Lake Titicaca (Peru)

Much had happened since my last post.  After Machu Picchu, we woke up for out drive to Puno and Lake Titicaca, but not before having a hearty breakfast with Yvette, our friend from our boat ride to Colombia, who had just arrived in Cuzco.  After breakfast, we packed up the car and headed on our way.  We got to Puno a bit after dark, found our hostel easily, had the cheapest dinner thus far (2.5 soles or 0.89 cents) and got in bed early.  The next morning, we had our free breakfast at the hostel, and made our way to the Bolivian embassy for visas.  After some running around for copies and money, we left the office to return a few hours later, and picked up our visas!  We were bound for Bolivia, but not before a quick tour of Lake Titicaca.  We walked down to the port, and hopped on a boat bound for the islands of Uros.  After a short boat trip, we jumped onto an island of soft reeds.  Uros is a collection of small islands made completely of floating reeds.  The ground has to be replenished with new reeds every week; a community effort, where everyone will work together lifting the small wooden homes up to restock the reeds below them.  The people's income comes primarily from trading fish for goods and tourist contributions.  The official language is Quechua, but the people usually speak everything from English to Mandarin.  The homes are small and meager, but the people were willing to invite us in and explain their way of life.  The island we visited was named Sumatica.  Despite the fact that the islands seemed pretty touristy, with huge welcoming signs on each one, it was still interesting to realize that people have actually lived this way for centuries.  After our tour, we got to ride on one of the traditional reed vessels, called Totoras, to another island, which was specifically to suck money out of tourists.  There was a small restaurant and an "artisanal", aka gift, shop.  We basically waited around for our boat to arrive to go back to Puno, while kids ran around spending money on somewhat ridiculous items that could be bought anywhere, and overpriced food.  When we returned to Puno, we walked around a bit, grabbed another cheap dinner and some yummy Pisco sours (finally! I was not leaving Peru without a proper Pisco sour), and bought snacks for our next few driving days.  We prepped for our drive, and headed to bed.

Machu Picchu!!! (Peru)

On...Lord, i have no idea what day...we woke up at 3:30 am and packed up a small backpack to bring to Machu Picchu.  We left our larger packs and the surf board at the hostel where we were staying in Cuzco, Hospedaje Amanecer.  The car picked us up at 4 am, and drove us to the bus station in the Plaza de Armas, where we boarded with other travelers bound for Machu Picchu, and we headed to the train station in Ollantaytambo.  The train then took about an hour and a half through the valley of the Andes to the town of Aguas Calientes, right below Machu Picchu.  We spent  a bit of the morning walking around the small town, which looked like it lived off of tourism, and had an ungodly number of restaurants for the size of the town.   Quickly, we realized there was nothing to do there that didn't cost money, so we went back to our hostel to watch a show and take a glorious three hour nap.  We woke up and lounged around a bit, playing on the limited Internet, before heading out for dinner.  When we were at dinner, at 7:10 pm, I remember that our guide for the next day was supposed to meet to give us our tickets right then, so I ran back to the hostel, leaving Jared to eat alone, and bring me back a luke warm burger and fries.  That night we went to bed around 10 pm, excited for Machu Picchu the next day. We woke up, and ate the free breakfast at the hostel, before heading down to board a 30 minute bus to ascend the mountain to the city of Machu Picchu.  We had booked a hike up Montaña Machu Picchu, so at 7 am, we got off the bus, and started the grueling 1+ hour hike to the top.  We got a bit nervous during the ascent, because everything was covered by fog.  The hike itself was neat, and I was excited to think of how the Incas had walked these same steps for some unknown ritualistic purpose, which I later discovered was bogus, and the Incas really did not use Montaña Machu Picchu for anything, save burying a 100+ people on the bottom, but at the time, it was motivational for me to continue.  Most of the climb was stairs, so our buns definitely got a good workout.  When we reached the top, there was only one other traveler, and fog everywhere.  We couldn't even tell the direction that we were supposed to look to see the city.  It was also really cold, and we had to quickly put on all the layers we had taken off during our climb.  A few hours passed, with more climbers joining us, and no change in the weather.  We got a bit worried and increasingly annoyed, because A) our pass on Montaña Machu Picchu was only until 11am, and B) we had originally been booked on an 11:30 am tour of the city, which was changed the night before to 10:30 am.  By 9:40 (the time we had to start our descent to make the English tour) there was still no change in the fog, so we decided to screw the tour and join a Spanish one we knew was taking place at 11:30 am.  By about 10 am, a few patches here and there would open up, only to be covered again within the minute, and we still had no idea where we should even be looking.  Slowly, the patches became bigger and appeared more frequently, until we finally at least knew where we should be looking.  Finally, with about 15 minutes before we had to leave the peak, the clouds opened up, and allowed us some pretty amazing views of the city and the valleys below.  We snapped probably 60 pictures, a few great ones, before packing up and booking it back down the mountain to make our tour.  We ended up being lucky enough to jump onto a different group's English tour for free.  The tour took about 45 minutes, where we wove through the city.  It is so well preserved that it might be a Disneyworld exhibit.  The precision in the work was really phenomenal, and we were able to visualize how the Incas lived better than we had at other ruins due to its preservation.  After the tour ended, we hiked back up to the Inca bridge, and realized that, on our third ascent of the day, we were pooped!!  After, we found a popular resting spot, with an amazing view overlooking the city, and had a snack while taking in the sites.  I think we were maybe resting to see if we could make another round or head to a different hike, but after a bit, we realized we were too tired, and headed back to the buses for Aguas Calientes.   When we got back to the hostel, we spent the next few hours resting before packing up and heading back to the train and bus to Cuzco.  I will say, the train we took, IncaRail, was pretty awesome, with leather seats and free coffee/tea etc.  Back in Cuzco, we arrived into the city at 11 pm, and basically fell into bed still fully clothed.

