Exploring Cusco

Marilyn, May 30, 2015

As Teo has reported, our Peruvian adventure continued with a couple of days in Cusco after our explorations of Machu Picchu. The boys and I knew a little bit about the Incan capital city from reading The Secret of the Andes before our trip. I knew the city wasn't going to be quite like it was depicted in the book, but I was not prepared for how big and bustling it is. Cusco is now home to close to half a million people, and we were told that tourism accounts for over 90% of its economy, although I can't find any data to back that up, and it seems hard to believe. In any case, there are lots of tourists there, and for good reason. It's a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is considered the archaeological capital of the Americas. It's infinitely interesting and incredibly beautiful.

Our first morning there, I left Gene and the boys at the hotel and went out into the throngs to try to get the lay of the land and a handle on our options for tours. I settled on a city tour that was supposed to be about an hour long. The other option was a half-day tour that would allow us to explore the several archaeological sites in and around the city, but I didn't figure that the two shorter members of my clan were up for that. I returned to the hotel to gather them all up, and we set out to find one of the double-decker tour busses. On the way, we encountered a woman in traditional dress with her llama, and managed to pass her by without stopping to take a picture. But the next photo op was irresistible. Really, luring tourists to take your picture by holding a baby llama isn't playing fair. We tipped way too much, I'm sure, but it was worth it.

At the slightest indication that we might be interested in a bus tour, we were pounced upon by an entrepreneurial street vendor who made sure we didn't get snatched up by anyone else as he led us to the place where we were to wait "for 5 minutes" for the yellow (not red) double-decker bus to come fetch us. Five minutes turned into about 20, with red busses going by all time, but finally the yellow one appeared. We ended up on the top, and in front, just where we wanted to be. For whatever reason, the bus laboriously circled the very congested block three times before venturing away from the main plaza. We couldn't hear the guide's commentary very well over the loudspeaker, but what we couldn't hear was made up for by what we could see. We drove through the noisy, narrow streets for awhile, made a stop for gas, and then headed up the mountain at the outskirts of the city. We passed one of the archaeological sites, and as the clouds rolled in, wound our way up to the statue of Christ that overlooks the city.

Once at the statue, we unloaded for photos. Many women selling souvenirs had their wares displayed on colorful blankets. I was more interested in the peace post behind them, and in the statue itself.

We were almost to the end of our tour when the drizzle started. Luckily, it didn't last long, and we disembarked into a huge crowd of people gathered on the Plaza de Armas, apparently preparing for a parade of some sort. I asked around, and finally thought I understood that this day, May 18, was the anniversary of the region's liberation from Spain. Now back home, with the help of Google, I am not finding anything to corroborate that. What I am finding is that on May 18, 1781, the leader of an indigenous uprising, who later became a mythical hero-figure in the struggle for Peruvian independence, was quartered and beheaded in that very plaza in Cusco. So who knows. In any case, there sure were a lot of people in various uniforms parading around but not doing anything much more interesting than that.

The boys were exhausted enough to warrant going back to the hotel for the rest of the afternoon; Gene and I took the chance to have a lovely late lunch together. We would not have eaten so much if we had known that the hotel was going to provide us with a free dinner to make up for a room mix-up. We ended up being quite well fed that day, ready to resume our explorations the next morning.

We started off by touring the Machu Picchu Museum, which has done an excellent job of telling the story of Machu Picchu and Hiram Bingham's "discovery" of it. We also visited the Cusco museum of natural history, which is small but houses exhibits that were of particular interest to the biologist in our party. Back at the Plaza de Armas, we stopped to admire the fountain and have some photographic fun with the mighty Inca atop it. 

Our next quest was to track down the famous Stone of 12 Angles, part of an Incan wall which, like those in Machu Picchu, was built with stones cut so carefully that no mortar was needed between them.  That these walls have stood undisturbed though five centuries and multiple earthquakes is tribute enough to the genius of the Inca. Following our map, we wandered down a narrow street full of shops, contemplating all the stories that those walls could tell. We found the stone easily enough. A guard stood lazily nearby, and we got a gentle reprimand when we tried to touch it.

In and out of shops and market stalls, Teo and Javy wore themselves out deciding what souvenirs would best help them remember their time here. They finally needed to take a rest while Gene and I regrouped and planned our next step.

It didn't take long to decide that the next step needed to be lunch. Luckily, there was no shortage of restaurants to choose from. Although one more Peruvian meal would have been nice, who could pass up the chance to eat at the world's highest 100% Irish-owned pub?

An hour later, full of quasi-Irish food, we returned to our hotel to pick up our bags. We waited there only a little while until our transport to the airport arrived. I'll put in one more plug for Lost World Adventures, who arranged our hotel and transport for us. We had both a driver and an escort on the short journey to the airport. Our escort was very knowledgable and answered the last questions we had about the city and its history. Besides that, he had printed out our boarding passes for us and stayed with us at the airport to assist us through the check-in process! Pretty unbelievable service!

