Knotty Ewe On the Land

Yesterday was my last full day in Peru.  I visited another set of Inca ruins of Ollantaytambo set in a spectacular setting overlooking the town of the same name in the Sacred Valley.   In the morning I took the collectivo from Cusco (private mini-vans going to a common destination that depart when full so travel on no particular schedule) for the 2 hour ride to Ollantaytambo.  It is a charming small town overlooked by the ruins.

River running through Ollantaytambo town.

I had a very enjoyable time rambling through the ruins and sat for a long while just admiring the view and enjoying the gentle breeze.  Even up on the top of the hill you can hear the river rushing by far below.

The ruins up on the hill

More ruins from below

Climbing the terraces to get to the temple ruins above

Rambling through the ruins

River running through the ruins

Entrance to the temple of the sun

Giant interlocking standing stones at the Temple of the Sun

Stones that were in transit to finish the temple when the site was abandoned. The large stones were from a quarry across the river valley.

View of the quarry across the river and the current town below

The view down the valley from the terraces – a wonderful spot to sit and admire

If I had planned things better I would have stopped here for the night before going to Machu Picchu as it is only about a 1 hour train ride from here and this is a much nicer town than Aguas Calientes.  So in the end in doing this separate day trip I was repeating the journey I did by bus the other day on the way to Machu Picchu.  It was still a fun day trip, but makes more sense to do it the other way if I were short on time.

This was one of the 16 places included in my Boleto Turistico which is needed to get into all the archeological sites and some of the museums around Cusco.  It cost 130 Soles ($52 CDN) so not cheap.  In the end I only saw three places included – Ollantaytambo, Pisac, and Sacsaywaman (sexy woman!).  Seeing four major ruins (incluing Machu Picchu which was separate) that is quite enough for one week.  Unfortunately this is the only way to see these sites.  There are partial tickets to 4 sites but they are only valid for a few days while the full ticket spans 10 days.  Anyone want a partially used boleto touristico?

As I mentioned, yesterday was my last full day in Peru.  Today I fly to Lima and then early in the morning on to Nicaragua.  I changed my plans a bit to spend two weeks in Nicaragua to enjoy some beach and sunshine.  I’ve revived the surfing plans and am going to participate in a surf and yoga camp for 1 week then join a quick one week tour around Nicaragua.  Since the surf camp doesn’t have internet I’m going to just relax and enjoy the beach.  I’ll give you a full update (and pics!) on the surfing in a week or so!  And if all goes to plan, I’ll be heading back to Toronto for a couple of weeks on March 29.  Then mid-April I’m off to Spain to walk the Camino!!

No visit to Peru would be complete without a visit to Machu Picchu.  To be honest it is the prime reason that almost all tourists ultimately come here.  Sure there are many other lovely places to visit and interesting sites to visit but Machu Picchu tops all the lists.  And it does not disappoint!!

Bright and early on Monday morning I caught the train from Cuzco to Aguas Calientes (the town just below Machu Picchu).  My plan was to go to Aguas Calientes on Monday and stay the night there.  Then very early on Tuesday I could catch the bus up to Machu Picchu and beat the tour groups which do MP as a day trip from Cuzco.

Unfortunately because it is technically the rainy season the train does not actually run directly from Cuzco.   You have to board a bus at the Cuzco train station and be driven out to a station about half way to Machu Picchu.  The bus trip takes about 1.5 hours.  I then took the vista dome train which has lovely panoramic windows for another 1.75 hours.  It was a lovely ride through the valley along beside the river with the tall mountains surrounding us.  The train goes very slowly so you can really enjoy the view.  They even served a  lovely morning snack.

Vista dome train

Urubamba river flowing through the Sacred Valley

Andes mountains

The town of Aguas Calientes itself isn’t much beyond a dozen blocks of concrete hotels and restaurants.  It is really just a layover stop for people on their way to Machu Picchu.