Cuzco (Peru)

The next morning, we woke up at about 5:30 am for an all day drive.  We ended up leaving about 30 minutes late, which in did not affected the fact that there was no way we were making it to Cuzco that day. We drove and drove and drove, and could not move that freaking blue dot on our GPS map.  Someone had told u the day before that the drive from Nazca to Cuzco took 11 hrs, but after 10 hours, we were still pretty far (I assumed about 3 hours, but wasn't sure), so just to be safe, we pulled into the small town of Abancay for the night.  The accommodations weren't the worst we've had thus far.  Dinner consisted of the same thing we've had for ages now, a fried piece of meat and tons of carbs.  I am getting a bit sick of the cheap food options.   We woke up the next morning, and made our last leg of the drive to Cuzco, which ended up taking almost 6 hours, and included us getting pretty lost as the road we were supposed to take did not exist when we looked for it.  The drive, however, was gorgeous!  We definitely have hit the colder climate and drove through snow.  The views were really stunning with green mountains in the forefront, and snow capped mountains in the distance,  until we were surrounded by snow.  At one point I asked if we had yet driven through the Andes, maybe in Ecuador, but we knew we had definitely arrives at them when we met with the snow.  We also spent a lot amount of time driving through the valley floor of the Andes along a river, and kept having to pull over to snap shots.  I know a lot of people questioned our method of travel and would have opted for buses, but the views alone, and our opportunity to stop and explore have justified it for us.  When we arrived into the city, our originally researched hostel proved too elusive, so with some help from Cuzquenos, we found the historic center and a hostel by about 12-1pm.  There was a laundromat right by us, so we dropped off of bag full of sand, and a few articles of clothing from the sandboarding day, and headed off for our important tasks.  First things first, we ate.  The traditional Peruvian deals at restaurants usually consist of soup and the fried food with french fries and rice, but here they actually had a veggie meal, so I went with that.  We then set out to find a trip to Machu Picchu.  There are a gazillion tourist groups around Cuzco, so we easily found one and booked a trip.   Apparently, several years ago, people could get to Wayna Picchu simply by showing up early and the 200 allotted tickets were first-come-first-serve.  Unfortunately, that tradition has changed, and you have to reserve it in advance;  it is also no longer free.  So we missed out on Wayna Picchu, as it was booked, but we were able to book Montaña, which I guess is actually preferable.  All of the traditionally pictures of Machu Picchu that people see are taken from Montaña, as it is higher.  I had also heard that Wayna Picchu is known is the Sunrise Gate of Machu Picchu, but the park doesn't open anymore until after sunrise, so no bigs that we couldn't book that.  Once we had sufficiently bled money, we received our tickets and felt better about our timing.   There was a small coffee shop across from our hostel, so we played chess, and I sipped on a Coca (yes, the kind of coca not sold in the States) tea.  Then, we set out to snap some photos of town.  The main Plaza de Armas is really gorgeous.  It has well maintained gardens, beautiful architecture, and the mountains surrounding.   There is also a shocking number of backpacker essential stores, with what I can only assume are knockoff North Face articles.  I was able to buy a pretty great no-name fleece neck warmer for 15 soles ($5).  We also bought a bunch of snacks from a convenience store for Machu Picchu, including Coca energy bars! Haha.  We walked around a bit more.  Lots of women and children dressed in traditional Peruvian indigenous attire, and alpacas!  All over,  just being drawn through all the streets.  We saw a bunch on our drive, just mulling about in groups, but didn't get close.  Lord do they stink!  Or more specifically, their pee stinks.   I also bought an awesome alpaca hat, as I didn't pack a one originally, unsure of how cold things could get.   On that note, a huge shout out to my Aunt Eilleen, and sister-in-laws, Jen and Loren, for my long johns and fleece jacket.  I am wearing literally almost everything I brought, which does have the positive side effect of making my pack nice and light!  After spending so much in one day, we cut ourselves off!  Well, not until after we tried the traditional guinea pig dish here called, Cuy.  It was more expensive that it should be for the amount of meat a guinea pig yields, but Jared liked it; "tastes like chicken" he said.  I tried a bit, and then had an unpleasant physical reaction when I bit into either bone or cartilage, and was at that point full...for the rest of the night.  After dinner, we parked the car so we wouldn't have to worry while we were gone at Machu Picchu, showered up in what were supposed to be hot showers...they were not, and went to bed at 10 pm, for our 3:30 am wake up.

