There are good and bad things about traveling with a tour group. For instance, traveling with a tour group eliminates the hassle of planning, offers a chance to meet new friends, and provides a good way to visit many places at once without emptying all your pockets, just to name a few. I, however, like to arrange my time and day by doing the things that I want, whenever I want. The convenience of the Internet nowadays enables me to do my own research on places to visit, to stay, and to eat. Moreover, I can choose which entrusted airline to fly with. However, when my friend forwarded me a Travelzoo deal on a 'Sunrise in Machu Picchu' package offered by Latinamerica4Less.com, I too, couldn't resist. The package included visits to Lima, Cusco, Aguas Calientes, and Machu Picchu. Airfare, local transportation, hotels, and breakfast are inclusive and everything came out to be less than $1200pp for 6 days! Despite all the grievances linked to traveling with a tour, and the fact that we have to purchase bottled water to drink AND brush our teeth on this trip, I purchased the ticket. Finally, I can check Machu Picchu off my top destination list. Note: only bottled or treated (disinfected) water should be used for drinking in Peru.
I went with two friends in mid-May. Traveling around this time is actually the best. Weather is neither too cold or too hot, and right before people begin their summer vacation planning. We flew on Taca International Air departing from JFK to Lima Jorge Chavez International Airport with a stopover at San Salvador. It took us 10hrs to arrive to Lima. (If you were to travel direct from JFK to Lima, it would be about 7.5hrs flight). Prior to this trip, I have never heard of Taca Airlines. Admittedly, I was jittery. We landed, hence, I can say the airline is safe. But, on our flight there, I somehow managed to get sick. The ventilation system suffered compared to other airlines I've been on. Perhaps, it was just the plane that day. Nevertheless, I love Latin America and was really looking forward to this trip! Note: take some airborne tablets before your flight, especially when traveling to a third world country.
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| Statue in the Love Park |
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| Plaza Mayor |
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| Alpaca socks |
Lima, the capital of Peru, reminded me to some extent of a cleaner version of Buenos Aires. However, Lima has its own distinguished architectural elegance. Our package included only one day in Lima but we managed to cover a lot of the touristy spots. One of the first stop we visited was the historic city center, which UNESCO had declared a World Heritage Site in 1988. We visited the Basilica Cathedral, where the Spanish Conquistador, Francisco Pizarro's tomb lies. The cathedral building coated in bright yellow, displays the style of the viceroyal time. This cathedral is far more magnificent than the Convent of San Francisco church that we also visited. But, the catacombs underneath the convent is a sight you won't believe. Real human skulls piled up like mountainous French profiterole cake, a scene you could only imagine in horror films. I wanted to take pictures, but refrained out of respect for the dead. We also walked around the Plaza Mayor, which is surrounded by the Presidential and Municipal Palaces, the Archbishop's Palace, and the Cathedral. The Plaza Mayor is supposedly the exact location where Francisco Pizarro founded Lima. Finally, we made a short stop at the Love Park "Parque del Amor", from where we had a spectacular view of the Pacific Ocean. In the afternoon, we were given some time to go shopping. There are plenty of nice souvenirs, from scarves, clothes, hat, and gloves made from Alpaca, to wooden crafts with Peruvian art carvings. The good thing is you can bargain with the sellers in Lima. If you bargain, you can get great discounts, and at times, purchase items cheaper than those sold in Cusco.
The sun blazed away my poor fine hair in Cusco. Sure, I exaggerated slightly, but I had a bizarre yet titillating moment when I stepped out of the airport. The sun was the closest I had ever seen! I thought I landed on another planet where the sun is as close as our moon to earth. I instantly became enamored.Cusco, a World Heritage Site, is a city situated about 11,000ft above sea level near the Andes Mountain range. Because we were so high up, altitude sickness or soroche, is quite common on the first day. It takes one to three days for our bodies to acclimatize to the high altitude. Note: you might want to ask your doctor to prescribe you acetazolamide or dexamethasone pills. Or take ibuprofen to alleviate the high altitude sickness. Our hotel, Royal Inca II, welcomed us with cups of coca tea, which is said to help digestive processes and reduce fatigue or altitude sickness. Though it helped me a bit, one friend suffered with headaches and body aches, and the other with a lost of appetite. Note: you should take it slow the first day. I tested it by running two blocks and found myself gasping for air!
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| An Inca woman outside the Koricancha |
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| Stone wall at Hatun Rumiyoc Street |
Due to the rise in tourism in Cusco, the city has been constructing more buildings, paving adequate roads, and developing better services to cater foreigners. Royal Inca II, resembling a Peruvian stylized Quality Inn, turned out to be habitable. Rooms were surprisingly endurable and had toilets, the lobby was spacious, and we had free coca tea every day. The best feature is the proximity of the hotel to the Plaza de Armas, or Awqaypata (warriors place), where Fransciso Pizarro declared Cusco under Spanish occupation. Across from the Awqaypata, or the main square, are the Cathedral of Cusco and La Compania Church, which we visited. Inside the Cathedral are beautiful engraved woodwork and colonial paintings containing extensive Inca iconography. We also visited the Koricancha, or the Temple of the Sun, on which Santo Domingo Convent was built on. Legend says this temple used to be completely laminated with gold. We walked to Hatun Rumiyoc Street where the Palace of Inca Roca is located. Perhaps the best known street in the city, one of its cut-stone walls features the famous stone with 12 angles - an excellent image of the Inca architectural perfection. We also visited the neighborhood of San Blas, also known as the craftsman's district, located on the top of the city, which offered the city's finest views. Finally, we ended the day at San Camilo Market, where we acquired many wonderful hand-made souvenirs. http://www.royalinkahotel.com/hcusco1.html
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| A newstand |
The next day we ascended to the Archaeological Park of Sacsayhuaman (sounds like Sexy Woman), the former capital of the Inca empire. This fortress used to be a fighting a ground and a place for worshipping the Sun God. The massive stones used in the construction of the terraces here is quite incredible. The stones are very closely spaced to a point that even a paper won't fit through. Moreover, how the Inca moved these large boulders with the technology that they had still astounds me today. This place is definitely worth visiting. We continued our visit to Q'enqo, the old temple of the Puma, where we saw a sacrifice altar inside a huge stone. We drove pass Tambomachay, and Puca Pucara, "atalaya" (watchtower) that safeguards the city gates and the Fortress of Sacsayhuaman. Note: to reach Sacsayhuaman, Q'enqo, or Tambomachay would require a car.
