Holy shit! Did we just do Machu Picchu?

First of all, there's a debate about whether the city of Cusco is spelt with an 's' or a 'z', but let's not split hairs.

We arrived in Cusco at about 4am after our overnight bus from Puno arrived early, so for once we were actually thankful for the touts at the bus station trying to get us to go with them to their hostel/hotel.  It was an easier choice than usual as the ridiculously early hour meant only a few brave souls had made the effort.  And as a bonus, we weren't charged an extra night even though we were able to go straight to bed.

Cusco is in the southeast of Peru, at an altitude of about 3400 metres.  It was the site of the historic capital of the Inca Empire and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site about 30 years ago.  It's quite a nice city, but it's easily the most touristy place we've been to so far - so many damn gringos!  We spent a few days wandering around and checking out the plazas, colonial buildings and local market.  There is also an old Inca wall with a famous 12 angle rock all the tourists flock around to take photos of.  Apparently it's viewed as a marvel of ancient stonework, and to be fair, it's pretty cool.  You just don't see construction like that anymore.

The famous Inca wall

We also managed to catch up with Derek and Kelly again and have a night out on the town, Peruvian styles.  The waiter at the restaurant where we had dinner ended up taking us to a couple of places, the first of which was a 'discoteque' where Kurt made some new friends.  Or not.  We were all sitting on bean bags, but when Kurt sat down he bumped the guy next to him and the guy's beer went flying all over his 3 mates next to him.  Kurt was oblivious to what had just happened so obviously didn't feel the need to apologise.  And the guy wasn't really keen to take him on for some reason.  Derek was the only one to see all this happen and was absolutely pissing himself laughing for ages.  His reaction made us wish we'd seen it!  After that we went to a more local bar where people were just sitting around drinking and listening to a live band.  It was loud and smoky and way better than the first place.  The singer was living up to his rock star image by having women hanging off him and eating his face off, much to the amusement of the crowd.  Good times.

Cusco is where everyone goes to book various tours to Machu Picchu, so we did the rounds of a lot of agencies to get an idea of how much it would cost.  The most popular way to do it is the Inca Trail, but as you have to book that months in advance it wasn't an option for us.  We decided we'd like to do a 4 day 'Inca jungle trail', which is a day of biking downhill on the first day and trekking for the remainder, finishing off at Machu Picchu.  We got an idea of the price range offered then chose the company we liked the best and thought would offer the best experience.  We needed to pay by Mastercard so had to go to another office, but when we got there the machine wasn't working.  It only accepted Visa anyway.  Right.  The next agency we went to tried to screw us over by saying entry to Wayna Picchu wasn't included, when they had said it was earlier in the day.  Then when we walked away they tried to get us back by saying it was included.  As if we're going to trust you now you sneaky fuckers.  Third time's a charm, right?  WRONG.  Again, we'd previously asked the details at the third agency and decided we could pay that amount in cash.  But when we went back it was suddenly more expensive because of the train times.  What a fucking joke.  We felt everyone was just out to screw us over at this point and were totally over it.  So in the end we decided to just do it all ourselves - we bought the entry tickets to Machu Picchu then booked our train tickets at the railway office.  It only worked out a bit cheaper than if we'd done the 4 day tour, but at least we got to choose when we went, where we stayed and what we ate, and weren't stuck with a group of people we could potentially hate. 

We'd decided to visit some local ruins along the way before we got on the train, so we had a nice 4:30am wake up call so we could find an early local bus in the right direction.  We were heading into the Sacred Valley of the Incas, which included a few small towns along the way to Machu Picchu that sounded interesting.  We'd initially planned on stopping at some ruins in a place called Pisac, however when the bus arrived we saw the ruins on a steep hillside, still damp in the early morning cold, and decided to just continue onto the next town.  It just didn't seem worth it.  So, the next town was Urubamba, where there are two main sites of interest - Moray, an archaeological site; and Maras, a town with salt evaporation ponds and salt mines.  We figured the salt flats in Bolivia would probably be better than some salt ponds, so we chose Moray.  The only way to get there is by taxi, so after some skillful negotiation by Kurt we had a driver to take us there and back.  It was about a 40min drive, and luckily when we arrived there were only one or two other people.  Moray contains some unusual Inca ruins, mostly consisting of several enormous terraced circular depressions, the largest of which is about 30m deep.  The one we saw looked kind of like an amphitheatre to us, but apparently it may have been an Inca agricultural experiment station.  Who knows?  Whatever it was, it was pretty cool.