Statue in the main square

Hotels and restaurants in Aguas Calientes

I got up bright and early to catch the bus up to Machu Picchu.  It was so early in fact that there was no one at reception to give my key to and pay.  I hope they found the money I left for them!!  The buses are modern coaches that only go back and forth between the site and the town.  The ride took about 25 minutes zig zagging up the side of the mountain.  At the top we tumbled off the bus along with the other hoards arriving to avoid the crowds.  Since they only allow 2500 people in each day access is fairly restricted.  The guide I hired for the day said that Unesco actually has cameras up around the site and if they find that the Peruvian officials can’t control the visitors and prevent them harming the site (like climbing on the walls to pose for pictures) then Unesco may restrict it further.

The guide I hired was one of many who wait at the gate and so you just start chatting and find one that seems friendly and try and arrive at a fair price.  Unfortunately there wasn’t anyone else looking for an English guide at that time so I had to be prepared to pay full price myself.  This was alleviated part way into the tour as we were joined by an Australian guy who was wandering around wishing to join a group.  Anyway, we headed off into the site to explore and learn.

Machu Picchu was built starting in about 1430 as retreat for the Inca emperor.  They were working on it for about 80 years before it was abandoned.  The experts believe it was abandoned due to the internal conflicts which broke out between rivals for the crown. There is some evidence that it was never finished.  It was “discovered” by Hiram Bingham, an American historian guided by local farmers in 1911.  At the time it was totally covered in vines and vegetation.  This was totally removed revealing the current site which is in remarkable condition if you can imagine the buildings with thatched roofs you could almost move in!

Coming up to the main site with Wayna Picchu in the background

The main plaza with the residential section behind

Agricultural terraces looking back towards the entrance

Llamas are used to crop the grass – I think of them as “Inca Mowers”

Trapezoidal doorways – the shape makes them earth quake proof

The section first cleared by Hiram Bingham in 1911 during the wet season. Collapsing trees crushed many buildings. They waited until the dry season to burn all the vegetation covering the site.

Windows of the houses

Temple of the Three Windows

Stones that are part of the mountain mirror the other mountains behind adding to the sacredness of the space for the Incas

You can see how high up we are above the river below

Walls with stubbs supposedly used for telling time.

The temple district

More Inca mowers

Baby inca mower – oblivious to the ruins and the attentive crowds

In addition to seeing the main site and its many temples to water, the sun, the moon, the condor and other elements, we hiked up to the Sun Gate and to Inca Bridge.  The Sun Gate is actually a sun temple high up on a neighbouring mountain.  At the equinox and solstice the sun rises exactly at this spot and aligns with a window in the Temple of the Sun.   It is also the ending point for the Inca Trail which is a four day hike along one of the many original Inca tracks through the mountains to Machu Picchu.

The end of the Inca Trail

View of Machu Picchu from the Sun Gate. The switch back road is where the bus comes up from Aguas Calientes.

We also hiked out to the Inca Bridge.  It’s not so much a bridge as a method of earthquake proofing their built up path along the mountain’s side.  On the way we passed the spot where all the “typical” pictures are taken of Machu Picchu so I followed tradition!

The money shot!!

And again

And again

At Inca Bridge – the wooden logs in the background right are the bridge

After visiting the bridge I bid good bye to my guide and stayed at the overlook point to enjoy the view and eat the bag lunch I brought from Aguas Calientes.  It really is a magical spot – overlooking the ruins surrounded by soaring mountains and the river rushing by hundreds of meters below.

I spent about 6 hours wandering around the site and enjoying the magical atmosphere (despite the tour groups).   It was a lovely time but then it was time to head back to Aguas Calientes to catch the train back to Cuzco again.

I had a wonderful time at Machu Picchu and would definitely recommend anyone should go.  I had a problem with altitude still but I saw people of all physical abilities making their way around.  It is a magic spot that has to be experienced.  I know I’ll be back if Unesco hasn’t shut it down by then!

