Inca Trail, Peru

Stefanie and I at Machu Picchu

I have never done anything so difficult and physically tiring in my life! Three months after first booking, Stefanie and I finally started the trek to Machu Picchu along the infamous Inca Trail.

We left early Thursday morning with a group of 16 hikers, 2 guides, 1 chef and 18 porters. Quite the team! We booked with the company Llama Path, a sustainable tourism operator. We researched quite a bit beforehand and decided that they seemed like the best fit. It was a little pricey, but overall I am very satisfied with the tour. The guides were knowledgeable and entertaining and the porters had adequate equipment and proper hiking shoes, which is more than I can say about the other porters on the trail. I saw some porters who had only broken sandals to hike in and plastic rice bags to carry supplies.

Stefanie and I were too late to book an extra porter to carry our clothes, sleeping bags and mats, so we had no other choice but to carry it ourselves. I was not thrilled. The guides gave us walking sticks and helped us attach the 3kg of sleeping gear to our day packs…. not an easy feat. We took a group photo at the first checkpoint and set off on the trail.

Lake Titicaca, Peru

Reed Boat on Uros Island

Now that I have some free time, here is a glimpse into our weekend trip to Lake Titicaca…

After the whole ordeal last Friday, it was nice to get away for a bit. A bunch of the girls from our volunteer house booked a weekend trip to the world’s highest lake in the world, Lake Titicaca, which divides Bolivia and Peru.

At 9:30pm, 8 of us boarded a night bus to Puno, Peru, the starting point of our adventure. We arrived in Puno at 4am and took a taxi to our hotel for a quick nap and hot shower. After breakfast, our guide picked us up and drove us to the dock where we met our captain and island guide. Our first stop was the Uros islands.

Do not go ATVing in a foreign country

This past weekend has been a whirlwind of emotions. Friday, five of us from the volunteer house decided to go ATVing in the mountains of Cusco, Peru. I have never been on an ATV and I was a little apprehensive, but decided to go anyways. Probably from FOMO, a new term I learned from my fellow housemates…. FEAR OF MISSING OUT.

When we arrived at the ATV location, we were each given an ATV and shown how to maneuver the beasts. After 10 minutes of practice, the guides gave us these documents to sign detailing that if anything happened to the ATV, we were responsible for the damages… hmm. It took me 10 minutes to decide whether to sign. It sounded a little strange – so I bombarded the guides with questions and after everyone had already signed and were waiting on me, I signed (my savings account) away and we hit the trail.

Caminar Falso in Pisaq, Peru

Pisaq Terraces

Sorry for not updating, I have been so busy volunteering in Cusco. Last Sunday, I went to a little town outside of Cusco, called Pisaq. I went with Stefanie and two girls from our volunteer house. We weren’t really sure of our game plan once we got there. An ex-housemate of ours had said there was a nice hike where you could see some old ruins without having to pay to get inside the official area. There is also a large handicraft market in Pisaq that we wanted to check out at the end.

Once we arrived into Pisaq, we trotted along ‘taxi alley’ to see how much it would cost to take us to the start of the hike. The unanimous answer: 5 soles each ($2) plus another 40 soles just to get into the ruins. There was no such thing as this ‘free hike’ besides walking along the side of the road and catching a glimpse of the Inca terraces, which were used for agriculture. Basically, we’d miss all the fun stuff if we didn’t enter the official ruins.

We kindly said ‘no thank you’ to the taxi driver and walked away trying to think of a new plan. About 2 minutes later, the driver pulled up near us and claimed it was possible he could get us pass the control point without paying. Now, before you all freak out, it was much less dangerous than it seems. Essentially, the taxi driver took us up the road and asked if one of the local children could show us the way. Unfortunately, none of them did but they did point us in the right direction – a man named Ciro.

Photo Update – Cusco!

Our seat, table, bed for 21 hours from Lima to Cusco, Peru

My first time trying coca tea. They have bagged varieties as well as loose leaves.

Our first glimpse of Cusco, Peru. It was pretty dusty.

Cusco at 3400 metres!

We arrived in Cuzco early Saturday morning after a grueling 21 hour bus ride from Lima. The ‘puke bus’ was true to its name and a few people were quite sick throughout the journey. Thankfully with the help of two doses of anti-nausea and a lot of water, Stefanie and I managed to avoid vomiting – although there were a few close calls. To pass the time, I watched 4 movies, played Bingo and slept and then FINALLY we reached our destination.

Our first day in Cuzco was spent napping, reading, and drinking coca tea. Coca tea is nature’s remedy for altitude sickness, headaches, temperature sensitivity (it’s cold here!) and pretty much anything else. Coca tea is brewed from the same plant they make cocaine from – so, apparently if we need to take a drug test anytime soon… we’ll fail! You don’t experience any sort of ‘high’ though. We’re also drinking plenty of water.

By nightfall, I was feeling much better and had a great night’s rest. Stef, on the other hand, was vomiting all night. Poor girl. It took her an extra day to adjust, but she is feeling much better now. I feel pretty weak and tired, but the fresh air is quite nice. Walking around Cuzco will take your breath away – literally!

Landing in Lima, Peru

ruins near Miraflores (Lima), Peru

I made it safe and sound. Stefanie and I arrived in Lima’s airport at around 10pm. It was late so we decided to order a taxi from our hostel to pick us up. They had a sign with my name on it and everything. I felt special! So, we met up with our driver and hit the streets of Lima. It was pretty flashy – there was even a fire dancer in the middle of the street. I was actually surprised about how cosmopolitan it felt.

I am staying in Miraflores, which is a safer, more upscale neighbourhood of Lima. It’s near the beach and has a cute park in the middle where vendors sell popcorn and children play. I really enjoy the area. It’s very friendly and familial- although someone did ask me if I wanted ‘blow’ which I politely declined and continued on my merry way with a little more speed than usual.

Stefanie standing next to the life-size replicas at the ruins

I didn’t have any major plans for our stay here. The reception recommended some ruins within walking distance – so I decided to checked it out. The site was very interesting and I definitely recommend it. Basically, an ancient civilization (before the Incas and Mayans) built temples where they would perform rituals and human sacrifices and worship the moon and ocean. Every 20 years, they would cover the temples and build a new one over it. The temples are solid throughout – no rooms or passage ways. They are very common in Lima, but this particular Waccah (I think that’s the correct spelling) began being excavated in the 1980s. Before that, it was simply a hill in the middle of the city. These people were very small compared to modern day humans. They were so tiny, I felt like a giant standing next to the life-size replica.

On the way back, I walked by a house with makeshift barbed wire (i.e. cement layer on top of a concrete fence with shards of glass bottles sticking out from it) If that won’t deter a robber, I don’t know what will!

Today, I tried tampales for lunch. We bought them at the grocery store because Stefanie said she had tried one back in Costa Rica. They are made of meat, corn and other ingredients and then wrapped in banana leaves. You are suppose to boil them, but our reception recommended we just microwave them – so we did and they were terrible. Never again! The chicken was actually decent, but the orange mush was NOT. I threw the rest in the garbage and ate a chocolate bar to last me until dinner, but that was also a disaster so we decided to just give up and eat out. We went to this diner-style sandwich shop with fresh fruit smoothies. YUM! It was a wise choice.

Lima ruins (old meets new)

Now, I’m  just taking it easy at the hostel. I think I’m going to try some Pisco Sours tonight – Peru’s signature drink. Tomorrow, I am leaving for Cusco – a 21 hour bus ride through the Andes and up, up, up! I’ll let you know how it goes 🙂