Moray archaeological site

After checking out the ruins, we were squished into a van to head to Ollantaytambo, which is where the train leaves from.  As with most local transport in South America, just when you think you couldn't possibly fit any more people in, another couple show up and somehow force their way inside.  There were people sitting and standing in every space possible, it was crazy. 

We had a few hours to kill in Ollantaytambo before our train left, but it turns out there's not a whole lot to do there.  There are ruins on a massively steep hillside, but we didn't see the need to pay for entry and over-exert ourselves walking up hundreds of steps when we could get perfectly good photos from the sloping street opposite.  For free.  There was some sort of street parade happening though, with music, people in costumes and bulls shitting everywhere.  It was good fun to watch for a while.  

Finally it was time to jump on the train and head to Aguas Calientes, a small town which is the closest access point to Machu Picchu.  We'd been warned it was really touristy and it most definitely was.  So many restaurants and bars that were mostly empty as it was still low season.  However, if we'd wanted to we could have gotten 4 or 5 drinks for the price of 1 - the best happy hour we've ever seen anywhere!  But because we had to get up at stupid o'clock again the next morning, we were sensible and laid off the booze.

Aguas Calientes

We decided to get the bus up to Machu Picchu and back rather than walk, so we were up at 4am to make sure we got on the first bus which leaves at 5:30am.  Kurt headed straight down to line up while I waited for breakfast at the hotel to make some rolls to take with us.  The early start paid off as Kurt was first in line.  Nice work.  When we finally got on the bus and made the winding ride up the mountain, we saw loads of people walking up.  When we saw the start of the steps they had to walk up we were thankful we'd chosen the bus as they went straight up for miles.  When we got to the top there were already quite a few people there who'd walked up, but they were dripping with sweat and already completely buggered.  Bet they were happy when they realised they had more steps to climb when they got inside.  The gates opened at 6am and thanks to a tip from Derek and Kelly who'd done it a few days before, we knew exactly where to head for a perfect viewpoint to watch the sunrise.  I don't think there was a better spot to sit for a totally uninterrupted view, and we had prime position before other people arrived.  Then we had to wait for the sun.  Unfortunately we didn't get a sunrise as it was too cloudy/foggy, but that in itself was really cool as it intermittently rolled through the valley and over the ruins, including the mountain behind them that's famous because it looks like a face.  And it really does - millions of people haven't just photoshopped their pictures to fool everyone.

Next we went for a walk out to an Inca bridge that is part of a trail that heads west from Machu Picchu.  The trail is a stone path, part of which is cut into a cliff face.  The crafty buggers left a 6m gap in this section of the carved out path, which meant a nice drop of about 600m, preventing any outsiders from crossing.  Only the Inca's knew to use two tree trunks as a bridge across the gap.  

When we bought our entry tickets to Machu Picchu there were no more tickets available to climb Wayna Picchu that day (there's a limited number), so we got entry to Machu Picchu mountain instead which we decided to climb next.  However, we had no idea just how big a mountain it was.  Apparently it takes about 2 hours to climb to the top, which is over 3000m high, and it's steep steps all the way up.  After about 45mins I'd had enough, but we got some good shots from up high so we turned back.  We'd passed a girl coming down who'd made it further, and she said the view was pretty much the same only higher.  Decision to turn back validated (in my view anyway).