On Sunday boarded the rickety collectivo along with all the locals and a few intrepid tourists to trek out to Pisac a local town known for its colourful crafts market and Inca ruins.  On the bus I met a very lovely and friendly American couple, Danielle and Paul, who became my companions for the day.   They were so much fun and sharing the experience of the day with them really made this a special experience.

First stop was the craft market which was a lot of fun.  I couldn’t resist buying a table runner / shawl made from alpaca wool, dyed with naturally sourced dyes, and hand woven.  I’m very much in love.  I also picked up a supposedly hand woven cotton top.  At these markets there is so much to see and purchase you can quickly get swept up in it and forget to have a critical eye for quality.  I have to admit that I’ve definitely succumbed more than I should and have the extra luggage weight to show for it!

Procession of conch-shell blowing locals ending at the church

After a yummy lunch which did not include guinea pig, we headed up to the ruins.  It is possible to walk up but that would have involved a couple of hours and many many stairs so we opted to take a taxi up and walk back.  A much less strenuous approach!  The ruins sit high up on a hill overlooking the long Sacred Valley and the modern town.  In the Inca times it was a centre for astronomy and regulation of the calendars.   For us it ended up being a fun ramble along green paths with amazing views of the hills and valley below.

Ruins and agricultural terraces – terraces no longer used as they are preserved as part of the historical site

This was a lovely spot with the ruins, the hills, and the breeze.  As we were walking around someone was playing a bamboo flute.  So we sat for a bit and just absorbed the atmosphere.  It was a truly lovely spot.

The valley below

Walking the stairs and path back to town

The hill side path

The ruins of the religious centre

Paul loving the Inca masonry – build entirely without mortar

Looking down to the modern town of Pisac sitting on the Urubamba river through the Sacred Valley

Unfortunately on our way back from the ruins we got turned around and lost a few times as there are many paths running around the hills.  Thank fully a local guide spotted us in a bad spot from above and came down to rescue us.  As it was the end of his day he took us back down to the town.  He makes lovely bamboo flutes and so gave us a demonstration part way down.

Our saviour-guide playing his flute

Unfortunately by late afternoon all the buses back to Cuzco were totally packed and so I had to separate from my lovely companions so our goodbyes came much too soon.  This was a very fun day out from Cuzco.

Though I arrived in Cusco on Wednesday I haven’t done much of anything until yesterday.  I took a couple of days to just rest and try to shake the bug.  Unfortunately as it was finally vanquished and my appetite returned, altitude sickness has been an issue.  For some reason, I’m having difficulty adjusting here at 3300m when I had no issues going up and down in Ecuador.  Even still today when I was walking around I was panting, with a headache and dizziness.  I really hope it passes by the time I head to Machu Picchu.

This is a lovely city  of about 400,000 though that is spread out over a much larger area than the tourist will ever see.  The historical centre still retains its colonial character with lots of buildings having Inca foundations with Spanish architecture above.  There are lots of fun little alleys and streets to wander up and down.  This is what I have been missing so far in Peru.

Llama statues

Women in traditional dress

Spanish era Episcopal Palace built on Incan foundations

Taking things easy I haven’t been rushing around seeing a multitude of things.  First stop was the lovely Cathedral complex that dominates the main square, Plaza de Armas.

Plaza de Armas

Golden Inca topped fountain

The Cathedral

The inside of the Cathedral was the usual profusion of gold encrusted baroque chapels and ghostly dioramas and doll statues.  Of note was the solid silver high altar and El Senor de los Tomblores (The Lord of the Earthquakes) who is the patron of Cusco and has the power to stop earthquakes.  He is now black as a combination of the sticky flowers tossed at him on his holy day and the smoke of candles lit around him normally.

Silver high altar

The Lord of the Earthquakes

I also visited the Museo Inka which was more about pre-Columbian cultures in Peru.  Much of it was a repeat of what I saw in Lima and so it was probably more pottery overdose.  It is housed in a lovely colonial mansion so fun to wander through and see how the betters lived after the conquest!  Sorry no pictures!

