Life in Perú
As a sort of “end of semester” gift to ourselves (not to mention celebrating the fact that we survived almost 6 wonderful months in Chile), Rio and I decided to go to Perú as our last travel experience of the trip! We knew we wanted to see either the Desert (San Pedro de Atacama) and the Bolivian Salt Flats or Machu Picchu. Guess what won? That’s right, we’re headed on the journey of a lifetime through the wilderness of Perú!
We haven’t even left Viña yet and we’re already seeing Machu Picchu!
So after working out a schedule to take our finals a little bit early, and of course a LOT of planning and preparation for the hike that we are about to do.. (more information on that later!) we headed off to the bus station in Viña and went on our way!
We only had minor difficulties on the way to the airport: there was a strike earlier that week and the bus had to drive into Santiago with the windows closed and the lights off, and the taxi driver severely overcharged us and then argued that we hadn’t paid him. Oh, the perks of city life! We got to the airport around 10 pm, and decided to forget about the mean/old/rude taxi man and start the trip off on a good note anyway!
Last Chilean Pisco Sour for a while..
Our flight wasn’t until 7:00 am the next morning, so we stretched out on the seats and took an amazing nap. Around 5:30, our alarms went off and we headed through security to the gate! Finally, we were on our way to Perú!!
The flight wasn’t bad at all: about 5 hours to Lima and another 2 to Cusco. I didn’t sleep much on the flight to Lima, mostly because there were movies on the plane. I know, how lame! Giving up sleep to watch a movie. What was I thinking? Anyway, the layover was pretty short, only about 2 hours at the Lima airport so we got another “cat nap” in at the airport and then waited patiently at the gate to board the flight to Cusco. In line there, a woman behind me saw my ASU hoodie and asked if I went to App. After talking to her for a few minutes I found out that she and her family were on vacation and they were from a small town only an hour away from my hometown, and that App and studying abroad were two things very high on her son’s list for college! It really is a small world.
I slept most of the hour to Cusco and when I woke up, the pilot was just announcing that if you looked out the left side of the plane, you could see the summit of Mount Salkantay – our destination!!
That white cap back there is the mountain we are hiking to!
We made it into Cusco at about 3 pm and we were bombarded with indigenous culture from the minute we reached baggage claim. It was really neat to see and there were so many indigenous people, cultural music and folk dancers who were there to welcome the tourists! Of course, like everything in Perú as we were about to discover, they all wanted tips.
Some folkloric performers in traditional dress before they started dancing by baggage claim
So I guess I should go ahead and explain what we are doing in Perú. I have always wanted to do some sort of epic hike to Machu Picchu, and in my head it has always been the Inca Trail that I think of. However, back in early June when we booked the trip, the Inca Trail was already booked up through November! Something about only 400 permits allowed per day, including guides and porters..
So we started looking around at alternate hiking experiences. The one that caught our attention (and happened to be almost $100 cheaper plus an extra day of hiking) was called the Salkantay (sal-kuhn-tie) Trek. The high point of the trek was located at 4,600 meters (over 15,000 feet) and we would be covering roughly 65 km in 4 days and culminates in day 5 at Machu Picchu. How awesome is that?
So in doing some preliminary research on Perú, Cusco, Salkantay, etc.., we discovered quickly that we would need to acclimate to the seriously low air pressure up in the mountains. Cusco is located at 3,400 meters, or 11,200 feet above sea level, most tourists found themselves victim to altitude sickness once they entered the majestic Incan region. To prepare for this, we decided to spend two full days exploring Cusco before our hike so that we were ready for the high point.
We also decided against getting altitude sickness pills, and instead opted for the more natural, Incan approved method: Coca Tea. It’s pretty amazing and the tip from the lady running the hostel is this: boil the leaves in water for a few minutes to make a really strong base for the tea. Then, when you want tea, just put a little of the mix you made in with boiled water and a leaf or two! This way it tastes much better and the herbal properties of the leaves are not lost.