It was raining again by the time we boarded our plane to Lima, and we had to walk across the tarmack and up steps onto the plane. A gorgeous rainbow appeared to bid us farewell. Teo had my phone, and as I carried his bag for him and we hustled up the steps, I admonished him to ignore the rain and take as many photos as he could to make sure he got a good one. I have to say, I think he was very successful.

Going to Cusco

Teo, May 30, 2015

After a few days having fun around Machu Picchu, we left on a train to Ollantaytambo. Half an hour after we got on the train, when the train was moving very fast, there was an announcement about an old tradition. The tradition was half Peruvian and half Spanish. A few minutes later, a person dressed up as a lion came dancing through the aisle, getting women to stand up and dance with him. I thought it was cool. I especially liked his mask and his clothes, which had all the colors of the rainbow. He danced for about ten more mintues, and then the loudspeaker came on and said that there was going to be a fashion show. The train conductors just put the clothes on over thier uniforms. Most of the clothes were made out of alpaca. They walked back and forth up and down the aisle.

The train got into the station at Ollantaytambo and we got off. We walked up to the plaza and we saw bikers getting ready to do tricks. We saw bleachers and lots of people and ramps and a blow-up thing that said Red Bull on it. It looked like a big deal.

We took a little taxi back to the van that we would be taking to Cusco.

Javy and I grabbed our iPads and got into the van. Mom was sitting outside looking at the view.

We waited for about half an hour and some Australians climbed in. They were loud and said lots of bad words. Our mom was sitting next to one of these guys. You know those Australians, they always wear those little masks to cover up their eyes so that they can sleep. The man sitting next to our mom fell off his seat while he was sleeping, and he couldn't see for a second. 

We saw snow-capped mountains and lots of other mountains. Every time we turned on the switchbacks, we saw the town below.  We drove into Cusco, and dropped off the noisy cursing Austrailians. I was glad that it was quieter after that. We stopped at a main plaza, and there were lots of people. The van driver drove us to our hotel. We signed in and had to write in our names and our professions. Javy and I wrote in "good kids."

After a supper of sandwiches and ice cream, we got into bed and went to sleep.  The next day, we explored Cusco.   

Machu Picchu and Mandor Waterfall

Marilyn, May 24, 2015

Knowing that our visit to Machu Picchu was going to be a once-in-a-lifetime adventure, Gene and I decided to splurge and make the most of the opportunity. As I mentioned in my last post, with the help and advice of our friends at Lost World Adventures, we booked a package deal at Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel, and we couldn't have been more pleased with the wonderful service (and food!) there. Besides the activities and tours available on the hotel grounds, including a nature walk, a birdwatching tour, and a tea tour, which Javy has described here, our package included a full day at Machu Picchu with our own English-speaking guide, and another private half-day tour to a nearby waterfall.

We got up early Friday morning, ate a hearty breakfast at the breakfast buffet, and met our guide, Santos, at 7 a.m. He escorted us to the bus station and shepherded us onto one of the busses that ferry people up the incredibly steep Hiram Bingham Highway, a 9-km long road made up of about a dozen switchbacks and named for the explorer who made Machu Picchu famous. The only other way to reach Machu Picchu is by foot on the Inca Trail, a hike of 43 km (26 miles), much of it over original Inka stones. Teo and Javy and I are dreaming of returning to Machu Picchu this way when they are older. Unfortunately, it will mean that I am older, too -- a good reason to stay in shape for the next few years!

The bus ride took about 20 minutes, and all of it was spent craning our necks to take in every awe-inspiring view that we could. Unloading at the entrance to the site, we found ourselves in a mass of people speaking a multitude of languages, but Santos expertly weaved us through the crowd to the gate. We had to show our tickets and our passports (which we stamped with a special Machu Picchu stamp), and we were in, exploring one of the wonders of the world, the ancient holy city of the Inca. 

Santos suggested that we first hike to the Sun Gate, one of only two original entrances to the ancient city. It was a fairly strenuous, hour-long hike, so we kept the pace slow, soaking in the fact that we were walking over steps and along walls laid 500 years ago, and taking advantage of the opportunity to admire the orchids and other wildlife on the way. 

By the time we reached the Sun Gate, the clouds had blown in and were covering much of the view below us. We found a nice spot to have our snack, which Santos had carried up for us, and we waited for the clouds to clear. When they did, we posed for a family portrait overlooking the ruins of the citadel. 

Descending from the Sun Gate was a lot faster than climbing up, and once down, we walked to the other ancient entrance, the Inca Bridge. On the way, we delighted in passing some time with the resident llamas, whose job, besides charming visitors, is to keep the grass cut.  

The trail to the bridge was more treacherous, and we had to sign in and give our passport numbers to the guard at the trailhead, I guess so he could contact our embassy if we didn't reappear. We made our way over the rocky path, hugging the side of the mountain and trying not to look down over the sheer drop on the other side.

