Day 62 - Trujillo

The hostel´s website forecasts that the weather will be warm, dry, and sunny. Apparently that forecast is correct 305 days a year. This balmy climate was the perfect place to catch my breath.

I started the day at Chimu site of Chan Chan. We looked at just two of the nine temples that are scattered throughout the city. At first glance, the piles of sand and rubbish look more like a garbage dump than a famous archaeological site. My guide assured me that Peru had more important things to worry about than picking up litter as we swerved around the bus-sized pothole. The site was much more impressive, and clean, though, once we entered the site. The piles of sand were actually the partially deteriorated walls of the ancient temple. Although the history of the society itself was not as interesting to me as the Incans', it was neat to see walls that had been built out of mud bricks in 1300 A.D. still standing and some of the carvings still intact.

After a nap and great lunch of homemade ceviche (raw fish soaked in lime juice), I went to the Moche temples of the Sun and the Moon. These stepped pyramids pre-date the Chimu site and the carvings inside this temple still have some of their original colors. It was fascinating to see paint and mud that have survived centuries of rain, wind, graverobbers, and earthquakes.

Day 61 - Cusco - Lima - Trujillo

After spending another very long night taking in the Cusco nightlife (at one time my friends were dancing on the bar), I was more than a little late for my 7 a.m. flight to Lima. I rushed to the airport, thinking that I would barely make it, only to find out that the flight had been changed to 10:30. I was so exhaused that I curled up on the floor in the corner to sleep. I felt a bit like a vagabond when I decided to cover the freezing tile floor with the plastic shopping bag that I had been using to cover my backpack.

The flight finally left at noon. I got in Lima with enough time to catch a taxi for a whirlwind ride through Lima. I knew it was going to be a wild ride when the taxi driver put on his seat belt! That never happens! At the bus station, I had ten minutes before my bus left. Ten hours later, I arrived in Trujillo. It was 1 a.m.

Day 61 - The Ruins around Cusco

There are four Incan ruin sites that are within walking distance from Cusco¨Sacsayhuaman, Quengo, Pucapucara, and Tambo Machay. I took the bus instead.

Our guide was a curious man who insisted on using a whistle (¨two blows means we´re going and three blows means we´re here¨), and carrying Cusco´s flag, which, coincidentally, is identical to the gay pride flag.

I think I mentioned in an earlier entry that the Incans intended Cusco and the surrounding area to be shaped like a Puma. Sacsayhuaman (above), or, as the gringos call it, "sexy woman", was supposed to be the puma´s head. The zig-zag walls, which are made of precisely carved stones, make up the Puma´s teeth. I thought it was a sad irony that this Incan religious site is now also a home to a large Christ figure that overlooks Cusco.

Quengo was a little less impressive. It looked like a big pile of gigantic rocks. It is believed, however, that before the catholics destroyed it, it was a large statue of a puma or other sacred animal. At the top of the rock were also partially destroyed carvings of the Incans three sacred animals: condor, llama, and puma.

Pucapucara was also underwhelming. I guess I ´m a bit jaded. It was the first Incan bathroom I had seen yet though.

It was getting dark at our last stop, Tambo Machay, but I could still see that this ruin was much prettier than the previous two. It was a stepped, stone structure with a beautiful fountain running down two of the levels. Very peaceful!

Day 60 - MachuPicchu

I didn´t get to hike the Inca Trail as I had originally planned. I cannot blame it all on my knee, though. I had decided to do the two-day hike despite my knee. Before getting to Cusco I checked to make sure that there were permits available for the day I needed to start the hike. There were plenty, but what I didn´t know is that there is a ridiculous three-day waiting period to obtain the permit. This was time that I didn´t have. This was the second major disappointment of my trip.

That being said, Machupicchu was absolutely amazing. From Ollanta, I took the backpacker´s train to Agua Calientes and stayed the night there. I got up at 4:30 to hike to the park and watch the sun rise. It was an incredible, steep hike, almost straight up the mountains. Although it was still dark outside when I started and there was only a crescent moon, it was still light enough to see my way up the stairs and to see the mist rising off the mountains.