Too bad this stuff is illegal in the USA…
Day 2: Maras y Moray
After getting into Cusco, having a guy from our trekking group come to pick us up at the airport and bring us to our hostel, and taking a much-needed nap, Rio and I decided to see what all was available to do in the area. We got some advice from the lady running the hostel and some other backpackers in our dorm, and decided to head out to explore the ruins of the Salineras Maras, and the agricultural ruins of Moray.
To get there, we took a short cab ride to a bus stop on the other side of the city and a short bus ride towards Ollantaytambo and got off about halfway there. At this stop, there are taxis waiting because of the tourism draw of the area, and they offer you a deal for the cab ride: roughly 50-60 soles ($18-22) for a round trip. We split the cab with a couple, making it much cheaper, and the fare included getting to Maras, spending an hour there, then getting to Moray and spending an hour there, and the return trip to the bus stop. Not a bad deal!
Our first stop was the Salineras Maras, or the Maras Salt Mines. They were much cooler than we thought and the area was immense!
Looking over the incredible salt mines!
The Salineras were incredibly interesting. We wandered around and eavesdropped on the nearby tour guide, learning that each pool is filled with 18 cm of water, then closed off and left to evaporate. This is what allows the pure salt crystals to form. The entire process takes about 3-4 weeks and then the salt is harvested and the pool is refilled to start the process over.
Rio and I standing on pure salt! And of course, rocking the fanny packs
Of course, walking on the salt was a bit tricky, but it was a very cool place. I bought a couple small bags of the salt to bring home to the US and I hope they are good for cooking/everything as they sound!
It even tasted like salt…
Salt pools
Our next stop was to the Incan agricultural experiment of Moray. This is a site that we knew very little about because the translated information was impossible to understand. Once we got there, however, we got the information in spanish and it all made so much more sense!
Moray was a place where the Incans used a tiered circular pattern to experiment with crops and each tiered level had its own crop. Animals could graze at will and fertilize the area, but the terraces were meant to find the most efficient way to grow food.
First view of the agricultural experiments done by the Incas
A smaller, more time-altered version of the terraces
The whole area was just surreal. It was like we had gone back in time and could see the careful detail paid to the land by the Incas.
We weren’t allowed to go down into the terraces, but we could see where the wear and tear was starting to cause some damage
And who better to give us the tour than the last Inca himself.. Inca Kola!
I think it’s only fair to mention that we had not had any difficulties walking around in the thin air up here until we had to go back up the hill (the one you can see in the background of the circles) to get to the cab. We realized about halfway up that we were going to need a few breaks to make it all the way up!
Chinchilla? No, Chinchero!
After spending an amazing few hours touring the Maras and Moray sites, we decided to try to find a small feria artesanal in the town on the way back into Cusco: Chinchero. This might have been a great idea on paper, but when you realize you don’t know where it is and the cabbie drops you off on the other side of the town, it turns into a really long walk around the countryside. Not to mention the town’s name is impossible to pronounce/remember…
Looking back towards Chinchero after about 45 minutes of fruitless wandering
This “little” guy was just chillin’ on the side of the road.. I love the flowers in his hair
So after wandering forever, we just gave up and caught a cab back into Cusco to get some food. We did get a little bit of sightseeing in around downtown Cusco, although we are planning to spend a much better portion of tomorrow in the shopping areas.
The flag of Cusco.. yes we were a bit confused about how many of them we saw flying everywhere, but it’s really just the city flag!
The traditional Incan way of carrying your children around.. Looks less comfortable than my backpack!
The view looking over Cusco on our way back up to the hostel.
Our hostel was built around some local houses, so there was a small kitchen run by the local families that we ate at. And let’s just say that the rumor is true: Perú has AMAZING food!
We hung out a bit in the common area of the hostel and then decided that we would try to find the ruins of Saksaywaman early the next day, so we called it a night early and slept incredibly well. This was a pretty amazing way to spend our first day in Cusco and I am so excited for the next few days and our final destination: Machu Picchu!
Gringa en Chile 