Last of all we went for a walk down into the ruins themselves.  A lot of the buildings have been restored to give a better idea of what it was originally like when it was built as an estate for the Inca emperor in about 1400.  Their architecture and construction was so ingenious, it's not surprising it's still standing (more or less) after hundreds of years. The only downside to doing Machu Picchu on our own was that we didn't have a tour guide to explain the history to us of how things were made and what things were used for.  We tried to overcome this by inconspicuously tagging onto the back of English speaking groups, but this was a bit hard at times, especially when there was one couple with their own private guide.  No amount of loitering around looking casual could hide the fact we were trying to eavesdrop.  

One thing we did hear about though was a sacred stone, the Intihuatana stone, that was used to study the sun's movements throughout the year, and to determine solstices and equinoxes.  However, in September 2000 when an ad for a beer was being filmed at Machu Picchu, a 450kg crane fell onto the stone, breaking off a small piece of it.  Since then a rope barricade has been erected around the stone, and there are guards there ready to pierce your eardrums with their warning whistles and kick you out if you lean over and touch the stone.  Needless to say, no more filming is allowed to take place there.  Ever.

So, after a good 6 hours spent on the mountain wandering around the ruins and pinching ourselves that we were actually there seeing it with our own eyes, we hopped on the bus back down to Aguas Calientes.  A few hours later we got the train back to Ollantaytambo, then a hair-raising van ride back to Cusco.  It was yet another day we'll never forget.

Not much ado about Puno

Crossing over the border into Peru, we arrived in the city of Puno.  There's not much to see or do in this city except the floating islands on Lake Titicaca, which is the only reason we stopped off there.

We did a morning tour out to the Uros islands, which are about a 30min boat ride out into Lake Titicaca from Puno and are at 3810m above sea level.  The Uros people originally created these islands as a defensive measure against attacks, as they could move them if a threat arose.  Quite ingenious really.  The islands themselves and the lifestyle of the people living on them are very interesting, although they did have a few more modern conveniences than back in the day such as TV's and solar panels. 

The islands (and pretty much everything on them - boats, beds, houses, furniture) are made out of totora reeds which grow in the lake.  These plants have very dense roots which weave together to form a natural layer about 1-2 metres thick that support the islands.  Then layers of reeds are added to the top.  However, because the reeds at the bottom of the islands rot away pretty quickly, new reeds have to be added to the top about every 3 months.  It was a cool feeling to walk around the islands, kind of like walking on a sponge.  Walking on the reeds breaks them up more though which lets moisture in and rots them, so more and more layers have to be added.  So unfortunately, with the increased tourism on the islands it means they have to do a lot more work to maintain them.  A necessary evil.

We visited a couple of islands and walked around on them, and one lady invited us into her house to see how they live.  As I said, basically everything is made out of these totora reeds - the house itself, the bed and any other furniture.  It was a tiny little hut, but it's obviously all they need.  There were only 2 or 3 families living on the smaller island we visited, but larger islands can house up to 10 families.  Although they do have TV's now, one thing they still maintain tradition with is the toilet system.  Whenever someone needs to use the toilet they have to jump in a boat and row across to an 'outhouse' island, where the ground root absorbs the waste.  Guess it's too bad if you have an emergency!

While it was interesting to visit the islands and see how they make them and have a chance to walk on them, it has clearly become a total tourist trap now.  Most people have moved to the mainland so the only families still living on the islands are there to make money from tourism.  They make arts and crafts which you get urged to by when you're on the islands, and they sing and dance as you leave on the boat.  It's a very staged experience which we hate, but I guess if it means their tradition still lives on for a while, why not?

Lake Titicaca - where Gods are born

Lake Titicaca is one of those places you hear about (and snigger at the name as a kid) but never think you'll go.  On the border of Peru and Bolivia, it's the highest navigable lake in the world and has an overall average depth of 107 metres.  It's only a short 3 hour bus ride from La Paz to Copacabana, the main Bolivian town on the shores of Lake Titicaca.  We arrived in the early evening so found a place to stay then walked around town and had some cheap eats.  It's only a small town but there were still street markets and food and plenty of people around.  That's what we love about South America - the constant activity on the streets and abundance of street food.  Why pay $10-$15 for a meal when you can pay $3 and be just as satisfied? 

