal (a full chicken dinner), finishing it, and waking up again 20 minutes before we touched down. I can owe my ability to sleep like this on the plane to exhaustion, a Dramamine, and my altitude medicine. 

Because my flight to Lima was delayed by an hour I missed my flight to Cusco. Strangely, I was wicked chill about it. I think it's because I knew the airline would put me on another flight and it's not like I had a deadline for anything. I ended up being put on a flight that arrived in Cusco about an hour after I was originally supposed to, but it worked out grand because my hostel room wasn't going to be ready before then anyway. 

Once I reached my hostel (after paying entirely too much for a taxi, but as Melissa said - I paid a fee commensurate to its value at the time) I crashed for about an hour. I tried to rally, but I was just so entirely spent. Plus, I could almost immediately feel the effects of the elevation. My apartment in Rochester is at right about 500 feet, whereas my hostel in Cusco is at 11,000 feet. So yeah, my body keeps asking me, "what the fuck, Katie??" I know the altitude medicine is helping, but at the same time if I walk up a flight of stairs my heart pounds for about 5 minutes after.  Almost everything I've read focuses on taking your time, relaxing, taking the altitude meds, hydrating, and then drinking coca tea. I haven't had the tea yet, but everyone swears by it. Even the guy at Passport Health told me about it as an option. 

So, as an attempt to take all of the advice, I've walked around a little bit today, but I've also sat and watched people a lot. Here are a few picture from my first day (aka: my first 5 hours in Peru).

 

Waking up to the Andes was breathtaking. It is phenomenal that people ever settled in these lands. The topography is so striking because it looks exactly like a topographical map, which I know sounds kind of assanine, but I was still surprised how steep the mountains were and how there are practically no valleys between the peaks.

 

I ate lunch at a restaurant in the Plaza de Armas and you can see what a dump this place is. LOL  I couldn't have asked for a better view and it was 68 degrees so my late lunch was all open air. 

 

This was my lunch. I decided I needed something substantial to rebound from all the travel stress. It was really tasty, but I call BS on that steak really being beef. It was enjoyable, but I have never tasted beef quite like that... 

 

This is the hill back to my hostel. My poor little heart required me to climb at a glacial pace. 

 

There are dogs everywhere throughout Cusco. I was warned about not petting stray dogs, but I don't think most of these did are strays. They're generally well fed and taken care of and they all seem to get along. Additionally, they couldn't be less interested in humans, which surprised me. They don't beg or sniff around the humans at all. 

I'm starting to get cold - the temperature is dropping with the setting sun. The wifi is stronger outside of my room, so I've been sitting outside and writing. I'm going to cap it for now. Tomorrow should get more exciting because Melissa arrives!! See you on the flip flop. 

Welcome to Miami (bienvenido a Miami)

Things are good so far. I'm staying positive, except to say - I just had to share my seat on a three hour plane ride. Not like, oh somebody is touching me. More like, as I approached my seat I saw this guy taking up his seat and half of mine. As I approached I expected him to make at least a feigned attempt at making room, but no, he did not. In addition to this guy being a solid 350 pounds, maybe even pushing 400, the guy next to him wasn't much smaller.  I spent a three hour plane ride being pushed into the aisle, except to say there was an arm rest taking out my appendix whilst keeping me mostly contained in the seating area.  

Here's to hoping Miami to Lima is a much more enjoyable ride. 

Leaving On A Jet Plane

My trip has gotten off to a pretty solid start so far. It feels like it's been quite a while since I've made substantial trip and when I look at the last date I published a post on this blog, it has been two and a half years. That means that I'm a bit anxious about this all. Don't get me wrong, I'm super excited, but I'm a bit antsy about all of the connections. I think I'll feel less anxious and more excited about this trip once I get to our hostel in Cusco.

But, it's been a strong start so far. According to this picture I'm obviously ready for a backpacking adventure. 

 

I consider it a substantial accomplishment that my pack weighed less than 30 pounds, despite being stuffed to the brim.

 

My flight from Rochester to NYC - LaGuardia was quite uneventful, which I'll take any day. The one bummer from the day so far was that Delta offered me a $700 (!) credit to switch my flights, but I was nervous about landing in Miami with only 1:45 to spare. It would have been sooooo worth it if it worked, but I wasn't confident that I could land, collect my baggage, change terminals, check in, and make it through security in time. It's a bummer, but I'm happy to still be on track for my trip. 👍🏼👍🏼