Today I visited my first Inca ruins called Sacsaywaman (affectionally also known as “sexy woman” by tourists).  The ruins are situated on a hill above the town so it was a challenge to huff and pant my way up the steps.  It provided a gorgeous view of Cusco as a reward.

The steps up to Sacsaywaman

Cusco from the hilltop – Plaza de Armas is in the left side

It is a huge complex of which only 20% is now visible.  It was a site of some military and religious significance to the Inca.  The structure you can see most clearly are the zigzag defensive walls built with massive stones.  They are fit so snuggly that no mortar holds them together!  Apparently they are so strong, as are most of the Incan structures, that they withstand the devastating earthquakes Peru suffers much better than the Spanish or even modern buildings.

Zigzag defensive walls

Massive interlocking stones

Sacsaywaman

I have to admit that for me one of the highlights was the herd of llamas that I found wandering around grazing the amongst the ruins.  I bit smelly but I could definitely have one or a few as a pet and personal yarn source.

My other big accomplishment since I’ve been in Cusco has been to get my trip to Machu Picchu organized for this coming Tuesday.  I find it surprising how hard they make it to do things in this area.  MP tickets are only sold by the Ministry of Culture which has its ticket wicket buried down a small side street a serious trek from the city centre.  No online ticket sales. You then need to make the rounds of the rail companies to figure out how to get to the town at the base of MP (Aguas Calientes).  Anyway, long story short, I have my MP tickets, I have my train tickets, and a plan so Tuesday is the big day!

As to the altitude sickness, I am determined to spry and fully of energy for Machu Picchu so I’ve resorted to taking my altitude sickness medication, Diamox.  Hopefully it will take care of the symptoms in the next couple of days so I can finally breath easily and get some sleep.  Being sick the last week has really gotten me down.  That combined with not liking Lima has really taken the shine off my time a bit in Peru.  However, I’m determined to enjoy the sunshine and warmth and the time that I have here as it will end soon enough.

Last Sunday I happily left Lima to move south to an equally uninspiring dusty concrete mess called Ica for a few days.  The city of 125,000 was to serve as my base for a few days of exploring the area.  The region is a draw for tourists for a number of reasons primary of which are the Nazca Lines, its reputation as the premiere wine growing area in Peru, and for the vast sand dunes just outside the city.

First up was a fly over of the Nazca Lines.  The lines are made up of 800 square lines, 300 geometric figures, and 70 animal figures.  They were created by the Nazca people between 900 BC and 600 AD.  The great mystery of the lines and shapes is that they can only be seen and appreciated from the air.  The theory is that they were created for religious and ceremonial purposes.   I’ve seen numerous documentaries on TV about these lines and figures over the years and so could not pass up a chance to see them for myself as they seemed to magical on the screen.

Four of us went up in a tiny little plane with our 2 pilots for a 35 minute pass over some of the most visible animal figures.  In total was saw about 12 animals and numerous geometric shapes.  As we flew over each animal the plane would circle once tilting to the right and then would tilt left and go around again so we could all see as well as possible.  In the end some of the shapes were pretty faint and it was hard to make them out.  I had a hard time figuring it out on my pictures afterwards!  You may need to click the pictures to make them bigger to see.

Our tiny plane

The dry sandy plane where most of the figures are bisected by the Panamerican Highway

The astronaut figure – thought to represent a god

The astronaut as he appeared with out zoom – he is on the front side of the left most hill

The spider

The condor

The tree and hands – the only figures visible from the viewing platform by the highway

It was a good thing it was a short flight so that I could head back to bed.  On Sunday I came down with a bug that has knocked me pretty flat this week so I have had lots of down time.  Also all the plane flipping back and forth isn’t much fun when you are hazy with fever!

