Machu Picchu

The traditional Inka trail trek is so popular that you have to book a place several months in advance if you plan to do it. I didn't, so an alternative was always on the cards. I wasn't much up for gasping my way through thin air and days of leg burning hikes, so signed up instead for a different tour called 'Inka Jungle' which offered a bit more variation and a bit less exertion {well, supposedly}.

Though terribly disorganised the activities we did actually do were all fantastic, starting with a bike ride where we desended about 1500m from freezing altitude to warm jungle, the air temperature noticibly increasing with every turn on the 2 hour down hill ride to the town of Santa Maria. Although La Paz has the "world's most dangerous road", I think this could have come in a close second. The bends were sharp, the passing trucks were large, the road was narrow, and the drop off the side unthinkable. More scary than the bike ride though was the taxi journey between Santa Maria and Santa Theresa afterwards, where we were destined to spend the afternoon soaking in some hot springs. Well I'm glad we made it as our driver zoomed along a windy dirt road twisting and turning with no apparent need to use the brakes. I think he was entirely reliant on others hearing his tooting at every bend and giving way, because he certainly favoured the horn!!

By the time we got to the hot springs we definitely needed to wind down, and so spent an hour or so lying in what felt like a large warm bath under the stars watching the bats zoom by overhead. Bliss! After celebrating a birthday on the tour with some Peruvian pisco sours {pisco, lime juice, ice, sugar and egg whites. mmm.}, the next day we walked along the train line to the town of Aguas Callientes, the jumping off point to Machu Picchu. A tough climb up steep steps and long wooden ladders gave us a fantastic overview of the entire Machu Picchu site in the afternoon that not many seem to take in, and built the anticipation some more for getting there the next day (and the dread at the hundreds of steps you could see cut into the hill to get there).

At 4 in the morning as we began the first of what felt like a million of those steps leading up to Machu Picchu, I was well and truly looking forward to meeting the place in person. It really does feel a bit mystical as you get there {despite the hoards of tourists you're competing with}. As the mist finally rose and the city came into view, surrounded by towering peaks you've gotta wonder what possessed them to build a massive stone city in such a place. We joked that the architects and builders must've been begging the king to reconsider "seriously your highness, building up mountains is so BC". But royalty always gets its way, and I feel for the messengers who used to have to run, repeat run, between Machu Picchu and Cuzco daily {about a 3hr-ish drive} getting energy only from Coca leaves! But the exhaustion of the climb for us mere mortals is worth it because the city the Inka's left behind I found to be truly worthy of the hype that surrounds it, and was one of the most amazing things so far!

Though sad to leave Cuzco, of course more fun awaited in the South. The worst thing is always having to say goodbye to the great people you meet along the way. But on to Arequipa, the deepest canyon in the world, and a little touch of paradise...

Chau chau amigos xox

Proxima para; Peru

From one side of Lake Titicaca to the other, from Copacabana I crossed into Peru to the nothing-to-write-home-about town of Puno. Of more interest here than the town itself are the unique and unbelievable floating islands, still inhabitated by what looks to be the final generation of the Quecha speaking fisherman culture, now entirely reliant on tourism to survive. A trip to the islands is worth the feeling of exploitation however, just to see with your own eyes that the impossible sounding engineering actually works-everything in the village, even the 'land' upon which it's built is artfully constructed using the reeds at Lake Titicaca. But you wouldn't want to be in a hurry for the toilet, which is on a separate island a 10 minute boat trip away!!

The feeling of exploitation continued a little when a guy at the bus station messed me around with my bus to Cuzco, resulting in me paying money for services I didn't actually get (we were meant to stop at some interesting places along the way but my new ticket didn't include the entry costs because he switched my voucher for a ticket on his company instead of the one I booked!!). But it's funny how things work out, and I ended up meeting an Aussie girl who I spent the next week or so with in Cuzco where we had such a blast!! There are some places that attract hoards of backpackers and Cuzco +Loki hostel is definitely one of them! On a hill overlooking the beautiful city of Cuzco with it's Inka walls and terracotta rooves, the puffing climb up the hill to Loki was well worth it, and after about a week there I found myself seriously tempted to take up their offer requesting workers. I don't know if it was the people, the place or a maybe a bit of both but it was a really fun week-- not to mention the activities around Cuzco outside bar-hours!

From Cuzco stretches the Sacred Valley, right up to the pinnacle of Inka ruins-Machu Picchu of course. But before seeing the main event, it's nice to take in some of the lesser known places such as Sachsaywaman {'sexy woman' to the tourists!} and the churches around Cuzco which were built by the Spanish on sacred Inkan sites, but still contain elements of the Inkan constructions and beliefs cleverly incorporated by the slaves the Spanish used for their construction. But wandering around looking at ruins can get a bit dull after a while, so for a different view I decided to take to the air and signed up for paragliding with Linda. Let me tell you, I don't think there is a better way to see the Sacred Valley than sitting up there taking in the view of snow capped peaks rooted in a lush green valley dotted with towns and surrounded by ruins of ancient times past. It was totally chevre {cool}!!

So the anticipation was building to see Machu Picchu, and the talk at the hostel is all about "have you been? When are you going? What trek are you taking?". So it was time to get going, and the next day we were picked up at 7 to start the journey to the most impressive Inkan ruins around....