Machu Pichu (must be done of course)
Hello again,
We arrived in Cusco around Nov. 10th. If we thought that any other place in Peru is touristy, Cusco has them all beat. Of course, the fact that you are constantly falling over people who want to sell you sweaters, paintings, postcards, cigarettes, to shine your boots, and eat in their restaurants is due to the shining special attraction of Peru, Machu Pichu (and the much publicized Inca Trail), which we have admittedly just visited. We actually did a pretty (and private) two day hike from Cusco to Calca before-hand, good training for these insane mountain hikes.
We decided to backpack the Inca trail on our own, which we quickly found was an anomally among the hundreds of tour groups (OK, hundreds of people). One glich was the recent introduction of tourist-only trains. Muchos expensive! ($30US) We decided to walk from the nearest town with a road, Ollyataytambo ($1US to take the bus there), adding 5 extra hours but it wasn´t bad. The trek was 4 days, and in some parts we were sure we would DIE, or at least dry up in the scorching sun. We generally went to bed at 5PM (and tried to sleep, did we mention the tour groups? They were very loud at night, especially the Italians whom had lovely singing voices but liked to party into the night). Overall, the hike was gorgeous (semi-rainforest, striking mountains, unbelievable gorges), historical (amazing ruins, Inca staircases up and down inclines your would never have thought possible), and disgusting (garbage given to porters by tour-groupers thrown behind a few rocks, few proper toilet facilities, hence foul stenches eminating from every small trail leading off the track). So that was the Inca Trail, and the end point, Machu Pichu, was spectacular, a mysterious lost city in a gorgeous setting. We had the most expensive french fries ever (for a South American country) at the cafeteria beside the ruins.
Then we found out that our little plan to save money by not taking the train was foiled since it was almost the same to take it back. Being both stubborn and now bitter on this point, we decided to walk back to the same town we started from, along train tracks. This turned out to be a terrible plan and after 8 1/2 hours of walking we thankfully found the back of a truck along a dirt road which appeared along the side of the tracks. I think the two German Inca-trail backpackers whom we had convinced of our money-saving venture (and to get up at 4AM) were also very happy for the truck.
Now we are taking a day of rest in Cusco. We head out tomorrow for Puno, on Lake Titicaca. We should be in Copacabana in Bolivia by the weekend. (Taking the bus, boycotting the train altogether now for discrimination). Oh, we heard that the old corrupt president has been ousted in Peru while we were hiking, and a new corrupt president has taken over (though seemingly not as corrupt, since there are fewer demonstrations). We have looked into voting for our own election and it seems that we missed the boat. We´ve been following the political antics of the candidates for a good laugh though.
We are wondering how the Christmas shopping season is going back in the civilized world. (How many more shopping weekends until Christmas?)
Enjoy!
C&O
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