When I finally got to the park, I was rewarded with spectacular, clear views of the ruins and a relatively people-free park. I wandered around the ruins for another couple of hours before begining the climb to WaynaPicchu, the tall mountain behind the ruins. It took about an hour-and-a-half to climb because I was helping a seventy-year-old Peruvian who was visiting the park for the first time. The views were well worth the steep ascent and gave us a bird´s eye view of the park. From here we could see that the park was now overrun with other tourists.

Kirsi, a german girl I met on the hike, and I decided to take a different trail down. Little did we know that the trail didn´t just take us to where we started, but also included a very steep descent to the Great Cave. After this two-hour detour, we were exhausted. We passed out on the lawn in front of the Sacred Rock. We shared my last mango.

That night I recovered by soaking my muscles in the hot, albeit commercialized, waters of the hotsprings that the town is named after.

Day 59 - Sacred Valley (Pisaq and Ollantaytambo)

Cusco is surrounded by some really amazing Incan ruins. On my way to MachuPicchu, I visited two of the sites located in Sacred Valley, Pisaq and Ollantatayambo. The structures are amazing and have weathered well.

Pisaq is a terraced mountain with incredible views of the Rio Urubamba Valley. Ollanta is an Incan temple at the top of a mountain and was used as a fortress after the Spanish conquests. It has impressive walls made of gigantic stones that had to be both carried across a river and hauled up the side of the mountain.

The Incans were so advanced, I can´t help but wonder how different life would be today if they hadn´t been conquered by the Spaniards and degraded by the catholics. For example, the Incans knew how to create earthquake-proof buildings, move rivers, and move gigantic rocks for their temples. The precision with which they were able to measure distances is unbelievable (Cusco, Pisaq, and one other Incan site are exactly 33 km from each other forming a perfect triangle with huge mountains between them). Their calendar is so precise. I am really intriqued by the Incan culture and definitely plan on learning more.

Day 57-58 - Cusco, Peru

Cusco, the ombligo (belly button) of Incan Culture, is much bigger than I thought it would be. It reminds of Venice in that the best place to be in Cusco is lost. Around every corner is a beautiful church or Incan relic.

Other than walking from my hostel to the Plaza de Armas ten plus times a day, I have been catching up on the mundane; updating email, doing laundry, pigging out on Mexican food (I haven´t had it for almost two months now), and arranging my trip to MachuPicchu. The nightlife here, although completely gringoed out, is fantastic. Promoters will do anything to get you into their clubs--free passes, free drinks. I even witnessed promoters from two different clubs having a tug-o-war over a customer.

It just so happened that three different groups of friends that I had met in other parts of the world--two girls from Germany that I met on the Uyuni trip and in La Paz, a couple from Canada that I met Iguazu, and some Argentinians--were all in Cusco at the same time. I spent my last night here hopping from bar to bar to spend time with each group. It was a very late night!

Day 53-56 - Lago Titicaca (Bolivia and Peru)

Lago Titicaca (Rock of the Puma Lake) is the world´s highest navigable lake. After a day exploring Copacobana (the one that doesn´t have a song about it) on the Bolivian shore of Lago Titicaca, Regina and I headed for an overnighter on Isla del Sol. Isla del Sol is considered the birthplace of Incan culture and is named Island of the Sun because the Incans believe that it is the birthplace of the sun. It is not hard to imagine why when you see the sunrise. The sun looks as if it is rising directly out of the water in the middle of the lake.

After watching the sunrise, we headed back to the mainland to catch a bus to Puno, Peru. This border crossing did not involve nearly as much culture shock as the last one. Peru, thus far, seems very similar to Bolivia.

From Puno, we visited the Isla Flotantes, a series of man-made floating islands. The island is formed by weaving layers of reeds on top of each other. These islands have been around since 1000 A.D. As one layer begins to deteriorate, the residents add another layer. The islands are held in place by poles, which are removed during the rainy season so that the inhabitants can row the island to a more shallow part of the lake. I have never seen anything like it! The ground, huts, roofs, and knick-knacks are all made of these reeds. Our guide told us that the people even eat part of the reeds for breakfast. I tried some . . . kinda tasteless.