I was expecting to see a replica of an Incan suspension bridge like the boys and I had learned about, made from grass woven together in the traditional way, as in this video. But the bridge we saw was no replica, and it was even more amazing than a suspension bridge made of grass. Built into the side of a cliff, it was made of stone, with a short gap that could be spanned with planks. When the planks were removed, no one could enter the city by this route, so the bridge provided Machu Picchu with a great defence against the Incas' many enemies. As we marvelled at the engineering that went into creating this bridge, Santos wondered aloud how many lives must have been lost in building it, something that we'll never know but can easily imagine.

Returning from the bridge, we were more than ready for lunch. The one hotel right outside Machu Picchu's gates offered an elaborate buffet, which was included in our Inkaterra package. We refueled lavishly while listening to live Andean music and chatting with Santos.

Adequately rested, we reentered the gate to explore the Machu Picchu citadel. Santos was a wealth of knowledge, and led us from building to building, explaining the purpose of each location and pointing out details of interest. We had read that many of the buildings were made of stones cut to fit together so precisely that no mortar was needed. Even more amazing to me was that these carefully shaped stones were assembled in a way that they have stood undisturbed these 500 years on this earthquake-prone mountaintop. 

By mid-afternoon, we had taken in about all the marvels we could absorb and headed back to the bus and to our hotel. The boys enjoyed the rest of the day playing with the friends they had met the day before. They enjoyed each other's company so much that, tired as we were, we didn't try for an early bedtime. We wisely pushed the next day's tour back from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. 

The next morning, rain threatened, but by 10:15 it was clear enough that we started out with another guide, Ricardo, on a hike to a nearby waterfall. The route led us through the town, where Ricardo explained the symbolism in one of the fountains we passed. Among other symbols, the fountain portrays a serpent at the bottom, a puma (not distinguishable in this photo) in the middle, and a condor at the top. These three animals represented to the Inca the underworld, earth as we know it, and the realm of the gods. From that point on, whether we were looking at masterful works of art or cheap souvenirs, we recognized the serpent, puma, and condor over and over again. 

Continuing our walk through the outskirts of the town, we shared the road for a time with the tour busses on their way up the mountain to Machu Picchu. Ricardo asked the boys how they thought the busses got to the town, since no road leads there. The answer? They are brought in on the train, in parts. He pointed out the building in which the parts are assembled into working busses. We also passed the recycling sheds where enormous piles of bag after bag after bag of plastic bottles waited to be taken out by train. 

We followed the train tracks for much of the hike. I was able to have a rather extensive conversation with Ricardo about Peru's political history, which I appreciated. After an hour or so, we reached the entrance to Mandor Gardens, and after a short rest break, we started up the beautiful garden trail toward the waterfalls we had come to see. The gardens are privately owned, interestingly enough, by the family of the man who had told Hiram Bingham about the Inca ruins up on the mountain and led him to his "discovery" of Machu Picchu. 

The trail led us over a bridge rickety enough that Ricardo would only let one person cross it at a time.

After stopping for a snack, we wound our way up and up until we came to the first waterfall. 

Further still, we reached the second waterfall. It had gotten noticeably cooler as we climbed, and standing in the spray of the water, it was downright chilly, so we were happy to huddle together for another family photo.

On the hike back to the hotel, it was Gene's turn to have Ricardo's undivided attention, and the two of them found a lot to talk about. Ricardo had much to share about the natural history of the area, and was also very interested to hear about Gene's research. I, on the other hand, was not having much success keeping two very tired boys engaged in pleasant conversation as we walked, and so I was very glad to see the town finally come into view, and then to make our way to the hotel and restaurant for a late lunch. Worn out from two days full of physical exertion, and with plenty to keep our minds busy as well, we were grateful for the restful beauty and peace of Inkaterra. The boys kept asking, "Do you think we'll ever come back here?" I'm not sure about the answer to that question, but I would like to think that this might not have been a once-in-a-lifetime adventure after all. 

The Tea Adventure

Javy, May 21, 2015

On our first day at the hotel in Machu Picchu Pueblo, we went on a little tour of the place, and then we took another tour of the tea garden. The guide showed us how to make teabags.

First we had to put on a black apron and as you can see, I am wearing a pouch to put my leaves in.

The tea bush has two colors. We should not pick the dark green leaves because they are too old. You could pick the light green ones.

We picked and picked and picked. I became friends with the two boys in the picture. The one in blue is named Sam. His brother is named William.

Then we took the leaves and put them on a rock table. We took one leaf at a time and started to roll it until it was shriveled up. 

These are the drying racks to put the mushed leaves on to make them dry. We didn't have time to do that, so the guide gave us leaves that were already dry.

Here, he told us about roasting the leaves.

The next step was to sift the dry, roasted leaves, as you can see.

It was very fun, but I was making a big mess.

Here are the supplies for making a teabag. You have one stick, one piece of special paper, and some leaves. Also, you have a hot stapler, except it doesn't have staples. It is so hot that it can melt together the sides of the piece of paper.

You fold the paper like a note, and then staple the two sides to make the bag.

Here comes the tea! You put the tea into the bag, as you can see.

Here you have the stick at hand. You weave the stick into the top of the bag to make it stay in.

Here it is!

Now it's brewing. It looks so good!

Enjoy!