The next day was another busy day with a private tour of two vineyards and wine tasting.  Peru is not known for its wines particularly but in reading my Lonely Planet it promised that some of the malbecs produced in this area are set to rival Argentina in a few years.  I’m not sure what that was based on, as I definitely didn’t get to drink them!  In general the wines were either very bad or very very sweet!   One of the wineries though is an artesenal winery which here means they use the same methods as the 16th century when grapes and wine were introduced by the Spanish.  Grapes are crushed by stomping with feet and fermentation is done in clay jars in the sun.  Sadly I didn’t get to stomp even though the grape harvest is on.

“Promising” malbec

Grapes post stomping – so tempting to jump in

Clay jars full of juice fermenting

Sampling the wines in my tiny little glass

Last stop was some adventure sport.  Outside Ica is an oasis, Huacachina, surrounding a natural little lake.  This is a tourist mecca (which I didn’t realize until going there and which explained the lack of tourists and tourist services in Ica proper) as it is a lovely spot surrounded by towering sand dunes.  Besides being a great place to relax for the afternoon, it is known for dunebuggy rides and sandboarding on the dunes.  Both of which I had wanted to give a try.

The lake and dunes behind

Huacachina from the dunes

For the many young and young-at-heart who do the dunebuggy ride, the fun is in the crazy driving plunging up and down and around the dunes.  In theory this sounds like fun, but turns out to be torture and a really really bad idea for someone like me who hates hates hates rollercoasters.  Nothing for it though but to strap in, brace myself, and close my eyes.   I survived.

Our dunebuggy

The dunes

Racing through the sand

As for the sandboarding part of it, I thought it not a good idea as I was running a fever and none to steady on my feet especially after the dune rollercoaster ride.  The rest of our group did it and it looked like fun.  Some tried to actually do snowboard style standing up and others sat or lay on the board like a sled.  No injuries and lots of big smiles at the end!

Prepping the sandboards with wax

Trying to stand and snowboard on the bunny slope

Using it as a sled on the big hill

The jaunt was topped off by watching the sun set over the oasis and the dunes.  Not a bad ending and I was happy to have done it and survived!

Watching the sunset

People climbing the dune to watch the sunset and sandboard down

After the day of excitement I dumped myself on a luxury overnight bus for the 17 hour ride up to Cusco.  I just want to mention these buses.  Most of the spots that people want to get to are separated by high mountains and big distances.  The only option besides expensive flying is the slightly cheaper bus.  There is a class of luxury bus service that provides nice big comfy seats (think business class) that almost fully recline.  There is event a “Land Host” who provides meals at intervals and in-seat entertainment system.  Not too bad a way to travel if you must!

When researching my trip to Peru I found that not many people were fans of Lima.  In reading my guidebook I figured there were only a few things I wanted to see so I planned only 2 days.  I’m glad that is all I planned as I too am not a fan.  Lima is home to 8.5 million people spread over 800 square kilometers.  In effect it is a massive, chaotic, hot, humid place.  So far I’ve found it to be not nearly as nice and friendly as Ecuador.  I’m hopeful though that Peru will improve once I get out of Lima tomorrow morning.

Yesterday was my first full day.  After having breakfast at the hostel and witnessing the chaos in the street below I was really tempted to hide out in the hostel.  I get this when I first arrive in new big cities where I find the chaos and unfamiliarity of it overwhelming.  As a result I hid in my hostel for two days in Marrakesh and for a day in Quito.  I figure that since I only hid for half a day here I’m improving.

View from the hostel bar

I spent the remainder of the day visiting two good museums.  The first was the Museo Larco which is the collection amassed by a wealthy archeologist in the first half of the 20th Century.  It was very well presented and comprehensively layed out.  Each item was obviously carefully selected so you didn’t get overwhelmed.  Lots and lots of pottery!

A burial bundle – the person was folded into the fetal position and wrapped in layers of cloth which also included funerary offerings. The bundle was finally dressed including a gold death mask.