Sandboarding in Nazca (Peru)

Sandboarding in nasca was...not the best thing we've done.  I think Jared has a much better time than me.  The hike up to the top was cool.   We woke up at about 4:30 am and headed out with our guide a touch before 5 am.  We picked up two other people and drove to out drop off point, on the side of the highway, at about 6 am.  First we ascended dirt and rocks and met sand about 2 hours later.  The guide had us build a rock monument honoring the mountains health...some indigenous traditions still seem alive and well.  Once we finally reached the top the winds were blowing sand everywhere and our eyes felt it the most.  We strapped ourselves into the boards and had a couple practice runs down small but steep dunes until we finally reached the main dune.  By that point, I wasn't really enjoying it.   The dune was way too steep for me to attempt the go down standing, as I had already experienced small falls, and if I fell down this one, I might not stop.  I rode the board like a sled, along with another traveler, which ended up being a lot more fun.  Jared made his way down the dune standing, and got a bit of good footage.  The walk back was about an hour and a half, pretty exhausted already with sand everywhere, we were happy to be done.   When we got back to the hostel, we showered, had a good lunch, and did absolutely nothing the rest of the day.

Mission to Find Surf...Unsuccessful (Peru)

The last two days in Quito were not all that active.  Since we nixed Cotopaxi, we basically had two extra days in the city.  They were mostly spent hanging out with other hostel guests, and walking around the city.  Nothing too exciting, lots of cooking, which was a welcome relief from fried food.  Wednesday night we were especially bored and bought a big sign to decorate for Jared's flight back.  Thursday afternoon, we picked him up from the airport, and settled in for our final night in Quito.  He was tired after his adventure, so Kenny, Alex, and I went out to meet up with my friend, who lives in Quito, Sandra again at a restaurant in her neighborhood; had some good drinks and great food before going back to the historic distric for sleep.
The next morning, we woke up and made for the Peruvian border, which was insanely easy, and free, and definitely the easiest border we've crossed.  We were headed for Lobitos, a small surfer town, and making great time.  According to our directions, we were to turn off the panamerican highway several kilometers short of the town and drive right along the coast.  The "road", however turned out to be straight up sand dunes inside of what appeared to be the private property of an oil extraction plant.  We couldn't drive more than 5 mph, and often completely lost the actual path.  The drive was crap, often loose sand, often massive bumps...did I mention we are in a small non-4x4 car?  The sand was getting in the brakes, making them hard to work with.  The sun set, and we could see the town lights ahead, but had no idea A) how to get there, because the road was so poor, and B) if the other side of this dune jungle was even open as it was private property for a company.  At one point, we had to all get out of the car to look for our path, ended up turning around and made one last ditch effort to find a new path, before potentially just whipping out the tents and taking shifts watching out for would-be thieves.  Luckily, we did finally find a proper road right at the town entrance and were able to drive without incident from that point.
The "town" was also a mystery.  It was difficult to see by night, but it was basically a town-in-training.