We were up early the next morning to get a ferry across to Isla del Sol where we planned on staying for a couple of days to chill out and enjoy the peaceful surroundings.  It was supposed to take about 1.5 hours to cross to the island, however we appeared to just cruise on past.  We ended up at Isla de la Luna which was another hour further on, and somewhere we hadn't actually intended to go.  Oh well, it didn't cost any extra so we had an hour to spend on land.  I had a dodgy stomach so didn't make the hike up the hill, but Kurt went and took some photos of the panoramic views.  There are also ruins of an Incan nunnery but they were on another side.  Then we backtracked to where we actually wanted to go.  

Isla del Sol is one of the lake's largest islands with pretty harsh terrain - it's a very rocky and hilly island.  There are no motor vehicles or paved roads on the island and even a bicycle is pretty useless (although we did see one keen young girl trying to prove otherwise).  The main economic activity of the families living on the island is farming, with fishing and tourism adding to this.  We soon discovered just how hilly it is when we got off the ferry and had to walk uphill to find a place to stay.  Now, any uphill hike with a 17kg backpack on your back and a 5kg day bag on your front is hard work, but throw in the fact that you're doing this at an altitude of 4000m and it gets really bloody hard.  So after about an hour of struggling uphill, we found a place that had a pretty good view across the lake.  And we weren't even at the top but is was far enough for me.  After dumping our shit and catching our breath we trudged on up to the top of the island to find some lunch.  One of the only places open had an outside area with beautiful views out over the other side of the lake.  A pretty good reward for all that hard work.  After a well-deserved afternoon nap and chill out time, we went back up to the top to watch the sunset and eat dinner at a restaurant nestled in the trees that had been recommended by friends.  It was a small vegetarian place with no electricity, and the owner was also the chef and waiter.  He had 3 options so we chose the fresh trout baked in foil with wine and herbs, served with veges and quinoa, and a vege pizza.  It was the best pizza we've had anywhere and the trout was pretty damn good too.  We also tried a local drink of warm red wine with pisco liquor.  It wasn't a cheap meal but it was awesome food and an unbeatable setting, so we were happy.

The next day we took it easy and went for a short walk up to a lookout, then across to the point of the island.  It was beautiful weather and it was so nice to get away from all the usual noises of towns and cities.  The loudest thing on the island was a donkey, so it really was an escape from the real world for a few days.

The day before we left we decided to make the big hike over to the southern end of the island and back again in one day.  We set out at about 8:30am and took the path that goes over the top of the island and ends at the pre-incan ruins on the south side.  This took us about 3 hours then we decided to head back on the path around the eastern side of the island to get a different view.  After arguing with an asshole 'gatekeeper' who tried to charge us money to walk further (not a chance buddy), we had a few more hours of walking to get back to the north side.  It was a beautiful walk, but all the up and down was a bit of a bloody effort at 4000m.  We made it back to the north at about 2:30pm and had a well-deserved lunch before treating ourselves to a rest/nap.  We ended our final night with a bottle of red wine outside under the stars with the reflection of the moon on the lake.  I know, we have a hard life sometimes.

Going downhill the next morning to get the ferry back to Copacabana was a whole lot easier than going up, and thankfully this time we didn't have an unexpected detour.  That night we had a couple of bottles of cheap and cheerful vodka ($3 for 1 litre) and had an impromptu party with some other guys who were staying in our hotel.  Apparently we were rather noisy but no-one came to tell us to shut up - yet another difference to home.  

Surprisingly not too hungover the next morning (probably still drunk), we hopped on a bus to cross the border to Peru.  Thanks for having us Bolivia, it's been a blast.

Letting loose in La Paz

After an overnight bus from Uyuni we arrived in La Paz bright and early, and thanks to being at an altitude of 3650m it was nice and cold.  We'd bravely booked a week at the infamous Wild Rover hostel, so we jumped in a taxi to go check in.  However as it was only about 7:30/8am we were far too early to check in, although quite a few people we only just getting back to the hostel after a night out.  Daylight was not their friend.