A world record for fine weaving – about 350 threads per inch dating from about 1000AD.

A highlight of the museum was the erotic pottery collection.  The vessels were originally used in various religious ceremonies mostly for those promoting fertility, worship of the ancestors, and various gods.

The museum had a lovely cafe secluded in the private garden which was a perfect spot for a very yummy lunch.

Cafe in the garden of Museo Larco

Outside the Museo Larco, painted on the sidewalk is a blue line.  If you follow the line for about 15 minutes you end up at the Museum of Archeology, Anthropology, and History of Peru.  Despite the grandiose name it presents much of the same information as the Museo Larco, just not as well.  It was still interesting though.

Following the blue line between the museums.

I think I found the display about head binding and trepanning the most interesting.

Skull shaped into a conical form during childhood by wrapping the head in ropes and cotton pads

Reshaped skull showing a successful whole cut into it as a skillful operation

Details of the colourful weavings

Textiles from about 500BC

Inca record keeping – different knots on strings of different colours were used to capture information about the population and taxes since they had no written language

Votive offerings – very cute.

Following my day of ancient and pre-Colonial history, and total overdose of pottery, today I focussed on exploring the historical centre of Lima.  Lima was founded by Pizzaro in 1532 so the historical centre is dominated by buildings from the colonial period (16th to 19th Centuries).  Also, very typically the finest buildings remaining are churches and convents.  My tour of the quarter was mostly based on the walking tour included in my Lonely Planet.

I started at Plaza San Martin which is dominated by a statue of the Peruvian liberator.  Included on his horse statue is a sculpture representing Madre Patria.  When the commission was sent to Spain the misunderstood the meaning of “llama”.  The intent was to have flames coming out of her head, but instead she has a llama on it.

Statue in the Plaza accompanied by Madre Patria

When the commission for the statue was given they misstaken “llama” for the animal instead of flames. So she ended up with a llama on her head!

After walking down the principal pedestrian shopping street (sadly nothing really worth buying except discounted shoes from Bata) I arrived at the main plaza, called Plaza de Armas which is dominated on one side by the Cathedral, another by the Presidential Palace and government buildings on the others.

The main shopping street which includes many logias – similar to Valetta in Malta last year

Government buildings on Plaza de Armas

The principal Cathedral on Lima

Episcopal palace next to the Cathedral – claim to fame are moorish style logias

My first church of the day was the Cathedral.  As the principal church of Lima it is the most ornate though it is probably best known as the resting place of Francisco Pizzaro.

Tomb of Francisco Pizarro – Conquistador who killed the last Inca Emperor

A virgin statue

Next stop was the Church and Convent of San Domingo.  It was rather nice as a tour is included in the admission price and mine was private as I was the only English speaker waiting!  The outside was rather unremarkable as was the church.  However the inside is lovely as it dates from the 1530s and has lots of tile work from Spain.

The skull of Santa Rosa – the first Peruvian saint in the church of San Domingo

Monastery of San Domingo

Tile work from 17th Spain

A saint’s chair which helps women’s fertility – I didn’t sit on it!

My last stop was the Church and Convent of San Francisco.  This church is primarily known for the extensive catacombs carved into the rock under the big convent complex and church.  When the convent and catacombs were turned into a museum in 1950s the monks took the bones out of their coffins and arranged them in logical orders in bins and in geometric forms.  It was a bit spooky (pictures borrowed from the web as we weren’t allowed to take any).

The church and monastery of San Francisco

As you can see I’ve pretty much overdosed on churches now.  I think I’ve had my fill and will refrain from visiting anymore unless they are truly spectacular.   I think they are up there with Roman amphitheaters and ruins for me now.  I’ve had my fill for a very very long time.

Tomorrow I start my journey south.  I’m going to the town of Ica for a couple of days.  I’ll let you know how my adventure with the Peruvian bus system goes!