There were plots of empty land everywhere, that looked as though they were in the works to be developed, but there was no actual construction or machinery on them.  There were great looking playgrounds and parks, but no children anywhere.  It could have been the abandoned set of a movie.  The first hostel we found actually turned us away, because the other people in the DORM didn't want to share the room...what!?!?!?  After a considerable amount of arguing, I didn't even want to give the guy my money.  The next place we found was accommodating, and we plopped our stuff down and asked directions to the only eatery in town.  That night, we slept well and prepped for surfing the next day.
I'm not sure who claimed Lobitos as a surf spot, because the next morning Kenny and Jared went to the beach to find almost no waves in frigid water.  Jared made his mind up that we would not being spending the day there to surf, and Kenny agreed, so we grabbed a quick breakfast, and packed up the car to head to the next surf spot on route, Trujillo.
This drive was easy, straight along the Panamerican Highway, all the way into town.  We found a great place to stay, and a good dinner before bed.  The next morning, we woke up to really cold day. We bundled up, and set out to the beach to check out the waves.  The day was so gloomy and foggy and wet, yet the waves didn't seem to budge much.  Again, they were small and unenticing, making Jared again unwilling to don a wetsuit.  Kenny and Alex were willing to wait out the day, especially because the town seemed much more surfer-esque than Lobitos.  Jared and I packed the car easily, as it would just be the two of us, and said our sad goodbyes to Kenny and Alex.
We made out way to Lima, in hopes of at least a good tourist city, and possibly some waves.  The day did not improve along the drive south, but at least there were no surprises along the way.  We have, however, been stopped in Peru by police checkpoints more than in any other country, but they have all been nice and easy. By the time we arrived into Lima, rush hour traffic was in full swing, so our trip was extended by about an hour, but we found our hostel easily, which, in fact, turned out to be the upstairs apartments to a nice woman's home. She gave us a private room for a discounted price, and we happily accepted. I was ravenous, so we bee-lined it to a restaurant and tamed the beast, before heading back to sleep.
 The next morning, we were surprised by a free breakfast from the woman who lives there. She gave us directions to make our way around town, and we hopped on a collectivo (super cheap city bus) to first figure out visas for Bolivia and Brasil. The only thing we really figured out is that we could not get either there, so we decided to check out the town sites. We went to the Miraflores area to walk the Malecon. Lima is quite a stunning city, because it is set on the cliffs overlooking the ocean, which made for a few good pictures.

 The Malecon is dotted with parks all up and down the cliffs. After a few hours, we were cold and tired and made our way back, via collectivo, to the hostel
for dinner. Jared dropped off his laundry and picked up a bottle of Pisco to try. We finished off the night
with some Spartacus episodes and sleep.
 The next morning, we took the car in to a mechanic to have the brakes checked as they were again making a horrendous amount of noise, bahhh!!! Luckily, the mechanic said we only needed a good cleaning, and could be on our way after a bit. We left the car with them, and jumped back on the bus, headed for the center of town. We got off the bus about 10 blocks from our destination, and walked right into the bad neighborhood. This time, I was prepared to cause substantial collateral damage with my mace, but was lucky enough not to need it. We finally arrived to the center, and took a tour of the Church of San Fransisco, with a large catacomb underneath. We attempted the break the rules, and take a few photos, which mainly just resulted in a lot of pictures of the inside of my coat pocket. After, we walked to the main square and cathedral, with the remains of Fransisco Pizzarro (the Inca conqueror), we hope...apparently, they showed off "his" remains for almost a century, before discovering those were not intact his, but a random church contributor.

                                                               

After many photos, we booked it back to the mechanic shop just before closing. We also picked up a spare set of front brakes, in case any &:>^+=\ tries to scam us in the mountains again. We had planned on going back out to a museum and fountain before calling it a night, but Jared's laundry wasn't ready...and our Pisco sours were, so our plans got derailed.
 Today, we woke up and packed to head to Nazca, to see the ancient sand/rock formations made by the Nazca (and other) people. Apparently, they weren't discovered until a routine fly-by by a scientist. The markings sprawl over 50 km, and can really only be seen well via air. We first stopped at, I believe, the only natural oasis discovered in Peru, which looks like it once could have been very stunning, but is now sort of overrun by tourist, but still quite an interesting site, a small town with lush land completely surrounded by sand dunes. Speaking of which, northern Peru has been quite a shock, because Ecuador was so green and cultivated, and Peru is straight up sand, sand, and more sand. After the oasis, we made it to two look outs for the Nazca lines, both of which gave just a teenie glimpse at what truly is a mysterious landmark. Some say they lines were from a boisterous native, some say they corresponded to the changing seasons, and some say they are landmarks for alien aircraft. Who knows, but they were pretty neat. I wish we had the money to invest in a good look, but lord knows we don't, or we would at least rather save it for a different adventure. Like sandboarding!!! Which we plan to do in the morning. 4:30am wake up, for our 5am bus. We will be going to the largest sand dune in South America, Cerro Blanco, to spend the morning strapped to a snowboard, hopefully flying down the sand (I've been snowboarding once, and I did anything but fly anywhere. I'm hoping I get to use a helmet, as it literally saved me from extensive brains damage the first time). Which reminds me, I should check to see if we are covered by our health insurance for sandboarding...