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| Local family spending time at Sacsayhuaman |
From Lima to Cusco, you can choose to travel either by bus (18-27hrs) or by plane (~1hr). Our package included a flight to Cusco. (We learned that we had to wake up 3am in the morning in Lima to catch our flight!) If you want to travel by bus, recommended to adventure travellers, then make sure to choose a top-end company to minimize discomfort and breakdowns. In brief, I really like Cusco. If you are a traveler who enjoys learning about history, immersing yourself in a different culture, or delving into spectacular architectural constructions, then Cusco is definitely a good choice. Furthermore, we had the best soup ever here, no exaggeration! If you are in Cusco and want to try Andean comfort food, I highly recommend Pucara located near the Plaza de Armas.
Aguas Calientes
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| Urubamba River |
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| Home in Ollantaytambo |
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| El Santuario Hotel |
One further note, be wary of getting scammed at Aguas Calientes. Restaurants will sneak in additional cost not listed in menus. Several of us encountered this and had unpleasant altercation with the waiters. And if you can, purchase snacks and water from Cusco instead. Prices are doubled and food are not as good at Aguas Calientes.
Machu Picchu
We've traveled hundreds of miles and foregone hours of sleep to finally reach our targeted destination, Machu Picchu. It was all worth it in the end! Close to 8,000ft above sea level, Machu Picchu sits on a mountain ridge above the Urubamba Valley. According to our tour guy, Machu Picchu was a summer estate of the Inca emperor Pachacuti. The area was abandoned just over 100 years as a result of the Spanish Conquest. This Sacred City in the Andean Mountains had been untouched until Hiram Bingham discovered and promoted news about it in 1931; that is almost 400 years later. Many of the original construction is still nicely intact today, making Machu Picchu one of the world's best preservations.  |
| The Temple of the Sun |
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| The straightest wall section at Machu Picchu |
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| Wayna Picchu and lawn huts |
To truly enjoy this magnificent place, I highly recommend that you stay until the closing time at 5pm. Crowds are fewer and a nice reprieve from the beating sun. With the surrounding picturesque mountains, free-roaming alpacas, complete isolation, and a river snaking down below, Machu Picchu exerts supreme fengshui. It is truly majestic and harmonious. Since I only had a few hours left, I decided to hike up to the Sun Gate. It took me ~ 2hrs round trip. If you were doing the 4 day Inca trail, the Sun Gate is where you would get the first glimpse of the Inca city. And if you catch the first bus in the morning, you may be able to catch the sun peaking over the mountain and through this gate. (You must have an official guide to trek along with you on the Inca trail). Machu Picchu offers other trails as well. Many travelers would wake up early in the morning to access Wayna Picchu, in which a limit of 400 people are allowed per day. Other sights to visit are the Moon Temple, the Great Cave, Dead Woman's Pass, to name a few.
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| An alpaca relaxing on the luscious green |
Near the closing minutes, I still wanted to walk so I decided to hike back down to the hotel instead of taking the last returning bus. I managed to find a tour mate that was interested in hiking back to Aguas Calientes with me. The locals told us it would only take 30mins. so we thought it was enough time for us to get back to our hotel before twilight. The locals must be super athletic because it took us 1.5hrs and we ended up hiking in the dark, which in hindsight could have been dangerous. We were unfamiliar with the area and had no food or water but only our wallets. It got so dark that we couldn't even see where or what we were stepping on. Fortunately, two Brazilian guys happened to make the same decision as us to hike back down and one of the them had a mini flashlight. We were a bit nervous at first. Two petite girls and two broad guys, you get the gist. But because it got so black to a point where we blended in with the shadows, we tried to catch up with them risking the possibility of getting rape. Luckily, those two Brazilian hotties were good samaritans. Note: don't hike in the dark. And if you must, make sure you are well equipped to do so and that somebody knows.
Lessons learned on this trip:
1) only bottled or treated (disinfected) water should be used for drinking in Peru.
2) take some airborne tablets before your flight, especially when traveling to a third world country.
3) bargain, bargain, bargain in Peru.
4) you might want to ask your doctor to prescribe you acetazolamide or dexamethasone pills to relieve altitude sickness.
5) you should take it slow the first day in Cusco. don't try to be superman.
6) to reach other interest sights in Cusco might require a car if you are not with a tour group.
7) make your train reservation for Machu Picchu in advance because tickets get sold out days or even months in advance
8) don't forget your sunblock and wear comfortable shoes.
9) don't hike in the dark. And if you must, make sure you are well equipped to do so and that somebody knows.
10) you must have an offical guide with you to trek the Inca trail.