We wandered around town for a while before checking in and having a nap, then Derek and Kelly came to our hostel bar for a few drinks that first night.  Kurt and I continued on til the wee smalls, so the next day was a bit of a struggle, especially for me.  We all met up again at an English pub (several hours later for me) then went to a local Sunday event in La Paz - Cholita wrestling, which is a group of female lucha libre wrestlers.  Cholitas are indigenous to the El Alto area of Bolivia where the wrestling takes place, and they have a distinctive look: they wear braided hair, bowler hats and multilayered skirts in everyday life and in the ring too.  Not your standard wrestling event.  We were there for about 3 hours and saw about 15 fights - men vs men, women vs women, men vs women including tag teams.  It was hilarious, especially the outfits.  Who knew Spongebob Squarepants was a wrestler?  We certainly didn't.  By the end of it all we were freezing cold and pretty over it, so were glad to get back to town.  It was definitely one of the more unique events we've been to though!

The highlight of our time in La Paz, and one of the best things we've done so far, was biking down the famous 'Death Road', the world's most dangerous road.  It's estimated that 200-300 people die on the 64km road every year, which means a fatal accident occurs approximately every two weeks. It's one of the few routes that connects the Amazon rainforest region of northern Bolivia to La Paz so that's why it's still used even though so many people have died over the years - there is simply no other choice.  And of course all this means that all the gringos who come to La Paz want to bike down the road and risk their lives - including us.  Only natural really.  We were smart about it though and chose a company that had a really good reputation for excellent equipment - good bikes with quality disc brakes and dual suspension, full helmet, jacket, pants and knee and elbow pads.  Not that any of this will save you if you go over the edge, but best to start out properly anyway.  We chose Vertigo Biking and they were actually cheaper than some of the other companies who had shittier equipment, so we were happy with them. 

We did the tour with Derek and Kelly and we also met Blair, a crazy kiwi with ridiculous amounts of energy.  We had to drive out of town for about 25mins to the starting point, then the first downhill section was a nice wide paved road.  There was a bit of traffic and some slippery gravel at points though so we still had to pay attention.  Kurt and a couple of other guys took off and were racing one of the guides down so they were fair flying.  But luckily no one in our group came off.  Good start to proceedings.  At the end of this section we had to get back in the van and drive uphill to where the official gravel death road began.  The next two hours would be spent biking this single lane road no wider than about 3m.  And of course there are no guard rails so it's a sheer drop-off of at least 600m.  Luckily (I think) it was pretty foggy so we couldn't see the full extent of the drop-off, but you definitely know where the edge is!  It wasn't overly reassuring to see the crosses and memorials for tourists who've died while biking down though.  Our guide told us that on average one or two tourists die each year, and that there hadn't been any so far this year...thanks mate.  But we all managed to make it down to the bottom without anyone stacking it and it was the most fun we've had in ages.  Such an adrenalin rush and you actually forget how dangerous it is after a while.  Until you slide on some mud or come a bit too close to the edge that is!  When we'd all made it safely to the bottom we went to a restaurant for lunch and a shower, and a swim if we wanted.  Then we had a long uphill drive back to town with the worst mixture of music pumping out at full blast.  It's party time in La Paz no matter where you are.

The rest of our time in La Paz was pretty chilled out - well, after we checked out of the Wild Rover a few days early and moved to a nice quiet place across the road that is.  The final straw was when the guy on the bunk above me was in a bad state one night, moaning and groaning like he was dying.  Kurt kept yelling at him to shut the fuck up but he was too far gone to know what was going on.  Then he spewed against the wall which dribbled down onto my bed.  Thanks fuckstick, just what I wanted at 3am.  We did have another night out with another American couple, Rob and Melinda, at a bar run by Mick Jagger.  Well, an English guy that looked and acted exactly like him anyway. He even had his bandmates with him.

 
We also walked around San Pedro prison that's in the middle of town, and if any of you have read 'Marching Powder' you'll be familiar with it.  They no longer let gringos go inside on tours and stay overnight as talked about in the book, and they don't even let you stop and look in the front gate that stands wide open.  There's a plaza directly across the road so you can sit there and watch, but if you try and take photos the cops come over and make you delete them.  Kurt tried to get some from a shop on the other side of the plaza, but it was hard to get a good shot.  It's pretty insane to see this slap bang in the middle of the city though, as you can see through the main gate all the inmates just milling around in a courtyard inside.  They're obviously locked in but to see them so close is crazy.  And there's a steady stream of local people walking in and out, whether they're visiting or live there with their husband etc who knows.  Anything goes in Bolivia.

After 6 days in La Paz we were ready to move on.  So many people get stuck in this city so we were determined to escape the clutches of this party place before it was too late.  Luckily we're not still in our early 20s or it could have been a different story...

Salar de Uyuni - all that was missing was tequila and lime

One of the things we'd been looking forward to doing in Bolivia was a tour of the world's largest salt flats (12,000km2) - Salar de Uyuni.  After reading a lot of blogs and reviews and talking to other travellers, we decided to start the tour in the south in a place called Tupiza and spend 4 days heading north to end in the salt flats just out of Uyuni.  The other alternative is to begin and end in Uyuni, but you don't get to see the variety of landscapes as we did starting from the south.  Another reason we opted for the Tupiza-Uyuni tour is because it finished with the salt flats rather than started them which makes more sense - you don't want the best thing over and done with first up.  That would just be silly.

Tupiza is quite a small town with a backdrop of red rock and barren hills surrounding it.  The most notable thing about this town is that Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid met their end at the hands of the Bolivian army not far from Tupiza.  We only stayed for a couple of days before we headed off on the tour.  As is always the issue with booking a tour, we had to decide which company to book with.  We'd read good reviews about a couple of companies, but in the end we went through the hostel we were staying at.  And it turned out pretty good because that was how we met Derek and Kelly, an American couple we became really good friends with.  Thank god, because 4 days in a jeep together would have been torture if they were dickheads!  We also lucked out with our driver, Emilio, who was an absolute legend.  He couldn't speak English but we all managed to communicate with our limited Spanish, and he was always willing to point things out and explain stuff.  He was the sweetest guy and we all got along like a house on fire.
 

Over the next four days we saw some amazing landscapes, and it blew us away how different it was not only from day to day, but sometimes from hour to hour.  On the first day alone we went from rocky mountain landscapes to rolling green hills with llamas frolicking about to snow-capped mountains.  It was impossible to get bored with the scenery.  

We spent the first night in a tiny village where we had time to walk around and see the local kids playing, or as two little girls preferred, just hanging out eating dirt.  We had a group of the kids entertain us over dinner with some local music and singing before we retired to our freezing cold room.  It was so cold we had to go to bed fully clothed in layers of thermals, jumpers, socks, beanie and gloves.  Plus a sleeping bag on top of the blankets.  And it definitely wasn't any warmer when we got up at 4am then next morning to set out before sunrise.  Our driver Emilio proved his awesomeness even more that morning by still being ready to go and with a smile on his face despite being knocked out the previous night when the boot lid fell and smashed him on the head.  What a trooper.
 

More spectacular scenery was to follow during the rest of the tour - some beautiful different coloured lagoons including a pink lagoon with pink flamingos, random rock formations, a geothermal pool in a snow blizzard, a train cemetery and finally, the piece de resistance , the salt flats themselves.

It was on the final morning that we were up at 4am again to get out on the flats to watch the sunrise.  It was one of the most surreal and bizarre landscapes we've ever seen - miles and miles of salt stretching as far as the eye can see.  It was a pretty amazing setting for sunrise and a picnic breakfast afterwards.  And surprisingly there were only a couple of other groups around in the distance. Then it was time to experiment with the perspective photos everyone does - it's one of those cliched things you just have to do.  However, we soon found out it was a lot harder than we expected getting things lined up.  But after playing around for a good hour or so, we all had some pretty good shots. 

 

Thankfully this tour wasn't a disappointment and we saw so much more than we bargained for.  An amazing 4 days.  And we made two good friends as a bonus...even if they are American ;)